Chapter 5

At seven in the evening, Xiaoming boarded a flight of Air China back to Puhai, arriving at noon on the 8th. He had also booked a flight back to Quhang, traveling with Yang Jingxing and Tan Dong. After arriving in Quhang, Yang Jingxing declined Tan Dong's invitation and directly boarded the bus back to Jiuchun, which would take more than an hour.

Jiuchun is a relatively poor small county with a population of about ten thousand in the urban area. There are no major industrial enterprises, and the so-called new industries are just small-scale and just getting started, with the economy not being particularly developed. However, the scenery here is nice. The Yingshan Natural Scenic Area is well-known in the surrounding provinces and cities, the water of the Qingshui River is relatively clean, and the Qingshui Reservoir is a paradise.

Yang Jingxing had already received several calls from his father on the way, who said he would be waiting at the station. His father, Yang Chengyi, was once a government official with a promising future, but later changed careers.

Yang Chengyi always boasted that he went into business to avoid becoming a corrupt official. Fortunately, he became a small tycoon, and his family did not suffer.

Yang Chengyi, waiting at the station entrance, watched the bus pull in, followed it a few steps, and then waited for his son to get off, shouting loudly, "Hurry up, your mother has been calling several times!" He still maintained his fatherly authority.

Yang Jingxing quickly ran over with his luggage, looking at his father up close, smiling foolishly.

Yang Chengyi was clearly charmed by his son's smile, helped carry the luggage, and handed the car keys to his son, instructing, "Drive slowly."

Although the county town had been changing, the black Audi A4 sports car still stood out as it did two years ago. Yang Jingxing sat in the driver's seat with even more joy, enjoying the drive.

Jiuchun County is about ten to twenty square kilometers. The station is in the northernmost part of the county, and Yang Jingxing's home is in the southeastern part. At the speed Yang Jingxing was driving, it would take about twenty minutes to get home.

Yang Chengyi called his wife to let her know he had picked up their son: "... He's not tanned, the sun in Europe isn't that strong... He's driving, I'll let you talk to him when we get home!" After hanging up, he started checking his son's backpack, asking hopefully, "What did you bring for your mother?"

Yang Jingxing said, "I brought something for you too."

Yang Chengyi was quite upset: "I can't afford to buy pens!?"

Yang Chengyi then took his son's camera and asked, "Can I see?"

Yang Jingxing said, "It was bought with your money, feel free to look."

Yang Chengyi, used to his son's slight disrespect, flipped through the photos while showing off his knowledge: "Is this the Eiffel Tower? This is a church... How many days did you spend in Rome? No photos of your classmates?"

Yang Jingxing said there were none, and Yang Chengyi then advised his son to get along well with his classmates, then became excited: "You even met a foreign girl! Which country?"

"Italian, just a photo together," Yang Jingxing said, showing more patience than before.

Yang Chengyi was more concerned: "So, how much money do you have left after your trip?"

"None," Yang Jingxing said confidently.

Yang Chengyi was furious again: "You got six ten thousand, and you took two ten thousand, and it's all gone!?"

"None," Yang Jingxing said, though he had undergone a significant change, he was still a penniless person and needed to save some pocket money.

"You're richer than me! You'll understand when you start earning your own money..." Yang Chengyi didn't lecture his son too much after he returned, continuing to flip through the photos to see how his money was spent.

While driving, Yang Jingxing looked around at the streets, buildings, and pedestrians. Yang Chengyi introduced him: "Huaxin Square is finished, they opened an Adidas store. That row of storefronts has been renovated, and they still owe me 180,000 for the project. Your uncle's mobile phone store is the fourth one. There was a car accident there a few days ago, so drive carefully... park, the Audit Bureau Director Tian is here." Yang Chengyi pointed as he spoke.

Yang Jingxing pulled over, and Yang Chengyi got out to greet: "Director Tian, enjoying your leisure time!"

"Having dinner, just taking a walk. Is there someone in the car?" Director Tian, with a beer belly, glanced inside.

Yang Chengyi laughed: "I'm a rule-abiding person." He turned to call his son to get out, but found that Yang Jingxing had already walked around the car.

"Uncle Tian, hello." Yang Jingxing's politeness surprised Yang Chengyi.

Director Tian chuckled: "On vacation? Are the girls in Puhai pretty?"

Yang Jingxing blushed slightly and said, "I'll pay more attention next semester."

Director Tian chuckled again: "Bring a Puhai girl back for your father, to match such a big family business."

Yang Chengyi humbly said, "Director Tian is joking, I can barely raise one, let alone another." His phone rang again, and he quickly answered to avoid the ringtone "Husband, I love you" playing too long.

"Coming, coming... I met Director Tian on the way, just greeted him." Yang Chengyi's impatience was deliberate, and he said goodbye to Director Tian after hanging up.

After passing Construction Road, they drove along the Qingshui River for four hundred meters and then turned right. Yang Jingxing finally saw his home and his mother leaning out of the second-floor balcony, looking this way.

