Which way to go is the road?

The train sped across the plains, heading towards Yandu, a city that millions had dreamed of since childhood, its pace hurried yet "following the established path." Along the way, one could enjoy the vast, flat countryside, lush cotton fields, neatly arranged peanut fields, and crisscrossing country roads—all far more pleasing to the eye than the chaos and noise inside the train carriage.

Xiang Fei and Dong Lu chatted for a long time. In the middle of the conversation, Dong Lu went to the restroom. When she came back, she found that Xiang Fei had fallen asleep against the wall. From their conversation, Dong Lu knew that he hadn't slept all night and had even helped her chase away a thief and keep her wallet. He must be tired, so she didn't disturb him and quietly sat down to read a book.

Xiang Fei slept soundly. His thoughts, preoccupied with the day, flooded his dreams. The scene of the college entrance exam replayed in his mind like a horror movie. He had retook the exam, but upon arriving at the exam hall, he realized he hadn't brought his admission ticket. Extremely anxious and helpless, he was just in time when his mother, Zhang Xiu'e, brought it to him! Once in the exam hall, he found himself stuck on the very first math question. He was so nervous that he suffered a mental breakdown, breaking out in a cold sweat, his heart pounding, and his hands trembling. He completely forgot all the math formulas! ...

"Xiang Fei! Wake up! What's wrong?" Dong Lu called out quickly when she saw Xiang Fei clenching his fists and sweating profusely.

Xiang Fei opened his eyes, took a deep breath after realizing it was a dream, and closed his eyes again to steady himself. The college entrance exam was always an insurmountable hurdle for him; this wasn't the first time he'd had such a nightmare, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Xiang Fei had heard that some people could even fall asleep and dream during exams—how carefree they were! In contrast, he dreamed of the exam hall again and again. He knew it wasn't that he was petty, but rather that he valued the changes the college entrance exam would bring him too much. Unfortunately, his ambitions were sky-high, but his fate was as fragile as paper.

"It's nothing, I just had a nightmare. Is it because we've arrived in Yandu?"

"Get on the train right away. You can scare yourself so much that you're covered in sweat even when you're having a nightmare? You call yourself a grown man?" Dong Lu looked at Xiang Fei with a mocking expression.

"What do you know? Everyone has their own worries, their own things that they care about and can't let go of. You're just a young girl, what do you know?"

"Oh! Fine, I'm still a young girl. Uncle, I won't lend you money, and I won't find you a place to stay. You'll have to starve yourself!"

Now that his weakness had been exploited, Xiang Fei quickly lowered his posture and said obsequiously, "I was wrong. You're not a little girl, you're a young lady, alright? Young lady, can you bear to leave me alone in Yandu, helpless and destitute, sleeping on the streets?" Xiang Fei couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of slur, wondering when he had become so glib.

"Get lost! 'Little miss'? Am I that old? What does it matter to me if you're destitute, homeless, and sleeping on the streets? I don't care!"

"What do you mean it's okay? Have you forgotten my heroic act just now? That was all to protect your wallet!" Xiang Fei exaggeratedly raised his leg high. "My leg, which flew like a leaf, is still intact!"

Dong Lu couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, I'll take care of it!"

……

As the train approached its destination, passengers unloaded their luggage and placed it in the aisle or on their seats. They then stood up and occasionally looked out the window. The train's public address system played cheerful and soothing music to bid farewell to the passengers. Everyone stopped talking and waited attentively to disembark.

Suddenly, the outside light outside the train window brightened, and the train began to brake. People held onto the backs of their seats to maintain their balance. Once the train came to a complete stop, passengers with their luggage walked in an orderly fashion toward the exits on both sides, getting off one after another. The streams of people coming out of the carriages, accompanied by calls of friends and family, converged again and surged into the underground passage toward the station exit.

Upon arriving in the unfamiliar place, Xiang Fei dared not wander off and followed Dong Lu closely. The girl, on the other hand, was quite relaxed, carrying a shoulder bag and swinging her arms as she walked in circles, glancing at Xiang Fei from time to time as he carried a bag and various luggage, and constantly urging him to hurry up.

Following the various signs, after many twists and turns, Dong Lu arrived at the exit and naturally took the escalator. Xiang Fei stopped and thought for a moment, as if afraid the escalator would bite him, before carrying his bags and stepping onto the stairs. Dong Lu looked back and, ignoring the ascending escalator, ran down the stairs, pulled Xiang Fei, who had already climbed several steps, down the stairs, and dragged him onto the escalator.

After securing himself with the handrail, Xiang Fei smugly enjoyed the convenience and comfort of modern life. Dong Lu, sitting above him, helplessly raised an eyebrow at Xiang Fei with her hands outstretched. Xiang Fei scratched his head sheepishly.

