New Concept Writing Competition?

The skinny guy with the crew 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 township schools.

After turning in his paper, Xu Haibo went back to the dorm. He was now holding a copy of The Irregular Warrior, planning to return it to the rental bookstore outside the school.

"I haven't finished it yet. Return it tomorrow," Xie Yang said.

Xu Haibo complained, "Why didn't you read it last night? You just had to go to the internet café to play games. One extra day costs fifty cents. Are you paying the rental fee?"

Xie Yang tossed his hair coolly. "It's just fifty cents. I'll pay it."

Xu Haibo threw the novel to Xie Yang and squeezed in beside Chen Guiliang. Though he was a good kid, he liked hanging out with bad students like Chen Guiliang.

Because he felt that everything Chen Guiliang said and did was exactly what he wanted to do but didn't dare to.

Though he could not do the same, his heart yearned for it.

Even the nickname "Chen the Hero" had first been coined by Xu Haibo.

He had always felt that Chen Guiliang was like one of those chivalrous heroes in novels.

For example, at the start of the semester, Xu Haibo compared the tuition receipt with the class schedule and angrily complained, "Isn't this an arbitrary fee? They clearly charged us fifty-five yuan for computer classes, but there aren't any computer classes on the schedule."

"Really?" Chen Guiliang leaned over to look.

The second week, after confirming that there really were no computer classes, Chen Guiliang began using his spare time to collect signatures and fingerprints from students one by one.

There were twenty-one senior classes, with a total of 985 students.

Chen Guiliang actually got signatures from more than five hundred students and successfully forced the school to refund every senior student's computer fee!

This stunned Xu Haibo into utter admiration. He practically wanted to hold Chen Guiliang's horse and carry his stirrups from then on.

Yet afterward, Chen Guiliang did not show off at all. He merely patted his new shoes and said, "What the fuck do your computer fees have to do with me? I just wanted my money back to buy a pair of shoes. If Principal Yan doesn't know what's good for him, I'll take the signatures to the Education Bureau."

Taking a few quick steps to Chen Guiliang's side, Xu Haibo asked curiously, "Chen the Hero, what happened with your math exam?"

Chen Guiliang had no way to explain, so he could only answer, "I just didn't feel like doing the questions."

"Badass!"

Xu Haibo immediately gave him a thumbs-up. He thought Chen Guiliang looked so cool. Living life his own way, rebellious and untamed—real men should do whatever they pleased.

Unfortunately, he was not a real man. He was just a good student.

Chen Guiliang smiled. "Don't copy me."

Xu Haibo said, "I'm too timid. I wouldn't dare."

Xie Yang chose that moment to flick his hair. "Bobo, you really should learn from him. You're already in senior year, but you still act like an elementary school kid. How are you supposed to get a girlfriend later?"

Xu Haibo only regarded Chen Guiliang as an idol. He would not give Xie Yang a pleasant look. "Like you can get a girlfriend?"

Xie Yang bragged, "Lots of girls secretly like me. My standards are just too high. It's called preferring none to settling. If they aren't on the level of the class beauty, I can't even be bothered dating them."

"Keep bragging!" Xu Haibo said disdainfully.

Before long, the three reached the area near the old school gate, where two rows of late Qing-era buildings had been preserved.

The first draft of The Thick Black Theory had been written there.

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

A flood of memories rose in Chen Guiliang's mind.

The restaurant directly opposite the gate had left the deepest impression on him.

Around his second year of high school, he had ordered a plate of greens there for only one yuan. Since rice was free, he had eaten eight full bowls of the owner's rice!

He had been starving back then.

The Boss's Wife naturally remembered Chen Guiliang well too. She even knew his nickname, and whenever she saw him, she would call, "Chen the Hero, here for a meal again?"

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

The Boss's Wife was slightly surprised. "You're eating so much today?"

"Made some money. I'm celebrating," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

It was a husband-and-wife shop. The owner handled the cooking, while the Boss's Wife collected money. As for everything else, whoever was free did it.

