Chapter 373 Joys and sorrows
Campus life has always had its fixed format.

Here it is always class, get out of class, class, get out of class... a continuous and boring cycle, but here there is also the blue sky, clear white clouds, leaves falling from branches, like-minded companions, the familiar tall and thin back soaked in sweat, the white skirt swaying gently in the breeze, and the clean girl with a blushing face.

Every day, there are so many young souls experiencing individual tempering and character building, and there are also countless souls who are at a loss and are crushed by the confusion in their studies and life, and lost in the desolate wilderness.

Some people say that when you fall in love with life, you have found the spark that activates life. Zhang Chunlan, the most outstanding and promising fourth child of the Zhang family, has been extremely passionate about and worked hard to manage her life since she was old enough to understand. While studying hard, she also shared the hardships that the poor family had experienced with her young shoulders. She was like a morning glory, growing tenaciously and stubbornly on the barren land, and never bowed to the fate that kissed her painfully. However, now that her life is rich, she seems to be sliding step by step into the vast desert of life.

On campus, this girl can no longer feel the little beauty of life. All she can do every day is to bury herself in the vast amount of books, attending class, going home, attending class, going home... the endless boring rotation paralyzes herself. She cannot think, cannot see, cannot participate in anything lively in the school. She rejects the blue sky, clear white clouds, and leaves falling from branches, because these beautiful things only make her feel pain.

As a girl with great ambitions and practical ability, her pain does not only come from the setbacks in love in her youth, but more from the complete collapse of her trust in a person she has known for many years and whom she regards as a like-minded person fighting side by side in life!
That night, Wang Jinshan said that his dream was to be admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology and devote himself to the national defense construction of the motherland. At that time, Chunlan looked at the boy next to her who was looking up at the sky, and she was tempted to tell him: "I have changed my mind. I will not go to Tsinghua University. I also want to apply to Harbin Institute of Technology!"

Now, this sentence that has not been spoken out will never be spoken out again. Chunlan is no longer willing to believe any word that comes out of Wang Jinshan's mouth.

However, Wang Jinshan didn't know that Chunlan had found out the truth of the matter from his hometown that day, and he still went to Chunlan as usual in the name of asking for advice. Chunlan remained calm. She was unwilling to expose the boy's false face in person, and she still left him with basic dignity as a human being.

Wang Jinshan seemed a little anxious, and mentioned several times, intentionally or unintentionally, that someone asked his mother to pay compensation and forced his family into a desperate situation, but Chunlan just didn't respond.

In fact, many times, silence is a rejection.

Wang Jinshan couldn't see clearly, or he didn't want to see clearly, he couldn't wait any longer, he really needed the 600 yuan. However, in that era, the currency unit of "fen" was still active in the consumer market, and for a poor boy like Wang Jinshan, there seemed to be no other way to get such a huge sum of money except to ask Chunlan.

On Friday, during physical education class, he saw Chunlan sitting alone on a stone bench in the playground in a daze, so he walked over. Chunlan didn't say anything, so he took the initiative to talk about borrowing money, saying that his family couldn't afford it anymore and he wanted to drop out of school.

Chunlan silently looked at Wang Jinshan and listened to his passionate performance. After a long time, she said, "I don't have any money."

Wang Jinshan was choked.

This seemed like a huge joke. How could a rich girl like Chunlan be without money? This was just a polite refusal. However, a person struggling in the mud would not let go easily when he saw a rope that could pull him out. He became anxious: "Can you think of a solution?"

Chunlan has already turned her eyes away from the basketball court: "I have no solution, you should find another solution yourself."

Wang Jinshan was unwilling: "Chunlan..."

Chunlan stood up and said, "If you don't have money to eat, you can ask me to help you swipe your meal card; if you need study materials, you can tell me what materials you need and I will buy them for you. But please don't lie to me again. My money is earned by my brother working hard outside, not for you to play games and fool around outside!"

After saying that, Chunlan turned and left.

Wang Jinshan stared blankly at Chunlan's resolute back, his eyes were complicated and his expression was a little dazed. After a long time, his eyes suddenly turned red and he chuckled, like a desperate roar from deep in his throat.

