Chapter 18

On September 30th, the morning was for the inspection parade, and the English class placement test was held in the afternoon. In the evening, the school held a bonfire welcome party and a farewell for the drill instructors in the stadium.

Bian Xuedao was in a bad mood, watched for a while, and as soon as it got dark, he slipped out. He hadn't walked far when someone called him from behind. He turned around and saw Song Jia.

"Why aren't you watching anymore?" Song Jia asked.

"The military training is a bit tiring, I want to go back and lie down," Bian Xuedao said.

"I find it boring. They didn't sing as well as you. I still remember the song you sang in the classroom the night before the college entrance exam. Let me take you out for dinner," Song Jia said.

"I've already had dinner, I won't go."

"By the way, what's the name of the girl you're looking for? Tell me, it will be easier for me to find her," Song Jia followed beside Bian Xuedao.

When they reached the intersection, Bian Xuedao said to Song Jia, "I'll go back to the dorm first, we'll keep in touch." Then he left.

Song Jia watched Bian Xuedao's back, pursing her lips, standing there for a long time.

Around 9 o'clock, everyone in the dormitory came back.

Yu Jin burst into the room and started shouting, saying that he was aroused by four senior sisters who performed "Unique + Flying Colors." Seeing Bian Xuedao lying on the bed staring at the ceiling, he plopped down next to him and said, "Fourth, you ran off first, you don't know how dazzling those senior sisters were! All in leather jackets and pants, with red crop tops, so damn sexy!"

Tong Chao corrected him from behind, "Not all the crop tops were red, three were red, one was pink."

Yu Jin immediately shouted with a fierce look, "Big brother! Big brother! We need to keep an eye on Eighth. He had a monocular telescope and was watching from the side, too uncool."

Ai Feng took the telescope from Tong Chao, looked out the window, and said, "If you had something good, why didn't you say it earlier? I didn't see anything just now. This time it's okay, but next time, we'll pour oil and light a sky lantern. What do you guys think?"

Seeing Tong Chao hide in the bathroom, Yu Jin turned to Kong Weize and asked, "What year are those senior sisters in?"

Kong Weize unscrewed his bottle of orange juice, took a big sip, and said, "You-ask-me, I-ask-who?"

Yu Jin ignored him and muttered to himself, "As long as they're not seniors, otherwise they'll be gone next year. Though a bit old, their figures are really good."

That night, the first dormitory chat of college began, the topic centered around senior sisters and women, and everyone was very excited. When the conversation turned to how to be popular with girls and quickly win them over, the boys had different opinions.

Some said to be tall and handsome, like the second brother Chen Jian. Some said to be sweet-talking, like the seventh brother Yang Hao. Some said to be persistent, like Wei Xiaobao. Some said to be domineering and charming, like Ximen Qing. Some said to be multi-talented, and some said to be excellent in bed.

In the end, it was Bian Xuedao who ended the chat with a casual remark, "Be rich."

On October 1st, the four out-of-town students in the dormitory didn't go home, they stayed at school to get familiar with the environment.

Early in the morning, Bian Xuedao got on a bus to Tianhe City.

Near the station, he asked several tricycle drivers if they knew where the Sunshine Garden neighborhood was, but they all shook their heads. Finally, Bian Xuedao got into a car and directed it by memory. When he arrived, he didn't see the building where his in-laws lived, but a row of bungalows. The last bit of hope in Bian Xuedao's heart was shattered.

Bian Xuedao first went to Xu Shangxiu's home in late 2009, and he visited every year after their marriage, so he remembered the general location. However, there was no such neighborhood here 8 years ago. In such a big city, where could he find Xu Shangxiu?

Bian Xuedao asked the driver to find an internet cafe, opened QQ, and continued to apply for Xu Shangxiu's QQ number, but there was no response. He sat quietly for a while, considering whether to stake out at the gates of several high schools in Tianhe City for a couple of days. But where would he stay?

A young man sitting to Bian Xuedao's right was holding a microphone and arguing in a chat room, his voice getting louder and the content more vulgar, using dialect and crude language about women's private parts. From his boasting, he seemed to be a local bully, saying he could cripple or kill anyone he wanted, and that if the person on the other side of the computer dared to bring their whole family to stand in front of him, he would immediately wipe them out.

While the young man was being insulted back, he lit a cigarette, took a few deep puffs, held the cigarette in his left hand, and the microphone in his right, and continued to curse.

Bian Xuedao was feeling depressed and angry with himself. If he hadn't changed his major on a whim, Song Jia wouldn't have changed her major either, and Xu Shangxiu might still be at Dongsen University.

The young man's hand with the cigarette got closer to Bian Xuedao, who moved away.

"Lower your voice," Bian Xuedao said, already feeling annoyed.

The young man glanced at Bian Xuedao a few times, ignored him, and continued to curse, not sure if he was cursing the people in the chat room or Bian Xuedao, "Little b*tch, shut up when I talk, look at your b*stard faces, if you speak again, I'll slap you to death."

"Lower your voice," Bian Xuedao repeated.

The young man looked fierce, took a puff of the cigarette, and put it out on the table, "Oh, f*ck, are you your mother's b*stard?"

