Three Years' Agreement

  At this time, my dad also came out of the house "It's still your school problem, your Uncle Shen helped you solve it, and luckily we made it in time for the third make-up exam, I have to go thank him properly"

  At this time, my mother also came out of the kitchen with a happy smile, holding a tray of food. "Wang Yue, hurry up, tonight we three will celebrate together. It's really heaven's blessing. Now that your studies are settled, I'm truly relieved. Remember, this learning opportunity is hard to come by, you must cherish it well." After finishing speaking, my mother smiled at me happily again.

  I suddenly remembered that Taoist priest from just now.

  Lying in bed at night, I thought about it for half a day, and my heart was indeed very happy. However, after the happiness, there were still some awkwardness, thinking about that inexplicable Taoist's affairs, don't know how many points I thought of, then fell asleep like this. In the dream, the Taoist's face appeared in front of me again, smiling at me with a smile that was a bit frightening.

  I suddenly opened my eyes and sat up, looking at the dimly lit sky. I was extremely sleepy, but I really couldn't sleep anymore. I slowly stretched my waist, got up and simply tidied up a bit, leaned against the bed, and lit a cigarette. Thinking about that strange Taoist priest.

  My own learning is fine, but the question is whether I should superstitiously go and smash the monk's stall.

  In my heart, I'm entangled with endless worries. If I were to go, I'd have to prepare thoroughly, and what's more, create such a big commotion in the bustling commercial district. But if I don't go, that would go against the Taoist's promise. I, Wang Yue, am an honest and trustworthy person, cough cough. Because I've always been so honest and trustworthy, occasionally betraying once wouldn't affect the overall effect.

  Besides, my education has nothing to do with the Taoist priest. It's all thanks to my uncle Shen Tianxiao, who has a lot of influence in Y County and even in the city, he has many connections. He also had a daughter who was my childhood sweetheart, and I had hoped to become his son-in-law one day, but unfortunately, our personalities didn't match, so we didn't end up together.

  As a result, that girl, Shen Lin, ended up with one of my former good brothers. I don't know what their relationship is like now, it's been a long time since we last contacted each other. Nor do I know if they are living well or not.

  Uncle Shen arranged for me to attend a nationally recognized vocational college in City Z. Although I had never heard of it, as someone who was struggling with not being able to go to school and was already into October, I was still quite happy about it. Actually, whether or not I went to school was secondary; my biggest goal in going to school was to find several girls, get to know several beauties, touch different textures of skin a few more times, and experience different lives.

  According to Shen Shu's words, the third make-up exam, someone didn't go to that school anymore, so there was a spot, just right, and I could be squeezed in. For this, my whole family, including myself, were very grateful to Shen Tianxiao. Yesterday at dinner, Mom even mentioned forcing me to marry Shen Lin, but I refused. She threatened me for half a day, and I didn't respond, obviously. I think now is not a feudal society, what kind of nonsense is it that marriage is the order of parents and matchmakers? If I want to marry her, she wants to marry me, we can perfectly form a couple. If I don't want to marry or she doesn't want to marry, then no one should force us.

  I've always thought that if a person can't even take charge of their own marriage, then they might as well go crash into a pig's head and die.

  I patted my own head, stopped daydreaming, and finally made up my mind. It's not a big deal if I miss this opportunity once in a while. After all, it was Shen Tianxiao who helped me, why should I go help the Taoist priest stir up trouble for the monk? The Taoist priest has his own fate, and the monk has his own fate. There is no connection between them, let alone that the Taoist priest was clearly trying to deceive me, and it just so happened that he rushed over with school matters. So, after two hours and fifteen minutes of consideration, I decided to pack my things and prepare to report to school the day after tomorrow. This is the third supplementary enrollment after the college entrance examination in October, and it's also the last chance to go to university.

  So, the Taoist's words were thrown away long ago. I get annoyed when I see fortune tellers. If they're really some kind of immortal, then there's no need for them to be telling fortunes like this. Although I'm a bit superstitious, I'm not an idiot and won't blindly believe in superstitions. I snuffed out the cigarette. In my heart, I cursed, "Damn that Taoist dogshit!" This year I'm only 18, I don't believe in those vague and mysterious things, all I know is that Wang Yue is the king of heaven. Whatever, love whoever you want. Love whoever you want. I just thought of this.

  The door to my room suddenly opened, and my mom was standing there in her pajamas, holding a rolling pin. She pointed at me with one hand and said, "You little scoundrel, you're smoking again in the house! Today I'm going to teach you a lesson!" After that, she charged towards me, waving the rolling pin wildly.

  "Oh no, mom, I was wrong. Oh no, I swear I'll never smoke again. It hurts so much, oh no, am I really your child? Oh no, why are you hitting me again? I was wrong. I was wrong, stop hitting me, or my face will be upside down. Oh no, I was wrong, I won't turn over anymore, I'll run away from home..."

