Urban Flower Dream

Chapter 1

Chapter One: A Helpless Choice

Opening remarks

A myriad of emotions, from joy to sorrow, all vanish in the blink of an eye.

The beauty of a riot of flowers is fleeting, best left as a laughing matter.

Time: Midsummer of 1995

If life is a process of constant choices, then this choice seems premature for Tong Daqi. Indeed, at 17, he faces the first major decision of his life—graduating from junior high school. With his excellent grades, should he go to high school and university, or attend a vocational school and enter the workforce sooner? In truth, fate had already made the decision for him; rather than letting Tong Daqi choose, it was as if fate had forcibly forced upon him. He could only choose to attend a vocational school in Rongzhou, the provincial capital—a choice that deeply hurt him, damaging his childhood ambitions and confidence, and also breaking the hearts of his high school principal, homeroom teacher, and other teachers who had placed high expectations on him…

Why? Was it poverty? Was it his irresponsible father? Or his kind mother's tears? Or perhaps none of these, simply that he had bowed his head to the evil god of fate. In that one moment, he boarded the train bound for Rongzhou, the provincial capital.

When Tong Daqi first heard the long whistle of a train as he waited in line at the train station, he was genuinely excited. After all, he was the first among his companions to see and ride a train, and at that moment, the grievance of not getting into a top-tier high school seemed to be forgotten. He excitedly told his mother, "Mom, the train is here! The train is here!" His mother, who was over fifty, happily replied to Daqi, "Yes, yes, my son is really riding the train this time!"

Seeing her son's long-lost excitement and joy as a mother, she was naturally happy too, because at that moment, the gloom in her son's heart seemed to have been swept away...

Two hours after boarding, Tong Daqi's curiosity about the train faded. He felt that traveling by car was much better, at least the scenery along the way was much richer. The scenery along the train route was simply too monotonous, and the entire route from his hometown of Changqing County to the provincial capital Rongzhou was mountainous. The train had to pass through tunnels every ten minutes or so, which was like adding a sprinkle of dry, tasteless pepper to the monotonous train journey—it only made people feel more disgusted.

Perhaps his mind had become numb from the monotony of his life, but Tong Daqi began to wonder why he had given up the opportunity to be directly admitted to a top provincial high school to attend a vocational school in the provincial capital. He was clearly unwilling, a thousand times unwilling! But the vocational school acceptance letter was currently frantically carrying him towards Rongzhou! A month earlier, he had been admitted to the road and bridge engineering program at the Binhai Provincial Construction Engineering School in his hometown, with the highest score in the entire county. An absolutely high score; Tong Daqi's score exceeded the cutoff for the top provincial vocational school by a full 70 points, and also exceeded that of his alma mater, Changqing No. 1 High School, by 70 points. Students who could exceed the cutoff of Changqing No. 1 High School, one of the few century-old prestigious schools in the province, by 70 points were extremely rare in the area. Moreover, he was among the first batch of students personally selected by the principal of Changqing No. 1 High School to be directly admitted to its high school division without taking the entrance exam. However, he still couldn't attend high school. Because no matter how strong one's abilities or how good one's grades are, they are all so vulnerable and powerless in the face of fate... So Tong Daqi couldn't understand why he boarded the express train to Rongzhou. At this moment, his former friends were participating in military training at Changqing No. 1 High School. The high school entrance exam had divided his former classmates into two groups: one group continued to high school to prepare for university entrance exams, and the other group entered various vocational schools throughout the province to prepare for work after graduation. When he thought of his former classmates, Tong Daqi thought of three people: one was his close friend Kuang Dazhong, and the other two were girls, one named Zhuo Wenya and the other named Chen Meiting.

Zhuo Wenya enrolled in the senior high school of Changqing No. 1 Middle School. She was the class monitor of Daqi in junior high school. She was of average appearance, definitely not ugly, and had a great talent for the arts. Daqi once collaborated with her on stage to participate in the school's arts performance and won first prize on campus.

