"Are those people your classmates? Which grade and class are they from?"
"It's not your problem. There are just a lot of bastards like this in the world."
"Stand still... If it hurts, tell me. ... OK! The chalk dust is all gone!"
"Are your legs numb?"
"You live near here, right?"
"… Are you feeling unwell? You haven't said anything."
Yi Wan stared at him blankly. This was a very handsome boy, gentle, fresh, almost perfect. He was wearing a blue and white middle school uniform and carrying a schoolbag, as if he had just walked out of a nearby middle school. There was also a blue kettle on the side of the schoolbag, and a fashionable anime transparent card was hung on the kettle. He had squatted beside him for two hours and was now looking at him worriedly.
For some reason, Yi Wan felt his eyes sore.
The boy pointed to his throat, then to his mouth, and made some hand gestures, as if to confirm whether Yi Wan could not speak... The guilt in his eyes became even stronger. Yi Wan then said: "... I can speak."
The boy breathed a sigh of relief. Unlike the others, he did not ask, "Why didn't you say that just now?" Instead, he said, "Do you want to go home? I'll take you home."
"Um."
Yi Wan told him the address of his home. To get home from here, one needs to walk along a small river, cross a floating bridge, and then reach the old building where Yi Wan lives. The boy walked ahead for a while, and then walked for a while. Then he looked back and found that Yi Wan was always following behind him, and then he fell behind again.
So he took a few steps back and this time reached out and held Yi Wan's little hand.
"Is it okay?" he said.
“…” Yi Wan handed him his hand and blinked.
The boy walked forward holding the child's hand. Below the road was a flowing river. The river reflected the starry sky. The boy said, "I go to No. 1 Middle School. I'm in the first year of high school this year."
"I go to Zhongbei Primary School and I'm in the fifth grade this year." Yi Wan mechanically imitated his speaking format and gave an answer.
"You have been silent the whole time, what are you thinking about?" the boy said, "I will not let those bad kids go. I will tell your teacher and let their parents deal with them."
Yi Wan said: "I am the bad kid."
The boy asked, “Why?”
"Because I'm sick. That's what my teacher said. He said I'm not suitable to study here." Yi Wan said.
Boy: "Hmm... He's talking nonsense. No one has such a reason as 'not suitable for studying in a certain place'. Are you having difficulty with any subject?"
Yi Wan: “Not bad.”
The boy's brows relaxed. "That's good. You are in the fifth grade, right? Next year, you can take the entrance exam to junior high school and get into a better school. As long as your score is high enough."
Yi Wan: “Yeah.”
Yi Wan walked slowly, stepping on his own shadow. The shadow was stretched long by the street lamp, just like a giraffe. Yi Wan said: "… It looks like a giraffe."
He heard the boy say, "Um... what giraffe?"
"And there are Neanderthals." Yi Wan said.
The boy said, "What is this? Is this a book you've read? We were next to the library just now, right?"
Yi Wan lowered his head and said, "No... I am a Neanderthal, and I did not turn into a giraffe. They bully me because they are Homo sapiens."
"What does that mean?" the boy said.
The voltage was unstable, the street lights flickered, and moths swirled around them. Yi Wan said, "Nothing... because I'm very curious." But his hand was pinched. Yi Wan was still walking forward and bumped into the boy. He looked up and saw that the other person's eyes were clear. He still held his hand and said, "Tell me... I'm very curious."
He had the attitude that he would not leave unless Yi Wan told him.
What kind of high school student would listen to a fifth grader talking in his sleep.
Yi Wan then spoke haltingly. His language organization ability was not very good, and his thoughts were always scattered, so he seemed very abnormal and out of place. He talked about the story of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, the graffitied desk and David, the "100 Unsolved Mysteries of the World" he saw in the library, and the woman with silver rings all around her neck... He talked for as long as the boy listened. During the process, the boy interrupted from time to time:
"Why is this happening?"
"What do you think?"
Finally finished, Yi Wan was out of breath and sat on the river bank in a daze. The boy sat beside him with his chin in his hands and said to him, "Wait for me."
… I’m leaving, alone again.
Yi Wan saw the mud stains on the schoolbag. He scooped up some water with his hands and scrubbed the schoolbag. The schoolbag was soaked by the water, and the dark color was integrated, as if the mud stains could not be seen. The water in the stream was very deep. Yi Wan remembered that the old people often said that there were water ghosts in the water, who were obsessed and could not be reborn. They liked to catch those weird kids like him who were not likable on the shore.
