Chapter 56: Parting

The scorching heat of summer was tempered by a torrential downpour, bringing a hint of coolness. Yang Xingwu sat on the steps, watching the rain, the splashing droplets feeling exceptionally refreshing.

After sitting on the steps for quite a while, he finally returned to the dormitory.

Liu Jiefang took out a bottle of liquor and placed it on the table, setting out four small wine cups along with a few cucumbers and tomatoes. The books on the table had all been cleared away to the upper bunk. Seeing Yang Xingwu return, he hurriedly invited him to take a seat!

"You're back? Didn't get soaked, did you? We've just been waiting for you. Come on, brothers, tonight we won't sleep until we're drunk!"

"Hurry up and dry off!"

With that, Zhang Jianye handed Yang Xingwu his towel. Yang Xingwu took it and wiped his face and hair.

Seeing the items on the table, he felt a bit curious.

"Where did the cucumbers and tomatoes come from?"

"Hehe, I 'borrowed' them from the vegetable garden!"

Li Aiguo said with a wink and a mischievous grin.

Hearing this, Yang Xingwu smiled. The vegetable garden belonged to the cafeteria, but every summer, before the cucumbers and tomatoes could fully ripen, they would be completely plundered by the students. This so angered Master Wang of the cafeteria that he complained to the principal several times, to no avail.

In the principal's words: "The students frequently help weed your vegetable garden, why are you being so stingy about a couple of cucumbers and tomatoes?"

Hearing this, the cafeteria staff felt rather helpless, and afterward simply planted a much larger quantity!

Looking at the still greenish tomatoes on the table, Yang Xingwu's teeth felt sensitive just looking at them!

Liu Jiefang motioned for Yang Xingwu to sit down and brought out two tea mugs filled to the brim with smashed cucumbers in garlic sauce and scallion-mixed tofu!

Seeing the shocked expressions of the others, Liu Jiefang smiled smugly.

"At noon I said we brothers were going to have a proper drink tonight, so after lunch I packed two tea mugs with cold dishes. As you know, peanuts and melon seeds require ration coupons to buy, so I had to resort to this alternative!"

"Impressive!"

"Awesome!"

"You're too resourceful!"

Seeing this, the three of them praised Liu Jiefang's cleverness one after another!

"Bah, small matter! Come on, brothers, let's drink!"

Liu Jiefang poured the wine for the three of them as he spoke.

Seeing the small wine cup in front of him, Yang Xingwu was quite delighted. He hadn't expected that in this era, drinking alcohol would actually come with such a perk.

With his meager capacity of about half a catty, two disposable paper cups would knock him flat on his back, making it impossible to even reach the hot dishes!

Replaced with these small wine cups before him, a single cup held only one-tenth of a *liang*, and it took ten cups to make a single *liang*. With his alcohol tolerance, he could comfortably exchange dozens of rounds of drinks with his classmates!

Seeing the small cups, Yang Xingwu immediately felt much more at ease!

After pouring the wine, Liu Jiefang picked up his cup and said:

"It hasn't been easy for us brothers to be together. The four of us have shared a room ever since high school. Even when the arts and sciences classes were divided later on, we still stayed together. This is fate! Let me drain this first as a toast!"

With that, Liu Jiefang threw back his head and finished his cup in a single gulp!

"Well done!"

Seeing Liu Jiefang be so straightforward, the other three didn't hesitate and immediately followed suit!

After finishing their drinks, the four of them ate a few bites of food, and Li Aiguo, Zhang Jianye, and Yang Xingwu successively raised their glasses to speak, recounting their experiences over the past two years.

Talking about the past, there were moments of utter embarrassment and foolishness, as well as times of high aspiration and boundless enthusiasm!

After three rounds of drinks, Yang Xingwu asked:

"The exams are over, what are you guys planning to do?"

"What plans could there be? Go home and farm, of course! The corn was planted more than half a month ago, and it's time for weeding and fertilizing. With today's heavy rain, we'll have to check if too many cornstalks have fallen over, and replant the missing seedlings if necessary."

"Yeah! With current policies unclear, there's no way out even if you want to do something. Mole crickets are in season, but those things aren't worth much either! Catching a few and roasting them yourself is pretty delicious though—crunchy and crispy! Top-tier protein!"

