April 3rd.
The rain drizzled.
The base was shrouded in a mist.
Amid the pitter-patter of rain, occasionally there was a muffled thunder.
All was silent; it seed that only wind, rain, and thunder existed between heaven and earth.
The sound was soothing and calming to the ear.
This was a ti fit for staying indoors, safe and warm.
Sleeping.
...
Not far from the library within the base, there were two classrooms.
At this mont inside one of the classrooms, Teacher Liu was giving a lesson to so children of the base.
Among them were so of Li Yu's younger cousins, such as Li Peizhen, Li Suxin, Li Zhengping, and others.
And younger cousins from the extended family: Liu Chi, Liu Dai, Zhang Zhixing, Zhang Zhen Ni, and others.
There were also a few others who joined the base later, like Xuanxuan, and the daughter of the worker Wang Cheng, Wang Xiaoguo, as well as the children of Old Lü and Old Xie, among others.
All the minors added up to a total of over twenty individuals.
Li Yu, still wearing a raincoat, had co from patrolling the base and descended from the surrounding wall.
Passing by the classroom, he noticed Zhang Zhixing sitting at his desk, tapping on the surface, his head blankly staring at the desk, zoning out.
Li Yu looked at this younger brother whose eyebrows ford a character akin to "囧", the youngest boy in the family.
And the naughtiest one.
Before the apocalypse, he would strut around dominantly in kindergarten, knowing he had many older cousins.
Everyone liked this little guy, mischievous as he was, because he had such a sweet tongue, addressing everyone as "Big Bro", "Second Bro", "Third Bro", "Fourth Bro", "Fifth Bro", "Sixth Sis", "Seventh Bro"...
Making everyone's mood light.
Li Yu rembered that before the apocalypse, during the Spring Festival the year before he started working, he even took this little guy to play with firecrackers.
Unexpectedly, the youngster self-taught blasting cow dung, getting quite skilled and cheeky at it.
Li Yu didn't go in to trouble Zhang Zhixing; being a bit naughty as a child is fine, as long as he understands the importance of family, keeps kindness in his heart, possesses basic morality and a certain ability, that's enough.
In the pattering rain, Li Yu watched Zhang Zhixing.
His gaze suddenly brought back many mories.
...
Before the apocalypse, much of education was about parents demanding obedience, children learning to listen, to heed the teachers' words.
In this world, the saying that a fly doesn't land on a flawless egg is bullshit.
Flies sotis still land on the table.
Can you bla the egg for that?
So people are just debts that are overdue! They just love to bully others.
Yet so parents believe that teachers are always right.
But the teaching profession has many admirable, good people.
There are also a few bad apples.
Favoritism and power plays are not uncommon.
When Li Yu was a child, he suffered from school bullying, and he told his parents.
But they said, "If you didn't provoke them, why would they clash with you?"
It was so unjust.
Later, he reported it again to his parents, and their answer was to talk to the teacher.
The young Li Yu heeded their advice and spoke to the teacher, who said: "Why does he bother others and not you? If you behave yourself, why would others trouble you?"
It was another return to the fallacy that it's the victim's fault.
After making a full circle, it was back to the starting point.
So, when Li Yu realized all this, he felt sowhat despair as a young child.
A small young man's pride can be hurt, humiliation endured, and his mind is consud with thoughts of retaliation at all tis.
But he was in despair, feeling that no one could help him.
He was the eldest son and grandson of the family.
He had no older brothers or sisters.
He didn't know who to ask for help, and had already sought help from his closest parents, only to find out, quite obviously— it was utterly useless.
If he were a so-called mature man, he might have already been mature in his mind, he would feel indignant about getting beaten, but given the responsibilities on his shoulders, he would choose to endure it.
Or perhaps, show high understanding, magnanimity, and forgive himself.
But at the ti, he was just a child.
This world simply has such a group of people rotten to the core, their mistakes can cause many kind-hearted people.
To suffer lifeti damage in their hearts!
He was scared, he was filled with fear, he was in despair.
As his parents were always busy with business, he had been living at school on his own since elentary school.
He lacked a sense of security, he had no confidence.
Because of that one ti, he felt that if sothing happened, there might be no one to help him.
He couldn't digest these emotions, so he imrsed himself in reading.
From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea to The Art of War,
From Three Days to See to The Red and the Black.
In the world of books, he saw many fascinating, glowing characters.
It was as if his soul was being purified.
At that ti, he didn't need friends, because books were his friends, books could heal him.
Sotis, he could go as long as a month without speaking, aside from when he was called upon in class, and apart from that, he didn't have to say a single word like so kind of oddball.
He seed to have lost the ability to communicate with others, but at that ti, it was the happiest period in his life.
He didn't have to worry about social interaction, after all, he had no friends.
Yet, sotis when he saw others being lively, he would feel envious, but it seed that because he had not spoken for too long, he didn't know how to start a conversation.
He had not shown emotion for so long that he didn't know how to smile, so he tried practicing smiling in the mirror.
But the smile always seed too deliberate, unnatural.
He learned from books on how to interact with people.
To learn to joke, to close the distance with others.
So he tried making jokes, but others said that he always told cold jokes.
When joking, he always misjudged the limit, leading to many misunderstandings, making others feel that Li Yu was mocking them.
Li Yu was powerless. He sighed.
It felt rather dull.
Until one day, a new classmate took his seat, flipped through his books, and saw the book he was reading: Notre-Da de Paris.
Then this new classmate ntioned that he was temporarily staying at a relative's house, which had the Twenty-Five Histories.
And he offered to lend them to him, Li Yu was very happy.
This classmate was mature and astute.
But Li Yu was never the proactive type, he previously emitted an air of standoffishness, and without knowing his background, few people would trouble him.
But during that period, just as Li Yu had opened a crack in his heart, desiring friendship, longing for companionship.
This classmate took the initiative to lend him books to read.
This made Li Yu very grateful, so he also bought so snacks to reciprocate.
After their relationship improved a bit, this classmate asked to borrow money from him.
It was always small amounts like ten plus yuan, borrowed and never repaid.
After borrowing many tis.
At that ti, Li Yu didn't have much living money left, and at the end of the month, when Li Yu had no money, he did not lend to him.
The classmate left in disappointnt.
One day after class, he deliberately kicked Li Yu's stool.
Li Yu ignored it, and later the classmate, taking advantage of his bigger size, deliberately bumped into Li Yu, causing him to fall.
Anger surged in Li Yu's eyes.
These days, this classmate had been bullying him.
Always looking for trouble, he didn't understand why people could be so wicked.
Why could one person be so malicious!
As a human being, to be so disgusting.
This made Li Yu extrely angry.
But, since elentary school, his parents had taught him—
It's not easy for you to study, in fact, it wasn't hard, at that ti Li Yu's family was considered very well-off in that area.
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