Insufficient balance

  In 1993, the urban construction of Dongling City was still somewhat backward and could not be compared with the prosperity of later generations. Zhongshan Park is located in Fengcheng District, which is not the city center or a key area for municipal construction, so it naturally looks even more deserted.

  Of course, the word "fallen" is a conclusion that Tang Yu himself came up with after comparing his own image in his mind with the image of Fengcheng District in later generations.

  Savoring the 93-year-old rabbit ice cream with a sweet and sandy taste, but filled with childhood memories, walking on the not-so-spacious hardened road surface, I recall that in later years, nearby, one after another high-rise buildings rose from the ground, now it's still mostly row upon row of low and slightly dilapidated houses. Can't help but feel a sense of nostalgia in my heart. After leaving Dongling City for many years, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall what Dongling City looked like back then. Who would have thought that now I'd have the chance to take another look?

  However, there are surprisingly fewer people here, and it seems that it is not much more prosperous than later generations, which is a bit strange.

  He shook his head in self-mockery, thinking why bother with these thoughts, he still hadn't figured out his own messy affairs, might as well hurry back home.

  Tang Yu's home is in the city center, a house within the municipal government compound, inside a large courtyard.

  In 1993, there was no direct bus from Zhongshan Park to here, and it was still a long way from the bus station. Tang Yu didn't hurry, walking slowly on the road, allowing his brain and body to react more harmoniously.

  Back in '93, it's nice to recall the atmosphere of this city back then. Myself at that time didn't have such leisurely mind.

  In 1993, the buses in Dongling City were not as crowded as they would be in later years. When Tang Yu got on, there were several empty seats, and he casually found one to sit down in, but his mind couldn't help but wander back to past events.

  In 1993, it was a nightmare year for Tang Yu and his family, a year that he and his family could hardly forget. That year, his uncle Tang Tianhao, who had been worth tens of millions, unexpectedly got trapped in the real estate bubble in Hainan, and under the strong control of national policies, not only did the tens of millions he had worked hard for many years go down the drain, but also because he owed more than 20 million yuan to the bank that he could not repay, he went to prison.

  Also in '93, my father Tang Tianhong, who was working at the Municipal Party Committee's Party History Research Office, had just been promoted to Deputy Secretary-General of the Government by Acting Mayor Su Muxiu. Before he could even warm up his seat, Su Muxiu suffered a loss of prestige due to a vote-buying scandal during that year's People's Congress election, and later ended up in prison due to various problems including economic issues and style of work.

  His father lost the backing, the wall fell and everyone pushed it. Someone even brought up his second uncle's over 20 million yuan in bank debt to make things difficult for him. In the end, he couldn't stay in the secretariat, not even the Party History Research Office had a place for him, and was squeezed out to a place like the Social Science Association, which wasn't even considered a proper government agency. Naturally, he didn't have the ability to protect his second uncle either. From then on, he lived a life of disappointment and frustration, often going to the Qingyun Teahouse in Fengcheng District to play chess with Cen Peiren for pleasure.

  At that time, their family life was the most difficult, Tang Tianhong had to borrow a place in Qingyun Tea House to set up a chess board to make a living.

  It wasn't until 1998, when Su Mu Ru was wrongly accused, that the case was finally brought to justice.

  Although in 1998, a major earthquake occurred again in the Dongling Municipal Government, with Chen Songwei, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, as the main culprit, a tax evasion case was cracked by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Chen Songwei also confessed that they had manipulated the election behind the scenes in 1993 and later framed Mayor Su Muren. However, at that time, Su Muren had already been mentally devastated by five years of imprisonment and could no longer work, nor did anyone remember his father who was unable to stay in the Social Sciences Association, and no one stood up to speak for him.

  Thus, in '93, the Tang Yu family, who were once considered a wealthy household in Dongling City, rapidly declined and fell to the bottom of society, becoming a soft persimmon that almost anyone could bully, with everyone wanting to trample them.

  In order to raise money for the bail of Second Uncle, their family was once in a tight spot and had to rely on the help of Cen Peiren from Qingyun Teahouse to get by. This situation only improved when Tang Yu started working, but that's a story for later.

  The family suddenly experienced such a change, and Tang Yu, who was only 16 years old at the time, began to feel the coldness of human relationships and the shallowness of human nature. He started to see the ugly faces in the secular world, learned to remain calm and natural under others' strange gazes, and learned how to deal with the malicious words from people who were trying to bring him down. The originally clever him seemed to have grown up overnight.

  1993 was a nightmarish year for Tang Yu and the entire Tang family, if it were truly a nightmare, Tang Yu would rather not wake up from it.

  No one wants to go through that nightmare again.