Something cool touched his face. Yi Wan was startled, thinking a water ghost had come. But what he saw was the boy's refreshing and smiling face.
"Here, a reward for you," he said.
Strawberry-flavored popsicles… The boy broke the popsicle in half, gave half to Yi Wan and the other half to himself. Yi Wan asked him, “Why give it to me?”
"As a reward for listening to something so wonderful," the boy said, "don't you like the taste?"
… like it.
Yi Wan put the popsicle into his mouth. The boy kept asking, "Don't you like it? Don't you like it? Don't you like it?"
“… I like it.”
"Hmm, I didn't hear that clearly."
"… like."
"Okay." The boy pinched his face, "Let's go home."
Crossing the floating bridge, we entered the old residential area. The streets in the old residential area were very dirty, with advertisements all over the walls and fruit peels all over the ground. A middle-aged man was standing on the street, making a "gulp" sound in his throat and spitting out a mouthful of phlegm. The phlegm was ejected like a bullet and landed beside them. The boy walked by holding Yi Wan's hand, as if he didn't see anything.
Old ladies were fighting over beverage bottles next to the trash cans, and women and old men at the street stalls were gossiping endlessly. Yi Wan and his parents were often among those who were gossiped about. In their words, Yi Wan's father was a hypocritical person who had high aspirations and went to college, so what? He still had only a little money. His mother "ran away with another man," and the descriptions of the woman's whereabouts in the gossips were always such malicious speculations. And Yi Wan—they would discuss in an emotional tone to show that they were not so mean and vicious to their children, and that they were not "hopeless," and then finally added:
"Oh, that's it. There's no hope."
They base their satisfaction in life on the denigration of others.
In this picture, only Yi Wan and the boy are out of tune and stand out. The boy took Yi Wan upstairs. Yi Wan came home a few hours late today, and the boy's actions gave him a lot of courage. Standing in front of the door on the fourth floor, the boy said, "Are we home?"
"Um."
"Then I'm leaving?"
"good."
"What time do you get out of school?" "Five."
"Do you go to the library every day? How long do you stay there?"
"Seven o'clock."
"It's nine o'clock now... OK." The boy smiled, "My name is Yu Rongshi."
"My name is Yi Wan." Yi Wan repeated his speaking format.
The boy smiled again, showing a little bit of his teeth. He walked a few steps downstairs, looked back at him, and made a "bye" gesture. Yi Wan didn't reach out and knock on the door until he could no longer see him.
"Where have you been again...Okay. The food is on the table, heat it up yourself." Aunt said coldly.
Even when he cursed, he didn't say much.
In the living room hung a family portrait of my uncle and aunt, but Yi Wan was not there. The room was only five square meters, but except for the small bed, the rest was filled with household sundries. My uncle was playing games in the living room, while my aunt was staring at my cousin's homework. She would have a big fight with my uncle from time to time, asking him if he only knew how to play games and when he would go out to earn money. My cousin was having fun in the yard.
This is Yi Wan's life.
He lay back on his little bed. At least today he could have a peaceful dream. But in the middle of the night he suddenly woke up and nervously searched his school uniform pockets.
It would be terrible if the sticky plastic shell of the popsicle was still inside and stained your clothes.
But there was only a ball of air in the pocket. It seemed that he had thrown it away at some point on the way home.
…
The next day, Yi Wan was still thinking about the Neanderthals. One of the kids who bullied him didn't come to class. The others were also acting strangely and walked around him. Maybe someone's complaint worked.
At five o'clock, he left school. Today, someone pushed his things off the table again, but it was not as serious as yesterday. At least his schoolbag was still in the classroom. As usual, he came to the library guarded by the old lady. Seeing that he came alone again, the old lady said to him, "There are fewer and fewer people coming to the library now. Only a child like you will come every day."
Yi Wan still only knows how to say "hmm" because there is no book or TV show that teaches him what kind of "small talk" response he should make at this time.
Today, Yi Wan did not read books about Neanderthals. Instead, he found some basic English books, including picture books, Harry Potter, and The Silmarillion, and read them with the help of the Oxford Dictionary. He felt that he would need to read these English books one day. This is a picture book of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, telling the story of a swallow and his beloved prince... As he read, the English letters turned into dancing figures in his eyes. Yi Wan was too sleepy, perhaps because he did not sleep well last night.
