Chapter 248 - A Perfect New World (XII)

At 5.40am, Lou Ying woke up.

The physical card is no longer valid. He returned to his home.

He sat up gingerly, stretched out his Chi Xiaochi pillowed arm, raised his hand and brushed his lips to confirm that the three mint tasting kisses last night were not a dream, then clenched his fists in front of his body, lifted the covers, got down on the floor in a happy mood, swept the floor and made the bed, then got his toiletries, cleaned himself up, grabbed his school bag and prepared to go out.

Lou Ying has just closed the door and turns around to see Chi Xiaochi sitting graciously on the back of his bike, one hand propped on the edge of the seat, his long legs folded, sipping fresh milk from the warehouse.

The summer days are long and the six o’clock morning light splashes over the boy’s shoulders, brightening and gently reflecting the side of his face towards the east.

Lou Ying looks at him and gently closes the door, the double figure of the young man and the young Chi Xiaochi overlapping in front of her.

By the time he is completely relaxed, the two people, twelve years apart and with similar features, are two completely different individuals.

The young Chi Xiaochi’s mouth is always slightly curved, full of the purity and vitality of youth, while the young Chi Xiaochi is always lazy, ready to decorate himself into a painting full of hormones, but with a predominantly brushwork technique and a lighter emotional side.

At the sound of the door closing, Chi Xiaochi looks up with a straw in his mouth.

Instantly, the images of the two Xiaochi merge together, their eye brows arched together.

Chi Xiaochi tapped his index finger on the car seat, “Boss, hitch a ride.”

He pointed again to the milk and bread hanging from the handlebars in a small plastic bag, “…… fare.”

…… The Xiaochi of the past, the Xiaochi of the present, all belong to just one Lou Ying.

Lou Ying put the bag in the basket and dutifully looked down to check the condition of the tyres.

Chi Xiaochi, sitting sideways and clutching her book bag, looked to the side and said, “Gas I’m full, let’s go.”

Lou Ying really wanted to stroke his head.

He stomped off to prop up his feet, “Why don’t you get more sleep?”

”I’m a Grade 2 protected animal, so I’m delicate.” Chi Xiaochi shamelessly says, “The floor is too hard to sleep on at home.”

Lou Ying gave a tame “mmm” and raised his hand to wipe the brass school plate on his right breast.

Lou Ying , Senior 1.

He gently wiped the tip of his index finger across the surface of the iron plate and re-wrote the words on it.

…… Lou Ying , National Level 2.

He squared his badge carefully and gripped the handlebars, “Come sleep at my place tonight?”

Chi Xiaochi : “Let’s see if your sister-in-law comes back.”

Then a wonderful silence fell over those who were ready to drive and those who were ready to sit in the car at the same time.

Chi Xiaochi looks over at Lou Ying: “Why aren’t you going? Did you lose your chain?”

Lou Ying didn’t say anything and looked down at his waist.

Chi Xiaochi holds on to the back seat.

Lou Ying : “If you don’t hold it, it will fall off.”

Chi Xiaochi babbled, “No, I’m growing up.”

The morning study session for students of High School 1 starts at seven o’clock, and in Chi Xiaochi’s school, the class teacher was already at the door of the classroom at 6.40am to catch the late arrivals, so Lou Ying decided to see Xiaochi off first.

Chi Xiaochi’s fears that he would crush the front wheel of his bike high in the air did not come true, and Lou Ying rode his bike steadily, without forcing the brakes or making him fall on top of him halfway through, much to Chi Xiaochi’s disappointment.

Upon arrival, Lou Ying braced herself on one leg and let Chi Xiaochi down, asking thoughtfully, “How was the ride for this passenger?”

Chi Xiaochi says: “It’s all good except for the cost of the shoes.”

His legs were too long and he couldn’t sit on the back of the bike, so crossing his feet was even more tiring and he had to drag himself along the road and plough the furrows.

Looking at the trail he has left behind, Chi Xiaochi feels the inexplicable joy of a peasant boy opening up the land for the first time.

Lou Ying looked at Chi Xiaochi’s legs, which were nowhere to be found, and replied with a smile, “Yes, I’ll try to get a new car sooner.”

Chi Xiaochi jumped out of the car and stomped his feet, “Change.”

Lou Ying : “What kind of car do you like?”

Chi Xiaochi thinks hard for a moment and replies, “Money carriers.”

Lou Ying smiled, “Roger that.”

As she watched Chi Xiaochi enter the school, Lou Ying slumped on her bike and remembered the few fragments of her memories.

The back of the teenager pushing his bicycle along the road in silence overlaps and separates from the person in front of him.

Lou Ying leans down and gently strokes the crossbar of the bike beneath him.

The bike, in his original world, was patched up a little by his own hand.

He was about to ride the bike away when the long-lost familiar murmur of the airwaves suddenly came to his ears.

