CHAPTER 477: CHAPTER 474: [BIG BROTHER, YOU’RE TOO REASONABLE!]

Chapter 474: Big Brother, You’re Too Reasonable!

"What are you doing!"

At the entrance of No. 8 Middle School, a young man wearing a poplin shirt strode forward and fiercely pinched the ear of a juvenile, scolding loudly, "All day long you don’t do anything good, just come here to act like a thug! Can you succeed in life by doing this? Will people respect you for this?!"

Around him, three or five other juveniles scattered, leaving only one unlucky guy whose ear was pinched by the young man, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Sun, Brother Sun..."

"What ’big brother’ or ’second brother’! You’ve learned nothing good, just a bunch of slang from society! Call me Teacher Sun!"

The juvenile shrank his neck, his lips twitching slightly, "Teacher Sun... Give me some face. How am I supposed to lead these guys if you do this..."

"Lead what? It’s all nonsense!" The young man took a deep breath. "Didn’t you take over your dad’s job at the factory last month? Why aren’t you working and instead hanging around the school gate causing trouble?!"

"What’s the point of working in the factory, working to death for just twenty bucks a month," the juvenile said carelessly. "And I still get bossed around."

"In ten or twenty years, you’ll regret it."

Resentful of his lack of ambition, the young man sighed deeply and then reached into the juvenile’s pocket, pulling out half a pack of cigarettes—the cheapest kind. "Confiscated!" he said, glancing at them.

"Hey! I’m talking to you, Sun! Just because I call you ’Teacher Sun’ doesn’t mean you’re the pope! I’ve graduated; I’m no longer your student! You’re meddling in everything, even my smoking! I gave you face just now, don’t think too highly of yourself!"

The juvenile was enraged, unruly and fierce, as he broke free from the young man’s grip, a defiant look on his face.

The young man simply looked at him coldly. "So what?"

"Do you know, if anyone out there dared to talk to me like you did today, I’d have them lying on the ground already!"

"Oh, quite imposing," the young man still spoke coolly. "So, are you thinking of starting a fight with me?"

"Don’t think I won’t dare!" The juvenile straightened his neck defiantly, rolling his eyes. "I’ve given you face; you better not push it!"

"So? You pretend to be a thug, run to the school gate, whistle at female students, harass them, and think you’re so great and impressive? Despicable!" the young man said coldly.

"What did you say!" The juvenile couldn’t take it anymore. He suddenly bent down, picked up half a brick from the ground, and glowered at the young man. "Say it again, Sun Shengli!"

"Mmm, quite fierce." The younger version of Old Sun smiled faintly. "Do you think you’re very impressive and powerful? That everyone else working hard at their jobs are fools, and only you’re smart? Loitering in the streets with a bunch of losers, throwing your weight around and bullying the weak, feeling proud and powerful?

"Is this all you aspire to in life? Bullying those weaker than you, stealing students’ pocket money. Whistling at and harassing female students weaker than you—is this your lifetime achievement?"

"I..."

The juvenile’s face turned red, but a malicious glint suddenly flashed in his eyes. "Sun Shengli, don’t think that just because I had a few meals at your place when I was a student... fuck you..."

SLAP!

Suddenly a hand reached out from the side, slapping the juvenile’s face. The lad sprawled onto the ground, the brick flying from his hand.

"You?!" The younger Old Sun turned his head only to see a youth standing next to him with a smile, slowly retracting the hand that had delivered the slap.

"Why are you hitting people?!" young Old Sun said angrily. "You!"

"How pedantic, Old Sun... oh no, Young Comrade Sun, I have to criticize you! Pedantic!" Chen Nuo spoke with an earnest tone. "If I hadn’t slapped him, do you believe he really would have hit you on the head with that brick?"

"..."

"You’re a good person, truly top-notch, but unfortunately, just a bit pedantic." Chen Nuo sighed and pointed at the lad lying on the ground groaning. "This trash isn’t worth your efforts. You think because you were his teacher, taught him... Yes, I understand. I know what kind of person you are. When he was your student, you surely took good care of him in his life too, right? Looked after his studies, probably even kindly took him out for a few meals, right? You think he must still have a shred of kindness in him, that he will care about his former respect and affection for you, that he would heed your advice... Wrong, wrong, Young Comrade Sun."