Chen Meiting was Daqi's deskmate from the second to the third year of junior high school. She was a true class and school beauty, a standard beauty in the making. For some reason, no one in the class, regardless of gender, wanted to sit with her. Finally, their homeroom teacher, Ms. Zhang, approached Daqi and asked him to sit with her. Ms. Zhang also instructed Daqi to help Meiting with her studies. Daqi, an honest student, remained unmoved by such a beautiful woman, focusing on his studies. Unlike others whose grades plummeted, his actually improved. During the two years he sat next to her, he jumped from the top ten in his class to the top five in his grade and even the entire county, becoming a well-deserved top student in the school. Actually, Daqi would occasionally steal glances at her. To be honest, she truly possessed a beauty that could rival the most beautiful women in the entire class and school: cloud-like hair, a straight nose, slightly upturned red lips, fair and delicate skin, and an air of haughtiness. She was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl in the entire class and school.

Although Meiting was exceptionally beautiful, her academic performance was dismal, the complete opposite of her looks, ranking at the bottom of the class. Therefore, she was always very respectful to Daqi, never daring to display her haughty, beautiful demeanor. This surprised Daqi, who was willing to patiently help her with her studies. Over time, they became good friends, sharing everything. Daqi liked Meiting because she was undeniably beautiful. However, another girl held a more important place in his heart—the class monitor, Zhuo Wenya.

Perhaps the admiration that fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys feel for the opposite sex is the true Platonic love. Daqi knew that Wenya was far less beautiful than Meiting, but he only had admiration for Wenya in his heart, and his feelings for Meiting were more like those of a brother for his sister. Although they weren't biological siblings, he genuinely treated Meiting with brotherly affection.

For the first two years of junior high, Daqi and Wenya were the envy of many boys and girls. Daqi's academic performance was outstanding, and Wenya's artistic talent was exceptional. At Wenya's urging, Daqi and she co-starred in their first and only stage skit. The skit was a great success, winning first prize in the 1994 Changqing No. 1 Middle School Campus Arts Competition. Daqi was overjoyed, because he showed other high-achieving classmates that he, Tong Daqi, was not only superior to them academically, but also equally talented in his spare time. More importantly, this was an honor shared with Zhuo Wenya. Daqi was deeply moved when he recalled these moments. He had, in his naivety, come to understand what it meant to love someone. Young love is simple; just being with the other person and seeing them every day was enough. Unfortunately, this happy time didn't last. In their final year of junior high, for some reason, Wenya stopped paying attention to Daqi. This caused Daqi great pain. The only person he truly loved was ignoring him. He was unhappy every day, and he confided his unhappiness to Meiting. Meiting became like an angel, comforting Daqi every day and telling him not to be sad, and that as long as he kept pursuing her, he would eventually move Wenya.

Tong Daqi was truly grateful to Chen Meiting, for listening to him and for her understanding. Frankly, towards the end of junior high, as Daqi neared graduation, he felt Meiting's place in his heart growing ever more important. One scene in particular was unforgettable for Daqi.

It was a summer evening in May 1995. As usual, Daqi and Meiting were taking a walk on the school playground after evening self-study. At this time, they were both facing the choice of going to high school or vocational school after the middle school entrance examination. The two walked quietly along the playground track as usual.

This time, Meiting broke the silence first.

Meiting: "Daqi, we'll be graduating in a month. What are your plans? I heard from others that you gave up the opportunity to be recommended to No.1 Middle School (Changqing No.1 Middle School). Is that true?"

Daqi was silent for a moment before stammering, "It's like this..."

"Ah—, why, why?" Meiting, who was usually calm and collected, hurriedly asked Daqi, "If you don't go to high school, you're doomed! With your learning ability, you can definitely get into a top university. If you don't go to high school, you're doomed!"

Daqi said coldly, "It's over, it's over. My mother won't let me go. You know my family situation best!"

"No, no, no—" Meiting cried out "no" three times before bursting into tears, sobbing very sadly. "My grades are bad, I can't get into a top high school at all, but you're guaranteed admission, you should go. I'll go talk to your mother and ask her to change her mind, your future is important!"

