Chapter 3 (3)

  Li Yangjun said with a smile: "Later on, we even encountered police cars, I ran fast. Unfortunately, Lao was slightly injured and sent to the hospital."

  "What about that girl?"

  "She's fine, she left. Her home isn't here, and she was still crying saying she won't come again!"

  "Don't come here anymore"

  "I don't dare come anymore."

  "What's her name?"

  "How was I supposed to know?!"

  A hint of disappointment flashed across Lin Yuxiang's eyes.

  In the afternoon class meeting, Lin Yuxiang and Liang Yangjun were summoned to the principal's office together. Lin Yuxiang was covered in cold sweat, thinking that he was done for.

  The principal of the middle school in this small town has a much greater presence than the school itself. He is rarely seen, and only appears when there are important matters to attend to.

  "He sternly asked: 'Do you two know why I called you here?'"

  "I don't know."

  "What were you doing after 8 o'clock last night?"

  "Supplemental lessons."

  "Liar! Someone came this morning and said you two smashed his store. Great, instead of studying, you went to fight!"

  Lin Yuxiang wrongly said: "No!"

  "The witnesses are all here. Call your parents over!"

  As a result, Lin's father beat up Yuexiang, but Liang Shuojun tried his best to say that Lin Yuxiang didn't fight back. Ma Debao also pleaded for leniency by citing the national essay champion title, and Lin Yuxiang was spared from punishment. Liang's father paid compensation. Liang Shuojuan was indeed guilty of assault and was given a major demerit. Liang's father tried to use money to settle the matter but ended up offending the principal.

  Around the end of last month, Liang Yangjun transferred to Pudong Private School, and Lin Yuxiang saw him off. Ma Debao's literary club won the national best literary club award is not "won" but should be "bought".

  The following month, the Asian financial crisis struck. A language teacher lost his job and returned to school. Ma Debao's teaching methods were excellent, and through a referral, he was appointed as a language teacher at County City Middle School. Before leaving, he bid a reluctant farewell to Yu Xiang.

  Lin Yuxiang and Susa's grades are as usual.

  The final exam has finally ended. Looking forward to the future, the entire winter vacation is connected by books. At the end-of-term summary meeting, the school said it would implement the spirit of enriching students' lives proposed by the Education Commission. The masses informed that this was one of the few correct decisions made by the Education Commission. Unfortunately, the slogan "enriched life" seems to be a parasitic worm that cannot survive independently and must rely on patriotic education. Patriotism requires going to Nanjing because Nanjing has many famous historical sites for patriotic education. After visiting Nanjing, you will inevitably offer love, but unfortunately, it is offered to the ducks.

  The school arranged a day for this event, departing at 3 am and returning home at 10 pm, leaving only four hours on the ground in Nanjing. It can be seen that the process of love is short-lived, but the memories of love are endless. On the road to love, there will be TV stations coming to make a program, and there will also be people from the Education Commission descending to supervise. The main purpose of these people on this trip is to show their faces on TV, bring back some ducks, and supervise.

  The arrival of love is often hasty, the school informs all sentient beings that they will set out the next day and gather at 2:30 in the middle of the night.

  At 6 pm, Lin Yuxiang went to the supermarket to shop. This small town is the poorest in education and the richest in the Education Bureau. It is said that this supermarket is the third industry of the Education Bureau. However, with a crooked upper beam, the lower beam is also crooked. There are many three-no products mixed in this supermarket, and the goods are disorderly arranged. Often, you can find triangular pants in the "stationery" cabinet; it leads students to have all sorts of fantasies, thinking that this year's education reform has included triangular pants as a category of student supplies. However, after careful consideration, there is still some reason to it. In schools, the curriculum is usually too dense, and the examination time is too long. It's really hard to hold on, so Lin Yuxiang thought about it and suddenly lost his voice in laughter.

