Chapter 124: Someone More Powerful Than You Exists

“Kaijian, stop right now, are you defying heaven?”

“Let go of me, you’re crazy, ugh!”

Li Mingyue heard her son’s wailing and ran from the other end of the bus station, only to see her younger brother grabbing her son and beating him mercilessly.

Li Mingyue rushed forward to pull them apart, but she couldn’t budge them.

Li Mingyue panicked.

She had never seen Li Kaijian so furious—he was nearly turning his own nephew into a pig’s head and showed no sign of stopping.

Helpless, Li Mingyue opened her mouth and bit down on Li Kaijian’s arm.

“Ow! Ow!”

Li Kaijian bled from the bite, his grip loosened slightly, and Cui Aiguo finally freed half his body.

Li Mingyue released her bite and seized Li Kaijian’s collar instead, crying out: “What are you doing? Tell me what you’re doing! Are you trying to kill your own nephew?”

“He’s not my nephew—he’s an animal.”

Li Kaijian’s eyes burned red as he glared at Cui Aiguo, who hid behind Li Mingyue, breathing heavily as if ready to charge and crush him.

“Your nephew’s an animal, so what are you? Aren’t you an animal too?”

“Do you know what he did?” Li Kaijian pointed at Cui Aiguo, his voice low and venomous: “He wrote a denunciation letter—accusing Li Ye of cheating.”

Li Mingyue froze for several seconds, then murmured dazedly: “Cheating... Li Ye cheated? No wonder...”

“You two are both bastards, both curses.”

Li Kaijian flew into another rage, shoved past Li Mingyue, and grabbed Cui Aiguo’s collar again.

Li Mingyue immediately clung to his other arm and shouted: “Where did you hear this nonsense? How could Aiguo do something so evil?”

“He admitted it himself,” Li Kaijian growled. “That day, the county education committee officials sat at the same table as our father.”

“They were baffled—exam graders normally only review college entrance papers; even the top scorer in the province just gets his paper reviewed a few extra times.”

“So why did the provincial authorities even think to check Li Ye’s pre-exam scores?”

“How did they know Li Ye was ‘unique’? And why did the inquiry trickle down from province to city to county, digging into Li Ye’s background?”

“Impossible. Aiguo’s a good boy—he’d never do something like that.”

“I heard it myself,” Li Kaijian rasped. “Just now, I heard it—your son wrote two letters to the provincial education committee denouncing Li Ye for cheating.”

“This... maybe the province got it wrong...”

Li Mingyue argued, but even she didn’t believe it.

Back then, provincial reporters had come to Qingshui County to interview Li Ye, the top scorer in the province—partly because Li Ye was labeled “unique.”

None of them knew it was Cui Aiguo who had written the denunciation letter to the provincial education committee, triggering the review of Li Ye’s two exam papers.

Of course, Li Ye’s two papers had identical handwriting, and his pre-exam paper was “brilliant”—so Cui Aiguo’s two letters had no effect.

But now, after hearing this, Li Kaijian was drenched in cold sweat.

What kind of nephew was this?

It was only because the official college entrance exam carried such massive responsibility that the authorities were extra cautious—if not, what chaos would have erupted?

Animal. Not even death is enough.

Li Mingyue’s hands trembled violently as she grabbed Cui Aiguo and asked, voice shaking: “Tell me—did you make a mistake? Were you dreaming?”

Cui Aiguo, still seething from his uncle’s beating, jerked his neck defiantly: “He definitely cheated—Old Huai even appeared to him in a dream, didn’t that count as cheating too?”

“Besides, I denounced him—and he benefited! If not for me, would he have made the newspaper? Would he have gotten so famous?”

“...”

Li Kaijian and Li Mingyue were stunned.

Li Kaijian couldn’t believe his own nephew was this cruel.

Li Mingyue couldn’t believe her own son was this foolish.

“Good, good, very good. This isn’t over.”

Li Kaijian stood speechless for a long while, then gritted his teeth and spat: “I’m done,” before turning and sprinting off on his motorcycle.

Li Mingyue slapped Cui Aiguo hard across the face.

“Mom, you’re hitting me too?”

“You stupid child!”

Li Mingyue wept as she stomped and paced, more frantic than an ant on a hot pan.

“Mom, Li Ye didn’t even get hurt—he beat me once, now my uncle beat me again—what more does the Li family want?”

“You—” Li Mingyue choked back tears: “Your uncle’s anger is one thing—but if your grandfather finds out, he’ll never forgive you!”

Cui Aiguo scoffed: “Grandfather? He’s going to beat me too?”

“Oh no, why did you just admit it?!”

Li Mingyue twisted her son’s arm, sobbing: “Li Ye is Li—his grandson. You’re Cui—an outsider’s grandson. Do you think he’ll spare you?!”

“...”

Cui Aiguo stood frozen for a long time, then suddenly bolted away.

“Aiguo, where are you going? Come back!”

“Mom, I’m going to college—I’ll miss the train!”

“Wuuu~”

“Wuu~”

The train from the south slowly pulled away from Dongshan Station, heading northward.

Li Dayong, Hu Man, and others waved frantically out the window—their faces, once filled with excitement, now streaked with tears.