Caught off guard by the young man’s words, Sun Shengli subconsciously replied,

"Wrong? Where did I go wrong?"

"You think too highly of people," Chen Nuo stated simply.

Then, lighting up a cigarette, he pointed at the lad on the ground. "In this world, there are good people and bad people.

"This kind of lad, he’s like a wild dog, you get it? No conscience at all! You taught him, and you might even have taken care of him, but it’s useless. This kind of person has garbage in their head, and their heart was devoured by dogs long ago. Heartless. He doesn’t know gratitude.

"And what does ’wild dog’ mean? It means you can never domesticate them. No matter how kind you are to them, when they decide to bite, they bite. For their own benefit, for their pride, they’ll turn on you and attack when it suits them.

"Don’t you get it, Young Comrade Sun?"

"I... I am a teacher!"

"Teachers aren’t Bodhisattvas; they can’t save every being."

With a sigh, Chen Nuo continued, "Education is not almighty. If it were, there would be no bad people in the world.

"You see, we should educate those who are receptive with all our heart! That’s fulfilling a teacher’s greatest responsibility!

"For those who shouldn’t be taught, we should let the iron fist of justice punish them, understand?

"If everything could be solved by education, what would we need laws for? What would we need police for?"

Chen Nuo pointed at the lad on the ground. "What was this guy doing here today? Leading a bunch of lackeys to block female students at the middle school entrance. Playing the hooligan, huh?

"If it weren’t for you, a teacher, stepping in to stop them, what do you think they could have done? You want to educate him, but have you considered the female students they harass? Do they deserve such misfortune?"

Sun Shengli was stunned for a moment. "Then what should I do...?"

"The law, my dear Teacher Sun! Handcuff them if necessary, sentence them if needs be! That’s how justice is served!"

Hearing this, Sun Shengli shook his head subconsciously.

Chen Nuo sighed inwardly. Speaking of Old Sun, he really was a good person. An absolute good person; everyone who spoke of him thought highly of him. Being too nice was Old Sun’s lifelong weakness—not a flaw, but a weakness. But Chen Nuo didn’t expect his few words to change Old Sun’s nature. It wouldn’t be good even if it did change. Being kind-hearted is indeed a weakness, but at the same time, it’s also Old Sun’s greatest achievement in life. Back then, because of the usury incident, Old Sun was ridiculed by the whole school. There weren’t many teachers who spoke out openly. But as a student in No. 8 Middle School at the time, Chen Nuo heard everything loud and clear. To tell the truth, most teenagers, regardless of gender, lacked a clear sense of right and wrong—they hadn’t developed their principles yet. To put it bluntly, those with a conscience were few. What a good teacher Old Sun was. Seeing Old Sun in misfortune, the mainstream among the students were those who mocked him with cold indifference and sarcasm. In the eyes of many children, a teacher isn’t good just because they oversee your studies and talk to you earnestly. These ignorant brats only think, "I want to play, and you keep nagging me, so you’re a jerk." "You’re unlucky? Great! I’m thrilled!" But! In that kind of public opinion at No. 8 Middle School back then, where students were scoffing at Old Sun with malicious words that stabbed like knives into one’s heart... when they saw a student fall into the lake, Old Sun, as a teacher, was the first one, without a second of hesitation, to dive into the water! To save him! That’s Old Sun.

So today, when Chen Nuo sought out the younger version of Old Sun, it wasn’t to change his personality but for something else.

"By the way, Comrade Sun Shengli, I have something to tell you."

"What?" Sun Shengli was startled, and only then did he suddenly realize. "Who are you? Do you know me, young comrade?"

"Don’t worry about who I am," Chen Nuo waved his hand, "You know Yang Xiaoyi, right?"

"...Yes."

"You know Yao Weishan, right?"

Sun Shengli’s face turned dark.

"I came here to tell you something. Yang Xiaoyi told her family she was on a business trip and has been gone for three days. In fact, she didn’t go on a business trip at all; she has been staying in Yao Weishan’s work dorm these three days. They are already an item, cohabiting joyfully.

