Striving for Science C66

Shen Chang'an was the quintessential "someone else's child" during his high school years.

He had good grades, completed his assignments on time, and had a natural talent for sports. When he participated in basketball games, he would attract countless upperclassmen and underclassmen to watch, and he was even one of the school's heartthrobs.

As for why he was "one of," it was because the girls' aesthetic standards were different, and they argued endlessly about who the real school heartthrob was. Shen Chang'an could only be considered one of the more popular ones, not someone who stood out from the crowd.

When Shen Chang'an arrived at the school, he remembered that it was the weekend. No wonder there were no other students around. The ginkgo trees on campus had turned yellow, and their leaves had fallen all over the ground, as if they had laid down a thick layer of gold for the school.

Walking across the ground covered in thick ginkgo leaves, he made a rustling sound. A gust of wind blew, and Shen Chang'an reached out to shield Dao Nian's eyes: "Be careful, don't let the sand get in your eyes."

In the capital, once autumn and winter arrived, there was heavy smog, and sometimes even a sky full of yellow sand. It was a city that was very unsuitable for maintaining good health, a city for striving and struggling.

"It's fine." Dao Nian pulled away the hand that was shielding his eyes. "Let's take a look around first, then go visit your teacher?"

"Okay." Winter nights fell earlier, and Shen Chang'an was worried that if they stayed at the teacher's place for too long, they wouldn't have time to look around with Dao Nian, so he decided to take a look around the school first.

"Before I graduated, this library hadn't been built yet. It was put into use right after I graduated." Shen Chang'an pointed to the newly built library. "It's a shame."

"There's a small grove of trees over there, secretly called the Early Love Garden by the students. The headmaster often catches those students who are in love early in the grove." Shen Chang'an laughed. "I remember one boy saw the headmaster coming and dropped his girlfriend and ran. After the headmaster caught him, he said, 'When disaster strikes, everyone flees for themselves. A man with such a lack of responsibility, what kind of love is he talking about? Don't go and ruin other girls.'"

"Did anyone else in your school fall in love early?"

"Yes." Shen Chang'an nodded. "Not only did people fall in love early, but some girls even brought their boyfriends here and tested them by seeing if they would run away alone when they saw the headmaster."

Shen Tu, who was following a few steps behind them: "..."

Humans are truly a species that dares to act, to innovate, to create variety.

"Were you ever caught?" Dao Nian asked casually.

"I didn't date in high school." Shen Chang'an scratched his head awkwardly. "To be honest, I've been single for twenty-three years."

When he was young, seeing his classmates sweetly in love, he had been moved. But whenever he had a little thought, he would see news about people who had been retaliated against for being heroes, or about the families and orphans of martyrs being retaliated against by criminals. Over time, he lost interest in such thoughts.

Now, he had completely given up on the idea of dating. He always felt that if he were to date someone, he would be harming them. What if something happened to him? Wouldn't that leave the other person a widow?

It wasn't easy for parents to raise a daughter. He, with little assets and no parental support, why would he go and ruin a good girl?

"I really like coming to this learning slope." Shen Chang'an pointed to a small hill. "Especially in spring and autumn, when it's warm but still cold, I like to come here to recite my lessons and English words. Later, many classmates followed me, and gradually this place got the name 'learning slope.'"

As they got closer, Shen Chang'an noticed that a stone carving had been added next to the learning slope, with the words "Learning Slope" carved on it, and some smaller characters, "The Sea of Learning Has No Limits," carved in the lower right corner.

"This must have been added after I graduated." Shen Chang'an took out his phone and took a picture of the stone carving. Suddenly, a piece of clothing flashed behind the stone carving, and a thin-looking girl, seemingly sixteen or seventeen years old, poked her head out.

She wore thick glasses, her face was smeared with ink, and her hair was messy and scattered behind her, making it difficult to see her face.

Looking at the girl, Shen Chang'an frowned. This was... someone who had been bullied?

"Excuse me, do you need help?" Shen Chang'an took a step back, afraid of scaring the girl.

The girl's thin frame was stuffed into a large school uniform, making her look a little timid. She stared at Shen Chang'an with slightly swollen eyes, and after a long silence, she silently shook her head.

"If you need any help, you can go to the teachers or the police." Shen Chang'an noticed that the girl's hand, which was resting on the stone sculpture, was red and swollen. He pointed towards the teacher's dormitory building. "The teachers all live over there. If you don't want to go there, you can also find the gatekeeper."

The girl nodded slightly, her voice so small it was almost inaudible. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Shen Chang'an was a little worried. He pushed Dao Nian a few steps forward, then turned back to look at where the girl was standing. He saw that she was still standing in the shadow of the stone sculpture, her big eyes looking at him. "Do you want me to take you to the doctor?"

The girl shook her head repeatedly, turning around and hiding behind the stone sculpture, concealing herself completely. "I'm fine, I don't need it anymore."

Shen Chang'an sighed. "Then be careful."

Dao Nian, who was sitting quietly in the wheelchair, turned his head and glanced at the back of the stone sculpture, his expression indifferent.

"My old classroom was in this building." Shen Chang'an pointed to a building with pink wall tiles. There were many Boston ivy vines hanging on the outer wall, now dry and yellow, clinging to the wall, looking a bit desolate.

