Hair Tossed

County Chief Xie was named Xie Yang, hailing from a remote village in Fushi County, Longdu City.

His family was quite poor to begin with.

But he had an older brother named Xie Fei, who had been a civil servant for several years, easing the financial strain somewhat.

Xie Yang wore an ill-fitting old suit, hands shoved in his pockets like a grown-up, and kicked his own suitcase, asking, "Using your dad's suitcase to pack books—where are the clothes inside?"

Chen Guiliang said with disgust, "They all stank to high heaven, made me want to puke, so I tossed 'em in the foot-washing bucket."

"I was planning to take 'em home after the midterms and throw 'em in the washing machine," Xie Yang explained casually.

His middle-parted hairstyle had one side deliberately left extra long.

Usually, he tucked the hair behind his ear to dodge the school ban on long hair. When the teacher wasn't around, he'd let it hang down, just covering half an eye.

This guy, thinking he was real cool, blew a breath and precisely parted the hair blocking his eye. Then, with a flourish, he flicked his hair to the side: "You bastard, you handed in your paper so fast—how many math problems did you do?"

"Did jack shit," Chen Guiliang said, pointing at the remaining books. "You buying any?"

Xie Yang flicked his hair again. "Nope. Your books are my books—I can read 'em for free anytime."

Chen Guiliang really wanted to grab his head and hold it still. All that random flicking back and forth was annoying as hell.

Like he had some neck problem.

Xie Yang's legs were bouncing too. When a girl walked by, he blew air and flicked his hair again, showing off.

Too bad the girl didn't even glance at him.

From the suit to the leather shoes, every piece of Xie Yang's outfit was hand-me-downs from his brother. He lifted his wrist to show a cheap knockoff watch, checked the time, and said, "The cafeteria's about to open."

"Still early. Keep me company selling books." Chen Guiliang stayed sitting cross-legged.

Xie Yang didn't refuse, silently squatting down beside Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang turned his head to glance at him and found it oddly amusing.

This guy was covered in acne right now, his teenage hormones raging with no outlet, every move so childish and dumb.

Who would've thought he'd become county chief one day?

The future County Chief Xie picked up a book, flipped through it, blew on his hair to show off, and said, "I hit level 32 in Legend yesterday, got a top-tier magic +3 helmet. You wouldn't believe the commotion—half the internet cafe crowded over to see. The manager offered 200 bucks, but I'm not stupid. What's 200 bucks gonna buy him? Jack shit."

Chen Guiliang sighed. "The World of Legend... such an ancient game."

Xie Yang said, "Ancient my ass, it's only been in open beta for three months. Did you not wake up today or what?"

"You wouldn't get it."

Maybe because he had someone to talk to, Chen Guiliang had a lot he wanted to say.

"Do you believe in supernatural stuff?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Xie Yang shot back, "You run into a ghost?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Could be sci-fi stuff too."

"UFO, then." Xie Yang played with the hair on his forehead.

Chen Guiliang sighed. "Ah, forget it. Can't explain this."

Xie Yang grinned lewdly. "A female ghost got you? When you're done, let me have a go."

Chen Guiliang said, speechless, "If you're that damn pent up, go buy a slab of pork belly from the market and take care of it. The feel's no different from hiring a hooker."

"Really?" Xie Yang actually wanted to confirm that info.

Chen Guiliang patted his shoulder. "When I'm rich and free, I'll buy you pork belly every day."

"Get the hell out," Xie Yang shoved Chen Guiliang's hand away, then leaned in mysteriously. "Zhou Jing smiled at me today at noon. You think she's into me?"

Who was Zhou Jing?

Chen Guiliang thought hard, and soon had a vague memory. "Into you? What for? Because you flick your hair so suavely? Or because she thinks your acne-covered face is extra handsome?"

"Bastard, if you can't talk, shut up!" Xie Yang was furious and embarrassed.

Chen Guiliang chuckled.

Going back to high school wasn't so bad, but it was a shame it was senior year. If he could've gone back to freshman year, that'd be better.

