Before the autumn equinox had even arrived, the chilly rain had already begun to pour down.
The rain fell in a continuous, gentle drizzle. Even with a raincoat, his legs pedaling the bike were exposed, leaving him half-soaked by the time he rode home in the evening.
Xin Hexue pushed the bicycle into the metal shed that provided shade and shelter from the rain and took off his transparent raincoat. The autumn school uniform trousers were half wet, turning into a gradient from dark blue to sky blue. The soaked pant legs clung to his skin, feeling damp and uncomfortable.
Lu Yang had parted ways with them at the previous intersection.
Lin Oufei also took off his raincoat, left it on his bicycle, locked it, and reminded Xin Hexue, “Go take a hot shower first when you get back.”
Xin Hexue’s eyebrows and eyes were also soaked by the autumn rain, dripping wet.
“Mm.”
They hurried upstairs. When they parted in the hallway, Lin Oufei fished out his keys to open his door while saying, “I’ll make some ginger tea later and bring you some.”
Xin Hexue said, “I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”
Worried that the wind and rain might pick up, Lin Oufei moved the potted plants from the balcony into the house after entering.
Their balcony didn’t have spring onions or vegetables. Mother Lin preferred growing flowers, perhaps to cultivate her character.
There was a pot of evergreen in the hallway. On the balcony, pots of various sizes, mostly red, held a colorful array of blooming plants: periwinkles, pansies, petunias, rosemary…
And also, jasmine.
Tiny raindrops dampened the pure white petals, their fragrance cool and fresh, as if the autumn rain had been infused into the flowers.
The only regret was that among the blooming jasmine bushes, there were several places that had clearly been cut, which looked particularly out of place.
Zhu Cuifeng once came to borrow jasmine seeds from Mother Lin, but he had forgotten about it.
Lin Oufei silently moved the flowerpots inside.
………
Lu Yang rushed through a hot shower. His hair was short, so he didn’t even need to blow-dry it. Once dressed, he squatted in front of the computer waiting for Xin Hexue to come online.
[SUN: How about today? Have you started to like me a little bit?]
Xin Hexue was probably busy, as he didn’t come online for a long time. Lu Yang waited for a while and even finished his math homework. In the end, he had to bring out his English test papers to work on.
After finishing dinner, he finally saw Xin Hexue leisurely come online.
[SNOW: You stole flowers from Auntie Zhu’s balcony, and she didn’t scold you?]
The cut jasmine branches were placed in a blue-patterned glass cup filled with water, sitting in the corner of the desk, looking fresh and pleasant.
Xin Hexue sprinkled a little white sugar into the water so the flowers could stay fresh for a few more days.
[SUN: I don’t know. I said I woke up and the flowers were like that.]
[SUN: My mom probably thinks we have mice at home.]
Xin Hexue laughed out loud.
[SUN: So? So?]
[SUN: Do you like it?]
[SNOW: I like it. The jasmine flowers are very pretty. I put them in a teacup.]
[SUN: I meant the person. Have you started to like the person who gave you the flowers, even a little?]
[SNOW: The flowers are okay. The person though…]
Xin Hexue replied on purpose, [Just so-so.]
Lu Yang was crestfallen.
[SNOW: But not too bad either.]
He played with the pressed flower bookmark. The transparent cold laminate reflected the light from the bulb, revealing the dried jasmine inside, which preserved its elegant appearance.
Xin Hexue was surprised that Lu Yang could make bookmarks; it really was a pleasant surprise for him.
He slipped the bookmark into the extracurricular book he was only halfway through.
[SNOW: I’m going to review my lessons.]
[SNOW: Also, next time, no more borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha. No bonus points.]
The red-scarfed penguin avatar became gray, showing he was already offline.
Xin Hexue finished collecting the materials he needed, turned off the computer, and left Zhuang Tongguang’s room.
Zhuang Ping said there was milk in the refrigerator and told him to remember to drink it. Xin Hexue nodded and said, “I know.”
He took fresh milk from the refrigerator. Just then, Xin Zhiying beckoned to him, “Xiao Xue, come quickly, your brother called.”
Xin Hexue quickly finished the milk in his cup, a white circle lingering on his upper lip. Without time to wipe it clean, he took the black plastic receiver of the landline phone and said happily into it, “Big Brother?”
Zhuang Tongguang called home every Friday and weekend evening.
“It’s fine, my studies aren’t stressful.” Xin Hexue leaned over the phone table, knees half-kneeling, half-sitting on the sofa, curled up in a very relaxed posture.
Zhuang Tongguang told him that the two-week military training was over, and they had started formal classes now. Xin Hexue asked him how the university cafeteria food was, how his roommates were, and if he had gone out on the weekend.
Zhuang Tongguang said he planned to go out with his roommates this weekend to buy some daily necessities, as the items at the campus supermarket were relatively limited and lacking, and they could also look around the surrounding area.
He told Xin Hexue to pay attention to balancing work and rest, not to push himself too hard since he was only in his second year of high school, and to go to bed early at night.
Xin Hexue said he’d turned into a little old man after going away to university, so nagging.
He also mentioned the situation with class assignments. “All three of us chose Sciences and were assigned to Class 14. Oh, they’re also the deskmate I mentioned before, Yu Zao, and Lu Yang’s deskmate, Tian Fengyu, we’re all in the same class.”
“Mm, that’s good.” Zhuang Tongguang’s voice sounded quite relieved. “With them looking out for you, I feel a bit more at ease.”
Xin Hexue let out a slight sigh. “Even without them, I could take care of myself.”
Zhuang Tongguang often thought of him as too fragile, as if he were still the little kid who couldn’t grow up, the small tail following behind him.