"In the summer, the Boston ivy would climb the entire wall. It was beautiful, but there were a lot of mosquitoes during evening self-study." Shen Chang'an pointed to his thigh. "My skin is fair, so if I get bitten by mosquitoes, I'll get a big bump, itchy and painful."

Shen Chang'an talked about some things that happened in high school. After he finished, he asked Dao Nian, "Dao Nian, what school did you go to for high school?"

"I haven't been to school." Dao Nian looked up at the dry Boston ivy vines on the wall. "So I don't know what school life is like."

Shen Chang'an paused. He had been isolated from people since childhood, no wonder he had developed this personality of not liking to talk to people. Thinking about little Dao Nian, alone and lonely in the empty villa, the sun rising and setting, enduring endless peace every day...

Just thinking about it made one feel like going crazy.

Shen Chang'an had never seen Dao Nian's family in the few months he had been with him. He didn't dare ask Dao Nian, always feeling that asking such a question would only make Dao Nian more sad.

"It's good not going to school. School is so annoying. There's so much homework, so many exams, and the teachers always drag on in class. There's no freedom at all..." Shen Chang'an looked at the person a few meters away and swallowed the rest of his words.

"It seems you don't have homework now, so you finally have time to complain." The middle-aged man pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "You've grown up!"

"Teacher Yao, Teacher." Shen Chang'an gave the middle-aged man a flattering smile. Although he had graduated from high school for many years, he still felt a little intimidated in front of his former strict head teacher.

"Humph." Teacher Yao was tall and thin, with an aura that made it clear to everyone that he was a teacher. He walked up to Shen Chang'an and patted him on the shoulder. "You little rascal, you've grown wings and dare to complain about your teacher."

"Teacher, which student doesn't want to get out of class early, right?" Shen Chang'an smiled with a thick face. "Teacher Yao, I'm here to visit you today, don't scold me in front of my friend."

"Alright, I'll give your friend some face and not scold you." Seeing his beloved student, Teacher Yao's stern expression couldn't hold back. He invited them to his house to sit down.

As they passed a propaganda board, Teacher Yao stopped and pointed to a photo in the upper right corner. "Your photo as a senior is still here. You should be a good role model for your juniors in the future."

Dao Nian looked up and saw Shen Chang'an's photo in the column of outstanding students from previous years. There was also an introduction of Shen Chang'an, including various gold and silver awards from competitions, and even an award for bravery.

Shen Chang'an scratched his head awkwardly. "Teacher, you're putting a lot of pressure on me."

“Pressure creates motivation.” Teacher Yao took Shen Chang'an home. He didn't ask what Shen Chang'an was doing now, but just chatted with him about the recent changes in the school, and complained about how the students nowadays were getting worse and worse.

“Teacher, you once said that our class was the worst you've ever taught.” Shen Chang'an teased, “So we weren't the worst after all.”

Teacher Yao was amused by Shen Chang'an: "So you were waiting for me here."

"No, I'm speaking up for all my classmates." Shen Chang'an said with a grin. "I know you won't be angry with me, so I dared to say it."

"Don't flatter me." Teacher Yao laughed and scolded, then turned to call Dao Nian and Shen Tu to eat fruit. After learning Shen Tu's name, Teacher Yao sighed, "Your parents must be very interested in traditional mythology, otherwise they wouldn't have used the character for 'door god' for your name."

Shen Tu chuckled dryly. "When I was born, my dad hoped I would join the army and protect the peace. He said Shen Tu was a good name, and that when I grew up, I could guard the national border. Unfortunately, I didn't pass the physical exam and couldn't join the army."

"So that's how it is." Teacher Yao pondered for a moment. "Your name is well-chosen. I think our national football team's goalkeeper should also change his name to this. Maybe he could then guard the goal."

Shen Tu: "..."

The Chinese national football team...

This wish is too difficult. Even if he and the two door gods, Yulü and Youli, both went out, they wouldn't be able to do it. It's better to change it to winning ten million yuan. He could still have the nerve to ask the God of Wealth to be lenient.

Shen Chang'an looked at Teacher Yao with sympathy. Was his obsession with the national football team really that strong?

Teacher Yao kept Shen Chang'an for dinner at his house before reluctantly letting them leave. By the time they went downstairs, it was already dark. He was about to push Dao Nian out when he saw Teacher Yao leaning out of the window: "Chang'an, come back up, I forgot something to give you."

"Dao Nian, wait for me downstairs with Shen Tu. I'll be back in a few minutes." Shen Chang'an took off running upstairs and quickly disappeared into the stairwell.

Dao Nian glanced at the empty stairwell, leaned back lazily in his wheelchair, turned to look at the flower bed beside him, and moved his lips slightly: "Come out!"

The grass rustled. The little girl who had been hiding behind the stone sculpture a moment ago crawled out of the bushes, her whole body trembling.

She looked at Dao Nian in terror, her eyes frantically looking towards Teacher Yao's house. She opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound. She seemed to have thought of something and wanted to climb to the stairwell, but Dao Nian waved his hand and knocked her back to her original position.

Dao Nian looked at the girl expressionlessly. "Humans and ghosts are different paths."