a magical yet cursed power. Whenever it’s mentioned, it signifies the melancholic end of an era, as we lose our sharp edges, suppress our desires, and blur our dreams. When this term is used to celebr...Chapter Ten: You Are Not a Dream

Xin Can woke up early, as the sun shone brightly through the window. It was rare for him to sleep until nine or ten in the morning like this. The first half of his freshman year had come to an end, and Su Cen's grasp on pre-study material was sufficient to handle the second semester. His studies in physics, history, math, and English even extended into the content for the first half of sophomore year.

The books he borrowed were from a senior student three grades ahead who had already graduated; his surname is Zhao, an engineer retired from their unit. The man's late-life son attends university elsewhere. When Su Cen came to borrow books, the other party wasn't too pleased and even made a phone call to confirm with his son before reluctantly agreeing.

Mr. Zhao had always been quite snobbish; his wife is a teacher at a middle school. So he considers himself part of an intellectual family, and his son was among the top students in their unit during high school. He graduated from Erzhong and went on to attend a key university in the western region, so he felt rather proud about it. As such, he always looked down upon the children of other employees.

He is particularly disdainful towards Xue Yiyang's family for using connections and money to get him into No. 1 High School. Back then, his own son had wanted to apply there but only scored a few points below the admission line, and their family couldn't afford the fees either. So they let their son go in with a scholarship to Erzhong instead. Although this seemed fair on the surface, inwardly he felt resentful about it.

He knew that his son dreamed of attending No. 1 High School but could only settle for Erzhong to avoid causing trouble for his parents.

In Mr. Zhao's view, their unit was bound to fail sooner or later, and the second generation employees—Su Cen, Xue Yiyang, Liu Rui, etc.—were all just idle youths with uncertain prospects of getting into good universities, let alone doing better than his son.

Therefore, he acted somewhat disdainfully towards them.

If not for Su Licheng's status in the unit and personally inviting him to participate in the construction of Star Sea Square, Mr. Zhao would probably have found excuses to decline it. He agreed to lend the books but repeatedly warned Su Cen to take good care of them. It was surprising that Su Cen, who had never been a top student, would come borrowing books from their family, so he casually asked, "Don't damage my books, and return them when you're done. My niece also wants to borrow them!"

"I will definitely take good care of them."

"Oh, Su Cen, aren't you still studying at No. 3 High School"

"No, I'm in No. 1 High School." Although everyone in his father's office knew about Su Cen being admitted into No. 1 High School, such information was not widely circulated among retired employees like Mr. Zhao.

"No. 1 High School Which one" Mr. Zhao casually flipped through a copy of "Civil Engineering—Reinforced Concrete" published in the '80s and looked up from his book to ask.

"The city's No. 1 High School."

"Oh." Right, how much did you pay And what score did you get"

"It seems like I didn't have to pay anything. I've organized my books, so I'll take off now, goodbye Uncle."

The Chief Engineer Zhao stood there in a daze for quite some time, unable to connect the Su Cen he saw today with the little kid who used to run around playing wildly on their courtyard. "Oh, oh, alright... By the way, Su Cen, what’s your dad and his team currently working on"

"The Xinghai Square construction project." replied Su Cen with a smile as he turned back.

"Oh, okay. I'll give him a call later then." Chief Engineer Zhao had been repeatedly invited by Su Licheng to come out of retirement and lend his expertise multiple times; however, each time he declined due to his prideful nature and the belief that there was little hope for this construction company’s future development. Was it really necessary for him to help them

When a person is in a certain state or when two conflicting thoughts are clashing within one's mind, they often end up struggling with themselves. At such times, even the slightest nudge can significantly influence their actions and choices.

In the beginning, he had underestimated Su Licheng and thought that after Zhao Chengrong was dismissed from his position, there were no suitable candidates left to take over at the Engineering Bureau, hence they promoted Su Licheng. Now they were forcefully intervening in municipal construction despite their company's thin base of operations; such an inexperienced person as Su Licheng leading it could cause problems and conflicts with the city government, which would tarnish his reputation that took a lifetime to build. Therefore, he did not trust the engineering bureau where he had worked all his life or younger people like Su Licheng who were beneath him in seniority, hence hesitating to lend them a hand.

However, this perception of Su Licheng was changed by what happened with Su Cen. He thought that today's Su Xiaocan showed no traces whatsoever of his wild past, spoke politely and had made rapid progress academically in such short time; it seemed impossible to separate the results from the influence of family education. It appeared that Su Licheng wasn't as bad as he imagined. Coupled with the recent actions taken by the company, what was once seen as reckless and self-aggrandizing behavior now looked like boldness and a willingness to take risks, bringing much-needed vitality into an otherwise stagnant organization.

For Su Licheng, it was unexpected that Old Zhao, who had refused his earnest invitation before, would now volunteer to join the Xinghai Square construction team.

The engineers from Da Xiao Construction were struggling with designing a uniquely characteristic version of the Xinghai Square project for Xia Hai City;遲遲拿不出方案，眼看基礎建設工期在縮短，主體框架規劃流程的當兒，卻一直冇有答案。

蘇理成就想到了老趙，要是論工程藍圖規劃小設計，在老建築工程四處裡麵，還真冇人搞得過這個老趙，結果他就是不肯出山。

The engineers from the provincial office were at a loss, their heads high despite their years of training and experience. Upon seeing Old Zhao's proposal, they all pointed at each other in admiration, feeling that even after years of study, their design skills still couldn't match those of an experienced engineer.

Old Zhao was quite elated by this development; since his retirement, he felt like he had grown old and irrelevant. Now he could contribute to the city's future through his expertise, creating a landmark that would stand out for decades to come. Driven by this sense of purpose, even cigarettes handed to him by others were smoked more frequently.