Yang Jingxing sped up, and his father didn't scold him. As soon as the car reached the building, they heard his mother's voice: "Park outside, tell your father to park, come up quickly, I haven't even steamed the eggs yet."

The boss of the small supermarket on the first floor, who rented the storefront, came out quickly to greet: "Little Yang is back? How was your trip abroad? Your mother has been talking about you for a long time... come have some ice cream."

"Aunt Zhang, your business is good... don't bother, I'm about to eat." Yang Jingxing's politeness made Yang Chengyi feel reassured, thinking that the money spent on sending his son to a prestigious school was not wasted.

His mother, Xiao Shuxia, came to the entrance of the building and gently twisted Yang Jingxing's ear, as gently as before: "Let me see, don't move! You still know how to come back! Smile, what are you smiling about!"

Yang Jingxing's mother, Xiao Shuxia, worked as an accountant at Jiuchun Tobacco Company. Her husband was capable and relatively honest, her son was handsome and did well in school, and she herself, having been a beauty in her youth, took good care of herself and looked younger than her actual age of thirty-nine. To Yang Jingxing, his mother was already quite kind.

Xiao Shuxia, after checking her son, urged him to take a shower quickly, and then the couple talked in private. Xiao Shuxia asked, "Did you call anyone after arriving? They like sending text messages."

Yang Chengyi said he didn't find anything suspicious in his son's camera, and as for the foreign girl, there was no need to worry. Thinking about his son's not-so-bad final exam results, they both felt happy.

Yang Chengyi described: "... I didn't even call him, and he got out of the car himself, 'Uncle Tian, hello...'"

Yang Jingxing's room was on the fourth floor, and it hadn't changed much. The five-story building, built by Yang Chengyi four years ago, covered over 150 square meters. The first floor was rented out, the second floor was the living room and dining room, the third floor was the parents' bedroom. The entire fourth floor was Yang Jingxing's domain, complete with all the facilities except a kitchen.

After taking a shower and going downstairs, Yang Jingxing found his mother looking at the photos in the camera, and his father was busy in the kitchen while making a phone call. Xiao Shuxia always found something wrong with her son: "All landscape photos, why didn't you take more of yourself... tomorrow, go online and send the photo with the foreign girl to my QQ."

Yang Chengyi, bringing the dishes to the dining room, said, "He won't have time to go online tomorrow!"

Yang Jingxing knew his photos would be shown to the entire tobacco company, but he still agreed.

His mother was proud of her son's appetite, and Xiao Shuxia watched Yang Jingxing eat, asking about his studies, making plans, and discussing future plans.

The focus, of course, was on the upcoming senior year and then college entrance exams. From the teacher's comments and report card, Yang Jingxing was likely to get into a first-tier university, but his parents naturally hoped he would do even better. In their plans, Yang Jingxing could only choose from a few universities in Puhai or Quhang, as they were closer to home.

Xiao Shuxia originally planned to enroll her son in a street dance class for the summer or take him to learn Kunqu opera, but Yang Jingxing refused, and Yang Chengyi supported him.

"Have fun for a few days, and when school starts, study hard!" Yang Chengyi threw ten hundred-yuan bills to Yang Jingxing, and after seeing his son's flattering expression, added ten more, scolding, "Just a few meals with Zhang Yang and the others, how much will it cost!?"

Xiao Shuxia gave her son advice: "Visit your grandmother, she will give you money." Yang Jingxing's grandparents lived with his uncle, Yang Chengguang. The two brothers got along well, and Yang Chengguang was satisfied with the elderly support fees his brother provided.

After dinner, Yang Jingxing actually helped clear the table. Xiao Shuxia was charmed and gave her son another thousand, but still scolded, "Use it wisely, earning money is not easy!"

Yang Jingxing was beaming.

Xiao Shuxia also laughed: "Money is a good thing, isn't it?"

Yang Jingxing nodded: "I will work hard to earn money in the future."

Accompanying his mother to watch TV until ten, and being urged to rest, Yang Jingxing went upstairs to turn on his computer. There were three identical messages from Zhang Yang, Lu Lin, and Xu Wei: "Come back quickly, Little Sweetie is missing you terribly."

The three messages were sent simultaneously at one in the afternoon three days ago, clearly a joint effort. Little Sweetie was a not-so-pretty girl from their junior high school class who was still at Jiuchun No. 1 High School with Zhang Yang and the others.

There was another related message from Du Ling: "Little Sweetie misses you, misses you so much."

From elementary school to junior high school, the girl who was closest to Yang Jingxing and the others was Du Ling.

Besides the jokes from his good friends, there was also bad news from Liu Miao: "Xue Xue twisted her ankle, we went to the hospital together, it was very swollen, and she cried a lot. The doctor said it would take a month to heal, it's terrible. We called you, but couldn't get through. Xue Xue cried again, wailing..."

Of course, there was also a message from Xia Xue: "I'm fine, Miao Miao is exaggerating. She's staying with me."