  Before going to school, I visited all my relatives at home and there were many comfortable things. The most comfortable thing was that I would receive money, and the words "let us study hard" had long been heard. When I was a kid, it was about getting good grades in primary school, then it was about getting good grades in middle school, and after middle school, it was about getting good grades in high school. As a result, I relied on connections to get into middle school, paid a high tuition fee to get into high school, and almost didn't make it to a regular university, but finally managed to get into a crappy junior college with great difficulty. After that, my family gave me another goal, to transfer to a better university, then take the graduate exam, master's degree, and Ph.D. Oh my god, are their kids all geniuses? However, considering my parents' high expectations, I didn't have the heart to disappoint them, after all, they raised me. There was some hope that it would be good, at least for these two years of studying, their hopes wouldn't be shattered. It's just that after such a long time, they really didn't dare face reality and acknowledge it. I didn't listen to a single word of their crappy education, but the money they gave me was all taken in by my own pocket without missing a cent.

  That day, I wanted to go out and buy some snacks to put at home. After all, school is about to start soon, so it's better to prepare some food. It's also good to bring on the train, as the things sold on trains are expensive and taste bad. Now, the train staff often carry a basket with various items inside and sell them, one moment it's a multi-functional flashlight, another moment it's a multi-functional Rubik's Cube, and there's even something for quitting smoking. They advertise on the train, performing and speaking in a coordinated manner, their expressions, actions, and language are seamless. Their eloquence is so good that if they took off their uniforms, they would be mistaken for pyramid scheme promoters.

  Strolling to the entrance of the residential area, I always feel like there's a pair of eyes staring at me. It's weird. Turning around, I see that the Taoist is setting up his stall again. He's still wearing the same clothes, holding the same tools, and has the same expression as when I saw him a few days ago. And now, he's standing there, smiling at me in a way that's hard to read.

  It's come to this, if I don't go over and chat with him for a bit, it would be too damaging to my humanity. I lit up a cigarette and walked over to the Taoist priest's side "Taoist priest, you're here again"

  The Taoist priest smiled and said, "Young man, how's it going? Has your luck changed?"

  "No way, it can't be that fast" I said with a worried and frustrated expression, "It's really depressing, what can I do about this studying problem?"

  The Taoist Xianfenghegu smiled again, then stroked his beard. "Young man, stop talking nonsense. It's greatly beneficial for you to do so. I suppose you've suffered losses from speaking nonsense before."

  "Alright, alright!" I interrupted the Taoist's words. "Monks don't speak deceitfully, that's what Buddhists say. When did you Taoists plagiarize it? I said why do you always want to find trouble with others, turns out it's a pirated and inferior product, yet you still have the nerve to defame the authentic one. You're just jealous of people like them. Your fortune-telling is probably also copied from others. Isn't that right?"

  The Taoist shook his head, "Young man, to be a person, one must be honest and trustworthy. Your face is rosy and your spirit is high-flying, you must have had some delightful thing happen, if old monk's words are correct."

  "Wait, you're a Taoist, not a Buddhist monk, should be Poor Dao"

  "Oh, yes" said the Taoist priest with a windy and crane-like demeanor, suddenly disappearing. Rushing towards me with a smile "I told you so, what I said earlier was correct, didn't I? You wanted to cheat me, deceive me, right?"

  "No, I said no, it's just no, don't make a big deal out of it. Don't come here and swindle people around. Considering your attitude towards me is still okay, I'll let you set up a stall here from now on. Let me tell you, in this neighborhood, I'm the boss. From the east gate to the west gate, from building 1 to building 29, everyone knows that. Alright, I've said my piece, I'm off. Still got things to buy."

  "Wait a moment," said the Taoist priest, taking a step forward and looking at me without speaking.

  I'm a bit annoyed. "What's with you staring at me like that? If you have something to say, spit it out."

  The Taoist smiled mysteriously and said, "Cause and effect cycle, cause and effect cycle." After finishing speaking, he turned around and was about to leave.

  "What did you say?"

  The Taoist shook his head, "Three years later, we'll meet again. I wish you success in your studies." Then the Taoist smiled and said, "However, with a 99% probability, you won't be able to learn for long. Haha" And then he didn't even pick up the things on the ground before leaving.

  I stood there watching his back disappear into the crowd. "Psychopath, no conscience, dead cheat, not a bit of technical content, sometimes poor Tao and sometimes old nun." I didn't think much about it either. Humming a little tune, I rushed to the supermarket.

  I slept quite comfortably at night. In the following days, I felt more comfortable when playing because previously when I went out to play, familiar people would always ask "Wang Yue? Not in school yet?" At that time, I would smile awkwardly and say no. These days, I held my head high and told them straight up "I haven't started school yet." After returning home, my parents were not as worried as before. The atmosphere at home also improved. It's as if everything suddenly got better, and my luck changed.

  Before I knew it, the day of reporting had arrived.