Vol 1 Chapter 83 (1/2)

3 A Broken Wing

Edison said that success is 1 inspiration and 99 perspiration However, I feel that success is 10 inspiration, 30 luck and 60 perspiration On the road that we have walked, quite a large nu to work hard but fate does not look upon them with favour Respected people are these who do not call out in pain or blame it on fate They stay quiet, work hard, and continue Fate will often take things away unsparingly, it can be as s as one’s health and it can even be life We are unable to prevent fate fros away from our hands, but we can choose to treasure those we have already obtained in life

[Thomas Edison]

In the harsh crackdown, because Little Six was usually arrogant and offended too many people, I don’t know if it real or if someone around him had planned it, but, the news I heard was that because he was fighting over a woured hile knife to slice thedebt between them but soh investigation, they discovered his cri private weapons With the crimes combined, he was sentenced to the death penalty, a s a life

Only later did I understand that this had nothing to do with anyone The police had their eyes on Little Six froo In the crackdown period, each departeted task, they would definitely take down Little Sixso any reports were only a cover up for this investigation

The news of Little Six’s death penalty flashed by on the news I didn’t even realise that it was Little Six (I didn’t know his real na Brother Li’s brothers discussing it did I realise that it was Little Six

Little Six’s gangJun was still in school He didn’t go to prison and the police stopped looking for hih it all However, Zhang Jun didn’t look the slightest bit relaxed During that period of time, he looked especially pale, everyday, his hair was messy as if he had just climbed out of bed His clothes were also unkeht in the eye

He always seemed expressionless, no matter what happened, he always had an whatever attitude It was the first ti hi impact on him

However, none of our classmates knew his relationshi+p to Little Six, rather, everyone was sure he was deep in grief over his break up

Regarding Little Six’s news, no one in the school followed it, his world was much too distant to theirs The punks in the school were fond of discussing Chen Xun, because he participated in drug dealings, he was sentenced to three years of labour refors seized was very small or else the sentence would have been much worse

For majority of the students in the year, it was their first tis in real life When they discussed it in whispers, they all wore alarmed expressions

Drugs! How distant, so distant that it seester films and textbooks but there is actually a day when it appears near us, and is so close to us This generation of young people see these things with disgust and hatred but also with curiosity and worshi+p In their minds, people like Chen Xun lived in another world and had the impulse and hot bloodedness that they didn’t have, they anton and unrestrained

Chen Xun becairlfriend, she becairl in the middle school department

Wu Zei wasn’t as lucky as Chen Xun Although the as was very s drugs, but he was an adult and due to the harsh crackdown period, he was sentenced to ten years in prison

When the sentence caone crazy Xiao Bo stood there stupidly, letting her hit him and no one around tried to stop it I tried to endure it for a long tied over and pushed Enchantress to the side and stood in front of Xiao Bo Enchantress wanted to keep hitting hiain Xiao Bo’s not the only one at fault, why aren’t you hitting Brother Li?” I didn’t finish speaking before Xiao Bo pushed round

He walked in front of Enchantress as if he expected her to keep hitting hi, instead, she knelt on the floor and started wailing loudly I sat on the floor, also wanting to cry Xiao Bo stared at Enchantress painfully for a while then left dragging his feet I could only keep in my unhappiness, jump up and chase after him

Brother Li opened his businesses again and everything went back to nored

In the past, he only s grew and grew and often, he would always have a cigarette in hand Although he didn’t talk much in the past, but he was still considered an open person But now, he was so quiet it was scary

Brother Li said to me, “Xiao Bo is the most delicate of us all and the one who values relations the most When he was Year 4 or 5, Wu Zei took him out to play and because people shouted that he had no father, Wu Zei fought with the in alone is better than all three of us going in but he can’t accept it emotionally Wu Zei had reassured Xiao Bo that once the storm was over, he will behave well in jail and if we lobby a bit on the outside then his sentence will definitely be reduced However, Xiao Bo just wasn’t able to get past hi that if he didn’t have hisat the time and attended to the place more, Wu Zei wouldn’t have fallen into someone’s trap”

Brother Li and I both couldn’t do anything, we could only wait until he forgave himself

Whenever I had ti him to treat me to eat and play with me Xiao Bo’s request to me was very simple, no et into a top high school

For a period of tihts on end then walked into the high school entrance exam

After the exah school but whether or not it was a top high school was up to fate My maths and science were not bad but I was anxious over whether I’d be able to pass English My English was very bad In Year 1 and 2, because I was busy hating Treasure Bowl, I pretty much didn’t study

Brother Li helped me inquire about my results Before the results were released, they already knew that I was accepted into No 1’s high school depart for

Brother Li helpedwas secondary, as i Xiao Bo happy I didn’t know most of the people who came and I felt uncomfortable inside, Wu Zei and Enchantress who should have came, didn’t come No matter how many of these people who shouldn’t have cohed, they couldn’t cover my sadness

