Chapter 4

After enduring three years of extremely stressful high school life, Liu Meng finally got accepted into a university, the Industrial University in Ice City, which was a very good university, ranking in the top ten nationwide.

This brought great pride to his father, who would mention it wherever he went in the village.

His father had a rather stern and straightforward personality, and his words often offended people. He was also very proud and wanted to excel in everything, which led to him not having good relations with the villagers.

Now, with a college student finally in the family, it truly brought glory to their humble home.

The villagers all said that it must be the ancestral graves emitting auspicious smoke. For this reason, before Liu Meng left, his father specially asked him to pay respects at his grandfather's grave, hoping for continued blessings.

However, the cost of attending university was not small. In the end, his father had to sell most of the crops to gather 7,000 yuan, which he put in the suitcase.

Liu Meng glanced at the two old suitcases on the rack with his peripheral vision. One of them contained the 7,000 yuan, which he couldn't afford to lose. Otherwise, he would be out of luck before he even started. Even if he returned with the memories of ten years later, he would still starve to death in Ice City.

After thinking it through, Liu Meng no longer hesitated and quickly adapted to his role as a freshman. His never-give-up personality resurfaced, and he was filled with determination.

Back then, after graduating from the undergraduate program at Ice City Industrial University and pursuing a master's degree at Jianghai Jiaotong University, Liu Meng had worked hard, but he felt that time was not enough and regretted not waking up earlier. Now, with ten more years, he could do many things and make up for many regrets in life.

His brother's marriage had been put on hold due to a few thousand yuan, and his brother later refused to go on blind dates, remaining unmarried even at the age of thirty. The neighbors often gossiped behind their backs, and his always proud father became depressed and fell ill, after which his health never recovered. His father's temper became even more peculiar, and he often quarreled with his mother, and the family no longer enjoyed the happiness and togetherness of the past.

When these things happened, Liu Meng was just a student and could only sigh helplessly.

There were too many regrets.

Since he could go back ten years, Liu Meng was determined not to let his family's regrets happen again and to ensure that they lived in harmony.

"Can I borrow your book to read?" As Liu Meng was pondering the future, the girl opposite him spoke up.

Seeing that Liu Meng was no longer looking out the window and had a strange expression, and was sitting there lost in thought, the girl thought it was necessary to continue chatting to cheer him up. She wanted to talk about something pleasant to make him feel better. She also wanted to see the book he had under his arm.

Liu Meng looked at the book under his hand, which was a rented novel called "Dark Mad God." Since he was about to go to Ice City, Liu Meng decided not to return it and to read it on the way to pass the time.

The book was a bit naughty, and he wasn't sure whether to pass it over. However, seeing the girl's expectant eyes, Liu Meng decided to be generous and handed it over.

Life, besides serious studies, still had a bit of mischief. As the girl flipped through the book, Liu Meng kept staring at her, his mischief growing. He was very curious to see her reaction when she read the naughty parts.

The girl quickly flipped through the pages, and as she reached the naughty parts, she let out a soft "hmm," shifted her position, and thought to herself, "This boy looks so honest and dull, but he's reading such a book. Hehe, it's actually quite interesting."

Noticing that Liu Meng was watching her with interest, the girl felt a bit embarrassed and asked, "Are you a student too? Where are you going to study?"

Liu Meng smiled and said, "I'm a freshman at Ice City Industrial University, going to register. Are you a freshman too? Hi, I'm Liu Meng. Let's get to know each other. Maybe we can travel together in the future and look out for each other."

The girl hesitated for a moment but still extended her hand to Liu Meng.

Their hands met, and the girl's hand was a bit sweaty. Liu Meng felt satisfied with his mischief, though he didn't show it on his face. It seemed that she was affected inwardly.

"I'm Cheng Fei, a sophomore at Northeast Normal University. I'm your senior."

Cheng Fei, realizing that this boy was indeed a year younger, immediately took on a senior's demeanor. Seniors should have a senior's air.

Liu Meng just smiled faintly and didn't argue. Being a senior was fine; he was a freshman now, and there was nothing he couldn't accept. Most of the time, he was rather indifferent, even a bit cold.

They chatted a bit more, and Liu Meng's cold humor was still there. Cheng Fei had a low threshold for humor and was naturally optimistic and kind, so she laughed a lot, and they quickly became more familiar.

"Stop being so smug. I have some bread. Do you want to eat some?" After a while of laughing and joking, Cheng Fei noticed that Liu Meng hadn't eaten anything since boarding the train. She guessed he had forgotten to bring food, as the train food was expensive and unappetizing. She kindly took out some food.

