Linfengchun

Kapitel 74

He wasn't a good student, and he was the main troublemaker in class. His friends were all in the back. During self-study periods, notes would fly back and forth between the whole class, leaving the class monitor helpless.

Ouyang Linhao and Ye Ruru?

I'm puzzled. These two seem to have rather bad tempers... Oh well, never mind that! I'd rather focus on the release date of the Mocha Cat animation!

Through years of continuous efforts, her Mocha Cat stories have become deeply rooted in people's hearts. She has not only published comic books and storybooks, but also made them into animated films, which have been broadcast nationwide and loved by children all over the country.

Liang Meihua is a die-hard fan of Mocha Cat, owning every Mocha Cat comic book currently available. She constantly grumbles about wanting the author's autograph, unaware that the original artist is right beside her. Shang Lin, however, remains unfazed, quite self-righteous: "Liang Meihua wants the cartoonist's autograph? I don't draw comics!"

Havoc in Heaven

The door to Class 1, Grade 7 was opened and closed by students coming and going. The old and dilapidated wooden door couldn't withstand their enthusiastic welcome and would occasionally groan in pain.

Li Changsheng stood at the third table in the row closest to the door. The cold winter wind would sneak into the warm classroom whenever it had a spare moment, and even though he was strong and healthy, he felt that the seat near the door was too cold.

He nudged Chen Zhaodi, who was sleeping with her head covered and her body slumped over the table. She opened her sleepy eyes, tilted her head back, and squinted, mumbling, "What?"

He gestured with his chin towards the front row: "Where is she?"

Zhao Di rubbed her eyes. Then someone else came in, and a cold wind rushed in, making her shiver and instantly dispelling her drowsiness.

"She went to get food with Meihua, and hasn't come back yet?" Looking at the time, nearly twenty minutes had passed.

The afternoon classes have ended. Although it's only the first year of junior high, the school requires all junior high students to attend morning and evening self-study sessions to ensure the quality of learning. Morning self-study is from 6:00 to 7:00 in the morning, and evening self-study is from 6:30 to 9:00 in the evening. Afternoon classes end at 5:30, leaving an hour for dinner.

Liang Meihua grumbled countless times that the school was inhumane, but Shang Lin said that it was better than the best and worse than the worst. Look at the students in the third year of junior high and the senior high. They have evening self-study until 10:30 pm and morning self-study starts at 5:30 pm. Including the time to go back to the dormitory and wash up, they only get an average of six hours of sleep a day.

Four months had passed since the start of the semester, and it was now January 1993, the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, the coldest time of the year. With final exams and winter break just over ten days away, the students were both excited and nervous.

The facilities at No. 5 Middle School were far inferior to its illustrious reputation; there was no heating in the classrooms, and even stoves were not allowed.

The leaders believe that only by enduring hardship can one rise above others. And without enduring the bitter cold, how can the plum blossom emit its fragrant scent?

Fifty-odd students sat in the same classroom all day long, with the windows and doors tightly closed, inevitably leading to an unpleasant smell. The teachers who came to teach disliked this, so they made it a rule that the windows had to be opened for ventilation every noon. The heat that had accumulated throughout the morning was finally carried away by the wind at noon, leaving the students with the bone-chilling cold that no amount of clothing could keep out during evening self-study.

He placed the lunchbox on Shanglin's table, sat down, and casually flipped through her books and workbooks. Liang Meihua leaned in, her mouth watering, "What? What are we eating today?"

On one occasion, Zhang Hongwei came to visit the school and happened to arrive during their dinner time. He first went to Shanglin's class and tasted a bite of braised pork and vermicelli with cabbage. Then he went to Class 9 and ate a bite of tomato and egg soup from Xialin's lunchbox. He went home with a gloomy face. Starting the next day, Qiu Xialin and Li Changsheng were strictly required to go home for lunch and return to school with their lunchboxes after lunch for dinner.

Zhang Hongwei privately complained to Qiu Jianguo: "Tell me, what's with her being so stubborn? She can eat and stay at home, with hot food and soup. I've told her not to worry about it, but she won't listen no matter what I say. The food in the school cafeteria is even worse than the food in our factory cafeteria. She used to always complain about how bad my cooking was. She was such a difficult child to take care of back then, how come she's not picky about food now?"

Helpless, Qiu Jianguo put down the half-read business management book: "You're harder to please than my daughter!"

