Chapter Six Agreement

  The second day, Su Can woke up early in the morning, today was the last day to go to school before graduating from junior high school. It was also the most crucial day for Su Can, who had crossed over and reborn, to stand out in the future education system. He needed to obtain the remaining "secret recipe" of all the knowledge points of junior high school, after this point, there would be no way to get it, the school would have a two-day holiday, and two days later, the middle school entrance examination would come directly, time was now simply top-notch wealth.

  Breakfast was the milk and eggs that his mother had gotten up at six thirty to prepare for herself. After washing up, Su Can cracked open the egg on the table, the round egg white coated with vinegar, and he ate it with relish.

  In fact, Su Can hasn't eaten anything in the morning for a long time. The pressure of work hours, not to mention the irregular and chaotic schedule, has made his stomach unaccustomed to breakfast. After eating something in the morning, he often feels uncomfortable all day, and it's not fully digested by noon.

  Now Su Chan fully feels the thinness and weakness of this body, but it is healthy and full of vitality inside. It seems that at 16 years old, he was more than ten centimeters shorter than himself in 2009.

  "Mom, do you have twenty yuan? I need it today to copy some materials..." Su Can said, after swallowing the last egg and drinking the milk, looking at his mother who was waiting for him to finish eating.

  Su Mu was taken aback, 20 yuan in '98 was not a small amount for any student, the school's miscellaneous fees were around 20-30 yuan each time, which already seemed like a lot to outsiders. However, for Su Can, from primary school to junior high school, except for paying tuition fees himself, having an equivalent amount of money was almost unheard of, and his red envelope money was basically confiscated at his age.

  Su Can remembered that he started saving his pocket money from the second semester of grade six in primary school, and by graduation, he had saved a total of 19.5 yuan.

  Things got a little better when I went to junior high school, but situations like this were still relatively rare.

  Su Mu heard the reason, although she said "Why think of going to photocopy now..." She still walked into the bedroom and took out 20 yuan from her purse and handed it to Su Can. For an ordinary working-class family, this was a day's living expenses at that time.

  Su Can held the money in his hand and saw the expectation on his mother's face. In his heart, he not only thought that he must not let them suffer for himself again, but also deeply understood the importance of wealth. In that era, everyone lived a precarious life, following rules and conventions, all because of the single source of living capital, leading to narrow values. Without the countless new things that emerged in the 21st century, there were many different lifestyles and innovative career paths.

  In my impression, the unemployment rate in 1996 was getting serious, and then it continued to rise. More and more people were laid off, which made people realize that "there is no iron rice bowl" is a hard truth. Later, my mother was also laid off and re-employed. At first, she worked for others, but after many twists and turns, she finally opened her own stationery store, which has been standing still for many years.

  So let's start again. Wealth must be grasped in one's own hands, otherwise there will be many things that cannot be done even if one knows about them in advance.

  Soo-jin's mother, Soo-yeon, who had no idea what was going on with Soo-jin, didn't know that her son, who was facing a new day, would have such shocking and unconventional thoughts.

  ···

  Walking out of the neighborhood with a backpack, someone rushed over from behind and slapped his own shoulder hard. A familiar yet strange voice rang out, "Hey, I just yelled at you from behind and you didn't respond, are you trying to ignore me?"

  Su Can was just recalling the math content he reviewed last night, and it's clear that he didn't encounter any obstacles. He didn't expect to use his 27-year-old adult thinking to look at things now, and the phrase "at a glance" is the most fitting description of his current state. Just now, he really didn't hear clearly that someone was calling him from behind, and now that his thoughts have been interrupted, he looks at the person next to him with some annoyance.

  Big ears, flat head, high forehead, wearing a pair of framed nearsighted glasses, thick lower lip, tall and thin Xue Yang suddenly appeared in front of himself.

  Su Can suddenly stopped in his tracks, blinked his eyes, and wondered if he was seeing things. Wasn't that Xue Yangyi from eleven years ago!?

  A familiar warmth arose, and Su Can once again felt an irresistible urge to redden his eyes. Sometimes, the friendship between men is called "childhood friends".

  In 2007, Xue Yang took a month's leave to return home and visit his family. After the end of his leave, he returned to the Hainan naval base by special plane. In his small rented apartment in the big city, he drank some wine, cracked melon seeds, talked about the past when they grew up together, looked forward to the future, and felt happy and carefree. This kind of feeling is irreplaceable.

  After a brief stay at his place, he went to the base. The young man was a naval ground officer and was responsible for inspecting and maintaining fighter jets after each patrol mission. This is not an easy job that ordinary people can do. Every time a plane goes up in the sky, the blood and sweat paid by the ground crew are enormous.

  Of course, there are also various confidentiality agreements and rules to follow when going home on leave. The salary is not high, and if something goes wrong, you will be brought before a military court, so the hard work of ground crew members is unknown to others.

  And this sworn friend who grew up together since childhood, in 2007, the two had a heart-to-heart talk about their life ideals, was the last time they met.

  In a night patrol mission over the South China Sea in 2008, Xue Yi Yang, who was responsible for the final pre-flight inspection of the aircraft, was sucked into the engine of the fighter jet while checking the engine's air ducts, resulting in a major human error accident.

  The efforts and costs paid by national soldiers behind peace are invisible to ordinary people.

  This was also something Soo-chan only found out later. When he heard the news in 2009, he cried for two days and two nights, with a full cup of untouched liquor placed beside him all along.

  Seeing him now vividly in front of himself, the same as his 16-year-old self, Xue Yi Yang, Su Can turned around and opened his arms wide to tightly hug him, grateful for this rebirth journey.