Lou Ying holds her ear and frowns slightly.

A few moments later, he looked relieved.

Chi Xiaochi had just sat down in his seat and pulled out his Language Wen textbook when Lou Ying spoke up in his head: “Xiaochi, I have to go back to the ‘Between the Hours’.”

Chi Xiaochi : “Is something wrong?”

”A good thing. It’s a commendation.” Lou Ying smiled, “The General System has just had a mid-year meeting, and Bai Anyi’s case was a long-standing problem that no system dared to take on. Now that it’s solved, the system has issued an award for you, probably some exchange value or rare items, not much, but an honour. You’re in the middle of a mission, so I have to go back and collect it on your behalf.”

At the end, Lou Ying added: “…… will have someone to cover the shift, don’t worry.”

Chi Xiaochi’s hand was gathering up the Wen tools: “Who?”

Lou Ying replied, “089.”

…… as he expected.

Lord GOD’s little movement has accelerated.

Without the face-to-face observation, Lou Ying didn’t pick up on Chi Xiaochi’s mood swings very well: “I’ve already told him not to talk to him. There will be plenty of time for that later when we return to our world.”

Chi Xiaochi responded casually, “Uh-huh.”

Soon after, 061 went offline and 089 came online.

Chi Xiaochi was surprised when 089 didn’t say a word except to say hello, as if Lou Ying had put a gag card on his mouth before he left.

But it’s thanks to his quietness that Chi Xiaochi’s current double act hasn’t progressed to a group comedy.

My classmate entered the classroom at the right time and fussed over Chi Xiaochi, “Holy shit, what happened to your face?”

Chi Xiaochi : “Mosquito bites.”

Tablemate: “What kind of mosquitoes are these, dragging their families to a buffet?”

He scrutinised Chi Xiaochi’s face: “An electric mosquito swatter?”

Chi Xiaochi pushed him, “Go go go.”

”Someone beat you up?” The tablemate asked, “Did you get pestered by those punks who wanted money?”

Chi Xiaochi decided it was appropriate to reveal a little secret to him, “No, my parents.”

Tablemate: “With an electric mosquito swatter?”

Chi Xiaochi was amused: “Fuck off.”

The tablemate had a meaty look on his face, “Holy shit, such a nice face, don’t give it to me.”

A little later, when Chi Xiaochi was reciting “The Book of the Exodus”, the same table came up to me again: “Are you serious? Your parents really beat you up.”

Chi Xiaochi : “Hmm.”

”So the last time you hurt your arm, the time you said it was a door panel pinch ……”

Seeing that Chi Xiaochi doesn’t say anything, the table understands.

He scratched the back of his head and looked slightly more serious, “Why don’t you come and stay at my house if your parents beat you up again? My place is pretty big.”

Chi Xiaochi, naturally, would not refuse this kind offer for “Chi Xiaochi”: “Thank you.”

It was only then that the worried tablemate, who had been worried since a while ago, got a bit of a smile on his face: “Good boy, call Daddy.”

Chi Xiaochi pushes his head into the book.

With two days to go before the holidays, hearts are already scattered to the winds.

The second secondary school is next to a primary school and the announcements are being tuned early in the morning with occasional audible tones.

There was a bit of energy in the morning reading, and the students fought against the thunderous “hello” sound, which resulted in the bell ringing and everyone’s collective throats being overwhelmed and standing up to receive water.

As a result, as soon as the bell rang and the chemistry teacher stepped on stage, the “Second set of national primary school students’ radio gymnastics, the eagle takes off” started to play.

The students looked back at the wall clock and wondered if God had shown up and fast-forwarded the time to recess.

But apparently, they thought a bit too much about it.

Chi Xiaochi’s tablemate turned his head in dismay: “What’s the point of flying in the middle of the morning?”

Chi Xiaochi : “The early bird gets the worm.”

The same table sighed long and loudly, “A bunch of kids.”

Chi Xiaochi’s comment was, “Brother, if I remember correctly, you should have just arrived here two years ago from there.

Tablemate: “Two years is not a year.”

Chi Xiaochi thought about it, thought it made sense, and didn’t contradict him again.

The tablemate buried his head in his chemistry textbook for a while and snapped his head up, “Oh, I remember. When I was at school this morning, I saw a lot of parents coming from next door, it seems like there’s a summer sports day today.”

The backseat heard it and said in surprise, “Nuts. It’s July.”

”It’s the Olympics soon, so we’re responding to the national call for all the activities.” The table said, “And I heard they’re having a fun sports day, with a radio exercise competition at the beginning, and then kangaroo jumps and two-man three-legged things. To put it bluntly, it’s just fun.”

After everyone had expressed their envy of the brats, they were going to return to reality and read in peace, but who knew that after the first take off, the daisies would soon start the second take off.

