Chapter Thirty-Four: The Stormy Night (04)

  In Yan Nan S, there are only two canteens. The second canteen is next to the first one (the main canteen in S), which sells some buns, mantou and rice noodles, of course you can also eat some dishes.

  Chen Haonan slowly walked over... If you say that the cafeteria is a good place to solve hunger, but when it comes to the cafeteria in Yan Nan S, not a single student can help but get angry. In S, the layout and design of other buildings and activity venues are still reasonable, but the layout of the cafeteria is extremely disappointing. To put it simply: if the teaching area and dormitory area are on the mountain, then the cafeteria is at the foot of the mountain, with over a hundred high stone steps in between. So, when it's time for meals, such a scene will appear: a large group of students rush to the cafeteria, like fierce tigers coming down from the mountain, accompanied by shouting and clanging of utensils. The scene is absolutely not ordinary!

  That's nothing, there's something even more extreme! After the students wolfed down their food, they had to climb up the stone stairs back "up the mountain"! Over a hundred stone steps is no easy feat, and almost everyone would be panting with exhaustion by the time they reached the top. Of course, this might not apply to the few exceptional athletes with super-developed limbs. So, it's common for people to complain: I was just full from eating, how come I'm hungry again after climbing up? Or someone would simply curse: Dammit, my meal was wasted!

  Of course, this is also an unavoidable thing. In Yan Nan S Middle School, you can't ask people to smash the canteen at the foot of the mountain and then build one on the mountain. This back-and-forth would cost a lot of money, which would make those pot-bellied leaders in S Middle School heartbroken. Therefore, no matter how students complain and curse, the school leaders are always "unmoved", "unfazed", each with an expression like "the mountain collapses in front of them but their face doesn't change color".

  Chen Haonan walked slowly to the entrance of the second cafeteria under the dim light of the street lamp, and when he turned back to look at the stone steps he had just walked over, he couldn't help but let out a sigh. After resting for a moment, he entered the cafeteria. Inside the hall, apart from a few servants cleaning up, there were only two young girls eating something while staring at the TV watching some Korean drama that was so cheesy it was dying.

  He sat down in a corner and ordered a bowl of braised noodles and four meat buns. Before long, what he had ordered was brought to the table. Having been without appetite for several days, Chen Haonan was starving. He picked up his chopsticks and shoveled a large mouthful of noodles into his mouth, while his left hand grabbed a bun.

  Who would have thought that the filling of the bun had a bad taste, Chen Haonan took a bite and tasted it out. Instinctively, he wanted to ask the waiter to replace the bun, but as soon as the words reached his lips, it was as if something was stuck in his throat. "It's okay, this kind of bun is still good with the braised sauce!" Chen Haonan said to himself with a wry smile. Maybe it was because he was "so hungry that everything tastes good", he quickly finished the remaining buns and then ate the rice noodles...

  Suddenly, the two little girls watching TV let out a loud "ah" and everyone in the room was startled. One of the cleaning staff even threw away the mop in their hand. At this time, Chen Haonan had already finished eating his rice noodles, and his eyes were also fixed on the TV. It turned out that the two little girls let out a ghostly scream because of this scene: A fool on the upper floor poured a bucket of water right onto another fool's head, and the fool downstairs opened their mouth to scold the upstairs fool... Originally wanting to sit for a while longer, but being startled by their sudden shout, Chen Haonan became a bit flustered. He quickly paid the bill and left this "troublesome" place.

  From the second cafeteria, Chen Haonan ran to the top of the stone steps next to the newspaper stand in one breath. He couldn't help but turn around and look at the more than 100 levels of stone steps again. His hands were clasped together on his knees, his waist bent, and he was panting heavily. Looking at the nearly vertical stone steps, he couldn't help but let out a sigh and exclaimed: "It's really unbelievable!"

  Taking a deep breath, Chen Haonan stood up straight and was about to head to the classroom when a voice suddenly came over: "Chen Haonan, what are you doing here?"

  "How come the voice sounds so familiar?" Chen Haonan's mind flashed out with such a sentence. Turning his head, he saw their class teacher, Old Li, standing not far away.

  "What are you doing standing here alone? It's late at night, and it's a bit chilly outside, be careful not to catch a cold..." Before Chen Haonan could speak, Old Li continued.

  Chen Haonan was somewhat agitated, he didn't expect that at this moment someone would still care about him like his father. In an instant, his tears burst forth. "Teacher, my dad is gone..." He choked with sobs, his hands desperately wiping away the tears, but they flowed out like a flood that had burst its banks - unstoppable!

  "I already know." Old Li sighed sorrowfully and opened his arms to hug Chen Haonan. He gently patted his shoulder, and then continued, "Haonan, since your father is gone, you should let go a bit, don't be too sad, or else your father won't rest in peace... You need to think about your mother, think about your family members, they absolutely don't want you to sink into pain either. You are their hope! As a grown man, you can't just think of yourself, you need to think more about them... Your father may not be here, but there are still many people who care about you and love you, you should fight for their sake... When the time comes, if you achieve something, they will all be happy for you, your father will also smile at you from heaven..." Old Li used all his efforts to comfort Chen Haonan, hoping he wouldn't cry anymore or sink deeper into sorrow. However, as Old Li spoke, tears began to fall from his own eyes, and he quickly wiped them away.

  Mr. Li's words seemed to have enlightened Chen Haonan, but in an instant he understood even more that a teacher is just a teacher, and the love of a father cannot be replaced by anyone else. Wiping away tears with both hands, before the tear stains had dried, Chen Haonan smiled and said: "Teacher, I understand now - from now on I will absolutely not cry again!"

  "This is what a real man looks like!" Old Li said with a smile, patting Chen Haonan on the back, his eyes filled with infinite comfort and encouragement.

  After bidding farewell to the head teacher, Chen Haonan returned directly to his dormitory. Lying on the bed, he thought of his father's various warnings in the past, and the words that the head teacher had just said kept flashing back in his mind from time to time...

  Before long, the evening self-study bell rang out, and the entire campus suddenly boiled over like a pot that had been opened. Not long after, several people returned to the dormitory, chattering and making noise, completely unaware that someone was already lying on the bed. However, Chen Haonan just lay there with his body turned sideways, pretending to be asleep. He was afraid of others seeing his haggard face, and even more afraid that others would know about his father's situation and sympathize with him or pity him. But at the moment when someone entered the dormitory, Chen Haonan made a very important decision: from now on, he would never easily cry again, nor shed tears in front of others.