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By then Chunlan had already returned to the classroom to read.

Of course, this is just a simple explanation. In reality, she couldn't concentrate on reading the book. She couldn't calm herself down and read the whole day.

I was in a daze until the evening.

During the evening self-study class, the classroom was very quiet. Around nine o'clock, when the get out of class was about to end, a series of "bang! bang! bang..." sounds suddenly came from outside.

There was a commotion in the classroom.

Some students opened their windows and looked out, some ran to the corridor, and some said, "Oh my god, someone is setting off fireworks!"

At this time, a classmate who was outside buying snacks came back and said to Chunlan excitedly: "Chunlan, it's your brother Zhang Yunqi. He asked someone to drag a truckload of fireworks to celebrate a girl's birthday."

"Chunlan, your brother is so romantic!"

"That girl's name is Chu Jian. She's ranked first in the senior year group. She's amazing." A bunch of people were chattering, and Chunlan was stunned.

Most people wouldn't want to care about this kind of thing, and she's even less likely to be in such a mood right now, but for her brother and sister Chu Jian, she couldn't help but want to go and take a look.

When Chunlan and her classmates arrived at the football field, a lot of people had already gathered there. The fireworks in the sky were still blooming, and countless endless streams of light were dancing in the night. The entire campus and the green grass were as bright as day, magnificent, as if they had entered a fairy tale world.

Under the fireworks, with countless eyes on her, Chunlan saw her second brother holding a cake in his hands, and Chujian buried her head in his arms. At that moment, it seemed that all the female classmates around her were envious, and they felt that Chujian was the happiest girl in the world.

Chunlan felt that Chujian was the happiest girl in the world.

No one knew why, but Chunlan, who was standing silently behind the crowd, had two tears falling silently down her cheeks under the meteor shower.

At this moment, this strong girl didn't know whether to feel happy for her brother or sad for herself.

But no matter what, she would not allow herself to be so vulnerable.

From that day on, she studied harder.

During those days, I almost reached a state of being possessed.

At home or at school, as soon as she woke up, she would hold a book and read it madly. If she couldn't finish it, she would pinch her thigh. From morning to night, she would fall asleep as soon as she touched the bed, exhausted. It was good this way. She didn't have to think about anything or care about anything. Gradually, she became numb and indifferent to many things.

On this day, Chunlan was the only one left in the classroom during evening study as usual.

She is a sophomore in high school. After finishing the last question on the test paper that was beyond the syllabus for seniors, she stretched and looked at the sky outside the window. There was a bright moon in the sky, quietly casting warm light. Her mood, which had been gloomy for many days, improved a lot.

It seems that there is a saying that is right: time is the best medicine to heal everything. Chunlan thought.

Chunlan put her textbooks into her schoolbag, got up, turned off the lights in the classroom, locked the door, and left the school with her schoolbag on her back to go home.

The streets were empty at that time, with only dim lights and dark night.

Chunlan suddenly felt a little cold and wrapped herself up in clothes. Just then, two men in black clothes with their hands in their pockets came towards her.

Chunlan didn't care and walked straight over. When the two passed each other, she suddenly felt a black screen in front of her eyes and her head was covered by something.

When Chunlan realized what was happening, she was about to scream when her head banged loudly. Then, she heard a man's cold voice say, "Drag him away!"

******
PS: In many previous chapters, I have been laying the groundwork for this story. Now I am finally getting to the point. This story has a prototype, an experience around me, but it is not the kind of story you imagine. It is not a story about unrequited love and then revenge.

I have always been confident in my portrayal of love, but I have also been trying to restrain myself, because a novel that uses emotions as a clue throughout the story is definitely not an attractive novel. Emotions should be a byproduct of the protagonist's struggle. I want to write about the joys and sorrows of the process of reform and opening up over the past 40 years, so that it can resonate with a social phenomenon at the time and write a sad footnote for this turbulent era.

Of course, my writing is not sharp enough, and my knowledge is also lacking. There are many regrets. For now, I just try my best to write the best I can at the moment.

Continue updating tomorrow night.

The update time will be before 12 o'clock at night.

Please subscribe, this is the motivation for me to continue working hard on writing.

(End of this chapter)