8
Two Directions
For the final exam subject, the students’ minds were already wandering. Especially since it was English—if you didn’t know it, you really didn’t know it, with no way to even guess.
So Qi Lei wasn’t the only one who finished early. By the time he came out, the hallway was already filled with cheerful figures, including Wu Ning.
However, it wasn’t because Wu Ning was bad at English—quite the opposite. Wu Ning relied on English to boost his grades!
Dong Xiuhua was determined to send her son abroad, so she had enrolled Wu Ning in English tutoring classes since junior high, far surpassing Tang Yi and Qi Lei in this aspect.
As soon as the two brothers met, they didn’t talk about grades at all. Wu Ning immediately said, “Crazy Tang will take a while to get back. What should we do?”
Without hesitation, Qi Lei replied, “Let’s go. I’ll treat you to a popsicle.”
Wu Ning beamed with joy. “Brother Stone, you’re the best!”
The two brothers, arms around each other’s shoulders, left the teaching building, occasionally greeted by familiar faces along the way.
Of course, it wasn’t because of Qi Lei—they were all Wu Ning’s connections.
This guy had always been the type who knew how to “work a crowd,” and he was quite well-known at Second High.
Whether they were top students or struggling ones, troublemakers or quiet types, even if they weren’t all friends, he at least managed to make himself familiar to them.
No wonder they called him “Little Scoundrel Wu”—scoundrels always knew how to get along!
Qi Lei deliberately went to the bookstore where he had studied before. Businesses like these, located near schools, usually had a freezer by the entrance for cold drinks.
The last time he visited, Qi Lei had noticed a freezer in front of the store.
The shopkeeper clearly remembered Qi Lei. At first sight, his heart sank, thinking this unlucky kid had come back to freeload again.
To his surprise, Qi Lei pulled out ten yuan and said, “We’ll settle up later.”
The shopkeeper was overjoyed. If two young guys went all out, ten yuan might not even be enough. This was far more profitable than selling textbooks.
In those days, the monthly income of workers in small towns was around five hundred yuan, and a pound of pork ribs cost only four and a half yuan. A ten-yuan transaction was no small amount.
Wu Ning naturally went for the expensive options, grabbing a Meidengao and a Big Foot popsicle, one in each hand.
Qi Lei, however, picked up an “ice bag,” bit off a corner, and sipped the not-so-tasty artificially flavored soda.
It wasn’t so much about the taste as it was about nostalgia.
Any kid who grew up in the ’90s would remember hot summer days spent slurping on ice bags to cool off.
But just as the two brothers leaned against the freezer and started their treats, a brand-new mountain bike screeched to a halt in front of them.
Tang Yi tossed his parted hair stylishly. “Damn! Eating without me?”
Both Qi Lei and Wu Ning were surprised. “How did you end up here?”
This guy’s exam venue was at Third High, which was quite far away.
Tang Yi glared. “I finished an hour early!”
He flipped off the bike, tossed it against the wall, and then rummaged through the freezer.
“Boss, got any cola?” His movements were smooth and effortlessly cool.
The three of them crowded in front of the bookstore, leaning against the freezer as they ate and drank, chatting about girls and boasting like a bunch of troublemakers.
But this was youth, brimming with boldness and flair.
Of course, if there had been two or three girls around—even if it wasn’t romantic, just the kind of intimate, ambiguous camaraderie among friends—it would have been enough to treasure as a memory, something to reminisce over with a drink years later.
After chatting for a while, Tang Yi suggested heading home. Qi Lei hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed.
And so, one mountain bike carried three young men.
Wu Ning crouched on the bike’s crossbar, forced to hunch over and press close to the handlebars.
Qi Lei, riding on the back seat, had the most comfortable spot.
But Tang Yi suffered the most, straining with all his might as he pedaled between the two, while enduring Wu Ning’s taunts.
“Can you even ride a bike? Can’t you keep it steady?”
Furious, Tang Yi yelled back, “Shut the hell up! Want to try it yourself?”
“Damn it! Stone, can you stop fidgeting? Quit rocking around!”
Qi Lei laughed, listening to them, then suddenly burst into song: “In my heart… there was once a dream, to use songs to make you forget all your pain!”
Wu Ning joined in: “Let our songs, bring out your sincere smile.”
They sang together: “Wishing your life from now on to be extraordinary.”
“Seize every minute in life.”
“Go all out for the dream in our hearts!”
“How can you see a rainbow without going through storms? No one can succeed without effort.”
“Wu, you idiot! Are you a pig? You can’t even remember the lyrics!”
“I don’t care.”
The three boys gradually faded into the distance.
Yet, from the shadows of the school gate, Xu Qian witnessed a peculiar scene:
At the T-junction in front of the school, a muddy, chaotic dirt road stretched into the distance, lined with dilapidated single-story houses.
That was the direction Qi Lei was heading home!
As for the boy who had stirred a sudden impulse in her, he lounged on the back seat, sucking on an ice pack and humming an indistinct tune.
