Chapter 21: The rebellious period

　　We need to find out how Pascal Lee went astray.

It all started with that evil cell phone.

Before he finished elementary school, Pascal Lee was not allowed to use a cell phone. It was locked away in the drawer of the nightstand.

Cherry Adams locked it away.

She sternly said, "You prepare well for the final exam, and I will give it back to you after you finish.

In early June, Pascal Lee finally finished the exam.

　　She added that the entrance examination results had not yet been announced.

In July, the list of outstanding students from No. 2 Middle School was released, and Pascal Lee's name was on it. With his loud cheer, Cherry Adams had no reason to stop him from playing with his phone.

　　Why didn't Cherry Adams want Pascal Lee to play with his phone?

The reason is that the glamorous world of the Internet is too attractive.

Cherry Adams herself was poisoned by the Internet. When she was young, smartphones were not yet developed, so if she wanted to go online, she had to go to an Internet cafe. There was an Internet cafe on Youyi Road, and she went there a lot and made a lot of bad friends.

　　At that time I didn't know that they were bad friends, I just felt that they were all students and we got along well, so we hung out and played games. Hanging out with these people, Cherry Adams didn't want to go to school anymore, and gradually, she didn't even want to go home.

Xie Xue didn't care because she thought this was a way to live.

Later, Li's father found out and made a special trip to Wuhan.

　　It was snowing heavily that day. He went to the entrance of the Internet cafe and asked someone to call out Cherry Adams. He did not choose an embarrassing way, but gave her full respect and dignity.

Cherry Adams had been playing a shooting game so intensely that when she came out, she saw her father in a trench coat, soaking wet from the snow.

"...Why did you come?"

Cherry Adams felt no guilt.

No one had taught her, and no one had cared about her.

Her father's eyes were filled with sadness.

　　"Why don't you study hard?" Li's father reached out and brushed the ashes that belonged to someone else from her shoulder.

Cherry Adams confronted him in the snow, her eyes going from confused to indifferent, saying, "No one cares if I study anyway.

"I care," Li's father said, "from now on, tell me every day how many pages you read, how many lessons you learn, and how many problems you solve."

　　Cherry Adams was surprised and the words came out of her mouth without thinking: "You don't care about your own child, but you come here to boss me around?"

Li's father repeated, "I am in charge of you.

After that, Cherry Adams rarely went to the Internet cafe.

Because of the words "I'm in charge of you" that fell with the snow in the middle of winter, Cherry Adams distanced herself from those people in her third year of junior high school. It was also because of those words that Cherry Adams was able to avoid not even getting into a regular high school.

　　At that time, she took many things for granted. Much later, Cherry Adams realized that it was Lee's father who saved her from falling into the abyss. She still cannot imagine how she would have survived in society if she had really degenerated in that environment.

Cherry Adams was not cut out to study, and Lee's father knew it, so he just asked her to work hard.

That was the only thing Cherry Adams wanted from Pascal Lee.

　　In fact, she would not be hard on him whether he passed or not.

Another year passed.

The family situation changed.

Jasper Lee started school, which meant he would be living at home full time, and it was not a good idea to have him sleeping on the floor all the time. Cherry Adams simply bought a student double bed with an upper and lower bunk. She moved the double bed to the side, creating a space that was neither spacious nor cramped.

"Fine," she said, "you can just sleep like this."

　　Pascal Lee whined, "Sis, I want to sleep with you."

Cherry Adams pointed at him menacingly, "The hell I'm sleeping with you! Don't you know how full you are?"

　　Pascal Lee is a sophomore in junior high school and has grown like a bamboo shoot. He is no longer the little doughnut who could barely reach Cherry Adams' breasts. Jasper Lee also successfully graduated from public junior high school. He took the high school entrance exam after only one year of study, and surprisingly, he got a high score.

Jasper Lee is just that capable.

He was admitted to the provincial key high school with tuition waived.

　　That year, Cherry Adams was a junior in college, and with no classes at school, she devoted herself to the driving school. For the past two years, everyone has been very successful, and everyone has made a lot of money.

Cherry Adams has to admit that she has been too busy.

As a result, she neglected Pascal Lee's education.

By the time Cherry Adams came to her senses, Pascal Lee had completely changed: he learned to dress like the trendy guys of the day.

　　Ripped white short-sleeved shirt, worn-out work jeans, and a military green cap on his head. A black mask hung halfway down his ear and swayed in the wind as he walked.

"What are you doing?" Cherry Adams was shocked. "You're going to a fashion show dressed like that?"

"It's trendy, you wouldn't understand," Pascal Lee said. "You'll understand when you're my age."

　　"I don't give a damn!" Cherry Adams laughed angrily, "What's the big deal? Hurry up and change!"

Pascal Lee didn't argue, but pushed the brim of his hat down under his eyes and walked out with his feet up. Where are you going?" Cherry Adams called after him, "It's almost dinnertime."

Pascal Lee took out a foil sheet, the contents of which had already been consumed: "Sister, I hope you never find out what this is for the rest of your life."

　　"Isn't this your favorite, Milk Chew Chew?"

Pascal Lee was exposed, his face instantly turning red. He snorted, turned around and walked away. Jasper Lee happened to come in from outside, carrying groceries in his hands, and was bumped for no reason.

"Pascal, where are you going?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

"To buy my medicine," Pascal Lee said without looking back.

"Are you sick?" Jasper Lee stopped him.

　　Pascal Lee clenched his teeth: "Chewing gum!"

"Hmph! You don't understand me at all!"

The siblings watch him in silence.

"What's up with your brother these days?" Cherry Adams is at a loss for words, "Why is he acting so weird?"

