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The news that Han Ling rejected Su Ning's choice of Xiao Ran spread quickly.

Xiao Ran didn't go to the coffee shop to witness it because she was worried her heart couldn't take it.

Xiao Ran was working at a furniture store when he heard the news.

Liu Yuan came running up to him, panting, "Xiao Ran! Xiao Ran! Great news! Huge good news!"

Xiao Ran put down the furniture he was holding, wiping his sweat. "What is it? What good things could possibly happen to me right now?"

"Han Ling!" Liu Yuan exclaimed excitedly, "Han Ling rejected Su Ning! She chose you instead!"

Xiao Ran froze, and the towel in his hand fell to the ground.

"Really?" He couldn't believe it. "Are you sure?"

“Absolutely true!” Liu Yuan said. “Han Ling told me herself! She said she met Su Ning this afternoon and rejected him to his face, saying she would still choose you!”

Xiao Ran felt a surge of heat rush to his head, and his eyes instantly turned red.

Ignoring the dust covering his body, he ran towards the school.

"Xiao Ran! Wait for me!" Liu Yuan chased after him.

Xiao Ran ran all the way, and when he arrived at the girls' dormitory building, he saw Han Ling coming out of the building.

"Han Ling!" Xiao Ran shouted.

Han Ling turned her head, saw Xiao Ran, and smiled.

Xiao Ran rushed over and hugged Han Ling tightly.

He held her so tightly, as if he wanted to meld her into his body.

“Han Ling…Han Ling…” Xiao Ran’s voice choked with emotion, “I thought…I thought you would choose Su Ning…”

Han Ling felt a little breathless from his tight grip, but her heart was warmed. "Silly boy, why would I choose someone else?"

“But Su Ning is so good…” Xiao Ran loosened his grip slightly, looking at her, “He’s rich, he has a car, and he’s so good to you…”

"No matter how good he is, he's not you." Han Ling reached out and wiped the dust off Xiao Ran's face. "Xiao Ran, I chose you, not your material conditions. Even if you're poor your whole life, I'll accept it."

Xiao Ran's tears fell.

This stubborn, proud rural child shed tears in front of others for the first time.

"Han Ling, I swear, I will definitely give you a good life," Xiao Ran said, enunciating each word clearly. "I will."

"Yes, I believe you." Han Ling also cried.

The two hugged for a long time downstairs in the dormitory, attracting a lot of onlookers.

But this time, Xiao Ran didn't care.

Han Ling chose me in public, so what's there to be afraid of?
Liu Yuan stood not far away watching, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

He truly liked Han Ling; he had liked her for a very long time.

Liu Yuan used to think he was better than Xiao Ran, but Su Ning's appearance made him lose his arrogance, and Han Ling's rejection of Su Ning also made Liu Yuan realize the gap between them.

Only now did Liu Yuan realize that he was no match for Xiao Ran. At the very least, Han Ling liked Xiao Ran, and that alone defeated him.

But Liu Yuan still felt upset and completely gave up on pursuing Han Ling.

That night, Liu Yuan went to a small bar outside the school alone and got completely drunk.

When I got back to school, it was already past 11 p.m., and the dormitory building was long gone.

Liu Yuan, drunk, pounded on the dormitory door, yelling, "Open the door! Open the door!"

Old Wang, the security guard on duty, came out. He was a middle-aged man in his forties with a not-so-good temper.

"What time is it? You still know to come back?" Old Wang frowned. "Where's your student ID?"

Liu Yuan patted himself down, but couldn't find his student ID. "I...I forgot to bring it..."

"You can't come in without your student ID," Old Wang said. "Go to the security office to register and write a self-criticism."

"What self-criticism?" Liu Yuan, feeling the effects of the alcohol, said, "I... I just came back a little late, why should I write a self-criticism?"

"According to school rules!" Old Wang retorted angrily. "What department are you in? What's your name?"

"What do you mean by my name?" Liu Yuan shoved Lao Wang. "Get out of the way! I want to go back to my dorm!"

Old Wang stumbled from the shove and immediately flew into a rage, yelling, "You've gone too far! You dare to lay a hand on me?"

The two started pushing each other.

The commotion grew louder and louder, waking up students in other dormitories.

Xiao Ran and Chen Qiming also ran downstairs and saw Liu Yuan fighting with the security guards, so they quickly went up to break it up.

"Liu Yuan! What are you doing!" Xiao Ran grabbed Liu Yuan.

"Old Xiao! He's bullying me!" Liu Yuan pointed at Old Wang, "He won't let me in!"

Old Wang was furious, his face turning ashen. "I was just following school rules! He was completely drunk and didn't have his student ID. Was I wrong to make him register?"

“If you’re going to register, then register. Why are you pushing him?” Liu Yuan persisted.

"Who pushed whom? You pushed me first!" Old Wang roared.

