Chapter 4: Elusive Dreams Twenty years of true and false, also hard to distinguish

  When Shen Yangbrow took out the money to pay for the phone bill, the boss of "Mian Xiang Ju" refused to accept it with a straight face. Shen Yangbrow smiled and didn't insist on paying anymore. Thinking that he would have to stay in Jiaoliang County for a long time, he thought that if he had the chance, he wouldn't mind taking care of the boss sometime later. With that thought, Shen Yangbrow said "thank you" to the boss and left the small restaurant.

  Look at the time, it's already past seven o'clock. The last bus from the county to the city has probably departed long ago. Shen Yang originally planned to take a taxi, but after waiting for a while at the street corner, not a single taxi came by. Shen Yang was taken aback and only then remembered that this wasn't his familiar 21st century, where the taxi industry hadn't developed as much. He couldn't help but laugh awkwardly, but soon felt worried again. No wonder Luo Shuai had insisted on coming to pick him up earlier; he must have been worried that Shen Yang wouldn't be able to find a car. Unfortunately, Shen Yang hadn't thought it would be so hard to find one and had refused the offer. Now, it was his turn to worry.

  Shen Yang subconsciously reached out to touch his nose, thinking that in this era, taxis in county towns mostly waited near the station, where there were more people and it was easier to get business. It was rare for a taxi to be driving around like they did in later times, especially at such a late hour. Waiting here would actually make it harder to hail one. Thinking this, Shen Yang walked casually towards the direction of the station.

  After getting used to the neon lights, bright streets and bustling traffic of modern cities, walking on the quiet streets of a small county town in the early 1990s was a different experience. The night was still, the moonlight was bright, and the streetlights were dim yellow. Except for the occasional passerby hurrying by, there was only his shadow stretching out before him, growing longer and shorter as he moved. As he walked, the feeling of each step being solid and real made Shen Yang suddenly feel a sense of calm in his heart, as if the unreal feeling that had been with him since birth was slowly fading away, until it disappeared completely.

  Fortunately, the county town of Jialiang is not big, and after walking for more than ten minutes, a somewhat dilapidated Xiali taxi with a "taxi" sign on top slowly drove over. Shen Yang raised his hand subconsciously, but the driver of the Xiali seemed to have no reaction and drove straight past Shen Yang's side. Shen Yang didn't know what was going on, and through the glass of the taxi, it seemed that there were no other passengers in the car except for the driver. Could it be that the driver had finished work and was in a hurry to go home? No, it should be that the driver didn't understand the meaning of his hand gesture earlier, so he didn't stop the car. Having walked for so long and only seeing this one taxi, Shen Yang called out reluctantly, "Taxi!"

  Fortunately, the taxi was going relatively slow and hadn't gone too far. The driver seemed to have heard Shen Yangmei's shout, slowed down slightly, turned around and drove back, stopping beside her. A chubby face poked out of the window, "Teacher, get in."

  "Yes, yes," Shen Yang hastily replied, opening the rear door of the taxi and getting in, "Take me to the city center, I'm in a hurry."

  The driver hesitated for a moment, seemingly looking at Shen Yang through the rearview mirror, and said with some difficulty: "It's so late, going to the city center, you know I'm about to head home soon, my wife and kids are waiting for me to have dinner!"

  After hearing his words, Shen Yang raised an eyebrow and smiled. He naturally understood what the driver was worried about. He directly took out a 50-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to the driver in front of him. The chubby driver took the bill, seemingly a bit disbelieving, and carefully examined it before putting it in his pocket. Then he took out several more bills from his pocket and handed them back to Shen Yang. Shen Yang was somewhat perplexed as he accepted the money from the driver, looking at it to find two 100-yuan bills. It suddenly dawned on him that the driver was giving him change. He rubbed his nose, realizing that for a while, he still couldn't shake off some habits from his past life. Fortunately, the largest denomination of bills in his pocket was only 50 yuan; if there were any 100-yuan bills, he would have probably handed those out instead.

  Although the taxi looks a bit shabby, its speed is actually not slow. Maybe it was because Shen Yangbrow said to hurry up earlier, or maybe the driver really wanted to go home early, the car speed had a bit of a thrilling feeling, fortunately there were fewer cars on the road, so I didn't worry about having an accident.

  The taxi soon entered the city. Quyang City, although located inland, is also a prefecture-level city, and the situation in the urban area is naturally much better than that of Jialiang County. The streets were brightly lit, with people coming and going constantly, and many shops were still open for business.

  "Master, do you know the Victory Building Company?" Shen Yang raised an eyebrow and looked at the driver in front of him, nodding his head, then said: "Just stop at the entrance of the Victory Building Company."

  The driver of the taxi seemed to be familiar with the roads in the city, and after turning a few corners, the car quickly drove into a quiet little street. In the distance, Shen Yang saw the huge neon sign of the Victory Building Company.

  The taxi just stopped in front of the Victory Building Company. Shen Yangmei saw Luo Shuai walking out from inside the door. With a smile, he opened the rear door of the taxi for Shen Yangmei, "Ah yo! My great director, you've finally arrived, let me wait for so long. To wait for you, I had to coax Zhang Xin for a while, just sent her away, you have to compensate me well, or else my brother will...!"