"Cicada shells are valuable, a dollar a pound, but a single cicada exoskeleton isn't even worth a cent. Making money is just too hard!"

"Yeah! Too hard. With that time, we might as well go to the reservoir and see if we can catch a dozen-pound big carp. That's worth money, a single fish is worth several yuan!"

"A dozen-pound big carp? You really dare to dream! With a fishhook made out of a sewing needle, losing the fish is one thing, just be careful you don't lose the needle too! With that time, you might as well go hunting in the mountains! If you're lucky enough to bag a wild boar, you can sell it for a hundred yuan or so!"

Hearing the increasingly outrageous claims from the others, Yang Xingwu was somewhat speechless. Catching mole crickets was at least a bit more reliable, and safe.

The mole crickets his roommates were talking about were un-molted cicadas, also known locally as cicada monkeys or armored turtles!

They appear every summer, and right now was the peak season. They come out every afternoon, climb up the trees, and start shedding their shells around nine or ten o'clock at night. That's when they become adult cicadas!

Yang Xingwu liked newly molted cicadas best—tender and delicious, especially when flash-fried in oil!

There were plenty of these creatures around right now, but he hadn't seen anyone buying them, and even if they did, the price wouldn't exceed two cents!

As for the fishing Li Aiguo mentioned, that was also a stretch. As the saying goes, a pound of fish takes ten pounds of force. A dozen-pound big carp would have to be at least fifty centimeters long; even if he managed to hook it, he wouldn't be able to pull it up!

"Talk about something practical, guys. Hunting wild boars? Why don't you fly up to the sky instead?"

"Exactly! Xingwu, don't listen to Jianye's nonsense! Setting a trap to catch a rabbit is fine, but if he saw a wild boar, his calves would shake so hard I'll take his last name!"

"Go on, go on, get out of here!"

The four of them bantered and drank. No one forced anyone to drink; whenever someone felt the alcohol rising, they would take a sip. Two catties of bulk liquor divided evenly meant about fifty cups per person.

Yang Xingwu sat to the side, listening to the three of them ramble on, acting as a genuine spectator, chiming in when things got lively, and gnawing on a cucumber when he got bored!

Time slipped away quietly amidst everyone's wild chatting. Listening to the rain outside the window while sipping a few small cups actually had a unique charm of its own!

Seeing that more than half of the bottle of liquor was already gone, everyone was quite drunk!

Li Aiguo looked at the others through hazy, drunken eyes.

"The teachers told us to study hard so we can build the country in the future. But after studying hard for all these years, we don't even have the qualifications to participate! I'm not reconciled!"

"Who is? Reading about 'students in their prime, full of youthful vigor'—who wouldn't yearn for that? Reading about 'treating lords of ten thousand households as mere dirt'—what kind of bold spirit was that? And the result? We did treat the lords of ten thousand households as dirt, but in the end, we can't even guarantee ourselves a full meal!"

"Sigh! Why think about that much? The principal was right after all: studying hard isn't for others or for the country, it's just for oneself. Securing state-allocated grain is our ultimate goal!"

Listening to his three roommates' philosophical musings on life, Yang Xingwu felt certain things were simply too heavy. A speck of dust from the era, when it falls on an individual, becomes a mountain!

Dragging his three roommates onto their beds, Yang Xingwu cleaned up the table and washed up before lying down on his bed to sleep!

Snores echoed throughout the dormitory, and someone, dreaming of something happy, even mumbled a few words in their sleep!

Yang Xingwu was kept somewhat sleepless by the commotion, but after a long while, he finally drifted off to sleep!

When he woke up, it was broad daylight. Yang Xingwu got out of bed and saw that the dormitory was empty—his roommates' beds had already been cleared!

Yang Xingwu was momentarily dazed. Did they leave without even saying goodbye?

Looking around, he noticed a piece of paper on the table pinned down by a tea mug. He picked it up and read:

*Xingwu, yesterday we brothers caused you trouble. Seeing you sleeping soundly, we didn't wake you. Goodbyes are always a bit sentimental. Wishing you:*
*Like a roc riding the wind on a single day, soaring ninety thousand li straight up into the sky!*