He fell asleep on the table.
Yi Wan didn't sleep for long. When he opened his eyes, he saw the young Yu Rongshi sitting opposite him, holding the picture book he was reading. The setting sun fell on his face, making his profile look very soft. Seeing Yi Wan wake up, he smiled and said, "Awake?"
Yi Wan looked at him blankly.
"That's amazing... You're only in fifth grade, and you can understand it?"
Yi Wan said: "…It's OK."
Why come here
"I'm afraid you'll run into those kids again after you leave." The boy said, "Just continue reading. I won't disturb you."
Yi Wan continued to look down at the picture book. The boy sat opposite him, reading The Silmarillion, which he had brought but had not yet read. Time passed like water, and it was seven o'clock.
It's time to go home.
Yi Wan put the book back on the shelf. As he left the library, the old lady with glasses nodded to him.
This time, I didn't meet those people outside the library. Yi Wan walked on the river bank, and Yu Rongshi walked behind him. The two figures walked slowly and at an unhurried pace. Yi Wan said, "Your shadow is longer than mine."
Yu Rongshi said: "When you grow taller, your shadow will also grow longer."
Yi Wan said: "When?"
"Hmm... The development period for boys? After 13 years old?" Yu Rongshi said, "Soon, there are still three years."
This time he sent Yi Wan back to the old building again. The old building was gray and gloomy, and only Yi Wan's eyes were clear and clean, as if they were spotless. Yu Rongshi said to him, "I'm leaving."
Yi Wan said: "Will you come again tomorrow?"
Yu Rongshi thought he was afraid: "Yes, at least for a month! Summer vacation will start in a month, right? Make sure those kids won't bully you again."
He waved and said goodbye. Yi Wan watched him until he disappeared at the stairs.
One month...
At least now he doesn't have to think about how to make those bad kids come looking for him again... and make sure Yu Rongshi can see it.
Yi Wan returned to his small room. The living room outside was still noisy. Uncle came back very late today. He drank too much at the dinner party and vomited when he came back. Aunt scolded him, and he said, "Do you think I want to drink? The boss wants you to drink, and you can't stop me..." Aunt started crying again.
He curled up in his quilt and turned himself into a cocoon.
Tomorrow will be a new day.
…
Yu Rongshi kept his promise, saying one month, and it was one month. Every afternoon, Yi Wan could wait for him in the library.
Then it was summer vacation. This summer was incredibly hot. Yi Wan found that all the classmates had signed up for a course at the Children's Palace, the Mathematical Olympiad class, because it was opened by a relative of the head teacher. No one had informed him. It seemed that life after the sixth grade would not be very comfortable.
Yu Rongshi was also very busy during the holidays. But he always ran into Yi Wan who was looking around. The two of them walked on the street together.
This year has been a year of disasters, first the snowstorm, then the flood, and then the economic crisis. Yi Wan hasn't even learned what an economic crisis is, but he can already see the dilapidated shops on the streets. Yu Rongshi asked him what happened. He said, "The library is a public one, it can't go bankrupt."
The boy smiled softly in confusion: "How come you are so smart? When I was your age, I didn't know what public and private schools were."
Yi Wan said: "Isn't this weird?"
The boy said, "It's okay. I was just wondering, Yi Wan is so smart, what will he do when he grows up?"
That was not a tone of asking Yi Wan to do something, but a genuine curiosity about what Yi Wan's future would be like. Yi Wan sat on the riverbank and talked with a good friend who was a few years older than him. He felt at ease as his soul followed the gurgling river.
"Yu Rongshi." Yi Wan said.
"Don't you call me brother?" Yu Rongshi teased him.
"You said that things would get better when I entered junior high school. No one would bully me anymore..." Yi Wan said, "But at that time."
Yu Rongshi seemed to know what he wanted to say and said, "I will stay with you."
"… oh."
"We are good friends." He touched Yi Wan's forehead, "Come on, little Yi Wan, come and be my junior."
In the past few years, the booming economy brought people almost blind self-confidence. For example, the Toshiba color TV and Nikon camera purchased by my uncle and aunt's family. Now, they have become the fuse of quarrels in the bad economy and evidence of "consumerism". In order not to lose his job, my uncle drank a lot of wine at the dinner party, and my aunt, who had always been idle in the state-owned enterprise, also started to work overtime. When Yi Wan came home at night, there was often no food. He started to make it for his cousin.