He said only one sentence, ignoring his wife's angry glare, and went for a stroll on the balcony with his hands behind his back.

As the business grew, they actually had more free time. After establishing the company, Qiu Jianguo hired specialized management talent. He and Zhang Hongwei only made major decisions and kept abreast of the direction. They were not as busy as before, but they made more money than before.

Zhang Hongwei glared angrily and cursed for a long time, but the other party did not respond, so he felt bored.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. My daughter is so sensible; I've been hoping for this for so long. I used to think she was too perfectionistic and meticulous, unlike a daughter from a farming family. Even though we're mother and daughter, there was a distance between us. Now that she's no longer so particular, isn't that a good thing?

She felt sorry for her three children who weren't eating well and had heavy schoolwork, so she tried different ways to improve their lives. Today it was stewed chicken, tomorrow duck, and the day after grilled fish. The dinner that Li Changsheng brought was warmly welcomed by the students sitting around him.

Before Shanglin returned, someone stretched out across the table and lifted the lunchbox. The Qiu family's lunchbox was a bit unusual—three layers, enormous, and printed with Mocha Cat cartoon characters. When it first arrived, they were puzzled, as they hadn't seen Mocha Cat release any new lunchboxes. Qiu Shanglin explained that her mother bought it from a small market, probably a counterfeit. Zhang Hongwei hadn't heard this, probably because he'd be angry: "You're the one who buys counterfeits! It's clearly the junk you brought home to give Changsheng to store his paintbrushes!"

For internal staff only; not available for sale on the market.

The lunchbox was opened, and a delicious aroma wafted out.

At the bottom was a hodgepodge: stewed cured pork, green beans, potatoes, and mung bean noodles. These days, where can you find fresh green beans in winter? Everyone relies on dried vegetables and cabbage from the summer to get by. Swallowing hard, I stared greedily at the glistening, oily green beans.

Absolutely fresh green beans, a deep green color that only appears in summer, plump and oily green beans, stewed for a long time in oil and fire until tender and melt-in-your-mouth.

The second layer contained a lightly seasoned, spicy and sour cabbage, while the first layer featured sausage slices arranged in a flower shape, with several pieces of duck meat piled beside them. Then, the thermos was opened, attracting several people to gather around, all asking what kind of soup was inside.

Several people were eyeing him menacingly, but Li Changsheng sat silently, casually flipping through Shang Lin's scribbles in his workbook. His gaze fell on the pages of English, as if he didn't see the pack of hungry wolves.

Everyone was drooling and clicking their tongues, but no one dared to steal a bite.

Li Changsheng is no pushover; who would dare to mess with him?

Upon entering the school, he clashed with a junior high student named "Monk" over a spot to get food. He took on three students single-handedly, leaving the domineering "Monk" completely defenseless and chasing him all over the campus.

Later, he led the unruly first-year students in several fights against the so-called "Huaiqiao Gang," never losing a fight and establishing the dominant position of this year's first-year students in the Fifth Middle School.

Even in the first year of junior high, students were divided into factions. One faction consisted of the restless students from Zifang Town, led by Li Changsheng; another, including Ouyang Linhao and others from Huaiqiao City; and then there were the diligent students who focused on their studies. Everyone generally kept to themselves. Ouyang Linhao and "Monk" were friends because they came from the same area. These unique circumstances created an exceptionally positive environment for this year's first-year students—virtually no one bullied the newcomers. Especially in Class 1 of the first year, if there was a minor conflict with a stranger, simply mentioning their class would usually deter the other party from acting arrogantly.

Although the management at No. 5 Middle School is strict, the students are in the heat of adolescence, prone to fighting and of varying quality. In the past, freshmen often suffered losses—not major ones, but constant minor ones. While they wouldn't be beaten to a pulp, being pushed, pinched, or verbally abused was almost inevitable.

This situation is particularly serious among rural students.

Students from rural areas are known for their exceptional patience and resilience. Although they try to keep a low profile, they are generally academically excellent and well-liked by their teachers. However, some troublesome students from the city may find this distasteful and bully them openly or covertly.

They felt that such a small matter was not worth reporting to the teacher. However, children from poorer families tend to have stronger self-esteem, and small things can fester into big problems. There have been several cases at No. 5 Middle School where rural students were bullied, and these problems accumulated over time, eventually leading to their inability to adapt to group life, dropping out of school, and ruining their future.

