The Night Breeze Whispers Your Name

10. The Biggest Reward

After the incident, Annoying changed drastically.

Although he acted as a responsible and respectful student as usual, he was no longer his bubbly self. His smile disappeared for good and his gaze hardened. He also stopped paying attention to the other pests though he kept stealing furtive glances towards me now-and-then. I guessed he wanted to apologise again for his words or maybe wanted to ask about the baozi he found under his blanket. As I was better alone, I didn't encourage him and getting the signal, he didn't approach me.

Like that, five days passed and my calmness and stable success bothered the others, bringing them together against me...

That day started like usual. The old guy III came up with another 'fantastic' idea and made us sit in two lines, me and Annoying on the first row. Then he gave each of us a piece of thick smooth wood to be held above our heads, and placed a walnut on the woods. He wanted us to sit still so that the walnut wouldn't fall.

Fantastic, isn't it? What a way to teach balance and stamina!

And as if it wasn't boring already, he said if we couldn't hold at least three incense sticks of time, he would punish us.

Normally, the task was a piece of cake, but I didn't take the pests behind me into account. As a result, I failed to catch the walnut when Angry threw something and hit my walnut.

"Hong Huo! I can't believe you couldn't even last for an incense stick of time!"

As there was no use arguing it wasn't my fault, I threw the wood aside and stood up while planning my revenge on the giggling back row. "What is the punishment?" I asked with a daring glare and I felt the old guy III was intimidated by my red eye. Good.

"Write 'discipline is the way to success' a hundred times," he ordered, trying not to make me angry.

Well, how could he know that I would prefer to build a wall rather than writing? Why? Because I didn't know how to write... Nobody taught me or helped me to learn, and I lost my ambition before long. As I would rather die than to reveal I was illiterate, I continued to stand there in silence, trying to come up with a logical excuse.

With perfect timing, before I opened my mouth, a low thud was heard and an object hit lightly to my boot. Tilting my head downwards, I saw it was a walnut.

"Sorry, Shifu, I couldn't hold it any longer," Annoying apologised as he lowered the wood. Although he looked apologetic, I had a feeling he did it on purpose. But why?

"Such weaklings!" the old guy III shook his head with disappointment, "same punishment, Lu Mu Ning, get lost from my sight."

"Yes, Shifu," Annoying bowed and we went to the second building in the garden where they kept the books, paper and ink.

As soon as I closed the door behind us, I turned my face towards Annoying with a frown. "Why did you do that?" I asked coldly.

Annoying didn't seem to be intimidated. He looked me in the eye, unafraid, and asked "don't you know how to write?"

I was taken aback as he saw through my behaviour so accurately. Normally, I would attack anyone who blurted out my weaknesses, but as there was no underlying mockery in his tone, I kept my cool.

"So what?" I snorted, my gaze on the book shelves as if I could read the titles of the books.

"Nothing," Annoying gave me a sad smile, "you seem to have a hard childhood," he said with the same sadness lacing his words.

Suddenly I was six years old again. Unwanted and hated. No one ever sympathised with me for the hardship I was forced to endure, so hearing Annoying's caring words brought out all those negative emotions that I believed I curbed inside a dark corner.

Why was he doing it to me? What was his motivation?

Probably my face reflected the terrors of my thoughts because Annoying mustered a smile and patted the cushion next to him. "Sit, I will teach you how to write the sentence," he said softly.

I continued to stand with a suspicious expression, "why did you drop the walnut?" I asked all-knowingly.

He just shrugged, "let's say I am paying my debt," he said and patted the cushion one more time, signaling me to sit.

I sighed with irritation, but did what he said nonetheless. Then Annoying forwarded me a piece of yellow paper and brush. Although I tried to look nonchalant, my heart was beating hard inside my chest with excitement. Oh my, how many times I dreamed about brushing a few lines and forming a coherent word... how many times I wished to know how to read so that I could have a remedy for my lonely life...

Now, my wish was about to be granted, even if partially. With avid eyes, I watched Annoying to put paper weights on both sides of the wide paper before grabbing his brush and dipping it into the ink, then he waited for me to do the same. Once I was done, he held his sleeve with his left hand and brushed the brush on the paper carefully and I did the same. Repeating the action again and again while Annoying explaining the character when we finished it, we wrote 'discipline is the way to success'.

"Not bad for the first time," Annoying complimented, looking at my paper.

I knew he was just being nice as my sentence was scribbled and highly ugly, but still, I was over the clouds and so proud. So proud that I barely managed to rip my eyes from the paper.

"Thank you," I heard myself saying, my cold demeanour evaporating as genuine gratitude took place in my cold heart.

As those two words combination was eminently strange for my mouth, Annoying was flabbergasted. He looked at me blankly for a second before a sincere smile appeared on his thin lips. "You are welcome, now let's continue," he said blithely and we continued with our punishment which was the biggest reward for me.