Restart life

Chapter 173 0170 [Different Fates of Old Classmates] (Bonus chapter for the Alliance Leader: A Lamp, an Ancient Buddha, a Cup of Wine, and a Cigarette)

"This kind of helmet? And there's only one?"

Chen Guiliang took the yellowish-brown construction site safety helmet, eager to ask Officer Tan to teach his father a lesson.

Last year, the "Taoist Laws" were officially promulgated!
Chen Xinghua didn't take it seriously. After his son was seated, he started the car and drove off, saying, "They're all the same. This kind of hat is very safe."

Chen Guiliang asked, "You didn't even take your driver's test, did you?"

"You need a driver's license to ride a motorcycle?" Chen Xinghua was quite surprised.

At that time in rural areas, no one took a driving test to ride a motorcycle, and some people didn't even know that a motorcycle license existed.

Chen Guiliang sighed, "You should find some time to take the test, and buy two proper helmets too."

“Okay,” Chen Xinghua readily agreed.

This is by no means a perfunctory statement; he will definitely go and take the driving test.

Having a driver's license makes him feel more legitimate, and he can even pull it out to show off—no one else on the motorcycle has one, so how awesome is that?

Chen Xinghua drove his motorcycle along the rugged village road: "Yang Shuo has been demobilized and is waiting to be assigned a job. His father came to me a few days ago to ask if you could help arrange a job for him."

“I’ll contact him,” Chen Guiliang said.

Yang Shuo's original name was Yang Wei, but he changed his name in junior high school because he was ridiculed by his classmates.

He was a year older than Chen Guiliang, and they were classmates from elementary school to junior high school.

When Yang Shuo was bullied, Chen Guiliang even stood up for him and fought back.

Later, Chen Guiliang was cornered by someone with a knife. Yang Shuo was so frightened that he ran to a nearby store to call the police. After calling the police, he hid inside and dared not come out.

Afterwards, Chen Guiliang did not blame him, but Yang Shuo felt very guilty, thinking that he had not been loyal enough at the time.

He didn't have the courage to face Chen Guiliang, and he would deliberately avoid him every time they met.

The high school entrance exam was coming up soon, and Chen Guiliang was going to high school.

Yang Shuo went to work as an apprentice at a car repair shop and then joined the army in the second half of the year. They never saw each other again after that, and he only sent Chen Guiliang two letters, one of which included a photo of him in military uniform.

This guy was really unlucky. He served two years as a conscript and was promoted to non-commissioned officer, but only half a year after becoming a non-commissioned officer, he encountered the last round of large-scale military downsizing.

In another time and space, Chen Guiliang roughly knew his life trajectory—when his resettlement after being demobilized was never settled, Yang Shuo went to work in a car repair shop, and later partnered with someone to open a car repair shop.

When Chen Guiliang watched "Soldiers Sortie" before, he would always subconsciously think of Yang Shuo because Yang Shuo was a tank soldier who was laid off.

The motorcycle suddenly stopped.

Due to the terrain, Chen Xinghua's act of showing off was not thorough.

He told his son to get off the motorcycle and walk, while he slowly drove the motorcycle up the ridge between the fields.

The ridge between the fields was quite wide; even an experienced driver could cross it with passengers. But Chen Xinghua lacked confidence in his skills and only dared to drive slowly alone, occasionally even touching the ground with his toes for fear of overturning.

After driving over the field ridges, there were steep hillsides again.

Chen Xinghua carefully drove to the mountain pass, his forehead beaded with sweat, finally overcoming the hurdle in his heart.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing his father's expression, Chen Guiliang couldn't help but laugh.

There's not much danger. If the car overturns on a hillside, there are dry fields planted with crops on both sides. If it overturns on a paddy field ridge, at most you'll fall into the paddy field and get covered in mud.

"Big brother, Liangliang!" Second aunt greeted him warmly.

The more outrageous she was before, the more attentive she became now, even taking the initiative to help Chen Guiliang's parents with farm work.