  "Whatever, since I've been reborn, let's just treat the experiences of my entire family in my past life as a nightmare from last night. Now that I've woken up from the dream, how can I let the scenes from the nightmare continue to befall my family members? That damned heaven."

  As soon as he thought of his past life, his father's increasingly thin and frail figure, his mother's gradually aging face and rough hands, his second uncle's spiritual collapse after being released from prison, his aunt's hardship in raising children alone, and his third uncle's bittersweet experience of going abroad after graduating from Tsinghua University, all these made Tang Yu feel suffocated and uncomfortable in his heart, and his eyes gradually became moist with a hint of sadness.

  With both hands randomly rubbing the corners of her eyes, she came back to herself and only then noticed that a pair of beautiful big eyes in the front row were staring at her in surprise. Seeing her lift her head, they froze for a moment, hurriedly covering their small mouth with their hand without making a sound, but not turning around awkwardly either. They just stared blankly at Tang Yu's eyes with those beautiful big eyes, as if trying to see through some hidden meaning inside.

  Beauty, absolute beauty, this is Tang Yu's first impression.

  Two curved eyebrows that seem to be furrowed yet not, surrounded by wisps of smoke; a pair of eyes that seem to be joyful yet not, filled with emotions. It's probably this kind of woman being talked about.

  The slightly upturned collar revealed a half-exposed white neck, although it wasn't a low-cut top. Tang Yu's height was slightly above average, and from this angle, you could just see a glimpse of his surprisingly fair and plump skin, as well as the deep cleavage that seemed to be on the verge of bursting out of his clothes if he relaxed even a little. Witnessing such sensuality, Tang Yu's eyes lit up instantly; at this moment, he was no longer a naive 16-year-old boy, but a middle-aged uncle who had been tempered in the flower garden for many years.

  It was clear that the woman's intuition was extremely keen, and she seemed to have noticed Tang Yu's aggressive gaze. Yang Hanning hurriedly covered her collar with her hand, only then realizing that the other party was just a 15 or 16-year-old kid, what did he understand at this age? However, her face still showed some blush.

  She smoothed out the messy hair beside her ear, "Little brother's eyes just now were so melancholic, this isn't an expression that a child of his age should have. Can you tell big sister what's troubling you?"

  It was probably because she felt that it would take a long time to get off the bus, and she wanted to find someone to talk to in order to pass the time, so she approached Tang Yu. Or perhaps she was really attracted by Tang Yu's deep and melancholic eyes, which were still immersed in his thoughts. Or maybe she was just curious about this strange yet endearing boy with an unusual gaze. In any case, Yang Hanning started a conversation with Tang Yu.

  Her beauty and voice were captivating, the clear and melodious sound instantly plucked at Tang Yu's heartstrings, stirring up a certain corner that had not been disturbed for a long time. Without even looking around, Tang Yu knew that probably more than half of the male gazes on the bus were drawn to this side, perhaps even envying his own proximity to her.

  "Sister is so beautiful, but I'm not little brother!"

  He casually quipped a sentence, and it wasn't until then that Tang Yu began to notice the beautiful woman's face opposite him, his heart suddenly skipping a beat.

  "Is it her? How is it her, how can it be her?"

  Seeing the familiar yet unfamiliar face of the woman sitting opposite him, Tang Yu's mind was in a state of turmoil and he naturally didn't notice Yang Hanning's subsequent words.

  He knew her name was Yang Hanning. Moreover, what he knew was not just her name, but also the misfortunes of his own family in his previous life, which were actually closely related to her.

  In 1993, during the Su Mu Ru case, Tang Yu clearly remembered that it was she who provided the crucial evidence that led to the provincial discipline inspection commission's special task force formally convicting Su Mu Ru. In 1998, when Chen Songwei's tax evasion gang was cracked down on, as the then-girlfriend of Yin Kuangyu, the head of the taxation bureau, she also surfaced, and it naturally came to light that she had assisted Chen Songwei and others in fabricating evidence to frame Su Mu Ru.

  After the trial in 1998, Tang Yu had seen her in court, when she was already emaciated and looked abnormal, both physically and mentally, completely unrecognizable from the legendary beauty of Dongling. However, the innocent and guilty expression in her eyes made people who knew about her crimes couldn't help but feel a little pity for her.

  After more than a decade, seeing this face that could be said to have brought about the misfortune of his own family again, Tang Yu couldn't believe no matter what that someone with such eyes would be the venomous woman who had framed Su Mu Ru.

  Tang Yuning would rather believe that she had an unavoidable bitter intention.

  Thinking of this, Tang Yu couldn't help but laugh at himself, "Could it be that the reborn me still naively thinks that a woman with a beautiful appearance must have a beautiful soul?"

