Chapter 3: In Memoriam

  Thank you for everyone's support, although the score increase is not big, but I'm very grateful for so many friends to come and support.

  "Report."

  Kuo Cheng-yang returned to school during the lunch break self-study session, a time period that usually only changed to lunch break in summer, while other seasons generally had class teachers sitting on the podium supervising students' self-study.

  He stood outside the classroom door when it was already quiet inside, and a middle-aged man in his 40s sat on the podium, wearing a pair of large black-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

  A loud report startled many people.

  The man on the podium turned his head to take a look, and suddenly there was a hint of surprise in his eyes. He stared at Guo Zhengyang for a few seconds before beckoning him over. Guo Zhengyang walked into the classroom naturally, without any awkwardness.

  Not many people in the entire county knew his identity, and whether the principal knew or not was unclear to Guo Zhengyang, but he was certain that Wang Dongping, the teacher on the podium, who was also the head of Class 3-5, definitely knew this.

  Because Guo Zhengyang had told him personally.

  When Wang Dongping was told, his attitude was still very unpleasant. At that time, he had a serious juvenile mentality and liked to play cool, often with a sloppy appearance. His head teacher, who had been following him since the first year of high school, was also extremely frustrated by this. He had lectured him many times in the first year of high school, especially about his long hair that covered his ears and nose, which he had told him to cut off several times.

  Guo Zhengyang initially ignored him, no matter what the other side said, he didn't react. Later, Wang Dongping got angry and slammed his hand on the table, telling him to call his parents. Guo Zhengyang's face changed, and with a fierce gaze, he slammed his hand on the table and stared at Wang Dongping, saying "My dad is the county party secretary, you go call him!"

  From then on, for three years, Teacher Wang never restrained him again, whether he slept during class time, read extracurricular books, wore headphones to listen to music, or was dressed sloppily, not a single word was ever said.

  It's just that Guo Zhengyang occasionally catches a glimpse of hidden disgust in his eyes.

  But when he was a young man, he didn't care about it at all, and sometimes even dared to make faces and raise his eyebrows in front of Wang Dongping.

  In that life, he was indeed very arrogant at times, but in 99% of the situations, he was actually very ordinary. The only time he showed his true self was when Teacher Wang slammed her hand on the desk and yelled at him to call his parents. At other times, he was just an ordinary student. In front of his classmates, apart from loving to show off and act cool, he didn't talk much and had no bad habits. Nobody provoked him, and he was just a marginal youth who loved to look good and act cool in the corner of the classroom, never taking the initiative to cause trouble.

  And as he walked, he seemed to understand why Wang Laoshi's first glance at him was one of surprise.

  Because his long hair covering his ears has become a refreshing and clean short hair.

  In the past, Guo Zhengyang had long hair that reached his nose, he thought it was very handsome and cool, and could play with many hairstyles, so he took care of it and never cut it too short, only simple trimming.

  This habit continued until it ended after the college entrance examination.

  So it wasn't just Wang Laoshi who was surprised at first glance, as he walked back to his seat in the corner of the last row of the classroom, there were indeed many astonished eyes along the way.

  Including a silhouette in the fourth row by the window.

  Qianying also had long hair, but it was tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head. The oval-shaped face that was exposed in front was delicate and pale, like a porcelain doll, with an ethereal aura that was both serene and elegant. Her pure and unadorned complexion showcased a fatally alluring charm.

  This girl was almost enough to make Guo Zhengyang's soul upside down in high school, but after the family upheaval, he no longer had the heart to hang out with her, and they didn't meet again after high school.

  If it were in the past, just a glance from the other person would make him ecstatic, but now when the other person looked at him with an astonished gaze, Guo Zhengyang's heart was only calm and peaceful. He calmly walked past the other person's position to the corner of the classroom, where a boy sitting on the outside got up to let him pass.

