Investment Life

"Doudou! Get up!"

Awakened by a rough push, Chen Yuanming was stunned for a moment before he realized that someone called his nickname. The cold wind poured in along the open door, and he shivered and got up from the bed.

Quickly put on some damp underwear, put on a thick sweater jacket, turn around and look to the side, a small round table has been set up in the middle of the room, there are several bowls on it, the rice soup is so thin that people can be seen, and there are only 3 pickles , 4 yuan, is home-made pickled radish sticks, a man is snoring at the table, drinking porridge and chewing steamed buns.Noticing Chen Yuanming's gaze, he stared and cursed loudly, "Why are you in a daze! Wash your face and eat!"

"Hurry up." The woman beside him also pushed him, and put a boiled egg on the table, "The egg will be cold later."

Chen Yuanming picked up the towel without saying a word, and walked out the door.Go out and turn right at the end of the corridor. There are public toilets and sinks. At this time, the rush hour for toilets in the morning has passed. It didn’t take much effort for him to clean up his personal hygiene. He turned on the rusty faucet and poured a handful of water on the face.

The water in winter is terribly cold, and there are still burn marks on the black water pipes. It is obvious that it was frozen again at night, and some neighbors tossed it open.In just a few seconds after washing my face, my hands turned red from the cold, and the chilblains on my little fingers and the back of my hands began to throb and itch.In the long and narrow corridor beside me, a mixed smell of firewood smoke and food smell hits my face. Every household in the corridor is noisy. This is the staff dormitory of L City Bearing Factory, the largest state-owned enterprise in the city. .There are eight households on one floor, and a three-story dormitory building in total. Every morning, it is a scene of chaos. He has lived in this place for 21 years and is familiar with everything here.

But now... twisting a towel hard, he moved his frozen hands and raised his head.Now, however, he is only 15 years old.

"Do you want to be late again after washing your face so long?"

When he entered the room, he was greeted with yelling.Chen Yuanming silently put down the towel and sat down at the table.A steamed bun stuffed into his hand.

"Hurry up, it's already 6:[-]!" With both hands, he peeled off the skin of the egg, and threw the soft-boiled egg into the rice soup, splashing a small splash. "Don't be listless all day long, it's time for the final exam, right?"

"There's still one week left." After taking a bite of the steamed buns, the choking smell of alkaline noodles stimulated the taste buds, and the steamed ones at home will always taste like this.Using chopsticks to poke the eggs in the bowl, Chen Yuanming suddenly felt a twinge in his eyes. "Mom, don't boil the eggs, I'm all right..."

"What are you talking about?" The woman neatly put a few empty bowls into the pot to soak, "Our family is not short of this money."

This time the man didn't say anything, just let out a cold snort, strode out the door, and made a loud bang when it closed.Chen Yuanming paused slightly with his chopsticks, added a piece of radish, and started eating rice porridge.

Looking at the father and son who were still in the cold war, Wang Juan couldn't help sighing, put on her coat and put on the handle pocket, and said hello to her son, "I'm going to work, you should hurry up and go to school after eating, remember to lock the door when you leave .”

Chewing vigorously what was in his mouth, Chen Yuanming nodded.The door was closed, but the noise outside the door could not be blocked. The students arrive at the school at 6:45, and the factory starts at 7:[-]. These two points of time are destined to be a busy morning.The tinkling of bicycles, the loud noises of children yelling, and the yelling of some parents echoed in the narrow corridor, every year and every day.

With the accompaniment of this sound, Chen Yuanming finished his breakfast, put the bowl in the pot, picked up his schoolbag and went out the door. The January night was long, and it was still pitch black outside the door. The cold wind was blowing on his face like a knife, and the woolen coat couldn't stop the biting chill. He sniffed, put his hands in his pockets, and walked quickly to Go to school.

After a few days of confusion, now the memory is like a mirror that has been wiped of dust, and it is slowly becoming clear.From home to school is a dirt road that goes downhill slowly, with potholes and unevenness, and when it rains, it is muddy and unable to pull out shoes.There is not even a street lamp on the entire road. In the early years, some corn and vegetables were planted on the roadside, but later they were squeezed out by privately expanded houses. The path smells rancid all the year round.

It was this dirt road with complicated road conditions, but Chen Yuanming walked without any bumps.Without him, too familiar.From elementary school to junior high school, every day at two o'clock and one line, a 15-minute walk, just walk down the slope.The fifth primary school and the third middle school in the factory are adjacent to the corner of the downhill slope, and he spent his entire teenage years in these two schools.

As a large state-owned enterprise in the early years, L City Bearing Factory has more than 9 employees and their family members. It has more than a dozen employee dormitories, schools, hospitals, clubs, bathhouses and other ancillary facilities. It is also a well-known key middle school. Since the implementation of [-]-year compulsory education and the school selection system in different districts, the cross-district students who pay high school selection fees have become a major sight in No. [-] Middle School.

It's just this scene that became Chen Yuanming's initial childhood shadow.

When he stepped into the school gate, the first class bell had already rang. Chen Yuanming didn't quicken his pace, but just glanced at the teacher's office on the second floor, then turned and went upstairs.Class 3, Junior [-] was at the western end of the third floor of the new teaching building, next to the corridor. When he opened the classroom door, dozens of pairs of eyes shot at him.

