Chapter 8 : The Teacher and The Mountain Children

Subsequently, village chief Bianglae ordered that the bamboo beds be continued to be carried to extend the area of activity, in order that the officers present, apart from Captain Phupha, Dr Wasan and Yod, could also sit down. The other two were scouts or volunteers, they were probably from the area. No wonder they seemed so close to the village, probably because they spoke the same language.

As for Captain Phupha, who has been based at Phirapun for many years and has lived with the locals for a long time and has become close to them, he is almost considered to be part of the place. It is not surprising, therefore, that the people of the village also refer to him as the elder, Tan performs the ritual of tying the rope.

And as Yod had just told Tian on the sly, it was thanks to Captain Phupha, the Akha in the village had the opportunity to learn Thai until they could read and write, so that when doing business with the city people, they would not be as gullible as before.

When the school was first established four years ago, many villagers came to learn. As soon as there was good knowledge, the progressive young people went to work in the city. Although the captain himself began to wonder whether he was doing the right thing or the wrong thing, he almost wanted to disband the project many times, but he couldn't do that to the poor children who were eager to learn."

"Wouldn't it be nice to work in the city? The more money he earns, the better off he is. Tian asked in disbelief.

Yod turned around, smiling like a man of the world: "If all the young people go out, leaving only the old and the children behind, can it still be called a 'village'? The school was set up to provide education to people far from prosperity. So that the new generation can help develop their own homes without being cheated by capitalists or middlemen, because at least they can still communicate in Thai "and they might come back soon." Tian gives a slightly more optimistic view.

"It's easier to make money than by farming, who would want to come back?" The reply was not from Yod, it was from someone with a reputation for conversation there. The city lights are pretty but scary, the forest dwellers won't indulge." Captain Phupha looked deep into Tian's long, light brown eyes.

"And I've never seen a city dweller who could bear to live in a forest without the glamour of paper money."

The words seem straightforward, causing Tian to dodge his gaze at the local delicacies prepared by the village chief's wife.

In the bamboo tray, there is a delicious looking meal, whole roast chicken, vegetable soup with chillies in water, rice, sticky rice, nothing that looks too strange to eat.

"My wife has prepared this meal especially for you, the chilli sauce is not too spicy, try it."

Chief Bianglae brought a plate of vegetable soup with chilli dipping water to the important guest of the evening. Tian remains still, as if he is thinking about something. He took the most familiar vegetable slice, then dips it into a chilli sauce that looks like spaghetti sauce and tastes similar, as Tian chews deliciously and speaks.

"It's delicious but how did the village elder know I couldn't eat spicy food?"

Bianglae blurted out before he could finish his sentence." when his low voice interrupts the conversation.

"Akha food has a bunch of hot chillies in it, can a city dweller like you eat it?" Phupha turned to the old man and asked his opinion. "Is that right? Khama."

"Yes, if you're not used to spicy food, it can be very uncomfortable for your stomach," Bianglae replied bluntly, forgetting what he had just said.

"Then Nong Tian will have some roast chicken and beer." said the medic as he slurred the basin and hugged Tian tightly, then held up the open can of beer "I had my men go into town early this morning and buy this. Just the smell of the fermented yeast was mouth-watering, Tian had to swallow and refused to drink in a tone of great regret: "I can't drink."

"Are you kidding me? "Wasan looked at the man in his arms in confusion, he didn't look like a kid who was comfortable with his studies, or had he misjudged him?

"I'm not joking. I'm allergic to alcohol. Drinking alcohol can cause hives and choke. Tian laughed heartily, even as he grabbed the sticky rice and shoved it into his mouth. Because Phupha was staring at him like a god of death.

"Dr Nam, you've had enough, don't drink too much, you can't drink as much as you want to. Phupha pushed hard on his friend's arm which was firmly glued to his thin shoulder but perhaps a little too hard, the drunken doctor grinned crookedly while resting his head on the strong shoulder.

"Why is your head spinning?" Wasan's face was white and red, it looked unspeakably attractive in the flickering light.

Captain Phupha immediately shook his head, a soft smile at the corners of his mouth, a smile that seemed to be tinged with concern and a hint of boredom. Tian happened to look up and saw this and was dumbfounded, his chicken leg almost flew out of his mouth.

Oh my God, gay! Brokeback Mountain!

Finally, Tian erased the horrific imagery from his mind. Captain Phupha pushed the head of his drunk and unconscious friend off Yod and kept cursing.

