Quick Travel: Destiny for Thirty Lifetimes

The next day, after lunch as usual, everyone sat in the courtyard to rest and chat. Lian Qingyang slowly put down his chopsticks, rubbed his stomach, frowned, and pulled Lin Haojun's sleeve. He said in a neither-too-loud nor-soft voice: "My stomach hurts. I need to go to the toilet. Can you help me get some paper?"

After saying that, he stood up, hunched his back and hurried to the toilet. Lin Haojun also hurried into the house to get paper. Everyone was used to this, as everyone has three urgent needs.

But not long after Lian Qingyang left, a tall figure appeared at the door. Who else could it be but Ji Yunchen? One of the educated youths said to him, "Lian Zhiqing has gone to the toilet. Come in and wait for him."

Ji Yunchen shook his head, pulled out a few letters from his pocket, and began to explain, "I'm here to deliver letters. Liu Xinyi, the educated youth, Qin Youhua, the educated youth, Zhao Xianghui, the educated youth, Wan Caixia, the educated youth... Here are your letters. Oh, and there's also one for Lian Qingyang, the educated youth."

Several people gathered around, each finding their own letter and holding it. A figure squeezed over and took Lian Qingyang's envelope. With a still slightly swollen face, he said, "I'll hold it for Lian Zhiqing and give it to him later. After all, he saved me."

After he said that, it was hard for others to say anything. Ji Yunchen nodded and said before leaving: "I have something else to do, so I'll leave first. Remember to give it to him."

After a while, Lian Qingyang finally came out of the toilet. Seeing several people reading letters, he casually asked, "Is there a letter for me?"

The educated youth next to him heard it and said to him, "Yes, you went to the toilet just now, and Zhao Zhiqing got it for you. You can just go and ask him for it."

Lian Qingyang smiled and thanked him. He walked over to Zhao Zhiqing, who was talking to someone else, and said loudly, "Zhao Zhiqing, thank you for keeping the letter for me. Now you can give it to me."

The man looked up at him and slapped his head suddenly: "I just went to help wash the dishes, and I think I put it on the stove over there, and then I came back after washing the dishes. I'll go find it for you."

Lian Qingyang waved his hand and said, "I'll go look for it myself."

It seems that this person did not come from Lin Haojun's world, but more like he came from the original world in the plot.

He left after he finished speaking, without any intention of pursuing the matter, which made the man scratch his head, somewhat confused.

Lian Qingyang was just going through the motions. When he came out, he pulled out the letter he had collected the night before from his pocket. After unfolding it and reading it carefully, he raised the letter aloft with an excited look on his face. His clear voice was easily audible: "I have good news from my family!!"

Everyone looked over and saw Lian Qingyang so happy. Lin Haojun went over first and asked, "What's the good news, Lian Zhiqing?"

Lian Qingyang leaned close to his ear and whispered something mysteriously. The next second, Lin Haojun also laughed and agreed, "This is really good news!!"

This made everyone even more curious, so they gathered around to ask Lian Qingyang.

Lin Haojun's gaze was fixed on Zhao Zhiqing, who was making the final move. He didn't miss his surprised expression. The next second, he saw the man squeeze in to listen. After listening, he frowned and said, "This can't be true. Did you write it yourself and try to fool everyone?"

He clearly threw Lian Qingyang's envelope into the sparks that had not yet completely extinguished and burned it. The piece of letter paper in Lian Qingyang's hand was definitely fake.

"Why is Lian Zhiqing fooling everyone with this? Zhao Zhiqing, shouldn't you be happy about this kind of good news? Why don't you look so happy?"

Lin Haojun's words attracted questions from others.

"Yes, you were the one who collected the letter for the educated youth. How could it be fake after it passed through your hands?"

"We can go back now, Zhao Zhiqing. Don't you think you'll stay here forever?"

Lian Qingyang also smiled and spoke, without a trace of anger at being wronged: "Yes, Zhao Zhiqing, didn't you say that the letter was on the stove? I went in and took it out after seeing it. How could I have had time to forge it?"

Zhao Zhiqing was speechless and finally stared at Lian Qingyang without saying a word. After Lian Qingyang finished chatting with everyone, he looked at him as if unintentionally, with his lips slightly raised. The smile on his face made him look more harmless, but it made Zhao Zhiqing shiver inexplicably. This feeling was really a bit like the coldness he felt in the cemetery that night. He shook his head, gritted his teeth and turned to leave.

