0031 A World of Eternal Happiness

Monday.

Last night's "bedtime talk" had gone on for ages, causing everyone in Room 302 to oversleep.

The stirring march over the loudspeakers played on repeat, again and again.

It was not until the final ten-odd minutes that everyone finally dressed and washed up like sleepwalkers, then sprinted toward the main field in disheveled clothes.

The flag-raising ceremony!

After the national anthem, Wu Meng, a senior student, took the stage to share methods for improving study efficiency.

During the speech, everyone caught up on sleep.

Xie Yang had even fallen asleep standing up, swaying back and forth without falling over.

Li Jun arrived late, carrying a backpack. His backpack was purely for show, used specifically to hold a basketball; it usually contained no books.

For a prestigious provincial high school, the school atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed and undisciplined.

For someone like Li Jun, who showed up late to the flag-raising ceremony, the administrators and teachers simply turned a blind eye.

There were ten liberal arts classes in the senior year. Ou Yafei from Class 12 had once been the most eye-catching. Her face and figure were already outstanding, and combined with the ultimate weapon of makeup and styling, she became a beauty in a class of her own.

Among high school girls in small county towns in 2003, those who wore makeup or knew how to apply it were few and far between!

Now, there was also Bian Guanyue.

Two beauties competing for attention.

When the flag-raising ceremony ended, many boys were sneaking glances at the two of them. They often pretended to be chatting with friends, then stole a few looks as they walked before casually staring straight ahead again.

The boys often talked in private, debating whether Bian Guanyue or Ou Yafei was the true campus belle.

Opinions varied, and no consensus could be reached.

But Ou Yafei was usually more popular because she knew how to dress up so well. She was also lively and outgoing; even if an unfamiliar boy greeted her, Ou Yafei would respond with a sweet smile.

Bian Guanyue was the exact opposite—cold and distant, keeping everyone at arm's length. She also went bare-faced and never wore makeup.

Of course, some people said Meng Jiayao from the science classes was also very pretty, no worse than Bian Guanyue or Ou Yafei.

"Chen the Hero, don't walk with us," Li Yulin said, pointing behind them. "Watch out, or someone might steal Bian Guanyue away."

Chen Guiliang turned around and saw Zheng Feng acting like a simp again.

What Bian Guanyue had said last night had not deterred Zheng Feng at all.

"Zheng Feng's wasting his time," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

He had basically figured out Bian Guanyue's personality.

Back in the classroom, before class began, Chen Guiliang took out his first-year math materials to review.

High schools at this time really were not nearly as cutthroat as they would become more than a decade later.

At Chen Guiliang's school, they used supplementary lessons during the summer vacation between the second and third years to cover third-year material. They did not finish the entire third-year curriculum until a week after the midterm exams in the third year.

Starting this week, teachers in every subject would lead the students in reviewing first- and second-year material.

Chen Guiliang had caught up with the teachers' pace just in time.

While Chen Guiliang studied math on his own, Bian Guanyue memorized English vocabulary. Her English was terrible, and she could barely pass.

The morning passed quickly enough.

At noon, Chen Guiliang treated his roommates to lamb soup, then went to the classroom for noon study hall and worked on the math practice paper the teacher had handed out.

After struggling with it for half an hour, Chen Guiliang's head was buzzing.

"You're early," Chen Guiliang greeted Bian Guanyue.

Bian Guanyue set down her backpack. "You too."

She had left home early at noon and taken the bus to school well ahead of time, mainly to avoid Zheng Feng.

Bian Guanyue took out several practice papers, glanced at Chen Guiliang's scratch paper, and asked curiously, "Are you writing a novel?"

"I've been reviewing math nonstop, and my head's gotten muddled," Chen Guiliang explained. "I'm writing a novel to switch gears."

"Science fiction?" Bian Guanyue spotted several keywords.

"Cyberpunk science fiction," Chen Guiliang said. "I submitted four pieces to the New Concept Competition. One of them is called 'My Cyber Home,' and I'm planning to expand it into a full-length novel."

