Shanhai 1

Ji XingLing: Feeling so handsome at himself!

The thunderstorms had suddenly struck by the end of summer.

The damp fog had enveloped the whole of JinCheng. The cab driver parked his car at the entrance of the alley and pointed, “Run two steps from here, then turn around the corner, and you’ll reach the school rear gate. Hurry up ba.”

Outside, the rainstorm was still raging with “cracking” and falling, also spattering into the dirty muddy puddle below. When Lin Jing was looking out from the car window, he resolutely leaned back on the car seat. “I just saw a convenience store on YangShu Street. Could you please take me there? I like to buy an umbrella.”

“You need to make a detour to get there.” The cab driver responded kindly, “There is a grocery store in the alley where you can buy an umbrella.”

But Lin Jing has already refastened his seat belt. He was wearing a light yellow t-shirt, and with his trimmed textured black hair covering his forehead, he appeared extremely youthful and vigorous, also pampered. The only thing that was missing from his face was the word “mysophobia”. The cab driver had no choice but to turn the steering wheel and drive him again to buy an umbrella, which lasted more than half an hour, just by going back and forth.

“Aren’t you afraid of being late ah?” the driver asked while he was returning his change.

“The class won’t start till tomorrow.” Lin Jing opened the car door. “I came over today to complete the school transfer procedures.”

ShanHai High School was a provincial key school. If you were able to transfer to this school halfway, it was because either you were excelled in academic performance or had a prestigious family background, in which Lin Jing belonged to the former one. His original high school was no worse than ShanHai. This time, it was all because of his parents’ job transfer that he had to transfer his second year to this high school.

A strong gust of wind had blown toward him, and Lin Jing frowned at his pants legs which had gotten primarily wet. Just when he was going to take shelter under the eaves, he accidentally pushed open a half-covered wooden door.

It was a grocery store.

The shop’s interior was dimly lit, and it can be passed as an antique hereditary house by changing the sign. A group of juvenile delinquents were smoking, and when they heard the wind chime at the door, they all looked back in sync.

 Lin Jing didn’t spare a glance anywhere, not even to the Shamate¹¹, as he opened the cold drink cabinet. The young scoundrels ignored him and continued to gather together to discuss how to “give Ji XingLing a lesson” and carried out a series of illegal steps such as who bought hemp rope, who put on sack, who sap, and who extorted. Detailed the division of labor and ignored the innocent bystanders who were shopping at the scene. After Lin Jing scanned the QR code and paid, he was going to dial 110 as he turned and walked out. However, someone had bumped into him head-on that made him staggered and almost fell into the mud.

“Boss, run! Ji XingLing is here!”

The other party screamed with trembling, without the joy of “the kidnapping target had walked right into a trap”. Lin Jing held firmly onto the door frame, and when he raised his head again, those scoundrels had rushed out of the grocery store. They were running and disappearing into the alley as if they were fleeing for their lives.

The fat boss of the grocery store was not surprised, shaking the fan in his hand and using his eyes to signal Lin Jing that it was already okay. At this time, the rain had eased off, as another group of people came from around the corner. The young man on the lead, who had his one hand put inside his pants pocket, also casually hung a school uniform over his shoulder, had his short hair slightly damp from the rain, which became a little messy, and revealed a pair of gleaming eyes. He was tall and lean with two long legs. The little brother, who was in charge of holding the umbrella by his side, had to run with him, asked breathlessly, “Brother Xing, are we going to skip class and go to the Internet cafe?”

With a lollipop dangled from his lips, the boy indifferently asked him, “Even if you don’t go to the Internet cafe, can you understand the math lecture?”

The umbrella boy looked terrified. No, he was sure that he wouldn’t understand.

It was better to play games rather than try to understand math lessons.

A group of people was noisily walking out. Lin Jing hesitated for a moment before calling out, “Ji XingLing.”

The other party stopped and looked at him hesitantly. “Do we know each other?”

“No, we don’t.” Lin Jing put his words in order. “But just now there was a group of unemployed youth who had planned to kidnap you here.”

“puff.”

“…”

When most people heard that they were about to be kidnapped, even if they hadn’t panicked, they should at least feel nervous about it. Lin Jing couldn’t understand what the other party’s scoffing puff was doing. Still, anyway, he had already fulfilled the obligation to notify. He didn’t want to have an in-depth conversation with this laggard in front of him who he had known with just a glance that his six subject tests were only getting 300 as a total score, so he once again opened up the umbrella and hurried to go to the school.

The moment he brushed past him, Ji XingLing suddenly smelled a very faint fragrance on his body, which was clear and clean, like the misty mountains and forests in late spring and early summer.

The person next to him felt puzzled. “Brother Xing, what are you dumbfounded about?”