  "Brother!"

  "Hey, hey, what's wrong with you? Are you sick or something?" Xue Yiyang said, but his tone was also somewhat moved. The three of them had grown up together in the same courtyard, and their friendship was indeed very deep.

  "There's nothing... Ah, how are you? Off to school?" Su Can knew he was a bit out of place and separated himself under the surprised gaze of an auntie beside him, patting his shoulder.

  Xue Yi Yang took a glance at Su Can, who was acting somewhat strangely today, and said with great enthusiasm, "Great, I'm free this afternoon! How about you guys? Want to go to our usual spot tonight?"

  The old place was a CD game room, at that time it was still the oldest first-generation PS (PlayStation) game console, which was already considered one of the most luxurious forms of entertainment. Internet cafes had just started to rise across the country, with expensive prices, Su Can had only heard about them but had never been to one until after high school, when he gradually came into contact with this new and thriving thing called internet cafes. At that time, CD game consoles were the most attractive form of entertainment.

  Xue Yiyang attended the First Municipal Middle School, where his grades were always above mine, but not by a huge margin. Additionally, as a student from the junior high school department of the First Municipal Middle School, he was entitled to a "high price" discount protection policy when advancing to the senior high school department. So, although Xue Yiyang's middle school entrance examination scores were higher than mine, they did not meet the admission requirements of the First Municipal Middle School. It seemed that he had paid 3,000 yuan for the privilege of continuing his studies at the First Municipal Middle School.

  At that time, the city's No. 1 Middle School was literally a dream for all students, with beautiful girls everywhere, excellent teaching quality, and no such thing as staying after school for extra classes. Every holiday was absolutely long enough, and homework was relatively relaxed. The children of officials from the whole city to the surrounding towns and counties who had some energy, or the rich second generation, were all gathered in the No. 1 Middle School. At that time, when brands like "Double Star" and "Anta" were considered famous, students at No. 1 Middle School were already wearing higher-end "Li Ning" sports series.

  But by the time he was in high school, when "Li Ning" was still a luxury for him, students at Municipal No. 1 Middle School were competing with each other to wear "Adidas", "Nike" and other top-notch sports shoes.

  The First High School has always had a mysterious and high-handed aura about it.

  "No, I'll take a look at the book tonight, you go back and take a look too, review it systematically, be careful not to fail... by the way, what's the admission score line for your school this time? Has your teacher revealed anything?" Su Can tried his best to gather information, returning to the past, he had long forgotten the admission score lines of each school.

  Xue Yi Yang stared at Su Can in front of him, has he grown up? Is this still the Su Can he knew? He even came to advise himself to study hard and be careful not to fail the exam. It's as if he had become a different person, is everything okay?

  "Without explicitly saying it, the admission score last time was 610. This time our teacher said that it's estimated to be above this score... how about you? Do you think you can pass?" Xue Yi Yang said, looking at Su Can with a sideways glance, carrying an innate sense of superiority. "Our school isn't easy to get into, the admission scores are very strict. The score you got last time, 480, would only be enough to be at the bottom of our class. I advise you to be more realistic!"

  This kid is so arrogant! He actually dares to talk to himself with a superior tone, clearly looking down on the school he's currently in and his test scores. It makes Su Can want to hit him on the head, see if he'll still put on airs!

  "Ah!" Xue Yi Yang suddenly thought of something, looking at Su Can with an incredulous face, hesitantly saying, "You wouldn't...you're not planning to take the entrance exam for First High School and pursue Chen Ling Shan, are you?!"

  Su Can was stunned, and a unforgettable taste surged in his heart. As early as elementary school, he had secretly liked a girl who was already perfect in appearance and beauty, Chen Ling Shan. She was like a princess, always standing behind a group of girls who protected her. Later, she even got into the first middle school with excellent grades, and Su Can liked her for six years until he slowly faded away in junior high school, but this matter Su Can had only told his two best friends.

  In 2009, Su Can still remembered his secret crush from elementary school. It wasn't until Xue Yi Yang brought it up that he felt a touching sensation. Back then, he had a faint and unrequited love for her, hoping to run into her at school but was too afraid due to his youthful anxiety... Now looking back, what a beautiful feeling that was.

  Seeing Xue Yi Yang's distracted expression, Su Can felt a sour taste in his heart and said with some disdain, "You'd better give up on that idea. Do you know how excellent Chen Ling Shan is at No. 1 Middle School? How many people like her? Almost every week she has to deal with those love letters from others. Such an excellent girl, let alone the fact that you're not even in the same school as her! Forget it, there's absolutely no way she'd like you!"

  Su Can couldn't help but laugh and cry, it turned out that this little brat was so hateful when he was younger. Is there such a brother who would comfort others by saying he doesn't deserve them? Doesn't this kid deserve a beating!?

  Su Can knew that Xue Yi Yang had a sense of superiority, and he was even more disdainful of his own "toad wanting to eat swan meat". Su Can didn't bother to explain it to him, now he just wanted to kick his butt. Suddenly, an idea struck him, "How about we make a bet? If I get into your school, on the first day you enter school, you'll stick out your butt and let me kick it in public. Otherwise, I'll let you kick my butt at our school gate! How's that?"

  Xue Yi Yang's face suddenly turned red, originally he was going to say something to humiliate Su Can earlier, but now hearing Su Can's words, he immediately flared up, "Fine, if you can get into my school, I'll let you kick me! Otherwise, just wait for me to kick your butt!"