10
How Did the Exam Go?
Beat him up! Who’s been spoiling him with these bad habits?
Whatever tricks Old Lady Yang played on the three brothers, they paid her back in secret.
As a result, Yang Jinwei, that coward, acted all obedient when bullied, agreeing to everything, but then turned around and tattled, specifically targeting Tang Chenggang and Qi Guojun.
Both of them had served in the military and were definitely not the type to indulge their kids!
Because of Yang Jinwei, they got beaten up plenty.
But the three brothers were as stubborn as mules—the more they got beaten, the more they made life difficult for Yang Jinwei. Over time, a real grudge developed.
Recalling those childhood memories, Qi Lei felt indignant. “Just wait and see, the best is yet to come!”
Tang Yi and Wu Ning were taken aback. “What do you mean?”
Qi Lei smiled. “There’s about to be some good drama.”
Then he revealed a secret he absolutely shouldn’t have known in this timeline.
The two brothers were shocked.
Tang Yi’s jaw dropped. “Him, with that pointy-faced, monkey-like look… and Zheng Xiaoyan? You’re making this up, right?”
Zheng Xiaoyan was the child from Aunt Wang’s house earlier.
Wu Ning also looked utterly disgusted. “Damn it, there’s no justice in this world! He dares to have a puppy love?!”
“No way, we’ve got to find a chance to beat that bastard up someday!”
He, Wu the Little Rascal, was still single!
Qi Lei just smiled at this.
When it came to relationships, Yang Jinwei was indeed way ahead of them. He and Zheng Xiaoyan had actually gotten together in ninth grade, but they kept it under wraps.
Later, the two of them were in the same class as Qi Lei.
That’s right, the same vocational high school class.
Because of their early romance, they had barely any focus on studying in ninth grade, and their high school entrance exam results were abysmal. They ended up in vocational high school with Qi Lei.
Otherwise, why would Qi Lei say there was about to be some drama?
In their second year of high school, Yang Jinwei got Zheng Xiaoyan pregnant, causing a huge scandal. It was only then that Qi Lei learned about this three-year-long hidden relationship.
Later, to avoid punishment from the school, Yang Jinwei had his family pull strings while claiming that Zheng Xiaoyan had initiated it, that she had seduced him.
Old Lady Yang even went to the school, crying and making a scene, calling Zheng Xiaoyan a fox spirit who had seduced her precious Jinwei. That was how he avoided expulsion.
Zheng Xiaoyan, unable to defend herself, was too ashamed to stay at school and dropped out.
Although it had nothing to do with Qi Lei, it left him feeling as disgusted as if he’d swallowed a fly.
And the grudge between this family and Qi Lei’s didn’t end there.
Three years later, when the grain depot was restructured, Yang Jinwei’s father, Yang Daqiang, pushed aside Qi Lei’s mother, Guo Lihua, and went from deputy section chief of the storage department to vice general manager of the Shangbei branch company.
This directly led to Guo Lihua becoming disillusioned, taking early retirement due to illness before she even turned fifty.
So, whenever Qi Lei saw Old Lady Yang, he couldn’t help but show his displeasure.
Trying to argue with me? I honed my skills on LiaoLiao back in the day—never lost a mic-grabbing battle.
“Damn, this feels awful!”
Qi Lei had vented his frustration, but Wu the Little Rascal was still fuming!
Now that he had such a big secret, he thought, I need to vent too!
He nudged Tang Yi. “What are your thoughts on Yang Jinwei having a girlfriend?”
Young Master Tang Yi pondered seriously for a moment, his expression grave. “My thought is, he has to suffer for me to feel better!”
Wu the Little Rascal gave a thumbs-up. “Great minds think alike!”
With that, the two of them picked up their guitars and went out into the yard, basking in the sun and singing melancholy songs.
Qi Lei propped his leg on the desk, humming along to their tune.
After a long while, the sound of a door opening came from next door, and the guitar music abruptly stopped.
Wu Ning pressed himself against the courtyard wall to listen for a moment, confirming that Old Lady Yang and Aunt Wang had returned from Tang Yi’s house.
Tang Yi hadn’t caught on yet, staring blankly at Wu Ning, unsure what he was up to.
Then Wu Ning suddenly exclaimed, “Hey! Did you hear? Xiao Wei has become famous at No. 3 Middle School!”
Tang Yi was completely bewildered. He glanced at Wu Ning, then at the courtyard wall, and finally at Qi Lei watching the show from inside the house—and instantly understood.
