Rising: Ten Thousand Years Chapter 3

TN: I apologize not having posted chapters for days. Was out on a camping + hiking trip for well over a week. No excuses I know but… I had no access to a laptop.

Li Zhen opened his copper colored eyes. His frail heart fluctuated eccentrically as if a pendulum. “Why is it just a dream?” Li Zhen muttered. He breathed deeply, rolled to the side, and lashed his fist onto the sand.

“What is your name…?”

Li Zhen dragged his hand on his left breastbone and tugged on his garment firmly.He could feel his chest constricting, heart torn and ripped apart.

“What is this feeling…?”

The time they’ve spent together remained short and abrupt, always ending without proper farewells and goodbyes. Within a short year, Li Zhen had grown used to her presence and enjoyed having her around.

In this gloomy, somber and quiet world of his, when darkness shrouded him, Li Zhen had her as a light to lean on, to turn to when times were rough.

She was like sunshine who warmed his soul until it burned him.

She was like moonlight who showered him in a full glow.

She opened worlds of galaxies for him, opened and enriched his mind.

She was inside his mind, smothering his thoughts, and indulging in his dreams.

She was inside his heart, running wild through his blood vessels, dancing within his ventricles, showering him with her presence.

She was everywhere.

She wasn’t everywhere.

He didn’t know it yet, but deep within the chambers of his heart, a love of some sort was brewing.

Although this was only a mere dream, it truly felt realistic as ifs a doorway connecting to the other side, an alternate reality offering a glimpse of a world unlike his.

What is your name…? Why is it just dream…? Why is it like this…?

No… next time. Next time I will ask. I’ll write it down so I won’t forget.

Zhi sat in her queen sized mattress, jet black hair concealing her visage. Moisture hugged the two pairs of chocolate almond eyes. Pieces of her are lying scattered across the floor.

“Why must it only be a dream?” Zhi sighed. “Why must it be like this?”

What is your name…?

There was a boy with a warm soul whose eyes shined like galaxies lost in a cold world.

There was a boy who killed her every dawn and every twilight, he revived her.

He was a precious being coming out of the ashes of nowhere looking so frail and naive.

She didn’t know it, but she started a fire in his soul and one day, he would burn as bright as the sun, one day he would become a fire that others could never put out.

“Will we ever meet?” She whispered.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Yes?”

“You’re late! Go to school!”

“I know Dad. I’m almost ready.” Zhi replied and quickly wiped her tears dry with the hem of her clothing. She got out of bed and began to prep for the day.

What is your name…? Why is it just dream…? Why is it like this…?

No… next time. Next time I will ask. I’ll write it down so I won’t forget.

Hangzhou City, Hangcheng High.

The first blush of daylight arrived and the sun shone brightly as it mounted the empyrean. The school bell rang, signalling the beginning of cla.s.s.

Within the cla.s.sroom, the mood was tense and brimmed with students put under strenuous mental pressure over the university entrance examination which is set to begin in less than ten days.

I must get in.

Must not fail.

I need to get in.

Make my family proud.

I have to get in.

Must bring honor.

I cannot fail.

These are but one of the many thoughts the students are burdened with.

The entrance examination has become their top priority.

The common people belonging to the lowest of the socioeconomic cla.s.s like Li Zhen are in a predicament vexed over their financial troubles. Somehow those students would need to manage ways to sc.r.a.p money for the entrance fee as soon as possible.

And there are others with the financial backing and instead loaded with the stress of pa.s.sing the entrance examination to bring honor to their family.

The Kyushu Empire is a hereditary monarch based sovereign power and resources are consolidated by the Royal Family or controlled by the hands of a small number of individuals that could be counted with your fingers.

There is nothing more precious in this world than resources. He who commands such great wealth will have the ability to centralize power and dominate every aspect of life.

For the common people to enjoy the benefits of the empire’s resources which they lack, one needs to have the qualification to pa.s.s the entrance examination: money and brains. After all, the Royal Family and the powerful individuals attaches itself to the University and places great importance towards it.

By pa.s.sing the entrance examination and becoming a genius with great talent worthy of praise and able to contribute to the empire could you be taken care of without worries for the rest of your life.

Ans so the only hopes of the common people to move up the socioeconomic ranking coincides with the entrance examination.Corruption is prevalent in this society and too often moving up the socioeconomic cla.s.s would require an onerous feat and making some sort of herculean sacrifice.

Wealth inequality is vast.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The common people don’t lack the character, nor the ambition, nor the pa.s.sion, nor the mindset to succeed like Li Zhen. The only problem is the lack of money, of financial backing, of education, of directional guide, and the opportunity and such continue the ongoing cycle of poverty.

The only road to succeed and become someone, the only way to make it without troubles is to have a financial backing or have the capabilities to enter the University.

Qiantang Valley.

Li Zhen is walking in the valley of filth.

It is a depressing place.

An emotional dump of destroyed dreams.

Those scurrying to find sc.r.a.ps of wastes in this valley of filth are the kind who cannot afford to dream or even think about dreaming. They must live day to day.

But Li Zhen is different.

He dreams day to day.

“Why you not in school?” The boss inquired.

“Today’s cla.s.s was boring. Basic math. It’s better I earn some money.” Li Zhen handed the sc.r.a.ps collected earlier from the never-ending sea of filth in exchange for currency.

“Haha, you not getting cold feet are ya? Feel threatened by the entrance examination?”

“No.” Li Zhen gave a soft smile and walked back to the valley of filth.

Hours pa.s.sed and noon came. The temperature was searing hot.

Li Zhen had grown exhausted and famished from the day’s work. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday, almost to the point of pa.s.sing out under the sinister sun and unwilling to spend the money he’d saved from his laborious work. Instead he searched high and low in the body of filth for something to fill his appet.i.te.

Thereafter he took shelter under a colossal boulder.