Right in front of Xu Qian, across the dirt road, another perpendicular path extended into the distance.
That was the road leading into the city—a straight, wide, newly paved asphalt road flanked by tall buildings, with the bustling city center faintly visible in the distance. That was Xu Qian’s way home.
At that moment, standing in the shade of the trees by the school gate, she watched Qi Lei’s awkward figure amid the dust and the asphalt road leading to prosperity. In her mind, she seemed to see the tragic, poetic scenes from a Qiong Yao novel, yet also felt the sharp sting of reality.
She wanted to call out to Qi Lei, to wave the slip of paper with their phone numbers, but she didn’t dare shatter the poignant beauty of the moment, letting him drift away.
She couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Weren’t the two of them, who had only shared a fleeting glance, just like the two diverging paths at the T-junction—gradually moving apart, foretelling different endings?
Finally, Xu Qian began to let go, not sparing another glance for that receding figure.
She crossed the dirt road, stepped onto the asphalt pavement, and strode confidently toward the city.
She and he… were destined to belong to two different worlds.
She came from a family background others viewed as unattainably elite, possessed delicate features, outstanding grades, and a maturity far beyond her peers.
Thus, her life was meticulously calibrated, like a finely tuned clock.
She would attend the best schools, achieve the top results, then study abroad at prestigious universities, aiming for the most promising majors, ultimately embarking on a life path beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Though it might seem mundane, it was secure enough to evoke envy in most.
As for him…
He showed no ambition, idling away his youth. That wasn’t individuality—it was immaturity.
So what if he was interesting? It would all come to nothing in the end.
If she were also a time traveler, she might quote a later-generation comedian’s classic line: “So ordinary, yet so confident!”
Xu Qian felt she had grown a little more, grasping a new truth: life is about continuously letting go.
And this time, it was just saying goodbye to a sixteen-year-old kid—what was there to regret?
She gently tore up the damp, crumpled slip of paper with the phone number and tossed it into the trash.
“Goodbye… I will forget you.”
Xu Qian murmured to herself, making her final farewell.
Yet life is like a play, with unpredictable meetings and partings. In the end, she was still a child pretending to be mature—how could she know whether the next crossroads would lead them down separate paths or bring an unexpected reunion? Would she look down upon mediocrity, or be looked down upon by it?
The mountain bike finally stopped wobbling. Tang Xiaoyi had already figured out the trick to navigating the bumpy road and was recklessly speeding toward home.
By now, Qi Lei had completely shed his middle-aged soul’s mindset. He had come to a realization:
Why the hell pretend!? At sixteen, you ought to be unrestrained! How many adults occasionally sit in their cars, listening to old songs and acting foolish, just to relive those memory-filled years?
I don’t need memories—I’m living my sixteen-year-old life right now. Not being silly or bold would be a waste of this precious time.
So, he and Wu Xiaojian started cursing at Tang Yi together, “Slow down! Can’t you fucking slow down?”
Their butts were numb, the ice bag had bounced off, and they looked utterly disheveled. It was even more pitiful than when they were being secretly watched, yet Qi Lei felt no embarrassment at all.
Only when they turned into the alley and the bike abruptly slowed did the two leap off as if escaping, then pummel Tang Yi.
Tang Yi quickly sped up to evade the attack, used his front wheel to nudge open the gate of the only two-story house in the alley, tossed the bike into the yard, and shouted, “Mom, I’m done with the exams!”
Before Cui Yumin could rush out, he dashed out of the house like a gust of wind.
The three brothers regrouped and headed straight for Qi Lei’s home.
As soon as they entered, Tang Yi directly grabbed the coolest-looking guitar off the wall, held it in his arms, struck a rock pose, and strummed a chaotic chord.
Qi Lei mimicked him, taking down another guitar. Following Tang Yi’s tune, he stared clumsily at the strings for a long time before finally hitting the first note.
Wu Ning, meanwhile, used the desk as a drum set, completely engrossed in the rhythm.
“An irreplaceable pair of hands that always bring warmth from behind.”
Instantly, the room filled with howls and screeches—a deafening, demonic noise that made the roof tremble.
The neighbors broke into a cold sweat upon hearing the commotion. Damn, junior high is over, and those little rascals are at it again.
Next door to the Qi family, Old Lady Yang was chatting with a middle-aged woman, cracking sunflower seeds and gossiping about daily life.
Hearing the racket next door, Old Lady Yang frowned deeply. “Instead of studying, all they do is fool around. What’ll they be like when they’re older?”
The woman laughed. “Why worry about that? Guo Lihua doesn’t even care. Do you really think their family is like the Tang and Wu families? Just wait—in a couple of years, her and her husband will be crying.”
Old Lady Yang also sneered. “Two years? This year is the real test! It’s time for high school—let’s see where their son Shi Tou gets in.”
Just then, a figure flashed past the gate in the alley—Cui Yumin chasing Tang Yi into Qi Lei’s house.
Old Lady Yang immediately perked up. “Come on, let’s go take a look!”
…