*

The news that the country was about to resume the college entrance examination reached the village at the end of October, which meant that the return of the educated youth to the city was on the agenda. Everyone was visibly more energetic during this period. Their aspirations and hopes for the future turned into motivation for learning. As soon as they came back from work, they would learn knowledge and exchange problems.

Qu Ruixiang got three sets of books from somewhere, which made it convenient for everyone to circulate them among themselves. They were more enthusiastic about learning than ever before. Knowing that Lian Qingyang was a good student, they would go to him for help from time to time. If they really couldn't understand something, they would just memorize it by rote. They stuffed chemical equations, physics formulas, English words and problem-solving ideas into their heads.

Lin Haojun was preparing for the liberal arts exam and read Lian Qingyang's books several times. Every morning when he opened his eyes, he was confronted with various contradictions in meaning, teachings and programs, which made Lian Qingyang feel a little overwhelmed.

Logically speaking, with Ji Yunchen's extraordinary memory, he should have chosen liberal arts, but he followed Lian Qingyang and chose science, and was determined to go to the same university as Lian Qingyang.

Many children of school age in the village would come to the educated youth institute when they had free time to study with the educated youth. The village chief would even walk around happily with his hands behind his back, and said with a smile that if there were no age limit, he would also join everyone else and try to get into university.

It wasn't long before everyone worked together for the first time when the notice for the educated youth to return to the city came down. Before the loudspeaker started broadcasting, Ji Yunchen, who got the news first, ran to the educated youth institute and told them the good news.

The educated youth were silent for a moment, then stood up and cheered. Ji Yunchen met the eyes of Lian Qingyang, who had been sitting still. He felt complicated. He was reluctant to leave Lian Qingyang, but he also didn't want him to stay here.

Lian Qingyang stood up and walked over to him. He raised his hand and patted his shoulder. His voice reached his ears amidst the noise: "We'll meet at the university gate, right?"

Ji Yunchen wanted to speak, but his throat seemed to be blocked by a ball of cotton, so he had to nod vigorously.

A few days later, in the early morning, several ox carts carrying people swayed away from the village. Ji Yunchen volunteered to take over the job of driving the ox carts. He sat on the front earboard, cracking the whip, listening carefully to the heated discussions of several people behind him, but for no reason he felt a little melancholy.

No matter how slow the carriage was, it finally arrived in the town. The educated youth carried their luggage and tried to find ways to catch the train. When they thought about going home, they didn't find the journey, no matter how complicated, difficult it was.

Ji Yunchen stood beside the ox cart with his hands in his pockets, saying goodbye to the educated youth who were about to leave. Lian Qingyang got off the cart slowly, but did not leave in a hurry. He reorganized his package and waited until everyone had basically left before walking to Ji Yunchen and looking up at him.

"I'm leaving."

"Ah."

"You must study hard. I've left all the textbooks for you."

"must."

"If I don't see you by then, you're dead."

"It will come."

"...Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

"remember to miss me."

With so many people coming and going, it was difficult to do any intimate actions. Ji Yunchen clenched his hands in his pockets, but still couldn't help but pull them out and hugged Lian Qingyang in his arms and gave him a gentle hug.

"Have a safe trip."

*

The weather in March of the following year still had the lingering power of winter, but it also had the warmth of spring. At that time, all things came back to life, and the university gate was crowded with new students.

Lian Qingyang was a little lightly dressed today. He didn't have much stuff, so he didn't ask his parents to come over. He carried his suitcase and backpack to register at school. When he got off the car at the gate, he felt a chill on his face. He rubbed his face and shouted "Excuse me!" all the way, but he almost bumped into someone. He apologized silently, but a surprised voice came from the other side: "Lian Qingyang, it's really you!"

Hearing the familiar voice, he looked up and saw Lin Haojun opposite him with a happy face.

"You didn't expect it, did you? I got in! And I'm in the same school as you." Perhaps because he was successfully admitted, Lin Haojun became much more cheerful.

Lian Qingyang pulled his luggage and walked side by side with him. "You study so hard, it shouldn't be easy for you to pass the exam."

"Hey, by the way, did Comrade Ji run into you?"

"...He, I don't know if he can pass the exam yet." Lian Qingyang pursed his lips and added in a low voice, "If he doesn't pass, I'll find his house and beat him up."

Just as he finished speaking, he was bumped again. Just as he steadied himself, a voice rang out from the side: "Comrade Lian, we'll be in the same class from now on. Can you be my partner?"

Lian Qingyang's eyes were slightly red, and he turned his head away, but he couldn't suppress a smile: "If it's a partner, of course it's first come, first served. But if it's you, I allow you to cut in line."