Bian Guanyue was confused just listening to him. "I know what punk is, but what's cyberpunk?"

Chen Guiliang gave a simple explanation. "It's a kind of dystopian science fiction that emerged twenty years ago. The plots usually involve hackers, artificial intelligence, and large corporations."

Though Bian Guanyue did not really understand, her curiosity had been piqued. "Once you finish it, can you let me read it?"

"Of course. You'll be the first Reader," Chen Guiliang readily agreed.

Traditional cyberpunk literature had already come to an end in the late eighties and early nineties.

This was now the "post-cyberpunk era."

But in China, it did not even count as niche yet. Most Chinese people simply had no idea what "cyberpunk" even meant.

When people mentioned "The Matrix," their first thought was a science-fiction movie.

That was all.

The novel Chen Guiliang planned to write had no virtual online world, but some of its ideas were extremely avant-garde.

Of course, "avant-garde" here was by 2003 standards.

There were also the "weak groups," who, early in the novel's revolution, were twisted and taken in by major corporations as dogs. Weak groups were essentially disadvantaged groups, but they had been distorted into identity politics, most typically LGBT communities.

There were also groups advocating social progress—equal rights, animal protection, environmentalism, humanitarianism, and the like. In the novel, all of them were twisted by major corporations into political tools, a chaotic dance of demons.

Chen Guiliang also packed the novel with all sorts of metaphors.

Bian Guanyue worked seriously through problems for half an hour. When she turned her head, Chen Guiliang was still writing.

It was all novel settings.

Bian Guanyue could not help asking, "A sci-fi novel has 'Diting' too?"

Chen Guiliang explained, "'Diting' is a voiceprint analysis matrix used by major corporations to monitor ordinary people."

"Memories can be traded in the novel too?" Bian Guanyue asked as she looked over those settings again.

Chen Guiliang said:

"Every ordinary person can have their memories deleted and replaced once they reach adulthood. Because their childhood and teenage experiences are unpleasant to them. They delete their original memories and sell them to major corporations. The corporations then implant a standardized template of happy memories."

"If adults are living in great pain, they can also sell those memories, or choose to deposit them in a memory bank, then pay to have customized happy memories implanted into themselves."

"This approach has four benefits. First, it makes money. Second, it brings happiness. Third, it improves work efficiency. Fourth, it maintains social stability."

"In the world of the novel, everyone enjoys endless happiness. Pain simply does not exist for them."

"And the laboring class can receive corporate welfare subsidies to have pleasure-feedback systems implanted into their pain nerves for free. That way, the harder and more exhausting their work is, the happier they feel. Workplace injuries and the like become blessings as well. Workers take pride in having more prosthetic limbs."

Bian Guanyue seriously considered such a society and could not help clicking her tongue. "That's terrifying!"

Chen Guiliang smiled. "As long as they can be happy, that's enough."

"After painful memories are deleted, are they still truly themselves?" Bian Guanyue asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "They are, and they aren't. It depends on whom they're dealing with."

"If they're dealing with family and friends, deleting and altering their memories lets them evade all responsibility while receiving legal protection. Say someone abandons his wife and children—if all his memories have been deleted, then naturally he would not recognize his wife or children."

"But the law also stipulates that, when memories are deleted and replaced, the basic memories related to one's employer must be retained. No matter how their memories are altered, they remain that company's worker and must fulfill their labor obligations."

"So dark. So bizarre!" Bian Guanyue commented, then asked, "Are you planning to submit this to Sprout Magazine? I'm afraid Sprout Magazine's readers won't like this kind of novel."

Chen Guiliang smiled.

"I don't have much hope for it either. Its popularity definitely won't compare to Ice Fantasy, but it'll be enough if a small group of people likes it. What you're reading now is just the setting, so it's rather dry. To attract more readers, the plot has to be interesting. So there has to be romance."

"When the male lead first appears, he has just come of age and goes with his mother to have his memories deleted and replaced. He strongly resists it because he likes a girl. Even though the memories of his unrequited love are painful, he still wants to keep them."

