Chapter 110: The New Semester

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As expected, Zhang Xiuxiu had rented the entire academy theater. In the vast auditorium, there were only Yang Tian and Zhang Xiuxiu. Even Xia Dong was standing outside the theater entrance.

Titanic was playing on the enormous screen. Zhang Xiuxiu was utterly absorbed in the film, while Yang Tian was somewhat distracted. He was thinking about planting ornamental trees and flowers. He had already asked someone to purchase a batch of evergreen saplings and French plane trees from Jinan, along with yellow thorn roses, forsythia, and magnolias.

Since this was his first planting project, he had specially invited two cultivation experts to return and teach him their methods.

Then there were the greenhouse vegetables. After making a series of improvements, he had restarted the greenhouse operation. He had even gone to visit his former regular customers in Luohe Town. They were all willing to continue buying his produce. They also said they were delighted to see Yang Tian back. They had enjoyed dealing with him during those years, but the past six months of dealing with Yang Ming and his wife had been miserable. Even if the flood had never happened, they had not intended to keep buying vegetables from the couple.

“Hey, are you even watching?” Zhang Xiuxiu complained with a pout when she noticed Yang Tian had drifted off.

“I am!” Yang Tian gave her an apologetic smile.

“As far as I can tell, the only time you watch a movie attentively is when you’re with that little girl Huang Juan!” Zhang Xiuxiu grumbled, a trace of jealousy mixed into her expression.

“I’ve seen this movie many times. Naturally, it doesn’t have much of an impact anymore.” Yang Tian smiled as he explained.

“I’ve seen it several times too, so why do I still enjoy it so much?” Zhang Xiuxiu argued loudly.

Before Yang Tian could answer, an astonishing scene suddenly appeared on the big screen. A man and a woman were engaged in an explicit sexual act. The man was passionately excited, the woman utterly intoxicated, their movements exaggerated and their moans so uninhibited that everyone’s breathing quickened inexplicably.

“Boss, what on earth are you doing?” Zhang Xiuxiu shouted furiously.

In an instant, however, Yang Tian saw that her face had turned bright red. How could an unmarried young woman possibly withstand such a spectacle?

Yang Tian merely smiled faintly. He knew the owner of the academy theater was playing a prank. The man was an exceptionally amusing character and often did things that left people speechless. Presumably, after seeing Zhang Xiuxiu rent the theater just to watch a movie with a man, he had decided to add fuel to the fire by suddenly playing such a film.

At that moment, even if Zhang Xiuxiu screamed herself hoarse, the owner would not come out. He probably assumed she was simply calling out loudly because she was embarrassed and would get used to it after a while. After all, he believed he was doing them a good deed.

Hearing the sounds coming from inside, Xia Dong, who was standing by the entrance, could not help becoming flustered. He had no idea what Zhang Xiuxiu and Yang Tian were doing inside. He did not know whether he should rush in to check on them or retreat farther away.

Bang!

After hesitating for a moment, Xia Dong finally burst through the door. Usually calm and collected, he was now panting heavily. Clearly, he had lost his composure.

Seeing this, Yang Tian understood at once that Xia Dong had feelings for Zhang Xiuxiu. Otherwise, as a bodyguard, he would never have charged in when his employer was in such a situation.

“Xia Dong, why did you rush in? Do you want to watch this kind of movie too?” Zhang Xiuxiu was even more flustered. Unable to find the owner, she turned around and angrily shouted at Xia Dong.

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Xia Dong took a step backward, but he still refused to leave. He glanced at Yang Tian beside Zhang Xiuxiu, and a strange expression flickered in his eyes.

“Forget it. Let’s go outside for a walk.” Yang Tian smiled knowingly. This sort of film did nothing for him. Of course, if he were watching it with Huang Juan, perhaps he would enjoy it quite a bit.

Yang Tian stood and walked outside. Zhang Xiuxiu’s embarrassment eased considerably, while Xia Dong let out a long sigh of relief.

Miss Zhang had suffered another defeat. She remained silent the entire way, walking behind Yang Tian with a flushed face. Even more amusingly, the usually taciturn Xia Dong kept trying to make conversation and crack jokes. Unfortunately, no one laughed along with him, leaving him thoroughly embarrassed.

September 1, 1998.

Binhai No. 1 High School welcomed the new semester. The school was bustling with activity. Yang Tian and Huang Juan stood at the entrance with Chen Ming, An Qi, Zhao Shilei, and Zhang Yunxiang, waiting to welcome Yang Xueling and Zhang Xinyu. Even Zhang Xiaoshan, who was especially close to Zhao Shilei, had come along.

When Yang Bao and his wife brought Yang Xueling to register, Chen Ming and the others were all astonished. Apparently, they had never imagined that Yang Tian’s younger sister would be so beautiful.

When Zhang Xinyu appeared, Zhao Shilei and Zhang Yunxiang hurriedly straightened their backs, putting on the mature airs of experienced seniors, and quickly went over to greet her.

“Sister Juan!” Zhang Xinyu hurried over to Huang Juan, while Yang Xueling darted straight into Yang Tian’s arms, making everyone laugh.

With Yang Tian and the others there, registering Yang Xueling and Zhang Xinyu was naturally easy. The group wandered around the school with practiced familiarity, and before long, Yang Xueling and Zhang Xinyu had arrived at their dormitory.

“Yang Tian, I really never would have guessed. You’re so ugly, yet your sister looks like a goddess descended from heaven!” Zhao Shilei took advantage of Zhang Xiaoshan’s distraction, hurried over to Yang Tian, and teased him in a low voice.