Even though he was dirt poor, he could still live without a care.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

A guy came bouncing a basketball over. He was over 1.9 meters tall and kind of handsome—the type that girls in school flocked to.

He had an MP3 player hanging around his neck, earbuds in, listening to music.

That kind of gadget, in 2003, was as flashy as a branded phone.

But Chen Guiliang and Xie Yang both frowned at the same time.

Every class had one or two assholes.

The asshole bouncing the basketball over now was named Li Jun. His grandpa was the factory director of a textile mill before retiring, his parents were minor officials in the system, and he had a bunch of relatives in the system too.

A county-town Brahmin.

How low can this bastard stoop?

After graduating from a two-year college, his family got him a job as a bank teller, and he'd brag in the class group chat every few days: "I cursed out so many customers today," "I told off some leader again today." He even deliberately made things difficult for elderly people handling business and recounted it as a joke in the group chat in vivid detail.

"Oh, selling junk now?"

When Li Jun passed by the book stall, he opened his mouth with predictable venom, standing there to taunt: "There's a shed on East Street set up for laid-off workers. You two can set up a shoe-shine stand there."

Xie Yang was only 1.7 meters tall, standing before Li Jun, who was 1.9 meters, and naturally his presence was suppressed. Xie Yang instinctively took half a step back, but losing the fight couldn't mean losing face, so he muttered back, "Idiot."

Chen Guiliang, of course, wasn't about to let that slide. He had to maintain his high school persona; his personality couldn't shift too abruptly. So Chen Guiliang's mouth was even fouler: "East Street's no good. I can introduce your mom to Stone Jaw Gap (a cheap red-light district)."

"Fuck your mom!"

"Say that again, I dare you!"

Li Jun was shattered by those words, furious enough to toss his basketball aside and roll up his sleeves, ready to throw down.

Chen Guiliang patted his butt and stood up, taunting: "Want to fight? I've got a pile of demerits on my record. A barefoot man doesn't fear the shod—even if I get expelled, I'll take you down!"

Xie Yang also clenched his fists and glared at Li Jun: "Our Chen the Hero has cut people with a knife in middle school. Guys like you, Old Chen could take down ten with a single cleaver!"

Li Jun was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. Seeing this stance, he chickened out, turned around to pick up his basketball, and muttered to himself, "Not gonna stoop to a country bumpkin's level."

Honestly, Chen Guiliang couldn't understand this guy's brain. Li Jun clearly didn't dare to fight Chen Guiliang, yet because of some minor grudge from sophomore year of high school, he kept coming back to provoke Chen Guiliang over and over. It was like if he didn't spew a few nasty words at every meeting, he'd feel all itchy and uncomfortable.

As that bastard Li Jun walked off, he pulled out his phone and called: "Hey, Mom, I finished the math exam... I didn't perform well, mainly because I was distracted... Yeah, it's that Chen Guiliang again. He's on probation and still can't stay put—he handed in his paper less than half an hour early. Made me think a lot of time had passed, so I panicked and started writing nonsense... Mom, guess what he did after handing it in early? He actually set up a stall on campus selling junk. A peasant's always a peasant, hahahaha..."

Chen Guiliang had no idea someone was badmouthing him behind his back. He glanced at the six books left in the box and couldn't be bothered to keep selling: "Let's go eat some stir-fry outside. I'm treating today."

"You're treating my ass. Save it for the cafeteria." Xie Yang knew Chen Guiliang was dead broke.

Chen Guiliang pulled out the money from selling books: "Your grandpa here struck it rich today."

Xie Yang didn't refuse again, just said, "Next time's on me."

The two dragged their beat-up suitcase, shooting the shit as they headed toward the school gate.

By now, more and more students were leaving after handing in their papers. Several of them actively greeted Chen Guiliang, all calling him by his nickname, "Chen the Hero." Chen Guiliang had a vague memory of these students, but he couldn't recall most of their names.

"Chen the Hero! Xie Show-off!"

A skinny guy with a buzzcut, shouting Chen Guiliang and Xie Yang's nicknames, came bouncing over to them with enthusiastic running steps.

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