Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

During the last self-study period on Friday, Yue Chuan held the school newspaper and read it with great interest.

The school newspaper was printed page by page on an old-fashioned mimeograph machine. By the time it reached Yue Chuan, many of the words were already blurred. He had to work very hard to make out the headline of the front page: "Looking at Democracy and Freedom from the Perspective of the Cafeteria Problem".

The author, "Mark Xiaoxiaosheng," departs from his usual writing style, using concise and realistic techniques to directly expose the personal information of the South Campus cafeteria owner and publicly reveal an improper relationship between the owner and a certain school leader. At the end of the article, the author even calls on students to emulate so-called Western democracy and use measures such as meal strikes and demonstrations to protect their rights.

Yue Chuan was completely engrossed in reading it. Although the school bell had long since rung and everyone else had left, Qin was still holding onto that inflammatory article, refusing to let go.

Just then, Qin Shoufeng, holding two small blue notebooks, ran excitedly to the classroom door of Class One. "Chuan'er, Chuan'er! Stop studying! Come on, I'll take you to eat!"

Yue Chuan looked up and saw the day student pass in his cousin's hand. He stood up and went over to him. "Brother, you're amazing! How did you manage to get your hands on this?"

"Ha! You think I'm kidding you?" Qin Shoufeng clicked his tongue, speaking smugly. "Later, we'll just grab our IDs and leave the school gate, let's see who dares to stop us!"

After saying that, Qin Shoufeng stuffed one of the day student passes into his cousin's hand. Yue Chuan opened the pass and took a look, and immediately looked troubled.

"Brother, did you borrow this ID? The photo on it doesn't look like me at all!"

Thinking of the menacing appearance of those security guards, Yue Chuan couldn't help but worry. After all, the ID wasn't his own, and using someone else's ID carried a certain risk.

"Don't worry, it's Friday, and many day students are going home. The gatekeepers won't check everyone. Even if they do, don't be afraid. The black and white photo above looks pretty much like you. With their eyesight, they won't be able to tell the difference..."

Seeing his cousin's cowardly look, Qin Shoufeng rolled his eyes and said irritably, "Chuan'er! I have to say something to you. I told you to go find and borrow the day student pass, but you absolutely refused. Now that I've put it in your hands, what are you worried about?"

Knowing his cousin was blaming him, Yue Chuan said self-deprecatingly, feeling wronged, "Brother, only Li Baihui and Liu Qing in our class have marriage certificates. One is the class beauty, and the other is the school beauty. Do you think my face can compare to theirs?"

Glancing at Yue Chuan's dark face, Qin Shoufeng chuckled. After a while, he put his arm around his cousin's neck and whispered in his ear, "Alright, alright, let's hurry up and go. There are food stalls all around the school gate right now. What do you want to eat? Fried cold noodles? Pancakes? It's on me today, okay?"

This was the first time Qin Shoufeng had ever done something like impersonation. To be honest, he felt quite guilty, but he felt much more at ease if he brought along his academically excellent cousin. This was probably the reason why he was so eager to encourage Yue Chuan.

Yue Chuan was easily persuaded and couldn't resist his cousin's persistent pleading, especially after hearing the other's risk-free "passing tips." He actually went to the north gate of the school with Qin Shoufeng.

The school's security department is not as easily fooled as Qin Shoufeng claims.

At this moment, Zhang Tianhu, the security captain, was standing at the school gate with his hands on his hips and his belly sticking out. Two of his henchmen were guarding the entrance and exit on either side. The sentries were quite intimidating and were clearly aimed at those who tried to sneak through.

"Brother, judging from the situation, let's go back. Look, those two security guards are still checking our IDs!" Yue Chuan gently nudged his cousin's arm, signaling him to leave.

"Hey! This is really unbelievable! Why are these guys guarding it so closely?" Qin Shoufeng said angrily. He could already smell the delicious food outside, but he couldn't eat it. This was going to kill him!

As the two brothers hesitated, suddenly, a commotion of shouting and cursing came from the roadside outside the school. Yue Chuan looked closely and saw more than a dozen young men in black charging at a group of street vendors like mad bulls.

The vendors were all experts at "guerrilla warfare." When they saw that things were not going well, they pushed their food carts and tried to leave. But even so, they were still verbally abused, pushed, and even hit with sticks. For a time, the school gate became chaotic, with people cursing and smashing things, making it even more chaotic than the night market stalls.

In a short while, most of the vendors at the school gate had fled. At this moment, a middle-aged female vendor dressed in white clothes and a white hat stood out. She was holding a white enamel cup in her left hand and a long-handled soup ladle in her right hand, and she was still standing by her tricycle stall without moving. Well! She didn't care about the young men in black around her at all!

"You...you're fucking deaf! How many times do I have to tell you? Without a food permit, nobody...nobody can sell food here. Get out! Get the hell out of here!"

A bald man wielding a stick suddenly jumped in front of a middle-aged female vendor, pressing his face close to hers and cursing loudly. The man's tone was extremely fierce, but his speech was not very fluent, and his stuttering gave people a comical feeling.

The middle-aged woman completely ignored the "bald man." She wiped the drool off her face, then dipped the long-handled ladle into the insulated food container, stirred it slightly, and ladled a spoonful of fragrant hot and sour soup into a white enamel cup.

"Zhao...Zhao Sumei! You damned old hag!" Seeing that the other party dared to ignore him, the "bald man" became furious. He pointed a wooden stick at the middle-aged woman's nose and shouted, "You're at the...farmers' market, and you're here! You're everywhere! If you don't get out of here, believe it or not, I'll smash your car!"

The bald man got more and more into cursing, but the other person still wouldn't even look at him. In a fit of anger, the bald man kicked the stall cart. With a thud, the thermos in the cart fell to the ground, spilling a large amount of sticky hot and sour soup. In an instant, the whole area was filled with a strong smell of pepper.

"Jiang San'er! Don't bully me! I'll go find it right now..." The woman wanted to help the thermos, but she slipped and fell to the ground. The poor woman not only injured her ankle, but her hair and clothes were also covered in soup. She looked as miserable as could be.

Seeing the woman in such a disheveled state, the man nicknamed Jiang San'er led his gang of black-clad thugs into a loud laugh. The more they laughed, the uglier Yue Chuan's face became—the street vendor was none other than Zhao Sumei, who had helped him sell walnuts at the entrance of the textile factory!

Seeing Aunt Zhao sitting on the ground groaning in pain, clutching her ankle, Yue Chuan couldn't bear it any longer. He rushed to the gate, flashed his student pass at the security guard, and then dashed towards Zhao Sumei. Oh dear, wasn't he just asking for trouble?!