  After picking for half a day, there was only one piece of chewing gum in the basket, which was quite pathetic. At this moment, I caught sight of a familiar figure. It turned out to be Susa and Shen Xi'er shopping together. The girl's mouth was full of words, and their baskets were filled with things that were about to overflow. Lin Yuxiang couldn't help but shout for the implementation of communism.

  Yu Xiang quickly drew up a plan and would pass through three shelves, then unexpectedly run into two people. Along the way, he had to replenish items, no matter what, first throwing them into the basket and dealing with it later, at most putting them back afterwards. As a result, along the way, it was as if the Nationalist Party were recruiting soldiers, regardless of good or bad, noble or humble, all were taken in unconditionally. At the third intersection, by the mirror, Yu Xiang practiced several smiles, mesmerizing himself and maintaining this smile to wait for Susa. Unfortunately, as time passed, this smiling face became an unstable structure, with muscles jumping wildly. Yu Xiang thought that this wouldn't do, so he changed to a serious expression, because girls all like charming and elegant guys.

  Just then, Susa suddenly appeared from around the corner, and Yuxiang was very embarrassed, hastily holding up his basket and saying: "Hui, go to Nanjing to prepare some things."

  "Susa glanced at the basket and burst out laughing, pointing and saying: "You're still bringing this to Nanjing?"

  "Which one?" he asked, then looked down into the basket and suddenly his blood froze. All he saw was a pack of sanitary napkins on top. Extremely embarrassed, Lin Yuxiang stuttered: "I thought it was a paper towel for wiping my mouth. Sorry, I made a mistake."

  Shen Creek didn't let go, sprinkling salt on the wound and saying: "Wow, you're still designed for high traffic, you really know how to drool!"

  "Susa intervened on one side and said: 'Alright, Xi'er, don't say anything more.'"

  "What's wrong, you're taking pity on this kid?"

  Lin Yuxiang was too busy scratching the back of his head, and it wasn't until after a while that he realized he had forgotten to do the most important thing. He secretly picked up the sanitary napkin and stuffed it into the pencil case behind him, finally completing the task. At the same time, he somewhat understood why there were underwear in this pencil case - happy people have their own happiness, but unhappy people share the same misfortune.

  "Susa looked at Lin Yuxiang and suddenly changed the subject: 'Hey, Lin Yuxiang, have you had dinner?'"

  Lin Yuxiang knew that this question was wonderful, if he hadn't eaten, the other party would definitely invite him warmly. Although Lin Yuxiang had just patted his stomach, for love, he could only compromise with his stomach. Lin Yuxiang patted his belly, unexpectedly letting out a belch, and was greatly embarrassed again, hurriedly saying: "I'm so hungry I'm belching!"

  Stupidity and humor are often just a tone apart. Lin Yuxiang's silly remark was heard by Susa as a joke, and she couldn't stop laughing. Lin Yuxiang waited for Susa's invitation, but didn't expect her laughter to be so unstoppable, like trying to stop a train, it took a lot of time. At this moment, Shen Xi'er gave Lin Yuxiang another heavy blow: "Why not go home and eat?"

  Susa smiled and said, "Forget it, let him eat with us."

  "Are you interested in this kid?" Shen Xi Er asked, hitting him on both sides.

  "It's nothing, just a meal. Consider it repayment for last time in Zhouzhuang, let's go!"

  Lin Yuxiang followed them with a nervous and fearful heart, occasionally glancing at his own basket, only to discover that there was still a pack of Hush Puppies inside, which gave him a fright. He looked around cautiously, making sure no one had noticed, then quickly hid the crackers together with the biscuits.

  Three people went to a restaurant called "Walk In" fast food restaurant. The place was initially doing poorly, with rough service attitude and most customers were in and out quickly. Recently, they changed their strategy by introducing a couples' set meal, which included a free rose at the end. Although the rose looked like the store's previous business situation, it was still better than nothing. Here, when lovers had finished eating and talking, the waiter would say in non-standard Mandarin: "Sir/Madam, time's up." This added a warm atmosphere, and couples who were about to quarrel would put it off until they left the store. After introducing this business concept, the small store became much quieter. In hotels, those who made noise and got drunk were usually government personnel, but these people were not welcomed in the small store because after eating and drinking for free, they would hold a series of meetings: one overall planning meeting, two grassroots expansion meetings, three mass discussion meetings, and finally, a conference with famous gangsters. Couples wouldn't do that.