"Who bought you that beer? I'll set him up later and show him what discipline is all about.

Dr Wasan couldn't take it anymore, he jumped to sleep right then and there but Phupha was really worried because he had to drag the drunk back to the base of operations before the party was over. Tian watched as the tall man opened his mouth to say something but when the two figures disappeared into the darkness, he still didn't say anything.

They had made an appointment, Tian pursed his lips into a straight line, feeling extremely angry. He lifts his bowl and takes a sip of the fresh soup to quench his anger, as if in sarcasm. But it made Bianglae's wife laugh and the village elder clap his hands in delight, thinking that Tian was pleased with the variety of food prepared.

Tian had eaten so much that his stomach was bursting, he looked down at his watch, it was exactly 9pm. When he looked around, he saw that the villagers had gone back to bed, as they had to wake up early the next day to go into the fields before the rooster crowed, leaving the old men sitting around drinking wine and chatting.

Yod and the other two scouts were crouching drunk on the ground. He didn't know how to help, so he left it alone, leaving it to the village to help. Tian said goodbye to the village chief of Bianglae in Thai, although he didn't understand much and Tian walked quietly out of the cultural square.

The Akha community is not so large and complex that Tian cannot find his way back to his dormitory. He walked along the intermittently lit path by torches until he saw the roof of the hut he lives in. As Tian turned the corner and crossed the rows of other people's houses, he stopped in his tracks, his own house was actually lit up, who would dare to enter his house without his permission in the heat of the moment, so Tian forgot to think that if a burglar had actually broken into his hut, he himself might be in danger. Tian quickly climbs up the stairs of the house and then slams open the door and is dumbfounded by what he saw inside.

The intruder, kneeling in front of a steam light slowly turned his head.

'Man, Captain' stammered Tian until Phupha frowned, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"I put petrol in. You should know, you can turn the light off if you don't need it." The captain demonstrates how to turn off the light, not paying any attention to whether the other man is listening.

Tian felt that he can't control the corners of his smile now, so he raised his hands to his face two or three times to clear his head and then asked softly: "How did you get here?"

"On a motorbike."

It was short and straightforward as usual but now Tian didn't feel bad at all." Aren't you already back at the base with Dr Nam?"

Captain Phupha was silent for a moment and then his short reply made Tian's heart skip a beat." I have promised you."

"What about Dr Nam?"

"He's drunk, in his room vomiting." Phupha said irritably, "Are you worried about him?"

Tian said with a sly grin, "You're the one who's worried." Worried enough to say. Captain Phupha deliberates on what to say to the troublemaking lad and then says: "You think I'll break the deal, don't you?"

Tian's face flushed red when he is told what he wants to say and he snarls loudly in annoyance: "Hey! I didn't! You know with your toes that's not possible!"

At the sight of Tian's outburst, Phupha shook his head, muttering: "Boy, boy Tian feels so shy, he almost wanted to dig a hole and run away. He quickly changed the subject, so he wouldn't be on the wrong side of the questioning.

"You said you were going to teach me how to make a mosquito net, how do I do it?" Phupha stood up, quickly walked over and pulled on the loose netting rope and said: "It's easy, just pull on the rope and tie it tightly around the four corners." He waited for Tian to try it himself but he didn't move at all.

"I'll make another mess later, it's too old, wish I could get it all right."

"Does that mean I have to do it?" He asked. But he didn't expect to hear Tian's nodding reply.

Phupha let out a long sigh with a stern face he said, "If you want to sleep, put the mosquito net under the bed, so that the mosquitoes don't get in".

"Are you blind? This hole is bigger than a mosquito. Tian complains softly until Phupha turns around.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing--" Tian hastily waved his hand in denial: "And how do I do that?"

Phupha looked at Tian with suspicion but went on to explain: "When you wake up, you lift up the mosquito net and put it on top, so it doesn't make a mess of the area." After that, he placed the off-white mosquito net on top of the square.

"If I put the mosquito net down and stuff it under the mattress, it's like keeping the mosquitoes inside."

"What's so difficult about that, you take a swing and kill them with your clothes." Phupha took the quilt and flicked it in the air, then drops the four corners of the net and tucks the end of the net under the mattress." You tuck in three corners first, if you're going to sleep, tuck in the remaining corner, open it when you have to, so there aren't a lot of holes"

Soldiers are really well organised! Just like his father who retired and still saw his father's quilt sitting tofu-like at the end of his bed every morning, Tian blows his mouth off in recognition of Phupha's achievements.