Bian Guanyue looked at the various settings on the paper and listened to Chen Guiliang describe the plot outline. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I'm really looking forward to this novel."

"Beep, beep!"

On the uncongested road outside the school, a Chery QQ honked from time to time.

Liu Shuying sat in the front passenger seat and said helplessly to her husband, "Can you stop showing off? It's a car that costs thirty or forty thousand yuan. What's there to brag about?"

"There was a pedestrian just now," Gao Zhan said.

Liu Shuying said, "They were walking by the roadside. What does that have to do with you driving?"

Gao Zhan smiled. "I was afraid he'd dart out."

The couple had always wanted to buy a sedan. When they learned the price of the Chery QQ in the summer, they immediately went to Hibiscus City to place an order. The model was simply too sought-after, and after waiting four or five months, it was finally their turn. They had at last driven their new car home last Saturday.

Now Gao Zhan personally washed the car every day, hosing it down again and again, wiping it over and over, practically scrubbing the paint right off it.

Just as the couple drove into the campus, Liu Shuying's Bird phone rang.

"Hello... Director Yang, hello. I've just arrived at school... Okay, okay, I'll come over right away." Liu Shuying hung up.

Gao Zhan had already parked the car and asked, "What is it?"

"I don't know," Liu Shuying said.

Gao Zhan worried, "Could Chen Guiliang have caused trouble again?"

"Very likely." Liu Shuying was practically conditioned by now.

The most outrageous time was when Chen Guiliang had nearly gotten into a fight with the security guard. The couple had been called back to school at eleven thirty that night to deal with it.

A student had gone out to buy a late-night snack, violating the school's dining ban at the time. The security guard had thrown his weight around, argued with the student for a few sentences, then repeatedly shoved him around. He snatched the snack away and threw it onto the ground, even using vulgar language to insult the student's mother.

Chen Guiliang did not know that student at all. He had happened to run into the scene while returning from outside the school after buying laundry detergent, yet he had actually stood up for the student and argued with the security guard.

The student who had broken the rules took the chance to run away, leaving only Chen Guiliang and the security guard locked in a standoff. They shoved each other and remained deadlocked for dozens of minutes, until the guard could only call the homeroom teacher.

Liu Shuying had been utterly speechless about it. When she scolded Chen Guiliang, his arguments left her both amused and exasperated.

Chen Guiliang had stubbornly insisted on four points: first, the security guard should not have struck first; second, the security guard should not have wasted food; third, the security guard should not have cursed at people; fourth, young people should speak up for justice.

How was she supposed to manage a student like that?

Liu Shuying had a terrible headache!

"I'll go with you," Gao Zhan said.

The husband and wife headed to the Dean of Students' office together.

Dean of Students Yang Zhenzhong received them warmly, even personally pouring water and making tea for them.

Seeing this, it didn't look like any student had gotten into trouble, and Liu Shuying immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Yang Zhenzhong invited them to sit down. "How has the newly transferred student, Bian Guanyue, been doing?"

Liu Shuying skipped over Bian Guanyue's truancy and merely said, "We'll have to wait for the monthly exams to know about her grades. But Bian Guanyue is very well-behaved. She listens attentively in class and does a good job on her homework afterward."

Yang Zhenzhong said, "Her father and I were classmates at teachers' college, so I asked in passing. His daughter transferred here alone, so as a father, he's naturally worried."

Liu Shuying hurriedly said, "I'll give special attention to her studies."

"Her seat should be changed too. I heard she's still sitting in the last row," Yang Zhenzhong said. "Bian Guanyue's transfer fee was substantial, and her father may donate in the future to set up a charitable student aid program."

Chen Guiliang was going to have to switch deskmates again.

Meanwhile, junior student Tao Xue was signing up for Xiaolingtong service.

This was a task her brother had assigned her: buy a Xiaolingtong for Chen Guiliang so they could conveniently discuss matters related to the private server.

Tao Xue planned to give "Senior Zhang Wei" a surprise.

(Please vote with your guaranteed monthly tickets.)