Chickens and dogs fly in chaos and rebirth

Chapter 35

Shanglin quickly reassured her, "It's alright, it's alright, it doesn't hurt."

The little girl who bumped into her timidly glanced at her. There was no displeasure on her face. She then stopped crying and smiled, bowed to Lin Tongmao, and ran away shyly.

The other girls who had been playing around with her earlier laughed and chased after her, hiding in the corner to peek, asking her all at once how she felt about bumping into Qiu Shanglin.

She's amazing! She's a child prodigy!

The children present, who had heard these names since childhood, were filled with resentment even before entering school. So what if they were smart? So what if they were good at studying? So what if their families were rich? They were still the same age as them, no, even younger!

They sat down together with the intention of competing and excluding each other, only to be disheartened to find that the other person didn't even notice them. What kind of books did she read? The words on the covers were so complicated that they couldn't understand them at all. There was no pinyin, no interruptions, no Snow White's pretty tutu, no blue sky, and no birds sketched with a few strokes.

What is she even saying?

It wasn't a dialect or a local language, it was just babbling and chattering, supposedly in English, the language of foreign devils.

They were disappointed. There was no need to exclude them; the other person was not on the same level as them. They could speak the same language, but their hearts were separated. They tried to get closer cautiously, but felt ashamed and didn't know where to start.

From initial resentment to a desire to get closer, and then to disappointment and helplessness, Shanglin had no idea how much trouble she had caused all the girls in the school when she first enrolled.

I really want to look down on her, I really want to push her to the ground and condescendingly warn her not to be arrogant and pretentious! But who dares to?

The boldest girl dared to fight alongside the boys, but when she got close to Qiu Shanglin, her calm demeanor and faint smile made her flustered and blush.

Qiu Shanglin was unaware that within five days of her joining Class One, the girls in the class had undergone intense internal struggles and complex changes.

From dislike to curiosity, from exclusion to worship, from awe to supreme authority.

She became a figure more revered than the teacher in the hearts of the girls in her class.

Even Teacher Lin, if she couldn't remember a certain allusion during class, would ask Qiu Shanglin for help! Sometimes she would simply ask Qiu Shanglin to tell the story to everyone!

Poor Shanglin was puzzled as to why every girl in his class blushed and walked away with her head down, leaning against the wall, whenever they made eye contact with him. "I don't smell bad at all," he thought.

Her mindset was still that of a student selling stationery at the school gate, getting along well with students and neighbors. Experience shapes character; witnessing the opening of the first Mocha Cat store, planning the launch of Mocha Cat children's clothing, owning three boutiques in the provincial capital, and spreading Mocha Cat products throughout the province, Qiu Shanglin is no longer the same as it once was.

She could have pleasant conversations with the knowledgeable director of the TV station's advertising department and discuss development trends with the section chief of an import and export company. Her transformation happened imperceptibly.

Poor Qiu Shanglin, she thought that she could express friendliness with just a faint smile to her students, but she didn't know that it was this calm aura that made the children unconsciously regard her as an adult.

If she treated the children like she treated Qiu Xialin or Li Changsheng—laughing loudly when happy, scolding loudly when angry, and ordering them around without restraint—many people would surely be willing to unite around her.

Fortunately, she discovered this not long afterward.

Lin Tongmao asked, "What are your thoughts on going to school?"

She exclaimed, "The school is amazing!"

Lin Tongmao was puzzled.

She sighed again: "No one can make Li Changsheng obediently bow his head, looking dejected and listless. Don't be fooled by his silence; he's always bursting with energy, like he's been injected with chicken blood. No matter how powerful the school is, as soon as the bell rings, without anyone saying a word, Changsheng will collapse on his own!"

Lin Tongmao was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Li Changsheng, who was full of energy after class and playing football with a group of older students, would fall asleep as soon as class started, elbows behind his back, head down, as if confessing his sins.

To help them better integrate into the school environment and get along with their classmates, Shanglin deliberately didn't sit with the other two. The three of them sat in three separate rows, with Changsheng, being older and taller, being placed at the very back. Shanglin, being younger and shorter, sat in the second row—she didn't want to be in the first row and get chalk dust and the teacher's saliva.

Xia Lin and Li Changsheng were overjoyed to finally be free from control. After their initial erratic behavior subsided, Xia Lin began his mischievous antics, while Li Changsheng—facing a group of kids a year younger than him but mentally three to five years younger—could no longer muster any enthusiasm.

During class, Qiu Shanglin was completely absorbed in his homework and didn't notice the two's unusual behavior at all. It wasn't until yesterday, when the math teacher, unable to bear it any longer, gently but firmly threw a piece of chalk at Li Changsheng in the last row, that she realized that in just four days, the Monkey King's Flower Fruit Mountain had been turned upside down by two monkey brats!

“These two are different from me; they need to build a solid foundation!” Shanglin sighed, recalling the unusual behavior of the two.

Lin Tongmao just smiled, clearly enjoying the show: "Didn't you raise your child very well?"

Leaving aside Li Changsheng, Qiu Xialin had been learning to read and write with her since childhood, and being naturally intelligent, his Chinese language skills were comparable to those of a third-grade student.

"They never learn their lesson. If I'm not careful, they'll cause trouble."