Curiosity, contempt, surprise, indifference... The boys and girls are far from the age to conceal their inner feelings, and this natural attitude becomes even more glaring.Chen Yuanming's face was blank, without even raising his eyelids, he walked straight to the empty seat in the seventh row and sat down.The girl at the same table grinned slightly, as if she wanted to distance herself from him.

Putting the schoolbag into the drawer, taking out the textbooks, paper and pens, Chen Yuanming glanced at the little girl with ponytails who looked disdainful next to her, what is her name, Wang Qian?Wang Ting?Can not remember.Not to mention that he has a weird head now, even when he was not crazy, he had no interaction with these classmates.

As soon as he sat down, the crisp sound of high heels sounded in the corridor, and a middle-aged woman walked into the classroom.High-heeled leather shoes, a black ankle-length wool skirt, and a bright red cropped down jacket were considered fashionable in the early 90s, but her facial expression ruined everything, with her long hair tied high behind her head and silver-rimmed glasses The next one is a pair of sharp and slender triangular eyes, and a faint sneer hangs on the corner of her mouth, which complements the arrogance exuding from her whole body.

The squad leader sitting in the second row stood up abruptly. "stand up!"

The sound of tables and chairs moving suddenly rang out, and the whole group stood up.

"Hello teacher!"

The voice is neat and loud, a standard pre-class ceremony.The woman standing on the podium nodded reservedly, "Hello, students."

There was another sputtering sound of tables and chairs, but this time it was quiet and fast. The head teacher of Class [-], Han Qian, is a well-known Nazi-style control freak in the school. In the era when teachers decided everything, no one dared to challenge her authority.

When the classroom became quiet again, looking at the well-behaved students who looked like quails, Teacher Han scanned the back row with narrowed eyes, and said unceremoniously, "The final exam is coming soon, what should I do?" No nonsense, but some people don’t always think about being the rat shit in the pot, just get out if you don’t want to learn. Goofing around, arriving late and leaving early, fighting and making trouble, making the class a mess. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to go to high school, it’s not that material No one is forcing you, don't delay others!"

A few glances sneaked over, but Chen Yuanming didn't respond, and opened the English textbook in front of him.

Teacher Han let out a cold snort, and threw the lesson plan in his hand on the desk, "Now spot-check homework and recite the text of the last class, Chen Yuanming!"

When his name was called, Chen Yuanming stood up.This classroom is not too big, with nine seats in each row, a total of seven and a half rows, and 65 people are packed like potatoes.Due to the poor family conditions in the past two years, Chen Yuanming's height is still one line below the average level of the class. He is a bit biased, and his grades are good. But now he is standing at the end of the classroom, next to those crane tails who are dawdling. accompany...

Clenching his fists, Chen Yuanming looked at the teacher on the podium expressionlessly.

"Why, can't you memorize it? All your strength is spent fighting and sleeping..." Teacher Han opened his mouth to reprimand, but was interrupted by an English sentence.The young man began to recite, his pronunciation was not particularly standard, and his recitation was not fast, but there were no mistakes or omissions in the content, every word was clear and resonant, as if mocking her groundless scolding.

There was no sound in the classroom. Teacher Han's face turned ashen, glaring at the boy standing at the end of the classroom. A text only has a few hundred words, and it will soon come to an end.After reciting, Chen Yuanming did not sit down immediately, but left someone in the row in front of him.

"I've finished memorizing it. Do you want to treat other fighters equally? Teacher Han."

The few people nestled in the front row immediately buried their heads in their textbooks, and fell silent.The corner of Teacher Han's mouth twitched, and he shouted loudly, "Sit down! Class begins!"

There was a sound of turning the pages of the book, and Chen Yuanming showed a self-deprecating smile, and sat back.The wound on his head was still throbbing, and he smoothed the corner of the book with his hands.The past two days had stitches on his head, and his life was chaotic, but the extra things changed him. Now the junior high school textbooks are ridiculously simple to him, any subject, including English, which is his most partial subject.At the same time, the changes are not limited to these. The questions that once puzzled him and caused him pain and suffering have finally been answered.

Chen Yuanming raised his head and looked towards the front of the classroom.In the first three rows, on the left and right sides were all the daughters of the factory director and the sons of the city leaders, who shared the top seats with the top students with full marks in all subjects.The few rows in the middle are well-behaved teachers' children and ordinary high-priced students, with grades that are neither high nor low, and sitting in the same position.The last two rows turned into transfer students who were so naughty that they could not be cured. They spent money and relationships, but their studies and personalities were in a mess. They were all stuffed into the corner and left to fend for themselves.

In this special small society, there are only four types of people: the rich, the powerful, the well-connected, and the top students who really excel in their studies.And he doesn't belong to any of those categories.He was just a rooster that strayed into the monkey group by mistake.

What a simple answer, but in the original messed up memory, the young self never understood it.His family, the education he received since he was a child was not enough for him to discover this well-known secret, his parents took the teacher's words as the golden rule, they only beat, scolded and reprimanded him, and they were completely disappointed for his "naughtiness"... …

The sound of orderly reading came from his ears, and Chen Yuanming lowered his head, looking at the hands covered with frostbite on the desk.Suddenly, the sense of dread that had been confusing him for days was gone and turned into something else entirely different.He began to accept the older, more capable, but dead self in his mind.If it was a chance to do it all over again, why didn't he try it?

Chen Yuanming laughed silently and clenched his fists.