The confidence in economic growth is also reflected in another unnecessary "purchase", namely Yi Wan. The living expenses of Yi Wan, which his father sent to his uncle and aunt, have not increased for a year. Aunt is always thinking about getting another 500 yuan from Yi Wan's father every month - so that she can enroll her cousin in an Olympiad class. The requirements of good schools nowadays are very high, and the registration conditions are all first prizes in the Olympiad and the Chinese Mathematics Competition. Aunt often said that the economic and employment situation in the future will be worse, and how can you pass the test without learning more.
She then tried to get Yi Wan to talk to her father, both openly and covertly. Yi Wan also told her father when she was on the phone. Her father said, "The signal is bad... Your aunt Liang's child is sick, and I promised to help her take the child to the hospital. I'm hanging up now."
Aunt Liang is the name of his current girlfriend.
"Forget it." Auntie said unhappily, "How could you forget that you are sick? You didn't convey the message well, right?... Forget it, you don't understand anything."
The porridge in the pot is diluting and the economic downturn continues.
Yi Wan is in middle school now. In fact, according to his grades, he could go to a better school, but Yi Wan didn't win the first prize in the Olympic Games and Chinese Games because he didn't have the spare money to attend interest classes. Of course, his uncle and aunt didn't care or have the ability to know other ways to enter a better middle school. In this era, information is wealth. It creates a clear barrier between people. Those who know the information continue to rise in class or continue to maintain it. Those who don't know continue to struggle with the fear of falling into the class. But if you want to know this information, the only way is to be in this class.
But No. 1 Middle School is also a good school. The watershed in grades made the teachers and classmates around him a little friendlier, but the friendliness was limited - because Yi Wan still didn't know how to communicate with others, at least, not that skilled.
Junior high school has higher requirements for socializing and getting along with others. Students eat in groups of three or five and go to the toilet in groups of three or five. The barbarians who believe in strength, fists and instincts have learned to divide people into "classes". Whoever knows more about chasing stars is in the upper class; whoever buys more expensive sneakers is in the upper class; whoever has a family background and can invite classmates to a hotel to celebrate his birthday is also in the upper class. The big circle has classes, and the small circle is divided according to interests and hobbies. Football, animation, Korean entertainment, American dramas, European and American pop music... also divide their own classes. Each other thinks that the other's hobbies are inferior, and they have to divide the levels based on hobbies. People criticize classes in textbooks and praise the collective, but the fact is that everyone has to enter a small circle because no one wants to be the one who is abandoned.
Yi Wan couldn't join any circle, nor did he want to join, so he was often alone in physical education class. He tried to learn how people in TV dramas and novels get along with each other, and even imitated their sentences to get along with others - because that was what the head teacher asked. She was very gentle, but what she said was strangely similar to what he said in elementary school.
The head teacher said: "Do you know what the purpose of the school is? It is to train children like you to become excellent talents and people who are useful to society. Communication skills are also an important part of this. In addition, the economy is so depressed now, and there are many troubles both at home and abroad. You are the pillars of the future, so you must work hard."
It's like everyone has a six-dimensional panel.
Learning ability: a, leadership ability: a, appearance: a, social skills: a, physical fitness: a, personal career: a.
This society seems to be born to love giving people scores.
The head teacher said: "When you enter high school, you won't have so much time to relax. Every age group has its own things to do. Your current communication skills are already behind the times. With this, how can you have a good development in the future? How can you pursue your dreams? While you are in junior high school, you must catch up quickly, right now. The later you start, the more you will miss and the more opportunities you will miss. In high school, you must study wholeheartedly." "Hurry! Hurry, hurry!"
"Otherwise it will be too late! Everyone is making progress, and you will be too late!"
It seems that other children are born knowing how to get along with others, but Yi Wan doesn't. He needs to study. This is a bit difficult and painful for him. Because he needs to spend more time every day to react, pay attention, and deal with his own reactions. But his uncle and aunt seem to like it very much.
My aunt even said, "You finally understand things."
Is this considered sensible? But his heart has never changed. It's as if he was not worthy of being liked before. But everyone else is happy, so this should be a good thing.