Faced with Meiting's sudden crying, Daqi also cried and said to Meiting, "Meiting, I only told you this because I consider you a good friend. Don't go looking for my mom anymore, it's no use! I'm begging you!"

After saying this, Daqi ran home alone. ...

For the rest of his junior high school years, Daqi never spent time alone with Meiting again, and he didn't know why. In Daqi's own words later, he was afraid of seeing Meiting's tears again.

At this moment, Tong Daqi leaned back in his train seat, lost in thought. He knew that Meiting had also been admitted to a vocational school, a tourism school in a prefecture-level city, majoring in tour guiding. "Whatever," Tong Daqi thought, "I'll find her after I go home for the Spring Festival."

After a twelve-hour journey, the train finally arrived at Rongzhou Railway Station. As soon as they got off, Daqi and his mother went to visit relatives. They had a distant relative in the provincial capital: Daqi's mother's younger sister, his aunt. His aunt's husband was a section chief in the Agricultural Department of Binhai Province, a high-ranking official. In short, his aunt's family was well-known and influential in the provincial capital. After Daqi was admitted to a construction engineering school, his mother repeatedly urged him to visit his aunt's family often while studying in the provincial capital, hoping they could help him find a job after graduation. His mother specifically instructed Daqi to be obedient at his aunt's house and not to talk back to the adults, emphasizing the importance of his future! Faced with these so-called principles of conduct, Tong Daqi truly didn't know how to handle them. From a young age, he rarely spoke to others because of his outstanding academic performance, and his interactions with classmates always ended with him overwhelming them with his eloquence. Because he loved reading from a young age, he knew far more than most people and didn't take them seriously at all.

After asking around, the mother finally arrived at the house of the aunt whom Daqi had never met before. The mother timidly reached out and gently knocked on the aunt's door, softly calling out, "Is anyone home? Is anyone home?"

As soon as I knocked, someone answered, "Who is it? Who is it? Why didn't you ring the doorbell?" The door opened before I could finish speaking. It was a wealthy woman who opened the door. My mother reacted quickly and called out, "Little sister! I'm sorry to bother you!"

"Oh—it's Second Sister! Please come in, please come in." The noblewoman ushered Daqi and his mother into the house. "I figured you should have arrived in the last couple of days, and you've come indeed!"

His mother and aunt started chatting, and Daqi finally got a good look at his aunt. As expected of someone from an official's family, she was adorned with gold and silver, radiating an air of glamour. However, to be honest, his aunt wasn't pretty. Daqi didn't find her kind, and even felt a little intimidated by her, unsure why he was afraid to meet her gaze.

After having dinner at his aunt's house, Daqi and his mother talked about Daqi's schooling.

Aunt: "I've heard from the locals that your son is an excellent student. Why did you let him go to a vocational school? Isn't that a waste of his potential?"

Mother: "My sister knows our family situation best. I'm the sole breadwinner, and with the meager income from washing dishes at the restaurant, how could we possibly afford to send him to university? So we gritted our teeth and made him go to vocational school so he could start earning a salary as soon as possible!"

Aunt: "How's the tuition fee raising going? This year, the government mandates that vocational schools charge tuition fees. It would have been better if you had passed the entrance exam last year. Since the tuition fee system is being implemented this year, passing the exam last year would have saved you a lot of money."

Mother: "It's all fate! The first year's tuition is already in my bag, we'll talk about next year's later!"

Upon hearing this, Aunt's face immediately changed: "What? What about the next few years? Daqi is in a four-year vocational school! Sigh, it's all my deadbeat husband's fault for playing the stock market all day and losing all his money. Otherwise, we could have helped him out. It's just a small matter of ten thousand yuan!"

Hearing her aunt say this, the mother quickly replied, "No, no. Sister, please stop talking. I'll find a way to pay for Daqi's tuition for four years. You don't need to worry about it, no, no..."

Upon hearing this, Auntie's face immediately brightened, and she laughed heartily, "Thank you for your understanding, sister! When are you planning to go home?"

