Past Events of Youth

After an unknown amount of time, the bus stopped again in a small town. The female ticket seller shouted at the top of her lungs, "Train station, going to the train station..."

Chen Guiliang pointed out the window, "I'm from this town."

"A tourist ancient town?"

Bian Guanyue stuck her head out the window and saw an antique-style archway ahead, and rows of late Qing dynasty buildings to the side.

Chen Guiliang said, "Although it's a tourist ancient town, it hasn't been developed very well... Forget it, I shouldn't speak ill of my hometown. They are also limited by objective conditions."

Bian Guanyue was tired of sitting on the bus and really wanted to chat with someone, "Did you go to junior high school in this town?"

"No, this is the town's central school. I went to the township's central school," Chen Guiliang explained. "Although the townships have been merged into towns, and the township government and police station have all been abolished, the township central school is still there. It's poorer and more remote there. I was the only one in the entire township who got into No. 2 High School that year."

"Only you got in?" Bian Guanyue found herself talking more, "That's really rare. You must have studied very hard."

Chen Guiliang shook his head, "I wasn't diligent. I was playful since I was a child. I went to primary school in the village. There were only two teachers in the whole school who taught in shifts."

Bian Guanyue couldn't figure it out for a moment, "Only two teachers in the whole school? How often do they enroll students?"

"Every three years. If you miss the first grade of primary school at age 6, you have to wait until you're 9 to enroll. If you really can't wait, you can join a class," Chen Guiliang said with a smile, "I was lucky, I was just the right age to enroll."

Bian Guanyue found it hard to imagine, "It's similar to the mountain village schools on TV."

Chen Guiliang recalled his childhood, "Actually, it was okay, much better than the real big mountains. I was mischievous since I was a child, never took notes in class, and never did homework. I was always involved in bad things, and I even peed in someone else's well. Hehe, but I always got first place in the whole school!"

"You're quite proud." Bian Guanyue looked at him with disdain for peeing in the well.

Chen Guiliang sighed, "Later on, it wasn't like that. When I was in the fifth grade of primary school, the village school collapsed in the rain. Fortunately, it was the weekend and no one was crushed to death. All the students in the school had classes on the open-air playground for half a year, with just a simple shed to shelter from the wind and rain."

"The conditions were that bad?" Bian Guanyue asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "We persevered on the playground for half a year, and in the sixth grade, we went to the township school early. Don't think the township is also poor, but for us rural kids, the township was like a big city. Students living around the township market looked down on us rural kids. Haha, actually, they also had rural household registration."

Bian Guanyue suddenly felt that Chen Guiliang was quite pitiful.

Chen Guiliang said, "At that time, I was often bullied by the students in the township. I fought with them almost every day. After fighting for half a year, my grades dropped a lot, but I fought until no one in the school dared to provoke me. If I couldn't beat students older than me, I would bite them. If I couldn't bite them, I would hit them with stones."

Bian Guanyue became even more curious, "What happened later?"

"Later, 'Young and Dangerous' became popular, and thugs appeared in the township," Chen Guiliang grinned, "I intercepted a thug's pass and blocked his shot in front of the girls. Guess what this thug did?"

"Did the thug beat you?" Bian Guanyue asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "More than ten people waited at the school gate to block me after school. A classmate notified me in advance, which scared me into climbing over the wall to escape. They chased me for several miles before I got away."

Bian Guanyue was surprised, "Didn't the school care? Didn't the school have security guards? How could they let thugs into the school to play basketball?"

Chen Guiliang said, "The teachers couldn't even get their salaries, how could they afford to hire security guards? I remember during the junior high school holiday make-up classes, half of the students didn't pay the make-up class fees. The homeroom teacher said in an almost pleading tone: The teachers haven't been paid for more than half a year, and they are relying on your make-up class fees to live."

Bian Guanyue found it hard to understand why some teachers couldn't get paid.

This matter cannot be discussed in detail, as it was the case in many places across the country during those years.

"Did you call the police? Were those thugs arrested?" Bian Guanyue felt like she was listening to a story.

Chen Guiliang said, "The homeroom teacher helped call the police. We made a statement, but the main culprits weren't caught. Several thug leaders heard the news and ran away, leaving only the small fry. Since no harm was caused, their parents were called in for a lecture and that was it. Two months later, several thug leaders came back, and more than ten people blocked me on the road with knives."

Bian Guanyue felt a little nervous listening, and subconsciously clenched her fists, "You ran away again?"

"Nowhere to run."

Chen Guiliang shook his head:

"Actually, those thugs just wanted to scare me, make me kneel and beg for mercy and crawl between their legs. Their watermelon knives weren't sharpened, at most they would just beat me up again."

"But I couldn't stand the scare at the time. I really thought they were going to hack me to death. In a panic, I fled to a roadside fruit stand. I grabbed a sharpened watermelon knife, held my schoolbag in my left hand as a shield, and swung the watermelon knife wildly with my right hand."

