Chapter Thirteen: Astonished and Looking Back

  No matter how Wen Huiming persuaded Xu Fuyan, and no matter how much commotion this caused in the Qingzhou government circles, Wen Hui knew that all of this was just a minor skin condition. Once the September 5th plenary session opened and the macro-strategic policy of "grasping the big and letting go of the small" was released, the voices of criticism from the city would immediately fall silent. As long as they could withstand two months of pressure, they would be able to gain a huge political capital, and not doing so would be foolish!

  For the next two or three days, the municipal party committee and government were in an uproar. The sign for the "Qinghua Factory Bankruptcy Liquidation Office" was hung at the municipal government building, while the municipal party committee was organizing a study session on Wen Huiming's article. Zhou Yuanting flew into a rage, coming to Xu Fuyan's office three times to discuss work, which was unprecedented. It is unclear what exactly was said, but according to people from the municipal government side, after the third time, Mayor Zhou smashed his favorite jade paperweight into pieces.

  Since Xu Fuyan didn't know how to show gratitude, Zhou Yuanting thoroughly abandoned the Municipal Party Committee and forcibly pushed forward with the bankruptcy of Qinghua Factory using his absolute vote count at the Standing Committee meeting. When everyone was waiting for Xu Fuyan's counterattack, Secretary Xu instead took Wen Huiming and ran off to the provincial capital, leaving everyone to quietly wait for a comeback from the provincial capital. But what made people extremely disappointed was that half a month had passed, and just as Qinghua Factory's bankruptcy seemed like a done deal, Secretary Xu's rumored rock-solid connections in the province didn't make another appearance.

  Even a blind man can see that this is the calm before the storm, Qingzhou has already been battered by wind and rain!

  And the one who started all this, Wen Cang, returned to his daily training as if nothing had happened. The time for morning runs gradually shortened, and the time for practicing boxing and taekwondo remained steady. Perhaps it was due to the right method or changes in physical quality after rebirth, but within a short period of several tens of days, Wen Cang seemed to have already caught a glimpse of the inner workings of internal fist, with noticeable improvements in his body's agility and control over strength.

  That afternoon, Wen Chen finished his boxing practice and only realized that there were only a dozen or so days left of summer vacation when he flipped through the calendar. After rebirth, he rarely went out to take a look at this city, which was like a newborn baby, and see what differences it had with his memories. Thinking of this, the freshness and strangeness of revisiting old places surged up in his heart, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm down. Wen Chen went home, took a cold shower, changed into a white T-shirt and black shorts, put on his sports shoes, and headed out.

  Summer days in Qingzhou are always so bustling and noisy, as if the 101 bus that never stops runs slowly along the Clear River Road and New River Road, appearing in people's sight. The crowd goes up and down, either walking or standing. Countless people crowded in this city, countless times brushing shoulders with each other, showing happiness, but also breeding sadness.

  Warm and gentle, leaning against the window, right hand resting on the windowsill, fingers tapping out a rhythm, the wind whistling through the trees, carrying the coolness of leaves and the richness of soil, mixed with the evening sun's warm rays, gently blowing across her face.

  Her shoulder was suddenly patted, Wen Liang suddenly woke up with a start, and turned her head to see Xu Yao. She wore a pair of jeans, a white top tied at the waist, occasionally twisting, revealing a flash of fair skin, on her feet were a pair of pale pink crystal sandals, evenly white toes exposed outside, the whole person looked simple and elegant, full of girlish coolness and beauty.

  "Hah," Wen Xiang exaggeratedly laughed and said: "A debtor who doesn't run when they see the creditor shows that they have the awareness to repay their debts. Classmate, I haven't seen you in over ten days, I thought you had fled in fear of punishment."

  Xu Yao pouted, and a few adorable small wrinkles immediately appeared between her eyebrows. Her face was full of disdain. "It's just ten ice cream sticks, I'm telling you, a male classmate, do you have to be so nagging? If you're capable, let's compete again tomorrow!"

  When it comes to arguing with Xu Yao, Wen Cheng has never lost in the past, so he has a psychological advantage. He immediately retorted: "You just don't know how expensive firewood and rice are, you're simply a prodigal son! Ten ice cream sticks aren't money? Classmate, your bourgeois ideology is quite serious!"

