Chapter 5 0004 【New Concept Writing Competition?】
The skinny guy with a flat top was named Xu Haibo, a well-behaved student.
His family background was better than Chen Guiliang's and Xie Yang's; his parents were both teachers at a town school.
After Xu Haibo handed in his paper, he returned to the dorm. Now holding that copy of "Little Soldier legend," he was about to go to the rental bookstore outside school to return it.
"I haven't read it yet, you can 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 cafe to play games. Delaying it by one day costs 50 cents, are you paying the rental fee?"
Xie Yang casually flipped his hair, "It's just 50 cents, isn't it? If I'm paying, then I'm paying."
Xu Haibo threw the novel to Xie Yang and moved closer 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 he couldn't achieve it, his heart yearned for it.
Even the nickname "Chen Daxia" was first called out by Xu Haibo.
He always felt that Chen Guiliang was like a knight-errant from a novel.
For example, when school just started this semester, Xu Haibo checked the tuition receipt and the class schedule and angrily complained, "Isn't this overcharging? They clearly charged 55 yuan for computer fees, but there's no computer class on the schedule."
"Really?" Chen Guiliang leaned over to look.
The second week, after confirming there was indeed no computer class, Chen Guiliang began to use his free time to collect signatures and fingerprints from classmates one by one.
There were 21 classes in the third year of high school, totaling 985 students.
Chen Guiliang actually got more than 500 student signatures, successfully forcing the school to refund all computer fees for third-year high school students!
Such an action astonished Xu Haibo into profound admiration, making him wish he could lead Chen Guiliang's horse and hold his stirrups from then on.
And Chen Guiliang didn't show off afterwards; he just patted his new shoes and said, "What do your computer fees have to do with me? I just wanted to get the 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 curiously asked, "Chen Daxia, how did your math exam go?"
Chen Guiliang couldn't explain and could only answer, "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 true man should act on his impulses.
Unfortunately, he himself was not a true man, just a well-behaved student.
Chen Guiliang smiled, "Don't learn from me."
Xu Haibo said, "I'm timid, I wouldn't dare to learn from you."
Xie Yang timely flipped his hair, "Bobo, you really should learn. You're already in your third year of high school, for crying out loud, and you're still like an elementary 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 boastfully said, "Many girls have crushes on me, it's just that my standards are too high. This is called 'better to have nothing than to have something inferior'; if they're not class beauty level, I can't even be bothered to be friends with them."
"Keep bragging!" Xu Haibo said disdainfully.
In a blink of an eye, the three walked near the old school gate, where two rows of late Qing dynasty buildings were preserved.
The first draft of "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" 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 during his second year of high school when he ordered a plate of greens, which only cost 1 yuan. Because 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 Guiliang; she even knew Chen Guiliang's nickname and would call out upon seeing him, "Chen Daxia, are you here to eat again?"
Chen Guiliang found a table and sat down, "One twice-cooked pork, one fish-fragrant eggplant, one Mapo tofu, and another plate of seasonal vegetables. Oh, right, also three bottles of beer!"
The proprietress was slightly surprised and asked, "Eating so much today?"
"I got rich, celebrating," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.
This was a husband-and-wife run shop; 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, come on, let's clink glasses first!"
Chen Guiliang was very happy at this moment, having a meal with old friends, which was very rare after entering society.
Xie Yang used chopsticks to pry open the bottle cap very skillfully, and directly picked up the bottle to clink glasses, "It's rare for Chen Daxia to be so generous."
Xu Haibo honestly poured the wine and corrected Xie Yang on Chen Guiliang's behalf, "Chen Daxia has always been very generous."
"Cheers!"
The dishes hadn't arrived yet, but the three brothers were already drinking.
Xu Haibo wasn't much of a drinker; he paused three times with one glass of beer and finally forced himself to finish it.
If he said cheers, he definitely had to finish it.
Xie Yang put down the beer bottle and raised his hand to brush away the hair covering his eyes, "I plan to pursue Zhou Jing."
Xu Haibo said, "Good luck."
Chen Guiliang laughed, "If you have that much free time, you might as well go to the internet cafe and level up twice more."
"You think I can't get her?" Xie Yang was unconvinced.
"I also think she's hard to get," Xu Haibo seriously helped analyze, "Your family is in the countryside, her family is in the county town. Your parents are farmers, her parents are doctors. You often 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 performs poorly, she can get into a regular first-tier university; if she performs normally, she'll definitely get into a key university."
Xie Yang felt very depressed by what was said and stubbornly retorted, "Vulgar. Love is about mutual affection; it can't be measured by these worldly things."
Chen Guiliang nodded, "Indeed 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 it, what the hell do you know?" Xie Yang felt like hitting someone after hearing that.
Xu Haibo continued to persuade him, “My mom said that high school students shouldn’t fall in love early. The most important thing right now is to study hard.
Get into a good school, then find a good job, and then you can date even better girlfriends.”
The more Xie Yang listened, the more frustrated he became, finally losing his temper: “Your mom said, your mom said, you’re a damn high school student, can you stop saying ‘your mom said’?”
Xu Haibo hesitated to speak.
