Era: Rise from the Wilderness

"I told you it was nothing!"

"What's wrong with hitting me with a basketball?"

"He's faking it!"

Ma Xiaohu grinned, revealing his missing front tooth, and deliberately raised his voice, trying to cover up his earlier panic.

"Stop dawdling, get up and play ball!"

"My mom will be calling me home for dinner if it gets any later!"

Wang Lei urged absentmindedly, his eyes fixed on the half-new, half-old basketball on the sidelines.

"That bastard Gao Tian got away! This isn't over!"

"Once we catch him, we'll beat the shit out of him!"

Ma Xingyuan waved his chubby fists, trying his best to make a fierce expression, but his round face was not intimidating at all, and he looked just like a panda baring its teeth and claws.

Yun Jing ignored the commotion.

His attention was completely captured by his own body.

He stared blankly down at the ground...

Where can you find a neatly pressed white shirt and crisp trousers?

Instead, there was a loose-fitting Transformers T-shirt with a faded, blurred pattern; a pair of khaki polyester shorts with legs so wide they could fit two fists; and a pair of worn-out rubber boots with mud splattered on the uppers.

This is clearly not that body that has been hollowed out by the 996 work schedule and is nearing forty!

Those slender arms, those not-yet-fully-developed bones, that supple skin…

He's exactly a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy!

A chill suddenly shot up from his tailbone, rushing straight to the top of his head, instantly shattering the last shred of hope in his mind.

He raised his hands in disbelief and held them in front of his eyes.

His long, slender fingers, tanned slightly dark, exuded power.

Dirt and grime were stuck under his fingernails, and there were several scabbed scratches on the back of his hand...

Was it from climbing a tree to raid a bird's nest yesterday, or from being scratched by gravel while fishing by the ditch the day before yesterday?

The dam of memory was suddenly ripped open by this intense and undeniable visual impact!

He suddenly looked around.

Beneath my feet was an uneven dirt playground, the loose soil kicked up by my shoes, swirling in the scorching air.

In the distance are two old teaching buildings. On the red brick walls, the slogan "Unity, Diligence, Pragmatism and Innovation" painted in white paint has become somewhat mottled and faded.

On the cement basketball court, a jagged crack appeared in the wooden backboard, and the basketball that caused the accident rolled forlornly outside the three-point line, like an abandoned melon.

Further away, rolling farmland stretches out, its green waves undulating, and at the horizon, the silhouette of dark green mountains lies silently beneath the horizon.

The sky was a pure, clear blue, like a huge, uncut sapphire.

There's no concrete jungle cutting off the skyline, no hustle and bustle of traffic, and no lingering, persistent smell of particulate matter that belongs to the city.

This is not the modern city where he has struggled and drifted for more than twenty years.

This is my hometown.

That small coastal town in the north, which had long since become blurred in the river of his memory.

1990?

summer?

Rebirth? !

These two words, like a thunderclap from the heavens, carried a savage power of destruction and rebirth, exploding in his mind.

My heart pounded wildly in my thin chest, blood rushed to my temples, and a sharp ringing filled my ears.

"call……"

He opened his mouth, but his throat felt like it was blocked by scalding sand, and he couldn't utter a single syllable.

He could only stare blankly at the bright and beautiful Lü Ruoxi in front of him, and at his group of young playmates who were arm in arm and exuded the vitality of wild grass.

Those blurred outlines from over twenty years ago are gradually and seamlessly overlapping with that yellowed high school graduation photo deep in my memory.

"Old Li?"

"You son of a bitch, did you really get smitten by the ball?"

Ma Xingyuan waved his hand forcefully in front of him again.

Even Lü Ruoxi cast an inquiring glance at her, her delicate brows furrowing slightly.

Li Yunjing jolted awake, as if splashed with ice water, completely breaking free from a long and exhausting nightmare.

He took a deep breath. The air was filled with the dry, dusty smell of the playground, the energetic smell of the boys' sweat, and the most primitive and simple scent of the land, mixed with the fragrance of plants and the faint smell of manure, wafting from the distant fields.

It was so real it was almost pungent, yet it made him greedily want more.

He needs confirmation!

immediately!

immediately!

"fine!"

He spoke abruptly, his voice hoarse from the end of puberty, yet unusually firm, "I'm fine!"

He struggled to his feet, brushed the dust off his trousers, and his movements quickly became steady after his initial staggering.

"I'm not fighting anymore."

He glanced around at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces, his gaze lingering briefly on Lü Ruoxi's concerned and puzzled expression before shifting away. "I... I'll go home first!"

Come back home!

These two words, like a torch suddenly lit in endless darkness, instantly burned away all confusion, fear, and uncertainty.

A more surging, hotter, almost greedy desire swept over him!

Go see your father, whose hair hasn't turned gray yet and whose spine is still straight!

Go see your mother, whose back is not yet bent by life and whose wrinkles are still shallow!

He ignored the murmurs and comments from his companions behind him, such as "How boring!" and "You chickened out already?", and also overlooked Lü Ruoxi's thoughtful gaze that had been following him.

At this moment, nothing is more important than confirming that "home"!

Li Yunjing quickened his pace, almost running towards the school gate.

To the left of the school's main gate, the area roughly marked with white paint is the students' "parking lot".

In my memory, during school hours, this place was always packed with a dense, haphazard array of 26-inch and 28-inch bicycles. Phoenix, Forever, Flying Pigeon, all kinds of brands, old and new, formed a steel jungle, one of the most representative landmarks of the campus in the 1990s.

But at this moment, the venue seemed empty, with only a dozen or so bicycles parked sparsely, casting short shadows under the scorching sun, exuding a desolation typical of a typical afternoon.

"Is today...the weekend?"

"Still summer vacation?"

Li Yunjing was stunned for a moment, the chaotic timeline making it difficult for him to pinpoint the exact location.

Is it early July or late August now?

Summer vacation after the end of the second year of high school, or remedial classes that will begin before the start of the third year?

Or perhaps it's the relaxed days after the college entrance exam?

He shook his head vigorously, as if that would shake off the chaotic thoughts.

None of that matters anymore!

Right now, the only and most important thing is to go home!

His eyes searched eagerly among the bicycles, finally fixing on the one nestled in the shadows against the wall.

A black "Forever" brand bicycle, size 26.

The frame was covered with rust and scratches, like medals etched by time; the chain was covered with dark oil and dust; the handlebars had been worn dull and dull from years of use; the old woolen seat cover had been soaked in wind, rain and sweat so much that its original color was no longer visible, rough yet strangely familiar.