Xiao Bo would toast at everyone he saw, he was so happy it seeotten into university I didn’t kno ht, I only re too much to drink Brother Li drank until he cried and he slurred to Xiao Bo, “Brother is sorry to you” Xiao Bo didn’t cry but he kept puking, after he finished puking, he’d continue drinking I didn’t drink a drop yet I see non stop but I didn’t knohat I was crying about

The day our results were released, ed

We first looked at the red board on the left to see if I had been accepted by No 1 I looked along withfor Zhang Jun’s name

I first found Guan He’s na the future high school department’s students, she wasn’t even able to place in the top ten I continued to look down and actually found Zhang Jun’s name in the 200’s I stared at it in surprise for a while After so et into a top high school but it turns out that not only did he get in, he did better than me

My mom finally foundloudly: “Qi Qi! You! You! Here!”

The parents around us were all happy for us and all said, “Congratulations, congratulations!”

I stared atPlaced 300 froerously squeezed into No 1 What was there to be happy about?

My h, she only cared that I got into No 1 She excitedly pulled o out for dinner tonight”

Because reith her stepfather, she lived a hard life and grew used to living frugally She pretty much never went out to eat and her favourite phrase was, “It’s unsanitary outside” It seems like she was truly happy today, she completely didn’t care about how ‘unsanitary’ it is outside

I suddenly re Chen and the others I pulled ht, “I want to see the results of the others”

Ever since Xiao Bo ca Chen and the others I didn’t even attend our class’ graduation party

I looked for their nah school

Mom asked me, “Did you find your classmates’ results? How did they do?”

“Pretty good, two of theh schools and one of theh school”

My ive your dad a call”

“I don’t want to go out to eat If you’re happy then cook soo find a class, I saw Guan He and her h the crowd I immediately shouted out, “Guan He, Guan He”

Guan He held herto squeeze over but there were just too ed my mom over Guan He’s mom was very thin and looked rather old but her expression had the vigour of a young person She grumbled at Guan He, “I told you earlier that we should come earlier, see, noe can’t even squeeze to the front”

I smiled, “Does auntie even need to worry about Guan He’s results? I just had a look and she’s ranked 50 on the list accepted into No 1”

Whenvery warmly with Guan He’s h her tone, it seeh

My ossip she had just heard in the crowd to Guan He’s h school entrance results aren’t very good I heard that overall, the results are ranked last of all the key h school department, not one is fro about how this is the worst graduating class in No1’s history I really don’t kno these teachers are teaching”

Guan He’s ht, all these children are being held up by them……”

Guan He pulled her tongue at me and smiled, “How about you?”

“I squeezed into the gates of No 1 with force”

Mynot having met earlier

The two of us decided to ditch them and ran to the shade off in the distance to chat

Guan He suddenly asked, “What rank is Zhang Jun in No1’s acceptance list?”

I was surprised inside but I indifferently said, “I didn’t pay too much attention, I think its in the two three hundreds How did you know that he’d definitely get into No 1?”

“Later your mind wasn’t on school at all so you didn’t notice Later on he tried so hard! It was as if the person had changed During self study, he couldn’t concentrate because of the people in his class so he actually beat them up behind the classroom He even cracked a chair In the other slow classes, the closer they got to exams, the more restless they becaot, theJun wanted to concentrate on revising”

I becaretful that I listened to Xiao Bo and applied to No 1 I should have gone to another middle school

Guan He asked, “What plans do you have for su soot into No 1, his dad will take hi Hao’s parents are taking hiuy, went back to Shanghai as soon as he finished his exa you any rewards?”

“I’ anywhere How about you?”

Guan He so somewhere, I can’t I can only stay at home obediently and help mom with housework”

I said, “Wait till you graduate froh school When you o wherever you want to play”

Guan He smiled, “There’s still 7 years”

Ast us all, she was probably the one ished that tirow up the most, whereas I was probably the only one who didn’t want to move forward, I wanted time to move backwards

If Xiao Fei could coo to jail, if Xiao Bo could successfully participate in the gaokao…… There were too many ifs but time is only an arrow shot only after a bow is drawn, it can only go forwards, not back

We chatted for a long tiates Lin Lan squeezed out fro there were no cars, ran over, “Luo Qi Qi, I saw that you got into No 1 Congratulations”

Only then did I remember, I didn’t seeoing to No 1? Which school are you going to?”

She soing to high school”

Guan He and I were both dazed In previous years, technical schools were still quite popular but now, going to technical school wasn’t considered as a very good plan Your grades needed to be very good, their requireh schools yet when you graduate, you can’t co as students didn’t have any hardshi+ps, they wouldn’t choose technical schools

I really couldn’t resist any et into university, why do you need to go to technical school?”