Besides that, there were other things he wanted to learn... He found a piece of A3 paper and drew different expressions: angry, sad, embarrassed, happy... so that he could remember them. It was a bit difficult to collect these expressions because he needed to remember them hard, and many times he couldn't just draw them on the spot. He didn't let anyone see this book because it would make him look weird and stupid, except Yu Rongshi.
Yu Rongshi, who was already in his third year of high school, also participated in this process. He sat opposite Yi Wan with different expressions on his face, asking Yi Wan to confirm.
Yi Wan said: "This is sadness."
“That’s right.”
“It’s anger.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s joy.”
"That's right."
At first, the error rate was high, but later it was almost zero. The two sat on the lawn of the riverbank and drew. A dandelion was blown into Yi Wan's eyes, and Yi Wan kept rubbing his eyes. Yu Rongshi said, "Don't rub it, it will damage your eyes."
He held Yi Wan's face and began to blow. The dandelion was blown away, and Yi Wan's eyes were red, staring at him blankly. Yu Rongshi looked into his eyes and said, "... What's wrong?"
He was usually talkative, but for some reason, he couldn't say a word at this moment.
"This expression means," Yi Wan said, "likes me."
"… "
On the lawn covered with dandelions, Yu Rongshi hugged him and said with his eyes closed: "Yes, the answer is correct."
"… "
"I will go to college starting September this year," said Yu Rongshi.
A premonition of separation came over Yi Wan. Yi Wan said nothing. Yu Rongshi said, "It's at a local university, about a 20-minute drive from here."
"… Um."
July is the season when dandelions fly, but fortunately, Yi Wan landed again.
"You have special talents." Yu Rongshi said, "Don't doubt yourself, Yi Wan. Everyone has their own blooming period, and so do you."
Yi Wan said: "Okay."
…
The gate of time is still moving forward in a dull and tedious manner. The dandelions bloom and wither, and at the same time, the flowering period of Yiwan seems to have arrived.
high school.
Junior high schools have drama festivals and campus cultural festivals, but the themes of high schools are no longer the same. They have become weekly tests, monthly tests, midterm tests, and final exams. The teacher said in class: "The principal spent hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy the original test papers from No. 4 Middle School."
No. 4 Middle School is the best middle school in the city.
The teacher said: "Don't let the principal down."
Finally, no one forced Yi Wan to participate in various activities. Because his grades were so excellent, especially after the subject division, he soared to the sky and left everyone behind. His silence became the "flower of the mountain"; his poor social skills became "practical" - do something practical, such as studying, and don't do those things.
Some people asked him questions, some people lent him test papers, and some people stole his notes... It didn't matter, he seemed to have suddenly become the object of everyone's "favorite".
Even though he is still himself, he has never changed.
The teacher said: "Students from other schools can be impractical. Why? They can be specially recruited into Peking University as gymnastics students. They can accumulate social practice and study abroad at Oxford and Harvard. But what about you, classmates! The college entrance examination is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If you pass the exam, you will move up in class. If you fail, you will fall down in class. I have seen many people who, decades later, still can't sleep all night because they didn't try their best in the college entrance examination! Moreover, other good schools have leadership programs, liberal arts programs, principal recommendations, and independent enrollment... What can you compete for? It's your raw scores!"
The teacher said: "Don't tell me what criteria to judge. At this stage, grades are the only criteria! Especially now, the employment situation is getting worse and worse. If you don't get into a good university and find a good job, you can only sweep the streets! You won't even be able to buy a house in the future!"
The teacher said: "Don't look at other people, look at yourself. The path you can take is the path of the college entrance examination! Don't look at the score line in Beijing. You were born here, so you have to compete according to the scores here."
In fact, some of my classmates transferred to Beijing to study. I don’t know how they did it. Some of my classmates changed their jobs and went to Tibet.
The teacher doesn’t talk about dreams anymore.
Actually, what the teacher said is right.
The girl who likes dancing said, "I want to share a point with Yi Wan!"
The boy who likes playing football said: "I want to get a point with Yi Wan!"
The girl who likes to make model airplanes said: "I want to share a score with Yi Wan!"
The boy who likes to write songs said: "I want to share a score with Yi Wan!"
They all asked, "Yi Wan, how did you study?"
During class, Yi Wan saw someone peeking at his textbook. Whenever the teacher talked about a certain part, Yi Wan would write down a few lines of notes. He would also write down the same notes, but with more lines than Yi Wan.