  A delicate girl sitting behind Wen Qing couldn't help but let out a "heh" of laughter, Xu Yao was furious and glared at Wen Qing with an extremely unfriendly gaze. Wen Qing turned his head leisurely to look at the girl behind him, her shoulder-length hair, skin not as white as Xu Yao's, but with a healthy pink glow, wearing a black and blue uniform dress, on the left chest a light gold name tag with the words "Phoenix Diamond" printed on it. Wen Qing's dark face had a strange expression, making people feel embarrassed, and he said in a low voice: "Sorry!"

  "No need to apologize, sister you're a person who understands humor, smarter than those stupid people. Where do you work? How old are you, is your boyfriend darker than me?"

  The pretty girl looked at Wen Qian with great surprise, seemingly never having thought that she would run into such a young boy hitting on her. Her face turned red and she didn't say a word. Wen Qian stared at the girl for a while before suddenly asking: "Is your surname Tan?"

  "Pervert!" Xǔ Yáo looked at Wēn Qiān's eyes, apart from disdain, finally added something else - contempt! This guy flirted with other girls in front of her, using such a cliché method, truly shameless to the extreme.

  The delicate girl slightly opened her mouth, and her small white teeth seemed to be shining with a faint light. She asked in surprise: "Who are you? How do you know my surname is Tan?"

  It's really her talking about snow.

  The river mistook frost and snow, the forest dweller saw feathers. These are the two sentences of poetry that he often hung on his mouth after recognizing Tan Yu, "Yu" refers to himself, while "Snow" is his sister, Tan Xue.

  I met Tan Yu in the second year of high school, and we spent six years together through high school and college. Those days of laughter and tears, those years of chasing wind and snow, two equally lonely people supported each other, relied on each other, and survived that incredibly dull youth. After graduating together, going north together, working together, growing up together, I am grateful to have Tan Yu's friendship in this life.

  In that space-time, Tan Yu talked the most about his sister. The photo taken before the accident was always with him. Wen Chen had heard many times about Tan Xue's affairs and had seen the photo countless times. In her mind, she felt like she knew Tan Xue like an old friend.

  Tan Xue worked at the famous "Phoenix Jewelry Store" in Qingzhou. During the summer vacation after graduating from Wenqian Middle School, she was stabbed by a robber with a knife and died seven days later after being rescued in hospital. Tan Yu's father died early, and his mother raised him and his sister alone. Tan Xue had excellent grades but dropped out of school to work and support her family after graduating from junior high school. It can be said that Tan Yu not only had sibling affection for his sister but also respect and admiration. After his sister's death, the young Tan Yu was almost overwhelmed by endless pain. If he hadn't met Wenqian in the second year of high school, his spirit might have collapsed.

  So everyone will be needed, and everyone needs others. Don't belittle yourself, get through it, hardships are the shortcuts that take you to heaven.

  Looking at the girl in front of him, who had been living in the memories of her loved ones, she was not absolutely beautiful, but only delicate. She was also low-key and even after being asked by Wen Cai for so long, she only blushed slightly and didn't say much. She seemed more like those ordinary girls in everyday life, quiet, gentle, silently struggling, and striving to live.

  Perhaps it was the sudden sight of the original owner of the story and photos, still sitting alive in front of him, that left Wen Xian stunned for a moment. Tan Xue saw that her question had not been answered, nor did she ask again, as people got off at the station stop.

  Xu Yao instinctively sensed that something was off, but she couldn't stand the sight of Wen Chen's lovesick expression and kicked him hard, saying sarcastically: "Everyone has left, what are you still dreaming about?"

  "What?" Wen Jian's foot hurt, and he finally reacted to Tan Xue getting off the car. He had just fallen into deep self-blame, and since his rebirth, he had only been focused on training his body, and had actually forgotten about this big thing. In fact, the main reason was that in his previous life, he did not know Tan Xue personally, although he saw Tan Yu's suffering, but could not empathize with her, and many details had already been forgotten after so many years. If it wasn't for suddenly seeing Tan Xue today, being shocked by her appearance and uniform - exactly the same as that photo - he wouldn't have remembered that in this summer vacation, there was a girl who lost her young life.

  Wen Lie Meng suddenly stood up, pushed open Xǔ Yáo, didn't even glance at her, and quickly jumped off the car to chase after Tán Xuě's back. He didn't know what day it was or what he should say when he caught up, but there seemed to be a voice in his mind constantly reminding him: Protect her!

  Not for her, but for Tan Yu!

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