“It’s nothing.” Ji XingLing regained his senses and continued to move on, but then he saw a small silver card with a fuzzy pattern engraved on it. It looked like an elementary school student’s cheap five yuan toy, which was blown away by the wind into a sewer.

Ji XingLing quickly stepped on it with his foot and looked back again.

It was coincidentally that Lin Jing had turned around at that very moment. Initially, he was just wondering if the grocery store owner would remind the other party again. Unexpectedly his sight had bumped right into a pair of eyes. Amidst the fine rain drizzles in the mist, their gazes locked on each other. When Ji XingLing was about to open his mouth to call him back, Lin Jing had already taken two steps back and was rushing into the distance.

Ji Xingling, “…”

What were you running for? Weren’t you know that you lost your monster ID card? 

“Brother Xing, hurry up! The car has arrived!” a group of people shouted at the alley.

“I’m coming.” Ji XingLing picked up the card and stuffed it into the wallet. Another ID card was inserted there, shining with black metal light, and it looked a bit more advanced than an ordinary monster’s ID card. It belonged to Ji XingLing’s identification card. He was a young Qilin^{2 2}who was about to reach adulthood, the majestic kind of monster.

But at present, this kind of prestige was limited only to showing oneself in the mirror. The identity of monsters cannot be disclosed casually; otherwise, it will cause social panic. Therefore, even if the number of monsters in this city has constantly been swelling year after year, some experts even predict that in 50 years from now, there will be an explosion in the human population… no, demon population, everyone was carefully safeguarded each other’s identity, and no one will take the initiative to enthusiastically advertise it. In fact, my whole family was not human.

Ji XingLing, who was sitting inside the cab, was still thinking about the monster ID card that he just picked up. According to the code, the other party should be a plant, and the plant’s birthplace was generally in a sparsely populated mountain forest, that commonly known as a remote area, which can explain why he can’t even lose the monster ID card – it might be because he had not experienced life. Of course, he might don’t even know how many cumbersome procedures that he had to go through and how expensive it was to reapply for a new ID card in a big city.

Maybe he didn’t even know where the Monster Management Committee was. Young Master Ji shook his head while he was thinking about it.

Lin Jing currently wasn’t aware that he had been imagined as a poor country monster who just had entered the city for the first time, and he was still busy filling out various information paperwork. The teacher in charge of class 2-1 was named Wang HongYu. He dressed in a blue shirt that is quite popular among middle-aged male teachers, and when he smiled, his eyes slit into a thin line. The colleague next to him quipped, “Look at how happy Mr. Wang, that our school has arrived a progeny that is showing great promise.”

“Of course I’m happy.” Wang HongYu sealed the information kit away and said to Lin Jing with a bright smile, “Your former homeroom teacher and I are old classmates. He even specifically gave me a call to have a good chat about this matter. Come on. I will first give you a tour to familiarize you with the campus environment.”

As a provincial key point, the equipment facilities of ShanHai High School are certainly top-notch, but because it was raining, Wang HongYu only took him around the teaching building. The after class bell had just rung, several girls were chatting about seeing Teacher Wang and their new classmate in the corridor just now.

“That boy is so handsome ah!”

“I heard that he ranked first place in NingCheng Third Grade Junior High School!”

“We met him when we participated in the English competition last year, and even the class president had taken a photo with him.”

The class president of class 2-1 was called Wei Xue. He was reading the English test papers when everyone came to ask questions. He lazily supported his cheeks, “Yes, I took a photo with him. If you want to see it, thirty for one time, and if you need to cut me out from the picture, and only look at handsome guys, add fifty more.”

A group of girls were laughing and protesting, and were even condemning the class president for not showing beneficence toward people. The boys hadn’t had much interest in Lin Jing. At most, they only caused an uproar at the current first rank in their grade, and were lamenting in unison that brother Li wouldn’t be able to maintain his position for long. Upon seeing this, the math teacher, who came in with a stack of workbooks, knocked on the podium. “Why are you all gathered around Li MoYuan? Was it because you know that next week’s exam will be difficult, so you are all trying to curry favor with president Li in advance?”

Once said, the students were immediately wailed. Not only they weren’t in the mood to make any more trouble, but each of them had also sat back honestly in their seats to prepare for class. Wei Xue had found the photo that he took with Lin Jing and initiatively pass it over to Li MoYuan, “Yo, Xueba³³, come and take a look at the rival you are about to face.”

The teenager on the screen narrows his eyes into a bright smile like the sunny sun in May. Li MoYuan was spinning his pen, and just when he was about to express some opinions, the math teacher coughed twice on the podium — good students always received preferential treatment, for example as now. Although the no.1 in our grade was still looking at his mobile phone just before the class, the teacher wasn’t willing to reprimand him too much. And the same preferential treatment was also applied to Lin Jing. Wang HongYu not only accompanied him through all the tedious formalities, but also fully kept repeating three or four times “If you have any difficulties, please find a teacher”, only just after that then he saw the person off onto the cab. Then he hummed a short piece of a song while he was on his way back to the office.