"Thank you, you've done a great job of helping me with the mosquito netting, I will go to the backyard to wash up and the water is full." Tian emphasises the last words, telling him that he knows everything from the village chief.

Captain Phupha realised that he has been tricked into doing this and that by this naughty boy, in retaliation for having tricked him into bathing in a distant waterfall and Tian hums a song as he walked away.

Phupha's cold, handsome face was contorted to the point of contortion with a grin and clenched teeth, like an asura. He clenches his fist, if he hadn't been afraid of the fragile floor of the hut, he would have punched through it!

Finally, it's the first day of work for the volunteer teachers, the village chief of Bianglae arrives at 7am with his lunchbox to find Tian still in the same clothes as last night Tian Yu smiled, not that he hasn't tried to take a shower. But the water in the jar was so cold, so cold that his hands and feet froze. In the end he had to wash his face and brush his teeth and call it a day.

"It's very cold here." Tian said, avoiding embarrassment.

"It won't be long before you get used to it, teacher. Next month will be colder than this."

"Will it be colder than this? Tian looked unbearable. Usually when he bathes at home, he has to turn on the water heater. But there's not even electricity to install it here, how many days can he last?

"Some years the coldest it gets is minus Celsius, teacher." Bianglae deliberately scared Tian, who is afraid of the cold.

"What do people do here? Don't they bathe?"

The village chief laughed: "If they don't bathe, they will stink to death. We boil water for bathing, there is also a cooker in the basement of the teacher's dormitory."

"I've seen it but I wouldn't use it--" confessed Tian.

"Don't worry, I'll ask Captain Phupha himself to come and teach the teacher."

Hearing the name of the tall officer, Tian immediately gets nervous: "Why should I tell him? The village chief himself can teach me."

"I see that the captain is taking good care of the teacher, so I don't want to take the role." Bianglae replied humorously but this made Tian's white smooth face turn red again, he felt annoyed, he didn't want to continue the conversation, he hurriedly reached for the steaming rice and put all the vegetables together in his mouth, not afraid to burn his tongue.

The village chief of Bianglae took Tian to the site of a small school, attended by children from both Phabandao and nearby villages who have come to study and they have to walk about a kilometre over a high cliff to get there.

They had been walking for some time, when suddenly Tian heard a loud national anthem with a distinct accent coming from far away and saw a rectangular flag flying over a thick bush, which suddenly made Tian stop and stare at it.

The Thai flag, a pale piece of old cloth, indicating that it has been used for a long time, slowly moves up to the top of the pole, which consists of a simple bamboo pole and pulleys.

It is commonplace but how many people will know its true meaning.

Our ancestors loved this land very much, Teacher." Without the land of Thailand, we would be homeless, a nation of wanderers, forever stateless and unprotected," said Bianglae, seeing the other man standing motionless, approaching with a proud expression.

This could be called... A different world.

Students from primary to secondary school are forced to stand in the courtyard every morning in the hot sun and sing the national anthem. Tian wants to complain about all the rules and regulations that make school-age life so difficult.

Tian has never been so emotional or interested and even plans to take the flag down and hide it with his friends but people in remote areas are happy once they can sing this Thai song.

"Let's go, the children are waiting to see you. There are many people here today." Phabandao, the village chief, pats the bony back and tells him to move on.

Even though it was called a school, it was far from the school Tian had imagined. The only wooden hut was made of grass-covered bamboo, it was surrounded on three sides by bamboo and several openings had been drilled for windows to let in the sunlight. The remaining side is closed and has a small blackboard, the floor is covered with straw mats, there are nearly ten rough wooden tables inside but no chairs, they must sit cross-legged on the floor to study.

Outside in front of the flagpole the children stand in straight rows, along with the two scouts they met last night, all eyes are fixed on the new teacher. When Tian saw these innocent eyes filled with sparks of hope, he was so nervous, he had to turn and run to Bianglae.

"Emm, Uncle Village chief, you said there were a lot of children but I can't count them to twenty.

"Emm, teacher. That's a lot. These children have to help their parents with their work, sometimes less than five people come to study."

Tian nodded, while following the village chief at the flagpole. Bianglae makes an announcement in the Akha dialect, which Tian does not understand but it seems to be about his arrival. Then the children ran into the school and sat down neatly.

