Chapter 2 Knowing Oneself

  "Have you seen 'Camellia'?" Liu Yifei asked casually.

  "Ah!" Wang Ke suddenly became a bit flustered and stuffed the book into his backpack, dodging and evading as he said: "N-no... I just occasionally take a look."

  Liu Yifei smiled and said, "It seems that there won't be many people in our high school who read this kind of book?" In the 1994 high school era, reading world classics was indeed rare, so Liu Yifei said so.

  Wang Ke was even more nervous, stuttering: "Th-th-this book is n-nothing... it's just about a... a girl selling tea flowers, j-just like the little match girl."

  Liu Yifei couldn't help but smile, this lovely girl didn't even know how to lie, and her flustered expression gave everything away. With a faint smile, she said: "Marguerite's attire always included a bouquet of camellias, hence the name 'Camellia Girl'. It's a tragic yet admirable love story that truly leaves one with an unforgettable impression."

  "Have you seen it too?" Wang Ke's face was suddenly filled with surprise, she lifted her head to look at Liu Yifei, but immediately lowered it again, really a very shy and vulnerable little girl.

  Liu Yifei blinked, saying: "Heh, I think we're not looking at the same thing. What you're looking at is a little girl selling tea flowers." The action felt a bit forced, but it seemed more suitable for her age at that time.

  "Ugh." Wang Ke's face turned red as she said, "Reading miscellaneous books in school will get them confiscated."

  "How can this be called a miscellaneous book? If even world-renowned classics are considered miscellaneous books, then I'm afraid there won't be any readable books left. Moreover, reading such books is beneficial as it broadens your horizons and greatly helps with language learning."

  "Really?"

  "Of course it's true, whether a person has knowledge or not isn't just about looking at how many points they can get on an exam, that requires a comprehensive look. Ninety percent of high school top scorers are multi-talented, including literature, history, geography, computer and other aspects of knowledge all understood, if they haven't read books like 'Camellia Girl', it's probably called the biggest joke in the world."

  Wang Ke's eyes shone with excitement, and he said: "I've always felt a sense of guilt when reading books like this. I feel that it's wasting my study time, but at the same time, I really enjoy reading them. My heart has been struggling with this all along. Hearing you say this, I think I should read more... but... the content of these books..." At this point, Wang Ke's face suddenly flushed bright red, and he looked embarrassed beyond words.

  Liu Yifei smiled slightly and said, "No matter what book it is, the best writing must be reflected through the plot, otherwise it's just an essay or a poem. And what can most touch people's hearts is obviously the eternal and unchanging love. You're still young now, so you might feel a little embarrassed to read such books, but if you look at it from another angle, if you see how the author, Little Maupassant, has portrayed this love to the extreme, then there's no problem at all."

  Wang Ke didn't answer, he lowered his head and fell into deep thought for a moment. When he lifted his head again, there was a relaxed smile on his face as he said, "Thank you, you've made my heart feel much lighter."

  Liu Yifei smiled and said, "Reading such world classics can't hurt. But studying shouldn't be neglected either, after all, taking the college entrance exam is still a necessary path for most students, and diplomas are still quite important ten or twenty years later."

  "What you said is something I've never thought of before, you must have read a lot of books?"

  "It's not that many, I've read Camellia Girl, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, these are all classic romantic novels, such books have much more depth than those sentimental writings of Qiong Yao, maybe the first time you read it, you'll feel a bit struggling, but when you read it for the second and third time, you'll be deeply fascinated, you'll be happy for the happiness of the protagonists in the book, and shed tears for their sorrow, that feeling is absolutely incomparable to ordinary fast food."

  "What's fast food?" Wang Ke looked at Liu Yifei in confusion.

  Liu Yifei suddenly remembered that fast food was a general term for online literature in the future, and vaguely explained: "It's just like eating fast food, once you've eaten it, there's no aftertaste. It's like the martial arts novels that boys often like to read, but even among those, there are classics, like Jin Yong's works, which will still be enjoyable decades later."

  "My god, how many have you actually read? How much time did it take? I really don't know how you managed to read them all." Wang Ke's eyes were filled with a strong sense of admiration at this moment.

  "It's not that much, just a little time to take a look." This made Liu Yifei secretly sweat, with an additional 17 or 18 years of age, if he didn't even know this, it would be truly too embarrassing. However, being able to make such a pure and lovely girl admire him, how could he now feel like a despicable old man luring a little girl to watch goldfish together? Except his reason wasn't watching goldfish, but rather a more dignified discussion of literature.

  But now there are many things to ask Wang Ke, and it's okay to be a salty uncle for a while. The most important thing is that I'm currently 17 years old in the second year of high school, and my sense of guilt has suddenly decreased a lot.

  "Hmm... after saying so much, our bikes are still lying on the ground." Liu Yifei smiled and went over to pick up Wang Ke's light blue inclined beam bicycle first, changing the subject.

  Wang Ke smiled shyly, pushed his bicycle, and put his schoolbag and books into the bike frame. He stood there waiting for Liu Yifei, apparently not intending to part with him immediately, which was exactly what Liu Yifei wished.

  Liu Yifei also helped pick up the bike, putting his backpack and other things into the frame, saying: "Let's go." He said this for two reasons: one was that he didn't know whether they should be going to school or heading home now, and the other was that he wanted to chat with Wang Ke some more and get a better sense of what was going on.

  "Hmm." Wang Ke nodded, and a flush rose to her delicate face once again. But when she pushed the cart, it let out a strange creaking sound, and the wheel had actually become misshapen. Although it could still move when pushed, it was clearly impossible to ride.

  "It's okay, no big deal. We can find a place to fix the bike later. It's all my fault for not paying attention while riding." But in his heart, he was secretly delighted that they could walk together and chat more.

  Wang Ke's eyes revealed a hint of resentment, obviously Liu Yifei was completely right, it was him who made Wang Ke like this.

  New book uploaded, everyone help me out and give it a boost