Stepping out of the elevator, they were greeted by a sea of ​​people, and felt the emptiness and bewilderment that a metropolis brings to strangers. Xiang Fei followed Dong Lu and plunged headlong into the crowd, beginning his first day in Yandu.

Yandu, a city where countless people come with dreams, only to often feel their own ordinariness and insignificance first. In the bustling crowds, everything unique becomes ordinary; everything you consider talent becomes worthless; every principle you uphold is re-examined… Only in this way can you truly understand yourself, question yourself, and redefine yourself. Whether you persist, compromise, are confident, or feel ashamed, you will be reborn, becoming more mature and stronger. But first, you must be a novice.

Xiang Fei followed closely behind Dong Lu, carrying his luggage. They had walked for a long time and changed buses several times, but there was still no sign of reaching their destination. More than an hour had passed since they got off the bus at around 10 a.m., and the sun overhead was getting increasingly scorching.

They walked from a clean, spacious street lined with lush green trees into a narrow alley, and then turned into an old residential area. Tall elm trees stood on both sides of the road—seeing so many elm trees in Yandu gave Xiang Fei the illusion of returning home—several red brick residential buildings stood in the middle of flower beds overgrown with weeds.

Power lines, internet cables, and cable TV lines are tangled together, running through every household and maintaining the basic lives of the residents, preventing them from becoming too disconnected from the outside world.

They stopped next to the entrance of what looked like a garage, and Dong Lu took out her phone to make a call. Xiang Fei examined the phone closely; it started with the letter "N," was square, and its blue-gray color was inconspicuous, yet it had all the functions a phone should have at that time.

Xiang Fei was unaware that this phone had another important function—self-defense.

A moment later, a guy emerged, swaying heavily, wearing flip-flops. He fanned himself with a folding fan as he walked, the fan bearing the four characters "Rarely Confused".

"Old You, do you want to die? You made me wait so long!"

"You might as well just kill me already! You won't even let me eat in peace! Can't you wait until I finish my meal and have a nice nap before you come?"

"All you do is sleep. Aren't you afraid of sleeping yourself to death? Living in the basement, be careful you die and no one will care!" Dong Lu kicked him and said casually, causing Xiang Fei next to her to jump in fright and dodge the unexpected flying kick.

Old You casually blocked with his left hand, not caring at all, and looked at Xiang Fei who jumped over, saying, "Is this your homeless buddy who's asking to stay at my place?"

"Yeah! This is Xiang Fei, I met him on the train, he even helped me beat up a thief!" Dong Lu pointed at Xiang Fei and said, "I was worried you'd fall asleep and no one would warn you, so I found you a roommate!"

"Oh, you've sent me a chivalrous hero! Bravely fighting off a thief and rescuing a damsel in distress, huh? Hey Lulu, that's not fair of you. You saved me, why are you sending him here? According to the rules of the martial arts world, you should repay me with your body and start a dramatic love story, shouldn't you?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? You're like a dog that's been climbing on the roof for three days straight, aren't you? Fine, I won't hit you anymore. From now on, forget about me introducing you to anyone! Don't ever contact me again!" Dong Lu said as she pulled Xiang Fei outside.

Old You, shuffling in his slippers, hurriedly came running over, wobbling along: "No! No! No! I was wrong, okay? If you don't introduce me to someone, I'll be a bachelor for life! Lulu! Lulu!..."

Dong Lu turned her face away, snorted, and ignored Lao You, no matter how much he admitted his mistake and apologized, she just wouldn't budge.

Seeing that the road was blocked, Lao You glanced at Xiang Fei standing beside him, then pulled him towards the entrance, saying as they walked, "So this is where you'll be staying, buddy! You're right, I am a bit lonely by myself. Although it's not like I'll die and no one will claim my body, it's still good to have someone to talk to! Come on, buddy, I'll take you to see our bridal chamber, oops! I mean, our burial chamber!"

Pfft! Dong Lu finally smiled again. Looking at Xiang Fei, who was frightened by Lao You's excessive enthusiasm, she suddenly remembered something and said, "Later, you take him to buy some daily necessities. I won't come over this afternoon; let's have dinner together tonight!"

"Okay, don't worry about him leaving him to me! I'll take care of him, I mean, I'll treat him like my wife, he won't suffer any grievances!"

Xiang Fei found it all very awkward. Couldn't they just treat each other like brothers? What nonsense were they spouting? But then he thought, why take it so seriously? He was living under someone else's roof, so he should just accept it. He greeted Dong Lu and followed Lao You through the dimly lit entrance.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, but inside it was as dark as a rural cellar. Sparse incandescent lights stretched from the entrance into the corridor, and various pipes climbed along the right wall. Judging from their bright and damp appearance, they were probably the drain pipes and some heating pipes from the building above.

Men and women in slippers carrying various toiletries occasionally passed by. If Xiang Fei hadn't just come in from outside, he would have thought it was morning. However, the sun never shines here, and it's pitch black when the lights are off. Without a clock to tell the time, it's really hard to distinguish between day and night. Unless there's something important, everyone is quite casual about time, and over time they've become lazy, only getting up to wash when they feel hungry.