As Daqi listened to their conversation, a strong intuition lingered in his mind. His aunt certainly had money, but his tuition would absolutely depend on his mother; his aunt wouldn't lend him money. Because his family was too poor, who would lend money to someone without money? He couldn't even rely on his own father, let alone his own aunt.

Chapter Two: Two School Beauties

The next morning, Daqi and his mother went to the construction engineering school to register. After completing the enrollment procedures, the mother returned to her hometown of Changqing from the provincial capital overnight because her boss had only given her two days off, and there was still a lot of tableware waiting for her to wash at the hotel.

After collecting his bedding and other necessities from the school's general affairs office, Daqi went to his dormitory alone to make his bed. The other students had already moved in; he was the last to arrive. The dormitory housed 12 people, who, according to Daqi's later understanding, were from the same province but different cities. Two were from Longhai, a special economic zone, the others from coastal cities, and the third from a mountainous area in western Binhai province. When Daqi arrived at the dormitory alone, he found it quite lively, filled with students and their parents. In fact, the other 11 students were accompanied by their parents; Daqi was the only one who arrived alone.

Daqi introduced himself to his classmates in several dormitories first, and then chatted with them. They talked for a long time that night, and Daqi fell asleep without realizing it. Soon after falling asleep, Daqi drifted off to sleep.

In his dream, he saw a person, a girl. This girl was none other than his junior high school deskmate, Chen Meiting. Just like in reality, she was always breathtakingly beautiful in his dream. Tall and fair-skinned, Meiting wore a white dress. She cried and laughed at Daqi. When she laughed, she revealed her pearly white teeth. Daqi didn't understand why she was crying and laughing at the same time. He went over and took her hand, but she cried again, tears streaming down her face, forming a long river in an instant. Just as Daqi was about to ask her why, Meiting kissed him...

"Meiting!" Daqi shouted, jolting awake from his sleep. To be precise, Daqi was awakened by his own shouting. He then realized the others in the dormitory were still asleep; it was already 5 a.m. The real problem wasn't just waking up, but discovering his underwear was already warm and damp. Daqi had a bad feeling. Ever since he turned fourteen, these "little seeds" of life would occasionally "erupt," as if Daqi himself was announcing to the world that he was a virgin. Daqi had to admit to himself that he had fallen for Meiting, but he really didn't know when it started. It should be said that Meiting's tears that night had sparked it.

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Section Reading 2

The seed of love sprouts in my heart.

After getting up, Daqi immediately changed his underwear. While washing it, he thought that he must go see Chen Meiting when he went home for the Spring Festival and ask her if she liked him. Yes, would Meiting like him? Putting everything else aside, he was half a head shorter than her. Meiting had a slender figure and always looked graceful, while he, on the other hand, was really just a pile of cow dung compared to her.

After Daqi changed his underwear, the students in the dormitory gradually woke up. After queuing up to buy breakfast and having it, everyone began their three-day orientation training. Before the training, Daqi's class, Civil Engineering (1), also held a self-introduction session among the class members. Among the many students, two girls were particularly eye-catching to the boys.

One of them was named Zhou Qiwen, and she was incredibly beautiful. Her eyes were exceptionally bright and large. She wore a ponytail, and her cherry-red lips were particularly striking; when she smiled, they revealed tiny, sparkling teeth like diamonds. That smile was absolutely breathtaking. I remember when she went on stage to introduce herself, all the boys in the class held their breath, and even the homeroom teacher stared intently at her.

The other one, Chen Muping, was also a great beauty. She was taller than Qiwen, with slender arms and legs, exuding a graceful, slim beauty. The striking thing was that she wasn't thin or fat at all. She was perfectly proportioned—any more or less would be too thin, not too plump. In short, she could totally be a model. Compared to her, Qiwen had a slightly better face, but her figure couldn't compare to Muping's.

