Evening Stars Chapter 35 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 35.2
Xu Nanheng still had a bit of a fever. The last time he'd run one was months ago, on the way here, in a hotel in Golmud. He rarely got sick. Unlike those coddled rich kids, he'd grown up quite resilient and was brought up with the belief that a little dirt never hurt anyone. So having a fever twice in a row was unusual for him. He sat on the bed, zoning out for a moment, then got up. His legs felt weak as he stood. He poured a glass of water, and ate the Choco Pie.
By evening, the fever finally broke. Feeling light and refreshed, he stepped out of the small hospital and drew a deep breath of the clear air, or rather, the clear but not very high-oxygen air of the Southern Tibetan Plateau. Teacher Xu felt reborn.
Then he turned his head. “Dr. Fang!”
“Yeah.” Fang Shiyou thought to himself that the Xu Nanheng he knew was back.
He had originally thought that such a vigorous call meant he'd suddenly gotten the idea for them to go door-to-door and round up the students for self-study.
But Xu Nanheng said, “When we're old, we'll go fishing every day. Jishuitan, Qinghe Dam, Yongding River, all of them.”
Fang Shiyou paused for a moment, then smiled. “Alright.”
It snowed again on Monday, but not heavily. Xu Nanheng's voice was still hoarse from the fever, and the students noticed. The classroom was unusually quiet. No one whispered at the back.
After reviewing the homework, he started the new lesson. Since there was no digital screen, all the geometric figures had to be drawn on the blackboard by the teacher. He really missed that blackboard in Beijing, where he could drag and trace the shapes with his fingers.
Xu Nanheng sighed. His throat still felt rough, like a coarse pipe. The chalk he had bought in the county town was poor quality, breaking constantly and leaving a lot of dust as he wrote.
He turned and continued explaining auxiliary lines, which formulas applied in which situations, and the circumcircle of triangles.
This class was completely filled with homework review and new problems. When the bell rang for the end of class, Xu Nanheng didn't leave, and the students didn't dare to. “The Chinese teacher has an engagement and can't come to the first period this afternoon. She's going to the county town to report the number of students taking your high school entrance exam and to sort out accommodation, so I'll still teach the first period.”
Wangmo raised her hand.
“Speak.”
“Teacher Xu, the principal said we'll go herd the yaks during the first period this afternoon.”
“Huh?” Xu Nanheng looked puzzled. “When did they say that?”
“Yesterday at noon. You weren't there.”
“Oh……” Xu Nanheng had been lying in the hospital yesterday at noon. “Alright, I'll ask her later. You guys go ahead and eat first.”
The students packed up and walked toward the backyard cafeteria. Today, the meals were being prepared by Teacher Tsering and Teacher Dawa. Xu Nanheng looked around but couldn't find Sonam Tsomo, so he went to ask Tsering, “Hey, Teacher Tsering, what's this about herding yaks this afternoon?”
“Oh, you didn't know?” As Tsering pulled the last batch of twisted fritters, the smell hit Xu Nanheng in the face. “I think we forgot to tell you. Diki's family helps people raise yaks, right? Well, Diki's family went to the county town today, and there's no one to look after the yaks. All the neighbors also had to leave the village today, so we're all helping him herd the yaks together. We just need to take them to the other side of the pasture to graze, then drive them back later.”
“I see.” Xu Nanheng nodded.
After putting the twisted fritters into a basin, Teacher Dawa had finished melting the butter on his side and poured it into the ginseng fruits. The students from both classes sat properly at the long tables, seemingly very excited about helping Diki herd the yaks together that afternoon.
At that moment, Xu Nanheng raised an eyebrow. “I'm going too.”
Teacher Tsering looked surprised. “Can you…… ah, I mean, if the yaks run far, you have to chase them on horseback.”
Xu Nanheng looked at Teacher Tsering with a complex expression. It seemed he had truly become the fragile city-dweller. He bit down on his back teeth and said firmly, “I'm fine.”
The students all turned to look at Xu Nanheng almost in unison, their eyes filled with surprise. They probably didn't believe a city teacher could ride a horse.
But Xu Nanheng's next sentence crushed all hope.
“Isn't it the Chinese class? Then I'll have them recite poems while herding the yaks.” He had been looking at Teacher Tsering, then turned his head down toward the two rows of students at the long tables.
Instantly, all the light went out of their eyes.
City teachers were terrifying.
Diki's family had the yaks, while Lhamo's family had the horses and sheep. Thirty-plus people herding yaks wasn't really necessary, but seeing the kids' excitement, Xu Nanheng couldn't leave anyone behind in the classroom. That would have been inhumane.
His personal rule, which he had originally established for himself, was, ‘I'm here to teach, not to spread love.’ Now he had to revise it to ‘I'm here to teach, not to oppress.’
In the end, the group drove the yaks out of Diki's pen and toward the pasture behind the village. Lhamo's family brought out a dozen or so horses to graze as well. Some rode, some didn't. The local children, who had grown up around the animals, weren't that interested in riding anymore.
