Chapter 2 (1)

  Back in school for a few days, Lin Yuxiang's life was dull and listless. On campus, he indeed saw Susa several times, exchanging smiles each time, but the greater satisfaction behind him must have been accompanied by great emptiness. His longing for Susa grew stronger, to the point where he didn't even want to read books, and in class, he just daydreamed. After discovering his grades had plummeted, he frantically made up for lost time, barely catching up with the average score.

  Luo Tiancheng was more advanced in this regard than Lin Yuxiang, writing a romantic letter every few days, which was naturally somewhat conservative but expressed his true feelings: Dear Susa: After returning from Zhouzhuang, I found that I have always had a good impression of you.

  Having a bosom friend is enough. Not interacting with each other is a kind of suffering. I think we get along well, in the ever-changing world, having a friend to rely on is always there. Some sweetness is not shared with anyone, some bitterness I have to taste myself, so I want someone to share and bear with me, you are the best choice.

  If you refuse me, I can only accept reality and let go, because that is the end of love.

  The letter was written with great eloquence, especially the one paragraph of deep and profound English. I thought I had it in the bag, but unexpectedly Susa returned the letter to me, corrected the grammatical errors, and asked: "Are you the second place in your grade?"

  Received the echo, Luo Tiancheng was so angry that he wanted to die, and he hated to kill two people in this school. Susa commented on Shen Xier's comment about Luo Tiancheng, saying that this person is pretending to be profound, too shallow, and too hypocritical. When these words reached Luo Tiancheng's ears, he sighed that the emotions of the world are unpredictable, and scolded that beautiful women have always been a source of trouble since ancient times. Lin Yuxiang secretly rejoiced, fortunate that Luo Tiancheng's bite didn't work this time. In theory, it should have worked by now. When Lin Yuxiang goes to try again the next day, his success rate will be higher. Luo Tiancheng was completely unaware, chasing a girl is like an inexperienced archer shooting an arrow, generally speaking, the first arrow will always miss the target.

  When he has gained experience in missing the target, he will slowly have a feeling. He shoots an arrow askew and gives up, blaming the target for not being placed properly.

  However, this arrow also went off the mark and hit another target. A younger girl who admired Luo Tiancheng's philosophical ideas wrote him a letter. The letter was like it had fallen into a honey jar, so sweet that it was nauseating, with "brother" this and "brother" that. Nowadays, girls are smart and use familial relationships as cover when pursuing someone, making it easy for them to move between friendship and romance. Luo Tiancheng had never had a sister before, but after being called "brother" several times, he was drawn in like a cat hearing the sound of a bowl being hit, his ears perked up and he was swaying back and forth. The girl was also blind, dedicating herself to philosophy and getting along with Luo Tiancheng so well that it was hard to separate them even with explosives.

  That girl has Susa's shadow, a floating long hair, a smile that can be seen, and a beautiful face. After a man loses his love, he either kills himself or falls in love again, and the requirements for finding the second object are often similar to the first one. This psychology is subtle, such as eating something delicious, suddenly being robbed by someone, naturally wanting to find something with a similar taste by all means. This logic only applies when the woman betrays or fails to pursue her. If the two people no longer have feelings for each other, there is no such "shadow love", and it's not necessary to eat something that gets worse and worse again.

  Lu Tiancheng's idea was unknown to Lin Yuxiang, he only knew that Lu Tiancheng had withdrawn and Lin Yuxiang also relaxed suddenly. The competition was left with only him, everything was just a matter of time, no need to worry about not getting the championship. He just smiled at Susa as usual when they met on the road. Everything started slowly.

  At the Literary Society, Ma Debao was rushing to finish his manuscript. A few days before going to Zhouzhuang, Ma Debao received a letter with an unusual name on the envelope - it was from the Contemporary Literature Research Group of the Chinese Culture Research Center. The official seal was clear, and Ma Debao firmly believed that there would be no deception.