The rain had stopped.

In the meantime, Doctor Lin had called his son to inquire about the situation of his new school.

“The school environment is nice, and the teachers are also good. Uncle Liu is going to work today, so I didn’t let him drop me off.” Lin Jing had given a detailed report, “I just went to the bookstore for a while to spend some time, and I am going to eat now, how about you and mom ne?”

“I haven’t got off work yet, and there are two surgeries to do.” Doctor Lin was wiping his hands dry. “Your Uncle Liu also just called. In the next six months, your mother and I won’t be in JinCheng, so you have to take good care of yourself.”

“Don’t worry ba.” Lin Jing saw that there was a Haidilao on the street side, and signaled to the driver to pull over. When you come to Jincheng, you should have a hot pot first. The waiter warmly approached him. When he saw that he was eating alone, he also deliberately carried a giant stuffed animal to accompany him.

So when Ji XingLing entered the store, at a glance, he saw Lin Jing was eating a hot pot with a giant panda sitting opposite him in the left corner. The table was littered with so many empty plates, while the pot was still gurgling and boiling. Boys of this age are still in the period of growth, and in addition, Lin Jing has been hungry all day long, so it was pretty normal that the food intake has doubled. But in the eyes of young master Ji, how should I say ne, a little country monster, who has never eaten good things, had wolfed down his food, also let’s not forget that on the opposite side he was arranging one… Maybe he needed a childhood playmate with him so that he could boost his courage? Just like that, a hint of compassion filled Ji XingLing while his mind was imagining all of it.

Ji XingLing had two accomplices who skipped class with him. The name of the previous umbrella holder was Ge Hao, and the one who was currently scrolling through the menu was Yu YiZhou. Yu YiZhou raised his foot to the opposite side and kicked him, “Brother Xing, what are you thinking ne, why is your expression so complicated?”

Ji XingLing leaned back on the leather sofa and swiped his phone, ”So nosy, go order your dishes.”

The sea wave app icon is the representation of “Shan Hai Yi Wen”, this editorial department was located opposite of the Monster Management Committee. There were many push notifications for the news feed every day. The political version “The Long Wang^{4 4} and XieZhi⁵⁵ met cordially to jointly further the judicial reform of the East China Sea”; the sports version “The Tortoise participated in a marathon and crawled out up to 50 meters in half a month”; the popular science version “Why was the mysterious snake coil on the tree? Only because it didn’t want to wear long johns” … This app covers all aspects of life and was very popular among the monsters.

And the one Ji XingLing was looking at was a piece of social news. Recently, there was a monster that snuck out from YanZi Mountain. Because he didn’t receive any systematic instruction in human society, he had caused a lot of trouble. He was finally sent to a refuge by the police as a homeless man. For this reason, the chairman of the Monster Management Committee solemnly appeals to all parents to do a good job of generalizing relevant knowledge before their children are in school, to maintain social stability jointly, and seek the harmonious development of the humans and monsters.

The chairman of this session of the Monster Management Committee was an adult Qilin, Mr. Ji Minglang. As being his only son, Ji XingLing felt it was necessary to remind the careless little monster at the following table to not get into trouble in the future, because this is not only directly related to the performance appraisal of Monster Management Committee, but also directly related to Ji MingLang’s feeling. Moreover, it was also directly associated with Ji XingLing’s quality of life, as well as the amount of his pocket money.

Lin Jing stared at the duck intestines inside the pot in high concentration for a few seconds.

Ji XingLing sat opposite him while pressed the panda plushies into the corner.

Lin Jing was slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of the truant, guessing that he probably wanted to ask about the kidnapping matter. So he voluntarily described, “The groups of people are wearing green school uniforms, but I don’t know which school it is. There is a surveillance camera outside the grocery store that the police can use to investigate and monitor.”

Ji XingLing asked him point-blank, “Where did you come from?”

Lin Jing was confused when being asked, “…Ning Cheng, what’s the matter?”

NingCheng. Ji XingLing promptly swift through his memory what towering mountains and steep ridges were there, but sadly there’s nothing to recall — when you needed to use that geographical information and then regretted that you only know a little bit, so he could only vaguely hum, “On the mountain?”

The duck intestines in the pot were already boiled down into rubber bands. The only thing Lin Jing wanted whole heartedly was to get rid of this person quickly, so he perfunctorily answered, “uh-huh.”

Ji XingLing asked again, “Are you rich?”

What does this have to do with you? Lin Jing increased his vigilance, “No.”

