Mountain boy picks stars

1

As Teacher Zhou later told the principal, the class atmosphere of Class 5-3 was "completely consumed by idol worship and fantasy novels."

During class, some people read fantasy comics, some gossip about celebrities, and even during self-study, some people demonstrate famous "martial arts moves".

Huang Xiaoxing sat in the last row next to Mao Zhiling. Mao Zhiling's parents worked at the vegetable market making tofu, and her classmates called her "Tofu Princess." Like Huang Xiaoxing, she was also someone who was ostracized.

Once, Cheng Hongdou threw Mao Zhiling's textbook on the ground, saying, "I won't touch a book that tastes like tofu." Shi Xuankai also hid Mao Zhiling's pencil case, saying, "If you find it, you win." Huang Xiaoxing saw this, helped Mao Zhiling pick up her textbook, and even had a fight with Cheng Hongdou—as a result, Cheng Hongdou and Shi Xuankai cornered him in a corner of the playground, saying, "You brick prince, you dare to meddle in other people's business."

Huang Xiaoxing wasn't afraid. He remembered his father's words, "Don't let anyone bully you," so he clenched his fist and said, "If you bully Mao Zhiling again, I'll tell Teacher Zhou."

Cheng Hongdou and Shi Xuankai were taken aback when they saw him dare to resist. They paused for a moment, then left cursing.

From then on, Huang Xiaoxing and Mao Zhiling became friends—they went to school together and came home together. Mao Zhiling would bring Huang Xiaoxing homemade tofu, and Huang Xiaoxing would help Mao Zhiling fix her broken pencil case. Mao Zhiling said, "Xiaoxing, I want to be a scientist and make the tofu machine at home even better."

Huang Xiaoxing said, "I want to fly to the sky and pick stars."

They didn't laugh at each other's dreams, because they knew that these dreams were the light that sustained them.

2

After dinner, Yuan Liuxing pushed his bowl onto the table.

He went to the living room, turned on the VCD player, and watched the TV movie "Tomb Raider".

Yuan Liuxing's home was decorated very luxuriously.

On the huge home theater screen, a very cool scene of H4's activities from "Tomb Raider" is playing.

Yuan Liuxing held the remote control, completely absorbed in watching.

Her mother came out of the kitchen wearing an apron.

Mother Yuan: "Yuan Liuxing, Yuan Liuxing! When will you ever get enough of watching? Go practice your piano! Ever since you watched 'Tomb Raider Time Travel,' your studies have slipped, and you don't even want to practice the piano anymore. Do you want to stay at the bottom of the class forever?"

Yuan Liuxing remained intently focused on the television screen.

Without turning her head, she said, "Mom—I know. I'll just work harder before the next exam and catch up!"

Mother Yuan: "What do you know? All you do is look at H4 pages all day! You're obsessed with them, but do they even know who you are? They earn tens of thousands of yuan for singing a song, but would they give you a single penny?"

Yuan Liuxing retorted, "Money, money, money! All you ever think about is money!"

Mother Yuan: "If you don't have money, can you buy tickets to a singer's concert? If you don't have money, can you buy the singer's CDs?"

Yuan Liuxing continued to argue, "This is my personal, pure sentiment! It has nothing to do with money!"

Mother Yuan: "Forget it! Constantly infatuated with someone will only ruin your studies and future! Your grades will keep dropping, and if you don't get into university, you'll be sweeping the streets!"

As Yuan's mother spoke, she grew increasingly angry, and finally rushed to Yuan Liuxing's side.

He snatched the remote and turned off the TV.

Finally, like an eagle snatching a chick, he grabbed his daughter's arm and pushed her towards her study:

"Hurry! Go practice your piano! Don't even think about coming out again until you've practiced properly!"

3

Yuan Liuxing returned to his study and slammed the door shut in a huff.

She sat down on the piano bench in a huff, opened the piano lid, flipped open the sheet music, and began to practice.

The wall in front of the piano was covered with color photos of H4 and others.

Yuan Liuxing gazed at him for a long time, his eyes shining with happiness.

Suddenly, she clenched her fist in frustration and slammed it heavily on the piano keys.

The piano made a "humming" sound.

Yuan's mother's voice came from outside the study: "Yuan Liuxing, what are you doing in there?"

Yuan Liuxing said impatiently, "I'm tuning the piano! What's the big deal?"

4

At the same time of night, in Gao Yuke's living room.

Gao Yuke turned on the DVD player and was sitting on the sofa watching a movie starring her favorite male singer, Gao Shuaiguo.

She watched with great interest, her eyes glued to the screen.

On the television screen, Gao Shuaiguo, who plays a handsome and dashing character, is giving a passionate speech.

Gao Yuke's mother came out of the kitchen carrying two plates of freshly cooked dishes.

She placed the dishes on the table and said irritably:

"Yu Ke, come and eat. What's the point of all you do all day long? Your grades have dropped recently. If you keep going like this, you'll ruin your future!"

Gao Yuke glared at her mother, annoyed. "Mom! Gao Shuaiguo is my idol, I just like him. I don't have a brother, Gao Shuaiguo is like my own brother."

Gao Yuke's mother sighed, "Sigh... If you like it, then like it. But don't let it interfere with your studies."

Gao Yuke: "This isn't just liking, it's true love, do you understand? You only care about what I eat and what I wear, but you don't understand my heart, my feelings!"

Gao Yuke's mother took off her apron and slammed it onto a chair with a "thud."

"Fine, I don't understand. All you ever talk about is Gao Shuaiguo. What can Gao Shuaiguo bring you? She's just wasting your time!"

Gao Yuke felt that her idol had been insulted.

She got so angry that she started arguing with her mother:

"Mom! You're not allowed to insult my idol. How much do you even understand me? Brother Gao Shuaiguo has captured my entire heart; no one can replace him."

Gao Yuke's mother was so angry that she trembled all over after being talked back to by her daughter.

With a livid face, she scolded her daughter: "All you do is talk about idols! Your idol committed suicide by jumping off a building yesterday! Are you going to follow him and jump off a building too?!"

Gao Yuke's eyes widened in anger as she glared at her mother with a look of grief and indignation: "You're talking nonsense! If you slander my brother again, I'll never forgive you!"

Gao Yuke's mother: "What slander? Would your mother lie to you? If you don't believe me, look at the newspaper! Now you should give up!"

Gao Yuke casually picked up the evening newspaper from the coffee table and discovered a long article featuring Gao Shuaiguo's photo.

The headline reads: "Hong Kong actress Ko Sau-kwok committed suicide by jumping off a building yesterday."

She could hardly believe her eyes, clutching the newspaper close to her face with both hands.

I watched it over and over again.

Suddenly, she jumped up from the sofa and shouted:

"No—no—it's impossible. My brother would never die. It must have been a bad guy who killed him."

She cried as she crumpled the newspaper into a ball and ran to her bedroom.

Then he slammed the door shut and locked it from the inside.

Gao Yuke's mother kept knocking on the door: "Yuke, Yuke, Mom won't bother you anymore, you have to come out and eat!"

5

Gao Yuke returned to her bedroom.

She buried her face in the blankets on the bed and kept crying.

She cried for a long time before she managed to stand up.

He went to the window, opened it, and threw the crumpled newspaper out the window.

She cried out in tears, "Brother—brother—why did you leave like this—why did you leave like this? What's the point of me living in this world now that you're gone?"

Gao Yuke cried for a long time, then sat quietly at the table.

He wrapped the large color photo of Gao Shuaiguo in a glass frame on the table with a layer of black gauze, then picked it up and kissed it repeatedly.