"He's been really into short videos lately..."

"He's ruining his brain!"

"Maybe Pascal is just going through a phase,"

　　"Why don't you do something to control him? Just let him play on his phone all day? You should take him with you when you go to study."

Jasper Lee, who lives with him day and night, also has less to hide: "I took him there once, but he said it was boring and he couldn't sit still.

"Sigh!" Cherry Adams said, "If only your brother were half as sensible as you!"

　　In the past, Jasper Lee would have defended his brother, but now there was nothing he could do. Since entering junior high school, Jasper Lee had become more individualistic and disobedient.

"Your brother is going through puberty," Cherry Adams commented.

Maybe so, Jasper Lee wasn't really sure, and he carried the groceries into the kitchen. Cherry Adams doesn't cook, so he does most of the cooking around the house.

Jasper Lee asked as he washed the ingredients:

　　"Will Pascal be back for dinner?"

"Of course, where else would he go if not here?" Cherry Adams said confidently, "You'll see.

Sure enough, within five minutes, Pascal Lee is back. He looks depressed, "Chewingum is sold out!

"Hahaha!" Cherry Adams gloats, "That's it, without your medicine you'll surely die!"

　　"You don't understand," he said. Just as cigarettes are your medicine, Chewy Chews are mine."

"And then?"

"You get depressed when you don't smoke, and I get depressed when I don't have Chewy Chews. And when you're depressed, you get depressed."

"You don't even know how to spell the word 'depressed'!"

"I know!" Pascal Lee said angrily. "I'm not a kid anymore! I'm in the seventh grade!"

　　"Listen to me," Cherry Adams said sternly. Your most important task right now is to uninstall that certain short video application and hand over your phone to me!

Pascal Lee immediately refused: "Why should I? This is my phone! I need it!"

"Come on," said Cherry Adams, undaunted. "Tell me, what do you need this phone for?"

"I..." Anyone with half an eye could see he was lying. "I'm afraid I can't contact you without a phone."

　　Cherry Adams gave him a cold stare, sighed, and put a hand to her forehead. "Pascal Lee, you're playing all the same games I used to play. You think I don't know what you're thinking? You sneak off to play during class, you play games with your classmates, you think you can hide it from me?"

Pascal Lee felt guilty: "I, I didn't play..."

"I have a healthy monitoring system here."

　　It turns out that my sister knows everything, so Pascal Lee had no choice but to hand over his phone. Then he remembered that he couldn't: "Sister, can I have it back this weekend?"

"We'll see how you behave. Eat first."

"Pascal Lee followed reluctantly.

It wasn't until he reached the table that Pascal Lee saw the box of Milka Chewy. He opened it with surprise and it was full.

　　"Sis! There's another unopened box here. When did you buy it? I can't remember."

"Nonsense! I went to the supermarket downstairs early this morning to buy it, or do you think there would still be any for sale at this hour?"

Pascal Lee laughed, put his arms around her from behind and kissed her on the cheek: "Sis! I love you!"

"Disgusting!" Cherry Adams wiped her face in disgust, "...by the way, have you grown taller again?"

　　"Have I?" Pascal Lee straightened his back smugly, like a soldier standing there.

"Yeah, I guess so," Cherry Adams tilted her head, "You're almost fourteen this year, you must be 1.75 meters tall, right?"

"My brother grew up faster," Pascal Lee said, "He's already 1.8 meters tall, like a telephone pole."

"That's right, your brother will be 18 next year."

　　"Sister, do you think I will grow taller than my brother?"

"Then you should drink more milk and chew more. Oh, no, that's your medicine, or you'll say I don't understand you again."

Jasper Lee couldn't hold back any longer and laughed, covering his face.

Pascal Lee was angry and said, "Stop joking. You don't understand me. I usually have a lot of pressure in school."

"Okay, okay," Cherry Adams didn't bother to argue with him.

　　It was then that she realized that her temper had improved a lot over the years. Maybe it was because she had been rubbed down by the two brothers, or maybe it was because people who are rich are kind to the world.

But Pascal Lee could not be kind.

The school days were so painful. There were no cell phones, no short videos, no games, only textbooks.

Every night, after the dormitory management turned off the lights, Pascal Lee would lie on the dormitory bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

　　It felt like small insects were crawling all over him.

Pascal Lee is not as sophisticated as Jasper Lee and is easily influenced by the people and things around him. In the past, he studied in a top private school where the management was strict from top to bottom, and the students were all elite children from the same class, so of course there was no chance of being corrupted.

But today, the environment in which he is growing up is not as good as it used to be.

Pascal Lee soon began to experience the common problems of today's middle school students.

　　Like his peers, he started acting cocky, wearing trendy clothes, and trying to look cool when girls walked by pretending to shoot hoops. He also became addicted to mobile games under the influence of his roommate, and the addiction was not small.

　　Pascal Lee's roommate is not in the same class or year as him. He is a senior from the previous year, and it is he who takes Pascal Lee to play games. The senior has many ideas. He has sold instant noodles in the boys' dormitory, passed around photos of an island country, and rented used smart phones.

It was a dark and stormy night.

Pascal Lee made a bold decision.

　　He said to his senior, "Brother, can I borrow a cell phone from you to play with? Don't worry, I usually hide it in the dormitory to play with, and it definitely won't be confiscated by the teacher.

The senior said to him, "My dear, we have all lived in the same dormitory for two years. How have I treated you? You are like my own younger brother, of course I can lend it to you!"

"But my dear, don't you want something more fun?"

Pascal Lee: "What could be more fun than a cell phone?"

　　"My family runs an Internet cafe, just down the street from the school."

And so Pascal Lee learned to climb walls and get online.