Lin Lan looked at Guan He and srades that is going to technical school Shen Yuan Zhe’s little sister, Shen Yuan Si is also going”

Guan He felt herhooodbye” to Lin Lan and left

Lin Lan looked at her walked off and the sy to study anybut other factors I want to leave home early and leave this place Perhaps after a few years, I’ll forget about everything”

Li Lan was a proud girl In the first year ofto be a beautiful university student at a top university and fly freely in the outside world, but now, before she has even flown, her wings have been restrained

Does her hter has coed her life orbit? She should probably know, just like how every fa grades are because of them

Lin Lan has already tried

Lin Lan quietly looked at No 1 Perhaps she was sighing she would never knohat the distinguished No 1 high school department is like I quietly looked afar, in the blue sky, there hite birds flying Under the sky, there were fresh flowers looht but this was a season of sadness

“Lin Lan”

On the other side of the road, someone called for her It was Lin Lan’s mom as dressed up fashi+onably She didn’t look at all like she had a daughter of Lin Lan’s age Beside her stood a youngdeposition

Around the at the Lin Lan was very sensitive about these things and could iised, “Sorry”

While she waved enthusiastically at herI really hate her, but she’s my mom If even I don’t defend her then there won’t be anyone in this world ill” She bid farewell tonow, bye!”

She ran towards her mom and in my heart, I quietly said, “Goodbye!”

Watching her silhouette disappear into the distance, I truly felt that my middle school life has come to an end

Back when I graduated fro to No 1 I always felt that three years were going to go slowly but I didn’t realise it would go by with the blink of an eye But with the blink of an eye, too s had happened

The first friend I made, Lin Lan, went to technical school; my best friend Xiao Fei, disappeared with a trace They were one of the best students but yet they didn’t go to high school whereas trash like Zhang Jun and I got into high school

I slowly strolled to the karaoke bar Xiao Bo was sitting outside the bar in the shelter of thetree When he saw me, he smiled

I saw beside hiarette and asked, “Very sad?”

I didn’t reply He sraduated fro at the results board, I also felt empty inside The students I was close to were all ones who didn’t study well I was the only one out of theh school”

“Take me out for some air”

Xiao Bo threay his cigarette and went in to get his keys and the heled his waist and restedto the roar of the motorbike on the road He rode faster and faster as if he could keep speeding up After a long time, the bike stopped I opened my eyes and discovered that we had stopped by the riverside He took off his helo over and sit for a while”

We sat by the riverside Xiao Bo looked at the river water as if he was pondering over so I picked up abranch and hit at the water while trying to talk as casually as I could, “Where do you plan on doing the gaokao next year?”

He lit a cigarette and slowly s into university has always beenan intellectual It’s been rew up in Although I drink, sans, in my heard, I was certain that I was not the saot tattoos because Brother Li had the to be a university student in the future so I shouldn’t do these unclean things”

“You’ll definitely get into university”

“Right now, o to university any more Wu Zei’s parents are small businesspeople with a fixed inco Brother Li’s business needs people Before, e opened our first small shi+p, us three brothers said that we’ll venture out into the world together Today, there’s only two of us left but we’ll still venture out into the world together” He sarette, “There are too o to university for four years”

I tried to be cal a university student isn’t so rare anyway” Even I felt that my words were fake In the 90’s, universities haven’t expanded yet so they were extreet into University students were still very treasured and respected, not like nohere university students were bought like cabbages

“Do you knohy it’s so hard to surpass the environment you live in? It’s not that you don’t try hard, it’s because your seven human emotions is destined to be influenced by the people and environood people to beco around bad people to become a bad person’”

I quickly said, “If you’re a bad person because you don’t go to university, then there’s way too many bad people in this world”

Xiao Bo sarette in the water He pulled ot on the motorbike

After riding for a while, he pulled the bike to a stop in front of a s toys and took me in When the person inside saw him, they immediately smiled in welcome, “How does Brother Xiao Bo have the time to come today?”

Xiao Bo smiled, “Ah Jian, I want you to help me ink a tattoo”

Ah Jian set a photo albue, introducing each one as he showed Xiao Bo, “What kind of picture does Brother Xiao Bo want? A beast of prey or a bird of prey?”

Xiao Bo flipped through a few pages and didn’t seem too satisfied He looked at me, “Qi Qi, help me draw one”

I felt so overwhel thisa tattoo that can never be erased to always remind himself of his status

“Why ood, plus I’ve been learning art so sloppily, apart fro else”

Xiao Bo s skills are, I only want you to help me create one”

I finally nodded silently He set the picture ready and then we’ll coet it inked in my shop, later you can prepare your tools and come”

Ah Jian naturally was full of agreement

Under Xiao Bo’s urges, I started drawing Considering that Xiao Bo was born in the year of the dragon, I spent three days tions and western fire dragons I drew a long dragon ings that was riding the clouds and s were tacked with a sword The clouds around the dragon were all stained with red

When Ah Jian saw the picture, he cautiously said, “The picture is very big I’m afraid we’ll have to break it up into many parts to finish or else your body won’t be able to handle it”