Chapter 110: First Love
After arriving, the young man realized he had been tricked into a pyramid scheme. But given his temperament, the young man wanted to leave as soon as he got angry and asked if his buddy was going with him, otherwise he would leave and not care about him.
His buddy burst into tears, begging the young man to stay. The others also earnestly persuaded the young man, saying he should stay for two days to see what this was all about and if it was viable. If not, the young man could take his brother and leave. The young man’s heart softened.
After this, the group took the young man to live in a communal dormitory, eat from a large pot, and then took him to lectures everywhere during the day. Those who shared rooms with him also took turns lecturing every night. The young man didn’t understand much else, but after a few days, he suddenly realized something: this was the legendary brainwashing, instilling thoughts into people!
Although the young man understood what was happening, he was still very curious why these people were being brainwashed, so he listened for two more days. During this time, he understood a principle: speaking is a skill. If a person is exceptionally good at speaking, capable of making the dead seem alive, then whether what they say is true or false, as long as someone believes it, that person will be considered great.
He asked a manager one question: why are there more people getting on than getting off, and what happens afterwards?
The manager said that when they get off, they have no connection to the others, nor do they need to be managed.
Because the young man was simple-minded and highly valued for his loyalty, had a fiery temper and was bold, they wanted to win him over. Several managers secretly took the young man out for drinks to try and get closer to him.
It was said that the buddy who had called the young man there had been there for almost a year and had never received such treatment, yet the young man, after only a few days, was being treated so specially.
It made sense. Just the fact that his brother said he was being bullied and he ran this far to help fight was truly remarkable.
Later, after the young man, his buddy, and a few others escaped from that place, the young man began to pay close attention to others’ speech and behavior. Once there was someone particularly eloquent and good at conversation around him, the young man would learn from their merits, taking in the good and discarding the bad.
For things like bragging and lying, the young man only learned the spirit of being able to brag, but not to lie; he only spoke about things he had experienced or could accomplish.
Gradually, the young man transformed from someone not good at talking into someone very skilled at conversation, and he also learned self-deprecating humor. He felt that if a man could be eloquent, follow through on his words, and be humorous, then girls would surely like him.
He was right. Later, through an accidental online chat, he met his first girlfriend in a meaningful way, through an online romance. They chatted for over a year. During this time, no matter what job the young man was doing, he would chat with her every day, even when he was operating a tower crane, holding the walkie-talkie in one hand, the mobile phone in the other, operating with his elbows, or typing with one hand while riding his motorcycle after work.
He almost had several accidents, but thankfully, the young man was truly very lucky.
Afterwards, the young man met up with the girl and took her to a room immediately after picking her up at the train station.
After one round of passion, they did it twice more the next day. Then the girl left.
Originally, the girl told the boy she was still a maiden when they were together, but after they got together, the boy realized it didn’t seem so. Because even though the boy had no experience in this area, he had heard from friends that the first time should feel like a breaking.
After the girl left, the boy tentatively asked the girl why it felt different.
The girl cried and said she had been bullied before, and it wasn’t what she thought, etc.
Under the boy’s questioning, the girl explained what had happened. The girl said she had a somewhat distant brother who claimed to be a relative but not that close, and claimed to be not too distant. One day she went to a girlfriend’s house, and that man snatched her phone and wouldn’t give it back, and told her girlfriend to leave. Then he forcibly communicated with her.
After hearing this, what normal man could stand it? The boy felt both rage and pain, his heart tearing.
He bought a whole case of beer by himself and went to the riverbank, drinking bottle after bottle. After finishing one bottle, he would make a shallow cut on his arm. After more than ten bottles, his arm had more than ten messy cuts, and blood flowed from his arm.
However, the physical pain was far less than one-ten-thousandth of his emotional pain at that moment.
He asked the girl, “Why didn’t you resist? Why didn’t you call for help?”
The girl said, “Who could I call? It was just me, and there was no one at that girlfriend’s house either, and she didn’t dare to intervene. I even suspect that the two of them teamed up to set me up because that woman was always jealous of me.”
