Restart life

Chapter 70 0068 [Reporter Chen's Unexpected Discovery]

In the afternoon.

Stopping not far from the Xiangchang Bridge, Chen Feng rolled down the car window and asked the fruit vendor, "How do I get to the township central school?"

"It's uphill over there."

With the Spring Festival approaching, the fruit stall is doing brisk business. The stall owner enthusiastically greets customers: "Are you going to visit relatives, boss? My fruit is very fresh. Look at this Fuji apple, a new variety, big, crisp, and sweet..."

Chen Feng had no intention of buying fruit, so he casually asked, "Do you know Chen Guiliang?"

The stall owner laughed and said, "Of course we know each other."

"Is he famous?" Chen Feng sensed something was up and quickly got out of the car to offer the stall owner a cigarette.

The stall owner, however, became wary and avoided talking to Chen Guiliang, instead praising the cigarette: "Jiaozi, a good cigarette indeed."

Chen Feng simply handed over the entire half-pack of cigarettes: "Are you related to Chen Guiliang?"

The stall owner refused the cigarette: "Why are you asking him?"

Chen Feng made up a story: "I am a teacher from No. 2 Middle School, and I am here to make home visits during the winter vacation."

The stall owner smiled and said nothing more.

He's not stupid. There are only two days left until the New Year. How could the teacher possibly come for a home visit?
Having no other choice, Chen Feng pulled out his press card: "I'm a reporter from the Xihua City Daily. Chen Guiliang has become famous, and I'm here to interview him."

The stall owner stared at the press pass for a long time, becoming increasingly suspicious.

Chen Feng took another newspaper from the car and showed his ID card: "Look at the names of the reporters in this article, aren't they the same as on your ID card and press card?"

The stall owner finally smiled: "Chen Guiliang is a good student, very good indeed."

"How is it alright?" Chen Feng asked.

The stall owner didn't go into details, but just kept emphasizing, "Anyway, he's a good student. You should write an article to praise him."

Chen Feng pressed for details: "What good deeds did he do?"

The stall owner stammered and didn't say anything.

Chen Feng said, "If you don't know, I'll interview other people."

The stall owner finally spoke, but didn't mention Chen Guiliang: "Over there in the village market is Baishaba Village. There's some bastard in there who came back from working in the south and started a gang called the Green Dragon Gang. He even claims to be a gangster and said he used to hang out with Chen... Chen something in Hong Kong..."

"Chen Haonan?" Chen Feng said.

The stall owner nodded: "Yes, yes, that's Chan Ho-nam."

"People still believe that?" Chen Feng said with amusement.

The stall owner said, "Oh dear, those naive kids believe him so much, they chase after him and call him 'boss'."

Chen Feng asked, "What did these thugs do?"

The stall owner said, "At first they weren't very bold. But later they got wild. I run a fruit stall and I have to pay protection money every month."

The stall owner pointed to a small restaurant at the bridgehead: "Zhang Erwa didn't pay protection money, so his shop's honeycomb briquette stoves were broken into and thrown into the river in the middle of the night. They also splashed swill all over his walls."

"Didn't you call the police?" Chen Feng asked.

The stall owner sighed, "The township police station was abolished a long time ago, leaving only the town police station. The town police station only has a few people. When we call the police, they send two people to investigate. They've caught a few thugs. But those leaders of the Green Dragon Gang always manage to hide quickly; we can't catch them at all!"

"It's not easy to handle," Chen Feng said.

The stall owner said, "We just run a small business. Those bastards are armed with knives and sticks. How can we afford to mess with them? Anyway, the protection fee isn't much. I only pay 10 yuan a month, just to appease them like beggars."

Chen Feng was both amused and exasperated: "Ten yuan a month for protection?"

"Later they said they were going to raise the price to 15 yuan, but before I could pay, those bastards were taken advantage of by Chen Guiliang." The stall owner said gleefully.

Chen Feng asked, "How did you do that?"

The stall owner said, "Chen Guiliang was blocked at the bridge after school and ran towards me in fright. He was kicked and fell onto my fruit stall, knocking over my apples and tomatoes. Those bastards surrounded him and beat him up. I even saw someone hit him twice with a steel pipe."

"It was summer, and I was selling a few watermelons. I had a watermelon knife on my stall. Chen Guiliang picked up my watermelon knife and started slashing... Reporter Chen, please don't report this in a false way. This wasn't a fight; the court ruled it self-defense. To use a phrase from a TV drama, it was an act of chivalry and upholding justice!"

"Chen Guiliang's homeroom teacher stepped forward and wrote a petition. All of us who ran small businesses signed and fingerprinted the petition. If you asked any shop or stall in the village market, everyone had signed it as proof. Who wouldn't say he was a good student?"

Chen Feng had already pulled out his shorthand notebook: "And then?"

When it came to the junior high school girl, Chen Feng was extremely angry: "It really is about upholding justice and protecting the innocent!"

Chen Feng then asked, "The county's No. 2 Middle School is a provincial key school. How did Chen Guiliang get in?"

"He's quick-witted and a good student," the stall owner said with a smile. "Those bastards made a mess of the school; for two years in a row, no one from the township got into the No. 2 Middle School. Chen Guiliang was the top student in the whole township and the whole town that year! What's that saying? He's good at both academics and martial arts!"

