Chapter Thirty-Four: The World of Faraway Mountains

  (To the readers who left messages and voted for me with red tickets, you know what kind of excitement I feel when I see your words? I want to say a lot, but I think saying too much doesn't sound like a man, just seeing your words gives me the motivation to write hard, in short, writing some words, telling a story, bidding farewell to youth)

  Li Sansheng had learned from Aunt Zhao's occasional words that Guan Yuanshan was not so smooth-talking in the past. In fact, at most, he would just play a little trick on younger students, tease the girls in class, and become the current smooth-talking person who doesn't look like a student but rather a social hooligan. This started after his father died in a car accident. Li Sansheng could understand what it was like for a child who had just entered junior high school to suddenly lose his father, because Li Sansheng had seen such scenes in the village when he was young. His grandfather said that it was fate, and once you've passed the critical point, you can consider yourself lucky if you can get through it smoothly, but if not, then this life is basically over.

  At that time, Li Sansheng didn't understand. He thought to himself that he had never had parents as miserable as theirs since birth, so why did they become like this? The old man just smiled and remained silent. Later, Li Sansheng understood and knew why they were in so much pain. It was because they had once possessed something but lost it, whereas he had never possessed anything to begin with and didn't know the heartache of losing something. This couldn't help but be his own sorrow, a sorrow that made him not even know what that kind of heart-wrenching pain felt like.

  Not to explode in silence, but to die in silence. Guan Yuanshan chose to fall, and Li Sansheng understood what it would be like for a child's sky to collapse: it was as if the light had been lost, the world had no color, and he felt abandoned by this world, yet at the same time, he felt that this world owed him. From then on, Guan Yuanshan became what he is today, but compared to when Li Sansheng saw him, he has changed a lot - at least he knows to study hard now, at least he knows to strive for higher places; it's just that the aftereffects of this can't be cured.

  Aunt Zhao couldn't manage it, didn't have the time to manage, and didn't know how to manage. Seeing it with her own eyes, she felt pain in her heart, so she just let things take their natural course. How could a woman who had lost her husband tell her son that this world is beautiful? She still has mom, even without dad, but Aunt Zhao was also filled with guilt.

  Guan Yuanshan was a troublemaker in school, and it's unknown how many girls he had already harmed. When Li Sansheng met Guan Yuanshan, the latter was only in his second year of junior high but had already dared to secretly bring female classmates home for overnight stays. With his decent looks and family background, Guan Yuanshan knew how to utilize his advantages. He had already harmed many girls since entering middle school. Li Sansheng didn't bother with Guan Yuanshan at the time, instead focusing on teaching Guan Mingyue guqin and tea art. This was because Li Sansheng knew that children in their rebellious phase, especially those from single-parent households, wouldn't listen to reason or authority. The harder you tried to discipline them, the more they would resist, and if you tried to appease them, they would look down on you even more. Only by ignoring him and giving him the initiative could Li Sansheng gain an opportunity to enter Guan Yuanshan's world. This was how Li Sansheng successfully piqued Guan Yuanshan's interest, causing him to become curious about Li Sansheng. As time passed, Guan Yuanshan saw that Li Sansheng, a man only slightly older than himself, understood many things better than he did. Eventually, they came together, and Li Sansheng gained the opportunity to help Guan Yuanshan reform his ways.

  This guy still hasn't changed his habit of messing with the country's flowers and grasses, and Li Sansheng has had to wipe his butt many times because of this. The teacher even went to his home many times, and this guy isn't just talking about love with little girls, he's actually doing it. Anyway, Li Sansheng wouldn't lift a hand until he saw the beautiful girl who was messed up by this guy, not until he got hurt by a girl in high school did he understand.

  That day, Li Sansheng and Guan Yuanshan were eating hot pot and drinking at a big stall in front of their school gate. Guan Yuanshan, who had just been dumped, was drinking non-stop, and Li Sansheng had to admit that the guy could hold his liquor. Later, after getting drunk, he pulled Li Sansheng into a crying fit, wailing like a woman. Li Sansheng said, "Now you know how useless you are, right?" Guan Yuanshan nodded vigorously, saying that the girl had told him she wouldn't even look at him if he were a great hero on the side of the road. Li Sansheng laughed and said, "Chairman Mao once said that dating without the intention of getting married is just being a playboy. You're always being a playboy, and you think a proud girl like her would look at you? I wouldn't even bother with you." Li Sansheng didn't hesitate to strike down Guan Yuanshan, also understanding that high school girls and middle school girls were already worlds apart, as their worldviews and values had become more mature. They had their own understanding of the world and their own expectations for a partner. Moreover, from what Li Sansheng heard from Guan Yuanshan's mouth, the girl was a proud campus belle at Gaoxin No. 1 Middle School, making it even less likely that she would look at Guan Yuanshan, a hoodlum and playboy.

