Restart life

Chapter 54 0053 [People and things have all changed]

After school in the afternoon, Zheng Feng ran to the classroom door to wait for Bian Guanyue to walk together.

Bian Guanyue, carrying her schoolbag, approached Chen Guiliang and asked, "When are you participating in the semi-finals?"

Chen Guiliang said, "In mid-January, there are still more than half a month left, which should be during the winter vacation."

"I wish you the best of luck in winning first prize," Bian Guanyue said, clenching her fist. "Go for it!"

"Thank you," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

"Goodbye."

Bian Guanyue deliberately turned around and waved, as if doing so would make it seem that she and Chen Guiliang were not close.

A few roommates from room 302 gathered around. They had already looked at the invitation to the semi-finals at noon, but that was with other classmates. Now they wanted to look at it again to show their unique enthusiasm as roommates.

They surrounded Chen Guiliang as they walked to the cafeteria, chatting about the New Concept Writing Competition as they went.

"Is there a direct train to Shanghai?" Xu Haibo asked.

Li Yulin said, "No, you should have to transfer in Chengdu."

Yang Hao said, "My parents go out to work every year, and they always transfer trains in Chengdu."

Xie Yang laughed and said, "Master Chen, don't get on the wrong train and wake up to find the Gobi Desert."

"I need to buy a few pairs of underwear with pockets and put all the money in them. My dad says there are a lot of pickpockets on the train."

"Don't drink other people's beverages, they might contain drugs."

"..."

My roommates all came from rural towns and villages; none of them had ever ridden a train or even left the city.

They yearn for the outside world and have all sorts of fantasies about the unknown and distant places.

This time, Chen Guiliang is about to embark on a long journey, as if he is taking their place on the trip, just like an old mother repeatedly reminding them of the precautions.

After dinner, Chen Guiliang went back to the classroom to do his test papers.

Tao Xue strolled over, having estimated the time, empty-handed and without bringing any apples.

"Nephew, I'm here again."

"Hello, Aunt Xue."

Tao Xue sat down in Qin Shanshan's seat, leaned over to watch Chen Guiliang do his homework, and hesitated for two minutes before asking, "Do you know what holiday it is today?"

"What holiday?" Chen Guiliang really hadn't paid attention to that.

Tao Xue teased, "Idiot, it's Christmas Eve tonight, and you don't even know that?"

Chen Guiliang then realized that he should give Christmas gifts.

Although he wasn't very interested in Christmas.

This thing is simply the ancient Roman winter solstice festival, with discrepancies arising due to its antiquity. It was eventually used as a shell company to go public and became Jesus's birthday.

Chen Guiliang said, "The magazine 'Mengya' will announce the list of judges for the New Concept Writing Competition in early next month. You can choose two of your favorite authors and buy a copy of each of their representative works."

"What do you need to buy books for?" Tao Xue asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "A belated Christmas present. I promised to get you an autograph, and now I can get you two."

"You made it to the semi-finals?" Tao Xue exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Guiliang took out the invitation letter for the semi-finals: "I received it today."

Tao Xue looked at the invitation letter again and again, then stood up excitedly: "Wow, nephew, you're amazing!"

"Is this Christmas present pretty good?" Chen Guiliang asked with a smile.

Tao Xue said happily, "At least you still have a conscience."

A literary girl is easy to please.

Tao Xue asked some more questions about the competition, then happily returned to her classroom.

She took out her phone, wanting to send a message to Bian Guanyue to show off.

But the text message was written and deleted repeatedly, and in the end, it was abandoned.

After Tao Xue left, Chen Guiliang also quickly slipped away, heading straight for the school supplies and gift shop outside the school.

Bracelets, hair clips, earrings, combs... many of these are pretty and shiny items for girls, but most of them are actually made of plastic and glass.

Chen Guiliang spent a long time looking, but couldn't find one he liked.

Never mind, I'm short on time, I'll just buy two random items.

"Wrap this notebook and the pen in gift paper."

What kind of gift wrap do you want?

"Something more plain-colored."

Chen Guiliang even borrowed a marker from the store and wrote a particularly tacky sentence on the first page of his notebook: "Wishing Bian Guanyue a Merry Christmas and happiness every day!"
Both gifts are among the best in the store.

The notebooks, complete with leather cases, cost 5 yuan each.

The fountain pen is a Hero brand, and it costs 28 yuan.

……

After evening self-study ended, the whole campus went a little crazy.

It's really just young people jumping around recklessly; Christmas Eve and such are just excuses to have fun.

The commotion wasn't excessive.

Someone was using the radio in the classroom that played English tapes to play all sorts of upbeat and random songs.

Some people gathered in groups of three or five, playing and frolicking in the school square.