The aunt did all this with only one goal in mind: to get Chen Guiliang to help her son.

After passing my second aunt's house and another neighbor's house, we crossed the ravine and went downhill again. Chen Guiliang's house was halfway down the slope, and further down were bamboo groves, woodlands, and riverbanks.

Nestled against mountains and beside water, surrounded by lush greenery, the scenery is picturesque.

Of course, things were completely different a few years ago. There weren't as many trees, and the river was so dirty it was unbearable to look at.

Following the devastating floods of 98, the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River implemented soil and water conservation policies. Land along the river was required to be converted from farmland to forest, and subsidies were provided for planting trees, resulting in the riverbanks turning green.

As local factories closed down one after another, the river water became clear.

That's why we have this beautiful, idyllic scenery now.

As soon as Chen Guiliang returned here, he felt very comfortable, and the noise and irritability were instantly washed away.

"Come and lift it up!" Chen Xinghua shouted.

However, to get the motorcycle back to its own yard, it had to drive over the drainage ditch on the side of the house. The slope was a bit steep, and it was difficult for one person to do it alone, so Chen Guiliang had to lend a hand.

While helping him, Chen Guiliang joked, "Your bike riding is quite troublesome."

Chen Xinghua said, "I plan to replace the stone slab on the ditch with a wider one so that one person can push it across."

"When will this house be repaired?" Chen Guiliang asked, pointing to his dilapidated house.

Chen Xinghua said, "Let's talk about it in two years. I bought a motorcycle and repaired a house, which is too enviable. Now it doesn't leak when it rains heavily anymore. I fixed the roof last winter."

Grandma and Mom were watching TV inside when they heard the noise and came out together.

Her mother, Yao Lan, also followed the trend, getting a perm and wearing a pair of gold earrings. Presumably, this was her dream when she was working.

Hmm, she and her dad are quite a good match, like city people from the 90s.

Grandma hasn't changed at all; she's still wearing her faded old clothes—we bought her new clothes, but she just keeps them in the closet and doesn't wear them.

"Meow~~~"

The panda let out a cry and started spinning around in the courtyard, seemingly trying to attract Chen Guiliang's attention.

But as Chen Guiliang walked over, it suddenly darted into the pile of firewood under the eaves.

"Your Majesty." "Mother."

Chen Guiliang called out twice with a smile, and his mother came over to take his luggage, while his grandmother stood under the eaves and smiled at him.

After entering the room, Chen Guiliang ignored everything and lay sprawled out on the bed.

The old bamboo mat had been used for many years, with some sections rewoven with bamboo strips. Last year's straw was laid underneath, soft and still smelling of it.

Lying at home feels so good, even more comfortable than a hotel mattress.

After putting their things away, Chen Guiliang's parents came over to talk to him, chatting about the recent situation in the town and village. They also mentioned that town leaders had come to the village specifically to inspect agriculture and had made a special trip to Chen Guiliang's house.

The village officials even tried to help the uncle apply for subsistence allowance, but were instead scolded by the uncle.

My uncle also cares about his reputation and resolutely refuses to admit that he has any problems.

They then talked about their relatives in the city. Grandma hadn't originally planned to celebrate her birthday, but they all arranged to come over, forcing Chen Xinghua to hold a banquet at the last minute.

No matter what they say, my parents only have one point: they are living a very comfortable life now.

Chen Xinghua said, “Some people came to borrow money, but I only lent to one family. Lai Shunqiang from the second group, his son has a tumor in his brain and needs to go to Chengdu for surgery. He is only 15 years old, very pitiful, but fortunately it was discovered early and there is still hope. I lent him 5000 yuan and told him not to tell anyone, he should not talk nonsense.”

“This kind of money should be lent,” Chen Guiliang said.

He fell asleep while we were talking.

When Chen Guiliang woke up near dusk, he remained in bed, not helping with the cooking, fully enjoying the happiness of being cared for by his family.

