Su Jingming rarely ate at the school cafeteria; the few times he had gone were only because Ren Wei had dragged him along. Although the training camp facilities looked dilapidated, the cafeteria and supermarket were surprisingly decent.
Su Jingming had originally intended to just grab a quick bite to get it over with, but Wen Yan said, "If I don't eat properly, I'm prone to low blood sugar."
And so, Su Jingming found himself sitting on a cafeteria chair, staring at the meal before him—a refined and appetizing spread of three dishes and a soup.
"..." Su Jingming started, "If you have low blood sugar, you should just eat. I don't really need—"
Before he could finish, Wen Yan gave him a flat look and casually placed a piece of braised pork into his bowl. "Eat."
Su Jingming shut his mouth and ate in silence.
Dinner time had already passed, and there weren't many students participating in the training camp to begin with. Aside from the cafeteria ladies—who, for once, didn't have shaking hands while serving—Su Jingming and Wen Yan were the only two students left in the hall.
For the first time, Su Jingming felt that eating was a high-pressure activity. Aside from the faint sounds of chewing and cutlery, there was no communication between them throughout the meal.
It wasn't as if this was his first time eating with Wen Yan. Yet, with his head lowered, he felt as though Wen Yan’s gaze was fixed on him the entire time. When he stole a glance upward, however, he saw that Wen Yan was simply focused on his food.
Su Jingming felt like he was losing his mind; his *chuunibyou* tendencies were clearly getting worse.
After finishing the meal, Wen Yan spoke in an unhurried tone. "Regarding the curriculum for the next half month: classes run from six in the morning until ten at night. We only get half an hour for each of the three meals."
Su Jingming’s hand, which was holding a bottle of Coke, froze. "Are you sure that’s the schedule?"
"Mhm." Wen Yan’s face remained expressionless. For people their age, such a schedule was indeed an overload.
Su Jingming’s free hand rubbed nervously against his thigh. "Actually, I’ve had some thoughts bottled up for a long time."
"Go ahead."
"From this morning until now, I couldn't figure out why they’d make us participate in a math competition." Su Jingming looked up, his eyes filled with earnestness. "But now I’ve realized it. The school thinks we’re too smart, so they want to kidnap us and dissect our brains to see how they differ from normal people."
Hearing this, Wen Yan let out a sudden laugh. He recalled the Ultraman Tiga and the swarm of little monsters Su Jingming had been drawing at the dormitory door.
So that was it... In that short time outside the room, Su Jingming had already hallucinated an entire story about a hero wandering into enemy territory.
If you called him brainless, the guy was somehow ranked second in their grade.
If you called him smart, his head was filled with the most unrealistic nonsense.
The "Believe in Science" campaign had been promoted for years, but given Su Jingming’s level of *chuunibyou*, science probably didn't count for much in his eyes.
Wen Yan curled his lips into a half-smile that made Su Jingming feel a wave of embarrassment.
Su Jingming realized that after spending time with Wen Yan lately, he had become quite an idiot, blurting out whatever came to mind. He wrinkled his nose; he decided he’d better stop talking nonsense in front of Wen Yan from now on.
Standing to Su Jingming’s left, Wen Yan said, "Even if it really is as you imagine, wouldn't the Little Hero take me with him when he escapes?"
His voice was very soft, his words like a gentle April breeze.
Utterly tender.
Whenever he heard Wen Yan call him "Little Hero," Su Jingming felt like he might take flight at any second.
The term had too much lethality. Those three words seemed to carry a sense of mystery, tapping rhythmically against the walls of Su Jingming’s heart.
Su Jingming instinctively squeezed the Coke bottle, nearly deforming it. He lowered his head and pursed his lips. "Of course I would."
***
Just as the two returned to the dormitory, Su Qicheng called.
Su Jingming stood still, staring at the caller ID. He clicked his tongue and walked toward the far end of the long corridor outside the room.
The moment he picked up, Su Qicheng’s verbal abuse blasted through the line.
"Su Jingming, where the hell did you die off to? Do you think your wings are strong enough now that you don't have to come home? Are you out running wild all day?"
Su Jingming leaned against the wall, his eyes cold as he stared at the darkness outside the window. "I left a note. The school sent me to a math competition. I’m at a training camp right now."
Su Qicheng had seen the note, of course. He had drunk a bit too much today and wanted to come home to "show concern" for his son. He hadn't expected to be greeted by an empty house.
"A math competition? What’s the point of that? Your mother was a good student too, and she used to go to those competitions just to seduce men!" Su Qicheng let out a drunken hiccup on the other end, his tongue so heavy he could barely speak clearly. He continued, "You’re exactly like her. All you know is study, study, study. What’s the point of studying if you just end up a damn laborer? Do you really think you... Su Jingming... can ever amount to anything?"
It was common for Su Qicheng to be unreasonable when drunk. Su Jingming had long since grown accustomed to his foul mouth.
Years ago, Su Jingming’s mother, Cheng Hui, had left Su Qicheng because she felt he lacked ambition. Her dream family consisted of an ambitious husband and a high-achieving son.
Su Jingming had fulfilled his part.
Su Qicheng had not.
In the final balance of things, Cheng Hui chose to divorce Su Qicheng.
Su Jingming was eight years old that year.
He had almost forgotten what Cheng Hui looked like; he only remembered her saying: "Jingming, you must study hard. Once Mommy gets settled, I’ll come back to take you away."