At this, Liu Meng's stomach growled, and he was indeed hungry. He didn't hesitate and started eating with big bites. He ate too quickly and choked, and Cheng Fei quickly took out a water cup, though she had only drunk half of it and felt a bit embarrassed to pass it over.

Liu Meng didn't care and grabbed the cup, gulping down the water.

It was already past midnight, and the green train from Xu City to Ice City would take 26 hours in total. They talked for a while, and Cheng Fei suggested watching a movie. She took out her IBM laptop.

It seemed that this girl came from a good family, Liu Meng thought. In 2004, laptops were still very expensive, costing tens of thousands of yuan, and even the cheapest IBM laptop cost over 10,000 yuan.

Without hesitation, Liu Meng sat next to Cheng Fei, as the other seat was empty.

Cheng Fei opened the inspirational movie "The Pursuit of Happyness," aiming to encourage Liu Meng. They started watching, and Liu Meng was very focused, not feeling sleepy at all.

However, Cheng Fei's eyelids soon started to droop, and after a while, her head was leaning on Liu Meng's shoulder.

Liu Meng's body was still developing, and he was only about 172 cm tall, weighing 120 pounds, looking rather thin.

Cheng Fei was also tall, about 165 cm. Even with her head leaning on Liu Meng's shoulder, it was quite uncomfortable, but the girl was too sleepy.

Seeing her so uncomfortable, Liu Meng tried to sit up straight to make his shoulder higher, so Cheng Fei could lean more comfortably.

Even with Liu Meng sitting up straight, Cheng Fei still felt a bit uncomfortable. Since he had eaten her bread, he felt obligated to make her comfortable, so he bent his body and half-stood, allowing the girl to sleep sweetly.

A faint fragrance of a girl wafted to his nose, refreshing and invigorating. He felt a bit excited and quickly focused on being a human pillow.

After some time, he felt something wet on his neck.

Liu Meng glanced over and saw that it was Cheng Fei's drool. He thought only he drooled when he slept, but this was a new experience.

"Sorry, sorry." Cheng Fei woke up and immediately realized she had been leaning on Liu Meng's shoulder and drooling, her face turning red with embarrassment.

She quickly wiped her face with a tissue.

Being so close to Liu Meng, she felt her heart beating faster. She looked very cute, just waking up, and Liu Meng couldn't help but gently touch her delicate nose.

Liu Meng, still thinking of himself as 26 years old, treated Cheng Fei like a child, which led to this action.

However, from Cheng Fei's perspective, Liu Meng looked even younger than her, and her face turned a bit red, like a small apple.

"You big boy, you're quite bold, even teasing your senior." Cheng Fei spoke a bit awkwardly, putting on a senior's air.

"Senior, I'm sorry." Liu Meng immediately realized the issue and laughed, admitting his mistake.

"Alright, I'm generous and won't hold it against you." Cheng Fei waved her hand, looking very cool.

Wow, Cheng Fei looked at her watch and saw it was almost 5 AM. She hadn't realized she had slept for so long. Seeing Liu Meng stretching his upper body, she understood that he had maintained that position to let her sleep comfortably, and she felt a bit embarrassed.

She took out all the remaining food and handed it to Liu Meng. "I'm getting off here. It's your first time in Ice City, so be careful."

Liu Meng realized they were about to arrive at the city where Cheng Fei studied.

Although they hadn't known each other long, Cheng Fei's cheerful and kind personality had left a deep impression on Liu Meng, and they had gotten along well.

"What's your phone number? Let's exchange contact information. We can meet up to go home together, as we both get off at Xu City. I can take care of you." Cheng Fei took out a beautiful color screen phone to record Liu Meng's number.

Liu Meng almost gave her his previous phone number but stopped himself. At this time, that number was nowhere to be found.

He wouldn't have a phone or number until a month after entering university. However, he still remembered his old number in Ice City. If nothing had changed, he would use that number again. His mischief resurfaced.

"I don't have a phone yet, but I've asked a local to pick a number for me. Just save my number and remember to call me around a month later, on September 26. You'll definitely get through."

Cheng Fei was confused but felt a strange vibe from this boy, so she recorded the number as he said.

Thinking about it, Liu Meng didn't want to lose this cheerful friend and reiterated, "Remember to call me in a month, that number."

"Got it, little kid, what's with the mystery? See you later." Cheng Fei waved and got off the train.

However, after Cheng Fei left, Liu Meng felt a bit regretful. Why make things complicated? He should have just given her the number. What if he didn't get that number?

Thinking about it, he wanted to chase after Cheng Fei to ask for her number, but she had already disappeared into the crowd.

After Cheng Fei left, Liu Meng sat alone and began to think about an extremely important question. Yes, he had gone back ten years. If he wanted to change his life, achieve something, and make up for the family's regrets due to