The Growth Story of Chenxi Boy

Recording the first time I met you

Zhangcheng in 2021. Ah Dong's first year of junior high school is the most eye-catching part of this scene. At that time, Ah Dong, like the protagonist, was the most glamorous character in the whole book. Crazy and Lai Youyu, stepping on the wrinkles of the old times, crashed into his life.

Lai Youyu was two years ahead of A Dong in school. Their friendship began in the stuffy, sweltering room of their elementary school cram school. Back then, A Dong was tanned like a black stone just pulled from the bottom of the Zhang River, so Lai Youyu jokingly called him "Little Black," a nickname that A Dong eventually accepted. Lai Youyu was the eldest son in his family and was known as the troublemaker in the alley since childhood. Climbing onto roofs and playing pranks on teachers were commonplace, but he was also incredibly eloquent, managing to coat all his mischief with a playful twist. He and Xu Yi were old friends from kindergarten, a bond that, like moss on the old walls of Zhangcheng, had spread since childhood, becoming one of his few stable roots.

Later, he became the "reporter" in Adong's story, always clutching an old cell phone, his lens pointed at Adong more than anyone else. Adong's embarrassment at smoking, his flushed face when recognizing an older brother, his silly antics when his boasting was exposed, even his pathetic appearance when being chased and beaten, were all captured frame by frame by him. He was unserious, abstract, always holding his phone close to Adong to make him laugh. Some of the videos he filmed were saved in his phone's photo album, while others were occasionally looked at with Xu Yi. They would laugh for a while, then suddenly fall silent—he remembered Adong's madness, Adong's pain, Adong's stumbling on the streets of Zhangcheng, as if to save an unknown "file" of this chaotic young man's life. Behind that laughter lay the deepest tenderness for this small town and for those around him.

Crazy Deng Feng was a classmate of A Dong, a wild and untamed gangster from Zhangcheng. His life was incomplete from the start: a broken family, a lack of upbringing, like an unattended weed sprouting wildly in the alleyway wind. He was neurotic, detached, a "madman" in the eyes of others, but only with A Dong did his madness find a home. He always had a phone in his hand, the lens not as "playful" as Lai Youyu's, but more fervent—he held A Dong in high esteem, filming him walking, filming him confronting people, wanting every teenager in Zhangcheng to know A Dong's name, as if he wanted to pass on all the light he lacked to this friend who was struggling in the mud just like him.

Surrounded by his friends, A-Dong learned to smoke, to recognize older brothers, and to use boasting and bravado to mask his deep-seated inferiority complex. The madman's phone became the recorder of this "youthful adventure." When A-Dong was surrounded, the madman held up his phone to record, shouting, "A-Dong, fight back!" while clearly capturing A-Dong's embarrassment. When A-Dong's boasting was exposed and he was ridiculed, the madman's camera zoomed in even closer, his laughter louder than anyone else's, but he would quietly save the video as he turned away, as if preserving evidence of A-Dong's "youthful spirit." But bubbles always burst eventually. Debts, fights—those self-perceived "glories" ultimately turned into slaps on the face, bruises on the body, and tears unseen in the dead of night, becoming the heaviest video on the phone.

The wind in Zhangcheng is blunt; it can't shatter the youthful spirit, but it can smooth out their rough edges. Lai Youyu and the madman's phones became two extreme footnotes—one recording with a smile, the other protecting the recording, yet both etched Adong's image into their lenses. Lai Youyu watched Adong sink into the madman's fervor, while the madman watched Adong show weakness in Lai Youyu's lens. One used jokes to hide compassion, the other used madness to wrap his true feelings, concealing Adong's youthful secrets in those videos.

The madness of a madman is a reckless, defiant act of giving up, a roar against the injustice of fate. He sees A-Dong as a mirror, perpetuating his yearning for a "normal life" through A-Dong. The videos on his phone are his "badges of honor" for A-Dong, even if those badges are stained. His kindness to his friends is heartfelt and selfless, regardless of the consequences, even sacrificing his own interests. In his most desperate times, he will offer the best to those he considers his friends.