  He is ultimately a middle-aged uncle with a psychological age of over 30, or a person deeply poisoned by the beauty in front of him. It's really unnecessary to have any thoughts about such a person.

  However, thinking that such a stunning beauty might soon go to help the tyrant, it will inevitably leave people with an indelible sense of regret.

  Thinking of this, Tang Yu's mind was still a bit confused and he didn't have the intention to make small talk with the person in front of him. Having just realized that he had been reborn, he was now sitting on a bus with the culprit who had caused his death. With his thoughts in disarray, Tang Yu felt uncomfortable all over and decided to get off the bus.

  When he got up, he nodded to Yang Hanning, which was considered a greeting, but this was quite different from his usual courtesy in front of people.

  Perhaps even he himself understood that his thoughts were a bit disordered.

  Yang Hanning, sitting opposite Tang Yu, had a different feeling about him. At first, she thought there was a hint of masculine fervor in his eyes, but when she noticed his age, she felt she was being overly suspicious. Instead, she became curious about how someone of his age could have such deep and profound eyes.

  It's just that she didn't understand why the strange young man became "soulless" after seeing her face. Although she knew the lethal power of her looks on men, she had never seen anyone become like Tang Yu after seeing her.

  Afterwards, Ai Li was slightly annoyed with Tang Yu's indifference, but the young man seemed to be distracted, lost in thought, sometimes looking regretful and sometimes determined, it was quite strange. It wasn't until he nodded goodbye that she felt a little honored, and she couldn't help but laugh at herself, thinking that this great beauty had become so cheap, that a casual greeting from a young boy could make her feel so flattered, it was really ridiculous.

  It seems that Yang Hanning has also arrived at the destination, and he gets up to get off the bus. After walking a few steps, he sees Tang Yu awkwardly talking to the ticket seller about something.

  In 1993, most buses in Dongling City still had a dedicated ticket seller and no coin box. Tang Yu didn't realize until he got off the bus to buy a ticket that the steel ring he used to buy an ice pop should have been used for the bus fare, but unfortunately, he had already spent it. Unexpectedly, the first difficult thing he encountered after rebirth was not having enough money to buy a bus ticket.

  In this case, the "negotiation" with the ticket seller who has sharp teeth and a sharp mouth is undoubtedly a very unpleasant thing. Even Tang Yu, who felt that his face was already thick enough, was sprayed with saliva by the ticket-selling "auntie" and educated him fiercely, making him feel embarrassed and ashamed.

  Fortunately, his embarrassment didn't last long. A slender white hand from beside him handed over two banknotes, "I'll buy his ticket."

  Beautiful melody, as touching as just now.

  In the ticket-selling aunt's gaze, which treated him like a class enemy, Tang Yu somewhat awkwardly got off the bus with Yang Hanning, and only then did he have the chance to carefully take in this lovely person.

  Bashful eyes converge, crimson lips part in a smile.

  She was wearing a white T-shirt on top, and with Tang Yu's discerning eyes, it was clear that it wasn't anything high-end, definitely worth less than 100. This was somewhat unexpected, as someone in her position as Yin Kuangyu's girlfriend shouldn't be wearing such low-end clothes. On the bottom, she wore dark-colored tight-fitting pants that were slightly above the ankle, revealing a small section of pale skin.

  The straight thighs wrapped tightly under the tight pants, and the plump buttocks were gathered at the waist, making them more prominent and upright.

  Wearing a bit conservatively, of course, this is relative to the past decade or so, but the slightly exposed fair skin still attracts people's attention. Even Tang Yu, who has been scrutinized by countless eyes in later generations and is a master of flowers, couldn't see any flaws in this perfect work of art at first glance, to the point where he forgot to thank her for a moment.

  This unscrupulous gaze was apparently noticed by Yang Hanning, and it wasn't until he heard a slightly shy and coquettish voice that Tang Yu came to his senses, sighing inwardly that after all, it's the body of a young man, and in front of such a beauty, even an adult's mindset would be hard-pressed to hold back, let alone a young man in his impulsive years.

  "There's a hair on your sister's collar!" He pointed at Yang Hanning's collar and reached out his hand.

  For some reason, Yang Hanning didn't think of avoiding Tang Yu's outstretched fingers. Her white neck flushed with a hint of red when Tang Yu's fingers touched her, spreading from the base of her ears down to her collar, and under her clothes. Against the contrast of her pale skin, it looked especially striking. Yang Hanning even felt a slight electric shock.

  Seeing Tang Yu presenting the treasure-like long hair in front of his eyes, he couldn't help but feel a little amused.