  After getting off the car, he saw Luo Shuai's round face with a hint of a smile, and for a moment, he couldn't help but open his arms wide and give him a big hug, saying: "Brother, it's really great to see you again, really great!"

  "What's going on here? I told you to compensate me, but, brother, this is not good for me. Don't, don't do this. If you need someone, I'll find someone to accompany you." Luo Shuai's mouth was teasing, but his hands were tightly wrapped around Shen Yangmei's waist. Although he didn't know what had happened, after being together for seven or eight years as good brothers, Luo Shuai could feel that Shen Yangmei seemed to have a hint of abnormality besides the enthusiasm.

  …………

  "Come on, what's going on that's so mysterious, and why do I need to prepare 'stuff'?" The two of them sat in Luo Shuai's office, Luo Shuai saying as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Shen Yang. Shen Yang took it, picked up the lighter from the coffee table, leaned back against the sofa, lit it, and took a deep drag before finally relaxing a bit.

  After rebirth, Shen Yang's mind had been in a state of tension. Various emotions such as ecstasy, anger, hatred, sorrow, and reluctance surged in his heart with the memories of so many years. Although his identity hadn't changed much, suddenly returning to the past after twenty years made him feel a sense of detachment and unreality. It wasn't until he saw Luo Shuai, that chubby good brother who had been by his side through thick and thin, that Shen Yang's tightly wound nerves relaxed slightly.

  Lu Shuai also seemed to have noticed Shen Yang's serious expression today, and thought he was worried about the Beijing project. He restrained his smile and didn't rush to speak, for a moment the only sound in the room was the two men puffing on their cigarettes.

  Until the cigarette in his hand was burned out, Shen Yang's eyebrows straightened up and he threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray. He waved his hand to decline Luo Shuai's offer of another cigarette and asked, "Fatty, do you know what's going on with Ye Wen now?"

  "Yue Wen," Luo Shuai was puzzled why Shen Yang suddenly mentioned her, and after a moment of stunned silence, he hesitantly said: "She's fine, nothing special! It's been pretty busy lately, and it's been a while since I've seen her."

  "Huh? This cheap person has a new lover and you don't know about it?" Shen Yang said word by word.

  "What? You're saying she's got a new boyfriend?" Luo Shuai thought he had misheard, but seeing Shen Yang's serious expression, he knew he wasn't joking.

  "Impossible!" Luo Shuai shook his head and said categorically: "Yangzi, did you hear some rumors? Don't you know Ye Wen? How could she be that kind of person?"

  Looking at Luo Shuai's excited and flushed face, Shen Yang couldn't help but smile wryly. No wonder Luo Shuai was so excited - if he didn't have memories of the future, he probably wouldn't have thought that Ye Wen would betray him either. That delicate girl who looked like a doll, that girl who always called out "husband" nonstop, that girl who had made promises with him under the moonlight and in front of flowers, that girl who had made his past self invest all his emotions... had actually betrayed him when he needed comfort the most. Even though twenty years had passed, everything still felt vividly clear. That's why even though he had been reborn, every time Shen Yang thought of Ye Wen, he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in his heart. In his past life, because of Ye Wen's betrayal, he had been so devastated that he almost lost the will to live, and almost died from it.

  Fortunately, heaven gave himself a chance to start again. As a man, anything can be tolerated, but not this kind of thing. Therefore, Shen Yang put down the thousands of tasks at hand and came to the city district with determination, looking for Luo Shuai. If he couldn't vent out the suppressed anger that had been bottled up in his chest for twenty years tonight, then his rebirth would become meaningless.

  "Hey, fatty, don't get excited. Listen to me." As Luo Shuai slowly calmed down, Shen Yang continued: "Although the truth is hard to accept, I think that's what really happened. This thing is probably true, and that's why I came looking for you today. How about it? Are you interested in going with me tonight to check out Ye Wen's new boyfriend?"

  "Damn it!" Luo Shuai involuntarily cursed out loud, he knew Shen Yangmei very well. If Shen Yangmei wasn't 100% sure, she wouldn't have told him about this matter. Looking at the faint, mysterious smile on Shen Yangmei's lips, Luo Shuai felt a sense of unease in his heart for no reason, and the Shen Yangmei in front of him seemed to be different somehow.

  Luoshuai himself is a sharp and discerning person, and with just a little thought, he saw some clues. No, Shen Yangmei's expression was not quite right, it seemed too calm. Others may not understand the feelings between Shen Yangmei and Ye Wen, but Luoshuai had been watching them all along, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was a witness to their emotions. He knew how deeply Shen Yangmei loved Ye Wen. If Shen Yangmei knew that Ye Wen had done something wrong to him, with his personality, he would either be heartbroken or put on a strong face and smile, but he wouldn't appear as calm as he did now, at least not on the surface.

  As he thought of this, Luo Shuai raised his head and stared at Shen Yangmei with narrowed eyes for a while. Shen Yangmei was stared at by him and felt a bit puzzled, stretched out her hand in front of Luo Shuai's eyes and waved it twice, saying: "What are you looking at?"

  "I think you're a bit off today. Did you already know about Ye Wen's betrayal? Otherwise, how could you be so calm?"

  He raised an eyebrow and sighed, smiling: "Yes, I've known for a long time." In fact, I knew twenty years ago. For the past twenty years, even if I deliberately tried to forget her, this matter has been haunting me like a nightmare, but today should be the day of understanding.