124. Write a Poem from the Title

Zhang Pa asked how it had been resolved.

Long Xiaole sighed. “The phone. The phone gave them away.”

“How did it give them away?” Zhang Pa asked casually. In truth, he did not care about the matter at all.

Long Xiaole said, “Some friends invited us to dinner, and a whole bunch of people went together. Those two went as well. Someone needed to make a call, but his phone happened to be dead, so he asked the guy who had been sleeping with other people’s girlfriends to lend him his phone... Anyway, that was how it happened. They were exposed, and the two of them started fighting in the restaurant. It wasn’t just that I could no longer be friends with them. That guy fell out with everyone at the table. He’s absurdly concerned about his reputation.”

“Anyway, it’s been dealt with. You don’t need to worry anymore,” Zhang Pa said.

Long Xiaole gave a quiet hum. “People... you can know someone’s face but not their heart. It’s hard.”

Zhang Pa told him to drink.

Long Xiaole gave a bitter smile. “There’s one more thing. My father wants me to take the civil-service examination.”

Zhang Pa froze for a moment. “Your father certainly has lofty ideas.”

“Yes, lofty ideas.” Long Xiaole sighed. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come back. The moment I got home, trouble started piling up.”

“If you have the chance to take the exam, then take it. I don’t even meet the eligibility requirements.”

Long Xiaole glanced at him. “You never went to college?”

“I’m over the age limit!” Zhang Pa replied, then added, “Could you show me just a little more respect?”

Long Xiaole laughed and said he would.

Worries varied from person to person. The troublesome affair that had tormented Long Xiaole was no problem at all for Zhang Pa. He would not even give it a second thought.

So although Long Xiaole was deeply depressed, Zhang Pa simply kept eating with cheerful abandon.

After dinner, they each went home, and another day passed.

Before long, Monday came again. Zhang Pa sent the editor two more opening chapters, each thirty thousand words long. After sending them, he reminded the editor not to wait several days, as last time, only to say that they had never arrived.

The editor replied quickly.

They had still been rejected.

Zhang Pa’s face turned green. He was miserable beyond words. How could this be happening?

According to his original plan, he would simply write, send the work off, and wait for the result without asking unnecessary questions.

Some questions truly were unnecessary. For instance, when a submission was rejected, there was no point asking why. Many people asked editors for the reason behind a rejection. Then, once the editor explained, they would argue and defend themselves, even claiming that the editor did not understand this or that...

They kept asking, and after asking, they argued. After asking, they refused to listen. All an editor could feel was irritation, and the whole exchange accomplished nothing.

The problem was that eight opening chapters had been rejected in succession. He had to know where the flaws lay. Zhang Pa cautiously asked whether, comparatively speaking, any of the eight openings had a chance of passing, and what problems needed to be corrected.

The editor’s reply was fairly simple. He listed a few general shortcomings and recommended several books for Zhang Pa to study.

Zhang Pa thanked him.

Then he began studying.

Just before the end of the workday, he received a call from the principal. He went to the office, where Principal Qin asked him with great seriousness, “Don’t you think it’s time for some barbecue?”

Zhang Pa felt once again that the principal was utterly unreliable. He rejected the suggestion outright, giving the principal no courtesy at all, and walked out.

At dismissal, he received a call from Fatty, who said he wanted to buy him a drink. The media company was almost ready, he said, and Zhang Pa could come take a look if he had the time. He also added, with his lecherous enthusiasm undiminished, that he had hired more than a dozen beautiful female employees and that the company was currently in its trial phase.

Zhang Pa simply said he was not going and hung up.

That was how people were. Some could be friends; others could not. Some people had a measuring line in their hearts, and crossing it meant trouble.

Zhang Pa’s measuring line was Wang Kun. Since they had chosen to stir up trouble alongside Wang Kun, and he could not persuade them otherwise, the only thing he could do was withdraw himself.

For Fatty, Zhang Pa’s abrupt hanging-up was an intolerably discourteous act. He sent a text message and cursed him thoroughly.

Let him curse. Zhang Pa could not be bothered to respond. His focus now was on writing an opening chapter. He had to produce one that was good enough.

Some editors said that when writing online fiction, prose style was not important. What mattered was the plot. Put simply, the story had to be entertaining.

By that standard, the first eight opening chapters Zhang Pa had written must all have failed to tell the opening story properly.

He had spent three days on the latest opening, yet had not reached thirty thousand words. In fact, he had sent it to the editor before it even reached twenty thousand.

The editor’s response was: “Fine. Let’s go with this one.”

It was a helpless sort of tone.

Zhang Pa stared at the sentence for a long time, then went to the website and opened the book for publication.

There was no need to dwell on the editor’s disappointment with the new opening. To Zhang Pa, the ninth opening was the best of them all. Others might be disappointed, but he could not afford to be. This was the only opening he could think of that might be signed. No matter how poor the story was, he had to continue writing it. He would finish it first, then worry about the rest.

For quite some time, his attention had been consumed by writing opening chapters, and the center of his work had shifted. Just as the ninth opening received approval, the school began its midterm examinations.

If it had been his old class, whether the students took the exam would have been completely irrelevant. Things were different now. Many students had been forced to make solemn pledges, such as promising to pass the midterms.

Before the midterm examinations, Miao Zili had called twice, still trying to buy the photographs.

On the day of the midterms, another fight broke out at school.

The cause was that a student wanted to cheat and asked a classmate for the answers. The classmate refused. As soon as the unsuccessful cheater left the examination room, he dragged his classmate to a corner of the school and beat him savagely.

