There Is a Boy in Beicheng

In the summer when I was sixteen years old, I stood on the rooftop of Yucai Middle School, looking at the crowd on the playground below, and thought to myself: This time, I can no longer be cowardly. I don't know what path this sentence will take me to. Later someone asked me: Lin Yuan, do you regret it? I thought about it for a long time. Do you regret meeting Shen Yu? The man who always wears a torn denim jacket, is sleepy and smiles like he hasn't woken up. He taught me how to fight, how to be a human being, and how to write the word "brother". Then he disappeared, leaving me a note: Don't look for me. Do you regret making friends with those brothers? Zhang Beichuan blocked the knife for me, Meng Chao sacrificed his life for me, and Xiao Li followed me for six years without saying a word. Their blood splashed on my face, making me so hot that I couldn't open my eyes. Do you regret meeting those four girls? An Xiaoxia is clean, Tao Tao is gentle, Zhou Ran is fiery, and Bai Qing is understanding. Each of them asked me the same question: Lin Yuan, when will you stop? I can't answer. Because I don't know. I chose this path myself. From the moment I threw that punch, I knew there was no going back. Later I often had a dream. In the dream, I was still sixteen years old, standing on that rooftop with a lively playground underneath, and Shen Yu standing next to me. He was holding a cigarette, squinting his eyes, looking into the distance, and suddenly asked me: "Lin Yuan, if you had it to do over again, would you still throw that punch?" I woke up, faced the dark roof, and whispered: "Wave."