Chapter Seven: The Return Journey

  Life has no turning back, if you want to regret, there is only next life, so now I want to die.

  The days passed quickly, and the week-long military training was about to end. During this time, what left a deep impression on Ouyang was not only the cafeteria food that was always served in small portions, but also the shooting practice. Speaking of shooting practice, it made Ouyang feel frustrated. There was only one shooting training session, where each student had three bullets to shoot at a target. When Ouyang shot, he didn't know if it was because of nervousness or playing too many computer games, his hand shook and he fired all three bullets in one second, hitting the grass nearby. At that time, Ouyang looked around and saw everyone else taking aim seriously, so he pretended to take aim for a while before standing up with everyone else. Other activities included standing at attention, marching in step, and climbing mountains. During this time, Ouyang found some spare time to visit the small shop on campus, where there was a public phone. He called his mother and happily told her about his military training experiences, but couldn't tell if his mother was happy or not from the other end of the line.

  That night, because they were going back the next day, everyone was excited and couldn't sleep. At this time, Ouyang discovered a problem - he had packed his quilt and other things in his bag the day before because he didn't want to pack them the next day, so now he didn't have a quilt to cover himself with and didn't want to take it out of his bag again. Later, Wang Lin found out and shared his own quilt with Ouyang, and the two of them chatted all night long. As Ouyang reminisced about the past seven days, he slowly fell asleep.

  The next day, everyone got on the truck back to school. Almost all of my classmates cried. Was it because they couldn't bear to part with their instructors? Or was it because they had suffered too much during this period? Nobody knew.

  "Morning glow, didn't your butt sit on that basin and break it?" Wang Lin asked with a smile in the car to Ouyang.

  At this time, Ouyang suddenly remembered that he was afraid of getting on the bus with a basin, so he simply put the basin under his buttocks and sat down. After a while, the car drove into the community where Fengmao Middle School is located, and the head teacher called on everyone to sing military songs, and everyone sang very hard. At this time, in the community, Feng Hongyan was waiting for Xiao Ouyang's return, not knowing what her child would become after a week, whether her skin would turn black or taller than before, or how she would be. When Feng Hongyan heard the horn of the truck, she walked over. She saw Ouyang at a glance, and to be precise, when she saw Ouyang for an instant, Feng Hongyan was so surprised that she couldn't speak, her hair looked like it hadn't been washed for many days, with dust all over it, her skin tone was darker than before, her lips were cracked in many places due to the wind blowing, and she seemed thinner than before. When Feng Hongyan saw Ouyang waving at herself to get off the bus, she suddenly saw that Ouyang's feet were stepping on the already broken washbasin, and Feng Hongyan was really crying and laughing.

  "How did I end up like this?" Feng Hongyan asked after pulling Ouyang onto a colleague's car.

  "Huh, what's wrong? I think it's fine." Feng Hongyan heard that Ouyang's voice had become hoarse.

  "Go home, take a good bath, get some sleep, and school starts the day after tomorrow. I've brought back all your books." Feng Hongyan said to Ouyang, only to find that Ouyang had already fallen asleep leaning on her shoulder. Feng Hongyan didn't know why, but tears began to flow down her face.

  Ouyang went home, took a bath and had a good sleep. The next day when he woke up, he saw a new stack of textbooks on his desk. Ouyang was very happy, not because he wanted to study, but because he loved reading books since childhood, even if he couldn't understand them. Maisie had already gone to school, and Ouyang heard his grandma calling "Chenxi, come have breakfast!" Ouyang came to the kitchen and saw Feng Qinglian pouring milk for him, so he said "Grandma, I have to get up very early tomorrow, sigh."

  "What bus are you taking?" Feng Qinglian handed the milk to Ouyang and asked.

  "I found a car for him, there are quite a few people from our side studying at Fengmao, almost 20 or so, everyone together found a master to pull it." Feng Hongyan said outside the kitchen.

  "Little Red, aren't you going to eat something?" Feng Qinglian replied

  "I'm not eating anymore, I'm going to be late for work. Chen Xi, you tidy up the room and pack your things well, school starts tomorrow. If there's nothing else, don't go out wandering around today, take a look at your new textbooks." Feng Hongyan said, then put on her shoes and left for work.

  "It's true, how can we get by without eating breakfast every day? Come on, Ouyang, let's eat." Feng Qinglian said, and casually picked up a bread to chew on.

  After dinner, Ouyang returned to his own room and started packing his small backpack. Since he didn't know what the next day's schedule was like, he stuffed all his books into the bag. Then he went to the living room to watch TV. To be honest, Ouyang wasn't really interested in domestic animations, but rather enjoyed watching anime that was similar to TV dramas, such as Conan. He had been following it from the beginning and never missed an episode. It seemed like he was full of curiosity about this boy who would encounter death wherever he went.

  Apart from watching anime, Ouyang's other hobbies were playing basketball and video games. Playing basketball was purely because Ma Ke brought him into it. When he was young, Ouyang actually liked table tennis, but Ma Ke always said that the ball was too small for two people to play with, so it wasn't fun. Therefore, Ouyang started learning how to play basketball with Ma Ke, but since he could never beat Ma Ke, he gradually lost interest in playing.