Xu Nanheng, however, was interested. But Lhamo was highly reluctant to allow the teacher on one of the horses. She was genuinely afraid. What if he got altitude sickness, fainted, and fell off?
So when they reached the pasture and Xu Nanheng asked Lhamo for a horse, she held onto the reins, pursing her lips.
“What's wrong?” Xu Nanheng asked, puzzled. “I can ride a horse.”
Lhamo shook her head firmly. “If you fall and get hurt, how am I supposed to explain it to Dr. Fang?”
“Lobsang Lhamo.” Xu Nanheng used the full name attack, hands on his hips, staring at her. “Is Fang Shiyou my dad?”
“Probably…… not?” Lhamo asked tentatively.
But what if he was? She didn't really understand city people.
In the end, Xu Nanheng finally managed to take a horse from Lhamo, and vaulted onto its back. Today, he was wearing a white, short, sporty down jacket and off-white suede sweatpants. With his narrow waist and long legs, Teacher Xu was an absolute sight to behold while sitting astride the black horse.
He was undeniably handsome, not just in face, but in posture and aura. Xu Nanheng possessed a kind of unrestrained elegance wherever he went. To him, the vast world was a place meant for freedom and joy.
And he felt free. Lhamo, stood nearby, watching her teacher with wide eyes. In her gaze, it seemed as though her horse wasn't carrying Xu Nanheng at all, but rather a large basket of eggs, ready to shatter at any moment.
The yaks often came here, stopping to graze. Xu Nanheng pulled the reins, nudged the horse with his calves, moved ahead of everyone, and called out loudly, “Come on, recite ‘Mooring at the Foot of Mount Beigu’ with me!”
“Ahhhh.” Some of the students who were playing around began to wail a prolonged, winding moan.
“What do you mean ‘ah’!” Xu Nanheng shouted. That was one thing the city and countryside shared. When trouble came, the first reaction was always a winding, drawn-out cry.
“Quickly, ‘Mooring at the Foot of Mount Beigu’ by Wang Wan.”
The pasture was mostly dry grass now, but that was how nature was all year round. Make do with what's available. Just a moment ago, the kids were playing a tug-of-war game with dried grass, probably to see whose grass was the toughest. They'd pull two strands from opposite ends to see which would cut through the other.
Now they had no choice but to begin reciting.
Reciting out here really meant reciting to the open sky, without even a textbook to sneak a peek at.
A group of students recited poetry while herding yaks, and the strikingly handsome math teacher sat on his horse, listening with downcast eyes, noting who stayed silent or stumbled over lines.
He truly hadn't expected Fang Shiyou to pass by here.
When he first heard the sound of an engine, he didn't give it much thought, assuming it was just a local villager driving past. Then, the vehicle honk its horn. Xu Nanheng turned his head, and with a swift, instinctive pull of the reins, the horse's front hooves lifted slightly as it wheeled around on the spot, facing the car.
Xu Nanheng laughed when he saw Fang Shiyou leaning on the car window.
“What a coincidence?” Xu Nanheng called out.
“I came to pick up a patient. There's an older woman in the village up ahead with troubled legs,” Fang Shiyou said. “And you? With such a big crowd, is this a class field trip?”
“Herding yaks,” Xu Nanheng replied.
On the withered grassland, Teacher Xu, dressed in white from head to toe, sat atop a black horse. This image reflected vividly in Fang Shiyou's eyes. He was dazzling, like a handful of snow atop the Southern Tibetan Plateau, so extraordinary that one could fairly call him peerless.
Fang Shiyou opened the car door, stepped out, and walked over. “You can ride a horse?”
Xu Nanheng beckoned him closer with a finger, then leaned down. “I'm a second-generation rich rich kid from Beijing. I've had horseback lessons.”
“Impressive,” Fang Shiyou nodded in approval.
The group of students had already progressed, now reciting ‘Pristine Sand under Heaven: Autumn Thoughts.’
Fang Shiyou listened, noting that everyone was reciting correctly. But on the horse, Xu Nanheng suddenly sat up straight, furrowed his brows, and called out, “Who recited ‘Withered vines, old trees, evening crows. Pack up, let's go home’?!”
(T/N: the original line is something like: small bridge, flowing stream, a person's home)
“He actually picked that out?” Fang Shiyou was amazed.
At the same time, all the students turned to look at Zhou Yang, Diki, and Dorje, the three students who had fallen to the very back of the group.
Xu Nanheng looked at them expressionlessly. “Come on, you three, walk next to me!”
“Teacher Xu's teaching style is getting more and more formidable,” Fang Shiyou teased.
Xu Nanheng didn't lower his eyes, keeping them on Fang Shiyou. “You have no idea. Even watching two wild Tibetan donkeys nudge their heads together gives me a headache now.”
Fang Shiyou chuckled. “Alright, you get busy. I'll go.”
“Go ahead.”
Fang Shiyou walked a few steps, then turned back to remind him, “Don't fall off, okay?”
“Tsk.” Xu Nanheng frowned.
At the same time, Lobsang Lhamo shot a look that clearly said, ‘See? I told you so.’