Just as the young man was about to stand up, Bian Xuedao had already risen and slapped him hard. The force of the slap knocked the young man off balance, and Bian Xuedao followed up with a kick, sending the young man and his chair flying over a meter. Bian Xuedao didn't let up, finding gaps to kick the young man several times. The young man, who had been so arrogant with the microphone, lay on the ground like a dead dog, only able to protect his head.

The internet cafe manager and owner heard the commotion and ran over. The manager, who was over 1.7 meters tall, tried to hold Bian Xuedao, but Bian Xuedao elbowed him away and stared at the manager, who didn't dare to approach him again.

Bian Xuedao took out 5 yuan and put it in front of the owner, then left with a swagger.

He headed straight for the bus station, determined to return to school.

Since he couldn't find Xu Shangxiu now, he would wait until 2009, as he had told Dong Xue: if they were meant to be, they would meet again.

Without Xu Shangxiu by his side, Bian Xuedao felt he needed to adjust his college plans. During the National Day holiday, he went home for 4 days, fetched some winter clothes, and returned to school on October 6th, officially starting his college life.

The first thing he did after returning to school was to buy 7 computer books from a bookstore, including C language, C++, JAVA, "Windows Programming," "MFC Made Easy," "Windows Core Programming," and "Assembly Language."

The second thing he did was to buy two large phone cards and, when the dormitory was empty, spent half an afternoon calling the hotlines of dozens of newspapers, finding 15 that accepted submissions and paid for them, and recording their submission addresses, email addresses, and editor phone numbers.

During this trip home, Bian Xuedao several times almost asked his parents for money to buy a computer but held back. At that time, a desktop computer cost 7,000 to 9,000 yuan, and the cheapest laptop was over 10,000 yuan. Bian Xuedao decided to earn the money to buy a computer within half a year, as a test of his ability to make money since his rebirth.

On the evening of October 7th, in Shenyang's Wulihe Stadium, China's team defeated Oman, and Yu Genwei's goal sent China to the World Cup. The entire dormitory building was in an uproar, with boys from different rooms knocking on doors to share the good news, and the corridor was noisy until lights out.

Watching the TV, seeing Milu surrounded and praised, Bian Xuedao knew that from that day on, Milu's image was idolized by the Chinese, only to be mercilessly shattered a few months later. Bian Xuedao felt sorry for the old man who understood the Chinese game rules better than other foreign coaches. If possible, after this night, he should have retired gracefully, and his legend in China would have been more perfect, without exposing some of the Chinese people's inherent traits so nakedly.

The next day was the day to select sports classes for the new semester. The football class, which had 88 spots, received 230 applications, and the football teacher was both happy and troubled. There was no choice but to screen the applicants, keeping those who were physically fit and had a football background.

The selection process had three parts: juggling the ball, dribbling around poles, and shooting with power.

Bian Xuedao, Li Yu, Yang Hao, and Tong Chao all signed up for football. Yang Hao didn't pass, but Bian Xuedao passed all three and made it into the football class.

In the afternoon, the results of the English class placement test were announced. Chen Jian, Bian Xuedao, and Tong Chao were in Class A, Ai Feng and Li Yu were in Class B, and Yu Jin, Yang Hao, and Kong Weize were in Class C.

Yu Jin organized a dinner for the three Class A students to treat the whole dormitory. The dormitory leader, Ai Feng, decided to go out for a good meal as the first group activity.

After ordering the dishes, Chen Jian asked the waiter for a box of beer, and the boys' eyes widened. Chen Jian smiled, "Let's start with three bottles each, and we'll order more later."

Bian Xuedao smiled and said he didn't drink, but everyone thought he was joking. When the beer came and was opened, Bian Xuedao held his cup, poured himself a glass of water, and Ai Feng was a bit unhappy.

"Fourth, we've all come together from all over the country. For the first time drinking together, drink as much as you can, or a little if you can't. Pour yourself a glass, take a sip, it's a gesture," Ai Feng said.

Chen Jian snatched Bian Xuedao's cup, poured beer into it, and joked, "I hate it when people say they don't drink at the table. A few of them can drink a lot. Fourth is trying to play the pig to eat the tiger."

Bian Xuedao smiled but didn't say anything, poured himself a cup of tea, and watched everyone talk.

Bian Xuedao didn't drink the beer.

This meal basically revealed each person's drinking capacity in Dorm 717. Two boxes of beer, Chen Jian drank 16 bottles alone and still talked and laughed without changing his expression. Yu Jin and Ai Feng drank about 8 to 9 bottles each, and the rest drank 3 to 5 bottles each.

In the last round of drinking, a slightly drunk Ai Feng insisted that Bian Xuedao must drink the beer in his cup, or he wouldn't leave. In the end, Li Yu helped Bian Xuedao out by drinking the beer in his cup. Ai Feng was still unsatisfied and was dragged to the bathroom by Chen Jian.

On the way out, Li Yu and Yu Jin advised Bian Xuedao, "Don't take it to heart, Ai Feng is just drunk."

Bian Xuedao, supporting the swaying Yu Jin, didn't say anything.