Watching the two bicker, Chen Guiliang drank his wine and smiled, suddenly remembering an interesting anecdote.
After the college entrance examination, Xu Haibo, who had always been honest and simple, suddenly found Chen Guiliang mysteriously.
He claimed he was no longer a high school student and begged Chen Guiliang to take him to watch pornographic videos.
He was really pent up and needed to vent!
In Xu Haibo’s mind, the most outrageous way to vent was to watch pornographic videos; he wanted to see a woman’s body.
But it was already 2004, where were there any pornographic video halls in the county town? The two of them searched along the streets like idiots.
Finally, their legs aching, they simply went to an internet cafe for an overnight session.
Under the enthusiastic recommendation of the internet cafe attendant, they watched “Sex Is Zero” and “Naked Killer” all night.
What a painful yet wonderful youth.
“Double-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 double-cooked pork and chewed fiercely, saying viciously, “Before the college entrance examination, I won’t go online anymore.
I’m going to study hard, get into the top five in the whole 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 again?” Xie Yang pointed at Chen Guiliang.
Chen Guiliang laughed, “I’d rather believe you can quit masturbating than believe you can quit the internet.”
Xie Yang was enraged and embarrassed: “I swear right here, 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.”
“Don’t fucking scam food and drinks.” Chen Guiliang said cheerfully.
This phrase didn't exist in 2003. Xu Haibo savored it for a moment before understanding what “scam food and drinks” meant, then slapped his thigh and burst out laughing.
He thought Chen Guiliang was too talented, simply brilliant.
Xie Yang chugged down the rest of his beer, then went to get rice and dishes, preparing to study as soon as he was full.
While this bastard wolfed down his food, he kept brainwashing himself: I’ve sacrificed so much for Zhou Jing, even giving up legend of mir 2; she’ll definitely be touched when she finds out.
Chen Guiliang also ate quickly; his body, which had long been malnourished, seemed to be frantically absorbing energy.
After eating and drinking to their fill, 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; last year it was even cheaper.
Chen Guiliang took out money to pay the bill.
Xu Haibo asked, “Xie Sao Bang, you said you were going to study hard, are you still going to read ‘A Soldier’s legend’?”
“No, take it!” Xie Yang threw out the novel.
Xu Haibo picked up the novel and went to return it to the rental bookstore about twenty meters away.
Chen Guiliang also followed, feeling quite nostalgic for the place.
Inside the rental bookstore, there were four bookshelves, mostly occupied by pirated web novels.
There were also some traditional wuxia and romance novels, as well as popular Japanese manga of the time.
There were always some scumbags who, not content with their own enjoyment, would tear out exciting passages to appreciate repeatedly.
As Xu Haibo was returning the book, he asked, “Boss, has the new volume of ‘The legend of the Condor Heroes’ arrived yet?”
The boss replied, “It arrived at noon, but someone rented it.”
Xu Haibo got his deposit back and went to look for other novels.
After much deliberation, he chose a copy of “Mercenary World”.
Chen Guiliang wasn’t very interested in ancient web novels; he was purely accompanying his friend.
And also to reminisce about his youth.
Outside the rental bookstore, there was also a simple bookshelf displaying various newspapers and magazines.
Chen Guiliang immediately spotted “Sprout”, as this magazine sold extremely well, so it was placed in the most prominent position.
Xu Haibo took “Mercenary World” to pay, and seeing Chen Guiliang standing there staring at the magazine, he directly took “Sprout” and flipped to the submission page: “Your writing is so good, why don’t you participate in the New Concept Writing Competition?”
The submission information came into view.
The deadline was in three days, based on the postmark date at the time of mailing.
“All those books were sold, do I still want to be a literary youth in this life?” Chen Guiliang muttered to himself.
Xu Haibo egged him on, “Maybe you can get recommended to Peking University.”
Getting recommended to Peking University was purely a dream; prestigious schools like Tsinghua University and Peking University stopped offering recommendations from the third New Concept Writing Competition onwards.
And this was the last session, with a few individual schools still willing to offer admission without examination.
The next session would completely eliminate examination-free admission.
Chen Guiliang thought about today’s math exam; he couldn’t do a single problem, and relying purely on his own ability for the college entrance examination would be very difficult.
Reborn, he could still do very well even without going to university.
But if he failed the college entrance examination, 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?” Xu Haibo asked in surprise.
Chen Guiliang pointed to the submission information and explained, “Multiple submissions of one manuscript are prohibited, but multiple submissions of different manuscripts are not.
Buying one magazine allows you to submit one manuscript.”
When Guo Xiaosi submitted his work back then, he submitted seven manuscripts at once.
Both of them had paid and were ready to return to the dorm, but Xie Yang was nowhere to be seen.
“Xie Sao Bang!” Xu Haibo shouted loudly.
Xie Yang, holding a novel, emerged from behind a bookshelf and walked up to the bookstore owner, complaining, “You didn’t even tell me that a new volume of ‘Purple River’ came out.”
Xu Haibo asked, “Didn’t you plan to quit the internet and study hard from now on?”
Xie Yang tossed his hair and said brazenly, “I only said I’d quit the internet, I didn’t say I wouldn’t read novels.”