It is May, the end of spring and the beginning of summer.
On the 8th, in the cafeteria's canteen, the radio in the corner broadcast an urgent news broadcast. Due to some interference in the radio waves, the news was also noisy, but this did not prevent everyone from hearing the information that was like a drop of water falling into a hot oil pan.
"NATO, led by the United States, brazenly bombed our embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the early hours of Beijing time today..."
After a brief silence, as if realizing what had happened, the entire cafeteria was drowned out by a thunderous noise.
There were a lot of thunders coming from the teaching building. It was the sound of slapping tables and stomping stools. Teachers were running around the classrooms. In the university not far away, countless sheets and white papers were hung outside the dormitory windows. The city of Chengdu seemed to be boiling, and there were sounds of condemnation and noise everywhere.
During that period, a large number of protesting students gathered in the direction of the American Consulate in Chengdu. People threw bricks, eggs, and ink bottles into the building. McDonald's and KFC were in a mess. There were banners and slogans everywhere, including No. 10 Middle School. Students spliced together papers from picture books with transparent tape and wrote slogans of condemnation on them with brushes. All of them were full of anger without exception.
After the bombing on May 8, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets opened on Monday, the 10th, and the market fell sharply. This missile gap seemed to have hit every stockholder in the heart. The market was all green, with few stocks rising, and the stock market was instantly worse.
Zhao Qing made several phone calls and Cheng Ran asked him to continue with the buying plan.
Cheng Ran called his eldest brother again. Cheng Qi said that he had already taken the bus organized by the school to the consulate. Cheng Ran said, "Help me throw a few more bricks."
The teachers of No. 10 Middle School were the first to come and stop the high school students from marching. On the one hand, they asked everyone to study hard and turn their grief into strength. Some classes used another method and wrote letters to the US government, which were then submitted to diplomatic agencies by the school. As a result, one magnificent article after another was written to express their feelings.
Demonstrations broke out in major cities across the country, and the country could only use this method to put pressure on the other side of the ocean.
Later, in that depressing and sad atmosphere, Sun Hui gave a speech to the whole class, which may still be fresh in people's memory many years later.
"Whether it was a careless bombing due to misinformation or a deliberate conspiracy, it only shows one thing: we are weak."
Because we are weak, we have to struggle.
That was the simplest lesson for everyone at that moment.
Even his friends in Shanhai called him to share information. Yu Xiao said excitedly on the phone, "It is said that 900 people from Renmin University went, while 2,000 people from Chengdu University went. Renmin University is a coward, and Chengdu University is awesome!"
Cheng Ran asked, "You know all this news in Shanhai?"
"Of course. Isn't my brother Songsong studying in Beijing? He told me on the phone that the president of their student union was even more ruthless. He called Wahaha and said, 'The United States has bombed the embassy, why don't you do anything?' As a result, Wahaha immediately sponsored countless bottles of Fanta Cola to enter every university campus and pile them up at student rest stops. No one bought Coca-Cola or Pepsi anymore! By the way, did you go to the parade?"
Yu Xiao said in a deep voice, "Safety first. We have all been notified by the school that we are not allowed to participate in the parade. You should also pay attention."
Cheng Ran said, "I asked my brother to help me throw a few bricks."
"You're awesome..." Yu Xiao said again, "I heard that the staff dormitory building is about to be finished. Are we going to meet in Chengdu?"
"Have you arranged your school yet?"
"I just don't know where to take the exam. I'm planning to try No. 12 Middle School. My uncle is in the school's logistics group, maybe he can help me. Anyway... The Chaos Demon King team is about to gather, are you afraid?"
…
Chengdu is in the middle of a low-pressure cold front, and the stock market is in the red. If you look at the comments in various financial media at this time, you will see that investors and listed companies have already had a crisis of confidence in the continuously falling stock market. The market is filled with a strong sense of pessimism.
Zhao Qing advised Cheng Ran, "We can't hold on any longer. The money we invested earlier has shrunk by one third. If we withdraw, maybe we still have time... Cheng Ran, I've said before, what's the most frightening thing in the stock market? It's not that you don't see the trend. As your observation and analysis skills improve, you can make up for it. The most frightening thing is the black swan event that catches everyone off guard. Once this event hits, it will directly hit the confidence of the entire stock market."
“Even if you understand some of the banker’s practices and believe you can cash out and leave before the banker dumps the stock, you are powerless when encountering such a thing. Such incidents will undoubtedly directly affect the banker’s decision-making, and even make them lose confidence in controlling the market. Then, they will be in disarray and expose various problems, and even cause a stock avalanche. This is a natural disaster and cannot be predicted at all.”