The school's investigation revealed that the issues affecting them were actually trivial.

You might be mocked for dropping a word; ridiculed for occasionally eating a good meal; pushed around while fighting for water; or even the order in which you go to bed.

Sensitive, suspicious, overly proud, and deeply buried inferiority complex, all crumbled when compared to the superior living conditions of urban students, spiraling out of control.

But then Li Changsheng appeared. Qiu Shanglin appeared.

Qiu Shanglin said without any hesitation during the class meeting, "I am from Qiujia Village. My parents are unemployed and are farmers."

She entered the university with the highest score and was the darling of all the teachers, but no student from any city dared to make things difficult for her.

Li Changsheng remained silent, but he used his fists and actions to tell the entire school that he had the first-year students under his protection. Once, a high school girl had a conflict with a girl from Class 1 in the cafeteria over queuing for food. That girl led a group of people to Class 1 to cause trouble for her. Coincidentally, Li Changsheng, Ouyang Linhao, and others were all playing basketball, leaving only the diligent students buried in their studies. Faced with the other girl's arrogance, they harbored resentment but dared not step forward.

They shouted and ordered the students who remained in the classroom to stand up one by one so they could find the girl. When they called Qiu Shanglin, she was doing her math homework when the sharp point of her set square pierced the hand of the boy who was trying to push her shoulder. The big, dark-faced boy yelled in pain.

She stood up, her eyebrows furrowed, a sneer on her face. Facing the girls who were trying to hit her, she didn't back down at all, grabbing whatever she could and throwing it at them. Finally, she simply stood on the table, waving an enamel mug and shouting, "Throw all your books out here! I'll take responsibility if they kill you!"

The older students who bullied the weak and feared the strong backed down, and the group of girls backed down when faced with the rural students who surrounded them with ill intentions. They left with a harsh remark and slunk away. The students in Class 1 of Grade 7, who were usually quiet as if they didn't exist, burst into cheers.

Rural students versus urban students; lower grades versus higher grades, achieving their first victory in history.

They were only concerned with the immediate situation and no one cared about how to quell the unrest. When Li Changsheng and the others returned and saw the mess in the room, they heard what had happened and went to the high school with Ouyang Linhao and the others. They heard that they were originally supposed to be asked to apologize, but Qiu Shanglin didn't care, so they let it go.

After this incident, Qiu Shanglin became famous. Everyone from other schools knew that a new student had arrived at No. 5 Middle School; he usually seemed quiet, but when he got angry, he was ruthless.

She became increasingly low-key and unassuming, which earned her the affection of most of her classmates. Of course, this did not include Ye Ruru and Zhang Ran, among others.

They had a good relationship with the older girl, and although the one being bullied was a classmate, they didn't keep in touch normally. Their relationship clearly showed their difference in closeness and distance. They wished Qiu Shanglin would be beaten up and tried to stir up trouble, but Ouyang Linhao gave them a stern warning, making their hatred for Qiu Shanglin and her friends even stronger.

Oh, and there's also high reinforcement.

He had a cold and went home to get an IV drip for a few days. When he recovered and returned to school, he only heard the rumors but didn't believe them—that short, stocky guy next to him? The stupid student who wouldn't dare say a word even if he drew a line down the middle? Pshaw, who would believe that!

So he still looked down on Qiu Shanglin, still hated her, and always opposed her.

Shang Lin and Gao Jiaqiang returned to the classroom one after the other. When he came back, Shang Lin, Liang Meihua, Chen Zhaodi, and Li Changsheng were eating and chatting around the table. He said with dissatisfaction, "Is this your own table?" in a rather sharp tone.

Shang Lin didn't even raise his eyebrows, and said, "Let's go eat in the back." The group packed up their things and went to Liang Meihua's table. He stood to the side waiting, snorting through his nose.

Chang Sheng, carrying chopsticks, passed by him, bumping into him intentionally or unintentionally. Gao Jiaqiang was about to throw a tantrum when a cold gaze fell upon him, waiting for him to explode. A chill ran down his spine; remembering that it was Li Chang Sheng, he shut his mouth tightly and remained silent.

It's a shame I'm waiting for you to curse me before I can beat you up. But without a legitimate reason, even if I beat you up, I'll still get scolded by the Shanglin. Why don't you just curse me out already...?

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