As Henry Clark's best classmate and friend over the four years of high school, Kevin West attended middle school in the city. Back then, his parents were still together. Later, his dad made money in business, found a mistress, and his parents got divorced.

His mom took him back to the county to attend high school. That’s how he and Henry Clark got to know each other.

Later on, his mom remarried a cadre from the county agricultural bureau, introduced by relatives. Kevin West happily attended the wedding banquet, but didn’t want to move in with them, so he started living on his own.

Of course, whether it was his dad or his mom, both still took care of his living expenses, meals, and schooling, and both gave him money to spend.

This guy wasn’t sentimental—he just kept living like this, carefree... not hardworking, not a troublemaker, neither particularly good nor bad.

9:20, county town, Nanmen Village.

Kevin West's home was here, in an old courtyard house left by his grandfather. When the old man was alive, he was said to be the most famous barber in the county.

“Wenji... Wenjifei. Where are you?!”

There are always some people whose names put them at a disadvantage, naturally coming with nicknames that stick with them everywhere they go. Kevin West was one of those people, carrying two nicknames that could conjure up both static and dynamic images:

Like a sick, bedridden old hen suddenly flapping her wings and struggling to fly, and making a racket while at it.

He’d long since gotten used to it and didn’t care at all.

With one foot propped on the old yellow-mud courtyard wall, Henry Clark didn’t rush to get off his bike after landing, but first called out twice at the gate.

No response.

“Kevin West.” He raised his voice and called out the full name.

Still no response.

Sleeping like the dead, Henry Clark was just about to get off and climb over the wall when—“clang clang clang...” the sound of a bicycle bell came from another alley to the side.

“Here, here I am.” Kevin West had a military-green satchel slung over his shoulder, wore a fake camo army cap from who-knows-where, and drifted around the corner on his bike.

“Good thing you called out just in time, Qingzi.” He stopped in front of him, panting, and said, “Otherwise, we probably would’ve missed each other today.”

“Oh? Where were you going?” Henry Clark thought to himself, rare for you to be up this early.

Kevin West hopped off his bike, pulled out his keys to open the gate, and said, “I was just heading out, planning to go to your place to find you.”

“To my place? To find me?” Henry Clark said, “That’s quite a trip. What’s up?”

“Of course it’s something big,” Kevin West said with a hint of pride, smiling as he pushed open the gate. “But since you’re here, I don’t have to go... come in and I’ll tell you.”

With that, he pulled and pushed his bike, and the riderless old “28” bicycle rolled itself into the courtyard and stopped between two old yellow bamboos.

Henry Clark followed, riding his bike into the yard and parking it.

...

“Bang bang bang.”

Inside, Kevin West pulled two bottles of orange soda from his satchel, bit one open, and set them on the table. “Here, let’s use soda instead of wine and have a drink first.”

“...” Henry Clark was puzzled for a moment. “So what’s the matter? Don’t tell me you miscalculated your college entrance exam score, and it’s actually more than 230—you got in, didn’t you?”

“Get lost, miscalculated—would that be enough? I lost several hundred points just on blank answers.” Kevin West scratched his head awkwardly and said, “But 230... 230 really isn’t my level. I just had bad luck on the English multiple choice this time.”

Henry Clark laughed and said, “True, if you’d been lucky, you could’ve gotten another 20 points.”

“...Screw you.” Kevin West cursed, sat down, looked at Henry Clark, first gave a mysterious smile, then put on a serious face and said solemnly, “Bro, I’m going to join the army.”

After saying that, he even raised his hand and gave a crisp military salute—learned from foreign movies, but not very standard.

Henry Clark: “...”

“Didn’t expect that, did you?!” Kevin West said proudly, then explained, “Well, you know, I only got 230, forty less than last year. I guess everyone knows I have no hope for college. A few days ago, my old man came back, pulled some strings, and got me a spot to join the army.”

“That’s great, joining the army is a good thing.”

Considering that the kind of army Kevin West was joining wasn’t the same as his own, and with his family’s connections, it probably wouldn’t be hard for him to get a government job after discharge, Henry Clark was genuinely happy for him.

“Right? I think so too. Joining the army, carrying a gun—that’s something I dreamed of as a kid. But at first, I pretended not to be happy about it for a couple of days...”

Kevin West smiled, reached into his satchel again, and this time pulled out a stack of cash, placing it on the table. “This 1,000 yuan, I got it out of my old man. I told him if he didn’t give it to me, I wouldn’t join the army. I won’t say anything sentimental—take the money. Use 300 to find a college student to tutor your English over the break, and with the rest, repeat a year and take the exam again. You’ll definitely get in.”

He pushed the money forward, right in front of Henry Clark, and tossed the now-empty satchel onto the table.

Looks like there were only those two bottles of soda and 1,000 yuan in the bag. Henry Clark felt a bit complicated for a moment, frozen in place.