"Let's go in."

Bianglae led Tian in front of a blackboard with chalk on it and books on a cupboard next to it.

"Teacher, please introduce yourself." The Village chief turned to Tian who is next to him.

Tian whispers: "I only speak Thai language."

"These children can understand, some of them speak fluently, especially the older one." said Bianglae, pointing to the boy sitting at the back of the room. A visual estimate, he must be no more than 15 years old.

Tian raised his hand and rubbed his neck, he felt his throat was too dry to speak. He hadn't thought of saying he was a teacher in both mind and body but now he was asking others to call him teacher instead?

"Phii... emm, it's Teacher Tian from Bangkok, say hello."

A mixture of children's voices saying 'hello, hello' rang out and it made Tian feel a strange swelling in his chest.

"Let's introduce ourselves to the teacher too." At this point, Bianglae speaks in Thai. The Akha children begin to introduce themselves by their names, both in authentic Thai language and in their traditional dialect.

The village headman later told him that this was because some of the children's parents were working in the city and wanted the children to have Thai names on their birth certificates.

"Teacher Tian, I'll leave you to it then. The normal dismissal time is 3pm. But if the teacher wants to do something special after that, she can make an appointment with the children, it's perfectly OK."

The village chief smiles and encourages the new volunteer teacher, it seems to be the first lesson and waves goodbye and leaves the place, Tian on the ground floor, alone, in front of a dozen pairs of curious eyes.

"Eergh..." He doesn't know where to start. Writing the consonant alphabet on the blackboard? Can't write it!

Who remembers this?!

After a wide-eyed stare, a clear girl's voice sounds.

"Is Mr. Tian' a crayon?" (the Thai word for Tian is similar to crayon)

Tian, standing motionless in front of the room, thought for a moment and replied, "No." he didn't know how to explain. He turned to write on the blackboard with chalk but this is no longer used in Bangkok schools today, the slender hand holding the white chalk slowly wrote Thai words on the blackboard, as if it had never been used before.

"Tian." is written like this, meaning sage.

"What is sage?"

"Sage means a learned man." He tried to make it easier for them to understand by using short words but it seemed to be a chicken-and-egg conversation.

"So why not crayons?"

Tian really wanted to wave his flag in surrender "A pen is a crayon."

"Teacher Crayon!", The other children who had been listening carefully but also with a slight smile, called out "What are we going to learn on a cold day?"

It felt like the children are already getting to know their new teacher, hence the question: what are we going to learn? Tian couldn't go on immediately, he remembered what Saengthong Foundation head teacher Winai had said, the children here are of different ages, so it's quite difficult to prepare a lesson that covers all the students." Where did the previous teachers go? It's a really difficult problem. But the students were all scrambling to answer and Tian felt dizzy, so he put his hands up to stop them.

"How about this tomorrow, bring the previous teacher's workbook to my brother... eergh. Show it to the teacher."

When the children nodded in agreement, Tian was relieved, at least the day had passed. He looked around, this is for reference only and found that in the glass case where the books were kept, there were many picture books and crayons and he had an idea.

"Well, it's only our first day together, the teacher wants to get to know everyone better." He called the different age groups together and then tore up the white paper and put the drawing tools in the middle and handed them out.

"The teacher wants everyone to draw a picture of their family and give it to the teacher, whoever finishes can go home first, see you tomorrow."

Is that all? You can see it in the eyes of the Akha children who look at the teacher in confusion but everyone agrees.

Tian saw the children intently colouring in the paper as instructed and then slowly withdrawing from the circle. He sat exhausted on the edge of a wide window at waist level.

The cool breeze from the cliff helps to blow away the sticky sweat on his forehead, while the calm begins to be mixed with panic.

Outside two scouts have been walking around in circles, as if on this high mountain and at any moment the rebels will come rushing in.

Tian passed the time sitting and walking around for about an hour, then a boy came up to him and nudged him. He immediately remembered that the boy's name was Ayi, fourteen years old and that he was the oldest student in the class.

"I've come to hand in my homework, Teacher." The boy spoke in a fairly standard Thai. The boy has probably been studying with a volunteer teacher since the school was founded.

"Thank you, thank you...", Tian took the paper and saw a picture of a curved mountain with the sun in the middle, a house in the left corner and a family shaking hands in the right corner. In addition to the cartoon character wearing the Akha's patterned woven suit, Tian also saw a male officer in military uniform and a woman in a long dress with flowers pinned to her ears.