Cheng Ran agreed with Zhao Qing's opinion, because this was also the reason why he was not willing to speculate in stocks except for long-term holding investments.
Listening to Zhao Qing's words on the other end, Cheng Ran said, "Continue to cover your positions. This is a good time."
Zhao Qing: "…Are you so sure?"
"The banker won't give up." Cheng Ran said.
Zhao Qing was stunned for a moment. "Do you know who is behind this and understand his style and approach?"
"I know something about it. They don't want to leave. Why don't they hold it up? Let them hold it up. Our boat is small and easy to turn around. We are not greedy. We will take whatever we can from them."
Of course he couldn't explain it all to Zhao Qing.
Zhao Qing said, "I understand, let's do it."
Zhao Qing suppressed the urge to persuade as much as possible and turned around to execute it.
…
After finishing the call with Zhao Qing, it was the last two physical education classes in the afternoon, and he sat in the stands. The halo of the sunset was showing bright stripes from the side of the black clouds, and the sky was gorgeous, with black shadows and golden light beams fighting each other at the end of the sky.
There were quite a few people scattered around on the playground below, some were fighting, and the noise could be heard from far away.
Outside the wall are the tall buildings of the city, where the air is filled with resentment and oppression. Many banners are still on the streets, and there are still many traces of the recent marches that have not been cleaned up.
People everywhere are shouting to boycott imperialism and fight back, "Don't drink Coke!" It will probably be a long time before people realize that these are of little use.
There is a saying that goes, "I destroy you, and it has nothing to do with you."
If I hit you, it has nothing to do with you.
Whether it is island disputes, sovereignty infringement, Taiwan Strait crisis, Galaxy, accidental bombing, South China Sea collision...
People who have experienced such an era are always angry during those years, but they can only be angry.
The light in front of him dimmed for a moment, and Cheng Ran saw the girl appear in front of him.
Jiang Hongshao tilted her head, and the sunlight outlined a light-edged silhouette around her.
She looked at him.
The bombing of the embassy came unexpectedly, and the surroundings have been shrouded in this environment for some time. The two did not have many opportunities to communicate. It was only when the campus TV was broadcasting the news of the three victims that Cheng Ran saw that Jiang Hongshao's eyes were red.
Jiang Hongshao's voice came, "What are you looking at?"
Cheng Ran said, "I am looking at the sea in front of me."
There is a sunset in front of me, where is the sea
But Lao Jiang asked, "Can I come with you?"
Cheng Ran nodded.
She sat down beside him, hugging her legs.
The surroundings seemed to become very quiet, and the shoving and fighting in the playground under the stands stopped for a while. Many people turned their heads to look at this scene. Zhang Yu, who was looking down at the two people from the corridor of the teaching building, had a complicated expression.
Jiang Hongshao squinted and looked over. "So what did you see?"
Cheng Ran said, "The real truth and lesson is that only those with enough chips to enter the game can have the possibility of playing at a table. That's why Mr. Sun said, 'Because we are weak.'"
"Yes, because we are weak." Jiang Hongshao said softly.
After a moment, Cheng Ran asked, "What happened to your grades?"
Jiang Hongshao smiled slightly, "I'll stop... and wait for you."
Cheng Ran was stunned, turned around, and was about to say something.
Jiang Hongshao shrugged, "I know, I'm a fool."
Cheng Ran said, "You are kidding me. Shouldn't I also drop down 40 or 50 places? Dropping only nine places is nothing."
Jiang Hongshao looked innocent and helpless. "What else can I do? This is the only way to avoid leaving any traces. I can also explain to other teachers that I was just distracted."
So it's really speechless, and it's a very simple truth. The appearance of the test paper that could cause a student to drop by dozens of places would make her purpose known at a glance, so she could only hide her shortcomings in a limited space so as not to be discovered by those who are interested that she was deliberately letting the test go.
The key is that if someone is distracted, like me, they will drop more than 40 places. If you are distracted, you will fall back to 10th place. And the people in front of you will think they have an opportunity to take advantage of you. If they know the truth, will they feel desperate
Cheng Ran said helplessly, "Don't do this again in the future, it's boring."
Jiang Hongshao stuck out her tongue, "I know."
Then Jiang Hongshao looked ahead like him, her eyes reflecting the magnificent sunset.
"Cheng Ran..."
"Um."
"very nice."
"Um?"
“It’s really beautiful.”
At sunset in 1999, the two still very weak people, faced with the grandeur before their eyes, felt that the confused and uncertain future, the hardship and the stumbling blocks were so far away from them.
Yet so sweet.
(This chapter is probably paired with Andy Lau's "Happiness Is So Far And So Sweet")