Shengliver’s Note: All the boys featured in the entry are now adults in the workforce. The attitude-shifting incident, which some readers believe Shengliver made up, did happen in their last term of high school, 2010. Chinese high school students, generally speaking, spend most of their waking hours (and their sleeping hours as well if they attend a boarding school) within the perimeter of the campus. Can they get a taste of real China, walled off from the communities? The teens in this entry learned a lesson about human nature in a way their knowledgeable masters in the classroom could never have imagined.

 

It was the weekend. Exactly speaking, it was Saturday evening. The boys and girls in the high school where I am employed were set loose, just for one evening. They had worked during the day on Saturday, and they would have to be in the classroom by 7.50 on Sunday morning. They were to be attending school throughout Sunday.

Seven dorm mates decided not to swot in the classroom for the evening. Instead, they planned to go and have a meal at a restaurant on Jiangsu Road. Fed up with canteen fare, they would give themselves a treat this evening, something different but not very expensive. Besides, it would be less than 70 days before their high school journey came to an end in June.

The 7 mates, Leng Yufan, Yang Sen, Jiang Xianbo, Chen Chao, Yi Shiqian, Li Jinshan, and Li Chao, left the campus and sauntered along Jiangsu Road. They passed three restaurants before a nice little eatery came into view. It was not big, as little as their dorm. Upon entering the place, they decided that it was an affordable venue for them students. Fancy restaurants are costly, they knew.

Having seated themselves at a table, the boys ordered seven dishes. Li Chao left the restaurant and fetched two big bottles of orange juice from a corner store nearby.

When the courses were served on the table, Leng Yufan asked if anyone fancied alcoholic beverages. All the mates said that the soft drink would do.

It was a hearty meal for the hungry teens. They toasted each other with juice. The restaurant owner was so generous as to give them an extra dish for free.

The boys chatted over the meal, talking about dreams, politics, society, anything and everything under the sun. The imminent parting after graduation upon their mind, they relished each other’s company all the more.

The boys were unaware that next to their table was an adult male, smartly dressed in a suit and tie, and alone. He was eating by himself, guzzling beer. While the adolescents were dining and conversing, the man listened in and watched.

All the dishes demolished, it was time to pay. The bill turned out to be RMB yuan 150 something, way over their budget. To their relief, Li Chao and Yang Sen had more than enough on them for the meal.

While they were discussing the amount, the man at the next table said, “Waiter, charge the boys half the bill please. I’ll foot the rest.”

Amazed, the adolescents could not believe that in this materialistic society there are still gentlemen like this one. They tried to decline, but the man remained adamant.

He explained, “I have been watching you all the time. You boys are well behaved. China is proud of you. I have a son your age. If he were here this evening, he might have consumed beer. So, I would like to express my appreciation to all of you by covering half the expense.”

As hard as the teens tried to persuade the man out of it, he paid half the sum for their meal. Leng Yufan requested his name or his phone number. The man, however, would not reveal it.

“I did not help you boys because I want you to thank me. If you please, be a good man when you are a grown-up. I come from Anhui. I am on a business trip here in Shiyan,” said the man.

Upon returning to the dorm later that evening, the Chinese teenagers could not contain their burning excitement. They shared their extraordinary dining experience with their schoolmates. It is an indelible lesson that they could never have learned, locked up in their classroom, poring over their books or exam papers on a Saturday evening.