The messages were from a week ago, so Yang Jingxing first called Xia Xue: "Are you asleep?"

"Um... um, ah! You're back?" Xia Xue was dazed for a few seconds before waking up.

"Just got here tonight. How's your foot?"

"Um, it doesn't hurt anymore... did you see the message? Liu Miao was exaggerating." Xia Xue still remembered.

"Um, I convinced myself to believe you didn't cry."

Xia Xue giggled, saying nothing.

Yang Jingxing added, "Go to sleep, I'll come see you tomorrow morning."

"Um."

Afterward, Yang Jingxing called Lu Lin while looking at the emails and photos Roka sent, agreeing to meet everyone for lunch the next day. Lu Lin informed Yang Jingxing that a girl from the first year was pursuing Xu Wei, and they would all tease him together.

Roka drew a large Chinese name of Yang Jingxing at the beginning of the email, using her artistic skills, but the characters were still quite ugly.

Roka's letter was short: "While organizing the photos, I realized I don't really know you at all, but I will still miss and bless you."

Interestingly, Roka commented on each photo, with some brief teasing or praise that made Yang Jingxing laugh. Yang Jingxing replied with a short thank you and good wishes, and sent two photos of his hometown in return.

It was only a little past eleven, and he couldn't sleep, even if he did, he would wake up in the early morning. Yang Jingxing sent the photos to his mother, completed the 2000-word travel essay required by his Chinese teacher, and then sat in front of the computer, staring blankly for an hour. After standing up and wandering for half an hour, he found his guitar in the storage room.

Yang Jingxing bought this guitar in a moment of enthusiasm when he started junior high school, a cheap and poor-quality one. He had studied with two self-teaching books for two months, but gave up before he could even get started, finding it too tedious and difficult.

After tightening the strings, Yang Jingxing held the guitar and tried to recall how to play. He remembered that learning to play was a difficult and arduous process. His left hand often pressed the wrong fret or string, and his right hand had trouble with the force and movement. Coordinating both hands was even harder, often not knowing which finger to use.

At that time, his math teacher said that everything in the world was just a combination, and Yang Jingxing agreed, but he was still intimidated by the many combinations required to play the guitar.

Yang Jingxing's expectations were not disappointed. After recalling and playing for half an hour, he found that his finger and wrist strength and accuracy were much better than before.

However, even a genius can't create something out of nothing. Yang Jingxing searched for a long time and finally found the original guitar textbook among the messy books at the bottom of the bookshelf.

He spent an hour reviewing the basics, and then he was no longer troubled by the coordination of pressing and strumming. It felt like his hands were naturally coordinated, responding seamlessly to his brain's commands.

Another hour later, Yang Jingxing could play "Two Tigers," and at least everyone could recognize it, though the rhythm was still poor.

Because he went to bed early, Yang Jingxing woke up at seven. The first thing he did after getting up was to play "Cinderella" on the guitar. It was good, the feeling from before bed was still there. This song was the one Yang Jingxing had chosen to study hard on when he was about to give up the guitar but didn't want to leave without learning a song. He had failed at the time, but now he finally managed to fulfill his wish.

After breakfast, Yang Jingxing went out with his mother at her request. Xiao Shuxia clearly wanted to show off her son, walking to work and greeting many acquaintances along the way.

Yang Jingxing's good behavior made Xiao Shuxia feel unsatisfied, saying, "Zhou Longlong and his mother always walk arm in arm." Zhou Longlong was the son of Xiao Shuxia's colleague, two years younger than Yang Jingxing, about twenty centimeters shorter, and had a high-pitched voice.

This really put Yang Jingxing in a difficult position, and he said, "Do you want me to be like him?"

Xiao Shuxia was angry: "If you don't want to, forget it, I raised you for nothing."

After walking about a kilometer, Yang Jingxing turned to go to Minzu Road.

Xiao Shuxia was puzzled: "Why are you going that way?"

Yang Jingxing was honest: "Xia Xue twisted her ankle, I'm going to see her."

Xiao Shuxia was unhappy: "Why are you going there as soon as you get back? Don't play with them all the time."

Yang Jingxing ran away, pretending not to hear.

Xia Xue's home was still in the old Tax Bureau compound, Building 2, Unit 2, fourth floor, where they had lived for over ten years. Yang Jingxing had lived in Building 3, Unit 3, third floor from birth to age ten.

Seeing no one around, Yang Jingxing took eight steps at a time, faster than the elevator. After ringing the doorbell, he heard Xia Xue shout from inside, "I'm coming, wait a moment."

After about ten seconds, the door opened, and Xia Xue, standing on one leg, frowned and smiled at Yang Jingxing for a few seconds: "I'm so unlucky."

Yang Jingxing glared: "Who did you expect?"

Xia Xue smiled more brightly and said, "Don't change your shoes, have you had breakfast?"

"What about you?"

"Waiting for Miao Miao to bring me