  When Guo Zhengyang sat down in his seat, the classroom returned to calmness, and occasionally someone would glance back at him, but only with a quick peek.

  The boy sitting next to Guo Zhengyang sneaked a few glances at the podium before propping up his book on the desk and staring at Guo Zhengyang with a shocked expression, "Wow, you got a haircut?"

  Guo Zhengyang glanced at the boy, his expression very calm, this glance didn't even count as a response. He was now completely indifferent to everything around him. Afterwards, he picked up a book and started flipping through it.

  "Lao Guo, what's wrong with you? After the Spring Festival holiday, you've been acting strange, not speaking all day... it's scary. Now you're even getting a haircut and reading textbooks?" The boy whispered again, suppressing his voice.

  In his previous life, Guo Zhengyang was indeed very depressed at that time. As a young man with a strong sense of self-respect, he was slapped several times by his father in front of many outsiders. During that period, he felt suffocated and had been considering running away from school and home. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't bear to part with the silhouette he had been thinking about for a long time, and the thought that if he really ran away, he might never see her again in his life, he wouldn't have stayed.

  But he was indeed very cold during that time.

  So now Guo Zhengyang didn't have to worry about anything, he glanced at the boy beside him again, too lazy to care, but after glancing at his textbook a few times, a large number of memories suddenly surged up in his mind.

  It's about memories of this boy, who sat at the same desk as him for over a year and was his closest buddy in high school, named Zhang Hang.

  After high school, the two had no intersection, and Guo Zhengyang knew nothing about Zhang Hang's whereabouts. He was first adopted by his grandfather and spent half a year in Beijing before being driven out of the house by his grandfather. He ran to a place he knew nothing about, got on a train, slept for a while, and when he woke up, he got off at the next stop. The destination was one he had never heard of before, but he stayed there for several years until his grandfather passed away and the Guo family collapsed.

  Former classmates and friends, almost never contact each other.

  In the midst of his wandering thoughts, Guo Zhengyang suddenly felt a pang of sadness. His once-ironclad brothers... But now, looking at them sitting beside him, he didn't have much emotional fluctuation, as if their former friendship had long since lost its color.

  After a few moments of silence, he still chose to take out paper and pen to write, "I want to study hard."

  When Benzi pushed him aside, Zhang Hang took a look and was shocked to the point where his eyeballs almost popped out. His gaze at Guo Zhengyang was as if he had seen a ghost.

  Kuo Cheng-yang fell silent for a moment before continuing to write, "My dad slapped me several times in front of many people. I want to prove it to him."

  The boy's body shook for a moment, and all his surprise turned into silence.

  In his past life, Guo Zhengyang had never told anyone about this experience, but now he found that speaking out could explain all the changes.

  This sentence is enough to reassure everyone.

  Including his father and mother.

  Even if he makes rapid progress from now on, no one will suspect anything, at most they'll think he's really been enlightened by his father's scolding.

  In the midst of the boys' silence, Guo Zhengyang looked at him again, and these two sentences were a reminiscence of their past friendship, or perhaps a nostalgia for their carefree and innocent youth.

  In his previous life, even if he had stayed in that strange county town all the time, he still wouldn't have had many friends. After living there for two or three years, he could easily count the number of people he knew. All he sought was a quiet life, but he never thought he would encounter a life-changing opportunity in that small city.

  Unfortunately, his final outcome was really embarrassing, because he himself didn't even know who killed him. Two powerful warriors were having a fierce battle, and he was startled awake in the cave, had just taken a few peeks inside the cave under the cover of the formation, wondering if he would be affected, then he dropped dead.

  Even if he remembered the faces of two powerful men, but as for their names and origins, he knew nothing. Thinking back to his previous life, where he had struggled to make a name for himself, and after entering the spiritual realm, he had been constantly on edge, fighting for survival for so many years, only to see a glimmer of hope, yet suddenly met with disaster and fell from grace. This fate was truly heartbreaking for Guo Zhengyang.