My Mister Ostrich Chapter 7

 Origin of Flight Middle School
I’d rather walk to school than have you take me.

Origin of Flight is an old-fas.h.i.+oned middle school. It’s split into two sections, a junior high and high school. As per the the school district divisions, most of the students who graduate from Thirst for Knowledge Elementary will graduate into Origin of Flight Middle School. Other students will try to test into a private school, or they may pay the fees to study at a school outside their school district.

What Gu Guoxiang said was right. Origin of Flight was not rumored to be a very good school. The parents at the Golden Compound even called it a garbage middle school. There was a story that went around the compound. There were two boys who had similar (test) results, who graduated from elementary school at the same time. Boy A’s family paid a sponsors.h.i.+p fee so that he could study at a better junior high school. Boy B enrolled directly into Origin of Flight. In the third year of junior high, Boy A was a middling rank in his cla.s.s. But Boy B was always top five in his cla.s.s. Boy B’s parents were rather proud of that. They thought that Boy A’s family had put tens of thousands of dollars to waste.

When it was time for high school entrance exams, both boys performed as usual. Boy A easily into Excellence High. However, Boy B’s test scores were only enough to get into General High. Boy B’s parents were very surprised, so they went to ask the school about it. That’s when they found out that of the more than 40 students in the cla.s.s, only one of them tested into Excellence High.

Let me just make a comment about the high school names. (You’ll have seen Excellence High in the last chapter.) I’m not sure if they’re actual names, just like how the author names her cities using single letters from the Roman alphabet. They might not even be individual schools and instead, represent good, reputable schools versus mediocre ones. The names for the high schools are originally zhong (meaning weighty or serious, to represent a good school) and pu (I a.s.sume, for the word putong, which means ordinary). I’m just going with Excellence and General High whenever they’re mentioned.

From then on, Origin of Flight’s graduation (to a good school) rates became a topic of anxiety for many parents in the school district.

Although Pang Shuisheng knew that Pang Qian’s scores weren’t very good, he still held onto the possibility of a miracle. So he let her take the entrance exam for a private school. Gu Mingxi, along with a great bunch of their cla.s.s, also went for the test.

When Pang Qian was taking the exam, she felt like she was trying to read hieroglyphics. Those applied mathematics problems were just too scary. A storage pond had a water capacity of x.x.x. Inside, there were three water pipes, each piping in water at a different rate. That wasn’t all though. This storage pond also had three floor drains, each also with a different rate of draining. The pipes and drains were simultaneously piping in and draining out water. The question asked when the storage pond would be filled with water. Just reading the question made Pang Qian’s head dizzy. How was she supposed to come up with an answer?

Of course, she and most of her cla.s.smates did not pa.s.s the written exam. And Gu Mingxi was advanced to the interview portion.

This wasn’t the same school that Gu Guoxiang had made arrangements with previously. When the teachers saw Gu Mingxi’s empty sleeves hanging from his shoulders, and then saw his school record and written exam results in their hands, they were all stunned.

But the private school had their own rules for enrollment. They didn’t look only at test scores, but also considered other aspects of the students. This allowed the school to have a fuller, more comprehensive view of the student and their future prospects. Regarding Gu Mingxi’s situation, the recruitment officer offered a special explanation to Li Han. The recruiter said that they didn’t mind Gu Mingxi’s disability at all. But because each of their students were top-ranking at their previous elementary schools, this creates a strongly compet.i.tive atmosphere in their school. There was a lot of stress to do well in their studies. They (the school) were afraid that putting Gu Mingxi into such a compet.i.tive place would cause him a lot of difficulties.

Li Han only smiled and said, “I understand.”

Gu Mingxi returned home with his mom. The moment that Pang Qian saw him, she asked how the interview went.

Truth be told, Pang Qian’s feelings were a bit unclear. She wasn’t sure if she wanted Gu Mingxi to pa.s.s or not pa.s.s the interview. She didn’t expect for Gu Mingxi to think about the same thing and return this question to her.

“Do you want me to have pa.s.sed or not to have pa.s.sed?”

Pang Qian refused to answer, but kept asking, “Did you pa.s.s or not?”

“No,” Gu Mingxi laughed as he shook his head. “I don’t have arms. You know, it’s a lot of trouble for me to go to school.”

Pang Qian stared at his face, trying to figure out his feelings. After she was certain that he wasn’t at all unhappy, she finally sat down beside him and said, “Nonsense. How is it troublesome for you to go to school?”

Gu Mingxi smiled at her, without responding.

Actually, they both knew, it was rather troublesome for him to go to school.