Though Su Licheng was puzzled as to why Old Zhao changed his mind, during the year-long repair and construction project at Xinghai Square, the Engineering Bureau definitely gained another card in their deck. Seeing his father, who had been under immense pressure before, now shouldering less of a burden, Su Cen vaguely suspected that it might have something to do with him indirectly bringing Old Zhao onboard. However, upon reflection, he shook his head; perhaps what mattered most was the talent and determination displayed by Su Licheng and his team in tackling major projects.

Awoke at 9:40, Su Cen remembered it was the day to collect the notice. After washing up and getting dressed in a casual shirt, he went out to catch the bus. On board the No. 8 bus, he spotted Lin Luoran sitting in the back.

Both of them were momentarily stunned before Su Cen walked over to her side and stood holding onto the handrail since there was no seat available for him. Lin Luoran sat alone at a single seat while many male students around cast glances at her, causing even more looks when Su Cen stood beside her.

"Where's your brother" Greeted with a wave of his hand, Su Cen asked.

Wearing a white blouse and long pants, the sunlight through the window made it seem as though a layer of light was draped over her fluffy clothes. As she turned to gaze outside from the bus window, there seemed to be nothing that could affect her calm expression. To think that even in collecting school notices for her brother still sleeping naked at the hotel, she would have to take two buses to town; it wasn't hard to see how frustrated she was.

And now coincidentally, she encountered Su Cen on the No. 8 bus, hence Lin Luoran's slight frustration paused and the sunlit Su Cen appeared somewhat different.

Seeing that Lin Luoran still rode the bus, it dawned upon Su Cen that kids like them didn't carry bodyguards around nor had chauffeurs taking them everywhere; they led a normal life. But this was only temporary. Yet even for such a brief period of time, he felt that their distance wasn’t insurmountable.

At this moment, two empty seats were available nearby and Su Cen pointed to it: "Shall we move there"

The faces of the surrounding middle school students looked strange. In this era, even standing beside girls was too embarrassing; how much more so sharing a seat with them Besides, she was a beauty who didn't seem familiar with him!

Su Cen neglected the fact that in another world, colleagues on buses would fight over seats and women could be as close to men as brothers, sharing everything including bedroom stories. Therefore, Su Cen had no second thoughts about it.

Lin Luoran was slightly stunned. Did he not see or truly ignore others' strange expressions At a loss what else to do, she reluctantly nodded with a slight resentment towards him.

Sitting beside each other, Su Cen smiled and opened the conversation: "Did you go out for fun" I thought both of you wouldn't be able to stay in one place."

“Wei Wei went to Shanghai; my family might connect with another school for him. As for my brother, even if you strike a gong beside him, he still won’t wake up.”

Leaning by the window and resting her hand on the frame, her long black hair cascaded down gently onto her fingers, arm, and blouse.

Her gaze was slightly aloof: "And me I don't want to go anywhere. Sometimes I think it's not so bad staying here."

Wang Weiwei is contacting other schools, and he might move again Su Can was taken aback for a moment but then felt relieved. For Wang Weiwei, it would be hard to distinguish the concept of hometown; it wasn't about a specific place, but rather a province or country. He travels to many places but stays in few, and perhaps one day, he will leave the country and go abroad, admiring the towers and clock towers at Oxford and Cambridge, maybe even missing the overhanging eaves and purlins back home. But Su Can from the future had no connection with them, so he didn't know their life trajectories.

“On the contrary, my brother is quite規矩here; he doesn’t skip classes or arrive late, but falls asleep as soon as class starts. He even sleeps during vacations like clockwork! I can barely control myself from strangling him.” Ling Ge Ran curled his fingers in mid-air, only to realize that this action was somewhat inconsistent with his usual image, so he stuck out his tongue. This drew envious glances from a few boys around him.

Although they say this, Ling Luoran, Lin Zhouwu, and Wang Weiwei are not different from each other.

Ling Zhouwu could indulge in daydreams non-stop in this sleepy little city, but these dreams would eventually come to an end. In the eyes of people like Ling Ge Ran, coming to Xiahai City was merely a momentary dream brought on by sudden inspiration.

They were captivated by games and met高手along the way; they chose to come here when they had free time at their disposal. If not for Su Can’s intervention, they might still be living in their own cities, enjoying an incredibly comfortable life.

In their eyes, coming to Xiahai City was about experiencing the peace and ordinariness of this sunny little city and perhaps the excitement that might arise from it. Regardless of what happens, they are merely spectators. In this sun-drenched city, these ordinary people are struggling hard with a heart full of ideals不甘於平凡, striving to leave the city despite being battered and bruised, all for the sake of achieving success.

After ten years, when those who fought together reunite, who can still smile victoriously at this life

Su Can felt a sense of loss thinking that Lin Luoran doesn’t truly belong here or to ordinary people’s ordinariness. He couldn't deny the girl's impact on him, so Su Can asked emotionally, “Is this just a dream for you”

“Huh” Ling Luoran was taken aback.

This question seemed out of context, so Su Can didn’t expect an answer from Lin Luoran.

The car stopped at the slope platform of City No.1 High School. Ling Luoran gracefully stepped down and gave a gentle smile to Su Can who followed her down. Sunlight slanted behind her; she lifted her fair hand, her fingers cupping a beam of light dancing with white fluff. “I don’t know if all this is a dream, but you’re not just a dream for me.”

I've been diligently typing until now. Who says grilled fish isn't diligent

My eyes are blurry; I need to rest now, brothers, please support with monthly votes. wooden bridge, waving goodbye to Su Cen. Her pink sports shirt and short pants froze her entire figure amidst the slanting light filtering through the trees, like an oil painting.On the other side of...