Chapter 65: Childhood Inspiration

"What is this? A good opportunity," Yang Xin stopped walking.

"What? Are you moved?" the voice said.

Yang Xin closed their eyes, then opened them again; in that instant, they recalled all memories with Feng Yan. Those once beautiful memories perhaps at that moment all turned into a burden in Yang Xin's heart—whether it was self‑reproach or regret over this matter? Yet, in the end, they still chose, gave up the friendship with Feng Yan, chose her, and Yang Xin slowly walked away, leaving the campus.

The red sun slowly set, and Yang Xin slowly walked out of the school gate. They lifted their head, saw the setting sun again, sighed repeatedly, and said, "In the end, what I still can't let go of is the ease between me and her; what should I call this feeling?"

Yang Xin kept walking, and in their mind kept pondering, they had still chosen the latter; perhaps this is a dilemma.

Because, regarding this matter, there is no right or wrong, only what one thinks is right, so the other side is deemed wrong.

Feng Yan sat in the car, recalling the conversation with Yang Xin. The reunion was joyful, but meeting an old friend—Feng Yan wasn't sure whether it was his own overthinking or what—he kept feeling that Yang Xin had changed. Although Yang Xin is the type who is a bit scheming, Feng Yan understood that he is kind to everyone. Yet today, why? Why did it feel like Yang Xin was deceiving him, and seemed like a huge scam, but in the end, Feng Yan still didn't ask about it.

At that time, Feng Yan was just a child disliked by others; people constantly bullied him, snatched his water bottle, took his backpack. That group always treated him that way, and the words they said back to Feng Yan were those very harsh remarks that cut him deeply then.

He frantically shook his head and covered his ears, refusing to let the sound in.

"Orphan, a child without parents!"

"What does an orphan need, a toy? One person is enough."

"Hahaha"

The children played and tussled, then swung their little fists again at the child being hit. Their strength wasn't great; the punch on the body wasn't very painful, but instinctively they protected their heads.

At that moment, Feng Yan was covered in mud; after watching the few children drift away, he slowly stood up, picked up his backpack, and watched the two kids who had bullied him hum a song as they walked off. He remained rooted, staring blankly; a breeze passed, and his unsteady eyes shed tears.

In fact, Feng Yan was much taller than those children, but faced with their beating and scolding, he never fought back. He was afraid; he feared that if he struck, they would call their parents, and then the children would flatter their parents, nodding and bowing, saying nice things. Moreover, Feng Yan was naturally silent, always quiet in crowds, his presence barely noticed, so over time he became their target.

Until one day, Feng Yan finally could no longer endure it.

Those children snatched away the first book his mother had given him at the time, The Old Man and the Sea. Feng Yan was very happy; this was the first book his mother sent him when he was sent back to his hometown. Though the protagonist's name in that short story was a bit of a mouthful, he still remembered the name: the fisherman—Santiago.

When those kids saw what Feng Yan held, they snatched it away. The kid who grabbed it flaunted his new "loot" to the others, standing on a higher spot, showing off his success, then opened a page and began reading. The children surrounded the boy who had taken Feng Yan's book, trying to look at the illustrations, curious about a book beyond the textbook.

They gathered around, hearing the boy with the book read, "A person can be destroyed, but cannot be defeated!"

Feng Yan walked up to the boy, bowed his head and begged, "Give the book back to me."

In fact, the boy also wanted to keep the book and knew Feng Yan was a coward, so he replied very firmly, "No, I won't give it to you."

The group of kids below started jeering, basically encouraging the boy to take the book, bolstering his courage. He puffed out his chest and struck a pose he had learned from a TV drama; his head was held high, looking overly swaggering.

Feng Yan straightened up, shedding his pleading expression, his face darkening, and said coldly, "Give it back to me!"

The boy, already impatient, asked everyone, "Do you think we should swap him?"

"No! Whoever grabbed it owns it!" the crowd shouted in unison.