Lai Youyu's "unseriousness" is a gentle clarity. He teases Adong with his phone, leaving behind his naive and embarrassed moments, as well as memories of his youthful ignorance. When he and Xu Yi watch those videos, they laugh at Adong's foolishness, but they also stare blankly at those records late at night—he knows that these videos are specimens of time, preserving the impetuousness of youth and the everyday life of Zhangcheng.

Caught in the middle, with the madman's frenzied camera on one side and Lai Youyu's mocking recording on the other, A Dong enjoyed being "seen" through the madman's lens, but also glimpsed his own wretchedness in Lai Youyu's video. His smoking was filmed comically, his boasting was preserved vividly, and the bruises from his beatings became the most glaring scene in the video. But he wasn't angry, because he knew that the madman's lens was protecting him, and Lai Youyu's lens was recording—these two people holding phones were the most special "witnesses" of his youth.

Lai Youyu didn't delete those ridiculous videos, and Fengzi didn't hide those embarrassing moments. They accompanied Adong through this passionate yet foolish youth, locking every embarrassment and every burst of enthusiasm into their phone's storage.

Night always falls early in Zhangcheng. In the dim light of the streetlights, Lai Youyu held up his phone to film Adong and Fengzi with their arms around each other's shoulders. Fengzi leaned over and framed both of them in the shot. They watched Adong's figure disappear at the end of the alley, saving the video on their phones again and again, knowing that these images would eventually be settled by time, becoming an insignificant speck of dust in the history of Zhangcheng.

But they still remember, remember these souls who rolled in the mud and shone in the darkness, remember these absurd yet passionate moments. Because these videos hidden in their phones are the most vivid imprints of Earth Online, the most fervent chapter of the youth of Zhangcheng—even if the footage is full of humor and absurdity, it is still the most authentic image of youth.

Earth Online Zhangcheng Character Introduction: Lai Youyu

[Rating] T1 [Alias] Debtor

The subject is Ah Dong, a classic video recorder who uses his mobile phone to capture every moment of his target. He transforms humor and embarrassment into anchors of time, hiding the most sober compassion within his playfulness. The eldest son in his family, he almost always clashed with his younger brother, the two frequently bickering and fighting. He was known as the "devil" in the alleys of Zhangcheng since childhood, finding pleasure in pranks, yet possessing an innate clarity of mind. He met Ah Dong in elementary school tutoring class, giving him the nickname "Little Black." In junior high, he became Ah Dong's "exclusive reporter," using his camera to record Ah Dong's absurdity and growth, archiving all the embarrassing moments, erecting an unknown monument to his youth.

His personality is abstract, unserious, gentle, stubborn, soft-hearted, a bit of a chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), and somewhat handsome. He always has a nonchalant smile on his face and always clutches an old cell phone in his hand.

[Exclusive Line] "I didn't film a joke, I filmed the most vibrant version of you in your life."

Earth Online Zhangcheng Character Introduction Deng Feng

[Rating] T0~T0.5

[Alternative Name] Madman

Born into a broken home and lacking proper upbringing, he was a wildly unruly hoodlum in Zhangcheng, a complete "madman" in the eyes of others. A classmate of A-Dong, only with A-Dong could his madness find a place to rest. He fanatically propelled A-Dong to fame, documenting every "highlight" and every embarrassing moment of A-Dong's life on his phone, treating every moment of his friend as an indelible badge of honor. He was completely open and reckless with his friends, using the most impulsive methods to fight against the confusion of growing up and the injustice of fate. Because of him and Lai Youyu (A-Dong), so many legendary incidents occurred in junior high. Every time he saw A-Dong, he would react with the same madness as a crow seeing Chen Haonan.

Personality traits: neurotic, abstract, loyal, stubborn, and prone to giving up.

Appearance: Arrogant, with an untamed wildness always in his eyes.