The more the boy thought about it, the angrier he got, and he felt like he was going to explode. He planned to go over the next day to avenge the girl and get back at those two.
The girl was afraid the boy would do something foolish for her and desperately tried to stop him. But the more she stopped him, the angrier he became. He couldn’t understand why the girl was still protecting the person who had harmed her.
Finally, he understood. If he dwelled on this matter or did something foolish, he would lose the girl. But if he wanted to be with the girl, he had to let go of this matter. This was the boy’s first love! So he chose to bury this hatred in his heart.
He forgave the girl and told her, “Let what happened before we met go. But don’t let this happen again in the future, otherwise my heart will truly ache to death.” The girl agreed.
Afterwards, the girl came to see the young man again to comfort his heart.
The girl stayed at the young man’s house for two days before going home, then returned for two days. The young man’s mother would occasionally give the girl some money. Although it wasn’t much, giving five hundred yuan every two to three days at that time was quite a lot. Even though the young man’s family wasn’t wealthy and didn’t have much money, his parents were exceptionally good to him.
The girl told the young man’s family that her family knew she was visiting the young man’s house and that his family treated her well. She also said that her family asked her to send their regards each time she visited. During this time, neither the young man nor his family suspected that the girl’s words were true or false.
When they had nothing to do, the boy would take the girl out to play and wander around. They got along very well. Although there were occasional small disagreements, the boy would ultimately compromise and indulge the girl. Sometimes, the girl would anger him so much that he would pout even while sleeping. The girl would secretly take pictures of him and show them to him, and they would both laugh heartily.
After about half a month of being together, including the times she went back and returned.
One day, the young man’s phone ran out of battery, but he happened to be going out for something. The girl lent him her phone. While he was out, the girl’s mother called the girl. The young man answered without thinking. As soon as he answered, the girl’s mother heard a boy’s voice and asked who he was. The young man said he was the girl’s boyfriend and asked if her family didn’t know.
Hearing this, the girl’s mother immediately became furious. She sharply told the boy that they did not know, nor would they ever allow their daughter to date, and then demanded to know where the girl was.
The boy was also quite angered. He never imagined the girl would lie to him, especially after he had forgiven her. But he didn’t get angry; instead, he comforted the girl’s mother, telling her not to worry and that he would go back to find the girl.
After meeting with the girl, the boy took her to a room alone and calmly asked, “Did you lie to me? I answered your mother’s call.”
Upon hearing this, the girl’s face instantly changed, and she burst into tears. She grabbed the boy’s hand and apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lie to you. I was afraid my family wouldn’t agree and that you would overthink things, so I did this. Please don’t be angry with me, okay?”
The boy, unlike his usual irritable temper, was very, very rational. He wasn’t thinking about being angry with the girl, but rather about how the girl would face her family.
Afterwards, the boy took some money and accompanied the girl home.
The boy’s home and the girl’s home were neither very far nor very close, taking about two hours by car. While buying tickets, the young man discovered that the girl’s age on her ID card was six years younger than him, just having reached adulthood.
And she had previously told him she was three years younger than him. This was unbelievable…
However, under the girl’s comfort, she said she was afraid the boy would find her too young and treat her like a child, not wanting to date her, so she deliberately said she was three years older. The boy did not dwell on this matter.
When they arrived near the girl’s home, the boy took the girl to buy some gifts specifically.
The boy asked the girl what brand of cigarettes her father liked, what fruit her mother enjoyed, and so on.
The cigarettes they bought were “Huang Jin Ye,” and the fruits included pomelo and some other fruits, along with some snacks for the girl’s younger brother.
After buying everything, the boy felt like it was over and the matter was doomed. Most of the things they bought were yellow.
However, since they had already come, they couldn’t back down. What if the girl was beaten by her family if she went home alone? He had at least brought gifts, so they couldn’t just kick him out, right? Isn’t there a saying that it’s better to strike a smiling face than a frowny one?
When they arrived at the girl’s house, although the girl’s parents’ expressions were not very good, they did not explode on the spot but started chatting with the boy.
