Atlas of Heaven and Man

Just as dinner was about to be served, Chen Chuan had just sat down when his uncle, Nian Fuli, suddenly said, "Chen Chuan, you've graduated from middle school. Our Yangzhi City doesn't have any higher education institutions. Your uncle here only earns a meager salary from the police station. I don't have the ability to send you to study in those high-class places in the central city. Have you thought about where you're going?"

The dinner table quieted down. His aunt, Yu Wan, looked at Chen Chuan worriedly. His two younger cousins held their bowls, their little heads looking left and right.

Nian Fuli said, "If you haven't thought about it, if you have nowhere to go, I can arrange something for you. Don't complain about the hardship, don't complain about the work. If you don't want to do it, say so early, and find your own way out."

Chen Chuan looked at Nian Fuli and said with a smile, "Uncle, are you in such a hurry to get rid of me?"

Nian Fuli glared at him and said, "Just call me uncle, don't add 'little'."

He habitually touched his upper pocket. His fingers had just touched the cigarette pack when he glanced at his two children and took his hand out again. He frowned and said, "Don't be so flippant. Give me a straight answer. Your older cousin is promising, so I don't have to worry about him. Your two younger siblings are still young and will be going to school in a few years. The household expenses will be even greater in the future. You're already sixteen years old. Your uncle doesn't expect you to repay me. In the future, as long as you can support yourself, that's enough. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Chen Chuan nodded and said, "Uncle, you're right." He thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, I'm thinking of finding my own way out."

"Yourself?"

Nian Fuli looked at him for a while and said, "Okay, doesn't the school usually have a two-month vacation? Then I'll give you two months. After two months, you'll be on your own. Your uncle won't have to worry about your affairs anymore."

His aunt, Yu Wan, hesitated to speak.

Chen Chuan said, "Okay, let's do as Uncle says."

Nian Fuli sized him up. "You'd better do what you say." He picked up his chopsticks and said, "Eat." Seeing that he had started eating, the family began to eat.

Chen Chuan also reached out to take his chopsticks. At this moment, he seemed to sense something. He raised his head, and there, by the wall, stood a young man who looked exactly like him, staring at him with a gloomy expression. His uncle's family was engrossed in eating, completely unaware, as if only he could see him.

He naturally withdrew his gaze and ate while thinking about the future. Before he knew it, he had finished the last bite of rice. His aunt, who had been paying attention to him, quickly said, "Leave it, your aunt will wash it. You should focus on worrying about your own affairs."

Chen Chuan looked at his aunt and then at Nian Fuli, who had no expression on his face. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Okay, Uncle, Aunt, I'll go back to my room first."

Nian Fuli picked up a mouthful of vegetables and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly, without saying a word.

After Chen Chuan left, Yu Wan said, "The child is still young."

Nian Fuli said impatiently, "Young? He's already sixteen! When I was his age, I was already on the battlefield!"

"Alright, alright, I know you're amazing."

Yu Wan saw that he had finished eating as well. She got up from the table and poured him a glass of yellow wine, saying, "I'll go check on the child."

"Go, go." Nian Fuli waved his hand impatiently. He picked up his wine glass and took a sip, feeling relieved. At the same time, he muttered to himself, "This kid is a little different from before..."

"Dad, when I'm sixteen, are you going to kick me out too?"

Nian Fuli turned his head and saw his younger son, Nian Mo, looking up at him expectantly.

His younger daughter, Nian Lu, was a three-year-old girl who said in a childish voice, "He'll definitely kick you out, you eat the most meat!"

"I, I don't eat that much! Dad..." Nian Mo held his bowl, looking pitifully at Nian Fuli.

Nian Fuli laughed and patted Nian Mo on the back of the head. "You little rascal, you're my son, how could I not care about you? I'm saving a spot for you under my butt. Go, turn on the radio."

"Okay."

Nian Mo happily jumped off the stool and ran over to turn on the old-fashioned radio, which emitted a crackling sound.