After returning to their dorms, the boys talked about the two beauties day and night, eating and sleeping. Several boys vowed that they wouldn't have lived in vain if they could win over at least one of them. Zhang Xiaowu, the son of the deputy director of the Construction Department, who shared a dorm, even boasted that he would try to win over both girls at the same time, so that he could enjoy the blessings of having two women at once. As soon as he said this, he was immediately slapped across the face by a boy from the next class.

The tall, burly man glared at Zhang Xiaowu and roared, "You dare to touch two beauties at the same time? I'll beat you to death! If you can manage to date one of them, I'll call you grandpa. Don't rely on your father, rely on yourself!"

Zhang Xiaowu, beaten and forced to swallow his anger, repeatedly said "I'm sorry." From then on, throughout their entire vocational school years, no one dared utter phrases like "the blessing of having two wives" or anything similar. Because everyone was afraid of dying; they knew that saying the wrong thing meant getting beaten up!

Tong Daqi was a normal boy, in the throes of puberty. Of course, when he had nothing to do, he'd secretly observe the two beauties in his class, memorizing everything the other boys talked about them. In particular, those boys somehow obtained incredible "intelligence" about the two beauties—their menstrual cycles—which Daqi also remembered. On this particular day, he secretly observed the two beauties, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary; they were just like any other day! Frankly, he thought those boys were incredibly boring!

Daqi often compared Meiting to the other two women, and still thought Meiting was better. She was gentle and considerate, and although she came from an ordinary family, she had an outstanding temperament. She was especially kind to him, Tong Daqi, always ready to help and genuinely cared for him. The other two women, however, were different.

Zhou Qiwen is the daughter of a traffic police captain in a certain county, a typical daughter of an official. She's always arrogant and haughty. The only thing Daqi admires about her is that no matter who she is, no one can get a date with her. She could be described as so arrogant that she's unapproachable.

Chen Muping, on the other hand, was extremely timid. According to the girls, she was once so frightened by a rat in the dormitory that she fainted. She was really too cowardly.

Therefore, Daqi felt that Meiting's kindness towards him was something that no other girl could give him.

As the saying goes, "A large forest has all kinds of birds." In this campus of over 5,000 students, you'll find all sorts of students. Especially the "little perverts" (they're still students, so let's call them "little perverts" for now). Whenever Zhou Qiwen and Chen Muping passed by the path in front of the boys' dormitory, a group of boys would immediately shout, "Beautiful girls are here! Beautiful girls are here!" Soon after, a group of "little perverts" would surge out of the dormitory corridor, all shouting, "Beautiful girls—beautiful girls—I love you!" After one dormitory building finished shouting, another would start, a constant, relentless cacophony. On one occasion, the two beauties walked side-by-side past the boys' dormitory, and the shouts were absolutely deafening. The shouts even alerted the head of the school's security department. He thought there was some student violence again, but when he came to check and found nothing amiss, he simply muttered, "A bunch of idiots," and left.

Whenever this happened, Daqi would genuinely despise and laugh at his classmates: "Fools who've never seen a woman before!" Indeed, if Meiting were here, the commotion would probably be just as great. Of course, their reasons were understandable; Meiting was only close to him, and her impression of others could only be summed up in two words—arrogant!

Chapter Three: Helping Others

People who appear well-dressed often conceal extremely filthy hearts! To put it bluntly, there are many "wolves in sheep's clothing." But there are also those who seem born to be symbols of noble causes, seemingly immune to the influence of dirty forces. But this is reality, and you have to face it: even among teachers, there are quite a few scoundrels!

At a provincial key vocational school specializing in architectural engineering, there was a teacher with exceptionally high teaching skills, a representative of outstanding teachers in the province. However, he was also a greedy and lecherous man! He would even take advantage of his students. His name was Lin Yulin, a typical "scumbag teacher"!

One day, Daqi witnessed Lin Yulin, that bastard, placing his hand on the school beauty Zhou Qiwen's sexy, pert buttocks while they were talking. "Seeing is believing," Daqi thought, feeling both disdain and helplessness towards Lin. In architecture schools, including vocational schools, students can't win against teachers, unless you don't want to graduate!