"One against thirteen, and in the end, I was chasing them and hacking. My mind was blank at the time, I don't even know how I stopped. Four thugs were hacked into the hospital by me, and one of them almost died from excessive bleeding."

Bian Guanyue exclaimed, "Are you making up stories to fool me?"

"Haha, I am fooling you." Chen Guiliang said with a smile, ending the story.

The more Chen Guiliang said this, the more Bian Guanyue felt it was true.

The ending of the story was very simple.

It was self-defense, and it didn't even delay the high school entrance exam.

The injured people's relatives were still making a fuss about compensation, but Chen Guiliang's family didn't give a single cent.

Because when Chen Guiliang's father was working in the south, he was tricked by a fellow villager into partnering to subcontract a small project. The fellow villager took the final payment and ran away with the money, and all the unpaid wages were counted on Chen Guiliang's father.

Those who were owed wages were also fellow villagers, so Chen Guiliang's parents could only repay slowly, and were heavily in debt for many years and couldn't go home.

As soon as they went home, it was all about demanding wages!

Since that time he hacked someone, Chen Guiliang realized a truth: if you don't want to be bullied, you have to be more ruthless than the bad guys.

From then on, he loved to stand up for justice, liked to meddle in other people's business, and foolishly thought of himself as a hero.

Naive!

But passionate.

Including choosing journalism as his major in college and becoming an investigative reporter after graduation, it was all influenced by the hacking incident in junior high school. He was fearless, thinking he was a savior.

Until reality taught him lesson after lesson.

Blood hasn't cooled, dreams are no more.

The bus started again without warning, and the female conductor was once again arguing with a passenger.

It wasn't until the bus drove over a stone arch bridge that Chen Guiliang looked at the fruit stand at the bridgehead and said, "Heh, that fruit seller is still here."

Bian Guanyue looked closely and asked, "Is that where you got the watermelon knife?"

Chen Guiliang boasted, "It was just me and a knife, chasing a bunch of thugs, hacking them from one end of the bridge to the other."

This story sounds childish when told to adults.

But it's just right when told to high school students.

Bian Guanyue remembered it firmly and thought that Chen Guiliang had a touch of legendary color about him.

Chen Guiliang had other stories.

Too dark, not suitable for telling to girls, and likely to get this book 404'd.

Around the year 2000, public security was just that chaotic.

Growing up in such an environment, without parents to guide him, it would be strange if Chen Guiliang's personality wasn't extreme.

Fortunately, he's become more laid-back now.

"It was so chaotic in junior high, how did you get into No. 2 High School?" Bian Guanyue became increasingly curious about Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang said in a humblebragging tone, "Junior high knowledge is too simple, just listening in class is enough. At most, you need to memorize politics and history after class. In the middle school entrance exam, I only lost a few points in Chinese, Math, and English. I got full marks in all other subjects."

Bian Guanyue couldn't help but roll her eyes.

So infuriating!

Chen Guiliang winked and said, "Have you noticed that you're talking more?"

Bian Guanyue was startled, then quickly resumed her cold demeanor, turning her face towards the bus window and not speaking.

Chen Guiliang chuckled, "That's right, I like you when you're cold."

Bian Guanyue said angrily, "Give me back my MP3!"

"I was wrong," Chen Guiliang apologized sincerely.

"Hmph!"

Bian Guanyue turned her face towards the bus window again, leaving Chen Guiliang with the back of her head.

Well, and a ponytail.

Chen Guiliang really wanted to grab that ponytail and feel it.

But Bian Guanyue was thinking to herself: This person is really annoying, even more annoying than Li Jun!

Chen Guiliang continued to prod, "Alright, smile. Have you forgotten all your troubles now?"

Hearing this, Bian Guanyue turned back and looked at him suspiciously.

Could it be that this guy said so much just to make her happy and forget about today's events?

It did seem like she wasn't dwelling on it anymore.

Chen Guiliang smiled and said, "There's no obstacle you can't overcome in this world. I managed to bounce back from that kind of muddy pit. What's there to be sad about your little problem? Don't tell me it's related to family. I haven't seen my parents in seven years, and I still live a relaxed and happy life every day."

Bian Guanyue's curiosity was piqued again. "How come you haven't seen your parents in seven years?"

"I can't be the only one talking, you have to exchange your story too," Chen Guiliang revealed his true intention. This was his real goal.

As long as the other person was willing to reveal some secret, he could blast open a gap in their mental fortress.

He might even be able to conquer it directly!

But Bian Guanyue hesitated. She didn't like talking about those things.

(The money-making you wanted is coming soon. What's the rush? The protagonist has only been reborn for a week. He can't skip class to start a business. The weekend action is already quite fast.)