Chapter 11: None of the three of us are as handsome as me!

Yin Xiuzhu smiled and said, “That’s not how you use ‘virtuous.'”

Qi Mu asked while removing his clothes, “Then how should it be used?”

Yin Xiuzhu found two pairs of swim trunks, tilted his head, and thought for a moment. “The dictionary defines it as—having a gentle attitude, being kind and obedient, sensible, and skillful.”

“Then I’m right,” Qi Mu cheerfully counted on his fingers. “Look at you, you’re gentle, kind, sensible, and skillful!”

Yin Xiuzhu was taken aback.

“I’m not wrong, am I? You have such a good temper, you never get angry, you wash handkerchiefs so cleanly, and you even prepared swim trunks for me…” The more Qi Mu spoke, the more he felt Yin Xiuzhu was truly wonderful and virtuous.

Yin Xiuzhu felt a warm sensation in his heart, like being stuffed with a hot roasted sweet potato—sweet but slightly scorching. He lowered his gaze, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and he said softly, “That’s not it.”

“Hmm?” Qi Mu didn’t hear clearly.

Yin Xiuzhu’s voice became even softer as if he were speaking to his own heart, “I’m only like this for you.”

Qi Mu leaned closer and asked, “Speak up, I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

Yin Xiuzhu shook his head and said, “It’s nothing.”

He couldn’t say it out loud. He knew it was wrong. How could a person be so selfish? How could his heart be so small that it could only hold one person?

Qi Mu didn’t like narrow-minded people.

Qi Mu didn’t press further. He noticed Yin Xiuzhu seemed a bit down and comforted him, “Alright, if you don’t like it, I won’t say it again.”

Yin Xiuzhu hurriedly said, “It’s not that I don’t like it.”
“Then… do you like it?”

Yin Xiuzhu: “…”

Qi Mu scratched the back of his head, puzzled. Sometimes he felt Yin Xiuzhu was a lot like his mom, treating him especially well, but what he said always left him and his dad completely bewildered.

At this moment, Qi Mu caught a glimpse of Xu Xiaoming from the corner of his eye. Xu Xiaoming was struggling to change into his swim trunks, looking constipated, and thinking: What kind of conversation is this? What’s all this about being virtuous or not? Playing house?

“Xu Xiaoming, what are you mumbling about?” Qi Mu called out loudly.

Xu Xiaoming was startled. He hadn’t realized he’d mumbled his thoughts out loud. Fortunately, he was far enough away that Qi Mu didn’t hear him.

“I said…” Xu Xiaoming quickly thought on his feet, “Yin Xiuzhu really has a good memory.”

Qi Mu, intrigued, walked over and asked, “What do you mean?”

Xu Xiaoming, driven by his survival instinct, responded, “He even remembers things from the dictionary.”
“Oh, that’s true,” Qi Mu’s eyes lit up. He let Xu Xiaoming off the hook and turned to Yin Xiuzhu, “Have you memorized the entire dictionary?”

Yin Xiuzhu shook his head. “I just happened to have seen it before.”
Qi Mu was even more amazed, “You remembered it just by seeing it?”

Yin Xiuzhu never considered it a big deal. He nodded.

Qi Mu’s face brightened with joy. He slung his arm over Yin Xiuzhu’s shoulder and said, “That’s impressive!”

Yin Xiuzhu thought to himself: What’s so impressive about that? The gap between him and Qi Mu was too vast.

Qi Mu said, “You won’t believe this, but the only words I know in the Chinese dictionary are ‘Chinese.’ I rely on context for the rest.”

Yin Xiuzhu couldn’t help but laugh at his remark.

Xu Xiaoming, always perceptive, joined in to support, saying, “Yin Xiuzhu is really smart. He understands everything the teacher says after just one explanation.”

Qi Mu enjoyed hearing this and signaled for him to continue.

Xu Xiaoming, making things up as he went along, managed to flatter Qi Mu immensely, causing him to be overjoyed. “Xiaoming, you really take care of Yin Xiuzhu.”

Xu Xiaoming responded, “Of course, we’re classmates. How could I not look out for him?”

Qi Mu said, “I’ll bring you some chocolate tomorrow.”

Who wants to eat chocolate!! Xu Xiaoming quickly said, “Look at that bug… can we let it live?”

Qi Mu replied, “That’s a separate matter. Tonight you eat the bug, tomorrow you eat chocolate. It’s not a big deal.”

Xu Xiaoming thought It was a big deal! Mom, I want to transfer schools, QAQ!

The swimming lesson felt like a dumpling-making session. Most kids had learned to swim after graduating from kindergarten; it wasn’t difficult, taking only a dozen or so lessons. The elementary school’s swimming classes were mainly for giving kids a chance to exercise.

Qi Mu, however, didn’t get in the water. Yin Xiuzhu said, “You don’t have to stay with me, go play.”

Qi Mu lounged on a sun chair, without any intention of moving. “There’s nothing fun to do.”

Yin Xiuzhu said, “The coach won’t be happy.”

Qi Mu replied, “Who cares? I don’t want to drink pee.” With over twenty little kids floating around in the water, who knows how many of them have peed in it?

Yin Xiuzhu’s eyes were full of laughter, his mood brighter than the midday sun.

Qi Mu could swim, and he loved swimming.

Qi Dashan grew up in a seaside fishing village. Even though he had moved to a big city and become a successful man, his love for the water remained strong and was passed down to Qi Mu.

When Qi Mu was three, Qi Dashan threw him into the water to see how he’d react.

Qi Mu was fearless. A little water was no match for him. It didn’t take long for him to master dog-paddling. Qi Dashan was very proud and boasted to his wife, only to be met with a good scolding—he was supposed to play with the child, not risk his life!