Besides being a lecherous man, that Lin fellow was also greedy for money! No matter what grade a student had, as long as they gave him a red envelope or a gift, they would all pass the exam with high marks. It was disgusting! Many students lost interest in studying in the later stages of vocational school and "bribed" Lin, all smiling and saying, "Teacher Lin, please take care of us!" But that's another story, so let's not go into it now!

It was precisely this lecherous man surnamed Lin's misdeeds that brought Daqi closer to his two beautiful classmates. Otherwise, Daqi would hardly have spoken to them at all.

Once, Daqi was on his way to the library when a sweet voice called out from behind, "Tong Daxuan!" Daqi turned around and saw none other than Qiwen. She was wearing a dress and high heels, and her long ponytail was tied with a colorful bow. This sudden turn of events startled Daqi, and it took him several seconds to react: "Qi...wen...it's you...ah," Daqi stammered, because many people were looking at them strangely. Indeed, how could such a beautiful woman call out to such an unremarkable person?

Tong Daqi never expected that the stunningly beautiful woman he knew would stand so close to him. Her red dress accentuated Qiwen's shapely figure. Daqi dared not look directly at Qiwen.

Qiwen spoke first, saying generously, "What's wrong? Are you worried I'll eat you?" She then glared at Daqi, not out of genuine anger, but as a playful glare.

Perhaps the beautiful woman was used to glaring at people so much that everything seemed natural and unpretentious. Daqi quickly replied, "No, no, is there something you need?"

“Of course, let’s find a quiet spot in the library. I have something I’d like to ask you, a great talent, for help with!” Qiwen said.

They found a secluded corner in the library reading room and sat facing each other. It was evening, and few people were reading there. So, the beautiful Qiwen slowly explained why she wanted to see Daqi.

It turned out that the scumbag teacher surnamed Lin frequently sexually harassed Qiwen, and once even attempted to assault her in his private office. Fortunately, Qiwen shouted at him and resolutely resisted, thus escaping unharmed. From then on, Qiwen stopped attending Lin's classes; Lin was the school's political economy teacher. No wonder Daqi hadn't seen Qiwen in his political economy class for a while—that explained it. However, with final exams approaching, Qiwen was worried about failing the exams. Everyone in the class knew that Daqi was a renowned "political genius," having achieved a perfect score of 100 on the midterm exam—a score never before achieved by a student in the school's history—causing a sensation throughout the entire school. Therefore, she wanted Daqi to tutor her to avoid failing the final exams.

"Saving a life is like building a seven-story pagoda." Tong Daqi readily agreed to help, and they agreed to tutor Qiwen in political economy every night starting tonight, in a classroom or a study room, somewhere that wouldn't be too crowded.

With a compassionate heart, Tong Daqi helped Qiwen bring her class notes to the classroom where they had arranged to meet. When Daqi arrived, he was surprised. Besides Qiwen, Chen Muping was also there. Muping, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, looked shy and alluring. Qiwen, on the other hand, was more outgoing, saying to Daqi as soon as she saw him, "You don't mind if I bring a companion, Teacher Tong, do you?" Daqi, of course, didn't mind. He figured Muping had probably come to "seek apprenticeship" to escape the harassment of Lin the Pervert.

From then on, Daqi tutored the two beauties every day. These two girls were clueless about politics and economics, and they often bickered during tutoring sessions, always started by Qiwen. Sometimes Daqi had to be stern before they would listen attentively. Whenever this happened, Qiwen would make a funny face and say to Muping, "Good sister, stop fooling around, Teacher Tong is angry!" Daqi couldn't help but smile at this. Honestly, Qiwen was really cute; her usual arrogance transformed into childlike joy, enough to make any man's heart flutter.

