Chapter 28 – Do You Regret It?
Chen Xing swallowed hard.
The two beams looked fairly wide, about thirty centimeters each—it should be stable to walk on.
But that didn't mean it would be easy.
People get scared. Chen Xing was scared too. Walking on those beams meant there was no railing, no protection—that kind of pressure was all mental.
It was like walking on cliffside trails: even with a one-meter-wide walkway, visitors still have to gear up with safety harnesses. Looking down halfway across would still make your legs weak. Same principle.
The driver hadn't left. He was waiting—waiting for Chen Xing to say he wanted to go back, or waiting to see if he'd cross.
He was just an ordinary guy too. If Chen Xing really fell, maybe he'd be able to help somehow.
Honestly, if the driver had left, Chen Xing probably wouldn't have hesitated to give up. But with someone watching, his pride as a young man kicked in—he couldn't say out loud that he was afraid. So, after taking a few deep breaths, he stepped onto the concrete beam.
It was steady. And there was no wind in the mountains.
The edge of a flowerbed is barely ten centimeters wide, and plenty of kids like walking along those. This was thirty centimeters—if you didn't think about the river underneath, it was no different from walking on flat ground.
Half a minute later, Chen Xing made it across. But his heart was still pounding wildly.
The driver across the river gave him a thumbs-up before driving away.
Chunman Shuizhai was a large village. As long as Chen Xing made it over, he was sure he'd find a place to stay by nightfall, so the driver clearly didn't expect him to return to town today.
Chen Xing stood on the opposite bank, catching his breath, looking down at the water—not fast-flowing, but hard to judge its depth.
I actually made it across?
He had the sudden urge to post about it on his social media. He even took a photo of the two narrow concrete beams. But just before tapping "Post," he canceled.
People living here had probably walked this path hundreds of times. He'd done it once, and with better-than-average strength. What was there to be proud of? Post it for his hundred-plus female contacts on WeChat just to be comforted?
He turned to leave—then heard a motorcycle engine again.
Don't tell me that guy came back?
Chen Xing looked toward the other bank. Thanks to the system's enhancements, his eyesight was excellent. But even so, in the forested mountains, no amount of sharp vision could see past a curve in the road.
Once the bike turned the bend, he finally saw them.
It wasn't the same man—it was another driver, with a passenger wearing a school uniform.
Chen Xing noticed the passenger was a middle-aged woman, not a student. She looked weary but had bright eyes, short hair, and glasses—she had the air of an educated woman from the Republican era.
She got off the bike and seemed just as afraid of the two concrete beams.
The driver didn't care whether she crossed or not. Seeing Chen Xing standing on the far side, he shouted loudly, "Hey, you over there—you coming back? Fifty to the nearby village, 150 to the county!"
"I just got here!"
Upon hearing that, the driver revved the engine and left.
Chen Xing scratched his head and looked at the woman who wanted to cross. He said, "Auntie, if you want to cross, just don't look down. Walk slowly and you'll be fine. That's how I just did it—it's pretty safe."
"Pretty safe"—as long as you didn't jump on purpose.
"Thank you," she said first. She tried to step forward but hesitated again. Then she looked at Chen Xing and asked, "The village is just ahead, right? You look like someone from the city. Visiting a friend?"
"Something like that. Auntie, are you trying to cross?"
"Yeah, I've got something to do in Chunman Village, but… cough, I'm a little scared. Pardon me."
She stepped forward again, and Chen Xing quickly said, "Wait!"
He carefully walked back across, then reached out his hand. "Let me help you across. It'll be safer with someone supporting you."
Once you break that psychological barrier and walk across once, it's no big deal. At least, Chen Xing was sure the bridge wouldn't shake. Plus, since the beams were square concrete, they weren't slippery.
"Thank you so much!"
The beams were only a few meters long—they crossed quickly.
The woman adjusted her bag and said, "Good thing I ran into you here. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known how to get across. I heard there's no other road in. If there were, I'd rather take a detour than walk across something this dangerous."
Chen Xing gave a goofy smile. "Auntie, are you heading to Chunman Shuizhai?"
"Yes. I'm Zhang Guimei, a teacher. I'm going there for a home visit. What about you?"
Hearing she was a teacher, Chen Xing straightened up out of respect. "Nice to meet you, Teacher. I'm Chen Xing, a photographer. I came here… to see if there's any good scenery to capture."
"Haha, pretty bold of you to come all the way out here for scenery. Cough… but fair enough. This village doesn't have much left—just some scenery that's not very useful." They walked along the path as they chatted. Suddenly she asked:
"You're still young, right? Already graduated from college?"
Chen Xing hesitated. Facing that teacher's gaze, he couldn't bring himself to lie. So he said honestly, "I'm still in school."
Teachers really had a suppressive power over him.
"Then why are you out here in September? Don't tell me you're skipping school?"
"No, no," Chen Xing quickly explained. "My school only runs for three years. The last two years we're sent out for internships. But I wasn't learning anything and it was exhausting, so I left the factory to try something I'm good at."
He framed his decision to leave the electronics factory as an alternate form of internship.
Zhang Guimei instantly understood what kind of school he came from. She sighed internally. But seeing the professional camera in his hands, she knew this kind of student—whether self-made or from a wealthy family—wasn't going to be stuck in the mountains forever. That reassured her.
Whether he bought the camera with money he earned through skill or with his family's support—it meant he had the freedom to choose his path.
"I understand—your kind of school." She instinctively reached out and ruffled Chen Xing's hair. "No matter what, it's brave of you to come out here to shoot. I won't judge you. But I hope you can document the poverty here. We really need more attention from society."
"I don't have much of a reputation yet, but I'll try my best."
"Trying your best is enough."
She was doing her best too—for the sake of helping people here escape poverty.
Chen Xing walked alongside her, holding her arm. Curiously, he asked, "Teacher Zhang, what subject do you teach?"
"I teach Chinese and politics. But I can't manage both anymore—I'm the principal now."
P-principal?
"Hello, Principal!"
"Hahaha, hello to you too. You didn't do well in school, did you?"
Chen Xing didn't want to talk about it—his truancy in junior high, internet cafes, fights… his grades spiraled so bad he couldn't even get into high school. Later, he did want to study, but couldn't catch up. Nothing the teachers said made any sense to him anymore.
Otherwise, he would've tried to retake the exams—he wasn't that old.
Zhang Guimei didn't push him. Looking at him with sympathy, she asked gently, "And now? Do you regret not studying hard back then? Do you regret not going to college?"
Chen Xing felt like crying.
How could he not?
(End of Chapter)