Fourteen, older brother
By Saturday, there were no more large-scale celebrations (there was no weekend at that time), and many students who had families or relatives in the city went home. The remaining students in the dormitory were all from other places. People made appointments to go out and play in twos and threes. Some went to other schools to find classmates or fellow townspeople, some strolled around the small shops near the side gate of the school, and others ran to the bustling commercial district in the city center to shop.
At that time, the business in C city was also developing rapidly, and fashion trends were synchronized with coastal areas. However, the popular clothes during this period were really unacceptable to Lin Fanghua, who thought they were outdated. For example, pants were popular with cropped carrot pants or fitness pants, tops were popular with high-waisted ones, and dresses were popular with short skirts paired with white tourist shoes. Although these fashion elements became popular again twenty years later, the details changed a lot, feeling completely different.
After witnessing the changes in fashion trends for over twenty years, Lin Fanghua had become indifferent to so-called fashionable trends. Because what's popular comes and goes, but the simplest and most classic things remain unchanged forever. Therefore, she currently likes simple and comfortable casual styles, which is also the most economical and practical choice for students.
Dresses, jeans, sportswear, these are her basic combinations. After it gets cold, add a sweater, and in winter, C city only needs one coat or down jacket, even down jackets are not necessary.
On this Saturday afternoon, Lin Fanghua was lying on the table in her empty dormitory, writing letters. In addition to her parents and classmates, she also wrote a letter to Jiang Pai Zhang. After all, Jiang Pai Zhang had been good to her, and even gave her an airplane model, which made her roommates envy her when she returned. Lin Fanghua also admired the military quality of Jiang Pai Zhang, and their last conversation was still unfinished. She thought that not long ago, the United States launched a war against Iraq in retaliation for its invasion of Kuwait under the authorization of the United Nations, which was a major event in the history of military warfare. The new weapons and tactics had deeply shocked China. Although China now recognizes the gap with the world's military powers, this recognition is not deep-seated, and there is still a strong superstition about the powerful and invincible army. Their understanding of foreign military forces probably came from the Falklands War eight years ago. But that war was only a local conflict, and its pattern was basically an extension of World War II, without much breakthrough. Lin Fanghua was not a qualified military enthusiast, but she knew that China had been closed for too long, and even after opening up to prioritize economic development, the military had made huge sacrifices, not only cutting one million troops, but also increasing military spending very little each year, and many military enterprises were also cut off, resulting in China's military technology and equipment falling far behind the West. It seemed that China had put away its swords and guns since the 1980s. However, it was probably the two wars at the beginning and end of the 1990s, the Gulf War and NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia, that truly made the Chinese aware of the gap. Probably after the embassy was bombed, the high-level officials re-recognized the importance of national defense, and only then did China's military modernization accelerate its progress. Lin Fanghua had an immature idea in her mind, she vaguely knew that Jiang Pai Zhang came from a military family, and she hoped to exchange views on politics and military affairs with him, perhaps influencing the army's thinking in some way. At least it would influence a promising young officer, or if not, just venting her frustrations when she had nothing better to do.
Just as Lin Fanghua was writing "entranced", there came a knock at the door: "Dong dong dong".
"Please come in, the door is not closed."
The door opened and a tall, handsome young man in sportswear was smiling at Lin Fanghua.
"Brother, how did you come!" Fang Hua excitedly rushed over and grabbed Lin Zhengyu's arm, shaking it.
"It's been a month since I saw you, I guess you've finished your military training and should be back at school now. I'm here to visit you on behalf of Mom and Dad! How are you doing? Are you used to it yet?" Lin Zhengyu said, still sizing up the narrow dormitory with four bunk beds and a desk that seemed cramped.
Lin Zhengyu was admitted to the city's sports university last year, majoring in physical education. It's quite unexpected that a child from a military-industrial family who has always emphasized science and engineering would end up studying this major. Lin Zhengyu's academic performance wasn't particularly outstanding, and based on his scores in multiple mock exams at school, it was uncertain whether he would be admitted to university. However, Lin Zhengyu's parents, who are not tall themselves, somehow raised a son who grew to be over 1 meter tall, and this child has been very active since young, excelling in various sports such as basketball, table tennis, badminton, and short-distance running. He was also the captain and main setter of the school's volleyball team and had led the team to win second place in a county-level competition, which would have earned him bonus points during the college entrance exams. As a result, Lin Zhengyu's class teacher and physical education teacher both suggested that he apply to a sports academy with early admission when filling out his university application form. Even if he couldn't get into a science and engineering university, the cultural score requirement for the sports academy was lower, so there was still a chance he could get in. The Lin family thought this would be like having double insurance, so they agreed to it. However, unexpectedly, Lin Zhengyu's scores turned out to be much better than expected, and he ended up meeting the requirements for both science and engineering universities as well as the sports academy. But the final outcome wasn't what the Lin family had envisioned. Because sports academies have early admission, the current admissions policy meant that the sports academy took away Lin Zhengyu's application file first, leaving him with no choice but to attend the sports academy or not attend university at all and repeat a year of high school instead. Not wanting to repeat a year, he naturally had only one path to take.