"Walls have ears." How could Daqi's frequent dates with two beautiful women go unnoticed? The only thing that made Daqi feel truly innocent was that in the following days, whether in class or in the dormitory, most of the boys talked to him less, and sometimes he would even be inexplicably yelled at. Daqi sometimes couldn't help but sigh: women are truly trouble, especially beautiful women, they're practically men's graves! But he didn't care at all, and was quite smug. "If you're so capable, why don't you try dating two beauties like me, Tong Daqi? Too bad you don't have the ability!" Sometimes he was even arrogant, thinking that only he, Tong Daqi, could do it! Of course, at this time, Daqi was worried about Chen Meiting, who was far away at Longzhou Forestry College. He wondered how Meiting was doing. Fortunately, the final exams were coming soon, and he would be going home soon, where he could see Meiting.

Final exams arrived in the blink of an eye, and Daqi easily finished all his courses. He booked his train ticket home. While his classmates were busy packing their luggage to go home, Huang Xiaoping, the student council president, shouted loudly in front of the boys' dormitory, running as he went: "News—News—Breaking News!" The students were all drawn out of their dormitories, asking what had happened.

Huang Xiaoping said excitedly, "According to inside information revealed by authoritative sources: Tong Daqi from the Class of '95 scored 95 in Chinese, 100 in Mathematics, and 99 in Politics on his final exams, with all other subjects scoring above 95. He's a genius! This achievement breaks the best record in the school's 30-year history! Amazing!"

Many students crowded around to ask about their grades, but Huang Xiaoping's face fell: "Nearly one-third of the students will have to go back to school for make-up exams after the Spring Festival!" This statement was undoubtedly a major shock, and many people were immediately stunned and rushed to ask the relevant teachers whether they needed to take make-up exams.

Daqi was incredibly smug; unless the earth turned upside down, he, Tong Daqi, would never have to retake the exam. It was lunchtime, and he went to the cafeteria alone, where he bumped into Qiwen. Qiwen was bundled up in a thick down jacket, looking like an ice princess—a stunning beauty, looking beautiful in anything she wore. Qiwen and Daqi ate together, and she asked if he had time to see her off, explaining that her father had something come up and couldn't pick her up, leaving her to go home alone. However, her luggage was too heavy, and she hoped Daqi could help her. Daqi's train ticket was for the day after tomorrow, so he readily agreed—after all, it was a beautiful woman asking for a ride!

On the way to the station with Qiwen, especially on the bus, people everywhere glared at Daqi with hostility, mainly men. Some even said on the spot, "Wow! How could such a beautiful flower be stuck in cow dung!" These words made Tong Daqi's face turn red and white, while Qiwen just kept smiling with her lips pursed. Daqi had no choice but to force a smile.

Upon arriving at the station, Daqi helped Qiwen settle her luggage, and they waited for departure. There was still half an hour before departure. Qiwen and Daqi sat down in the waiting room. Qiwen's chatterbox opened up again: "Teacher Tong, why aren't you saying anything? You're usually so eloquent, discussing national affairs with such confidence, why are you speechless in front of a mere woman like me? Are you hiding something? Confess! 'Those who confess will be treated leniently, those who resist will be punished severely,' speak up!" Qiwen glared at Daqi with childlike innocence; glaring was her signature move.

"No, no, what ghost? You're just talking nonsense in broad daylight," Daqi replied repeatedly. "Miss, please stop talking about ghosts. It's bad luck to get on the bus."

"Ha-ha-ha," Qiwen laughed so hard she bent over, "You believe in the great Marxism-Leninism, and materialism is your fundamental guide to action, how come you've become superstitious?"

"That's because of you..." Daqi suddenly blurted out, not understanding why he would say such a thing. There was no reason for it. Fortunately, he didn't finish his sentence. He wanted to say, "That's because you're taking a car, and people are worried!"

"I—, what about me?" Qiwen pressed.

"Peace is priceless!" Daqi quickly tried to cover up his lapse in composure. When he said those words, he realized he had lost his composure because he still loved Meiting.

"Really?" Qiwen asked, her eyes wide. "Daqi, Teacher Tong, remember to call me during winter break, or you're dead meat next spring!" She then handed Daqi a small note that had been written on sometime during the winter break. Daqi looked at it and saw that it contained a phone number.