This person really knows how to be reborn!

Chapter 19 Life is a Chance Encounter

After finally getting through four afternoon classes, the holiday is finally here.

At the school gate, Li Xingzhi, with a hint of resentment in his eyes, invited Zeng Cheng to go to the arcade together.

"Okay, go play games then, what's with that resentful look in your eyes?"

"Cheng-ge, how dare you ask me? I've asked you out so many times, and you've ignored me every single time. You've been out hanging out with Yu, the campus belle! You really are heartless when it comes to the opposite sex!"

"You're wronging me. They say brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes. We've been brothers for so many years. Whether it's Xia Ning or Yu Baiwei, can they compare to you?"

"Brother Cheng, have you now evolved to the point where you can lie without batting an eye?"

"No, not really, I didn't finish my sentence—" Zeng Cheng paused, then added cheekily, "There are plenty of people with missing limbs on the street, but have you ever seen a cicada without clothes on?"

Li Xingzhi: "..."

Zeng Cheng's words made perfect sense, and he was speechless.

"Cheng-ge, are you really going to play games with me instead of going with your campus belle, Yu?"

"My dear son, is it possible for the three of us to be together?"

"..."

Although Li Xingzhi could never bring himself to call Zeng Cheng his godfather, he could only accept Zeng Cheng calling him "good son."

"Brother Cheng, you also made plans with Yu Baiwei?"

"Here you go—"

Zeng Cheng pointed in a certain direction.

Li Xingzhi looked in the direction of the sound and saw Yu Baiwei walking gracefully toward the two of them with a tense oval face.

Upon seeing Zeng Cheng, she finally showed subtle expressions on her face, such liveliness.

The three headed straight to the arcade.

We arrived at our destination quickly.

After Yu Baiwei entered the arcade, the subtle expression on her face disappeared again, and she gestured for Zeng Cheng to go to the King of Fighters '97 machine.

"Uh, you want to challenge me to a duel?"

"Um!"

Zeng Cheng could only satisfy him.

This time, Zeng Cheng was much gentler.

After letting Yu Baiwei win several rounds in a row, she became unhappy and said with a serious face, "Zeng Cheng, don't let me win on purpose!"

"Sure?"

"Sure!"

Zeng Cheng had no choice but to unleash his full strength, cleanly defeating Yu Baiwei 10-0, including seven wins where he won three out of seven.

Unlike other fighting games, The King of Fighters '97 is a 3v3 game.

Using one character to defeat three of the opponent's characters is called "winning three".

This situation usually only occurs when there is a significant disparity in strength between the two sides.

After the ten rounds were over, Zeng Cheng thought that Yu Baiwei's Dao heart would collapse again.

They didn't have it.

Instead, he took out a notebook from his small schoolbag and began writing and drawing very seriously.

"Uh, Yu Baiwei, what kind of operation is this?"

"Take notes, summarize the reasons for failure, and analyze your attack patterns."

"..."

That's why they call him a genius!

After playing the Fist Queen game with Yu Baiwei, Zeng Cheng played a game of Three Kingdoms War Chronicles with Li Xingzhi.

As IGS's flagship game, Romance of the Three Kingdoms can be considered the last glorious chapter of arcade beat 'em up games.

Li Xingzhi really likes this game, but his skills are just average.

Every time he plays, he drags Zeng Cheng along and makes Zeng Cheng choose Zhuge Liang to carry him.

A normal playthrough of the Three Kingdoms Chronicles takes at least an hour.

While the two brothers were playing, Yu Baiwei didn't play anything else. Instead, she sat quietly next to Zeng Cheng and watched him play. Her oval face was still very taut, but her beautiful crescent-shaped eyes would occasionally sparkle with light, making them so lively.

At the end of May, less than a month before the summer solstice, the days were already very long.

It was past seven o'clock when we left the arcade, but the sky hadn't completely darkened yet.

As dusk settled over the earth, a gentle summer breeze blew, carrying a slightly sticky feel, and several beautiful fiery clouds lay on the western horizon.

Let Zhiliao take the bus home by herself, while Zeng Cheng hailed a taxi and took Yu Baiwei directly to the entrance of her residential compound.

The two got out of the car one after the other. Zeng Cheng waved goodbye to her, but Yu Baiwei stood there quietly without leaving.

Zeng Cheng asked her, "What's wrong?"

After biting her lip, Yu Baiwei asked Zeng Cheng a question: "Zeng Cheng, which university do you plan to attend?"

After thinking for a moment, Zeng Cheng told her that it was most likely the School of Economics at Sichuan University.

"Shu University... Zeng Cheng, haven't you considered Tsinghua or Peking University?"

"Pfft, what are you saying? Do you think I can just go to Tsinghua or Peking University whenever I want?"

