A Book Dedicated to Our Youth - Tong Hua

Chapter 5: Time Is Like a Sword

Chapter 5: Time Is Like a Sword

1. Wang Zheng's Lover

A teenage girl's heart is like a flower, it will flourish for the person they like and also wither for the person they like.
Some people's flourishing and withering are like a red rose under the sunlight, no matter whether it's opening or closing, it's all done spectacularly, becoming a legend in the memories of other people.
Some people's flourishing and withering are like a wild lily in a mountain valley, No matter if it's opening or closing, it is silent, becoming a secret buried in time.

I was too concentrated on my own things so only a long time after the speech competition finished did I learn that Wang Zheng didn't go to technical school.

In that era, in our city, no matter how bad your grades were, you still went to technical school because technical school was jointly run with several large scale state owned enterprises (nowadays it's called monopolized industries). After graduating from technical school, you go straight into various large state owned enterprises depending on which specialized field you're in. You'll definitely have a secure job with a good income and just as good benefits.

So parents with lower expectation's didn't worry if their children's grades were bad because even if their grades were bad, they would still have a secure job as a way out. However, Wang Zheng has a strong personality, in spite of his parents' cries and threats, he still wouldn't go to technical school. At that type, this type of action was completely a kind of suicide.

Wang Zheng took his drum set and came to 'Across the Water', he also found a few friends who were going the path as him, formed a band and started to perform live.

At the time, most of the dance halls in our city played tapes as accompaniment and there pretty much weren't any halls that used live bands as accompaniment like Brother Li did. Plus, Wang Zheng was truly handsome and once the lights were on him, he started playing the drums with no restraint like there wasn't anyone else present making all the girls who watched him become delirious.

Brother Li found a few pretty girls who dressed up like the female leads of Chuing Yao's television series to sing on stage. Quickly, 'Across the Water' became extremely popular in our city. No matter if it was male or female, they all stove to be the first to go to 'Across the Water.'

However, there's also no need to think of the dance hall as being too complicated, society's morals in that era were much better than it is now. Dance halls were only a place to listen to songs and dance. One of my classmate's parents went to dance there regularly and they also brought my classmate and her sister along to play there in the weekends, the grades of both siblings were very good.

But it can't be said that the dance hall didn't have any random things, there were pornography among the young people but those were definitely hidden under the table.

Because Wang Zheng performed at the dance hall, Xiao Fel also started going regularly.

The girls dressed and acted completely different to a student at school. Even when saying a simple sentence to a guy, they would say it sweetly and tactfully.

Wang Zheng became more and more cold towards Xiao Fei to the extent that he really hated Xiao Fei following him to the dance hall. Xiao Fei became confused and her confidence broke down bit by bit. She no longer stopped other people calling her 'Fei Er' and subconsciously started dressing like Chen Fei Er from 'The Flowering Season Of Age Sixteen', as if she would only be able to surpass everyone else if she dressed like a celebrity.

I didn't know about any of these. I was busy striving to succeed in the speech competition and busy chasing the shadow in my heart. It was until Xiao Bo told me, "Qi Qi, last night Ge Xiao Fei was drunk and fought with other people. For your sake, Brother Li didn't say anything but it's best if you go persuade her not to go to 'Across the Water' anymore. She's too young and she doesn't have parental supervision so she's not suited to go to dance halls.