  Lin Yuxiang calmly ordered a bottle of beer, swallowed it hard, and showed off his heroic spirit. His head became dizzy, and he suddenly turned into a man with a mix of arrogance, domineering air, and the smell of alcohol. He tapped on the table, reminiscing about his past, and said: "When I was young, I read poetry books, Susa, you haven't read them, have you? Let me tell you, many things in ancient times didn't make sense. You need to change your way of thinking." As he spoke, Yuxiang changed his sitting position, lying on the table with his eyes fixed intently on Susa, saying: "Your way of thinking is continuous, while mine is reverse. Do you understand? For example, when ordinary people talk about sensibility, they usually follow up with rationality, but when I talk about sensibility, I'll tell you about sensuality."

  Lin Yuxiang pulled up his sleeves, and Shen Xi'er thought he was going to use body language, so she quickly protected Susa. But Lin Yuxiang's motive was simple, and he waved his hand saying: "Bring another bottle! This small wine is not worth mentioning, Old Yu drinks like milk, hurry up and bring a bottle of Ribena!"

  "Susa got up and supported Yu Xiang saying: "Alright, stop drinking, let's go, it's about time. Let's go."

  Shen Creek also hurriedly pulled, Lin Yuxiang pushed them away and said: "You really think I'm drunk, I can say"

  He thought of finding a classic poem to prove his great drinking skills, but unfortunately this kind of thing was banned and he had never seen it before. He could only drag the word "yue" (meaning "to say") into a long, mournful sound like the whistle of a steam engine when a great man passed away.

  Shen Creek child one word pointedly said: "Say fart, go!"

  The night air outside was cool and refreshing, taking a deep breath, the cold wind pierced straight into his nostrils, cooling his heart and lungs, even blowing into his earholes. Susa couldn't help but clench his fists and let out a mouthful of air. Lin Yuxiang saw this and quickly took off a piece of clothing, which was so thin it seemed like it would tear from the wind, and threw it down for Susa to wear. Susa said no need, no need, we're almost home.

  Lin Yuxiang hastily said: "What's wrong, you think it's too thin? I still have more!" After finishing speaking, he took off another one, and suddenly his whole body felt lighter, his nose was stuffy, and he couldn't stop sneezing. Susa declined even more.

  Lin Yuxiang stripped off his inertia and was about to take off more, but Shen Xi'er saw that the situation was not good and if he continued to strip, he would be running naked. He hurriedly ordered: "Put it back on!"

  Lin Yuxiang stumbled and steadied himself before saying: "It's not like I'm stripping for you, I want to!"

  Susa also saw the seriousness of the situation, and hastily stopped a tricycle on the side of the road, pushed Lin Yuxiang into it, and told the driver to take him home. Yuxiang didn't resist, obediently getting in. After the tricycle had gone some distance, Susa worried: "Will something happen to him?"

  Shen Creek's eyebrows rose and he said, "This kid has been stripped of so many clothes and still hasn't frozen to death. What do you think will happen?"

  Susa turned around and glanced down the long street, then was pulled home by Shen Qi'er. And Shen Qi'er didn't have a good thing to do, she sent Susa off with a professional spirit of sending Buddha to the Western Heaven, after completing her task of driving away the wolf, at the next intersection, she bid farewell to Susa. From that intersection to Susa's home was still a long way, only a little less than using up an entire year's worth of travel time. Susa just felt a bit uneasy, afraid that Lin Yu Xiang would get drunk and smash someone's tricycle, or be cheated by the driver, or cheat the driver instead.