“You’re quite handsome yourself. At No. 1 High School, you count as a real heartthrob!” Yang Xueling had sharp ears and overheard Zhao Shilei. She smiled as she spoke.

“Of course! There are very few people at No. 1 High School as handsome as me—almost none!” Zhao Shilei declared proudly, immediately drawing angry and disdainful looks from Chen Ming and the others.

“But you’re still not as handsome as my brother!” Yang Xueling burst out laughing.

The moment she said this, Zhao Shilei’s face turned green.

“Yang Tian, it looks like I can’t win over your sister. How about giving me that other one?” Zhao Shilei began eyeing Zhang Xinyu, wearing an especially lecherous grin.

“Zhang Xiaoshan, Zhang Xiaoshan…” Yang Tian did not answer directly. Instead, he pretended to call loudly to Zhang Xiaoshan, who was chatting with Huang Juan and An Qi nearby.

“All right, all right, I was wrong! Yang Tian, Big Brother Yang, please be merciful!” Zhao Shilei hurriedly clasped his hands and begged for forgiveness.

That evening, everyone ate together at the small street stall run by An Qi’s family. It was Yang Xueling’s first time eating at one, and she was delighted. The food at such stalls tasted good, but the downside was that hygiene was often lacking, which was why many people were reluctant to eat there. Fortunately, this was An Qi’s family’s stall. Whenever Yang Tian and the others came, An Qi’s mother prepared the food specially for them, so its cleanliness was absolutely guaranteed.

“Brother, Sister Juan, did you eat like this every day when you were at school? That sounds wonderful!” Yang Xueling asked with a smile.

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“How could we eat like this every day? Weekends, perhaps. On ordinary school days, we didn’t have time to come here!” Huang Juan explained with a smile.

“Oh. Then what’s the difference between high school and middle school?” Zhang Xinyu asked.

“Hey, let me explain. The biggest difference between high school and middle school is that we’re already living in a state of semi-freedom. Once we get to college, we’ll be completely free. Ha-ha!” the sly Zhao Shilei declared.

“A state of semi-freedom?” Yang Xueling and Zhang Xinyu looked confused, while Yang Tian and the others shook their heads and sighed inwardly, cursing Zhao Shilei for bragging again.

“Let this senior explain. By semi-freedom, I mean that although we’re still under the school’s strict control, we also have plenty of room to do as we please. We can read little novels and play games. When we have time on weekends, we can go out and earn some spending money, or go shopping and eat with our best friends. You understand now, right?

“Take my high-school life, for example. I read novels during class, stayed up all night playing games at Internet cafés, and spent weekends getting together with your brother and the others!” Zhao Shilei rattled on.

Yang Xueling and Zhang Xinyu were even more confused. Was this really what high school life was like?

“Well, I think you haven’t explained it clearly enough. Let me fill in the details,” Chen Ming said, exposing Zhao Shilei’s true circumstances. “Your high-school life consisted of secretly reading novels beneath your desk during class, getting caught by the teacher, and being punished with three days of classroom cleaning. The money for your all-night Internet sessions came from saving on food by eating instant noodles. And those weekend gatherings? Ha-ha! You call them gatherings, but in reality, you only came to Yang Tian’s place to freeload!”

Everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“You bastard, Chen Ming! Zhang Xiaoshan is here, and you couldn’t leave me a little dignity?” Zhao Shilei moved toward Chen Ming and pretended to beat him up. To spare his feelings, Chen Ming pretended to cry out in pain a few times.

“So my brother is very rich? You often go to his place to freeload?” Yang Xueling blinked her bright, lively eyes and asked with a smile.

“Of course! You don’t know this, but these days, many people don’t even call your brother Yang Tian anymore. They call him Boss Yang. What prestige! He’s the second-in-command of Red Universe Internet Café, knows many influential figures in Binhai City, and has now leased three hundred acres of land in one go. Impressive, very impressive!” Zhao Shilei proclaimed loudly.

“Really? Brother, what are you going to do with so much land?” Yang Xueling asked in shock, moving closer to Yang Tian.

“Build you an amusement park.” Yang Tian stroked Yang Xueling’s head.

“An amusement park covering three hundred acres? Brother, you’re not planning to build a Disney park, are you?” Zhang Xinyu asked in astonishment.

“A park more interesting and more meaningful than Disney,” Yang Tian replied with a smile.

Disney was a children’s amusement park, whereas he intended to build a scenic garden of considerable nostalgic value. Anyone who entered would be able to find traces of the past, relax both body and mind, and allow their memories to unwind.

Yang Xueling and Zhang Xinyu began their high-school lives. What they did not know was that Yang Tian lived together with Huang Juan. Although both families had moved to Binhai City, Yang Tian and Huang Juan had not abandoned their little world. They only returned home on weekends; the rest of the time, they stayed there.

This soon drew Yang Xueling’s attention. Although she lived at school as well, she had not seen Huang Juan in the girls’ dormitory. She could not understand it. Huang Juan did not live at school, and she did not seem to live at home either—so where did she stay?

Thus, after school one day, Yang Xueling secretly followed Huang Juan to find out where she lived.

Huang Juan was hurrying home to wash Yang Tian’s clothes. Although Yang Tian never allowed her to do his laundry, she always liked to sneakily wash it for him. In her eagerness to get back, she failed to notice Yang Xueling following close behind with a mischievous smile.

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