Entertainment: Starting with a Song of Rice Fragrance

Just these first few sentences.

This made Liu Xiaoshuai frown deeply.

A strange sense of empathy surged through him.

He spent his childhood in a small village near Shuncheng.

Shortly after he was born, both his parents went out to work and only came back once a year.

His childhood was spent with his big yellow dog, his old water buffalo, and the fragrance of rice paddies and the croaking of frogs.

The primary school in the village is of very poor quality, and the junior high school is only available in the county.

But his grandparents instilled in him the idea that studying was the most important thing from a young age, which made him the most hardworking child among all the children around him.

Then, living up to expectations, he was admitted to Shuncheng University of Technology as the top science student in the county.

Because he had never seen much of the world since he was a child, he assumed that he would naturally be number one after entering university.

But reality dealt him a heavy blow.

Who among those who study at this prestigious university isn't among the top students in their local area?

The four roommates in the dormitory reported their college entrance examination scores, and he was actually 20 points lower than the third place!

This hit him hard.

But he also had an excuse: the teaching quality in his county was not as good as that in the city.

So he studied harder than anyone else, working diligently. While others were playing games, he was reading in the library; while others were dating, he was memorizing vocabulary in the study room.

But this didn't seem to make much of a difference. After many exams, whether it was foreign language courses, professional courses, or basic courses, his grades were still at the bottom of the dormitory.

Xiao Shuai was devastated and began to put himself under even more pressure. Every morning before dawn, he would go to the library to queue up and reserve a seat, and he would only leave when people started leaving at night.

"I refuse to believe that I'll still be at the bottom of the class by the end of the semester!"

As a result, someone recommended this video to me today, and that's how I heard this song.

Please turn on the TV and take a look.

How many people are fighting for their lives?

Keep going bravely

Shouldn't we be content...?

As the lyrics reached his ears, he felt a strange sense of irony.

Are these lyrics about myself?

He suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

I was definitely the best one back then, so how did I end up like this?

Xiao Shuai's fist clenched quietly, without him even realizing it.

Don't give up so easily.

Just like I said

Unattainable Dreams

Why not just change your dream?

To add vibrant color to one's life

First, paint love with your favorite color...

Oh, right!

The lyrics suddenly sang into his heart with tremendous force!

Originally, he loved literature and wanted to study literature and writing at Shuncheng Normal University.

However, because of his family's expectations, he resolutely chose to study computer science at Shuncheng University of Technology.

Because this major makes it easy to find a job, and the pay is particularly high.

But unfortunately, he just doesn't like it.

It didn't feel like I was back home, with my grandfather's bookshelf full of classic works that I could read endlessly and find increasingly interesting.

The textbooks were tedious and uninteresting to him, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep reading.

On the contrary, I haven't touched my favorite literary works for a long time without realizing it.

"Smile! Success and fame aren't the goal."

Make yourself happy

That's what meaning is.

Paper airplanes from childhood

Now it's finally flown back into my hands...

Zheng Ning's singing voice flowed into his heart like a gentle stream.

Indeed, how long has it been since I last laughed?

Being consistently ranked 4th in the dorm and at the bottom of the class, who can laugh about that?

Is it because I haven't tried hard enough?

No, I've already tried my best.

But my heart lies elsewhere.

A ray of sunlight shone in through the window and just brushed past his eyes.

He raised his hand to shield his eyes, but his gaze inadvertently swept over the thick stack of dusty books on the bookshelf.

"If you can't achieve a dream, just change your dream, right?"

To vibrantly color your life, start by painting love with your favorite color?

Listening to the music coming through his headphones, he suddenly smiled without even realizing it!

Suddenly I felt so stupid!

"Work is work, and life is life. My grades are already good enough, just not as good as those freaks."

"I'm already very proud that I was able to get into this top-ranked science and engineering university in the West."

"My grades are excellent enough that finding a job after graduating from Shunde University of Technology will be no problem. Why should I condemn and pressure myself so much?"

Sunlight shone on his face, and Zheng Ning's "Rice Fragrance" filled his ears.

He felt as if he had suddenly understood!

"Stop worrying, stop worrying, smile! Success isn't the goal; making yourself happy is what truly matters..."

He stood up, faced the rising sun, and stretched out a big yawn.

"Exercise well, study well, play well, eat well, and rest well."

"Learning is important, but it's not the only thing. There are many other things in life worth pursuing."

As he spoke, he turned around and took out the outermost book from the bookshelf, which was already covered in dust.

"Soaring Dreams," a fantasy-themed inspirational epic adventure story, was last read when I first entered university.

"Let's go out and read a book, and soak up some sun."

"Maybe if I adjust my mindset, my grades will actually improve?"

……

Not long after.

The dormitory door was opened from the outside, and the three roommates returned to the dormitory chatting and laughing after having breakfast.

"Hey, I told you, that kid was definitely at the library again!"

"Sigh, Xiao Shuai is a very competitive person; his dark circles have never really healed. But what can you do? His skin is just too thin; there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Exactly. Look at me, I didn't even try hard for a day, and I still got 3rd place in the class... If you ask me, he should go back and repeat a year, go to a liberal arts school, and focus on his literary dream."

"Forget it, let's not talk about him anymore. Let's log in quickly, I'm still waiting to reach level 20 and learn the Blizzard skill!"

The three chatted and laughed, then turned on the computer and logged into the recently popular online game "Gods and Demons World" in Xizhou.

Meanwhile, Liu Xiaoshuai was already lying on the large lawn in front of the library, wearing headphones and enjoying the caress of the morning sun, reading the fantasy novel he had always wanted to read but had never picked up again.

"Smile! Success and fame aren't the goal."

Make yourself happy

That's what meaning is.

Paper airplanes from childhood

Now it's finally flown back into my hands...

Ahead lay the warm winter sun, beneath me was a soft, comfortable lawn, and in my headphones came Zheng Ning's gentle and soothing voice.

After half a year of university life, Xiao Shuai finally experienced how wonderful and warm university life can be.