Revolution and counter-revolution, education and resistance, have always been constant. Shanglin has now abandoned the idea that persuasion can change their minds; under pressure, there will always be brave men—especially under Li Changsheng's leadership, Qiuxialin has learned to refute and resist with reason, evidence, and restraint.

I won't fight you, but if you do, I'll reason with you.

When brothers join forces, their strength can break metal. Qiu Shanglin repeatedly fell to their combined might, suffering utter defeats.

Being a teacher isn't easy... That's what she thought when she was first left dizzy and confused by the other person's reasoning.

If students have all learned to reason, what's the point of having teachers?

If you can't win an argument, you have to resort to violence. Li Changsheng is thick-skinned and doesn't feel pain, while Qiu Xialin squeaks and howls. Although he doesn't resist, he's not convinced either. After the beating, tears of heroism fall on both sides, mourning the pain in his flesh. Everything goes back to normal.

Shang Lin deeply felt the greatness of our Party back then.

If the enemy cannot be completely dismantled ideologically, no amount of violence can be effective in the short term.

At the strong request of the math teacher and her, Lin Tongmao agreed to move the other two to Shanglin's side during next week's seating arrangement, so that she could keep an eye on them.

She doesn't think that good grades represent everything, but at least they should learn self-discipline and how to study.

While Qiu Shanglin was racking his brains trying to get the other two to love learning, far away in Hangzhou, a person stood outside the Lengquan Pavilion on Feilai Peak of Lingyin Temple. Inside the pavilion, two elderly people with white hair sat facing each other. One of them, whose hands were covered with age spots, still steadily held a teapot and brewed tea.

Yin Yeyao had been standing outside the pavilion for half an hour, his posture still as upright as ever. He paid no attention to the movements of the two elderly people inside the pavilion, his gaze fixed on the sky, where the sunset glowed red across half the heavens.

Like the sunset on the day he left Zifang Town, it rose layer upon layer, one after another, deep red and light red, deep purple and light purple, dazzling the eyes.

After the New Year, Xu Mi officially became the daughter-in-law of the Yin family. She appeared at the family banquet on the Lantern Festival in a long dress and was introduced to the Yin family by the old man. She took in their shocked or expected looks and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in a corner of her heart that no one could see.

After all these years of fighting and scrambling, even a marriage certificate can't compare to a single introduction from the old man.

From then on, she was the rightful eldest daughter-in-law of the Yin family, and her child would become the heir of the Yin family, a position that no one could shake.

However, this news did not reach Yin Yeyao's ears immediately.

Xu Mi ordered Hua Zi to keep it a secret, as preparations for leaving had already been made, but only Yin Yeyao was kept in the dark.

His first lesson as the heir to the Yin family was that not everything you want can be yours.

He remembered that day when he returned from sword practice in the city, had just finished showering, and was about to visit the Qiu siblings, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Hua Zi was standing next to the sofa, and a bald, thin southern man was standing in the entryway, respectfully calling out:

"Young Master."

My heart skipped a beat.

My heart skipped a beat, and then I felt like I was falling into a bottomless pit, sinking deeper and deeper.

He looked at Hua Zi with a gloomy face—from that moment on, he was no longer called Brother Hua, but Hua Zi.

A subordinate who betrays his trust does not deserve to be addressed with respect.

Hua Zi remained expressionless, seemingly oblivious to Yin Yeyao's gloomy expression.

He said, "Young master, the car is down below."

He also called him Young Master, not Yin Yeyao, not the joking "Brother Yin," or the affectionate "Yeyao."

Yin Yeyao didn't say anything, turned around, and went back to her room. She calmly packed her things.

The moment the bald man called him "Young Master," he understood. His mother had already gotten what she wanted, and he, too, had become what she desired: the heir to the Yin family. The old man sent his most trusted bodyguard to pick them up, giving him and his mother immense face.

The bald man stood in the entryway, not entering the living room. He knew his place well, his own rules. He disliked outsiders entering his territory—which meant that everything he owned was in the old man's hands.

There was no crying, no struggling, not even the slightest hesitation.

From now on, he will have to take over the business and future of a large family, support Xu Mi's expectations and hopes, and become the heir of the Yin family. He cannot hesitate.

He remembered how his father's other illegitimate children ostracized him; how the so-called legitimate children in his family looked down on him; how he couldn't get what he wanted, and how what he got was taken away. His desire for power was no less than Xu Mi's.

There isn't much to take with you.

The clothes here are not suitable for the Yin family. Similarly, the memories here are not suitable for the Yin family.

He picked up the clear glass bottle, inside which lay quietly colorful origami cranes. It was a birthday gift from Shanglin last autumn, which he treasured and wouldn't allow anyone else to touch.

I looked at it for a few seconds, then opened the drawer, put it inside, and closed it. I locked the paper crane in the darkness, away from the light of day.

When he reappeared in the living room carrying a tiny bag, Hua Zi was taken aback.

The bag contained only identification documents and a book; nothing else.

Hua Zi opened his mouth, his throat dry. He wanted to remind Yin Yeyao to bring the glass bottle, but then he thought of Xu Mi and the many covetous relatives of the Yin family.

Perhaps, staying here is the best choice.

A neighbor spotted the black car parked downstairs and greeted Hua Zi and Yin Yeyao in surprise. Hua Zi nodded and smiled, while Yin Yeyao's face darkened, his eyes lowered. He had to forget everything here. Everyone, everything, every innocent moment.