"Old Sun, you need to be more discerning. I know you like Yang Xiaoyi, but she likes someone else. There’s no point in making yourself miserable."

Upon hearing this, Sun Shengli suddenly stiffened. His complexion visibly darkened as he clenched his molars and glared at Chen Nuo. "Who on earth are you! How do you know about these things! Why are you telling me!!"

"Just wanted to let you know, that’s all. You know, to verify it, I actually spent two days watching from below Yao Weishan’s work dormitory."

Chen Nuo sighed, then patted Old Sun’s shoulder and turned to leave.

After Chen Nuo had walked several steps away, Sun Shengli suddenly came to his senses. "Who are you really!!"

Chen Nuo didn’t look back or respond, quickly disappearing around the corner.

Well, there was actually one more thing Chen Nuo hadn’t told Sun Shengli. These past two days, having nothing better to do, he had indeed secretly followed Yang Xiaoyi and discovered they were already an item. According to the original history, if things continued this way, in another year, Yang Xiaoyi would become pregnant with Sun Keke. Then Yao Weishan would get an opportunity to go abroad, decisively abandon her, and leave for his own bright future. But now, Yang Xiaoyi wasn’t yet pregnant with Sun Keke; that was supposed to happen a year later. So... before Chen Nuo went to see Old Sun, he had done something else. Two hours earlier, Chen Nuo had gone to Yao Weishan’s door and, without a word, delivered a kick that severed the man’s lineage. It was ruthless, sure. But for a scumbag who would get a woman pregnant and then abandon her, Chen Nuo felt he hadn’t done anything wrong. Therefore, on this timeline... Sun Keke would definitely never be born.

What else could be done?

Chen Nuo was sitting in a state-owned restaurant by the roadside, a bowl of beef noodles before him.

As for the taste... it was indescribable.

In those days, most state-owned restaurants were just muddling through. They all had iron rice bowls anyway, so nobody had to work too hard. Except when a leader came to dine—they would be served with great care. The rest of the time... Let’s put it this way: if you found a cigarette butt in your food at a state-owned restaurant in the eighties, it wasn’t news! That was the norm!

Decades later, everyone would start talking about "slacking off at work." But if you talked about slacking off, back in the eighties, that was professional level! Have you seen sales assistants in department stores knitting sweaters and cracking sunflower seeds, all while refusing to help customers? Or chefs in the kitchens of state-owned restaurants, frying food with a cigarette in their mouths, carelessly tossing cigarette butts into the fryer? If people from later generations didn’t know about this, they could ask any white-haired elderly person on the street. They’d be guaranteed to get teary-eyed and exclaim, "Ah, you really know what it was like!"

Chen Nuo took a bite of the noodles and immediately threw down his chopsticks.

He began to miss Boss Guo’s ramen deeply. Thinking of Boss Guo... Well, now that the ancestral patriarch of the Guo Family had successfully performed Body Seizing, even going there wouldn’t save anyone. So, it wasn’t worth the trouble to make the trip.

"Yo! Big brother! How come you’re here?"

The moment Chen Jianshe opened the door, his legs nearly buckled, but he quickly forced a smile and spouted sweet nothings.

With his hands behind his back, Chen Nuo sauntered into the room and surveyed the cramped space—it was the factory’s employee dormitory, so naturally, the conditions weren’t great.

Chen Jianshe, with not enough years of service and still single and unmarried, didn’t yet qualify for a housing allocation.

Ah, housing allocation, that’s right. In that era, houses weren’t bought by individuals. If you worked in a state-owned factory, the state took care of you from cradle to grave. Consequently, housing was also allocated by the work unit. Buying a house? Before the nineties, the vast majority of Huaxia people didn’t even have that concept. A mortgage? Believe it or not, if you mentioned that on the street in the eighties, people would think you were either a madman or a swindler.

Chen Jianshe was trembling at the sight of Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo looked around to see there was no one else in the room, "Are you the only one at home?"

"I share this room with a colleague, but he’s recently gotten himself a girlfriend and hardly comes back to stay. He’ll probably marry soon and move out. The factory will allocate him a house."

Chen Nuo nodded and took a seat on a stool.

