Chapter 157: Goodbye, Youthful Days
One day, the boy drank three bottles of beer. For him, it was no different from drinking water. He just didn’t want to drink anymore, so he stopped after three bottles.
Before sleeping, he listened to a story he had written himself. The story was about the first girl he had liked in his youth.
Recalling that past affection, so pure it made the boy laugh. It was such a foolish, simple purity; he just wanted to see her, and seeing her made him happy, it was that simple.
Funnily enough, that night he dreamt of that girl.
Time flew by, and it had been nearly fifteen or sixteen years since they last met. The boy never expected to see her again in this way.
It was at a dinner party for some unknown reason. Their eyes met, and an ineffable emotion seemed to break through the barrier of space-time. The young man was still the same young man, and the girl was still the same girl.
The girl pulled the young man out to chat. Although the young man’s heart was with his girlfriend, he didn’t resist. He just wanted to simply talk about their past.
The girl spoke first;
“How have you been all these years?”
“Me? Haha, I’ve been doing pretty well. How about you?” the boy retorted.
“I’ve been in school. I got married the year before last and had a child last year. Sigh… but I don’t know why, the moment I saw you, I felt an indescribable feeling.”
Hearing this, the boy smiled. He knew clearly that after he had cultivated to a certain level, he would exude a sense of closeness to everyone he came into contact with, not for any particular reason.
Even an aunt who picked up bottles and sat by the road to rest, when the boy smiled kindly at her, she would be unconsciously influenced to smile back at the boy. It was a kind of inexplicable, profound feeling.
However, there should be other feelings too. After all, when old friends meet again after more than ten years, they are bound to have some emotional reactions.
The boy replied, “I feel it too. After all, you were the first girl I liked after coming into this world. And ‘like’ was just liking. Seeing you made me happy, and seeing you happy, seeing you doing well, also made me happy.”
The girl didn’t expect the boy to be so direct and say such things to her. Her surprised, large eyes scrutinized the boy for a few moments, because in her memory, the boy wasn’t this kind of person.
Such words were so direct and bold, almost like a confession.
The girl collected her thoughts and told the boy about her experiences over the years. After graduating from high school, the girl was accepted into her dream university. After university, she continued her studies. She had a few relationships in between, but none of them were satisfactory. Her current husband is her classmate. After dating for many years, they got together. Last year, she had a child and stayed at home to look after her husband and child.
However, she now felt as if she had suddenly lost her former talent for learning. She seemed to have become foolish in everything she did, even when facing the various trivialities of life. She didn’t know what direction her future would take.
The boy shook his head and sighed, “Sigh… Do you know why I was so smart and had excellent grades back then, but later started skipping school and my grades declined?”
The girl didn’t understand why the boy was asking about this. She looked at him, puzzled.
The boy continued, “When I was little, I was different from others. My thoughts were incredibly pure. Whenever I had something I really wanted to achieve, I would secretly stand in the courtyard at night, gaze at the starry sky, and make a wish to heaven. I made three wishes in total. The first two were when I was a child, and the last one was two years ago. And every time, I succeeded.
The first time, when I was watching a movie, I saw someone with a very rich godfather who gave him money. So I naively said to heaven, ‘Heaven, I want a rich godfather.’ Later, my father met one of his brothers who was in art. He adopted me as his godson, and he became my godfather. Within two years, my godfather became a shopkeeper. This wish was inexplicably fulfilled. However, an accident happened. Shortly after my godfather made a few million yuan project and became a little rich, but before he could take on the next project worth over ten million yuan, he contracted cancer, and the millions he earned were all consumed by hospital bills.
I went to see him in the hospital, and he was so emaciated from the illness, like a wilting flower.
I said to him with heartache, ‘Dad, the dad I remember isn’t like this. I haven’t seen anything that could defeat you. I believe you can. As long as you’re willing, you can defeat anything.’
After hearing these words, his eyes regained a glimmer of hope. That day was the most energetic he had been since falling ill. I pushed him to the bedside, and he lit a cigarette. He told me a lot of things, saying that when he got better, he would teach me everything he knew and then hand over his company to me. He wanted to become a teacher and teach art to children.
Later, when I received news, he had already passed away. I knew that if I had stayed with him then, he definitely would have lived. No one gave him strength; everyone around him wore frowns and sighed. Even a healthy person would become distressed and confused after a long time, let alone when they were sick. If it were me now, accompanying him, playing with him every day, there would be a 95% chance of him recovering his health.
Even if I had to help him with his waste, I would joke, ‘Dad, can’t you eat more as a big guy? Is pooping like a little girl? I’ll only help you once, can’t you just try to produce more? Hahaha.’
I think he would have laughed like a child and, influenced by me, would have been happy in everything he did. His illness would naturally develop in a positive direction through subtle influence. With a good mood, he could eat and sleep, replenishing his strength. And with strength in his heart, he could overcome anything, because a true heart doesn’t die, and heaven cannot destroy it.
Although my godfather passed away, I have no regrets. Because at that time, due to my circumstances, I couldn’t do that, nor did I have this state of mind I have now.
The second time, I saw the girl I liked being constantly reprimanded by the teacher. Seeing her like that, I said to the starry sky, “Heaven, please lend my intelligence, my wisdom to this girl I like. I hope she will have excellent grades from now on and no longer be criticized. I have no regrets.”
Later, I inexplicably started disliking school, always faking illness to skip class. My grades declined sharply. Although they were still decent, they were no longer as excellent as before. That girl, however, was like she was cheating. She was first in elementary school, first in middle school, first in high school. I don’t know about university.
Because I later became a scoundrel, competitive, bullying the weak, and liking to steal others’ things. Although I didn’t bully well-behaved students and would occasionally protect them, I became the kind of unlearned scoundrel I used to despise.
After experiencing many things, and nearing thirty years old, I made a third wish to heaven: to take back the intelligence that once belonged to me. Because I believed that at that time, that girl no longer had any intersection with me, and she could now take care of herself with what she had learned.
Gradually, I became superhuman again. Everything seemed so easy for me. Others might take a month or half a month to learn something, with the fastest taking ten days. I only needed three days, and by the fourth day, I could do it alone.
Later, I began to have doubts about life and inexplicably embarked on cultivation, starting to research the secrets of cultivation. A flood of wisdom poured into my mind. I knew the entire process of cultivation: what to do in the first step, what to do in the next step, then the third, fourth, and so on, until I reached this point. Let alone who I’ve liked, I dare to speak frankly. Even in front of you or anyone else, I dare to say I’ve even masturbated. I became terrifyingly self-confident, fearless, and unafraid of anyone’s gaze in the world.”
The girl looked at the boy and smiled, “I never expected you to be so uncommon now.”
After waking from the dream, the boy smiled, because he knew that the girl was indeed married and had a child.
Later, the boy confirmed this through his classmates, but the two still did not meet.
However, regardless of whether this matter developed according to what the boy knew in his dream, it didn’t make much difference to the boy. Not to mention that girl, even if that girl brought her mother along, it would make no difference to the boy. He wouldn’t be troubled by any issues because of anyone.
