Chapter 3 Memories in the Bar

  I opened my eyes, picked up the wine glass and gently shook it, took a sip, looked around, then shook my head again and leaned back against the chair back with my eyes closed. Sighed and said, tomorrow I will leave this place, time really flies! More than three years have passed just like that, as if I had arrived in Xi'an yesterday... Unconsciously fell into memories.

  Back then, I was a prodigal son. At just 16 years old, I left home and started attending university on my own. You might not believe it, but how is it possible to attend university at 16? It's actually quite simple - in the 21st century, with money, you can accomplish many things. My family was relatively well-off, and I was pretty smart too, so when I was just starting high school, I decided to take a shot and apply to universities. I didn't like the atmosphere of my school, so I figured why not try taking the entrance exams? If I could get in, I'd just go straight to university and live the dream life - sleeping in till I woke up naturally, skipping classes if I didn't feel like listening, and even sneaking off to sleep in the back row or switching seats whenever I wanted.

  Then I took the exam and scored some points, to be honest it was quite embarrassing, just barely reaching the score for a junior college. But I really couldn't take the studying and living in high school anymore, so I decided to leave directly. Of course, after arguing with my family for a long time, they finally agreed. Then my family spent money to find connections and found a school for me, and I was sent out.

  Three and a half years, just attended for two months, I moved out of the dormitory to rent a house outside, of course not like other classmates, found an object and went out to cohabitate, poor me is living alone...

  Speaking of which, I have to mention a strange thing, and it's roughly like this...

  It happened during the first National Day holiday after we just entered university. Several classmates and I planned to climb Mount Qinling together, saying it was to experience life, and I was more than happy to go along with it. Originally, I already quite liked sports, and had even joined many exercise clubs, like boxing and so on. Just as we climbed to the middle of the mountain and found a flat area to rest, we ate something, drank some water, and chatted about this and that.

  That strange old man was also dressed very simply and happened to be sitting on a stone opposite us. I remember that it was the old man who spoke to me first, "Young man, you reek of alcohol, didn't you overdrink again last night? Drinking too much is not good for you..." The old man said slowly to me.

  I was also puzzled, but still politely replied: "Hehe, I know, old man. But I really didn't drink yesterday, not just yesterday, I haven't had a sip of wine for a while!"

  The old man looked at me and said, "Oh? Really didn't drink?" I nodded vigorously and quickly replied, "Yeah, yeah, really not! We're all in the same dormitory, they can't just watch me drink alone, right? Hehe..."

  "Oh, I see! But the alcohol in your body is indeed very strong, not normal at all. Let me tell you, if you can't drink, then don't drink. Now that your body has such a heavy smell of alcohol, who knows what will happen if you continue like this?!"

  The old man still spoke slowly and calmly, his voice lowering afterwards "Could it really be him? Meeting once is also fate, let's stay here for a few more days and teach him some things. As for what happens later, that's up to him! Ah..." Of course, I didn't hear this conversation.

  The old man looked up at me and said, "Do you know xx Square? Tomorrow morning, go there and I'll teach you some exercises to strengthen your body. Do you want to learn?" As soon as I heard the location, it was just a short distance from our school, even shorter than my daily running route. And thinking about it, it wasn't like it was a bad thing, and it's not like he could kidnap or extort me, a poor student with nothing to lose. So I smiled at the old man and said, "Okay, I really like exercising, I'll definitely be there before 6 am tomorrow! Please teach me more then!"

  The old man looked at me, shook his head and laughed: "Six o'clock is too late, you must arrive before five o'clock, otherwise the best time will be gone, young man!" As soon as I heard this, I thought to myself, is this old man crazy? It takes me at least 20 minutes to get there, so wouldn't I have to wake up by 4:30?! Waking up early isn't a problem for me, but would the dorm mother agree to it? "What's wrong? Can't take it anymore? Even getting up early isn't allowed, how do you expect to exercise?" Just as I was thinking this, the old man spoke again with a teasing tone! I gritted my teeth and said: "Alright, no problem. I'll definitely be on time tomorrow!" It's not like I have to wake up that menopausal dorm mother every day or anything... I can just pretend to be pitiful, say I have stomach problems and need to go buy some medicine or something. Then I looked at the old man again and thought to myself, you'd better not mess with me, otherwise next time I catch you, I'll kill you for making me lose another hour of sleep tomorrow!

  Then the old man got up and walked down the mountain, saying as he went: "Remember, I'll be waiting for you tomorrow morning!" He didn't even wait for me to respond, and just walked away with a swaying gait.

  As the old man walked away, several roommates came up to ask me, "Are you really going tomorrow? At 4:30, aren't you afraid of being killed by the dorm mother?" A classmate asked me a question, I nodded and replied seriously: "I go out once, it's not worth killing me, but if that old man dares to cheat me, I will consider killing him!"

  "Hey, our great Maple Leaf sneakers are even of interest to old men, hey, the world is really going downhill...". Another guy muttered sarcastically. I went over and kicked him: "Get out, with a brain full of thoughts and a body full of cells, you're the one who's being talked about! Hurry up, get up, let's go, or we won't make it back in time tonight!"