  There was a figure about tens of meters away under the streetlight ahead, and as Susa approached, Xu took two steps forward and stood on the street.

  "Susa stopped the car and asked with his head down: 'Lin Yuxiang, why aren't you going home? What are you doing here?'"

  Lin Yuxiang had a lot of wine and meat today, not only did his stomach grow bigger, but so did his courage. He loudly said: "Susa, I want to spend some time with you." This sentence echoed exceptionally clearly in the night sky, and all Susas within a ten-mile radius would be shaken by it.

  "You've had too much to drink."

  "Not too much, not too little, just right!" Lin Yuxiang said to himself, feeling a bit dizzy and having an urge to confess. He thought that wine was indeed good stuff - if ordinary people's confessions failed, they couldn't even remain friends, but if he confessed while drunk and got rejected, he could use the excuse of "drunken behavior" or "drunken madness", which would leave him with a wider escape route than before. On the other hand, Lin Yuxiang didn't want to tarnish this pure friendship either. He thought to himself, it was actually just two words: "not daring". Although they were walking slowly and calmly along the street, their emotions were surging up and down.

  Lin Yuxiang had gone through a more intense struggle than World War II and finally made up his mind that if things continued to be so stagnant, this romance would have to last until the next century. According to the master's teachings, today's matters should be settled today, so this century's love should be confessed in this century, otherwise it would really be "talking for ten or more years, and black hair turned white". After all, dragging out a romance like a human trade is not fun. With determination, Lin Yuxiang began to consider his words, and after some brainstorming, he came up with many plans, such as "I love you, just one million years", or Sun Wukong's "I love you, if I must give this love a deadline, it would be one million years" from the movie "Journey to the West". This era's romance is indeed formidable, either not loving at all, or loving so much that it's equivalent to the lifespan of hundreds of turtles and tortoises. Moreover, not only humans are like this, but also monkeys, which shows that their views on love have evolved to be similar to those of humans, or rather, degenerated. After thinking through his vows, the final step was to decide whether to use "love" or "like". In fact, the two are equivalent. Humans are just strange, once they mention having "three words",

  When it comes to saying "I love you", people often think of the phrase, but little do they know that phrases like "wang ren dan" (a type of egg), "ni zhe lü" (you donkey), "jiu ming a" (save me), "shang ce suo" (go to the bathroom) and even "fen shou ba" (break up) are all three words. If speaking also had rewards like some wealthy newspaper or magazine's "thousand words, thousand dollars", I believe many lovers would change their "I love you" to "I like you". However, due to human habit, using the word "love" obviously has a powerful impact, so Lin Yuxiang still decided to use "love".

  On the cold night street, there were only a few people. In the empty world, it seemed like only two people and several lamps were left. Lin Yuxiang clenched his fists, just about to open his mouth, when unfortunately, something bad happened. Susa spoke before Lin Yuxiang, saying: "Is there anything? If not, I'll go home?"

  Lin Yuxiang's courage was scared away and couldn't be found anywhere, he just shook his head and said "it's nothing, it's nothing".

  Susa wrapped her scarf tightly around her and gave Lin Yuxiang a faint smile before getting on the car to head home. Lin Yuxiang stood still in his original spot, scolding himself for forgetting to say warm words like "be careful on the road". The effects of the alcohol rose up again, and he couldn't help but feel regretful. He hailed a three-wheeled motorcycle by the side of the road and rushed towards the next intersection from another route.

  That little tricycle, although seemingly more drunk than Lin Yuxiang, was swaying from side to side, but its speed was incredibly fast. The streetlights whizzed by in a flash, and all that could be heard was the wind whistling past his ears, like a dream.

  At the next intersection, Lin Yuxiang leaned against the streetlight and wanted to collapse. At the same time, he also prayed that Susa would carry on the spirit of the old generation of proletarian revolutionaries, walking straight on one road without innovating other ways.

  A figure gradually emerged from the misty distance, and Lin Yuxiang immediately became highly vigilant, almost merging with the streetlights.