Chi Xiaochi thought something was wrong: “Do they do the radio exercises as a group or do they do them one class at a time?”

Table: “…… This dad doesn’t know either.”

The latter proved to be correct.

Because they played the fledgling eagle taking off about ten times in a row next and the announcement could be faintly heard, “Thank you to Year X, Class X for a wonderful performance”.

After comparing voices with the radio for a while, the chemistry teacher wisely chose to give up.

After a while, it seemed that the volume of the announcements stopped being so reckless because the school teacher had gone to intervene, but the hearts of the people, which had been scattered into a coil of sand, were now alive with raised dust.

As soon as the bell rang, many students ran out into the corridor, carrying their textbooks rolled up into volumes to use as megaphones and wrestle with the primary school across the street.

There is help available.

”Student Lu XX, go to the register, your mother is waiting for you at the register with two cans of Wan Chai milk!”

”Mr. Lu X, are you lost? The radio has been shouting at you for ten fucking minutes!”

There is also a mix of mischief in the mix.

”Five spice lamb feet, marinated pig’s feet!”

”Collect the hair! Collect the long hair!”

Chi Xiaochi opens the window and looks out over a campus life he has never seriously experienced before.

The heads, shaved to a mere stubble, bounced around the railings in a flurry, like black and white keys on a piano.

It was a wonderful dream.

When he returned to his seat and unscrewed his glass of water, he saw Chi Xiaochi staring intently out of the window and kicked him in the butt: “What are you thinking about?”

In the past, he would never have dared to do such a transgressive action to this shy or high strung tablemate, for one thing, he didn’t know her well, and for another, he was afraid of being cut by a girl.

Chi Xiaochi took the rare opportunity of being Wen Qing, an age when even the second year of illness is easily forgotten and forgiven, to say, “Have you seen outside?”

The table nodded, “See, it’s all my son.”

Chi Xiaochi also tries to be strong Wen Qing goes on: “I thought of a song ……”

The half sip of water that the table had just taken wasted on Chi Xiaochi’s back.

Chi Xiaochi : “…… What are you doing.”

The tablemate wiped his mouth, “Sorry, I thought you were going to sing.”

Chi Xiaochi : “What’s wrong with me singing. You’ve heard me sing?”

Tablemate: “That’s not true. But we all learned your erhu at the New Year’s Day party last year.”

Chi Xiaochi had long since forgotten this, and it was only when she looked up the memories of the original Chi Xiaochi that she remembered that this had happened to her.

At the New Year’s Eve party six months ago, their class played a card draw trivia game.

As a first step, everyone wrote the names of everyone in the class on small slips of paper and grouped the pile together, labelled A.

Step 2: Write small slips of paper on all the locations in the class, such as the windowsill, the lectern and the desks, grouping them together and labelling them B.

Step 3: Write small notes on some of the poses, such as splits, handstands, duck squats, and gather them together, marked with a C.

Step 4: Write small notes on the performance items, such as singing, dancing, playing the erhu, grouping them together and marking them D.

After breaking up all the ABCD slips of paper, the MC will randomly draw one of the four piles of slips of paper to spell out a complete sentence, and the person who is drawn must perform as instructed by the pieced together slips of paper.

A total of ten people were drawn to perform and Chi Xiaochi was the glorious winner when the ninth one was drawn.

He drew a rare normal content for the show.

Chi Xiaochi , on the windowsill, with his legs crossed, playing the erhu.

…… is better than the last unlucky person who splits the podium reciting Farewell to the Bridge.

When Chi Xiaochi was in primary school, he had a fondness for Bing’s erhu when he was studying ‘Reflecting the Moon in the Erquan’, and he secretly made some strings from cotton wool. This time, for the New Year’s Day party, a female student brought in her family’s erhu, which he had been coveting for some time, and to his surprise, he won the erhu in a lottery.

Before he went on, he gave a fist bump to the group with great pride and ambition: “A dedication.”

At the end of the song, all was silent in the half of the building where he was.

The girl who had brought her erhu cried and felt up in distress to examine her erhu, thinking it had been sawn off.

The next day, Chi Xiaochi was surrounded by the class next door. Look, there’s the one who played the piano like a decoration yesterday.

The girls pointed at him and said, “That’s cute.

Chi Xiaochi took a long time to speak when he saw his past self in his memory: “I …… was playing the erhu for the first time.”

”Ooooh, that’s you playing the erhu.” The same table said, “That erhu screams like you beat it.”

Chi Xiaochi couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing. The more he laughed, the lower he bent, and the more he slumped over the table, unable to straighten his back at all.

His tablemate nudged his shoulder, “Hey, you got a cramp?”

Chi Xiaochi shakes his head and buries his face in the crook of his arm, rubbing away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes.

He had such a happy time when he was little.

Even he forgot about it.