"Who is this man?" Tian asked curiously, pointing to the soldier in the painting.

Captain Phupha."

"Why is he in this painting?"

"My father said that the captain has helped us a lot, the captain is a member of our family." the little boy replied sincerely.

"What about this girl?" said Tian, pointing to another person in the picture who did not match.

"Torfan..." The young woman's name coming out of Ayi's mouth made Tian vaguely remember, in Torfan's diary it was noted that during Phabandao, she had been looking after the Akha children, so they were called Phupha: Captain and Torfan, Ada (Dad) and Ania "Mom".

"Miss Torfan?" I don't know what prompted Tian to ask, when he saw those innocent eyes, he felt very sad. Don't people here know that Phii Torfan can't come back to this world?

Ayi nodded, "Yes! But she promised us she would come back soon."

The little boy's answer made the atmosphere more and more condensed. This wait is a wait without a miracle, Tian subconsciously raised his hand to touch his left pectoral area where Torfan could have returned but the "heart." has disappeared.

"Teacher... Mr. Crayon!" shouted the girl who had given him a messy name, the small, thin body ran quickly to him." I've finished it--" she handed it to Tian with a proud, rough hand and Tian frowned when he saw that the girl had drawn the exact same cartoon character as Av.

He deliberately asked, "Who are the people in this?"

"Mizu." she pointed to herself, then to the older boy next to her, Phii Ayi." Then to the others, "Dad, Mum, Captain Phupha and Teacher Torfan."

In fact, they are brother and sister. Tian now looked at everyone in the village and they all look so much alike and they are so close, that he would believe them if they said they were all related." Ayi, Mizu, you can go home after you've handed in your homework, see you tomorrow."

Mizu smiled happily. She turned to her brother and spoke in the local dialect. Ayi shyly bids the new teacher a fond farewell, then he takes his sister's hand and leaves. Some thirteen or fourteen more children came to Tian with their drawings and by this time it was late afternoon.

"It's all over so soon, teacher. A scout poked his head into the classroom where there is no one in sight.

Tian smiled dryly, how can he tell him he's not ready to teach anything yet?" The official teaching starts tomorrow but does this school have to be guarded by soldiers?" he asked, puzzled.

The young soldier said after a moment's silence: "This is a border area, there is no place which is safe."

The answer was indeed spot on, leaving Tian with nothing to say. Tian put his drawing paper together, then took his textbook out of the bookcase. He follows the two scouts out of the small school, they offer to drop Tian off at home and then say goodbye to him, before they head back to their base of operations a few kilometres away.

Tian pushed open the makeshift bamboo toilet with his hands, no matter how disgusted he is, he can't resist his body's need, he has to go in and make do. After finishing, Tian jumps out, taking a deep breath of fresh air. He had to hold his breath to ease the pain when he went to the toilet, it was torture!

Tian as he walked back to the house, he was intending to grab a towel and go to the clay pots at the back to take a shower, as it is a warm afternoon. But when Tian saw a tall figure in camouflage trousers and a khaki collared T-shirt, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, he saw Phupha was bending down to pick up the paper floating on the stairs.

Captain Phupha held a drawing of an Akha child in his hand, he lifted his angular, handsome face, their eyes met in the air and then a small smile appeared on his lips.

"It looks like it's the teacher's first-time teaching..."

Tian looked angrily at the man who liked to be sarcastic and said: "Today is a trial lesson. Tomorrow will be the real study."

Phupha frowned thickly like a sword, as if he didn't believe him at all.

"I wonder how the teacher Crayon plans the children's lessons?"

Tian turned around at this spoofed name, he seriously suspects that the scouts on patrol told Phupha. They were actually spies sent to monitor his behaviour, otherwise Captain Phupha could not have learned of this so quickly.

"Are you the headmaster? Why should I report to you?"

"Hey! It's okay if you haven't figured out how to teach, because if it doesn't work, you'll be deported." The low tone of voice sounded serious, causing Tian to be distracted by it.

"Oh! I really don't have any lesson plans yet. That's what you wanted to hear, isn't it? So, you can find something to send me back to."

"What are you here for?" Phupha spoke slowly and clearly, while looking into Tian's slender light brown eyes full of stubbornness and arrogance.

Though he wanted to stay and live a hard life! The mattress was hard as hell, the mosquitoes were biting and the food was bad.