It was a one-sided beating. The problem was that there were simply too many students who wanted to cheat. They had actually formed a small gang and surrounded the good student, all ganging up on him.

In truth, the boy being beaten was not particularly good at his studies either. He could barely fill in the entire paper, regardless of whether his answers were right or wrong.

Yet even that single examination paper had brought a mob down upon him.

It was a pity that the students belonged to another class. If the incident had happened in Class Eighteen, under Zhang Pa’s watch, perhaps he might have helped the boy get some justice.

That same day, while students from another class were bullying the good student, Principal Qin was speaking with Zhang Pa.

“I have some bad news,” the principal said. “The school is going to dismiss unqualified teachers.”

Zhang Pa immediately understood. “You mean me?”

“Your paperwork does not comply with procedure. Someone reported you.”

“What should I do, then?”

“Take a few days off for now. You’ll still receive your salary. I’ll think of a solution,” Principal Qin said.

Zhang Pa thought for a moment, then let out a soft sigh. “I took this teaching job, which has delayed my real work. Then, just when I finally managed to get one opening chapter accepted, I’m about to be dismissed.”

“You’re not being dismissed. You’re only taking temporary leave. I’ll think of something,” the principal said.

“I won’t make things difficult for you.” Zhang Pa rose and walked toward the door. “I’ll tell the students.”

The principal hurriedly stopped him. “I still suggest that you don’t. I’m afraid that once you tell them, they’ll start skipping school again.”

Zhang Pa considered it. “But if I stop coming day after day, they’ll notice. That will definitely cause problems.”

Principal Qin asked, “Could you pretend to come down with an illness?”

Zhang Pa stared at him for a moment, then laughed. “You really are an extraordinary schemer.”

Following the principal’s suggestion, Zhang Pa took leave under the pretext of recuperating from an illness. He even stopped supervising the remaining examinations.

After packing up his things, he rode his bicycle home. On the way, he received a call from Miao Zili.

“I was the one who arranged it.”

The sentence came without context. Zhang Pa thought for a moment before asking, “You arranged for me to be dismissed?”

“Yes. If you delete the photographs, I’ll give you two million. I’ll even help you become a permanent employee.”

“It’s only a few photographs. Is it really worth paying such a high price?” Zhang Pa asked.

“It is.”

“Then I definitely can’t give them to you...”

“You don’t care about your job?”

“I care about it. But not as much as you care about those photographs.”

Miao Zili laughed. “Fine.”

Then he hung up.

Today’s incident had been a test by Miao Zili. He could not use violence against Zhang Pa, nor could he cause trouble for Liu Xiaomei. Those were the boundaries. If he truly crossed them, Zhang Pa might well release the photographs in anger.

After careful consideration, Miao Zili had decided to force Zhang Pa into submission bit by bit.

It was a difficult task. If his methods were too mild, Zhang Pa would not care. If they were too harsh, Zhang Pa would release the photographs. To achieve his goal, he could only test the waters one step at a time.

First came the investigation: find out the man’s background, his origins, and what he cared about. Then devise a response based on that detailed information.

At present, Zhang Pa was essentially penniless. His only income was his teaching salary. Even so, he was not a formally employed teacher.

These days, it was difficult for new people to enter any government-funded institution, schools included. The government repeatedly demanded that organizations supported by public funds slim down. Zhang Pa was plainly someone who could be cut, so Miao Zili had found someone to carry out the deed.

Now that he had succeeded and Zhang Pa had lost his job, Miao Zili felt no sense of accomplishment whatsoever.

From a certain perspective, Miao Zili was playing with fire. Yet this was the most appropriate method.

The intimate photographs were like Zhang Pa’s trump card. They could only be used once. Miao Zili had to keep provoking him without actually making him furious, causing him to lose things little by little. After enough time had passed, Zhang Pa would discover that he had lost a great deal...

By then, perhaps he would want to gain a great deal in return. Or perhaps he would no longer wish to endure the torment and would agree to exchange the photographs.

As the old saying went, the poor did not fight the rich, and ordinary people did not contend with officials. Zhang Pa and Miao Zili stood on opposite sides entirely. They belonged to different social classes.

Now Miao Zili had begun making his moves, and he would continue stirring up trouble. Zhang Pa was somewhat troubled. How was he supposed to respond?

Why was he troubled?

Because of Liu Xiaomei.

If it had still been only him, he could have played along however he pleased. But things were different now. Before doing anything, he had to consider not only whether he could bear the consequences himself, but also what impact it might have on Liu Xiaomei.

Once a person cared, he became anxious about gains and losses.

Zhang Pa could not think of a solution.

In recent days, Liu Xiaomei had brought up resigning again. Her idea was to escape the trouble.

Zhang Pa disagreed. This was only the beginning. Perhaps there was a better way to resolve everything.

He soon returned to Happiness Lane. A truck was driving out ahead of him. Another family had moved away.

Watching the large truck pass, Zhang Pa found himself with one more problem to consider: Where would he live? And where would the Five Monkeys live?

The Five Monkeys were reciting answers. Zhang Pa returned to his room to put down his things, then came over to take a look and asked, “How did the exam go this morning?”

All five gave the same answer.

“I didn’t know anything. I basically didn’t know anything.”

That was normal. The study notes Zhang Pa had handed out covered first-grade material, while the school examinations tested third-grade questions.

“Read your books,” Zhang Pa said, then returned to his room.