  The main body of the letter says: "Your school has a prestigious reputation in literature, and its fame is well-known. Recently, our research center is holding a national essay competition for middle school students on an unprecedented scale, with reports from major newspapers. Your school has a good way of cultivating talents, and we sincerely hope that you will not hesitate to submit your work, and we are grateful. The organizing committee of this competition invites famous writers xxx, xxx, xxxx, famous scholars xxx, xxX, XXX to form the jury, to show the level. The participating essays need to be attached with a two-yuan preliminary review fee, and once the preliminary review is passed, the school will be notified immediately. This competition does not involve commercial activities."

  The signature is Ma Juxiong. Ma Debao read this letter several times, and what moved him most was that the words above were all handwritten, enough to show how much the research center valued the school. Ma Debao himself did not expect that the school's reputation would be so great, it really was "famous outside". It seems that fame is like the hair on the back of one's head, the person themselves can't see it, but others can see it clearly.

  That research center is far away in Beijing, and the institution in the capital must not be fake. As for the two-yuan preliminary review fee, it's also reasonable. It would be too difficult for them to bear the expenses of food, drink, and accommodation for so many nationally renowned experts who are unknown to Ma Debao. In a market economy, two yuan is a small amount of money, just enough for a package of instant noodles. Moreover, the person in charge is a close relative of Ma Debao's, and the name is also extraordinary, it's a great pride for the Ma family.

  Ma Debao made up his mind to lead the Literary Society to participate, and the trip to Zhouzhuang was also a preparation for this. Among the many members of the society, Ma Debao had high hopes for Lin Yuxiang, Luo Tiancheng, and Shen Xier. These three people were all extraordinary writers, and Lin Yuxiang was good at referencing ancient texts, but it was forced upon him. He had to hold a copy of "Ancient Chinese Dictionary" and make strained references, such as in his composition: "I used my three-inch tongue that doesn't rot to say something that pained him to the bone marrow." Others could write like this, but Lin Yuxiang, under pressure from his reputation, could only look up the reference and rewrite it as: "I used Mr. Mao's three-inch tongue that doesn't rot from 'Records of the Grand Historian? Biography of Pingyuan Jun' to say something that pained him like in 'Intrigues of the Warring States? Yan Strategy Three'." Ma Debao praised his beautiful writing, and he also proudly took it home to show his father, who scolded him. As for Luo Tiancheng, there was no need to mention how profound and extraordinary he was, using idioms that made animals fly wildly, which delighted Ma Debao greatly. Shen Xier's proud writings were very much in line with Ma Debao's style, and of course, he had no reason not to like his own work.

  Shen Creek is serious about doing things, and Jiao Wen has already written with a clever mind and quick pen, quickly submitting the competition essay and the initial review fee of 2 yuan. Luo Tiancheng hated that his philosophy couldn't be used in the narrative essay, so he dragged his feet and didn't submit it. Lin Yuxiang was even slower, having to look up words in the dictionary as he wrote, and the article had a sour tone.

  Ma Debao was like a madman, following closely behind Lin Luo's buttocks to urge him on. Luo Tiancheng's younger sister was anxious for her older brother and said that he should temporarily put aside his own philosophical ideas because Chinese people have always looked down on the words of those without fame. Jokingly, she said that in China, the words of those without fame are just farting, while the farts of famous people are famous sayings. Luo Tiancheng was deeply impressed and immediately added phrases like "Heidegger said", "Schopenhauer wrote", and "Comte told us" to his own words, completing them quickly and handing them over to Ma Debao. Ma Debao took it upon himself to change Comte's nationality, saying that he was the son of Confucius, which caused Confucius to lose his father. Luo Tiancheng smiled secretly and returned to spread the word that Ma Debao was as ignorant as Lin Yuxiang. Ma Debao thought about it and realized his mistake, so he checked the materials and became red-faced with embarrassment. During class, he corrected his own error and launched into a discussion, saying that Comte was French. After Comte was deported back to his country, Ma Debao tried to cover up his ignorance by saying that Confucius had only one word in English, called "fuSlllS".