The Boss's Wife quickly brought over the beer, and the sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen.

"Come on, let's clink one first!"

Chen Guiliang was very happy right then. After entering society, it was rare for a few old friends to gather for a meal like this.

Xie Yang used his chopsticks against the bottle cap and popped it off neatly, then raised the bottle directly for a toast. "Rare for Chen the Hero to be generous for once."

Xu Haibo obediently poured the drinks and defended Chen Guiliang. "Chen the Hero has always been generous."

"Cheers!"

Before the dishes were even served, the three brothers had already started drinking.

Xu Haibo was not much of a drinker. He paused three times over a single glass of beer, but gritted his teeth and finally drank it all.

If he said cheers, then he meant cheers.

Xie Yang set down his beer bottle and brushed aside the hair covering his eyes. "I'm planning to pursue Zhou Jing."

Xu Haibo said, "Good luck."

Chen Guiliang smiled. "Instead of wasting time on that, why not go level up a few more times at the internet café?"

"You think I can't get her?" Xie Yang refused to accept that.

"I don't think she'll be easy to pursue either," Xu Haibo said seriously, helping analyze the situation. "Your family lives in the countryside, while hers is in the county seat. Your parents are farmers, while hers are doctors. You also go to the internet café all the time. At this rate, you'll be lucky to get into a second-tier university. She ranks in the top ten of the grade every time. Even if she performs badly, she can get into an ordinary first-tier university. If she performs normally, she'll definitely attend a key university."

Xie Yang grew depressed from hearing that, but stubbornly retorted, "How vulgar. Love is about mutual affection. You can't measure it with worldly standards like that."

Chen Guiliang nodded. "It is vulgar."

"See?" Xie Yang instantly regained his confidence.

But Chen Guiliang continued, "You won't get Zhou Jing, and it has nothing to do with any of that. You're just ugly."

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

Xu Haibo continued persuading him. "My mom says high school students shouldn't fall in love early. The urgent priority is studying hard. Get into a good school, then find a good job. By then, you can date an even better girlfriend."

The more Xie Yang listened, the more depressed he became. Finally, he got angry. "Your mom says, your mom says—you're already a high school student, can you stop saying 'my mom says' all the time?"

Xu Haibo wanted to say something, but stopped himself.

Watching the two bicker, Chen Guiliang drank and smiled, suddenly recalling something amusing.

After the College Entrance Exam ended, Xu Haibo, who had always been honest and well-behaved, suddenly approached Chen Guiliang with a mysterious air. Claiming that he was no longer a high school student, he begged Chen Guiliang to take him to watch porn.

He had been pent up for too long and wanted some release!

In Xu Haibo's mind, the most outrageous form of release was watching porn. He wanted to see what a woman's body looked like.

But it was already 2004. What county town still had porn theaters? The two searched the streets like idiots.

In the end, their legs ached from walking, so they simply went to an internet café for an all-nighter. Under the enthusiastic recommendation of the café attendant, they watched Sex Is Zero and Crazy Love all night.

What painfully ridiculous yet wonderful youth that had been.

"Twice-cooked pork is here!"

The Boss's Wife brought over the first dish.

Xie Yang took another swig from his beer bottle, then picked up a slice of twice-cooked pork and chewed fiercely. "Before the College Entrance Exam, I'm not going online anymore. I'm going to study hard and rank in the top five of the entire grade. Then I'll pursue Zhou Jing!"

"Go for it!" Xu Haibo encouraged him.

Chen Guiliang lowered his head and ate meat, too lazy to waste words on him.

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

Chen Guiliang smiled. "I'd sooner believe you could quit jerking off than believe you could quit the internet."

Xie Yang flew into a rage out of embarrassment. "I swear right here: if I go online again before the College Entrance Exam, then every time I go online, I'll eat half a kilo of shit! You two are witnesses."

"Don't bullshit your way into free food and drink," Chen Guiliang said with a laugh.

