Chapter 016

Meng Li crouched outside the door, silently thinking to herself, What a heartless woman. Your daughter turned out this way because of you. You pushed her into this, and now you’re the one who’s torn her down to nothing. When Meng Li was obedient, wasn’t she despised by you to no end?

Inside, Cheng Chunliang endured a few more of Gu Huijuan’s complaints before steering the conversation back to the matter at hand. “There’s only about half a year left,” he said. “We should transfer him to Cuihua Middle School. If he causes less trouble, we’ll have more peace of mind.”

Gu Huijuan calmed her breath and replied, “It would be good if he could cause less trouble, but he’s already gotten wild, and he definitely won’t want to go to Cuihua Middle School. Separating him from his bad friends and sending him to a proper school where people will control him—do you think he’ll be willing? He’s been like this since he was born, and he’ll never amount to anything.”

Cheng Chunliang said, “I’ll try to talk to him and change his mindset.”

Meng Li didn’t want Cheng Chunliang to waste any more time on this. After hearing his words, she raised her hand and knocked on their door. After knocking, she pushed the door open and entered, standing at the doorway and looking at Cheng Chunliang and Gu Huijuan.

Gu Huijuan didn’t know what she meant by this and immediately stiffened her face.

Cheng Chunliang was a little intimidated by her current temper, so he quickly looked at her and said, “I was talking to your mother about transferring you to a new school, and…”

“I heard you.” Meng Li directly interrupted him.

Cheng Chunliang swallowed nervously, “Don’t take what your mother said to heart. We’re only doing this for your own good…”

Meng Li didn’t want to listen to their insincere words. She interrupted him again, “I’ll go.”

Cheng Chunliang was momentarily stunned, unsure of how to respond as he looked at Meng Li.

Meng Li repeated herself, “Cuihua Middle School, I’ll go.”

She then turned to Gu Huijuan, “My so-called bad friends treat me better than you do. Stop looking down on people. Who will be successful and who won’t—only time will tell. Don’t be too quick to judge. It wouldn’t be good if you end up getting slapped in the face later.”

Gu Huijuan sat there, silenced and pressured by Meng Li’s gaze, unable to speak.

After saying these words, Meng Li didn’t say anything more. She simply turned around and left.

A moment later, Gu Huijuan came to her senses and spoke toward the door, “You can tell a person’s future from the age of three, and you can tell their old age by the age of seven. I’ll be waiting for that slap in the face!”

Meng Li’s voice rang out, firm and unyielding. “Alright!”

…

Cheng Chunliang was the manager of a food factory, and he was competent enough in his work. He quickly took care of Meng Li’s school transfer procedures, hoping that she would settle down in Beijing for the remaining six months and stop causing trouble for the Cheng family.

Wei Dong and the others, however, weren’t happy about Meng Li transferring schools. They cursed and complained.

The group of them had all attended the same middle school and spent their time eating, drinking, and playing together. Their bond was something that not just anyone could understand.

The middle school they attended had loose rules, and no one really cared about discipline. As a result, they didn’t attend many classes and mostly spent their days idly hanging around. After all these years, they had risen to their current positions, and now the leader was going to transfer to Cuihua Middle School. How could they be happy about that?

If Meng Li really did go to Cuihua Middle School and attended classes regularly, the time she spent with Wei Dong and the others would inevitably decrease. It would no longer be easy for her to skip classes and make a scene at a school like that.

This was also the reason why Cheng Chunliang wanted to send her to Cuihua Middle School—he believed that separating her from Wei Dong and his gang of bad friends would mean no one would be around to encourage her to stir up trouble. He hoped that the remaining six months would pass more peacefully.

In the evening, a few people stood by the lake in the park, letting the twilight envelop them as they enjoyed the breeze, lined up along the stone railing.

Wei Dong took a drag of his cigarette and squinted his eyes. “Third Master, you’re just going to go because they told you to? That crappy school is so boring. Not only is it strict, but they also call the parents for every little thing. Who’s got time for that nowadays? Who has time to care whether we study or not? And besides, what’s the point of studying?”

In these times, the best way out for young people was to join the army. And whether you could join or not had nothing to do with your school performance or grades. What mattered was your family background and physical condition.

Even if you spent every day wasting time, as long as you came from a good family, your future was essentially secure.

For those with a poor family background, the worry was simply about having a hard time during the rural work assignment period.

If Meng Li were a person from this era, she might have the same thoughts as Wei Dong and the others, thinking that studying was useless. But she wasn’t from this era, and she knew the direction in which society was developing. Naturally, she wouldn’t just let herself be carried away by the current.

Before her time travel, she had spent over a decade studying. Would she really throw everything she had learned aside just because she ended up in this world? Would she give up on the future she had planned and imagined for herself, allowing the tides of time to drag her along?

No matter what the future held, would she simply go with the flow?

Meng Li had never considered going with the flow, so she was even more determined to attend Cuihua Middle School. At a school with strict rules and regulations, the next six months could be much more peaceful. At the same time, she could consolidate all the knowledge she had learned in a better academic environment.

She leaned against the railing, took a breath, and then turned to look at Wei Dong and the others, speaking seriously, “It’s not because they’re forcing me to go. If I didn’t want to go, no one could make me. I want to go myself.”

Jin Bei frowned slightly and looked at Meng Li. “Why? If you go to that school, we won’t be able to hang out together every day anymore!”

Meng Li suddenly smiled mischievously. “I heard the girls at Cuihua Middle School are pretty. I want to check it out. Who knows, in a semester or even just half a month, I might bring you all a third mistress, and you’ll be so jealous you’ll turn green with envy.”

Wei Dong wasn’t happy and threw his cigarette away. “Damn, Third Master, what’s more important—brothers or girls? Whatever kind of beautiful girl you want, I could turn over Beijing and find one for you.”

The conversation seemed to be going nowhere, so Zhuo Xi spoke up from the side, “Third Master has his own plans. Why are we interfering? Wei Dong, if you really can’t bear to be apart from Third Master, why don’t you transfer to Cuihua Middle School too? Problem solved.”

Wei Dong was momentarily stunned and quickly replied, “That damn place? I’m not going!”

Jin Bei echoed, “I’m not going either.”

Wei Dong had no more to say, but there was still a feeling of discomfort in his chest.

He turned his head to look at Meng Li, only to see her leaning on the railing, gazing into the distance. Her profile, illuminated by the soft light of the mercury lamps, appeared delicate and fair. Her lips, naturally tinted with a peachy pink, gave her an innocent, almost obedient look. She resembled a beautiful, sweet, and well-behaved girl.

In that instant, Wei Dong was momentarily entranced, his gaze fixed and unfocused.

After a moment, he snapped back to reality and quickly averted his eyes. But his fingers began to twitch, unsure of what to do.

Taking advantage of no one noticing his strange thoughts, and also to cover up his feelings, Wei Dong quickly added, “Who cares if he goes or not? I don’t give a damn about this crap! It’s better if we just break up, starting tomorrow—let’s not see each other again, everyone go their own way!”

After saying this, he quickly hid his slightly dazed expression and turned to walk away.

Jin Bei and the others watched him storm off, narrowing their eyes in the cold wind…

Back at home, Wei Dong stood in front of the mirror and slapped himself across the face, feeling deeply ashamed of himself for zoning out by the lake for a few seconds. He couldn’t believe he’d actually thought his leader was sweet, obedient, and pretty, and had even been entranced by it. Damn it, how could he have let that happen?

He had been single for so long that he was now seeing things in a whole new light, even with a guy.

After slapping himself, Wei Dong lay back on his bed and thought—No, he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to go out and find some women!