New Concept Composition Competition?

The skinny guy with the buzz cut was Xu Haibo, a model student.

His family background was better than Chen Guiliang's and Xie Yang's; both his parents were teachers at a township school.

After finishing his exam, Xu Haibo returned to the dorm. He was currently holding The Irregular Warrior, planning to return it to the rental bookstore outside the school.

"I haven't read it yet, return it tomorrow," Xie Yang said.

Xu Haibo complained, "Why didn't you read it last night? You just had to run off to the internet cafe to play games. Dragging it out for another day costs 50 cents. Are you paying the rent?"

Xie Yang tossed his hair stylishly, "It's just 50 cents, isn't it? If I say I'll pay, I'll pay."

Xu Haibo threw the novel to Xie Yang and squeezed in next to Chen Guiliang. Although he was a good kid, he liked to hang out with the "bad" student Chen Guiliang.

Because he felt that Chen Guiliang's words and actions were exactly what he wanted to do but didn't dare to.

Though I cannot reach it, my heart yearns for it.

Even the nickname "Chen the Hero" was first shouted by Xu Haibo.

He had always felt that Chen Guiliang was like a knight from a novel.

For example, at the beginning of this semester, Xu Haibo compared the tuition receipt and the class schedule and complained angrily, "Isn't this random charging? They clearly charged 55 yuan for computer fees, but there's no computer class on the schedule."

"Really?" Chen Guiliang leaned over to look.

In the second week, after confirming there was indeed no computer class, Chen Guiliang began using his free time to go around collecting signatures and fingerprints from classmates one by one.

There were 21 classes in the third year, totaling 985 students.

Chen Guiliang actually got signatures from over 500 students, successfully forcing the school to refund the computer fees for all third-year students!

This action shocked Xu Haibo into admiration, making him wish he could serve Chen Guiliang as a squire from then on.

And Chen Guiliang didn't show off afterward, only patting his new shoes and saying, "Your computer fees are none of my business. I just want to get my money back to buy a pair of shoes. If Principal Yan isn't sensible, I'll take the signatures to the Education Bureau."

Taking a couple of steps to Chen Guiliang's side, Xu Haibo asked curiously, "Chen the Hero, how was your math exam?"

Chen Guiliang couldn't explain, so he could only reply, "I just didn't feel like doing the problems anymore."

"Awesome!"

Xu Haibo immediately gave a thumbs up. He thought Chen Guiliang was so cool. Doing whatever he wanted, rebellious and unrestrained, a good man should act on impulse.

Unfortunately, he himself wasn't a good man, just a model student.

Chen Guiliang smiled, "Don't learn from me."

Xu Haibo said, "I'm timid, I don't dare to learn from you."

Xie Yang tossed his hair at the right moment, "Bobo, you really should learn. You're in your third year of high school, still acting like a primary school student. How are you going to find a girlfriend later?"

Xu Haibo only regarded Chen Guiliang as an idol and wouldn't give Xie Yang a good look, "Can you find a girlfriend?"

Xie Yang boasted, "Many girls have crushes on me, it's just that my standards are too high. This is called preferring quality over quantity. If they're not class beauty level, I'm too lazy to hang out with them."

"You're just bragging!" Xu Haibo said disdainfully.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them walked near the old school gate, where two rows of late Qing dynasty buildings were preserved.

The first draft of The Thick Black Theory was created here.

Outside the school gate, there was a row of small restaurants across the road.

Many memories instantly flooded Chen Guiliang.

The restaurant directly opposite the school gate left the deepest impression on Chen Guiliang.

It was probably when he was in his second year of high school. He ordered a plate of green vegetables, which only cost 1 yuan. Because the rice was free, he ate eight bowls of rice from the owner!

He was too hungry at the time.

The proprietress naturally also had a deep impression of Chen Guiguang. She even knew Chen Guiliang's nickname and called out when she saw him, "Chen the Hero is here to eat again?"

Chen Guiliang found a table and sat down, "One plate of twice-cooked pork, one plate of fish-flavored eggplant, one plate of Mapo tofu, and another plate of seasonal vegetables. Oh, and three bottles of beer!"

