Watching Li Jianfeng's figure disappear into the distance, Qiu Mengze's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled.
He was very afraid of his father and always pretended to be a good child at home, even sneaking off to internet cafes. If his parents were called, he would be finished.
"Rui Ge, thanks. I'll definitely buy you a few packs of cigarettes later to make up for it." Qiu Mengze rubbed his eyes and turned his head away, not wanting anyone to see him make a fool of himself.
He thought Li Jianfeng left because of those few packs of Zhonghua cigarettes.
"Idiot, it wasn't about the cigarettes at all." Xue Rui, frustrated, hit Qiu Mengze on the head.
"What was it then?" Qiu Mengze scratched his head.
Xue Rui didn't answer. Children of this age wouldn't understand the hidden meaning in the few words he and Li Jianfeng had just exchanged. Qiu Mengze would naturally understand these things later, so Xue Rui didn't bother to explain.
"Oh, oh, oh, did you cry just now after being scolded a few times?"
"Don't pretend, I saw it."
Many classmates around them started teasing Qiu Mengze for fun.
"Everyone, scram!" Qiu Mengze ducked into the dormitory and locked the door from the inside.
A student said admiringly, "Xue Rui is still amazing; just a few words and he calmed that Director down."
"That's right, don't you see who Xue Rui is? I was his junior high classmate. What's this incident today compared to that?"
"Are there other stories? Tell us?"
Many people began to discuss Xue Rui's "dark history" behind his back.
...
Xue Rui simply washed up, lay on his bunk, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
In just one day, the amount of information was overwhelming.
His current identity was only sixteen years old. What should he do now? What could he do?
It was 2012, the golden age of the mobile internet's explosive development. Douyin, Pinduoduo... these giants hadn't been born yet.
But Xue Rui was only sixteen years old and couldn't do anything. By the time he was capable of doing something, the market would probably have been largely divided.
"Forget it, starting a business is so tiring. If it weren't for starting a business, would I have died suddenly?" Xue Rui temporarily dismissed the idea.
Moreover, he only had a few dozen yuan in his pocket. Where would the first pot of gold for his business come from?
Ask his family for money?
That wasn't realistic either. His mother said playing with phones hurt his eyes and wouldn't even buy him one...
Buy lottery tickets?
He couldn't remember the numbers. After all, who would have thought he'd be reborn? Besides, even if he remembered, it might not be the winning ticket...
Stock trading? Crypto trading? The cycle was too long.
"Never mind, no need to rush." Xue Rui pinched his brows. He knew the future trends and had various information advantages; opportunities were not lacking.
His rebirth at this point in time might be fate's arrangement, so Lin Ruoxi's matter naturally had the highest priority.
While he was "brainstorming," an unknown amount of time passed, and the classmates in the dormitory stopped discussing and fell asleep.
Snoring, teeth grinding, sleep-talking, one after another, it was quite lively.
Suddenly, Xue Rui felt a little dizzy in his head. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like his whole body was swaying.
"An earthquake?" Xue Rui sat up abruptly. He thought for a moment; there was no earthquake in his memory that year.
Feeling the rhythmic shaking of the bed board, Xue Rui gnashed his teeth, "Qiu Mengze, quiet down!"
He slept on the bunk above Qiu Mengze, and the shaking of the bed board was caused by Qiu Mengze below.
As soon as Xue Rui cursed, the bed board suddenly stopped shaking.
"Damn it, I still have two more years until graduation!" Xue Rui looked utterly dejected. Returning to high school was not as wonderful as he imagined. For example, living in a dormitory was a torment for him.
Xue Rui didn't have a watch, so he didn't know how late he stayed up until his eyelids could no longer stay open, and he finally fell into a deep sleep.
...
The next morning, it was barely dawn, no later than six o'clock at most.
"Ding-a-ling!"
After a ring, the "Athlete's March" played over the loudspeaker. Students yawned continuously, reluctantly climbing out of bed.
Hearing this song, the students knew it was time for morning exercises.
Xue Rui, however, covered his head with a pillow, having no intention of getting up.