  What's the good thing about asking "Lǎozi" then? Ma Debao had to force himself to spell out "Lǎozi", first spelling out one, unfortunately a country used it first, then thought of h and lse, but neither was valid, and regretted how the pronunciation was like that. Later, students played by themselves, Mozi gave up his inclusive heart and switched to believing in Maoism (Maoist).

  Ma Debao changed from being ignorant to knowledgeable, and thus. The ignorant one pushed Lin Yuxiang down. Lin Yuxiang really couldn't write it out, wanted to give up, Ma Debao didn't allow it, Lin Yuxiang had no choice but to copy the article, scrambled the content of a book introducing Zhou's beautiful writing, reorganized it, and attached two yuan to give to Ma Debao.

  The manuscript work of the Literature Society is nearing its end, and Ma Debao has produced more than 20 articles of varying quality, which were sent to Ma Juxiong. A week later, Ma Debao was informed by letter that he had won the Organization Recommendation Award, with a certificate; the students' essays are currently under initial review.

  Lin Yuxiang was increasingly losing interest in the literary club, and the lost interest was all transferred to Susa's account. He looked at Luo Tiancheng and his little sister with envy. The little sister had Luo Tiancheng, like a precious treasure, and came to find him every day to talk about her heart. The two people's hearts were so big that they couldn't finish talking even after half a day, it can be seen that the byproduct of love is nonsense.

  Classmates in the class all asked Luo Tiancheng where he cheated on this innocent girl, Luo Tiancheng said: "Which is cheating, she sent herself to the door."

  "It's impossible, just like you"

  "Also, have you told her that you've had hepatitis and are contagious?"

  "She won't mind!" Luo Tiancheng said resolutely.

  "You ask again, girls are most afraid that you have a disease, once you mention it, they'll run away before you can even react!" someone else said.

  Luo Tiancheng only then thought of correcting the misunderstanding, saying: "My sister and I don't have any special relationship, just siblings, you guys are thinking too much, it's not a big deal."

  Once this gets out, evidence will come flooding in from all sides: "Hey, stop bragging, we've all seen it, you two are so affectionate!"

  "As sticky as glue!"

  "I also saw you and her walking together, so close it's almost like that in Northeast China, you tell me"

  "The thief is near!"

  "The thief is near!"

  "The thief is near!"

  "The thief is near!"

  Luotian City did not expect that his classmates were all language experts, and a large number of warning sentences were prepared to come out and refute.

  The people in the class continued to beat Luo Tiancheng. They seemed to be all from a fighting background, knowing that when someone was beaten half to death, the person would resist even more fiercely, and the solution was to beat him to death and then say "I still saw you eating with her outside!"

  "I saw it too."

  "See you on Saturday at Daqiao!"

  "Went on an outing on Sunday!"

  Lu Tiancheng would not have thought that his movements, although self-proclaimed to be secretive, still could not escape detection. The Chinese have a tendency to snoop in their bones, and because of this, many talented individuals are overlooked at home, but once they go abroad, they may become the most revered. This is why some Chinese people, once they run off to foreign countries and return, become spies. No wonder there's a famous Chinese saying: "The eyes of the masses are bright." During wartime, these bright eyes are used to discover enemies; in peacetime, they're used to pry into others' private lives. Lu Tiancheng was secretly dug up and shouted: "You can't follow me!"

  "Hey, great philosopher, who's following you? Nothing better to do after eating their fill. Unlucky to have bumped into him! Can't even hide!"

  Luo Tiancheng and others walked with Xiao Mei after school, feeling that everyone around them was staring at them due to the big fright they had in the morning. They took a detour on their way home. On the road, Luo Tiancheng said: "Xiao Mei, do you know? I just got zero points on my test."

  She asked what he knew.

  Luotiancheng said that to me.

  She said with a smile: "Do you care about those words?"

  "What's the point of caring about these things?"