The proprietress was slightly surprised and asked, "Eating so much today?"

"I struck it rich, celebrating," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

This was a husband-and-wife run restaurant. The husband was in charge of cooking, and the wife was in charge of collecting money. As for other tasks, whoever was free did them.

The proprietress quickly brought the beer, and the sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen.

"Come on, let's have a toast first!"

Chen Guiliang was very happy at this moment. It was very rare for a few old friends to gather and eat together after entering society.

Xie Yang used chopsticks to pry open the bottle cap very skillfully, picked up the bottle directly, and clinked glasses, "It's rare for Chen the Hero to be generous for once."

Xu Haibo honestly poured the wine and defended Chen Guiliang, "Chen the Hero has always been very generous."

"Cheers!"

The dishes hadn't been served yet, but the three brothers were already drinking.

Xu Haibo wasn't very good at drinking. He took three breaks with one glass of beer and finally forced himself to drink it all.

He said "cheers," so they had to cheer.

Xie Yang put down his beer bottle, raised his hand, and brushed aside the hair covering his eyes: "I plan to pursue Zhou Jing."

Xu Haibo said, "Good luck."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "If you have that much free time, you might as well go to the internet cafe and level up a couple more times."

"You don't think I can get her?" Xie Yang was unconvinced.

"I also think it'll be tough," Xu Haibo analyzed seriously, "Your family is in the countryside, her family is in the county town. Your parents are farmers, her parents are doctors. You also frequently go to internet cafes, at this rate, you'll at most get into a second-tier university. She's always in the top ten of her grade, even if she underperforms, she can get into a regular first-tier university, and if she performs normally, she'll definitely go to a key university."

Xie Yang was very depressed by what was said, but he stubbornly retorted, "How vulgar. Love is about mutual affection, it can't be measured by these worldly things."

Chen Guiliang nodded: "Indeed, it's vulgar."

"See?" Xie Yang instantly regained his confidence.

Unexpectedly, Chen Guiliang continued, "You can't get Zhou Jing, it has nothing to do with any of that, it's purely because you're ugly."

"Damn, what the hell do you know?" Xie Yang wanted to hit him after hearing that.

Xu Haibo continued to persuade, "My mom says high school students shouldn't date early. The most important thing is to study hard. Get into a good school, then find a good job, and then you can date a better girlfriend."

The more Xie Yang listened, the more depressed he became, and finally, he got angry and flared up: "Your mom says, your mom says, you're a damn high school student, can you stop saying 'your mom says'?"

Xu Haibo hesitated to speak.

Watching the two bicker, Chen Guiliang drank and smiled, suddenly remembering an interesting incident.

After the college entrance examination ended, the usually honest and simple Xu Haibo suddenly found Chen Guiliang mysteriously. He claimed he was no longer a high school student and asked Chen Guiliang to take him to watch yellow videos.

He was pent up and wanted to vent!

In Xu Haibo's mind, the most outrageous way to vent was to watch yellow videos; he wanted to see a woman's body.

But it was already 2004, where in the county town were there still yellow video halls? The two of them searched along the street like idiots.

Finally, their legs were sore from walking, so they simply went to an internet cafe for an overnight session. With the enthusiastic recommendation of the internet cafe manager, they watched "Sex Is Zero" and "Crazy Love" all night.

What a painful yet beautiful youth.

"Twice-cooked pork is here!"

The proprietress brought up the first dish.

Xie Yang took another swig from the beer bottle, then picked up a piece of twice-cooked pork and chewed it fiercely, saying viciously, "Before the college entrance examination, I won't go online anymore. I'm going to study hard and get into the top five of the entire grade, and then I'll go after Zhou Jing!"

"Go for it!" Xu Haibo cheered him on.

Chen Guiliang buried his head in his food, too lazy to talk nonsense with him.

"You don't believe me?" Xie Yang pointed at Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang smiled and said, "I'd rather believe you can quit masturbating than believe you can quit the internet."

Xie Yang was enraged and embarrassed: "I swear here and now, if I go online again before the college entrance examination, I'll eat a pound of shit every time I go online! You two are my witnesses."

"Stop trying to scam free food and drinks," Chen Guiliang said happily.