"What if you perform exceptionally well and get accepted?"

"I'm still not going... Yu Baiwei, why are you asking this?"

Actually, Zeng Cheng had another question he didn't ask: "You can't just follow me to whichever university I want to go to, can you?"

One should have self-awareness.

Zeng Cheng felt that Yu Baiwei at most treated him as an ordinary friend, so how could she not go to Tsinghua or Peking University because of him?

Sichuan University is very good.

However, it is far inferior to Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

With Yu Baiwei's grades, it would be a waste not to go to Tsinghua or Peking University.

"It's nothing, I'm going home."

Yu Baiwei left after she finished speaking.

Whether it was a misperception or not, Zeng Cheng clearly saw a hint of listlessness in her crescent-shaped eyes.

The timeline has moved to June.

The 2009 National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) was held on June 7th and 8th.

At this point, there was less than a week left until the college entrance examination.

The school will give students a holiday after class on the 4th, and the 5th and 6th will be reserved for students to adjust their mindset.

There have been no more exams during this period; instead, everyone is free to study on their own.

Teachers began to share some tips and tricks for the college entrance examination.

[If there are three long and one short, choose the shortest; if there are three short and one long, choose the longest; if the lengths are not equal, choose B; if they are not uniform, choose D.]

[Twelve multiple-choice math questions with four options (A, B, C, and D) – the answer is most likely uniformly distributed!]

Ye Qiong, who was always serious, no longer had a stern face. She even became kind and approachable, turning a blind eye to many things in the class.

At this critical juncture, stability is paramount.

The admission tickets were issued on June 1st, the examination venue was determined on June 3rd, and by the afternoon of June 4th, only the last class of high school was left.

The last lesson for Class 6 of the 2009 cohort belonged to their homeroom teacher, Ye Qiong.

Spring breezes carry farewells, summer rains fall on the eaves.

Autumn waters wet the red leaves, winter snow repeats year after year.

Three years, more than a thousand days and nights, passed by in the blink of an eye.

The atmosphere in the class became somewhat subtle.

Half of it was tension, and half of it was sadness.

Even Li Xingzhi, who is usually carefree, had a slightly awkward expression.

In the last two classes, Ye Qiong's main task was to talk to everyone and provide some pre-exam psychological counseling.

Perhaps influenced by the somber atmosphere in the class, Ye Qiong became quite emotional as she spoke, and her voice became noticeably nasal.

"I'd like to formally apologize to you all for the past three years. I've been suppressing you and preventing you from expressing your true nature—"

"Your teacher simply hopes that you can get into a good university and not let down the past twelve years of hard work and three years of high school... Before you leave, let me give you a few last words."

All the students in the class sat up straight.

"In this life, all the so-called success and fame are nothing compared to one thing."

"This is about living your life the way you like."

"When we come into this world, we must first be ourselves, and then be someone's children, someone's classmates and friends. We should think of others, but we should live for ourselves even more."

"Go and see how flowers bloom, how water flows, how the sun rises, and when it sets. We live in this world simply to understand some principles and encounter some interesting people and things."

"Life is a series of coincidences, and we seek cause and effect within them."

Ms. Ye's words were quite emotional.

Many of the students in the class shed tears.

Even an old man like Zeng Cheng got red-eyed.

Life is a series of coincidences; we search for cause and effect within them.

The speaker may have been unintentional, but the listener was definitely paying attention.

The teacher's words truly touched his heart.

After the last class, Dezhou No.1 Middle School officially started its summer vacation.

After tidying up their books, the students swam from the classroom to the school gate like a school of fish.

Zeng Cheng and Li Xingzhi are also among the two.

As Zeng Cheng walked to the school gate, he turned around and looked at his alma mater bathed in the magnificent sunset.

A large number of students filed out from the surrounding area.

Good-looking people have a youthful glow, while those who aren't good-looking have acne all over their faces.

But whether it's youthful exuberance or acne, everyone is young.

Zeng Cheng couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"Cheng-ge, what are you looking at? You're staring blankly."

"Cicada, take a few more looks. Believe me, for decades to come, you will never see such a beautiful sunset at school again."

"Is it beautiful? I don't think so—"

Looking at the school, which was no different from before, and the eternally unchanging sunset, Li Xingzhi could not understand Zeng Cheng's feelings and sighs at this moment.

After all, aside from one lucky individual, no one can simultaneously possess youth and the feeling of youth.

The eighteen-year-old Zhile would obviously not understand—true farewells don't involve long pavilions or ancient roads, nor do they involve urging someone to drink another cup of wine. On this seemingly ordinary evening, many people and many things are forever left in memory.

Flowers may bloom again, but people will never be young again!