"...The railway maintenance department reports that due to the impact of the Xie Mountain mudslide, the originally scheduled repair section in early June will be postponed once again..."

"A group of prisoners have escaped from Qiguang Prison. A wanted order has been issued. The main fugitives are as follows: Fang Dawei, male, 35 years old, strong build, committed multiple burglaries and street shootings; Tong Baitao, male, 27 years old..."

"The Blood Scar Gang and the Iron Chain Gang have clashed at the intersection of Xinqu Park and Micang Street. Several civilian houses were damaged in the conflict, and dozens of people were killed and injured..."

Chen Chuan had already returned to his room. This study-cum-bedroom was about eight or nine square meters in size. The windowsill and the old red-lacquered wooden floor were clean. The surroundings were arranged in an orderly manner, showing that it was cleaned and tidied every day.

Some movie posters were pasted on the wall. When he looked at them, the names of the movies naturally appeared in his mind: 'Lonely Sword Hero', 'Alpine Beast', 'The Last Conquest'...

"What whys? Chan'er, can Auntie come in?" Yu Wan's voice came from outside the door.

"Chan'er" was the nickname given to Chen Chuan's body by his parents. Now, besides Yu Wan, only that annoying cousin calls him that all day long.

Chen Chuan said, "Auntie, come in, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about some problems."

"Middle school is over, Chan'er, and you're still so hardworking." Yu Wan walked in. She was under forty, with fair skin and an ordinary appearance. Chen Chuan, on the other hand, had delicate features, red lips and white teeth, and was tall. The two of them standing together could only vaguely see a blood relationship from the corners of their eyes and eyebrows.

Yu Wan said, "Chan'er, don't blame your uncle for what happened today. He has his difficulties. Don't be stubborn and force yourself. I'll talk to your uncle again later."

Chen Chuan said with a smile, "Auntie, don't worry, I'm not forcing myself. I really have a plan."

Yu Wan hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked, "Chan'er... are you going to find the Meng family girl?"

Hearing this address, a girl's figure involuntarily surfaced in Chen Chuan's mind. He shook his head and said, "I'm not going to look for her."

Yu Wan said, "It's better not to go. People of high status have eyes that grow on their foreheads. You've been stubborn since you were little. You were childhood sweethearts, but you won't get along when you grow up."

Chen Chuan said, "Auntie, you're right. What happened in childhood doesn't count. Nowadays, people are always accompanied by their family and servants when they go out. Why would I make a fool of myself?"

Yu Wan was relieved to hear him say that. She picked up a handkerchief she had been holding and unwrapped it layer by layer in front of Chen Chuan, revealing a stack of ten-yuan Jianyuan banknotes.

The banknotes featured a cyan landscape pattern. The front depicted a round sky and square earth, while the back showed rice and wheat covering a nine-tasseled crown. The watermark was a felt hat.

She grabbed Chen Chuan's hand and stuffed the money into it. "Take it. Use it when you need it. Don't be stingy. If you don't have enough, Auntie has more here."

Chen Chuan didn't reach out, and asked, "Does Uncle know about this?"

Yu Wan said, "This is money your auntie saved for you." She lightly tapped his arm. "Don't call him Uncle. He doesn't like it."

Chen Chuan smiled, took the money, and said seriously, "Auntie, I'll consider this a loan. I'll pay it back."

“Ah, we're family, what's with saying repaying and not repaying, you keep it safe.” Yu Wan waited until Chen Chuan had put the money away before feeling relieved, and said: “Then auntie is leaving, you've already graduated, don't work too hard, remember to turn on the lights when reading a book, don't hurt your eyes.”

“Okay.”

Yu Wan gave a few more instructions before leaving the room.

Chen Chuan closed the door, pulled the light cord beside the door, and a small chandelier on the roof lit up, emitting a pale yellow light.

He walked to the bookshelf, randomly pulled out a book, sat down on the edge of the bed, and flipped through it with interest.

