At 3:00 a.m., Su Chen was jolted from his sleep by his alarm.
To catch the flag-raising ceremony, he had specifically looked up travel guides before bed. To snag a good viewing spot, one had to wake up at the crack of dawn. Whether it was to fulfill a lifelong dream or simply follow his heart's yearning, Su Chen had set his alarm for three in the morning without hesitation.
After a quick wash, he headed out, hopping into the hotel's private car and heading straight for Tiananmen Square.
The Grand Metropark Hotel wasn't far from Tiananmen Square—less than six kilometers away. With sparse traffic at three in the morning, the drive took barely ten minutes. Guided by the hotel staff, he found the entrance.
"Holy cow. I thought I was early, but there are people who beat me to it!" Looking at the long, winding queue, Su Chen couldn't help but admire their dedication.
Most of the people waiting in line were young adults, though he also spotted several families with young children. The kids, only about six or seven years old, all looked incredibly drowsy.
As time ticked by, the crowd swelled. When Su Chen glanced over his shoulder, he couldn't even see the end of the line.
"We're heading in! Wake up, everyone!" Just as Su Chen was starting to doze off on his feet, a voice shouted from the front, jolting him instantly awake.
They scanned their ID cards, went through security, and marched briskly forward with the flow of the crowd. Watching the flag-raising wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Just getting in required passing through several checkpoints, but the real fierce competition lay in the final sprint.
Relying on his tall and sturdy physique, Su Chen half-walked and half-jogged, quickly pushing his way to the front of the pack before finally stopping at the last checkpoint.
"Stop pushing! Stop pushing! Are you going to take responsibility if I get squeezed into a pregnancy?"
"Hey, buddy in the back, can you chill out a bit? We're all guys here, why are you pressing so hard against me?"
As the final checkpoint opened, the crowd surged forward as if everyone had been equipped with Xiaomas. They all sprinted at breakneck speed. Su Chen was no exception, taking massive strides as he dashed ahead.
"Oh man, I'm exhausted! Are these people crazy? They run way too fast. I almost missed out on a good spot!" Su Chen leaned against the railing, gasping for breath.
Glancing at the several young girls standing effortlessly beside him, he briefly wondered if he was losing his touch.
He thought, "Bah! How could I possibly be out of shape!"
After resting for a while, Su Chen finally caught his breath and looked back at the countless bobbing heads behind him. It truly lived up to the saying, "A thousand people block out the sky; ten thousand look like an endless sea."
THUD—STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! The crisp, rhythmic sound of marching footsteps echoed from the gate tower's archway.
"The flag-raising is starting!" someone yelled. The noisy crowd instantly fell dead silent.
One by one, people pulled out their phones, opened their camera apps, and craned their necks toward the archway. Seeing this, Su Chen quietly took his phone out of his pocket as well.
The moment the honor guard of the three armed services marched out of the archway, a wave of intense excitement washed over Su Chen. Watching a video online and experiencing it in person were two entirely different concepts. In that moment, he felt the difference to his very core.
As the music swelled, a chorus of voices rose from the crowd. Su Chen held his phone up with his left hand and placed his right hand over his chest, feeling his heart pounding furiously.
A sudden thought struck him: he wanted to travel across the country's magnificent landscapes and witness all the breathtaking sights he had only ever seen on his screen.
The flag-raising ceremony lasted for about ten minutes, but the crowd lingered. People scattered to find good angles to take photos with their friends and families. Su Chen, however, took his time strolling out of the square.
He had barely slept the night before. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He decided to head back to the hotel to catch up on some sleep before climbing the Great Wall to become a "true hero."
It was only 5:40 a.m. when he returned to the hotel. He grabbed a quick breakfast before heading back to his room.
"I finally understand what they mean by 'You're not a true hero until you've climbed the Great Wall.' Anyone who can actually climb this thing is a hero!"
Su Chen had slept straight through until eleven o'clock. After a simple meal in his room, he headed straight for Badaling.
By the time he arrived at Badaling, it was already past one in the afternoon. He joined a temporary tour group for a small fee, mostly just to have some lively company for the climb.
He had watched plenty of videos of the Great Wall before and assumed the steps wouldn't be too steep. But when he saw the real thing, he was absolutely dumbfounded. At first, Su Chen enjoyed the climb, but the higher he went, the steeper the wall became. Every single step demanded a massive amount of effort.
It took him more than two hours to reach the top.
"The North Eighth Tower will teach every walking 'hero' a brutal lesson!"
Standing on the Sun Viewing Platform, Su Chen gazed down at the endless, meandering Great Wall beneath his feet, a profound sense of conquest swelling in his chest.
"I guess I, Su Chen, am a true hero now!"
If it weren't for his violently trembling legs, he might have actually looked the part.
When it was time to descend, Su Chen wisely chose to take the cable car. It wasn't that he lacked the stamina to walk down; the cable car simply offered better value for his energy.
To head back to the city, Su Chen hailed a taxi. He had no other choice—he had taken the hotel's private car to get there, but the driver had returned to the city immediately after dropping him off.
Not long after getting into the cab, he dozed off.
He was utterly exhausted. Not only had he woken up at the crack of dawn, but he had also spent half the afternoon climbing endless stairs. His energy was completely drained. Right now, all he wanted was to return to the hotel, take a long bath, and sleep.
BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ. He had only closed his eyes for a few minutes when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
Squinting at the caller ID, Su Chen answered the call.
"Hello, Qingya. What's up?"
"Su Chen, where are you? Didn't you say you were just attending a banquet? It's already the second day and you still aren't back. Are you out—"
Before Su Qingya could finish, he cut her off. "I'm in the Imperial Capital. I just finished climbing the Badaling Great Wall, and I'm on my way back to the hotel right now!"
"The Imperial Capital? The Badaling Great Wall? Su Chen, you went on a trip without me?" Hearing that he was in the Imperial Capital, she was instantly upset.
"Next time. I'll definitely bring you along next time. How does that sound?"
"Next time? I'll have to wait until my summer vacation for that! Oh, right, Su Chen, I have to report to school the day after tomorrow. Are you coming back before then?" Su Qingya's voice carried a hint of disappointment.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning!" Su Chen had originally planned to stay and play for another two days, but now he could only wait for a future trip to properly explore the Imperial Capital.
By the time he arrived back in the city, it was already eight o'clock in the evening. When he got to the hotel, he ended up in an embarrassing situation.
It turned out that the presidential suite he was staying in had been arranged by the Bazaar Charity organizers—but it had only been booked for one day. When Su Chen left around noon, the hotel assumed he had checked out and sent housekeeping to clean the room. It wasn't until he returned that he realized he was locked out.
He had to go all the way down to the front desk to ask about the situation, only to learn the truth.
In the end, Su Chen paid for a new room himself.
He thought, "There's always something to worry about!" That night, he stayed up thinking about a great many things.