After passing a public restroom and turning into another corridor, Lao You pushed open the door to a basement and went inside.

"Come in, make yourself at home, this is your place from now on!"

Xiang Fei carried his backpack and stepped inside, standing in the middle of the room and looking around his new home.

A bunk bed stands at the far end, with the bedding on the upper bunk neatly rolled up and covered with a plastic sheet, while the blankets on the lower bunk are scattered haphazardly, with a dent in the middle of the pillow, revealing a distinctly lived-in feel; to the right is a table with a cabinet, on which sits an old-fashioned television set, its power cord still plugged into the outlet, and judging from the complete set of cables, it should still be working; to the left is a simple wardrobe, next to which are suitcases and some miscellaneous items.

Xiang Fei walked over and placed his backpack next to it, then looked back at Lao You and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Brother You. I have a place to stay as soon as I arrived in Yandu, so I won't have to sleep on the streets!" Xiang Fei thought that when you're traveling, you should be nice to people. No matter how old they are, it's not a big loss to call them "brother".

"Alright, stop calling me 'brother,' it makes me sound old!" Old You grinned. "Just call me Old You, my real name is Yang Zun. They never call me by my full name, they just call me Old You, it's completely unrelated!"

"They're not completely unrelated, are they? They're both pampered and spoiled! That's a clever nickname!"

"Another honest person, not popular at all! Fine, call me whatever you want. By the way, you haven't eaten yet, have you? I still have a few packets of instant noodles, but I'm too lazy to go out. Let's eat together."

After saying that, Lao You opened the cabinet under the TV, took out two huge rice bowls, tore open the packaging bags, put two packets of noodles in each bowl, and skillfully added the seasonings. He picked up the thermos and found that there was no hot water, so he went out and brought back a thermos of hot water, poured it on the instant noodles, covered it with the two larger bowls, and then quickly ran out again with the empty thermos.

The sound of tap water being poured into the kettle came from the crack in the door that wasn't closed completely. Just as Lao You returned and closed the door, a woman's voice faintly drifted over: "Strange, it's been five minutes, why isn't the water boiling yet? Oh, I forgot to turn it on!"

Xiang Fei stared at Lao You with wide, small eyes. Lao You smiled smugly and said, "This is the wisdom of life!" He then took out two braised eggs and a bag of pickled vegetables from the cupboard and called Xiang Fei to eat with him.

Xiang Fei took a pair of chopsticks, lifted the lid of the bowl, and a long-lost aroma of scallions wafted out. Without waiting for Lao You to invite him, he pulled over a stool, sat down, and began to wolf down his food.

Not to be outdone, Lao You shoved large mouthfuls of instant noodles into his mouth, the slurping sounds filling the entire room.

After finishing his meal, Lao You took off his "home clothes" of shorts and a vest and changed into long pants and a shirt, as if he was about to go out.

Upon arriving, Xiang Fei volunteered to clean up the dishes, but looking at the leftover noodle soup reminded him of the time he had stolen water.

"Brother You!"

Lao You immediately glared at Xiang Fei.

"Old You! Aren't you afraid of getting caught stealing water? It was less than 10 seconds off. If that woman had come out a little earlier, she would have been caught red-handed!"

"If I haven't been caught, it's because I used her water; if I were caught, it would be because I borrowed her water! So far, I haven't been caught!"

"You're really something!"

"Alright, hurry up and spread out the bedding on top. Lie down and rest for a while; you probably didn't get enough rest on the train. By the way, this bedding was left by that guy. If you're particular about cleanliness, I'll go with you to buy another set. If you don't mind, you can use this one. That guy was very clean; his bedding wasn't too dirty! He even covered it with a plastic sheet before he left to keep the dust out!"

"We're from the countryside, we don't care much about appearances, so we'll just use it! It's pretty clean!"

"Okay, then you rest, I'm going to work!" Old You said as he changed his clothes and shoes, looking much more energetic.

"Okay, good luck, Lao You!" After saying that, Xiang Fei felt a little awkward. He saw Lao You open the door and was about to walk out. Hearing this, he paused for a moment, but did not turn around. He waved and left.

Xiang Fei placed the plastic sheet underneath, spread out the bedding, took off his shoes and socks, lay down, pulled the blanket over himself, and looked at the ceiling, reflecting on the events of the past half-day.

Last night I was feeling melancholy at home, but now I'm lying in a basement in Yandu. This strange shift in time and space feels like a dream.

Xiang Fei gently closed his eyes, thinking that maybe when he woke up he would still be lying on the single bed in the west room of his old home, with his mother having prepared breakfast for him; or perhaps he would still be in high school, just starting the first semester of his first year, and all of this was just a dream within a dream...