After a long time, he heard the grandfather clock outside strike ten times. Because he had serious business to attend to tomorrow, he put the book back, washed up a little, and turned off the lights to sleep.

And in the pitch-black darkness, the boy who looked exactly like him was standing by the bed, still looking at him quietly.

In his dream, he seemed to have returned to his previous life. After working for a few years, he went on a backpacking trip. When he passed by a museum in a certain city, he saw an ancient mirror exhibition. When he entered the hall with curiosity, he saw a domed mirror hanging from the top at a glance. At that moment, the him inside also looked over at the same time.

At the moment when their eyes met, his vision suddenly blurred, and his body seemed to turn into a baby, from birth to childhood, from childhood to a teenager, until one day, a light blue car shadow came into view, and as the sound of the car faded away, he suddenly fell into a darkness.

Bright light shone in from the seams of the curtains, tearing apart the haze of the night.

Chen Chuan opened his eyes. He turned his head to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table, five fifty. He shook his head, got up, put on his clothes, went out to rinse his mouth and wash his face.

Nian Fuli was on duty at the patrol bureau, and went out early in the morning. The two younger siblings were still sleeping, and Yu Wan went out to buy groceries, and prepared breakfast for him before going out.

After finishing breakfast, he returned to his room, put on his only set of student formal attire. This clothing was made of wool fabric, gray-black in color, and the overall look was very crisp, making him look very energetic.

He buttoned his collar, put on his student hat, straightened up in the full-length mirror attached to the wardrobe, took a gray canvas satchel from behind the door, filled it with a water bottle, put it on, went to the front yard to find his bicycle, and pushed it out the door.

Looking at the rising sun outside, he thought to himself, "In any case, let's follow the previous plan first."

He got on the bike, flicked the bell with his thumb, sending out a series of crisp rings, stepped on the pedals, and rode out of the alley where he lived, turning only twice before getting on the main road.

Nian Fuli is the patrol captain of the patrol sub-bureau. This area is inhabited by patrol officers and their families, so the security in this area is fairly good, and the roads are also very wide. Both sides of the street are planted with plane trees. The sunlight at the end of May is intertwined with the dark green leaves, making people feel good.

After riding along the main road for half an hour, he entered the city center square. The tallest buildings in Yangzhi City are concentrated here. Most of them were built during the Great Development period, almost sixty years ago. Because the situation was tense at the time, the materials used were extremely solid, and the cold tones had a sense of solidity.

After waiting for a suspended tram to drive past, he saw seven or eight people dressed in a strange manner walking from the other side of the road.

One of these people seemed to be very sensitive to gazes, and suddenly turned his head to look over, his eyes very fierce, but when he saw the satchel on Chen Chuan's body, he cursed something, just spat at Chen Chuan's departing back, and then turned his head away.

After Chen Chuan passed through the square, he turned left onto North Avenue. About five minutes later, a corner of a very imposing flying eaves appeared on the east side of the road. As he slowly approached, he could see that this was the gate of a school. The gate had three entrances, a hundred steps wide. On the stone plaque of the central gate were written the five characters "Wuyi University Hall" in a silver-hooked and iron-painted regular script. He could see magnificent cars entering and leaving the gate from time to time.

At this time, he gripped the brake lever, put one foot on the ground, and stopped in front of a stone tablet beside the door, on which was engraved a brief introduction of the school: "Wuyi University Hall was built in the fifteenth year of Jianzhi, and officially renamed in the thirty-fifth year of Jianzhi. The first principal was Cheng Yunbai..."

The main gate of the school faces a flat open space. The sun at seven or eight o'clock in the morning is very bright, shining on the school gate and the buildings on both sides, making it look particularly elegant and solemn.

His eyes wandered, as if looking for something. After a while, he saw an inconspicuous sign near the side door, which read: "Entrance Examination Office, this way."

He breathed a sigh of relief and got off the bike. At this moment, he glanced and saw that figure, almost identical to himself, was standing by the door looking at him. He withdrew his gaze, naturally pushing the handlebar, and entered the school from the side door.

……

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