  The little sister smiled happily. It was necessary to scatter some words, Luo Tiancheng deeply understood this famous saying, and his interactions with the little sister were all woven with lies, such as "young and wise, well-read", "martial arts skills are high", he had scattered so much that even he himself didn't know what was real, in case he accidentally spoke a true word, it would be terrifying.

  The girl believed it and asked, "Really, are you my brother?" The more foolish the girl was, the more lovable she became. Luo Tiancheng liked her even more because of her obedience. He said, "Don't mind what others say."

  Little sister smiled and said with her hands behind her back, "I heard you liked a very pretty girl, is that true? Don't lie to me!"

  Lu Tiancheng's surprise was churning in his stomach, but his face remained expressionless. He wanted to tell the truth, but suddenly remembered that girls loved eating old vinegar and was too afraid to say it, so he glossed over it: "I heard someone else talking nonsense."

  "Yes, she's called Susa and it's definitely true, you're deceiving me!" The girl said with a hint of anger.

  Luo Tiancheng has been deceiving people for many years, and this time he suffered a failure. He immediately made up a new story, saying: "What you said is true, but it's not that I like her, it's that she likes me, she admires me very much, you know what I mean? Then I, no, she wrote a letter to me, and of course, I wisely rejected her. But I was afraid of hurting her too deeply, so I also wrote an apology letter. She told people that she dumped me. Ah, girls are a bit vain, but it's understandable. I don't plan on explaining myself, I'll just endure it." After finishing his fabrication, he admired his own talent for exaggeration and flattery. A new star in the journalism world is rising.

  Lu Tiancheng has the demeanor of a tolerant person, but her younger sister does not. She is indignant and wants to take revenge. Lu Tiancheng fears that things will spread out and be difficult to stop, so she persuades her younger sister, saying that tolerance is a virtue. The younger sister is convinced and possesses that virtue.

  Two people walked onto the bridge. The bridge was built after the founding of the country and spanned a large river in the small town, barely qualifying as a major bridge.

  The big bridge was already at an age of no confusion, but in fact it was not a year to be obtained, and it was rare to be able to obtain maintenance and preservation. The only thing that could be done was to let people tread on it without daring to make a sound. There were few cars on the bridge, but many people, all of whom were lovers, calmly facing death. On this evening, the sunset was extremely thick, casting a reddish glow on people's faces. Luo Tiancheng and his younger sister were having a grand discussion about life, old age, illness, and death on the bridge. Luo Tiancheng had escaped from Buddhism, knowing that these were the so-called "four sufferings". He said: "These are actually all meaningless, I plan to retire at forty and live a simple life, for simplicity is truth."

  The girl said: "I'm most afraid of getting sick and having to get shots!"

  Luo Tiancheng continued: "A person lives, and when he dies, what's the point of it all?"

  Suddenly stopped, recalling whether this was said to little sister, couldn't recall, so had to stop.

  The girl didn't urge him to speak, but instead coquettishly exclaimed: "Oh no, I'm so scared! It's going to hurt a lot!"

  Lu Tiancheng turned his head to look at the little sister's excited face, feeling more and more beautiful, with eyes full of expectation. The red clouds in the sky made an effort to add atmosphere to the two people. Lu Tiancheng didn't speak anymore, producing a desire to kiss. God gave people mouths to eat, but lips were definitely used for kissing. The girl's lips were slightly pursed, red and shiny, as if enticing Lu Tiancheng's lips. Lu Tiancheng's lips were not firm in their resolve, determined not to waste God's careful design, so he mobilized his tongue to secretly moisten them a little. He gazed at the little sister, feeling that she was drunk with desire, and became even bolder, turning sideways to lean over and kiss her.

  It was just a simple touch of four lips, not enough to explain anything. People insist on treating it as a symbol of love, no matter what the relationship was before, as long as the four lips meet, they become a couple. This relationship neither Luo Tiancheng nor his little sister can deny. Luo Tiancheng kissed and hurt, proclaiming the feeling of kissing to everyone he met, but in fact, there's nothing special about it, everyone spends most of their time kissing themselves every day.

