Before the morning training assembly, after waiting, Yan Hao finally found a chance to approach Fu Ran and tapped her arm.
“Um, hello, it’s just…”
“Hey! It’s you, Flying Man! I heard from the Instructor that you wanted to help me run. Thanks! What’s up?”
Before Yan Hao could finish, Fu Ran interrupted him, talking to herself.
“About that, don’t call me Flying Man,”
Yan Hao said, deliberately putting on an embarrassed expression.
“That day, you probably just saw wrong. I was just in a hurry because I was afraid of being late, running frantically. It’s not as exaggerated as you said,”
he added.
“That’s right, how did you suddenly appear out of nowhere that day?”
“You probably saw wrong. It’s not like I have some superpower, right?”
“That can’t be. Both my eyes have 2.0 vision! But okay, that doesn’t make sense. Do you really have superpowers?!”
Fu Ran’s voice was surprised, her face full of curiosity.
‘Sis, where did you get two pairs of eyes? You’re the one with superpowers.’
“Maybe you were in a hurry that day and got it wrong. Ah, I’m exhausted this morning. Um, can you please stop calling me Flying Man?”
Yan Hao looked embarrassed, his tone pleading.
Realizing she had indeed tricked Yan Hao, and that Yan Hao had helped her, Fu Ran suddenly felt a bit awkward.
“Okay, okay, sorry.”
Fu Ran made an OK gesture and nodded.
The sleepy sun had only just risen, and the not-too-bright sunlight slanted across the girl’s face, revealing a beautiful curve.
Yan Hao felt he really had talent as an actor; with just a little effort, he had fooled Fu Ran and solved this messy issue.
Not long after, Tao Feng returned, bringing a bread and a bottle of water from the school canteen.
He held out the bread and water to Yan Hao and said,
“Have some. Don’t let yourself collapse from low blood sugar during the morning.”
With a little gratitude inside, Yan Hao nodded and took the bread and water with a blank expression.
The days of military training passed one by one.
Yan Hao’s ability to withstand the sun was lacking; his ears and neck were peeling from the sunburn.
Standing posture, marching in step, singing military songs—repeated day after day.
Time passed quickly, and the already short military training had only the last two days left.
The content of the last two days was the long march and the performance.
The content of the long march was to walk from this remote corner of the school to Liuyang city, visit the former residence of Tan Sitong, one of the Six Gentlemen of the Hundred Days’ Reform, and then walk back to school.
Tan Sitong, one of the main figures of the reform, had the courage to face death as if returning home, with words like “For reform to bleed, let it begin with Sitong.”
He had the tragic and frustrated heroism of “Having the heart to kill the traitors, but unable to turn the tide.”
He had the chivalrous loyalty of “I laugh at the sky with sword in hand, leaving behind my loyal heart like two great mountains.”
As a person from Liuyang, Hunan, and a Chinese, Yan Hao was full of respect and admiration for this martyr, but he really couldn’t muster any interest in the long march.
Walking from school there and back would take at least a whole day.
Not to mention the fatigue, but even the sun alone was unbearable for him.
Just as evening training ended, the Class Teacher called him over and said his parents were waiting for him at the school gate.
Yan Hao was a bit dazed.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly remembered that today seemed to be his birthday.
Since he always celebrated the lunar calendar birthday, but mostly used the solar calendar dates, Yan Hao often forgot his own birthday.
Arriving at the school gate, his parents were standing not far away, holding two bags, waiting for him.
Without many words—Yan Hao’s parents also had to get up early for work tomorrow—they just said a few simple things, handed the things in their hands to Yan Hao, and went back.
In the bags were some snacks: a row of Wang Wang Milk, some small bread, and a boiled egg that had already gone cold.
The boiled egg was an old tradition, but Yan Hao didn’t like eating it at all.
Time kept running without stopping, and the whole world was busy turning.
Adults went to work, children went to school.
Even he himself didn’t remember his own birthday.
Someone remembered his birthday and set aside time for him—he thought that was nice.
But Yan Hao felt they didn’t need to come all this way specially.
He didn’t care about birthdays at all.
For him, there was nothing to look forward to on a birthday.