Ji XingLing sighed deeply after hearing this. See that. I knew that you were poor.

Seeing the other party’s regret after failing to extort, Lin Jing unlocked the phone under the table and began to record for evidence calmly.

Ji XingLing didn’t realize that everything he said so far would become a testimony in court, and continued to question, “How do you go home without money?”

“Take the bus.”

“Then do you know what to drop into that plastic box when you take the bus?”

The question was rather roundabout. Lin Jing, from his peripheral vision, scanned the plate of nuts on the table and blurted out, “Chinese chestnut.”

The sympathy in Ji XingLing’s eyes was almost overflowing. These years, there are still monster villages that use chestnuts as currency for circulation?

How primitive ah!

He stood up, “Wait for me.”

Lin Jing promised that, and after he went far away, he immediately packed his school bags and left. Who knew that Ji XingLing had come back so fast — in fact, he only went to the cashier. So when the escape attempt had failed, Lin Jing could only sit back and picked up the chopsticks to fish in the pot again.

Ji XingLing put two coins of one yuan on his table, “When taking the bus, dropped this into the box.”

Then he took and put another five of a hundred yuan bills, “When you buy something, use this to pay.”

And a book, “Study well.”

Lastly was a silver-white card. “Here’s your identification. Please don’t lose it again. Otherwise, there will be trouble.”

After saying all of this, Ji XingLing who had shoved his hand into his pocket, was feeling very handsome at himself, and returned to the next booth seating, while giving no chance to the little country monster to bawl and shed grateful tears.

Lin Jing was at a loss and didn’t understand what kind of magical trend is this. In the end, he had no choice but to roughly summarized as “Xuezha⁶⁶ group heard that he had excellence academic performance, so they attempted to used the money to bribed to conveniently cheating in the future exams.”, as for the silver card was probably to displayed the symbol of Mr. Ji’s delinquent gang second-grade junior high status, and as for the book… The cover was impressively printed with the words “Take You into the Trendy City”.

This country bumpkin book title was actually the product of the hard work of the Monster Editorial Committee, because there were always careless monsters who will lose everything, so you can’t use the name “The Handbook of Monster Survival” as a title, which can cause the human race to feel uneasy. As for the content, of course, the kind and good-natured migrant worker Xiao Zhang was used to refer to the monsters, and with the detailed introduction of the series of fundamental survival issues such as what an elevator is, how to cross the street, and how to apply for a bus card, etc… This huge and thick book was originally a tool for Ji XingLing’s fight. The effect of this book, when loaded into a school bag and swung around, was comparable to bricks, and now it finally had put to good use.

Lin Jing was closing the book silently, and with mixed feelings thinking that this boy must have a screw loose.

TOC || Next

1. ¹Shamate (杀马特shāmǎtè) – Chinese subculture of young urban migrants, usually of low education, with exaggerated hairstyles, heavy make-up, flamboyant costumes, piercings, etc. The word derived from the English word smart, means fashionable.

2. ²Qilin (麒麟 qílín) – also known as Kylin, Kirin, or the Chinese Unicorn. A divine and auspicious beast, sometimes described as looking like a hybrid of a dragon and a deer or horse. Known for its great wisdom, nobility, benevolence, and magical powers. 

   Qilin is sometimes translated as “Unicorn”, but it’s different from Western Unicorns. However, they’re similar in that they’re both good and “pure” creatures. Also, Qilin horns and Unicorn horns are both considered to be very rare and magical.

3. ³Xueba (学霸xué bà) – In popular Chinese language, especially in Internet Chinese language, we use the word “学霸” (literally meaning “academic overlord”) to refer to someone who does very well in his/her study and who always achieve high grades in exams. The equivalent is straight A student or top student. It is used for students who always get high grades (to get straight A’s). Derogatory alternatives are grind (US slang) and swot (BR slang).

4. ⁴Dragon King (龙王 lóng wáng) – the supreme Chinese Dragon. An extraordinarily powerful water and weather deity. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas (四海龙王) are said to be its incarnations. 
5. ⁵XieZhi (獬豸 xièzhì) – a mythical beast somewhat similar to the Qilin, but with only a single horn on its head. The Xiezhi symbolizes justice and can magically distinguish between good and evil, truth and lies, the innocent and the guilty. When faced with a wicked person, it will gore them with its horn and then devour them. 
6. ⁶Xuezha (学渣 xué zhā) – is the opposite of “学霸(xué bà).” It is a phrase that generally refers to students who do not show interest in studying and who never brush up before exams. We call them “study slackers,” but usually the word doesn’t actually contain any derogatory meaning in Chinese. The features of a “学渣,” according to netizens, include skipping classes often, always sitting in the back rows and scoring poorly in exams.