  Li Sansheng told Guan Yuanshan that his grandfather had once told him, if a man can't bring happiness to a woman, then he shouldn't enter her world. Yuanshan, what you felt before wasn't called love, it was just decadence and vanity, but now this is almost like love.

  Guan Yuanshan nodded tearfully.

  Li Sansheng sometimes can almost certainly draw a conclusion, that is, most men have been hurt by women, the more painful they are, the greater their motivation, either exploding or sinking.

  However, Guan Yuanshan has long forgotten the school flower who once looked down on her and has a new target, which is the majestic and unparalleled, heaven-shocking and ghost-crying queen-level Da Ya. The first time Guan Yuanshan saw Da Ya was when Li San Sheng and his friends had just returned from the Terracotta Warriors, all wearing sportswear, and the three girls, Yu Er, Da Ya, and Xin Xin, with their perfectly developed figures that made people's hearts skip a beat, were perfectly showcased in their sportswear. When they came back, Li San Sheng took them to the club to rest, and Guan Yuanshan, who was dyeing his hair yellow and wearing headphones, saw the three beauties following Li San Sheng and immediately started teasing Yu Er and Da Ya with his words.

  That big girl had been practicing military-style wrestling and grappling since she was a kid, and her temper was as explosive as Mount Vesuvius. Thirty percent of the fights between Li Sansheng and others were because of this woman, usually whenever someone flirted with her or disagreed with her, they would immediately start punching and kicking each other. Li Sansheng had also suffered at the hands of this woman many times before. Seeing Guan Yuanshan, a small hoodlum, making lewd comments about her was more than she could bear, so Big Sister came up and grabbed Guan Yuanshan's arm with all her might, executing a beautiful over-the-shoulder throw that sent him flying onto the lawn. Guan Yuanshan let out a loud yelp as he fell, luckily landing on the grass, which wasn't too bad. If she had thrown him directly onto the concrete floor, Guan Yuanshan probably wouldn't have been able to get out of bed for a month. If Li Sansheng hadn't stopped her, Big Sister would have fearlessly and without hesitation gone over and kicked Guan Yuanshan's balls into oblivion.

  But the development of things was beyond Li Sansheng's expectation. Guan Yuanshan, who had been beaten, not only didn't hold a grudge against Da Lai, but also told Lian Sheng that he might have fallen in love with Da Lai one day when they were together. When Li Sansheng first heard this sentence from Guan Yuanshan's mouth, he was stunned and couldn't react for a moment. In Li Sansheng's memory, Guan Yuanshan was the kind of person who would seek revenge for every grievance. Today, you scold me, fine, tomorrow I'll take my brothers to visit your family. Guan Yuanshan, who never took Li Sansheng's teachings that "eating a loss is a blessing" as his life motto, was the kind of person who would dare to dig up someone else's ancestral grave and cut off their descendants. Today, after being beaten by Da Lai, not only did he not seek revenge, but also shamelessly told Li Sansheng that he had fallen in love with Da Lai. This made Li Sansheng feel like it was the end of the world, wondering if this kid had a masochistic tendency or if he had been knocked silly by Da Lai's shoulder throw.

  Things went further, and after getting familiar with Li Sansheng and Da Yu, Guan Yuanshan directly held a bouquet of flowers and a Cartier diamond ring he had bought from Zhongda International with all his savings. When Li Sansheng and others came to the club, he proposed to Da Yu in front of everyone, saying that he was attracted by her perfect appearance and temperament the first time he saw her. He said a lot of words that made Hei Zi Yu and others vomit out the food they had accumulated for over ten days. Li Sansheng was so disgusted with this little rabbit that he almost got goosebumps all over his body. What's even more unbearable is that this guy also combed a popular two-eight partition at that time, and it's unknown how many times he applied hair wax. His hair was so hard that it could probably pierce through his face skin. Li Sansheng sometimes wondered if this guy was born to Queen Zhao, why did she give birth to such a treasure? If it were said that the moon was born to Queen Zhao, Li Sansheng would believe it, but Guan Yuanshan, Li Sansheng really didn't believe it.

