Evening Stars Chapter 13
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 13
Fang Shiyou paused for a moment, then almost laughed. “What are you thinking? How could that be possible?”
As he spoke, several policemen who had stopped to talk in the classroom hallway split up. Two headed toward Teacher Tsering's class, and the other two walked toward Xu Nanheng.
Xu Nanheng instinctively straightened his posture. One of the policemen shook his hand and briefly explained their purpose.
“Hello, teacher. We're from the border defense. Recently, we caught a group of criminals who were smuggling drugs across the border. We're here to do some anti-drug promotion to the students.”
“I see. Please, go ahead,” Xu Nanheng replied.
“Let's listen together,” Fang Shiyou said.
Xu Nanheng did plan to listen along, but suddenly turned to him. “But why are there so many doctors here?”
Xu Nanheng spotted Yang Gao, whom he had met on the first day he arrived, and waved at him in greeting.
“We're here for a free medical consultations,” Fang Shiyou said. “The hospital didn't have enough vehicles, and my car was borrowed for a trip to northern Tibet. Since the police cars were heading to the villages anyway, we hitched a ride.”
“Oh.” Xu Nanheng nodded.
The border police in Yunnan had dealt heavy blows to drug traffickers, but some criminals still managed to sneak across from India into the Southern Tibetan border. Xu Nanheng, who lived in Beijing, had only seen these things on the news and was experiencing it firsthand for the first time.
He was a little nervous, though mostly because two boys were being punished to stand at the back of the classroom.
Maybe it was because, back in Beijing, if teacher were a little stern with students, parents would write long social media posts criticizing them. They would immediately start questioning the society, and then expand the discussion to analyze how many different factors were actually contributing to depression among modern students. But here, when the police entered the classroom, they didn't even glance at anyone. They simply began handing out pamphlets, which the students passed around one by one.
Xu Nanheng received one too and read it carefully.
The anti-drug pamphlets in the border region were different from those in inland cities. They reminded him of the ones he'd seen as a child — photos of narcotics, distorted faces of addicts, infections caused by unsterile injections, and diseases spread through shared needles.
Perhaps because they had seen the police cars outside, the two teachers in the office on the third floor and Principal Sonam Tsomo also came downstairs. None of them seemed surprised by the visit. Sonam Tsomo first went to check on Teacher Tsering's class, then came to Xu Nanheng's Class 2.
She nodded in greeting to Fang Shiyou, then glanced into the classroom to confirm that Xu Nanheng wasn't frightened, giving him a gentle nod.
After the officers finished the anti-drug talk in both classrooms, they made their routine patrol around the building and finally called Xu Nanheng out to the open space in front of the school.
The reason was simple. Xu Nanheng was an outsider.
Sonam Tsomo seemed to have anticipated it. Before coming downstairs, she had already brought a copy of Xu Nanheng's volunteer teaching documents and handed them to the police for review.
“Teacher Xu came from a high school in Beijing as part of the school-to-school volunteer program,” Sonam Tsomo said. “Officer Tsewang, what's going on this time?”
Officer Tsewang flipped through the documents and said, “Ah, there's been a bit of trouble near the border. Hm? Teacher Xu, you don't have a ticket from Beijing?”
He looked up at Xu Nanheng as he spoke. Xu Nanheng's heart tightened slightly as he explained, “I drove here myself.”
“From Beijing?” Officer Tsewang looked at him.
“Yes.” Xu Nanheng nodded and patted his pocket. “Should I go upstairs to get my ID? I also have the toll receipts from the drive.”
Officer Tsewang smiled faintly. “That would be a help. Please bring them.”
Fang Shiyou realized that Officer Tsewang was somewhat wary of Xu Nanheng. He hesitated but said nothing. Being cautious was part of a police officer's duty, especially in anti-drug operations, where mistakes couldn't be afforded.
Xu Nanheng soon came back down with his ID card and border permit. Officer Tsewang took them, checked them briefly, and asked, “Do you have the highway toll receipts?”
“Yes, they're all in the car,” Xu Nanheng replied.
The two men looked at each other for a moment. Fang Shiyou cleared his throat and said, “Your car's at the hospital.”
“Oh, right!” Xu Nanheng suddenly remembered. “It's at the hospital!”
It was probably the first time in his life he had ever been questioned by the police. Fang Shiyou looked at him calmly, trying to steady him. That was the same trick he often used in the clinic. As long as the doctor stayed calm, the patient would feel there was nothing to worry about.
Sure enough, Xu Nanheng was indeed a little flustered, even though he knew perfectly well he had nothing to worry about.
He asked Sonam Tsomo to watch his class and followed behind the group of officers and doctors. Coincidentally, the doctors were also heading to the small hospital to deliver some medicine.
“Don't be nervous,” Fang Shiyou said.
Walking beside him, their shoulders brushed lightly. Xu Nanheng said in a low voice, “This is just a law-abiding citizen's basic attitude toward the police. I'm not nervous. I'm just being proper.”
“But you're about to push me off the road.”
“Oh, sorry,” Xu Nanheng said.
“It's fine. Officer Tsewang's just following protocol. The border area is a sensitive zone.”
Xu Nanheng nodded. “I understand.”
One of the officers walking behind Tsewang took a facial scanner from the police car as they entered the hospital grounds. Many parking spaces were empty now. Just as Fang Shiyou had said, hospital vehicles were in short supply. And because the roads between villages and towns in Tibet were so difficult to travel, cars with low clearance couldn't make it through. Xu Nanheng thought Fang Shiyou's pickup truck was perfect for driving around here.
And so was his own Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.