In short, due to Lin's parents' unfamiliarity with the enrollment policy and their lack of confidence in their son's abilities, Lin Fanghua's older brother ended up enrolling in a major that was not highly regarded by military personnel. To say that Lin Zhengyu was initially a bit frustrated is an understatement, as his grades were good enough to get into a top-tier university for science and engineering. As a result, he ended up studying a major that most people thought was useless and only served as a "hobby". It's impossible not to feel frustrated in such a situation. However, since the decision had already been made, Lin Zhengyu's athletic talent and passion for sports soon helped him accept reality. Moreover, the students at the physical education institute were mostly straightforward and chivalrous, which allowed him to make some unconventional friends who had a significant impact on his personality and behavior. In short, he has grown quite fond of studying at the physical education institute, but hasn't given much thought to what will happen after graduation.
It was Lin Fanghua, reborn, who thought about the future development for her brother. Originally, after graduating, Lin Zhengyu became a physical education teacher at a middle school, just like most of his classmates, and lived a relatively dull life. However, Lin Fanghua felt that the sports industry actually had great potential. Since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics became the first profitable sporting event, sports have accelerated their pace towards entertainment and commercialization. At this time, foreign professional sports industries were already well-developed, such as the top five European football leagues and the American NBA, which also had a large following in China. China only started its professional sports road with football a few years later, although more than ten years later, the Chinese football market was very unsuccessful, but it was extremely popular in the first few years. If Lin Zhengyu could enter the local sports committee or continue to study sports management and other related majors, he might be able to make a name for himself in the sports industry. However, Lin Fanghua felt that this matter was not urgent, and she would slowly influence her brother later, letting him have a better plan for his career.
It's been many days since they've seen each other, so the siblings naturally had a lot to talk about. Once they started chatting, they talked until it was almost time for dinner and still hadn't finished.
At this time, Wang Ju, Liao Shan, Huang Lixia and Sun Yanchun from the same dormitory came back one after another to prepare for dinner in the cafeteria. Then, Lin Zhengyu invited them to go to a small restaurant outside the school to have dinner together. Although it was just cheap snacks, Lin Zhengyu also left a good impression of being a warm and thoughtful brother on his dormitory sisters.
The next day was Sunday, and Lin Fanghua also ran to the sports academy to play for half a day. Lin Zhengyu took her around the campus, letting her get familiar with the roads, so that she could find him easily if something came up in the future. After wandering around the sports academy for a while, Lin Fanghua couldn't help but feel: The sports academy really has a lot of handsome guys and beautiful girls! And every single one of them has a healthy and fit physique, not like those weak and sickly pale faces. It's really a feast for the eyes!
At noon, I had lunch in the student cafeteria of the Physical Education Institute. All students of the Physical Education Institute have a subsidy from the state for athletes, and the standard of food in the cafeteria is also very high. Lin Zhengyu studied physical education and received a subsidy as a normal student, plus the living expenses given by his family, so he had much more pocket money than his sister. As an older brother, he generously offered to buy clothes for his sister. Just behind the Physical Education Institute, there was a street that sold sports equipment and athletic wear, especially fake Adidas and Umbro sportswear. Lin Fanghua spent half a day browsing around here and picked out two sets of fake Adidas and Umbro sportswear. Although they were selling fake brand names, the quality and style were almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and most importantly, they were much cheaper. Most students at the Physical Education Institute also bought their clothes here, and only a very small number of wealthy students would go to buy genuine products.
At night, Lin Zhengyu and his dormitory friend - Tibetan student Dawaciren accompanied Lin Fanghua to have dinner outside the Physical Education Institute. This Dawaciren was tall and dark-skinned with slightly curly hair, looking like a Tibetan compatriot, but he was actually a Han-Tibetan mixed-blood with a Han name called Zhou Qifeng. Because of his tall and sturdy build, yet being the youngest in the dormitory, he had been nicknamed "Little Fatty". Lin Fanghua felt embarrassed calling him by this nickname, and also wasn't used to calling him by his Tibetan name, so she just called him "Brother Zhou" in a proper manner. Little Fatty had the typical Tibetan male's generosity, passion, and romanticism. Lin Zhengyu privately told his sister that this Little Fatty had several "good sisters" both inside and outside the Physical Education Institute, as well as in several universities in City C, including two at Xihua University. However, Lin Zhengyu had already hinted to Little Fatty not to have any ideas about his sister, so at the dinner table, Lin Fanghua only felt that Brother Zhou was very talkative and humorous. It wasn't until later when she had more contact with him and his "friends" that she discovered Little Fatty was really quite a smooth talker, especially good at making girls happy. Lin Fanghua secretly smiled to herself, thinking it was strange that her brother, who was awkward and shy around girls, could become close friends with someone like Little Fatty, probably because they were complementary friends.
After dinner, Lin Zhengyu took his sister to the entrance of the female dormitory of Medical University on a bicycle and said goodbye. Lin Fanghua returned to her dormitory with a bag of new clothes in her left hand and a bag of fruit sent by Zhou Baozi in her right hand. Of course, the fruit was shared with her sisters that night, and she once again received everyone's envy for having such a thoughtful good brother.
(Evening Wind: For two consecutive nights, I brought students to experiment classes and returned home after 9 pm. There are also many daytime classes. So the update is slow, please forgive me, my friends! Also, this book has been signed, I think no matter what, I will continue writing it! So, please rest assured and collect!)