Under the cover of night, some people would hide somewhere and howl like ghosts and wolves, occasionally eliciting echoes of their cries, rising and falling like a pack of wolves relaying a message.

The school didn't care; it would be over in half an hour anyway.

Releasing stress from time to time can actually be beneficial for students.

"The Moon Over the Border!"

Chen Guiliang called out to Bian Guanyue as he was going downstairs.

"what's up?"

"I'd like to ask, if I'm going to Shanghai to participate in a competition, which station in Chengdu should I transfer at?"

"I don't know either. I'll call and ask for you tonight."

The two stood there chatting idly, while Zheng Feng grew increasingly anxious.

Seeing that most of his classmates had left, Chen Guiliang took out the gift and said, "Happy holiday a day in advance."

"Thank you!"

Bian Guanyue was overjoyed: "I...I haven't bought you a gift yet. I'll go pick one out tomorrow at noon."

“No need,” Chen Guiliang said. “If you really want to return the favor, then come with me to buy a kitten after the final exams. I promised Grandma I would buy her a cat to keep her company.”

Bian Guanyue said, "Then I'll buy one for my grandparents too."

Zheng Feng urged from the side, "Bian Guanyue, if we're any later we'll miss the last bus."

"Goodbye!" Bian Guanyue waved.

"Goodbye."

Bian Guanyue put the gift into her schoolbag, and her steps became lighter.

Zheng Feng felt extremely sad. He decided that starting tomorrow, he would no longer accompany Bian Guanyue to school.

He used to think he had an advantage, but now Chen Guiliang is getting more and more handsome, and he's even going to participate in the New Concept Writing Competition.

He immediately felt inferior.

The two arrived at the alleyway by car, and Zheng Feng pointed to the streetlights and said, "It's been repaired."

Bian Guanyue said, "Last week, my uncle went home and went to the neighborhood office, where he slammed his fist on the table and started yelling. The streetlights were fixed the next day."

After hesitating for a long time, Zheng Feng said what he thought was both romantic and resolute: "The streetlights are on, so I don't need to walk you home anymore. From now on, you'll have to learn to go home alone."

Bian Guanyue: "..." "Goodbye." Zheng Feng turned away in anguish.

Bian Guanyue thought for a moment and then called out, "Thank you. I hope you find an even better girl!"

In that instant, Zheng Feng's eyes welled up with tears, as if the world had already ended.

It's a pity there was no snow in the middle of winter, otherwise singing "A Spray of Plum Blossoms" would have been quite fitting.

Bian Guanyue returned home, went straight to her bedroom, and eagerly unwrapped the packaging paper.

The beautiful pen and notebook, along with the blessing on the title page, made Bian Guanyue like them more and more as she held them in her hands.

She filled the pen with ink and wrote in the brand-new notebook:
"December 24, 2003. Cloudy."

"I haven't written in my diary for two years, and I'm officially resuming today..."

"My grandparents are in another world, and they must want me to be happy. Since transferring schools and entering a completely new environment, I seem to have become much more cheerful..."

"I've also made a few new friends. Although Wang Siyu no longer sits in front of me after the seating arrangement was changed, she often asks me to hang out on weekends. She's a very free-spirited girl, very outspoken, and sometimes her words offend people. But I like that personality, I like her straightforwardness..."

"Wu Meng is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, a bit like me. She's my best friend right now..."

"Zheng Feng can be annoying at times, but he doesn't have any bad intentions... I hope that one day he can find true love..."

"Tao Xue is a little rascal. I know what she's thinking, and I know why she wanted my phone number and QQ. I'm not going to let her get away with this..."

"Chen Guiliang... Hmm, I'll write about him later. I should go to sleep tonight."

……

New Year's Day has arrived in the blink of an eye.

There was no holiday; evening self-study sessions were replaced with a New Year's Eve party.

Liu Shuying and Gao Zhan, a married couple, attended the event in person, and the students took turns performing.

Just as they were moving tables to make room, Tao Chenggang called.

Chen Guiliang walked into the stairwell: "Hey, Brother Gang."

Tao Chenggang said, "Today's special operation by the five ministries hasn't caused any stir online. But the 17577 forum has shut down. I tried contacting the site's administrator, Canying, via QQ, but he hasn't replied. His mobile number is disconnected. Do you think he's been arrested?"

"If he were really caught, would he still have time to cancel his phone number?" Chen Guiliang laughed. "He must have been so scared that he disappeared."

"That's true." Tao Chenggang was also afraid, and his thinking ability had declined.

Chen Guiliang asked, "How many players are online in 'Abyss Private Server' tonight?"

"It's alright, it's the New Year's Day holiday. More than 9000 people are online at the same time, and I opened a new server today," Tao Chenggang said.