  In school, a boy who has been kissed will increase in value, while the girl who was kissed will plummet in value. The girl angrily asked Luo Tiancheng why he had to tell everyone, and Luo Tiancheng's expression of genuine surprise also shocked those who heard him say it. Someone secretly told the girl, she was furious and unbearable, found Luo Tiancheng and quarreled with him loudly, only then did Luo Tiancheng know that his little sister had this special talent.

  Lu Tiancheng felt that the girl was becoming more and more uninteresting. Firstly, she liked philosophy but not philosophers like Lu Tiancheng. There's nothing strange about this - a person who loves to eat apples doesn't have to also love apple trees. Moreover, she liked philosophy but didn't like discussing it, which made Lu Tiancheng think she was too shallow, with only a pretty face and no substance like Susa.

  Men don't choose girlfriends as casually as buying vegetables. He hated that there wasn't anyone in the world who combined Xi Shi's beauty, Marilyn Monroe's figure, Lin Chi-ying's temperament, and Athena's wisdom... wait, no, Athena's wisdom was actually undesirable - if a girl had this kind of intelligence, all the tricks men used would be useless.

  Little sister finally had half of Athena's wisdom and decided to break up with Luo Tiancheng. Luo Tiancheng was also easy-going, comforted her with a few apologetic words, and let go even faster than farting.

  In the first few days, Luo Tiancheng felt unaccustomed to it, but Luo Tiancheng had a stronger desire to learn than Lin Yuxiang. After holding books and reading for several days, after the adaptation period was over, he still felt that being alone was simpler.

  That little sister really seemed to have gone into hiding. Occasionally when she reappeared in the daylight, she was so silent and cold that it was frightening.

  He and Luo Tiancheng unexpectedly bumped into each other, but they passed by like strangers, without even a glance.

  Lin Yuxiang is much more at peace. His love is like the pseudopodia of an amoeba, able to sprout anywhere and retract back into his body at any time. The joy that he can control at will is something that Luo Tiancheng does not have.

  Lin Yuxiang is forced to focus on his studies, with homework every day until midnight, receiving quality education at school during the day and engaging in intense test preparation at home in the evenings. When one's energy is depleted, affection dwindles. Lin Yuxiang would rather remain still and inactive.

  At Wenxue She, Lin Yuxiang had already escaped several times. The last time that big piece for the national essay contest was finally handed in, there was no news from it.

  One day, he received a letter from his older cousin. His older cousin was currently studying in the Chinese department of a prestigious university, and in high school, he had already stolen the spotlight with his Tang poetry, proclaiming himself "the greatest romantic poet of Jiangnan". He boasted that his writing was unmatched and his talent unparalleled. With divine help, he managed to get into a top university that many high school students envied. After entering the Chinese department, he thought he was the number one literary giant in China, but it turned out that others in the department were even more arrogant, and "number one" wasn't even in the running - they started counting from negative numbers. A roommate of his, a "poetic immortal", was incredibly talented, with poetry flowing effortlessly, and had posted a motivational note on his bedside table that read: "My literary thoughts are like a mighty waterfall, who can compete with me?" which intimidated everyone into submission.

  This self-motivation has been passed down as a great story in the Chinese department and cannot be promoted as the motto of this department. The Chinese department is not highly regarded in the university, and even among language majors, the foreign languages department is more popular. However, this self-motivation gave the Chinese department a boost. A student from the foreign languages department who claimed to be able to translate anything visited the Chinese department's dormitory and was stumped by the word "" (urine explosion) in the self-motivation. Despite searching through all his learned vocabulary, he couldn't understand it and sighed at the richness of the Chinese language. He could only translate it literally as "", which sounded cumbersome and long-winded. On the other hand, a student from the Chinese department who didn't know English but based on the word "" (sea), coined a new term "se-rig", which impressed the foreign languages department and made them feel inferior. What Lin Yuxiang can be proud of is that this "sea-rig" was invented by his older brother.

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