Chapter 544

University students in their fourth year are like men past thirty.

Looking ahead, they find opportunities for promotion and success looming, itching at their hearts.

Looking back, they discover that the regrets of youth are drifting further away; they want to make amends, only to find that once missed, it is incredibly difficult to turn back.

After the new semester began, Li Ye noticed the atmosphere in the classroom was distinctly different from before.

Some classmates who were usually very reserved and didn't like to socialize suddenly became outgoing, laughing and joking with everyone they knew, hoping to become friends with everyone.

Those who used to blush just speaking to a girl were now sending love letters daily and reciting love poems in public, and doing so with great passion, as if they had become different people.

But more classmates seemed to have grown up overnight, changing from their previous youthful liveliness to a steady silence, becoming sentimental, and frequently staring out at the campus, lost in thought.

In short, the troubles of growing up were fast-tracking these flowers of the motherland, and what kind of fruit they would bear depended on individual accumulation and opportunity.

"Letters have arrived, letters have arrived! Both Old Sun and the class monitor have written!"

Chen Xiaoling ran into the classroom waving two envelopes, her boisterous behavior not at all like that of a composed "senior student."

Those "overseas letters" finally stirred the atmosphere in the classroom into activity.

"Hahahaha, Old Sun sent photos! Take a look, everyone; this guy has grown some guts, actually daring to pose for a photo with a female classmate. Tsk tsk, I have to show this photo to his wife later."

"Look, look, the class monitor sent us photos too! I don't know what the postman was doing, but the photos are all crumpled. Which bridge is this? Is it the Manhattan Bridge in New York?"

"New York? Have you ever looked at a world map? The class monitor went to study at UC Berkeley; this is San Francisco."

"How do you know it's San Francisco? Is Berkeley in San Francisco? Have you ever looked at a world map?"

"I... I heard Li Ye say it. Li Ye has looked at one."

"Hey, have you noticed? Judging by these photos, the buildings in the Lighthouse Country seem newer and taller than those in Moscow!

Look at the cars on the street; they seem more advanced than those in Moscow too. It feels like the Lighthouse Country is more prosperous than the Soviet Union."

"You can't tell just from a few photos. The strength of a country isn't just about whose buildings are taller or who has more cars. The Soviet Union leads the world in technology."

Sun Xianjin and Zhen Rongrong seemed to have agreed beforehand, both enclosing photos in their envelopes to share the joy of having "arrived safely" more directly.

After everyone had finished looking, they passed the photos around. Amidst the joy and excitement, there was also a faint sense of envy and loneliness.

Sun Xianjin and Zhen Rongrong were the ones among them who had seized the opportunity first; promotion and success were within reach.

Meanwhile, the classmates remaining in the country were still worrying about whether they could stay in the capital after graduation.

Li Ye waited until everyone else had finished before taking the photos.

Sun Xianjin was photographed with a group of classmates in front of Moscow University, while Zhen Rongrong sent two photos—one in front of the school gate and one at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco—both solo shots.

Li Ye saw Zhen Rongrong wearing a plaid shirt. Facing the camera lens, she didn't have the programmed smile common in photos of that era, but instead wore a calm expression.

Li Ye scrutinized the photo, wanting to see more details, but a photo is a photo; the image was static and not clear enough for him to read Zhen Rongrong's eyes.

But Sun Xianjin was the exact opposite.

When Li Ye saw Sun Xianjin's photo, he couldn't help but laugh.

Compared to Zhen Rongrong's calmness, Sun Xianjin was undoubtedly excited in Moscow. Several Russian girls were posing with him, making his mouth stretch almost to his ears.

This, to a certain extent, showed the difference between the two: Sun Xianjin had a straightforward temper, while Zhen Rongrong's mind was more delicate and rational.

"Chen Xiaoling, why don't you read their letters to us? Let us know if they are doing well in a foreign land."

"Alright, I'll read the class monitor's letter first. Everyone, be quiet!"

Chen Xiaoling stood on the podium and began to read Zhen Rongrong's letter.

"Dear classmates, greetings. Ever since I got off the plane, I have been in a state of shock. Although I had heard of the prosperity and advancement of the West, only after experiencing it personally did I realize how heavy the burden on our shoulders truly is."

"The new school is very good. Most of the classmates are very polite to us international students from the East, but the gazes of some people make me feel very stung."

"Yesterday, during our international student gathering, we all sang 'My Chinese Heart' together."

Perhaps because Chen Xiaoling's tone was too somber, Li Ye felt that Zhen Rongrong's letter exuded a sense of "time waits for no one," a feeling of oppression and urgency.

The Lighthouse Country had already begun urbanization before the "Great Qing" had even fallen. Seeing countless skyscrapers suddenly, Zhen Rongrong's mental pressure was imaginable.

It just depended on whether Zhen Rongrong could withstand this pressure.

Thinking back three months ago, Zhen Rongrong had told Li Ye with certainty that when she returned from the Lighthouse Country, she would definitely treat all her classmates to a good meal at the Zhao Family Uncle Uncle Guan Er by the school gate. He wondered if the restaurant would still be there by then.

"I miss you all very much. In my dreams, I think of the bits and pieces of our time at Peking University. I only hope to finish my studies and return home early to reunite with you all.

Li Ye once asked me if I would return home. Rest assured... remember to leave your contact information with Li Ye after graduation. When I return, I will definitely treat you all to a big meal."

Everyone looked at Li Ye; some frowned in displeasure, others had unkind looks in their eyes.

How could you doubt our beautiful Class Monitor Zhen like that?

Li Ye looked at Chen Xiaoling and took Zhen Rongrong's letter in surprise, discovering that she had indeed ended with that sentence.

Li Ye couldn't help but laugh; he was sensitive to text and felt that Zhen Rongrong seemed to be acting out of spite.

"I'll read Sun Xianjin's letter now!"

Chen Xiaoling noticed the subtle atmosphere and picked up Sun Xianjin's letter to divert everyone's attention.

"Dear classmates, I have missed you very much in these three months. I have arrived safely in Moscow. I have so much to say after just a few days here."

"The alcohol here is truly potent... the food here is truly terrible... the classmates here are truly enthusiastic; the female classmates insist on pulling me to dance, which makes me very uncomfortable."

"Hahahahaha!"

Sun Xianjin's letter was a completely different style from Chen Xiaoling's, filled with a "lively" tone. Chen Xiaoling had only read halfway before everyone burst into laughter.

Only Li Ye understood that this was a man's habit—reporting the good news but not the bad.

Whether in the Soviet Union or the Lighthouse Country, Chinese people with yellow skin and black eyes needed to put in more effort to earn the respect of others.

Only they themselves knew the hardships involved in this.

(End of chapter)