  As for video games, little Ouyang was basically invincible. He remembered that when he was in elementary school, his family bought a computer, which was still in the Pentium 2 era. One day, Ma Ke came over to play and they competed in a game. Ma Ke played three rounds but couldn't pass it, while Ouyang passed it on his first try.

  As for life, Xiao Ouyang is very fond of eating noodles. Basically, when rice is cooked at home, Ouyang eats very little, but as long as it's mantou or noodles, Ouyang can eat a lot. Like most boys, Ouyang also likes to eat meat, but he only likes to eat lean meat. If the meat has a bit of fat, Ouyang won't even touch it, let alone five-flower meat. Ouyang doesn't like to eat vegetables, but when it comes to fruit, he welcomes them all. This picky eating habit always gives Feng Hongyan a headache, but on the other hand, if Feng Hongyan just learns a few things, it's also convenient. Today, because mom had forbidden playing games earlier, Xiao Ouyang could only lie on the couch and watch TV. After a while, Ma Si came back from school at noon and saw Ouyang, saying "Ouyang, our school has been thoroughly demolished." Ouyang was confused for a moment, but after a while, he asked "Does that mean the square is going to start construction?"

  "Hmm, when I came back, I saw that big excavator humming away. That building is really solid, it'll take a while to demolish." Mike said, and then headed towards the kitchen.

  Feng Qinglian has already prepared lunch, which is the fried noodles that Ouyang and Mais particularly like. Mais asked Ouyang while eating "What time do you have to get up tomorrow?"

  "I don't know, probably very early, but it's okay, my mom found a commute bus for me, with more than 20 people, it must be very lively." Ouyang said excitedly.

  "I'm telling you, on the first day of school don't talk nonsense, is there someone in your class who's particularly annoying?" Mais continued to ask.

  Ouyang thought for a moment and said, "Hmm, there should be, I just won't bother with him and nothing will happen."

  "Hei Zi, you're wrong to say that. In this society, it's not that if you don't provoke others, they won't come to provoke you." Feng Qinglian interjected, with Mais nodding in agreement beside her.

  "There shouldn't be any problem, I'm either in school or on the bus, I reckon I won't have much to say to my classmates unless we talk during class." Ouyang quickly finished a bowl and went to get another one.

  "By the way, Mais, did you see if the high-rise building in our neighborhood was capped when you got off school at noon?" Feng Qinglian asked.

  "The building hasn't been fully demolished yet, I reckon it'll take a while longer. I'm full." Mais patted his belly, though he had already eaten three bowls.

  After dinner, Mais had a bit of a daze and was about to go to school. Ouyang suddenly said "I'll go with you, I'll come back at the school gate."

  "Be careful." Feng Qinglian reminded Ou Yang as he was leaving.

  The two brothers were walking on the road, and Xiao Ouyang asked Mais "What's the difference between a junior high school student and me?"

  Mais thought for a moment and said "I think it's hard for junior high school students to make friends, I feel like they have a lot on their minds."

  "No way, I think it's fine, we've been together for 7 days and nothing feels out of place." Little Ouyang continued to say innocently.

  "You're still like this, I was the same when I was in first grade, now it's second grade and our class has split into groups. For example, I only hang out with a few people, you'll probably be the same later on. Anyway, just try to interact more with people from our side, should be fine. Are any of your elementary school classmates in the same class as you?" Max and Ouyang walked past their old elementary school, which had become a wasteland.

  "There were two of them, Wang Lin and Xu Xue Mei, who were in the same class as me. They both had a pretty good relationship with me," said Ouyang.

  "That's it, if you're a friend, then it's no use recognizing each other now, huh? You see, our old house has been demolished."

  Ouyang followed Mais's finger and looked over, the original Feng family's old building had been demolished halfway, and the community was also full of rubble. "How are we going to spend New Year's this year?" Ouyang Wen asked.

  "Come on up to my place then, otherwise we'll just have to spend the holiday separately. We've always spent it together before, and I reckon this year will be about the same, but we can't set off firecrackers." said Mais

  "Why?" Ouyang asked.

  "Grandpa has passed away, we can't set off fireworks for three years," Mais said. Neither of them continued to speak and both fell silent. He remembered when they were young, Mais, Ouyang, and Feng Cheng, the elder brother of Ouyang's uncle, would wear thick down jackets every year during Chinese New Year to watch the fireworks display that could only be seen in District D. Then Feng Cheng would always secretly buy some fireworks for his younger brothers to set off behind their parents' backs. At that time, Ouyang was the happiest one.

  "Alright, I'm here. You hurry back now and make the most of today, school starts tomorrow. 88" The two people arrived at the school gate, Mais entered the school.

  Ouyang walked alone on the way home, looking forward to the upcoming junior high school life. He didn't know how to get along with his classmates on the commute and in class 1, nor did he know if the head teacher was strict or not, and what the teachers would teach him. Thinking of these things, Ouyang couldn't wait for tomorrow to arrive.

  So, this day has finally come.