  This guy sang a big show, and the man who was spoiled by his wife suddenly got struck by five thunders. However, after reacting, he told Guan Yuanshan, a shameless rascal a few years younger than himself, that the lady doesn't like little chickens, kids whose butts haven't fully grown yet. If you have the ability to become an official at the provincial level one day and make it onto the Hurun list, then come to Old Zhao's mansion and propose in advance. At that time, if you really have this ability, even if the lady is married, she will immediately divorce and remarry you without hesitation.

  Guanyu Mountain cried with a sad face and said, "Da Ya, can't you lower your conditions?" Da Ya almost burst into anger and scolded, "Lower your sister! Alright, alright, if not, then quickly get out of here for the sake of Madam, don't let me see you again or I'll be annoyed. Be careful or Madam will beat you up!"

  This is the love story that cannot be said between Guan Yuanshan and Da Ya.

  However, the only thing that made Li Sansheng think that Guan Yuanshan was still a good guy was that he was particularly protective of his younger sister Guan Mingyue. Especially when Mingyue had a high fever in the middle of the night again, and Zhao Ayi was not around, and the family's nanny had gone home, Guan Yuanshan carried Mingyue on his back to the nearest Qujiang Hospital in the middle of the night. Whatever good food, fun things, or useful items there were, he would let Mingyue have them. If there were two, he would give one and a half to Mingyue; if there was only one, he would take care of Mingyue first. Li Sansheng saw this in his eyes and remembered it in his heart, but didn't say anything about it. This was also the main reason why Li Sansheng treated Guan Yuanshan as a member of his own family; otherwise, with Guan Yuanshan's bad temper, Li Sansheng wouldn't bother to pay attention to him.

  At the private club, Liu Yiran and Li Sansheng stayed for more than an hour. Later, after Liu Yiran received a phone call, he said he had something to attend to and left. Since Liu Yiran was leaving, Li Sansheng couldn't stay behind alone with a clear conscience. He promised Zhao Yi, Mingyue, and Guanyuanshan that he would return to the club to visit them when he had time, and left his new phone number behind. Guanyuanshan threatened Li Sansheng, saying: "Master, if you don't come back, I'll hire a dozen or so train station beauties, each with a loudspeaker, to go to your school and shout that you stole the king of chicken without paying, and they'll come to collect debts."

  Li Sansheng could only helplessly point and despise, "Your sister, you're so hateful."

  Li Sansheng declined Zhao Yi's offer to drive them back personally, firstly because although it was a small favor, it was still a human connection and unnecessary connections should not be owed, secondly because Liu Yiran and Zhao Yi were not very familiar with each other.

  On the way back to Jiaoda by taxi, Liu Yiran smiled and talked with Li Sansheng about some things about Zhao Yi and Mingyue Yuanshan, but did not ask about Zhao Yi's background and details.

  Li Sansheng actually didn't know much about Zhao Ayi's background either. After all, in the long time he had been at the club, no one had ever dared to cause trouble there. Most of the cars parked outside the club were from government and military departments, and none of the various law enforcement agencies had ever come to the club looking for trouble. However, the most common cars parked outside were those from the public security system. From some whispered conversations with customers, Li Sansheng vaguely knew that Zhao Ayi's late husband had been a big shot in the provincial public security department. As for how he died and why, all he knew was that it was a car accident, and nothing else was known. Li Sansheng wasn't very clear about Zhao Ayi's family background either.

  Liu Yiran told Li Sansheng that his own cousin had come to school to see him and was waiting at the entrance of Jiaoda, Li Sansheng originally wanted to send Liu Yiran back to school, anyway he didn't care how the geniuses of Jiaoda looked at him now, Liu Yiran had also gotten used to having a shameless rogue like Li Sansheng following her around, Li Sansheng thought about it and since his cousin was coming to see his cousin, he wouldn't go join in on the commotion.

  Yan Liu sent Yan to the north gate of Jiaotong University, which is also the entrance of Xingqing Park. Naturally, it was still Yan Liu who paid for it, and Yan Liu also generously let the driver take Li San Sheng to his school, and the money was also paid by Yan Liu. Li San Sheng hypocritically said no need, this is too polite, Yan Liu said really no need, Li San Sheng shut up.

  Didn't you know that these things had already been seen by a lieutenant colonel, who was probably only twenty-three or four years old but had already worn two stripes and two stars on his shoulders, standing at the gate of Jiaotong University.

  Just as the school bus started to climb the mountain, Li San Sheng received a strange call. He furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before answering it, because generally only people he knew had his number. On the other end of the line was a voice that was all too familiar to Li San Sheng - his father's.

  "Third brother, I'll arrive tomorrow night, so you have to pick me up then. Is that okay? You're not saying anything, are you very busy? Alright then, bye for now, take care and don't be too tired."