He probably wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't bored with the monotony of life in the city. Tull is right, he should have stayed at home, not come here on a whim. The other world is some kind of crazy place, there's only torture here!

Tian bit his lip, walked over and slammed Phupha's thick shoulder and rushed off the stairs. Phupha turned around, while shouting after him "Tell me when you've finished packing, I'll get a car to take you to the city..."

It's time to take a load off! Phupha shouted in his mind, feeling angrier than ever. He took a deep breath with his arms crossed and counted from one to a hundred by the stairs until the banging and dragging on the wooden hut subsided. Phupha hesitated for a moment but decided to climb up and have a look.

As the paper ball was blown to his feet by the wind, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. His eyes are fixed on the narrow balcony, where there are two or three open children's textbooks, including a pad filled with dense Thai and English writing.

No words are needed, the evidence of Tian's efforts can be seen in the piles of evidence there.

Phupha had never thought of hitting himself in the mouth like this before. He bends down and holds the paper, then strides quickly into the back of the hut.

Tian stood with his back turned, looking calm but his shoulders were shaking, not caused by the cold weather, of course.

In front of Tian are clothes and personal belongings that have not yet been stuffed into his travel backpack, in his right hand he holds a handmade book full of girly colours not quite in keeping with his personality.

Tian has scrubbed Torfan's teacher's diary almost to the point of distortion, her diary describes her happiness and peace of mind here, it may be true but he is a loser. Wherever he is, he will never be like Torfan, able to have a place of rest and happiness.

"I shouldn't have come here..." Tian said.

From any angle, he doesn't fit in here.

"I didn't mean to say that--" said Captain Phupha, in a very soft tone.

"But you're right, I don't deserve the name 'teacher' at all. Every time I hear someone call me teacher, do you know how hard that is?!"

Tian couldn't control his emotions, even though he knew he was talking too much but he just wanted to say what he wanted to say.

Both were silent for a minute, when they came back to their senses, Phupha came over, stood motionless behind him and leaned down and put her sensual lips to Tian's ear "You don't have to be their "teacher", you can be their "brother." too. You don't have to be their "teacher", you can be their "brother". Are you ready to accept the villagers here as family yourself?"

"But the children here need teachers, just as every Foundation volunteer can."

"You don't have to be like everyone else." Phupha said as she took Tian's slender hand, then pulled out the ball of paper she was clutching, "With all your academic skills, I'm sure there's more to it than just reciting the ABC's." Tian couldn't help but laugh, teasingly saying "Then you don't know anything. Then you don't know anything. I can't even remember the order of the Thai alphabet alone.

"I remember there being several volunteer teachers here, I'm sure the children recite the alphabet more accurately than you do

." I don't know if it was a pattern with the teachers on the hill, no matter how many came, they all had to start with the consonant alphabet and before some were finished, they packed up and ran away before the students had a chance to learn the new end consonants and the students had to learn them all over again.

Phupha held on to Tian's hand, "These children don't come to study to get into anything but for them, it's a small opportunity to learn about the outside world to learn from outside experiences, through volunteers like you. So, whether they are called teachers or not, it doesn't make any difference.

Tian pulled his hand out of Phupha's, he felt warm inside and asked shyly: "You've said so much at length, in short, you really don't want me to go, do you?" He said it directly but the person asked was as still as a puppet as if a spell had been cast on him.

Captain Phupha cleared his throat, as if something was stuck in it." Yes, when you were picked up, it cost the government budget, did you know that?"

Tian grimaced, a man with a different heart. Tian turned around to face the man standing behind him.

"I'm not going back, come on." Tian said and dodged Phupha's very sharp gaze to look away, "for the sake of your poor barracks."

Phupha's serious face was strained to the point of twitching, he was afraid he would laugh and make the boy in front of him condescending. Phupha looked away from the light-hearted figure sitting on his backpack and after a moment's silence, Phupha stammered.

"Hurry up and pack, we'll take you to the market later."

Hearing him say this, Tian suddenly stopped and immediately turned back with a gleam in his eye, not that he wanted to go to the smelly market. He was just afraid of disappointing his invitation.

"Let's go, I'm ready." Tian jumped up, pushing hard on Phupha's broad back.

Phupha shook his head helplessly, the boy's moods were unpredictable but he complied with Tian and walked out of the dormitory.

What a kid, thought it would be a bit more rampant than this.

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