Chen Guiliang, who caused headaches for leaders and teachers, was seen as a young hero by this stall owner.

Chen Feng then went to other shops and stalls, interviewing some individual business owners. They all said those thugs were bad guys, listing their misdeeds, but they didn't say much about Chen Guiliang.

Then they went to the school to interview Chen Guiliang's junior high school teacher.

Then we went to the town's police station for an interview.

Based on various descriptions, the image of a bright and academically excellent young man who dares to fight against evil forces is becoming increasingly vivid.

Chen Feng recalled the preface to that poem: "Even in the smallest of spaces, there exists a spirit that can support the heavens and the earth!"
……

Chen Xinghua and Yao Lan, a married couple, queued up for several days in a row, but still couldn't buy train tickets back home.

In the end, having no other choice, I had to pay extra to buy scalped tickets.

And it was a standing ticket.

They carried large bags of luggage, spending their days standing in the carriages and their nights napping in the aisles. Occasionally, someone would get off midway and manage to sit for a few minutes. Finally, they arrived in the mountain city, their final stop; they would need to transfer trains to get back home.

The couple were aching all over, but they couldn't bear to stay in a hotel. They could only buy tickets for the next day, so they decided to wait in the waiting hall for half a day and a night.

Not caring about their image, the two chose a corner, took out blankets, spread them on the floor, and went to sleep.

He slept from noon until eight or nine in the evening, finally relieving his fatigue. Bored, Chen Xinghua asked his wife to watch the luggage while he went outside the station to buy a few magazines.

They were all those pirated street vendor magazines, filled with secrets, violence, and erotica.

Twenty years from now, this content would be rejected by any website. But now it's being sold openly and is widely loved by ordinary people.

Back in the waiting hall, Yao Lan said, "There's hot water over there."

"Then I'll stay here, you go make instant noodles." Chen Xinghua sat down cross-legged.

Yao Lan took out two aluminum lunch boxes. Of course, they couldn't afford to buy cup-sized instant noodles; they used the lunch boxes to boil water and then soak the bagged noodles.

I put the instant noodles in the pan and then took out two boiled eggs.

I was eating noodles and reading a magazine when the people next to me who were reading newspapers started talking.

"That kid's fierce! He got into Tsinghua or Peking University just by writing an article. And he's from our city!"

"What is it?"

"He won first prize in a writing competition. A reporter didn't believe he could write a good article, so he gave him a topic on the spot. The tortoise took seven steps and wrote a poem. You don't believe me? Just watch."

"Oh, so you're from our Longdu."

"My son is from Fushi No. 2 Middle School. If he can be admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University through the recommendation program, I won't even come home for the New Year. I'll stay home and work every day to support his studies."

"You wish! Your kid can't even get into the top high school, let alone the second one."

"He's such a disappointment. He doesn't study properly, all he knows is how to ask for living expenses. I'm going to give him a good beating when I get home!"

"Haha, let's play again after the New Year."

"..."

Upon hearing the words "Fushi No. 2 Middle School," Chen Xinghua and Yao Lan both turned to look to the side. However, they didn't think much of it and didn't consider that it was their son.

Another migrant worker chimed in: "Hu Yaoguan, what are you talking about?"

"A student from Fu Er High School got admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University through writing an article."

"My nephew also goes to No. 2 Middle School, could it be him?"

"You're dreaming."

"What's your name?"

"Chen Guiliang."

Chen Xinghua and Yao Lan were both stunned. They put down their lunchboxes and looked at each other to make sure they hadn't misheard.

Chen Xinghua walked over and asked, "Fellow villager, are you referring to Chen Guiliang from Fu Er Middle School?"

"Yes."

"Could I borrow the newspaper for a moment?"

"Let me finish reading it first."

"What newspaper?"

"Southern Weekly"

Few migrant workers read Southern Weekly.

Someone had read the newspaper and thrown it in the waiting hall, which the migrant worker picked up to pass the time.

Chen Xinghua ran out quickly, bought a portion, and happily handed it to his wife for inspection.

Yao Lan finished reading with a smile, then asked with concern, "Could it be someone with the same name?"

“What a coincidence!” Chen Xinghua said, “Liangliang has been good at writing essays since she was little.”

The couple read it many times and became increasingly certain that it was indeed their son.

But they didn't spread the news; they just sat there, holding their newspapers, secretly pleased.

More than seven years of debt repayment made the couple cautious and never dared to stand out.

After a while, Chen Xinghua finally couldn't resist and deliberately struck up a conversation with a few migrant workers next to him: "This kid is really amazing. It's not easy to get into Tsinghua or Peking University."

One migrant worker said, "If it were my kid, I'd be laughing in my sleep."

Chen Xinghua said, "I'll wake up laughing too."

Another migrant worker said, "Don't even dream about it. This kind of kid must be from the city. His parents are probably teachers at some school, otherwise how could they raise him like this? Rural kids are no good. They're all left-behind children, fighting and causing trouble every day. If they can finish junior high school, they're considered good students."

Chen Xinghua laughed and said, "That's not necessarily true. Some rural kids are also self-disciplined."

As the conversation went on, the topic shifted to something else.

But Chen Xinghua always steered the conversation back to the topic, subtly inducing others to praise his son.

Yao Lan watched from the side and laughed, but as she laughed, her eyes welled up with tears.

(End of this chapter)