Chapter 2: The Tempest

After my grandfather returned to the West, my ambition to be a good "yin and yang" when I was a child also died, and the third uncle asked the Zhang family not to do the "yin and yang" business from now on, so my father repeatedly told me to study hard and learn from the third uncle's son Zhang Fuhong.

I kept my mouth shut about the little flag I got at my grandfather's grave, and I never told anyone in my family, because it was the only thing left of my grandfather's life. My grandfather loved me the most when he was alive, I saw things and thought about people, and I had a sustenance when I kept a small flag to remember my grandfather.

When I returned to the school in the provincial capital, I made up my mind to study hard, and I planned to ask my cousin Zhang Fuhong to tutor me with my homework, but as soon as this kid saw me at school, it was as if he didn't know me, which made me very embarrassed several times, and the classmates didn't even know that we were cousins.

My class is the first and second class of high school, and the head teacher is a young man who has just graduated from college, and I have only occasionally seen his figure around the young female teacher in the school, and the rest of the time I either didn't pay attention to it when I slept in class, or I didn't know where he went. The class teacher seldom asked about the learning situation of the students in the class, and I heard from the students that he was the son of the principal of my high school.

In desperation, I only listened to the teacher's lectures in class by myself, and I didn't sleep or skip classes anymore. Every time I go to class, I take out a small flag and hold it in my hand, as if my grandfather is supervising me. Just like that, for a whole year, by the end of the first year of high school, my grades have improved significantly, from the first to the bottom of the age to the tenth from the bottom, this is in the key middle school, I am used to the joy of learning to solve problems, and I am also used to always holding this small flag in my left hand.

Because I am a very poor student, I have few friends in the class, and my classmates don't care much about me, and I can't disturb my cousin Zhang Fuhong's study when I return to my third uncle's house after school in the evening. Therefore, when I have any troubles, I will tell the little flag, this little flag, I have regarded it as my best friend, I even sleep with the flag pressed under the pillow, it can be said that it is inseparable.

During the summer vacation of my freshman year of high school, in late July 1998, a few days after I returned to my hometown of Jiusizhang, the entire television news reported that major rivers such as the Yangtze River, the Songhua River, the Pearl River, and the Minjiang River had been flooded, and that the water levels of the Yangtze River, Poyang Lake, Ganjiang, Fuhe, Xinjiang, Raohe, and Xiuhe rivers had all exceeded history, and that the most serious flood disaster of this century had taken shape. In addition, the upper reaches of the Yellow River are also about to face heavy rains.

After a few more days, dark clouds pressed into the entire sky above Jiusizhang, and the black pressure was very scary.

In those days, I always felt that the little flag in my arms seemed to be very excited, like a hungry wolf discovering a delicacy, and seeing the change of weather, I suddenly thought of the flagpole in the center of Jiusizhang. In the dark, I was almost certain that the little flag in my hand was the one that had been hung on a birch pole before the thunder and rain.

At that time, I thought it was funny, and said to the flag: "What are you in a hurry, you don't have that birch pole now, and I can't hang you there." After saying that, I sighed, and after a while, the little flag seemed to understand what I meant, I don't know if it was my delusion, the little flag shook a few times.

A few days later, the storm finally came, and for several days it was mixed with hailstones the size of thumbs, and all the crops in the fields were in shambles, and the old people sighed: "If only the flag that protected Jiusi was still there!"

I listened to it in my ears, thoughtfully, that night, the thunderstorm was still there, I put on a raincoat and quietly walked to the birch stake in the center of the ninety-four zhang, thinking that I would put a small flag on the birch stake to try what the effect was, before I could act, a thunderbolt pierced the night sky and hit the birch stake directly, and the entire birch stake was split in half by lightning and burned.

At this moment, there was a roar that seemed to be a wild beast in the sky above Jiusizhang, and the people of Jiusizhang were all alarmed, shouting that it was a dragon roaring, and some people who lived near the center of Jiusizhang found the burning of the birch stake, but on such a rainy day, no one cared about the fire, let alone found me standing next to the burning birch stake.

When the roar came, the little flag suddenly broke away from my palm and flew into the air, and I stood there stupidly, looking up at the sky at a loss.

The white lightning path chain cracked the night, and the bean-sized raindrops hit my face with a faint pain, I have never seen such a terrible rainstorm when I grow so big.

The small flag swished like a fireworks rising to the sky, glowing red to meet the lightning in the sky. Lightning flashed across the sky, and from a distance, one after the other, they slashed towards the small flags.

I couldn't see how high the flag was flying, but I could clearly feel its position in my mind. It seems that the little flag is like my other hand. Now, this hand is about to face a thunderbolt, and I am surprisingly not worried at all, but very excited.

"Come on, lightning!

I took off the rain hat I was wearing on my head, and in the heavy rain, I looked up to the sky and shouted,

At that time, my head didn't know what I was thinking, and the voice I shouted out seemed to be a small flag, and it seemed to be mine, anyway, at that moment, my blood was almost boiling, I didn't care about everything, I was passionate, I looked up to the sky and opened my arms, and my mind was closely linked to the small flag in the air, waiting for the baptism of lightning.

At that moment, time, space, and the whole world seemed to stand still, and the lightning scrambled to thunder towards the small flag, and the pouring rain fell from the sky, which made me almost want to die.

The dislocation of time, space, and sensation distorted my mind.

"Boom ......!"

"Roar..................!"

"Whoa!

Thunder, wind, rain, so many sounds......

I was tingling when the lightning thundered on the little flag, but my mind was clearer than ever, and I thought to myself how good it would be to die immediately, and the discomfort was really indescribable, anyway, I felt like I was going to explode and go crazy.

I finally couldn't help but look up to the sky and scream, "Ah...... Oh ............!", my mouth suddenly felt salty, and I knew I must have a nosebleed.

I cried out the frustration that was suffocating in my chest and vented my discomfort......

However, I inexplicably felt that thunder, lightning, and clouds and rain suddenly all ran into my body, to be precise, into my world and my inner perception of my sea of consciousness......