We don’t even have to mention daily activities like eating, drinking, and going to the restroom. But talking about studies. Ordinary things like reading, writing, and drawing – Gu Mingxi could use his feet to do those things. But junior high and elementary school were completely different. There were a lot of cla.s.ses that required the use of your hands. For Gu Mingxi, this really was a difficulty. For example, chemistry experiments, physics experiments, dissection labs… Not to mention physical education cla.s.s, daily exercises, eyes exercises, being on duty, cleaning, the spring and autumn cla.s.s outings, and other school events. Because of the limitations of Gu Mingxi’s body, all of this would cause some difficulty for him.

Public schools are required to provide the nine years of compulsory education to all students. But private schools? Who would willingly bring in such a burden?

So, in the summer of 1997, Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian received their acceptance letters to Origin of Flight Middle School. Pang Shuisheng immediately went to determine the size of the desks at the school, and once again, asked the carpenter to build a new custom desk for Gu Mingxi.

By the recommendation of the elementary school teacher, Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian were, again, put into the same cla.s.s. Their head teacher, Teacher Cao, knew in advance about Gu Mingxi’s situation, and agreed to let Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi continue being deskmates.

The admission matters for the two kids were entirely taken care of by Li Han and Pang Shuisheng. Gu Guoxiang didn’t step in at all. He would just go to work every day with a sullen face, then get off work. When he pa.s.sed by Gu Mingxi, he didn’t even look at him.

Gu Mingxi still called him Dad. And when he met any difficulties, he would still search him out to ask for help. For example, if there was a bottle cap that was screwed too tightly, or if something was placed too high up. Even when he had to take care of his bowel movements, he would find his dad to help pull his pants down and wipe his b.u.t.t.

Each time, Gu Guoxiang would silently go to help, and when the task was complete, he would silently leave.

He knew he was behaving in an excessive manner. He was already a middle-aged man, but he acted this way toward his son. But every time he faced Gu Mingxi, Gu Guoxiang felt very depressed. He was afraid that if he spoke to his son, he wouldn’t be able to hold back his temper. Although Gu Mingxi hadn’t done anything wrong, Gu Guoxiang just couldn’t bear to see him. To see his appearance, to see the way he did things with his feet. And most, to see his (Mingxi’s) att.i.tude toward himself (Guoxiang) – always respectful, polite, but also estranged.

This situation was continued on for another month. One day, Gu Mingxi and Li Han were sitting together, eating watermelon. It was sliced up on the table. Gu Mingxi lowered his head and bit at the watermelon directly. He inevitably ended up covered in juice, and Li Han would occasionally help him wipe his mouth. He suddenly said something in a very calm tone.

He said, “Mom, you’re 39 years old. You and Dad should have another kid.”

That evening, Li Han closed the door to her room. Tears running down her face, near collapse, she and Gu Guoxiang seriously spoke about it. They weren’t young anymore. To bring up this topic after so many years, the atmosphere was really heavy.

Finally, they agreed that they would stop using contraceptives. Let things come as they will. If a baby really came, they would keep it and give birth.
—

Half a month before school started, Pang Shuisheng suddenly thought of a very serious problem.

Origin of Flight wasn’t close to the Golden Compound at all. How should Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi get to school?

Of the other students in the compound that went to Origin of Flight, most of them would ride their bikes to school. And a few would take the public bus.

But Gu Mingxi couldn’t ride a bike, and it wasn’t convenient to have him take the bus on his own. The only remaining option was to have Pang Qian ride the bus with him.

This, Pang Qian didn’t agree to.

When she graduated elementary school, her grandma gifted her an especially beautiful bicycle. 22 inches. Powder blue. She’d continually been thinking about riding her bike on the street, just like an adult. Now her dad was telling her she had to take the bus with Gu Mingxi. She was very, very, very unhappy!

From the Golden Compound to the bus stop, it was a 10 minute walk. Then they got after after four stops and then walked for another 5 minutes. It took a lot longer than riding the bike. Pang Qian threw a tantrum at her dad, “I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I want to ride my bike to school! I hate taking the bus! You get squeezed flat on there!”

Pang Shuisheng said, “Then what about Gu Mingxi?”

“…” Pang Qian didn’t have an answer. Finally, completely angry, she said, “I don’t care! Why does everything I do have to involve him?! So annoying!”

Pang Shuisheng couldn’t handle his daughter. She was already 12 years old. He couldn’t keep spanking her b.u.t.t. He went next door to find Li Han to discuss it. Gu Mingxi accidentally overheard them.

Gu Mingxi walked over to his mom and Gu Guoxiang. He said, “Mom, actually… I can learn to ride a bike. Then I can ride the bike together with Pang Qian to school.”

Li Han had a fright. “How can you ride a bike? How can you steer and brake?”

“Use my shoulders to steer. Actually, in the past, when Pang Pang was learning to ride the bike in the compound, I tried it too. I can ride it.” Gu Mingxi bent over and moved his shoulders to demonstrate. “Braking is a bit more troublesome. But if I ride slowly, it’s not a problem.”