  "My younger brother is very thoughtful, he won't repay his sister's kindness of sending charcoal in snow with such a thing, will he?"

  As she spoke, she suddenly opened her small bag and took out a piece of paper, writing something on it. "This is my sister's phone number, remember to thank her when you have time."

  It wasn't until she handed it to Tang Yu that she realized his eyes were fixed on the small package she had opened, and only then did she remember that inside was the pink underwear with cartoon tigers embroidered on it that she had just bought. She blushed with anger: "What are you looking at? You're still young..."

  Shoved the written note into Tang Yu's hand, hastily pulled up his backpack and thought to himself, "When was the last time I was so flustered in front of a 15 or 16 year old boy?"

  Hurriedly saying goodbye to Tang Yu, Yang Hanning walked towards her own home. It wasn't until she had walked a considerable distance that she suddenly remembered that she hadn't even asked for his name. She recalled that he had a student ID from Fengcheng Seventh Middle School on his chest, the same school she had attended years ago. Nowadays, junior high students could still make her flustered.

  She didn't know that Tang Yu was staring at the Motorola 3200, also known as a "brick", inside his bag, rather than the cartoon tiger underwear. This thing is not cheap in Dongling City, at least nearly 20,000 yuan, plus 5,000 yuan for the network fee. Such a luxurious item doesn't match with her clothes that are close to street vendor goods. Moreover, the per-minute fee of over one yuan is not something ordinary people can afford.

  She just left in the direction of Laojie, which is a notorious poor district in Fengcheng District. It's similar to a slum in Dongling City, where most residents are struggling to make ends meet. I myself once lived here for a while after my family was evicted from our house in the municipal government compound.

  People living here, if they don't spend nearly 20,000 yuan on a mobile phone, or even the 5,000 yuan registration fee, it's unlikely they can afford to use it, with per-minute charges of over one yuan, and have nothing to do with the people residing here.

  Tang Yu let out a faint sigh in his heart, and his eyes turned slightly cold.

  It seems that Yang Hanning has already been in contact with Chen Songwei and Yin Kuangyu at this time. Otherwise, as a 23- or 24-year-old young woman living in the old street of Fengcheng District, she wouldn't have had enough money to consume such luxury goods. This pager thing, Tang Yu only remembered that his second uncle had one before he went bankrupt, and it was something that his own family had never had before.

  As he watched Yang Hanning's lovely figure gradually disappear around the corner, Tang Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he quietly followed her.

  This side of the old street was originally called Lao Huai Tree Street, belonging to the Fengcheng District boundary, is the intersection of Fengcheng District and Chengguan District, grandfather not close grandmother not love, has always been a gathering place for poor people in two districts, because there is a six-person-hug Tang Huai tree at the street entrance. Later, everyone was tired of calling Lao Huai Tree Street troublesome, so they just called it Old Street.

  He bypassed Tang Huai and carefully walked forward for a considerable distance, seeing Yang Hanning turn into an alley and enter a dilapidated small courtyard. Tang Yu got closer, and faintly heard the quarreling voices of two girls, one of which seemed to be Yang Hanning, who had just "met" him, while the other voice was somewhat similar, but he didn't know who it was.

  Fortunately, Tang Yu's ability to chat with people was still good. The small and tender face of a young boy and the student ID on his chest were still very deceptive. Coupled with having lived in this area for a while before, he was quite familiar with the locals. A few sentences from Wang Dama and Zhang Dasao opened their mouths, and soon he got a lot of useful information from nearby.

  For example, that dilapidated courtyard was indeed Yang Hanning's home. In addition to her, there was also her father who had been dependent on each other since childhood, but recently seemed to be hospitalized, and another sister studying at Liaohe University in the provincial city.

  "Sister? Could it be that the voice I just heard arguing with Yang Hanning was hers? The sound of her voice does bear some resemblance to Yang Hanning's, so it's possible. But wasn't she supposed to be studying at Liaodong University in the provincial capital? It's not vacation time now, so why did she rush back to Dongling and argue with her sister?"

  Tang Yu didn't dare to linger around the area anymore, as people living in such places generally knew each other's backgrounds, and lingering for too long might arouse suspicion. Although he hadn't obtained any useful information, at least he now knew where Yang Hanning lived, and it seemed that she had already made contact with Chen Songwei or Yin Kuangyu.

  Taking a bus can bring such gains, it's already an unexpected delight.

  But somehow, every time I think of Yang Hanning's pure and bright eyes that are slightly shy, I just can't associate someone with such eyes with the phrase "heart as venomous as a snake or scorpion". It's always hard to believe that someone like this would do something so treacherous.

  Tang Yuning would rather believe that there was another hidden situation or something here.