"Xue Rui! Xue Rui! Get up for morning exercises." Qiu Mengze shook Xue Rui's back.
Xue Rui cursed, "Don't bother me, I'm not going."
"They'll check attendance, otherwise the Class Teacher will scold us."
"Then you help me call out my name." Xue Rui was very impatient. He felt as if he had just closed his eyes and was already being woken up.
Qiu Mengze's hand froze in the air, his expression strange, "But you're the Sports Committee member; you're responsible for leading the team and checking attendance."
"What the hell!" Xue Rui roared. He never expected that he would also have to deal with such trivial matters.
Like a zombie, he crawled out of bed, mechanically washed up, went downstairs, and headed to the sports field...
"Eyes right!" Xue Rui commanded the students of Class Two, who were lined up in a neat formation.
Actually, he had long forgotten what a Sports Committee member did. His current actions were entirely imitating the Sports Committee members of other classes.
As the sports teacher blew the whistle, dozens of classes began to "circle" the sports field.
Two and a half laps, one kilometer.
The morning exercises Xue Rui remembered: students with shining eyes, looking straight ahead, their gazes firm and clear, revealing infinite longing and pursuit for the future, their faces radiating youthful smiles, confidence and exuberance being the essence of youth.
But in reality? Now that he was truly back in the scene from his memory, that youthful filter had disappeared...
Xue Rui found that the classmates around him were pretty much the same as him, not in bad shape, just a bit listless.
However, Xue Rui had to admit that these students' steps were quite uniform, just like trained soldiers.
Xue Rui ran alone on the outside, a position exclusive to the Sports Committee member.
"Xue Rui, shout the slogan." A girl reminded him.
"None of your business? Who the hell are you?" Xue Rui didn't want to shout. He felt that this formalistic morning exercise was completely useless, and he was already being very considerate by showing up.
"I'm the Class Monitor!" The girl looked displeased and glared at Xue Rui.
"Oh, okay, your rank is higher than mine."
"One-two-one, one-two-one..."
"One ~ two ~ three ~ four ~"
Xue Rui's slogans were shouted weakly. The students of Class Two imitated him, shouting half-heartedly, as if they were about to die.
"Not that!" The female Class Monitor frowned.
Xue Rui paused, then suddenly heard the slogan from Class One ahead: "Set sail, brave the waves, Class Two, create new glory!"
And Class Three behind them had a different slogan.
He realized that each class had its own slogan.
"What the hell!" Xue Rui had only returned to this body yesterday; how could he remember such an old slogan?
Unexpectedly, a troublemaker in the Class Two line followed Xue Rui and shouted, "What the hell!"
"Don't copy me!" Xue Rui cursed.
Someone started it, and the boys in Class Two got mischievous, repeating Xue Rui's phrase "Don't copy me!" Their voices were incredibly loud, a far cry from their previous state.
"Holy cow, Xue Rui is fierce..."
The surrounding classes were so stunned by Class Two's slogan that they were disoriented.
At this moment, the Director Wang of the second year, who was in the distance, was smiling as he said to the person beside him, "Look at our second year, how spirited they are. They're the loudest on the whole field."
"Director Wang, you're an experienced teacher; we still have so much to learn." The male teacher beside him subtly flattered him.
...
"Damn it!" Xue Rui cursed again.
"Damn it!" The Class Two students followed suit.
Director Wang heard it clearly this time, and his smile instantly froze on his face.
He had just been boasting to the people around him, and now he realized that Class Two wasn't shouting any slogan at all. He looked furious, "Where's your Class Teacher! What kind of nonsense are you shouting?"
Hearing the year group director's reprimand, the students of Class Two finally quieted down and ran obediently.
As for Xue Rui, he simply stopped shouting, slowed his pace, and followed at the very back, his peripheral vision constantly on Lin Ruoxi's figure.
They had already run one lap by then. Lin Ruoxi's hair was plastered to her face, making it hard to see her expression. Her body was as frail as a duckweed in the wind, as if she could be blown away by a gust at any moment...
Suddenly, Lin Ruoxi's legs gave out, and she bumped directly into the student in front of her, then fell straight backward.