"It's even more expensive than before?"

“I have been seeking to partner with internet cafes, and I even drove to the two neighboring cities myself.”

"You're doing ground promotion, huh?"

"Ground promotion?"

"It's about on-the-ground promotion."

"What can we do? We can't advertise online anymore, so we can only try to find a solution in real life. After we've visited several surrounding cities, I plan to go to the provincial capital."

"That must be really tough. Please reduce my share to 20%."

"I don't need your few points, just wait for your share. Okay, I'm hanging up."

"happy New Year."

"happy New Year."

Chen Guiliang returned to the classroom, and Xie Yang shouted, "You dog... come here right now, the party is about to start!"

Gao Zhan leaned against the window smoking and didn't participate much in the party.

His wife, Liu Shuying, said, "There are only ten days left until the final exams. Next semester, your studies will be even more demanding, and you'll have even fewer weekends off. This should be the last class party before the college entrance exam..."

"Let's not talk about studying tonight, everyone have fun, and we'll review the material tomorrow..."

"There's a student who's been doing well lately. Although his grades have dropped in the last two exams, he hasn't broken any school rules and is paying close attention in class. He's going to participate in the New Concept Writing Competition, and we wish him the best of luck!"

"Clap clap clap!"

A round of applause rang out, and all the students in the class looked at Chen Guiliang.

Except for Li Jun.

Liu Shuying called out Chen Guiliang's nickname with a smile: "Master Chen, you lead the performance with a show."

"Huh?" Chen Guiliang was instantly dumbfounded.

Liu Shuying waved and said, "Come over here quickly. You can sing a song, or if that's not possible, you can recite a poem."

In his previous life, Chen Guiliang was often dragged to karaoke by his friends, but he was always tone-deaf and terrible at singing.

Since I'm just making a fool of myself, it doesn't matter what I sing.

As I always say, as long as you're not embarrassed, it's others who will be.

Chen Guiliang walked to the empty space where the table had been cleared: "Hello, teachers and students, I'm going to sing Andy Lau's 'Thank You for Your Love'... um, the Sichuan dialect version."

Without a microphone or accompaniment, they just sang it aloud.

"Don't ask me how many times I've been stabbed in the back in my life. You don't know how deep my wounds are."

"Reopening a wound always seems cruel and dark; I advise you not to be that kind of fool. For now, let's expose Liu Jifen, expose Liu Jifen..."

The whole class was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Even Li Jun was slapping the table and laughing.

Bian Guanyue laughed so hard she was doubled over, lying on the table.

After finishing his song, Chen Guiliang remained composed, bowed solemnly, and stepped off the stage, saying, "Thank you, thank you everyone for your support."

Liu Shuying was both amused and exasperated: "You sang very well. Hurry up and move on to the next program."

The gala had a program scheduled.

Moreover, some programs are of extremely high quality, such as the excerpt from Romeo and Juliet at this moment.

Class monitor Li Rui plays Romeo, and top student Wu Meng plays Juliet.

Both actors delivered their lines entirely in English, even with a London accent. Their performances were emotionally charged and phenomenal, far surpassing the acting prowess of today's young heartthrobs.

To be honest, the live performance was quite impressive, like watching a professional theatrical performance.

The whole class was stunned!
There were only a few programs that had been rehearsed, so Liu Shuying randomly selected programs and inserted impromptu ones.

The most ridiculous one was Xu Haibo. After being called out, he really didn't know what to sing, so he improvised and sang the national anthem.

Li Yulin was well-prepared, even bringing his old guitar to sing "You'll Be With Me All My Life," which received enthusiastic applause.

"Bian Guanyue, why don't you perform a talent too?" Liu Shuying said.

Bian Guanyue didn't hesitate and walked over to say, "Li Yulin, can I borrow your guitar?"

"Here you go." Li Yulin quickly presented it to him.

Chen Guiliang suddenly remembered that in his previous life, it was also a New Year's Eve party, and Bian Guanyue was also asked to sing.

But she refused to sing, sitting there with a cold expression, making the atmosphere a bit awkward.

Teacher Gao Zhan smoothed things over by singing a Soviet folk song in Russian.

changed.

People and things have changed.

Bian Guanyue walked confidently to the open space, picked up his guitar, and began to sing: "When I was little, noisy and willful, my grandma would always sing to soothe me... It's getting dark, it looks like it's going to rain. It's getting dark... dark..."

The sounds of private conversations ceased, and everyone listened quietly to Bianguanyue singing.

At that moment, she seemed to be radiating light.

She has professional singing skills and is extremely talented, able to sing with a slightly different flavor from Stefanie Sun.

Wu Meng, after hearing half of it, couldn't help but whisper to Li Rui, "She studied vocal music."

(End of this chapter)