After class, Yi Wan was doing English cloze exercises. Seeing this, the people next to him also started to buy the same book, and each time they did one more chapter than Yi Wan. When Yi Wan returned to the classroom, he saw that his drawer had been rummaged through.
At lunch, Yi Wan ate in the school cafeteria. He ate lettuce, and some people ate lettuce too. Some of them did it on their own initiative, and some of them did it because their parents asked them to do it: look at what Yi Wan eats, and eat the same thing as him.
"We are all human beings, what's the difference? If we eat differently, then we should eat the same thing. You can be like Yi Wan."
"Input is like variables, and results are output. As long as you copy the model of people with good results, you will have the greatest probability of success. We should do what he did. Follow his path, otherwise it will be too unsafe." Someone said.
Actually, it makes sense. At this stage.
When the papers were distributed, Yi Wan found that someone had taken his Chinese paper first. Yi Wan's answer to a poem was: "This poem uses xx rhetoric to vividly express xxxx, set off xxxx's mood, and create xxxx's atmosphere. In terms of structure, it lays the groundwork for the following text."
Later, the person's answer was also: "This poem uses xx rhetoric to vividly express xxxx, set off xxxx's mood, and render xxxx's atmosphere. In terms of structure, it lays the groundwork for the following text."
Later, the whole class answered: "This poem uses xx rhetoric to vividly express xxxx, set off xxxx's mood, and create xxxx's atmosphere. In terms of structure, it lays the groundwork for the following text."
xxxx, fill in the blanks according to different poems.
Later, the teacher was overjoyed. This unified format did improve the accuracy rate. Some people began to learn Yi Wan's argumentative essay format, with parallelism in the first paragraph, discussion in the second paragraph, example 1 in the third paragraph, example 2 in the fourth paragraph, group examples in the fifth paragraph, and the conclusion in the sixth paragraph.
In the joint entrance examination for high schools, Yi Wan's class performed very well.
The teacher asked Yi Wan to share her learning experience. She said: "Yi Wan, you set a good example for the whole class."
Yi Wan shared his learning experience. Someone asked him: "Yi Wan, what books do you read, what music do you listen to, what do you eat, and what time do you go to bed? I want to live like you."
Only once, Yi Wan was reading a middle-level math book. Someone came over and asked him, "Yi Wan, are you going to participate in the math competition too?"
Yi Wan shook his head.
"Don't even think about it. If you make it to the national team, you can get extra points in the college entrance exam, or even be admitted to Peking University or Tsinghua University. But those places are always reserved for those few schools. It's not about strength, it's about connections." The classmate said, "Don't think about this, it's useless."
Another classmate asked, "Are you hoping to get a 2nd place in the national college entrance examination and get extra points in the independent enrollment? I know that although Tsinghua and Peking University have strict requirements, other 985 universities can get extra points if they get a 2nd place or a 1st place in the national college entrance examination."
"And aren't most math contestants recommended for admission to the math department?" someone interrupted. "Although it's better than biology and chemistry contests. But the basic subjects... are all very hard."
"No way." Someone retorted, "It's easy to change majors in the mathematics department. Finance and computer science are all very popular."
Yi Wan didn't say anything... Actually, he just wanted to watch. And the purpose of studying a subject is to change majors? It is said that mathematics is the mother of all subjects, but such a mother of all subjects is too disgraceful.
But the head teacher also found him and said earnestly: "Yi Wan, you have good grades. But the school really can't give you that much support. But if you want to participate in the competition, you can, the teacher will help you plan it."
Yi Wan said: "I just want to see..."
The teacher said: "You also have to pay attention to the time gate. It's the third year of high school, and there is not much time left."
Yi Wan saw the test papers on the teacher's desk. There were many English essays written by different students, but the fonts were all the same. The teacher said, "This font can add points in the exam because it is very clear. And when the examiner sees this font, he will think you are a good student."
Yi Wan said: "Yes... this is indeed the right thing to do now."
The National Day is coming next week. Yi Wan saw Yu Rongshi in the library again. The library has not been repaired for many years, and the books are still the same old books. Yi Wan also gradually realized that the old lady was actually a relative of someone with some connections, and was arranged here to occupy a place and get money.
This used to be something he was reluctant about, but now he felt relieved. At least it showed that this library would not collapse so easily.
He still read books with Yu Rongshi in the library, and then walked out and took a walk under the stars. Yi Wan said, "Will we always be like this, or will things be different in the future?"