The principal and several teachers had already faded into the distance; Han Xia’s father and Jiang Xiao Yan’s mother still ran alongside the platform, chasing the train.

The nagging reminders—“Be careful on the road,” “Write when you have news”—had felt annoying moments ago, but now, as the train moved, they echoed like a mother’s lullaby, breaking their hearts.

“Child, when you earn money, who will you spend it on?”

“You and Grandma—I’ll buy you so much food, you’ll never finish eating.”

“...”

“Girl, what will you become when you grow up?”

“I’ll be a doctor—I’ll cure your cough for sure.”

As they grew older, children who once saw only their parents became independent, rebellious, eager to escape their control, to fly free in their own sky.

Only occasionally, when they glanced back at the homeland now out of sight, did they suddenly remember their childhood promises remained unfulfilled.

But that was only rarely.

“Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack”

The train rolled along steel rails, its rhythmic metallic clatter quickly dispelling the homesick melancholy of the children, reigniting their restless longing for freedom.

Jiang Xiao Yan and Han Xia claimed the two window seats, pressing their faces against the glass, eyes wide with delight as the scenery blurred past.

“My turn, my turn—you’ve both stared long enough!”

Fu Yingjie hurried over, annoyed at Han Xia and Jiang Xiao Yan.

“Hmph, stingy.”

Han Xia muttered the insult but immediately stepped away from the window.

After boarding, Li Dayong and the others had secured two adjacent window seats, so the six of them took turns sitting there, savoring the breeze.

“Come on, I’ve got salted duck eggs my mom boiled—want some?”

“My mom made me egg pancakes—I can’t finish them, help me eat them up.”

“Me too, me too...”

At mealtime, the children all pulled out their best treats.

These delicacies, rarely eaten at home, had been stuffed into their backpacks by their parents—each bite packed with love.

When it was Li Dayong’s turn, he sighed: “I didn’t bring anything—just money. My brother told me: as long as you don’t skimp on spending, you won’t lack for anything.”

“Oh? Without your big brother Li Ye around, you’ve turned into a big monkey? How full of yourself!”

“What are you talking about? I’m a rich man too! Hey, I’ll treat everyone to boxed meals! My brother said train meals don’t need grain coupons.”

Li Dayong, stung by Han Xia’s jab, spotted a train attendant in a white chef’s uniform pushing a food cart.

The cart had a pile of chopsticks up front and aluminum lunch boxes behind—smelling surprisingly good.

“How much per box? Fifty cents? Give us six.”

Before anyone could refuse, Li Dayong pulled out three yuan and handed it over, his boastful demeanor unhidden.

Hu Man whispered: “I heard from my dad it used to be thirty cents a box.”

The attendant handed out the boxes and said: “Girl, that was the price two years ago. Don’t complain—it’ll only get more expensive soon.”

“Fifty cents is cheap? Really...”

“Shh—my dad told me: when traveling, speak less, especially don’t badmouth in front of others. This actually smells pretty good!”

Hu Man and the others thought fifty cents was expensive, but they didn’t know the attendant was telling the truth.

At this time, the train cooks were skilled state employees; in a few years, when the boxed meals were outsourced, the prices and taste... hehehe.

After eating, they waited for the attendant to collect the boxes, when a petite, doll-like girl smiled and walked up from the rear of the train.

“Have you all eaten? The journey is long—how about a casual interview?”

“...”

Hu Man and the others stared for several seconds before instinctively saying: “Reporter Yue, this train’s going to Jingcheng.”

Yue Mengmeng smiled and walked over to Fu Yingjie. “That’s right—I’m going to Jingcheng!”

Fu Yingjie quickly moved aside to make room; he knew full well how formidable this petite girl could be.

If you don’t give her a seat, she’ll make you squirm and leave you torn between laughing and crying.

Li Dayong, as the self-appointed “big brother” at the moment, stepped forward and asked: “Reporter Yue, didn’t you already interview us?”

Yue Mengmeng put on a worried expression. “My internship’s over. My unit assigned me to the Beijing bureau, but I’m completely unfamiliar with the city—I have no idea where to start.”

“Why don’t I interview you? I’ll write a story about outstanding students from Dongshan Province who came to the nation’s capital, saw its strength, and marveled at its greatness. What do you think?”

That hat you’ve put on is hard to refuse.

Li Dayong and the others looked at each other, hesitant.

Yue Mengmeng added: “I brought a camera. Once we get to Jingcheng, I can take a few photos of you and mail them home to your families.”

“We want pictures of Tiananmen.”

“Of course.”

Then you’d better cooperate!

Yue Mengmeng was highly professional—she asked each question one by one, jotting notes down, and soon the skeleton of the article took shape.

But just as she was finishing, she suddenly asked: “You all are college students now—what are your views on college students’ romantic lives?”

“Romantic life? What’s that?”

“I mean your views on adult relationships. Li Ye must have a girlfriend, right? By the way—who among you is Li Ye’s girlfriend?”

“...”

Everyone exchanged glances.

Hu Man and the other two girls were first stunned by the question, then exchanged glances—each look heavy with unspoken meaning.

[Heh, you might meet her soon. You think you’re tough? You haven’t seen anyone tougher yet.]

(End of Chapter)