  Suddenly the girl who looked like Susa stopped her car. Lin Yuxiang thought that his figure had been discovered, and he was extremely nervous, wishing he could hide behind a lamppost or have a protective color.

  After getting off the bus, he walked to the side of the road and took a closer look. There was a beggar kneeling there. Lin Yuxiang usually thought that beggars who didn't contribute to the country's Four Modernizations but came to ask for money were very unambitious, but he would still give them some money. But today he didn't see it, love really makes people blind.

  The long-haired figure crouched beside the beggar, pulled out something and gave it to him. The beggar kept kowtowing, and the figure supported him, then took off his gloves and handed them over, saying a few words before flicking his hair back and waving goodbye as he turned to push the cart away.

  The action of tossing her hair was all too familiar to Lin Yuxiang. Indeed, it was Sll-sao. At this moment, Lin Yuxiang didn't want to confess anything anymore. He thought to himself that whoever could catch up to Susa would be the happiest person. Then he hoped Susa wouldn't discover him, so he quickly hid behind a cluster of unknown evergreen plants. The sound of the bicycle faded into the distance. A beggar not far away watched as Susa walked away, then stared at Lin Yuxiang, thinking they were kindred spirits. That beggar was now a relatively well-off beggar, so he looked down on Lin Yuxiang. Lin Yuxiang was still staring blankly at Susa's receding back when he turned his head and saw the beggar, who was disabled and sitting in a four-wheeled flatbed cart. He felt a pang of sympathy and wanted to donate some love, but unexpectedly, the beggar stood up, grasped the cart, patted his butt, and walked away.

  This night Lin Yu Xiang was in a daze, he didn't know how he got back home, only knowing that the night was short but his dreams were many, one after another like Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas. Just as it was getting to the exciting part of the story, he was startled awake by the sound of knocking on the iron door. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was his mother returning home. His biological mother hadn't been seen for a long time, but tonight she was beaming with joy, probably because she had won some money. When people encounter good things, their spirits are lifted. Seeing her son awake, Lin's mother smiled and asked: "Hey, why did I see students on the streets when I came back today?"

  Lin Yuxiang immediately jumped out of bed, looked at his watch and exclaimed "I'm done for", realizing he was going to be late. For the sake of collective honor, he abandoned personal hygiene and rushed out the door. He sprinted all the way to the school gate, where the bus had already started its engine, but fortunately, he just made it on time. When he found his class's bus, he discovered that all the seats were taken, except for the steering wheel. The teacher naturally scolded him before giving an important instruction: "Get on the neighboring class's bus".

  He got on the bus next door, and all he saw were heads. The tour guide told him to make room for someone else, saying there was an extra seat, Yu Xiang looked over and suddenly felt short of breath, his eyes shining brightly, leaning against the extra seat was also discovered by him, a faint smile, taking away the bag on the extra seat.

  Sitting in that position, Lin Yuxiang felt at a loss and hated himself for not taking care of his personal hygiene, and it was as if fate was playing tricks on him.

  It took a long time to dare to open her eyes and look at the world. The girl next to Susa was like a great explorer, who liked to fight against nature, wearing only one short pants, with a pale face, under the dyeing of night color, could scare ghosts away. Susa's clothes were just ordinary, but already enough to make the village girl next to her look like a ghostly hero. As soon as the girl saw Lin Lixiang, she immediately flattered: "Ah, you are Lin Yuxiang! Genius!"

  Lin Yuxiang couldn't help but want to shout: "Great! Take the reward!" But he only lowered his head and said, "Where, where, it's nothing, not as good as that talented woman beside you."

  At this moment, the car was dark and the atmosphere was particularly elegant. Susa said softly: "Lin Yuxiang."

  Yu Xiang's spirit was highly concentrated, almost saying "arrived".

  "Did Lin return home safely last night?"

  "Otherwise I would still be here?"

  "How did you get on our bus?"

  "There was no reason, and finally there was no room for the last one to get on."