Those things that happened in those years

Chapter 3 A Chance Encounter with a Classmate

Jun suggested that everyone hook their knives together and overtake the girl riding alone not far ahead, which received a positive response from everyone.

Hongbo was the shortest and weakest among them, but his competitive spirit was no less than theirs. Hearing Jun Ge's suggestion, he didn't say anything, just pursed his lips, immediately got off the seat, stood up on the pedals, gripped the handlebars tightly, leaned forward slightly, swayed his arms and hips, and used all his strength to accelerate. He pedaled the pedals rapidly and took the lead in rushing forward.

Seeing this, Jun Ge also became interested. He straightened his back, his face flushed red, and shouted loudly, "Enemy general, don't run away! Zhao Zilong of Changshan is here! Charge!" His loud voice seemed to pierce the sky. After shouting, he shot out like an arrow, chasing closely behind Hong Bo.

Jay was still immersed in the sadness he had just experienced. His eyes were somewhat vacant, and he was indifferent to the hustle and bustle around him. He just mechanically pedaled and silently rode behind the group, his figure appearing lonely and desolate.

Watching his companions dash off one by one, Hong Liguo felt a surge of excitement welling up inside him. He took a deep breath, pushed off with his legs, and sped up, chasing after his female classmates and friends. The wind whistled in his ears, ruffled his clothes, and carried away some of his youthful worries, leaving only burning, innocent hearts chasing their youthful dreams and the unknown future along the country roads.

Hong Liguo pedaled his bicycle with all his might, the wheels spinning rapidly, kicking up sand and gravel from the ground. He was about to catch up with Hong Bo and Jun Ge, who, sensing his approach, quickened their pace. Jun Ge, in particular, glanced back at him, his eyes filled with panic and resentment, afraid of being overtaken.

Just as he was about to be level with the female classmate, Jun pursed his lips and whistled loudly. Then he suddenly squeezed towards Hong Liguo, trying to create friction and slow down Hong Liguo's charge. Hong Liguo couldn't dodge in time, and the car shook violently, directly rushing towards the female classmate.

The female student was clearly startled by the sudden turn of events; her eyes widened instantly, and she frantically twisted her handlebars to try and avoid it. But everything happened so suddenly that their bicycles inevitably collided.

With the girl's terrified scream, the two of them, along with their bike, fell into a shallow ditch by the roadside.

Hong Liguo felt a sharp pain in his palm and right hip. His palm was scraped and blood seeped out, and his knee hit the ground hard, making him wince in pain. If there hadn't been other people around, especially female classmates, he would have definitely cried. Fortunately, he managed to hold back the tears after they welled up in his eyes a few times.

The female classmate wasn't in much better shape; her trousers were caught in the bicycle chain, thankfully not torn. She sat up straight with composure, her eyes red and moist from the pain—Hong Liguo thought that if no one had been there, she would have definitely cried out loud.

The female student also fell quite hard, rubbing her arms and thighs intermittently.

At this moment, Hong Liguo disregarded his own pain and quickly got up to check if the female classmate was injured.

Just then, his gaze suddenly stopped on the female classmate's face, and he felt a sense of déjà vu as he looked at her!

The female classmate was initially furious, but when she saw Hong Liguo limping over, she was about to scold him when her gaze swept over his face and she suddenly paused, her anger immediately halved.

Hong Liguo carefully examined her face and suddenly felt that she looked very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before.

Before he could even ask a question, the female classmate looked at him carefully for a few moments. The panic in her eyes had not completely faded, but a hint of surprise also flashed across them.

"You are...you are...Shaguoguo?" The female classmate was the first to recognize him.

Hong Liguo suddenly realized that she was actually Wang Yuxin, his classmate from grades one through three in elementary school!

Back then, she wasn't very tall, always wore two little pigtails, and had a bit of baby fat. Her appearance wasn't particularly outstanding, and she was always smiling. She would always take out a balloon to blow up during breaks, which made everyone incredibly envious. It's unbelievable that she has grown into such a graceful young woman in just two years.

"Balloon! Is that you? Is it really you?"

Hong Liguo was both surprised and delighted, completely forgetting the pain of falling.

"Shaguoguo" was the nickname his classmates gave Hong Liguo when he was in elementary school. Because his family had a sand pear tree, he always liked to bring some sand pears to school. At that time, he was young and did not know how to share. Many classmates couldn't resist the temptation, so they combined the character "guo" in his name and gave him the nickname "Shaguoguo" or "Shaguozi".

"Balloon" was naturally the nickname given to Wang Yuxin by everyone. At that time, resources were scarce, and blowing up balloons to play with was something many children dared not dream of, but she could often play with balloons. Her classmates, who could not share with her, combined with her baby fat, called her "Balloon" or "Balloon Girl".

When Wang Yuxin saw that he was also calling her by her nickname, her face immediately turned slightly red, and she said with a hint of anger, "How old are you to still call people by their nicknames?"

Hong Liguo scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and retorted in a low voice, "Didn't you call me too?"

The other friends had already stopped their cars and gathered around.

Fa Zi asked anxiously, "How are you? Are you alright?"

Jun stood to the side with some guilt, and said awkwardly, "Oh dear, it's all my fault, it's all my fault. I was afraid you would surpass me, then I wouldn't be the ever-victorious general Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong."

Hong Liguo tried to help Wang Yuxin stand up, but she blushed and pushed his hand away, supporting herself as she stood up and dusted herself off.

At this point, everyone helped to lift the bicycle up.

Hong Liguo said to Fa Zi and the others, "Take a closer look at her. Who is she? Do you recognize her?"

Everyone hadn't really looked at her closely before, but after hearing what he said, they started to examine her seriously, which made Wang Yuxin lower her head in embarrassment.

After everyone saw it, they all remembered it one after another. Fa Zi and Jie called out her name, but Hong Bo directly called out her nickname.

Although they weren't in the same class as Hong Liguo and Wang Yuxin, they all attended the same elementary school and were in the same grade, so they all knew each other.

"I haven't seen you since my dad arranged for me to attend another primary school. I never expected to run into you here," Wang Yuxin said to Hong Liguo with a smile, revealing two shallow dimples on her face, looking incredibly cute.

"Yes, what a coincidence! Are you also going to register at the rural middle school?" Hong Liguo asked.

Wang Yuxin nodded: "Yes, I'm also going to register at the township middle school."

At this moment, Hongbo joked from the side, "Looks like this fall was worth it! It brought you two old classmates together again. You two are truly destined for each other!"

Everyone laughed when they heard that, and the somewhat awkward atmosphere instantly became relaxed and pleasant.

Wang Yuxin was two years older than Hong Liguo, already sixteen that year, and knew more about some things earlier than they did. Hearing Hong Bo's words, her face flushed again, and she pointed at him, saying, "Shut up! Who has any connection with you guys? Bumping into people every time we meet? I don't want this kind of connection!"

The despicable Hongbo seemed oblivious to anything, instead pressing, "So what kind of destiny do you want?"

Wang Yuxin retorted with "How annoying!", then endured the pain, got on the car, and drove away without looking back.

Jun glanced at the digital watch on his wrist and realized that they couldn't delay any longer. He said to everyone, "Let's hurry up and go, or we'll really be late. Luckily, today is just for registration, otherwise we would definitely be late."

Of the group, only Jun's family was relatively well-off. His parents somehow managed to find him an old electronic watch, which was often inaccurate, but that didn't stop him from showing it off to everyone.

Everyone rearranged their bicycles and followed Wang Yuxin, riding together towards the township middle school.