After that, Qi Dashan was “grounded” and lost his privilege to go to the pool, but Qi Mu had already fallen in love with swimming. As soon as he took off his clothes, he would jump into the water. Qiao Jin decided to find him a proper coach.

After just two lessons, the coach gently suggested, “Actually, it’s not recommended for children under six to learn swimming.”

Qiao Jin, picking up on the hint, asked, “Is Mu Mu being naughty?”

The coach quickly replied, “No, no, no, the child is very smart…” How could he tell such a beautiful lady that her son had put a bug in his swim trunks, causing him to jump three feet high and frantically strip, leaving the nearby nanny shocked and unable to open her eyes?

Though the coach refused to continue, Qi Mu had already picked up the basics. With Qi Dashan’s deep love for the sea, the family often visited islands, and Qi Mu’s swimming skills became increasingly impressive, far surpassing his peers.

However, whenever Yin Xiuzhu was around, Qi Mu usually stayed out of the water.

Yin Xiuzhu couldn’t swim. During a summer water activity in kindergarten, Yin Xiuzhu merely stepped into a pool barely waist-deep and turned pale, convulsing as if he were about to faint. The teachers, frightened, rushed him to the hospital, where tests revealed nothing physically wrong—it was a psychological issue.

Psychological problems were hard to solve. The teachers reported the situation to his family, but his mother ignored it, and Yin Zhenggong showed no concern either, so the issue was left unresolved.

Because his reaction had been so terrifying, the kindergarten kids began to distance themselves from him, thinking he was abnormal.

Little children didn’t understand psychological fears. They had, however, heard of rabies, which not only makes people afraid of water but also causes them to bite others.

Actually, Yin Xiuzhu wasn’t afraid of water; he just couldn’t tolerate it rising above his waist.

Because of this, Yin Xiuzhu always sat on the sidelines during swimming lessons.

The coach once asked Qi Mu why he didn’t swim, and Qi Mu bluntly replied, “Coach, I can’t swim.”

The coach said, “No problem, we can teach you.”

Qi Mu said, “I don’t want to learn.”

The coach, still trying to figure him out, gently explained the fun of swimming for quite a while before finally asking, “Why don’t you want to learn?”

Qi Mu, concise as ever, replied, “Lazy.”

The coach thought, “If it weren’t for the surveillance cameras, I’d really want to kick him into the water!”

After the coach left, Yin Xiuzhu whispered, “You really don’t need to stay with me. I can sit here by myself.”

Qi Mu lay down flat, saying, “In the middle of the day, what’s the point of swimming? I’d rather take a nap.”

Yin Xiuzhu wanted to say more, but Qi Mu had already closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

After a moment’s pause, Yin Xiuzhu changed the topic. “I can’t get in the water, but when you take me to the seaside, I also…”

Qi Mu suddenly flipped over and sat up, “Who told you the seaside only has the sea?”

Yin Xiuzhu was slightly taken aback, “What else is there?”

Qi Mu said, “There’s also a chocolate-colored me!”

Yin Xiuzhu blinked, unable to follow his train of thought.

Qi Mu, both smug and annoyed, was eager to share, “I worked so hard to get a tan like chocolate, but after three days at home, I turned pale again. When you and I go out to play, I’ll get tanned again for you to see.”

Yin Xiuzhu understood, “Sunbathing?”

“Yeah, it’s super cool.”

Yin Xiuzhu smiled again. He had smiled more today than in the past month, “Yes, definitely very cool.”

First and second grade in elementary school always seemed to pass quickly, as if the days were filled with classes, homework, and wandering around.

At this time, the curriculum was simple, and the grades didn’t differ much, with most students scoring close to full marks.

Even though Qi Mu never scored a perfect 100, a 96 was still quite good. That scribbled math test was still hanging in Comrade Lao Qi’s office, proudly displayed to visitors—”Look, my son’s work, and if you round up, it’s a perfect score!”

Over two years, including midterms and finals, there were many exams. Whether it was Chinese, math, or English, Yin Xiuzhu always scored perfect marks.

Guorui Elementary School was a bilingual school that placed a strong emphasis on English education, with serious exams starting from the first grade. The exam requirements were also very strict.

Generally, getting perfect scores in both Chinese and math was easy, but scoring a perfect mark in English was quite difficult.

However, Yin Xiuzhu never scored below 100 on any exam, whether it was a major test or a homework assignment.

Although this was impressive, it wasn’t entirely surprising, given that the first and second-grade curriculum was simple, and a bit of effort could easily yield good grades.

It wasn’t until they entered the third grade that the students began to show clear differences in their academic performance.

For instance, Yin Xiuzhu still easily achieved perfect scores in all three subjects.

Meanwhile, Qi Mu scored a 71 in Chinese, the lowest in the entire school.

Qiao Jin looked at the test paper, feeling overwhelmed, “Qi Mu! Come here!”

Qi Mu, who turned into a little lamb at home, timidly approached his mother.

Qiao Jin pointed at the test paper and asked, “What on earth did you write?” It was a supplementary sentence question: “Three people walk together, ______.”

Qi Mu’s handwriting almost burst through the lines, and the content made people laugh out loud — “Three people walk together, none are as handsome as me.”

Qiao Jin twisted his ear, “Three people walk together, none are as handsome as you? Huh? None are as handsome as you??”

Qi Mu still felt guilty, “I can’t remember clearly, but it seems there was a ‘handsome’ (帅) character in there.”

“That was the ‘teacher’ (师) character, ‘Three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher!'”

Qi Dashan, being blindly optimistic on the side, said, “Well, you scored seventy-one, which is quite a lot.” He often didn’t even pass tests back in the day.

Qiao Jin shot him a sharp glance.

Qi Dashan promptly scrammed.