The two sides were arguing fiercely.

More and more students gathered around, and some started to jeer.
"The security department bullies students!"

"Exactly! So what if I come home late? Why do I have to write a self-criticism?"

"Let him in! Let him in!"

The scene became increasingly chaotic.

Xiao Ran tried to pull Liu Yuan away, but Liu Yuan was too drunk to leave.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Old Wang picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "Security room! Security room! There's trouble in Building 3! Send more people!"

Soon, four or five security guards ran over.

"That's him!" Old Wang pointed at Liu Yuan, "He got drunk, caused trouble, and even hit people!"

Security guards surrounded Liu Yuan, intending to arrest him.

Xiao Ran quickly stepped in front, "Masters, it's a misunderstanding! He just had too much to drink, he didn't do it on purpose!"

"Whether it was intentional or not, we'll talk about that at the security office!" A security guard reached out to pull Liu Yuan away.

Liu Yuan struggled, "Let me go! What right do you have to arrest me!"

During the struggle, someone pushed Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran was already angry, and this push only made her angrier.

"What are you doing!" Xiao Ran shouted. "Let's talk this out, why are you resorting to violence!"

"Who started it? You started it!" the security guard shouted angrily.

The scene was completely out of control.

The pushing and shoving turned into a fight, and the students who were watching also joined in.

Someone shouted, "The security team is beating people! The security team is beating people!"

More people rushed forward and started fighting with the security guards.

Xiao Ran originally just wanted to break up the fight, but as he was being pushed and shoved, his anger grew.

He saw Liu Yuan being pinned to the ground by two security guards, and in a moment of anger, he rushed over and punched one of the guards.

"Let him go!"

That punch was quite hard; the security guard covered his face and took two steps back, blood flowing from his nose.

"You dare hit someone!" The other security guards were furious and surrounded Xiao Ran to arrest him.

The students were furious. "The security guards are beating up the students! The security guards are beating up the students!"

More people joined the fray.

The scene was chaotic.

Finally, school leaders arrived and brought the situation under control.

……

The next day, things escalated.

More than twenty students were involved in the fight, but the main culprits were quickly identified as Xiao Ran and Liu Yuan...

Xiao Ran assaulted the security guard; Liu Yuan was the instigator.

The school leaders were furious.

This was no longer an ordinary disciplinary incident, but a mass incident with extremely negative consequences. In the meeting room, Xiao Ran, Liu Yuan, Chen Qiming, along with Old Wang from the security department and the security guard who had been assaulted, all stood before the leaders.

"Speak! What exactly happened!" The principal's face turned ashen.

Old Wang spoke first, recounting what happened last night, emphasizing that Liu Yuan was drunk and caused trouble, and that Xiao Ran physically assaulted him.

Liu Yuan retorted, "I just came home late, why wouldn't he let me in? He even pushed me!"

"You don't have your student ID, so you need to register according to the rules!" Old Wang said.

"If you're going to register, then register. Why are you pushing me?"

You pushed me first!

The two sides started arguing again.

"Enough!" The principal slammed his hand on the table. "Xiao Ran, you tell me! Why did you hit someone?"

Xiao Ran lowered his head, "I saw Liu Yuan being pinned to the ground by them, and I acted impulsively..."

"A moment of impulse?" The principal looked at him. "Xiao Ran, do you remember you just got a major demerit for scratching a car a while ago? It's only been a few days! And you've caused such a big incident again! Do you even have any respect for school rules and regulations?"

Xiao Ran remained silent.

“Principal, this is my fault,” Liu Yuan said. “I was drunk, and I started it. Xiao Ran was trying to help me; he didn’t do it on purpose.”

"So you can hit someone just because you're helping them?" the principal asked. "Do you know what you did to them? A broken nose! That constitutes minor injury! If they call the police, you'll go to jail!"

Xiao Ran was shocked; he hadn't expected the punch to be so heavy.

"Principal, we'll pay for it," Chen Qiming said quickly. "We'll cover all the medical expenses. Please give Xiao Ran a chance; he's about to graduate..."

"Graduate?" The principal sneered. "Someone like him, he thinks he can graduate?"

Then he coldly picked up the documents on the table. "Xiao Ran, you have repeatedly failed to correct your ways. First you scratched a car, and now you've been involved in a fight, causing minor injuries to others. After investigation, the school has decided to expel you from the school."

"What?" the three exclaimed in unison.

"Expulsion?" Xiao Ran's face turned deathly pale. "Principal, I..."

"You don't need to say anything more." The principal waved his hand. "The decision has been made, and the announcement will be made tomorrow. Liu Yuan, although you did not directly commit the act, you are the instigator. You will receive a major demerit and be placed on probation. If you commit the same offense again, you will be expelled."

Liu Yuan was stunned.