This feeling is incredibly great.

It was summer, and after dinner, it was still early before dark.

"Dad, can I ride your bike for a bit?" Chen Guiliang called out.

Chen Xinghua tossed the keys over first, then asked, "Can you ride it?"

"meeting."

If you're only riding around the village for a short while, don't bother with a driver's license.

Chen Guiliang rode his motorcycle up and down the slopes, passing through the ridges of the fields, leaving Chen Xinghua stunned.

As he drove onto the village road, people greeted him from time to time.

He also saw a female classmate from elementary and middle school washing diapers by the roadside with a baby on her back. She had gone to work on the coast at a young age, got pregnant by her boyfriend, and then he ran away before she was due to give birth. She had no choice but to give birth and take the baby back to her parents' home to raise.

When old classmates looked at each other, it was quite poignant.

The female student forced an awkward smile, looking extremely embarrassed. She chatted briefly for a couple of minutes before burying herself in washing diapers.

As Chen Guiliang rode his bike to the vicinity of Yang Shuo's house, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Viagra!"

Before changing his name, Yang Shuo was called Yang Wei, and he had two nicknames: "Viagra" and "Impotence".

The kid was squatting at the doorway eating with his shirt off. When he saw Chen Guiliang, he was overjoyed and quickly finished his meal before running over.

"Wow, you've got a great body." Chen Guiliang said with envy, "You even have abs."

Yang Shuo proudly showed off his muscles: "How do you think I became a sergeant? I didn't bribe anyone to get it done, it was all based on my own abilities!"

"Get in the car," Chen Guiliang said.

Yang Shuo leaped up.

Chen Guiliang quickly added, "Don't come near me, I'm all sweaty and not dressed yet."

"Haha." Yang Shuo laughed heartily.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Guiliang drove to the school.

The village primary school's dirt playground is overgrown with weeds. Two classrooms have collapsed, leaving only the toilet and the teacher's office. Even some bricks have been stolen by villagers to take home and build pigsties or something similar.

Yang Shuo swung a stick to startle the snake, then patted a poplar tree and said, "I planted this tree."

Chen Guiliang pointed to another tree: "That's the one I planted."

This place holds countless childhood memories for them, memories they had forgotten, but coming to school brought them back.

Chen Guiliang hadn't been to the village school for many years. He also swung a stick to clear away weeds and walked towards the collapsed classroom.

They were really brave back then. The wall was shaking slightly when they bumped into it, and a group of them deliberately bumped into the wall to see who could make the classroom wall shake the most.

It's lucky they weren't crushed to death.

Chen Guiliang saw the blackboard fragments that had crumbled along with the wall and fallen to the ground. He took out his phone and examined them by the light.

There was no chalk writing; it had long been washed away by the rain.

"What are your plans?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Yang Shuo said, "If resettlement isn't arranged, I'll have to find a job. I don't know anything, except how to repair cars. I'll see which repair shops are hiring."

“Work for me,” Chen Guiliang said. “After school starts, I’ll be sending people to organize activities. You’ll go with them around, doing odd jobs and learning as you go. If you really can’t learn it, you can be my driver. There’s a system for wages, we’ll follow the rules.”

"it is good!"

Yang Shuo said happily, "Millionaires all have bodyguards. If I can't learn anything else, I'll be your driver and bodyguard. I'm very good at fighting, I'm not bragging."

“That doesn’t count as real combat. I have real combat experience,” Chen Guiliang said.

Yang Shuo recalled the attack years ago and said in a heavy tone, "I've always wanted to apologize for that incident. I was really scared at the time. I only dared to call the police and hid in the store, trembling. I was so scared in the middle of summer that I felt cold all over."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "You think I'm not afraid? I'm so scared I'm completely blank. Why even mention the past?"

Yang Shuo's expression was serious: "I'm not afraid anymore, not even if the other side has a gun!"

Chen Guiliang patted him on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)