It’s not like he could rely on that boiled egg.
When he returned to the dormitory with the things, lights-out had just begun.
He put the things under his bed, patted Tao Feng who had just finished eating snacks, and held out the egg, planning to have him take care of the boiled egg before he brushed his teeth.
After a few days of getting along, he had gotten to know his classmates a bit, and he and Tao Feng were becoming more familiar.
He really didn’t like eating boiled eggs.
At least he shouldn’t waste it.
Tao Feng was a bit surprised, but after thinking for a moment, he came to a conclusion.
“Your birthday?”
“Yeah, if you don’t want it, I’ll throw it away. I don’t have time; I still need to brush my teeth.”
Hearing Yan Hao say that, Tao Feng didn’t stand on ceremony.
He took it and started peeling the shell.
Not sure how long after lights-out, the two finally finished washing up and lay down on the bed.
“You didn’t tell me earlier that it’s your birthday. You’re celebrating secretly?”
Tao Feng nudged Yan Hao with his elbow.
“Uh, it’s lunar calendar. I can’t keep track myself. Forgot…”
“Hmm… I don’t have anything to give you. How about this? I’ll give you this MP3 player.”
Tao Feng took out that MP3 player from under his pillow.
They had used it to listen to songs quite a bit these past few nights.
Tao Feng probably really liked listening to music and singing, and especially liked Jay Chou.
During the talent performances in military training these past two days, he had even volunteered to sing Jay Chou’s “Sunny Day.”
He didn’t refuse.
Unexpectedly, Yan Hao thus received the first birthday gift in his life from someone other than family, even though it was just a slightly old MP3 player.
And so Yan Hao ended his fifteenth year.
The next day, the long march began.
Not long after leaving school, the sky darkened.
Yan Hao was hoping the long march would be canceled and they could go back to the classroom for self-study, when raincoats were passed from the front.
And so they walked from morning.
It was past one o’clock in the afternoon when they finally reached the destination and ate the boxed lunches bought by the school.
After eating, they took a group photo.
Yan Hao deliberately hid at the very back, perfectly avoiding the camera.
Perhaps because he had always been talked about by others since childhood, he didn’t like appearing in others’ sight, even in photos.
After the group photo, they had a little free time to visit the Former Residence of Tan Sitong on their own.
But most people, including Yan Hao, had visited before.
However, Tao Feng seemed to have never been there.
So Yan Hao, who originally wanted to find a place to sit, ended up following Tao Feng around.
They went into a room.
On the left side of the room hung a photo of Tan Sitong, and in the middle was a notice briefly introducing his deeds.
“What a pity. If that Hundred Days’ Reform had succeeded, then Tan Sitong wouldn’t have died,” Tao Feng said, glancing at the notice board with some regret.
Tao Feng seemed not very good at history.
Yan Hao didn’t know how to explain to him that the essence and reasons for the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform had already been taught in middle school history.
Tan Sitong actually had opportunities to escape, but he willingly became the first to bleed for the reform, wanting to use his own blood to awaken the souls of his compatriots.
Because of this, Tan Sitong’s life ended hastily.
But precisely because of this, his name, his will, his soul were able to remain forever in the blood of the Chinese nation.
As written in “How the Steel Was Tempered,” the most precious thing for a person is life, and life is only once for everyone.
A person’s life should be lived in such a way that when he looks back, he does not regret wasting years nor feel ashamed of being mediocre.
And Tan Sitong truly achieved this.
After wandering a bit and roughly going through the entire former residence, they went back to find a place to sit and rest.
Not long after, everyone assembled and prepared to return.
The end of military training was easier than he imagined.
Only the morning performance was left for the next day.
And there were rumors that they would directly start vacation after military training, and then start the half-month break after returning.
The so-called rumors were not without basis.
News about school vacations could often be obtained by asking the cafeteria aunties, and the intelligence was usually accurate.
Sure enough, that evening, the Class Teacher announced after evening training that vacation would start tomorrow.
The next day, after the performance ended, before noon 12 o’clock, after briefly explaining some matters about the vacation and returning to school, the school’s first-year high school students officially started their vacation.