"Principal! You can't expel Xiao Ran!" Chen Qiming pleaded for Xiao Ran. "His family is poor. His parents scrimped and saved to send him to university, hoping he would get a good job after graduation. If you expel him, his life will be ruined!"

“The school has its rules,” the principal said firmly. “If he valued his future, he wouldn’t have broken the rules again and again. There’s no room for negotiation on this.”

……

The three of them emerged from the meeting room looking as if they had lost their parents.

Xiao Ran was completely stunned.

He was fired?

Four years of hard work, my parents' expectations, my own dreams... all gone.

Xiao Ran was filled with regret, realizing he hadn't expected the consequences to be so severe.

"Old Xiao..." Liu Yuan wanted to comfort him, but didn't know what to say.

"It's my fault," Xiao Ran murmured. "I shouldn't have hit him..."

"No, it's my fault." Liu Yuan's eyes reddened. "If I hadn't drunk myself into causing trouble, you wouldn't have..."

Chen Qiming was also distressed, "What's the use of saying all this now? We need to think of what to do."

"What else can we do?" Xiao Ran smiled bitterly. "If they fire me, they fire me. That's just fate."

"No!" Liu Yuan suddenly said, "You can't just give up like this. Lao Xiao, my family has arranged a job for me in Shenzhen, so you have to come with me to Shenzhen!"

"Shenzhen?"

“That’s right!” Liu Yuan said. “Since you’re not going to graduate anyway, why not go to Shenzhen and give it a try? It’s a city of miracles; they don’t care about degrees, they only care about skills. You have talent, you’ll definitely make it!”

Xiao Ran shook his head. "I don't even have a graduation certificate. What can I do in Shenzhen?"

Liu Yuan thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "I have a way."

"any solution?"

"I'll make you a fake certificate."

"What? Is this okay?"

"Why not? You have real skills and knowledge, you just need a certificate."

……

Two days later, Liu Yuan found someone who made fake certificates.

"Can you issue a graduation certificate? It's from the Agricultural University."

"Yes," the man nodded. "Five hundred yuan."

"So expensive?"

"The Agricultural University certificate is hard to get; there are anti-counterfeiting measures," the man said. "Want it or not? If not, forget it."

Liu Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "I want it!"

Then he took out his last savings and borrowed some more from Chen Qiming, scraping together 500 yuan to get Xiao Ran a fake agricultural university diploma.

Xiao Ran's hands were trembling the day he received the fake certificate.

"Old Xiao, don't overthink it," Liu Yuan patted him on the shoulder. "This is just a stepping stone. Once you've made a name for yourself in Shenzhen, who will care about this?"

Xiao Ran looked at the fake certificate, feeling a mix of emotions.

Four years of hard study, only to end up with a fake certificate.

This is his university.

"Liu Yuan, thank you," Xiao Ran said. "I will definitely pay you back."

"Why bring this up?" Liu Yuan laughed. "We're brothers."

Xiao Ran was so moved that he couldn't speak.

Chen Qiming also came to find them, "Xiao Ran, Liu Yuan, I... I can't go with you."

"what happened?"

“My dad has arranged it for me; I’ll be working at the grain bureau,” Chen Qiming said. “The salary isn’t high, but it’s stable. My dad said that it’s not easy to have a secure job these days, and he told me not to mess around.”

The three then embraced, all with tears in their eyes.

Four years of classmates, four years of brothers, and now we're going our separate ways.

"Chen Qiming, do a good job," Xiao Ran said. "Even within the system, you have to make something of yourself."

"Yes." Chen Qiming nodded. "You too. In Shenzhen, you must make a name for yourselves."

"must!"

On the day they left school, Xiao Ran and Han Ling said goodbye at the school gate.

Han Ling's eyes were red. "Xiao Ran, you go first. I'll come find you after I get my graduation certificate."

"Mmm." Xiao Ran hugged her tightly. "Han Ling, I'm sorry for making you suffer with me."

"I'm not afraid," Han Ling said. "As long as I'm with you, everything tastes delicious."

Xiao Ran kissed her forehead. "Wait for me. I will definitely make a name for myself in Shenzhen and then marry you in style."

"I'm waiting for you."

Liu Yuan also arrived, carrying a large bag, looking like he was about to embark on a journey through the martial world.

“Let’s go, Old Xiao,” he said. “The train is about to leave.”

Xiao Ran took one last look at his alma mater and Han Ling, then turned and boarded the train heading south with Liu Yuan.

The green train slowly started moving, carrying the dreams of two young people towards the city known as the "Special Economic Zone".

Inside the carriage, Xiao Ran watched the scenery rushing past the window, his fist slowly clenching.

Shenzhen, here I come.

No matter how difficult it is, I'm determined to make something of myself.

For Han Ling.

And for myself.

...(End of chapter)