That phrase did not exist in 2003 yet. Xu Haibo savored it for a moment before understanding what "bullshit your way into free food and drink" meant, then slapped his thigh and burst out laughing.

He thought Chen Guiliang was unbelievably talented, with witty words pouring from him like pearls.

Xie Yang drained his beer in one go, then went to serve himself rice and eat, planning to study once he was full.

As the bastard wolfed down food, he kept brainwashing himself: I've given up so much for Zhou Jing. I even quit playing The World of Legend. Once she finds out, she'll definitely be touched.

Chen Guiliang ate quickly as well. His body, long malnourished, seemed to be frantically absorbing energy.

After eating and drinking their fill, Chen Guiliang called over the Boss's Wife to settle the bill.

"Two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and three bottles of beer. Exactly twelve yuan."

Prices had gone up this year. It had been even cheaper last year.

Chen Guiliang took out the money and paid.

Xu Haibo asked, "Xie Show-off, you said you were going to study hard. Are you still reading The Irregular Warrior?"

"Not reading it. Take it!" Xie Yang tossed out the novel.

Xu Haibo picked up the novel and went to return it at the rental bookstore more than twenty meters away.

Chen Guiliang followed him over. He still felt rather nostalgic about the place.

There were four bookshelves in the rental bookstore, most of them occupied by pirated online novels. There were also some traditional wuxia and romance novels, along with currently popular Japanese manga.

There were always some assholes who were not satisfied after enjoying themselves, tearing out exciting passages to savor again and again.

While returning the book, Xu Haibo asked, "Boss, hasn't the new volume of Twin of Brothers arrived yet?"

The owner answered, "It came at noon, but someone rented it already."

Xu Haibo got his deposit back and ran off to choose another novel. After looking around for a while, he selected a copy of World of Mercenaries.

Chen Guiliang was not interested in ancient online literature. He had purely come along to keep his friend company.

And to reminisce about youth while he was at it.

Outside the rental bookstore stood a simple shelf displaying all kinds of newspapers and magazines.

Chen Guiliang spotted Sprout Magazine at once. Since the magazine sold very well, it had been placed in the most conspicuous spot.

Xu Haibo went to pay for World of Mercenaries and saw Chen Guiliang standing there staring at the magazine. He directly took down Sprout Magazine and flipped to the submissions page. "Your writing is so good. Why don't you enter the New Concept Writing Competition?"

The submission information came into view.

There were only three days left before the deadline, with the postmark date used as the standard.

"I sold all those books, and I still want to be a literary youth in this life?" Chen Guiliang muttered to himself.

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

Getting recommended to Peking University was nothing but a dream. Prestigious universities such as Tsinghua University and Peking University had stopped offering recommendation admissions through New Concept starting from the third competition.

And this was the final competition. A few schools were still willing to admit students without exams. Starting with the next one, no schools would admit students without exams at all.

Chen Guiliang thought about today's math exam. He had not known how to do a single question. Relying solely on his ability to take the College Entrance Exam would be difficult.

Having been reborn, he could still get by very well even without going to university.

But if he failed the College Entrance Exam, his parents would be terribly disappointed. He had to find some way to muddle through it.

There were still four unsold copies of Sprout Magazine there. Chen Guiliang took out twelve yuan and bought them all in one go.

"You're buying that many?" Xu Haibo asked in surprise.

Chen Guiliang pointed at the submission information and explained, "It forbids submitting the same work to multiple places, but it doesn't forbid submitting multiple works in one place. Buying one magazine lets me submit one manuscript."

When Guo Xiaosi submitted work back then, he had sent in seven pieces at once.

After both of them paid, they prepared to return to the dorm, but Xie Yang was nowhere to be seen.

"Xie Show-off!" Xu Haibo shouted loudly.

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

Xu Haibo asked, "Didn't you say you were quitting the internet and studying hard from now on?"

Xie Yang flicked his hair and shamelessly said, "I only said I was quitting the internet. I never said I wouldn't read novels."