He raised his voice, “Hear what? About Xiao Wei dating Zheng Yan?”
Wu Ning, “Oh damn! You already know? It’s caused quite a stir, huh?”
Tang Yi, “How could I not know? I heard from a buddy at No. 3 Middle School that they were making out in the bike shed—lots of people saw it! Apparently, it was pretty intense!”
Wu Ning, “I don’t think it’s true. Xiao Wei is such a good student!”
Tang Yi, “It’s true! Truer than gold!”
Qi Lei: “…”
Meanwhile, in the other courtyard.
Old Lady Yang, with her hands clasped behind her back, looked at Aunt Wang, then at the courtyard wall, every wrinkle on her aged face trembling.
As for Aunt Wang, her palms were sweating.
Her family had a daughter—she was the one at a disadvantage here!
Besides, even if you had to fancy someone, why not someone like Tang Yi? Or at least Wu Ning—his family background is decent. How could she set her sights on someone like Yang Jinwei?
Her lips turned purple, “Old Yang TaiTai… Old Yang TaiTai… It can’t be, right? How does everyone know except us?”
Old Yang TaiTai was also stunned, “Xiao Wei and Yan’er are together? I had no idea! You—you—you—don’t listen to those two troublemakers spouting nonsense.”
As she spoke, Old Yang TaiTai widened her eyes, “I—I—I’ll go confront him. This is pure slander!”
But Aunt Wang grew even more frantic, “Confront who? Wasn’t it clear enough? Everyone knows—only we didn’t!”
“Let me tell you, if your Jin Wei dares lay a finger on my Yan’er, I’ll make sure your family pays for it!”
Old Yang TaiTai, “Calm down first…”
“Bullshit! How can I calm down?”
And just like that, a fight broke out.
Listening to the commotion from the other courtyard escalating from inside to outside, Wu Ning and Tang Yi clutched their stomachs and stumbled back into the house, thoroughly relishing the chaos.
Wu Ning, “So satisfying!”
Tang Yi, “I never knew tattling could be this fun?”
Qi Lei looked at them, torn between laughter and exasperation, “Aren’t you two something? They’re going to come over and pick a fight with you any minute now.”
But Wu Ning glared back, “Hey! Let’s get this straight—this has nothing to do with me! You were the one who brought it up first, and Crazy Tang was the one who spread the news. I didn’t say a thing. If Old Yang TaiTai comes looking for trouble, don’t pin it on me.”
He washed his hands of the matter completely.
Qi Lei and Tang Yi were speechless, “You bastard!”
In the end, Old Lady Yang didn’t come to settle scores with the three of them—she had no time for that.
First, she had to deal with Aunt Wang, and then Yang Jinwei returned home after his exams.
As luck would have it, he came back with Zheng Yan Yan, and they were caught red-handed.
In the eyes of Old Lady Yang and Aunt Wang, this only confirmed their suspicions.
Though both Yang Jinwei and Zheng Yan Yan vehemently denied it, the situation descended into chaos.
Not long after, Qi Guojun pushed his Xingfu 250—manufactured in the 1980s—into the courtyard, with Guo Lihua following behind, carrying a grocery bag.
After entering the courtyard, they saw the three boys but said nothing. Guo Lihua, as usual, changed her clothes and, for once, headed into the kitchen.
Tang Yi tossed his guitar aside. “Godmother, what’s for dinner?”
Guo Lihua replied, “Eggplant.”
“Oh!”
Tang Yi and Wu Ning, who both disliked eggplant the most, immediately turned and left to scout out dinner options at Tang Yi’s house.
Just as the two stepped out, Qi Guojun entered the room.
Seeing Qi Lei holding a guitar, he picked up another one from the bed. “Play something. Let’s see if you’ve improved.”
Qi Lei grinned. “I’ve almost forgotten everything.”
Strumming a few random chords he commonly used, Qi Lei played casually while Qi Guojun sat watching, accompanying him along with the tune.
But after just a few notes, it was Qi Guojun who began leading Qi Lei.
All three brothers had learned guitar from Qi Guojun. In fact, none of the guitars lining Qi Lei’s wall were bought—they were all made by Qi Guojun.
Father and son played for a while. Qi Guojun, who hadn’t touched a guitar in a long time, finally satisfied his craving.
Under his father’s guidance, Qi Lei played better and better.
Finally, after running through a set of practice tunes, Qi Guojun pressed his hand over the strings, signaling, “That’s enough!”
Suddenly, he cautiously asked, “So… how did the exam go?”
…