When Officer Tsewang saw his car, his eyes lit up. An off-road vehicle like this ought to be covered in mud and sand, and Xu Nanheng's car had quite a few scratches from the long drive, giving it a rather formidable appearance that matched the vehicle.
Xu Nanheng rummaged through his car and found several toll receipts. “Seems like some are missing. The road had been so bumpy, so they must have been shaken off somewhere.”
Officer Tsewang first checked his license plate through the system on his phone, then motioned for the other police officer to come over to do a facial scan of Xu Nanheng and verify his ID. Once everything matched, Officer Tsewang finally relaxed and said, “Sorry, teacher, for holding up your class.”
“No, no,” Xu Nanheng waved his hand. “It's fine. I'm happy to cooperate with your work. Do you need to run any more checks? I'm available for anything.”
Officer Tsewang: “……”
Fang Shiyou: “……”
The matter should have ended there, but Xu Nanheng, this law-abiding citizen from Beijing, took the idea of full cooperation a little too far and volunteered for a drug test. Normally, it was the police who initiated such a request when they had suspicions. After this round of screening, Xu Nanheng's documentation was complete, and Officer Tsewang was actually ready to pack up and head to the next village
But once he said that……
Officer Tsewang glanced at his colleague. After a brief, wordless exchange, he turned back to Xu Nanheng. “Uh, if you're willing to do a urine test…… then let's do one?”
“Sure,” Xu Nanheng said quickly, nodding several times. He really didn't know any better. He'd grown up being taught that cooperating fully in anti-drug efforts was a citizen's duty.
The urine test was quick. Xu Nanheng followed Officer Tsewang into the small hospital's restroom. Just as he unbuckled his belt, someone else walked in. Xu Nanheng immediately fastened it back up. “Dr. Fang.”
Fang Shiyou came in holding a sample cup. Seeing that Xu Nanheng was already about to start, he smiled and said, “Teacher Xu, without a sample cup…… where exactly were you planning to pee?”
“Oh, right, I forgot.” Xu Nanheng reached out and took it.
But Fang Shiyou didn't leave. He and Officer Tsewang stood on either side of him, watching.
Xu Nanheng was bewildered. “Dr. Fang, aren't you going to step out?”
“I have to watch you pee,” Fang Shiyou said, trying hard to keep a straight face. “It's like international anti-doping tests, Teacher Xu. I need to confirm it's really your sample.”
Xu Nanheng felt like crying. He almost ground the words out through his teeth, muttering, “It's just me and the officer here, where exactly would I get someone else's urine?”
“Protocol,” Fang Shiyou said casually. “There must be at least two people present.”
Beside them, Officer Tsewang asked, “You two know each other?”
Xu Nanheng turned his head and nodded miserably. For a moment, he even thought about asking the police for help.
Officer Tsewang chuckled. “No wonder. It's hard to pee when someone you know is watching.”
Xu Nanheng kept nodding.
Officer Tsewang said cheerfully, “Come on, just pretend he's not here. Close your eyes and go for it!”
“……” It was, in fact, a good advice. Xu Nanheng braced himself like a man facing execution, stopped looking at Fang Shiyou, and gritted his teeth to finish the test.
That said, pulling his pants back up was awkward. He only managed to zip them properly on the second try. Fang Shiyou watched the entire time. Xu Nanheng didn't dare meet his eyes, and he absolutely didn't want to know what kind of look he had on his face.
When he had entered the hospital, Xu Nanheng had been confident and upright. When he came out, his face was ashen.
That was the weakness of a well-bred young master from the capital. He'd been shy about such things since childhood. In junior and senior high, he had rarely used the restroom with classmates. By the time he got to university, as people became more aware of personal boundaries, he had even less experience with being watched while using the restroom.
All in all, the experience was quite a blow.
Several doctors were chatting in the hospital courtyard. The head nurse had brought out the medicines they needed for the medical service. The doctors checked the supplies carefully, counting them in pairs like nurses counting gauze in an operating room, then packed them into large bags.
Xu Nanheng took a steadying breath. Once he was outside, the awkwardness began to fade. He checked his watch. It was 10:15 in the morning. Principal Sonam Tsomo taught geography, physics, and chemistry. In about ten minutes, her class would be over. Xu Nanheng needed to head back, but first he wanted to say goodbye to Fang Shiyou.
“That's a lot,” a police officer said as he walked by and saw the doctors pack three large bags of medicine. “There's stuff in the trunk already, so they might not all fit.”
One of the doctors said, “Then we'll just carry them.”
The officer thought for a moment. “Carry them for six hours?”
“Six hours it is,” Fang Shiyou said. “We can take turns carrying them. It's fine.”
“You can use my car,” Xu Nanheng said. “I won't be needing it for a while.”
Fang Shiyou turned to look at him, then at the Mercedes-Benz. To be honest, he was reluctant. A three-million-yuan-plus 2022 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon driving on mountain trails and dirt roads? Every scratch on the paint would feel like a pity.
Xu Nanheng seemed to understand that look. He pulled out the car keys and said, “When Mercedes-Benz first designed the G-Wagon, it was designed for military use, specifically built to handle rough terrain. But then the Iranian royal family, who had placed the order, went through some internal upheaval, and the new royal regime refused to honor the purchase agreement. That's how the G-Wagon off-road vehicle ended up in the civilian market.”
He handed the keys to Fang Shiyou. “Just think of it as helping me take the dog for a walk. Drive it however you like.”
Fang Shiyou took the keys and said, “With a speech like that, I don't even know if I should call you Teacher Xu or CEO Xu.”
“Call me whatever you want,” Xu Nanheng said with an easy smile. “Anything works.”