This phrase didn't exist in 2003. Xu Haibo savored it for a moment before understanding what "scam free food and drinks" meant, and then slapped his thigh, laughing heartily.

He thought Chen Guiliang was too talented, simply full of witty remarks.

Xie Yang finished the beer in one gulp, then went to get rice and dishes, preparing to study after eating his fill.

While this brat was wolfing down his food, he kept brainwashing himself: I'm sacrificing so much for Zhou Jing, I'm not even playing The World of Legend anymore. When she finds out, she'll definitely be very touched.

Chen Guiliang also ate quickly; his long-term malnourished body seemed to be frantically absorbing energy.

After eating and drinking to their satisfaction, Chen Guiliang called the proprietress to settle the bill.

"Two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, three bottles of beer, exactly 12 yuan."

The price had increased this year; it was even cheaper last year.

Chen Guiliang took out the money to pay.

Xu Haibo asked, "Xie Saobang, you said you're going to study hard, are you still going to read The Irregular Warrior?"

"No, take it!" Xie Yang threw the novel out.

Xu Haibo picked up the novel and went to return it to the rental book shop about twenty meters away.

Chen Guiliang also followed, feeling quite nostalgic for the place.

There were four bookshelves in the rental book shop, mostly filled with pirated online novels. There were also some traditional martial arts and romance novels, as well as currently popular Japanese manga.

There were always some jerks who weren't satisfied with just enjoying themselves and would tear out exciting parts to appreciate repeatedly.

While returning the book, Xu Haibo asked, "Boss, has the new volume of Twin of Brothers arrived yet?"

The boss replied, "It arrived at noon, someone rented it."

Xu Haibo got his deposit back and went to look for other novels. After looking around, he chose a copy of "World of Mercenaries".

Chen Guiliang wasn't very interested in ancient online novels; he was just accompanying his friend to take a look.

And to reminisce about his youth.

Outside the rental bookstore, there was also a simple bookshelf displaying various newspapers and magazines.

Chen Guiliang spotted Sprout at a glance because the magazine sold exceptionally well and was placed in the most prominent position.

Xu Haibo took World of Mercenaries to pay and saw Chen Guiliang standing there staring at the magazine. He directly picked up Sprout, flipped to the submissions page, and said, "Your writing is so good, why don't you enter the New Concept competition?"

The submission information came into view.

There were only three days left until the deadline, based on the postmark date when the letter was mailed.

"I sold all those books, and I'm going to be a literary youth again in this life?" Chen Guiliang muttered to himself.

Xu Haibo encouraged him, "Maybe you can get recommended admission to Peking University."

Recommended admission to Peking University was purely a dream. Prestigious schools like Tsinghua and Peking University stopped offering recommended admission from the third New Concept competition onwards.

This was the last session, and a few individual schools were still willing to offer admission without exams. The next session would completely eliminate exam-free admission.

Chen Guiliang thought about today's math exam; he couldn't do a single problem. Relying purely on his own ability to take the college entrance exam would be very difficult.

Having been reborn, he could do very well even without going to university.

But if he failed the college entrance exam, it would greatly disappoint his parents, so he had to find a way to muddle through.

There were still four copies of Sprout left unsold here. Chen Guiliang took out 12 yuan and bought them all in one go.

"Buying so many copies?" Xu Haibo asked in surprise.

Chen Guiliang pointed to the submission information and explained, "Submitting one manuscript to multiple places is prohibited, but submitting multiple manuscripts to one place is not. Buying one magazine allows you to submit one manuscript."

When Guo Xiaosi submitted his work back then, he submitted seven pieces in one go.

Both of them paid and were ready to return to the dorm, but Xie Yang was nowhere to be seen.

"Xie Saobang!" Xu Haibo shouted loudly.

Xie Yang emerged from behind a bookshelf, holding a novel in his hand, and walked up to the bookstore owner, complaining, "You didn't even tell me when the new Zi Chuan came out."

Xu Haibo asked, "Didn't you say you were going to quit the internet and study hard from now on?"

Xie Yang tossed his hair and said shamelessly, "I only said I'd quit the internet, I didn't say I wouldn't read novels."