“No way!” Li Han protested strongly. “The compound is the compound, and the street is the street. There are so many cars on the street. For you, riding a bike would really be too dangerous!”

Gu Mingxi didn’t pay any heed to Li Han’s words. Taking advantage of the time that his parents were working during summer break, he asked Zhu Huiqiang, who also lived in the compound, about borrowing a bike. Then he called Pang Qian and Zhu Huiqiang to practice riding every day.

Zhu Huiqiang’s bike was a male model. There was a bar in the front, which made it inconvenient to jump(?). He rode the bike, his body completely bent over, with his shoulders on the handlebars. He went round and round the flower garden in the compound.

He tried very hard to keep his head lifted to watch in front of him, but it was a struggle. And Pang Qian was at the side complaining, “Gu Mingxi, you’re riding too slow! It’s slower than a snail!”

Hearing her words, Gu Mingxi subconsciously accelerated his peddling. The bike did go faster, but it also became harder to steer. The front of the bike started shaking a lot, and he saw the wall approaching in front of him. Gu Mingxi had no way to brake, so he quickly stepped onto the ground with his feet. The rider and bike both fell to the ground.

Zhu Huiqiang and Pang Qian both ran over. Zhu Huiqiang was worried over his bike, and Pang Qian was naturally more worried about Gu Mingxi. She helped him stand up and brushed off the dust from his body. Angrily, she said, “Stop practicing! You can’t even ride in the compound, how can you ride on the streets?!”

Gu Mingxi didn’t say anything. He just twisted his neck and rubbed his right shoulder with his chin. His eyes looked down, stubbornly.

Pang Qian thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “How about I ride the bike and take you along to school?”

“No!” Gu Mingxi responded quickly. He was already 13 years old and was getting taller. His face also wasn’t as round as it used to be, with edges starting to show up.

His voice was also a bit different. It was a bit rough, not as crisp as it once was. Under the hot sun, his forehead and nose had some sweat droplets. Pang Qian also saw that above his lip, there was a thin layer of fine hair growing.

She asked, “Why not? I’m really strong, I can carry you.”

“I’d rather walk to school than have you take me.” Gu Mingxi bit his lower lip, and got back onto the bike to practice. As if he’d been wronged, he rode really fast, scaring Zhu Huiqiang, who chased after him.

Inevitably, he fell off. Again and again. In the end, Old Zeng at the gate couldn’t watch on anymore. He confiscated Zhu Huiqiang’s bike and sent the kids home.

When Pang Shuisheng got off work, Old Zeng stopped him and told him about the events that happened the past few days.

Although Pang Shuisheng wasn’t very cultures, he also wasn’t stupid. He thought all night long in bed. The next day, he kept drawing on the paper with his pen, kept pondering and pondering. Finally, he walked into Gu Guoxiang’s office.

Three days later, Gu Guoxiang handed a blueprint and some money to Pang Shuisheng. Pang Shuisheng took the money to buy a male model bike. He brought it back to the plant and put on his welding mask. He added some new equipment to the bike. At the front, he added stainless steel shelves (?) so that Gu Mingxi could steer without bending all the way down. On the front wheel, near the right pedal, he added (?) brakes, so that he could stop the bike with his foot.

When Pang Qiansheng brought the bike to Gu Mingxi, he was pleasantly surprised. He tried it out and went in a few circles, not falling off even once.

September 1st, the new semester started.

Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi rode their bikes together to school.

From the moment he walked into the school, Gu Mingxi received countless strange looks and people were whispering about him.

This was what he’d antic.i.p.ated, so he wasn’t at all unhappy about it. On the other hand, it was Pang Qian who stared back at the curious eyes.

When they were parking their bikes, Pang Qian ran into w.a.n.g Tingting. w.a.n.g Tingting was her good friend from elementary school. They were also put into the same cla.s.s in junior high. They were naturally very friendly with each other, whispering together along the way.

Gu Mingxi was carrying his backpack, with an even expression on his face. He walked up to Pang Qian and heard her suddenly shout out, “Really?!”

Gu Mingxi jumped in surprise. He turned to look at Pang Qian, whose face was red from excitement. She had her arm in w.a.n.g Tingting’s, and kept asking, “Really? You’re not lying to me? Didn’t Xie Yi pay the sponsor fees to go to Fifth Middle School? Why is he studying at Origin of Flight?!”

w.a.n.g Tingting said, “It’s true. My neighbor was Xie Yi’s cla.s.smate. He wasn’t willing to go to Fifth Middle, said it was too far away. He said that it didn’t matter where he went for junior high. In the future, he would still get into First High. Ah, look, Xie Yi…”

Pang Quan turned her head to look. The first thing she saw was a red bicycle. A youth was on the bike. Like a gust of wind, with a “shua” he pa.s.sed them.