"Then, we won't take any!" the boy said, then grabbed the book, pulling hard at the middle. With a ripping sound, the book split in two, and he handed the other half to Feng Yan, flashing a smug smile, "We each get a half, consider it, I give you…"

Before he could finish, a fist slammed straight into the boy's eye socket.

"Wow!" the boy, in pain, rolled on the ground and started crying.

Feng Yan picked up the other half of the book, put it back together, and tears fell again. He tucked his book away, placed it in his backpack, and after shouldering it, prepared to return to the classroom, but the boy suddenly grabbed Feng Yan's waist and shouted, "Teacher, the big fool hit someone!"

It was Feng Yan's homeroom teacher. Hearing the boy's shout, the teacher came over and asked sternly, "What happened?"

A nearby child added embellishments, listing Feng Yan's faults and speaking ill of him. The teacher listened carefully, his eyebrows knit together, lines forming on his forehead. After the child finished, the teacher turned to look into Feng Yan's eyes and asked sternly, "Did you hit him?"

Feng Yan was a bit scared; his heart pounded, but he nodded, essentially conceding.

The teacher asked again, "Why did you hit him?"

Feng Yan said nothing, but silently took a book from his backpack and handed it to the teacher. The teacher looked puzzled at Feng Yan's action, and saw Feng Yan pull out a book that had already been torn lengthwise into two halves, and gave it to the teacher. The teacher took the two‑halved book, opened the front page, and saw two characters written neatly: "Feng Yan".

It was Feng Yan's own book, the one his mother had written on before giving it to him.

The teacher's face darkened as he approached Feng Yan. Feng Yan felt scared and quickly used his arms to shield his head, but the teacher crouched down and grabbed Feng Yan in a hug. Feng Yan didn't understand what was happening; his tears kept flowing, and he sobbed. It was his first time being embraced by someone other than a monk; the warmth and comforting feeling made Feng Yan feel embraced.

Feng Yan just wanted one more second, even if just one more; he feared it was a dream, yet the feeling was so real. After a while, the teacher took Feng Yan's hand and led him to the office, settled him into a chair, handed him a glass of water, then took out a handkerchief he always carried and wiped the tears from Feng Yan's eyes. He then said in a very gentle tone, "Don't be afraid. I know you're an honest child, but sometimes you can't be too honest."

Feng Yan lifted his head, looked at the teacher, and blinked, seeming to understand something. The teacher seemed to grasp Feng Yan's intention, took the book, then retrieved a roll of tape from a drawer and tried to restore the book to its original form.

"Here, next time protect your things better," the teacher handed the book to Feng Yan, but Feng Yan didn't take it.

The teacher was puzzled and asked, "What, you don't want it?"

"No... it's, I... can't... protect... it," Feng Yan stammered, nervous.

The teacher unzipped Feng Yan's backpack, placed the book inside, then patted Feng Yan's head and said gently, "It's okay. You're still growing. You're a man, and when you grow up you have to support a sky. How can you not protect a book? Promise me, you can do it!"

"Hmm, I can!" Feng Yan nodded, his voice very soft.

"Speak up!"

"I can!"

"What is this? Feng Yan's memory?" Yang Xin suddenly woke up, looked around, and found a golden key. Wang Tingwan happened to walk up to Yang Xin's face; he shouted loudly, but Wang Tingwan seemed unable to hear him. He greeted Wang Tingwan, but it was as if she couldn't see him either.

"Yang Xin!" a voice slowly said.

"Who is it?" Yang Xin turned his head, eyes wide open; the person in front of him was Feng Yan!

Feng Yan continued, "If you had told the truth back then, this result wouldn't have happened."

As soon as the words ended, the surroundings suddenly brightened, and Wang Tingwan also saw Yang Xin. Yang Xin went over and asked Wang Tingwan, "How's it going?"

"It's fine, Feng Yan saved me a bit," Wang Tingwan replied.

Yang Xin couldn't help but ponder, but now, where is Feng Yan?