A remote location in a country in Africa was without any special thing that would attract the attention of the universe. In a school, a young sat on a chair leaning on the desk lost in his thoughts. He was feeling sleepy as he had just taken his lunch. Ryu passed by his desk and called, "What's up bro?" Mo gazed at Ryu with half open eyes and ignored him. It was the first day of term and students were allowed to be free on this day as no teachers would come to teach. Classes usually begun the second day of the term. Mo Shi had his spirit down as he had not performed well in his previous exams. He, who had always been in top 5 of his class had been pushed all the way to 11th. This did not bother him at all. What was troubling his mind was that 'old man' who would never let this slide away without a good scolding. He knew very well that the old man would surely make a fuss of it but as for how far he would go, Mo had no idea. He could only hope that the old man would turn a blind eye to his poor performance.
On the first day of the second week, a man in his early sixties visited Mo's school without anybody taking note. He wore a hat and had covered his face with a scarf leaving only his eyes uncovered. From a close distance one could see that the man was not an African and somehow looked like an Asian. He took off his hat and scarf before knocking on the principal's office door. He told the principal that he had a certain matter that he needed the principal's assistance to handle of which he went on to explain. He told the principal that there was a boy in the school who was very brilliant but kept a low profile to such an extent that he had faked a failure in his exams. He asked the principal to prepare exams in all subjects for a grade 12 student so that he would be able to test the boy.
He further went on to say that the principal would believe what he had said if he did that. This revelation piqued the principal's interest and he decided to play along after all he had nothing to lose even if it turned to be untrue. After the old man left, the principal informed the teachers and asked them to prepare the exams for the 12 subjects taught in the school. That person had asked him not to mention anything to the students about that matter so as not to alarm the student. The principal found it funny since the most junior grade, nine had students taking only 11 subjects and grade 11 and 12 had students taking 8 subjects yet that person asked for 12 subjects for grade 12. On the morning of the third day, a black SUV drove into the school compound. The man who had previously visited the principal was inside. After the vehicle was parked, two built men wearing dark suits got out and one opened the left side rear door before joining the other in saluting. Out came the half Asian man who walked directly to the office while the guards followed him.
In the principal's office the man informed the principal that the student who he had talked about would have to take the exams that day. The man revealed that the student's name was Mo and was in grade 11. The principal had a vague impression of the name Mo as he knew the only student called Mo in grade 11 was a boy whose full name was Moses but nearly everybody called him Mo Shi. He also knew that apart from doing well in class Mo had nothing noteworthy that he did in school. He asked the secretary to send for Mo. When Mo was heading towards the office he couldn't help but try to recall if he had wronged anywhere but he could remember doing nothing like that. He wondered why the principal, of all people would summon him to his office. He put the matter away as he would only know by going. He was very careful with his words and rarely did he offend people as he disliked getting into troublesome matters.
On seeing the SUV parked, he had a hunch that nothing good would come out of his visit to the principal. He thought of the old man and really shuddered from fright. That old man was really… Ah! Never mind. He walked towards the office and saw two men dressed in black. He knocked on the door and entered in. his expression fell when he saw that familiar back facing him as he cursed inwardly, "damn it!" He greeted, "Good morning." He did not move a single step after shutting the door. The man who had his back facing Mo slowly turned around and faced Mo. "How are you kid?" he asked with a grin. "Old man, why are you here?" Mo asked. "Why can't I be here? Is this your house?
The principal was shocked by this exchange of words since Mo did not have a blemish in his reputation of disrespecting his friends let alone elders. "I told you clearly never to visit place." Mo started to fume. "Of course I have a reason for visiting. You see, the principal is an old friend of mine and…" The old man had not finished when he was cut by Mo cursing, "Bullshit!" Mo then turned to the principal and said, "Forgive my rudeness, I'll take my leave, excuse me." He turned around ready to leave when the old man hurriedly said, "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Although I came to visit my friend I have learned that you did extremely well in your exams, congrats." The mocking smile on his face could not be mistaken. Mo knew that this was what had brought the old man here. He had not expected the old to be so quick in learning and coming to cause trouble in his school.