Yu Rongshi said: "This is a special period. Things will be different after entering university."
Once you go to college, things will be different, right
Yu Rongshi was studying for a doctorate. He was studying natural language processing (NLP), a promising major. NLP was still a relatively new concept at that time. Yu Rongshi's research included the use of hidden Markov chain models and their improvements in natural language processing. Although there were studies in this area abroad, at that time in China, this was still a relatively new thing with no clear use.
Yi Wan asked him: "What if this thing is of no use?"
Yu Rongshi said: "I don't think so."
He pulled a blade of grass by the river and said, "Keep walking. When you go to college, you'll find that the world is different. You can do a lot of things, join clubs, participate in debates, and do research... The world is diverse. By the way, what major do you want to study?"
"Mathematics," said Yi Wan.
math.
Mathematics is the ultimate foundation of all subjects.
Yu Rongshi said: "Mathematics is a very lonely subject."
Yi Wan said: "Yeah."
"Okay." Yu Rongshi bumped fists with him. "I'll wait for you at university. When you go to university, I'll still have two years to study for my doctorate."
Yi Wan said softly: "Okay."
Apollonius, Galois, Gauss, Riemann, Romanchevsky... Yi Wan raised his head and saw the stars and the names of countless mathematicians shining in the long river of history.
Yi Wan suddenly felt a little happy. He had some expectations for the future. But he said, "Many people say that the Department of Mathematics is just a good major."
"Not necessarily." Yu Rongshi said, "You like it, don't you?"
Yi Wan closed her eyes and leaned her head against him: "Yeah."
Yu Rongshi still sends Yi Wan home. Everyone seems to know that Yu Rongshi is Yi Wan's best friend and has become oblivious to his existence. Yi Wan's father officially married Aunt Liang when Yi Wan was in the third year of junior high school. In order to consider her feelings, he no longer calls Yi Wan, except during the New Year. Auntie cursed at this.
Enterprises and state-owned enterprises have not improved, but have suffered more and more, and life has always found a way to survive. In fact, this is survivor bias, and those who cannot survive have died.
Auntie is a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She said that it was time to get rid of Yi Wan, a burden, but in fact she hoped that Yi Wan would do well in the college entrance examination. During the senior year of high school, the family was unusually quiet—perhaps 60% of it was due to his cousin who was in the third year of junior high school. Auntie discovered the role of Yi Wan in tutoring his cousin. Yi Wan also understood. A useful relationship is the most stable.
Tonight, my aunt made chicken soup for my cousin and served a bowl to Yi Wan. She said, "I heard gossip that the two most profitable departments in universities across the country are Guanghua School of Peking University and Computer Science Department of Tsinghua University. Oh my, these are two popular majors! Otherwise, Finance Department of Renmin University and Shanghai Jiaotong University are also very good!"
"Listen to what she's saying there," said my uncle. "GAF is a place for graduate studies. She has learned half of what she learned, but she's showing off to others here."
"What do you know? I've said before that Yi Wan will have a great future." Auntie glanced at him and said, "Yi Wan, I heard that some schools will offer scholarships for good grades. Does your school have any?"
"Study finance, if you want to study finance, study finance. Why study computer science? You'll just work for others. Look at what the newspapers say, Silicon Valley is controlled by Wall Street. If Wall Street wants Silicon Valley to lay off employees, Silicon Valley will have to lay off employees!" said the uncle. The aunt and uncle argued about whether Yi Wan should study computer science or finance. Finally, the cousin said, "If I can get into the best university, I'll be fine with studying a minor language... Hmm? What about Yi Wan?"
Yi Wan went back to bed.
He looked at the sky, at the moon hanging in the dark sky, staring blankly, fixing it in his eyes.
Grow up.
Well, grow up.
Heading towards an unknown future with more possibilities.
In June of that year, the college entrance examination was over. In July of that year, the admission results were announced. Yi Wan, who had the highest score in the school, shook hands with the principal and took a photo. Yi Wan's expression was very stiff, but this did not prevent his photo from being hung on the honor roll at the school gate - for every subject.
Yi Wan's glory was captured in this photo of him shaking hands with the principal.
During the entire summer vacation, Yi Wan did not receive any calls from his classmates, and only his notes were snatched away by his juniors. His brilliance and usefulness disappeared completely after the college entrance examination.