Ye Yun turned to look at Zhang Ya, who walked over, took Ye Yun's hand, and said, "Come on, let's go to the school together!"
The two arrived at Lanye High School. The security guard greeted Zhang Ya, saying, "Hello, Teacher Zhang. Did you go out for lunch with your boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend, uh... I'm not..." Ye Yun quickly explained.
“He’s my brother. He used to be a student at our school. Now he’s back, so I’m showing him around the school,” Zhang Ya said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a couple!" the security guard apologized awkwardly.
The two entered the school at 12:30, more than an hour before class. There were hardly any people in the school; students were either in classrooms, dormitories, or wandering around outside.
Ye Yun looked around the teaching buildings and found that two buildings had been rebuilt, each four stories high. The previous three buildings had also been renovated, and they looked similar to the schools in the county town.
The school grounds, which used to be brick paths, are now all polished cement.
"It seems a lot has been rebuilt; this school is almost as good as those in several county towns," Ye Yun praised.
"Of course, but I have to thank your brother Qiang for this," Zhang Ya said.
"Brother Qiang? Ye Sanqiang? Did he rebuild this?" Ye Yun asked curiously.
"Yes, he contributed 200,000 yuan, joined forces with several big bosses in the county, and participated in the county government's donation campaign, which is how the school was finally built like this."
Ye Yun was somewhat surprised, "Wow, is Brother Qiang really this kind-hearted? This isn't like him at all!"
"You're right, he certainly wouldn't do these things for no reason. First of all, he was in charge of the school's reconstruction project, and then the school cafeteria was also contracted to him."
"I see, that makes sense then. It sounds like he spent money to rebuild it, but in reality, he didn't spend much at all and even made a considerable profit." Ye Yun nodded in realization, admiring Ye Sanqiang's methods.
They made money and gained fame – a win-win situation!
When we arrived at the playground, it turned out to be a large open space with some horizontal bars and other equipment installed, as well as an old basketball hoop. The basketball net was worn out, and the wooden barriers were broken.
Now there's a rubberized running track and a lawn, with two soccer hoops on the lawn, where several boys are playing soccer. On the other side, there's a basketball court with eight hoops, where a group of boys are playing basketball.
Many couples sat on the lawn, the boys kissing and hugging while the girls lay on their laps, and the girls lay on the boys' laps. This quiet and peaceful campus atmosphere moved Ye Yun deeply.
"The changes are too great."
Is it big?
"It's amazing, not just because it's been renovated, but the atmosphere at the school is so much better. You know, back in my day, the school was a real mess, with fights all the time. Students fighting each other, students hitting teachers, those were common occurrences. There were robberies, harassment of girls, even rapes. It was truly a chaotic scene back then," Ye Yun recalled.
Zhang Ya listened attentively and nodded, saying, "I was like that back then too, so the atmosphere at school was all about the strong bullying the weak. Might makes right. Many girls liked boys who liked to fight, and many girls were also bullied and molested by those boys. It was a mess."
"You mean only four years have passed? How could things have changed so much?"
"It's probably because of the widespread use of the internet. In this information age, even the slightest thing done that causes unrest will attract attention online."
"Yes, that makes sense."
Just as the two were chatting, the soccer ball rolled over and landed at Ye Yun's feet.
"Hey buddy, kick it over here!" shouted a boy playing soccer in the distance.
Ye Yun took a step back and kicked the football. Under everyone's watchful eyes, the football was kicked into the goal.
"Yes, the ball went in!" Zhang Ya cheered excitedly upon seeing this.
"It was just a coincidence," Ye Yun said modestly.
"What a coincidence! It's more than 30 meters from here to there. Your kick was really unlucky. You must have kicked it before!"
"I played basketball occasionally. Back then, we only had a broken hoop, and the soccer ball was also broken. It depended on who had the money to buy one. Most of the time, we were just kicking people around. But we played basketball often. A few of us would get together to play, or we could play alone in our free time."
"Really? There are people playing basketball over there. Why don't we go check it out?" Zhang Ya suggested.
"OK."
The two arrived at the basketball court, where a group of men were playing basketball and a group of girls were watching.
"See? There are clearly more girls watching basketball than football," Ye Yun said.
"Indeed, and basketball players are generally in good shape; they should exercise regularly."
"Because basketball is easy; one person can play, two people can play, and several people can play. Soccer is different; it basically requires several people to play. Of course, one person can play, but it's not very fun. Also, soccer requires a field, and apart from the soccer field at school, there are probably no other fields nearby!"
"No, a football field is such a big place, who would bother with that? There are basketball courts, though, quite a lot," Zhang Ya said.
"Yeah, that's why football isn't more popular. Many interests need to be cultivated from a young age. But cultivating an interest in football is a bit troublesome, much more difficult than table tennis or basketball. Like me, I played table tennis when I was little, then I started playing basketball in junior high, and even in high school and college, I still played basketball. Look at these boys who play basketball, they play basketball regularly and get exercise, so their physiques are much better than those who play football, and they basically all have girlfriends."
Zhang Ya chuckled and looked at him, asking, "When you played basketball in high school, didn't any girls come over to watch you?"
"Yes, quite a lot. People even bring me water, tissues, and snacks."
"If you have one, why are you still single?"
"They're all ugly, I can't stand them."
Zhang Ya chuckled and patted his arm, saying, "Come on, Lan Ye High School is so big, with thousands of students, and you're telling me there aren't any pretty girls? How high are your standards? What kind of person do you consider a pretty girl?"
"Someone like you," Ye Yun said, looking at her.
Zhang Ya covered her mouth, her heart filled with sweetness. "This isn't like you. How did you learn all these sweet talk? Have you been secretly dating someone behind my back?"
Ye Yun blinked, thought for a moment, and said, "I guess so!"
"I guess so. As for whether it's 'yes' or 'no,' your answer shows that even you don't know the answer yourself," Zhang Ya teased.
Ye Yun didn't speak, but just watched the match quietly.
Seeing this, Zhang Ya didn't ask any more questions and stayed with him to watch.
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