Chen Jianshe stood beside him awkwardly, sneaking glances at Chen Nuo—the harbinger of doom. Hadn’t he left already? Why had he come knocking again? Was this... another call for him to go back and play the role of the filial son?

"I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead, ask away!"

"Recently, have you had any dreams?" With that light question from Chen Nuo, Chen Jianshe’s face suddenly went pale!

"You..."

"How do I know?" Chen Nuo waved his hand dismissively, "Don’t worry how; just know I do. That voice in your dreams that tells you prophecies, that says things will happen in the future—have you heard it recently?"

Chen Jianshe swallowed hard, hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook his head, "...No."

Chen Nuo stared at Chen Jianshe with furrowed brows.

He was certain that Chen Jianshe was telling the truth, from his heartbeat and pulse to his pupil response... And most importantly, the fluctuations of his spiritual power. Chen Jianshe hadn’t lied. This was... According to the old Chen Jianshe who spoke to him before his time travel to 1981, during these days, he should have heard the voice in his dreams several times already. Why was there nothing? Could it be... Because of my appearance? Or... was there some powerful spiritual force lurking in the dark, sensing my prying and thus hiding away? But I haven’t noticed anything at all.

"Big brother, about that... that dream... How did you know about it? Does it have anything to do with you? Or..." Chen Jianshe cautiously tried to make conversation.

"Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t!" Chen Nuo glared, and Chen Jianshe immediately felt his breath shorten by half.

Chen Nuo pondered for a moment, "Then I’ll assign you another task."

"...You, you just tell me, I’ll definitely do it."

"There’s a girl in your factory’s finance department, named Ou Xiuhua."

"Huh? I’ve heard of her!" Chen Jianshe immediately brightened up, "Some people even spread rumors saying I..."

Chen Jianshe suddenly realized and stared at Chen Nuo, "You!!"

"Stop worrying about the details; I’m just going to give you one instruction!

"From now on, stay away from her. You’re not allowed to speak a single word to her, not even half a word.

"Let me put it this way: if you dare to get within three steps of her, I’ll break your lineage, understand?"

"But, big brother. I don’t even know this person! And... why? Who is this woman to you, that you’re scaring me like this..."

SMACK!

A solid slap landed on Chen Jianshe’s face, immediately causing one side to swell.

Chen Nuo grinned at Chen Jianshe, "I’m not discussing this with you; I’m just telling you what to do. You just need to follow it.

"Where do you get the confidence to question me?"

Chen Jianshe inhaled sharply, trembling, "Okay! I get it! I’ll definitely do it! I won’t bother her one bit! Not at all!"

Suddenly, an impulse struck him, and he couldn’t help but ask, "I’ll never approach Ou Xiuhua, nor talk to her.

"But... if she speaks to me? Then it wouldn’t be my fault, right?"

"If she speaks to you, I’ll still break your lineage.

"Yes, I’m being that unreasonable!"

"...Big brother, you’re really too reasonable!"

「Two days later.」

Chen Nuo stood in the northern suburbs of London. This was a region of manors and ancient castles, belonging to a British noble family with a significant history...

This place was familiar to Chen Nuo—in the not-so-distant future, this place would become the home of the Starry Sky Empress. But for now... The Empress was not yet an empress. In 1981, Lu Xixi would probably still be a little girl running around everywhere. Considering her age, Lu Xixi was either five or seven years old. Where should I start looking for her?

Indeed, the last and most important thing Chen Nuo had to do... Was to find Lu Xixi! Before Lu Xixi became an Ability User, before she was chosen by The Fourth Seed, before she became a Chosen One! To prevent this event from happening!

[The topic of allotting housing: I remember when I was in junior high school around ’93 or ’94, my school (it was a provincial key school, so it had the resources) invited a foreign teacher to give a lecture. That foreigner, I remember, was an American, an exchange scholar involved in education.

During the lecture, the foreign teacher said: "Your China is pretty good. Although your economy is not yet developed, your people don’t have to buy houses themselves; the Government allocates them for you. We foreigners actually envy this aspect."

At that time, hearing this, us students, including myself, all proudly laughed.

Decades later, recalling this event... A sigh.]