Rebel Son - A Boy's Coming-of-Age Story

Author: Mu Ling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This is a story of a little middle school student fighting against the company's corrupters. During a tracking investigation of his father, he accidentally discovers the truth behind his father's company's bankruptcy. To fight against the corrupters, he ends up estranged from his mother and isolated by everyone. What will happen to him?
Middle school student Ning Duyu is worried about his parents' divorce and family breakdown, so he secretly tracks his father. To escape the pain in his heart, he goes on a trip and witnesses the difficult situation of the laid-off workers from the company, which strengthens his resolve to fight against the "corrupters." He exposes his father's crimes and assists relevant departments in uncovering a nest of "corrupters," but as a result, he becomes estranged from his mother and isolated by everyone. Eventually, Ning Duyu finds a happy new home with a group of "reemployed" entrepreneurs.
According to Zhou Xiaoou, my only outstanding flaw can be summarized in eight words—"heartless and liverless, blindly optimistic." She says that when the whole class's brains are upgrading and everyone is immersed in the troubles brought by rapid growth, a tall, foolish boy like me slipping through the cracks is definitely a bad omen. This means that guy's development has stagnated, he's childish, and he's most likely intellectually impaired. I take Zhou Xiaoou's vicious attacks on me as a praise poem because I am good at turning all potential sources of trouble into positive and joyful aspects. I've been like this since I was a child, which is truly a rare talent.
During the school choir competition rehearsals, the boys in our class sang the famous theme song "The Handsome Young Man" sorrowfully, but I alone, even when singing the line "But one day, a storm broke out, worries and troubles all came," still had a radiant smile on my face. The cultural committee member scolded me many times, but it didn't change, so they had to kick me out of the choir. I didn't care. I went to play the electronic piano for them, using a cheerful rhythm to guide the boys' singing, and finished the whole song in half the time. In the end, we didn't even win third place.
Zhou Xiaoou made her strange remarks about me right after the awards ceremony. She expected to anger me, but she didn't expect her hammer to fall on a pile of cotton. There are always a few guys in the class who look downcast because of poor exam scores. I told them, "Why bother torturing yourself? Just passing is enough!" "Passing" means we've completed our learning tasks and met the standard of a qualified product. I said I have a happiness principle: as long as all subjects are above passing grade, I'll never be sad and miserable. The guys said this guy is just teasing us like a cat playing with mice! Who doesn't know that he scores 80s or 90s in every subject? Come on, catch him, and force him to reveal some exam-taking secrets!
As I dodged and ran, I said, "I'm only sharing advanced experiences and truths! No burdens, no worries, and learning can enter a virtuous cycle." Believe it or not, ask Einstein! Except for Liu the nearsighted glasses, no one in the class took my words seriously. Liu, who has severe nearsightedness, used to also follow the "happiness first" philosophy. To avoid adding to his troubles, he was so patient with others that he would swallow his anger. Whenever he had free time, he would play music, draw, paint, play ball, or do anything to find joy. But he still wasn't happy.
Every time after an exam, he would strike a "thinker's pose" and look gloomy. After some deep contemplation one time, he found me and said seriously that he had figured out the secret to happiness from me. To reach true happiness, one must cut off all sources of unhappiness. For a middle school student, that source is naturally related to studies. All the troubles of middle school students, when traced back, aren't they all from poor grades? If your grades are good, teachers will favor you, classmates will admire you, and no one at home will nag or complain. Only then can you fully meet the external conditions for happiness and allow your mindset to enter a smooth virtuous cycle, right?
From then on, Liu became one of the guys closest to me. Actually, Liu was only half right. At least in my family, even if my grades were good, my mom would still nag. She couldn't wait to