Su Jingming had remembered that single sentence for nine whole years.
For the sake of that one sentence, he had been a "good boy" in solitude for nine years.
As a young child, Su Jingming had naively believed that being first in his class, being a model student, and collecting endless certificates was the path that would lead him back to his mother’s side.
Every time he called to report his grades, Cheng Hui would only offer a faint compliment. She never fulfilled her promise.
As time passed, Su Jingming understood that her words back then were nothing more than a way to comfort herself.
In the end, it was all an empty joy.
On the other end of the line, Su Qicheng grew tired of shouting. His hands were itching, and he smashed something unknown. The piercing sound of shattering glass pulled Su Jingming out of his memories.
Su Qicheng slumped onto the sofa clutching a wine bottle. His phone had already fallen to the floor, but he continued to curse incessantly. "Su Jingming, it’s all your fucking fault..."
"It’s all your fault... Fuck, if you weren't so damn 'excellent,' would that bitch have left?"
"Fuck, if it weren't for the fact that you're my son..."
"I would have beaten you to death long ago..."
Su Jingming had heard these words too many times—so many times he could recite them by heart.
Su Qicheng was uneducated, a crude man whose vocabulary for insults never rose above the gutter.
Su Jingming lowered his head, his thin frame leaning against the icy wall. It felt as though he could never warm this wall, just as he could never warm his own heart.
In a certain corner of his soul, the cold had made him feel suffocated too many times.
The voice on the other end gradually faded. Su Jingming’s finger hovered in the air, just about to hang up.
Suddenly, Su Qicheng let out a loud cry: "Jingming, Papa loves you!"
Su Jingming let out a cold laugh and hung up the phone with a sharp click.
He slowly slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.
Every time Su Qicheng finished punching and kicking him, he would look at him with pure hatred.
"Su Jingming, I’ve wanted to kill you for a long time."
Then, a moment later...
Su Qicheng would pull a wad of cash out of his wallet. "Papa loves you."
Whether it was Su Qicheng or Cheng Hui...
A long time ago, Su Jingming had stopped wanting their love.
He didn't know how long he sat on the floor until he heard footsteps nearby.
Su Jingming slowly turned his head. In the dim light, Wen Yan’s figure looked tall and straight. He knelt down, holding a Tiga action figure about the size of a palm.
"This fell out of your bag. Check if it's broken anywhere."
Lying in Wen Yan’s palm was the Tiga figure Su Jingming had brought from home.
Su Jingming stared silently at the figure, then suddenly asked a nonsensical question: "Don't you think I'm... sick?"
To be this old and still like these things, to be so *chuunibyou*.
Hearing this, Wen Yan looked puzzled. "Isn't it normal for a person to like things? Why should you care about what others think?"
Su Jingming thought about it and realized he was right. He didn't need to care about others' opinions; it was enough that he liked it.
***
The next day, 5:30 AM.
Wen Yan was already fully prepared, while Su Jingming was still dead to the world in bed. Wen Yan rested his chin on his hand, standing by Su Jingming’s bed and thinking for a long while. Finally, he took out his phone, opened his music player, and started playing *Miracle Again*.
Sure enough, there was some movement from the person on the bed.
However, the effect wasn't significant enough.
Wen Yan turned the volume to the maximum. Within seconds, Su Jingming bolted upright. "There is light in the world... there is light... there is light..."
He was in a daze, his eyes barely open.
Wen Yan turned off the music and stood by the bed. "Since there is light, get up quickly, or the light in the world will disappear!"
If you want to wake up a *chuunibyou* teenager, you have to be even more *chuunibyou* than him.
Wen Yan never imagined he would see the day where he would kindly wake a roommate by playing a "Good Morning" theme song.
By the time Su Jingming finished getting ready and came out, his eyes looked much clearer. He scratched his head. "Um... thanks."
*Thanks for using such a chuunibyou method to wake me up.*
Wen Yan gave a casual response, picked up his bag, and tossed a carton of milk to Su Jingming.
"Let's go. Class."
They were among the last to leave; most students had already reached the classroom.
At the base of the classroom building, as Su Jingming and Wen Yan climbed the stairs, they heard the people behind them talking.
"I don't know which idiot's dorm was blasting music so early in the morning. Scared me wide awake instantly."
"Me too. I haven't heard that song in years. For a second, I almost thought I was about to transform."
Su Jingming kept his head down, not daring to look at Wen Yan. It wasn't just the guys behind them who felt like they were about to transform; Su Jingming felt like he was about to transform and go save the world too.
It was truly too embarrassing.
Wen Yan suddenly leaned closer to Su Jingming and chuckled softly. "I don't know about being wide awake, but the Little Hero’s transformation is real."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 变身 | Transformation | Refers to the "henshin" or transformation of a superhero (like Ultraman). |
| 奇迹再现 | Miracle Again | The iconic Chinese opening theme song for Ultraman Tiga. |
| 中二 | Chuunibyou / Middle School Syndrome | A Japanese term used in Chinese to describe delusional or grandiose behavior, often involving fantasies of being a hero. |
| 小英雄 | Little Hero | Wen Yan's nickname for Su Jingming. |
| 迪迦奥特曼 | Ultraman Tiga | A popular Japanese tokusatsu hero. |
| 苏启成 | Su Qicheng | Su Jingming's father. |
| 程慧 | Cheng Hui | Su Jingming's mother. |
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