Perhaps this was the sense of responsibility of being an older brother.
They chatted for a while longer. When it was about time, Zhuang Tongguang said, “It’s almost ten o’clock. Go wash up and get to sleep. Good night.”
“Good night, Big Brother.” Xin Hexue hung up the phone.
On the other end, the corridor was sparsely lit by the moon and stars, and couples sat side by side.
Zhuang Tongguang pulled out his IC card somewhat dejectedly. The happiness during the call drifted away like a kite with a broken string after hanging up, leaving a sense of loss in his heart.
The temperature hadn’t dropped yet, and there were still mosquitoes at night. Zhuang Tongguang wore long pants but a short-sleeved shirt on top. He got bitten several times on his arms while on the phone, so he went back to his dorm to apply some repellant.
Their dorm was a six-person room. The other five were still awake, and his bunkmate asked sneakily, “Zhuang Tongguang, were you talking to your girlfriend?”
This opened the floodgates, and the others joined in the teasing.
Zhuang Tongguang shook his head. “No.”
One of the boys said, “Come on, Old Zhang just went to fetch water and saw you smiling like a flower on the phone. If it’s not your girlfriend, how could you be so happy?”
Another also gossiped, “If it’s not your girlfriend, how could you talk on the phone for an hour?”
Zhuang Tongguang said it really wasn’t; he had just been talking to his family.
“Aw…”
Hearing it was just a call home, the roommates scattered like birds and beasts.
“Really? I thought with your looks, you’d have gotten a girlfriend in high school. Looks like none of us in this dorm are in a relationship?”
“Haven’t you heard there’s a welcome party and college mixer this month? Let’s try our best to get rid of our single status, guys.”
Their topic veered towards the upcoming mixer, the pretty girls from a certain college, the newly released game cartridges…
Zhuang Tongguang quietly finished washing up on the balcony and climbed the ladder to his upper bunk.
It was unclear how many years had passed since the dormitory’s internal facilities had been renovated; one might suspect they were older than the current students. In the middle were two tables pushed together to form a long desk. Against the wall were three sets of bunk beds with iron frames and wooden boards. Even with padding, they creaked when you turned over, the noise as restless as youth.
National Day was coming soon. In previous years, No. 1 High School’s sports meet was always held at the end of September, wrapped up enthusiastically before the National Day holiday. Lu Yang’s birthday was on the first day of National Day. With one thing after another, apart from Chinese New Year, this was usually the liveliest time for their three families. They would take advantage of the rare long holiday to get together for a meal.
Zhuang Tongguang planned to buy his train ticket back then. He hadn’t told Xin Hexue, wanting to give his younger brother a surprise.
………
After the class assignments, there wasn’t much time for transition before they welcomed the autumn sports meet on the school calendar.
In their class, only Tian Fengyu and Lu Yang were sports students. They signed up for all the events they could. For those they absolutely couldn’t manage, there was nothing they could do about it. Fortunately, the class had a balanced male-to-female ratio, and basically, all events were filled through voluntary sign-ups, with no one being forced to participate.
The sports meet schedule lasted two days. Strictly speaking, two and a half days. Wednesday afternoon was the opening ceremony. Because the elementary and junior high sections of Lingzhou City No. 1 High School also held their sports meets together with the high school section, just having all the classes march in the opening ceremony took nearly the entire afternoon, not to mention the class tug-of-war and dance competitions.
The first starting gun wouldn’t really sound until Thursday morning.
The green fence around the 800-meter track was lined with blackboards, where teachers in charge updated the class scores in real time.
The track was bustling with people coming and going, a lively scene filled with students in different colored uniforms from elementary, junior high, and high school.
At eight o’clock, everyone gathered at the class’s designated area. After the homeroom teacher took attendance, students with events at nine in the morning went to check in. The others were free to do as they pleased…some sat scattered in the class spectator seats, playing cards under sunshades; others went to the track to cheer and support. Everyone had something to do, and no one was idle.
Although Xin Hexue’s physical condition didn’t allow him to participate in such large-scale sports activities, he had his own tasks to do.
Hearing that he had won first prize in the city in a composition contest in his first year, the new homeroom teacher happily assigned him to write cheer drafts.
“Find a few more classmates to write with you. If you hand in thirty copies to the broadcast station, the class gets bonus points.” The homeroom teacher patted his shoulder.
Lin Oufei had signed up for the high jump, which was tomorrow. Tian Fengyu was in long-distance running, checking in that afternoon.
Lu Yang and Yu Zao both had events at 9:30, one in sprinting and one in long jump, and had already gone to check in.
So Xin Hexue found Lin Oufei and Tian Fengyu. Writing ten drafts each would be enough.
The tree shade blocked the brilliant morning light. Xin Hexue wrote most of his drafts, using a ruler to tear them off into the same size.
Midway, Xin Hexue was called away by the English teacher to help hand out the National Day homework.
Before leaving, Xin Hexue said to Lin Oufei and Tian Fengyu, “I haven’t written the cheer drafts for Lu Yang and Yu Zao yet.”
They would have to fill in the gaps.
Tian Fengyu patted his chest. “Leave it to me!”
………
After checking in, there was still some time for warm-up exercises.
Lu Yang, having nothing better to do, went to show off to Yu Zao. “They’ll definitely read cheer drafts later. Xin Hexue promised to write one for me.”
Yu Zao glanced at him, not understanding what there was to show off about. He took off his glasses to wipe them, and started worrying about whether his glasses might fly off later.
The broadcast station indeed started reading cheer drafts. After a few from other classes, it soon was their class’s turn.
The microphone had some static from time to time.
“To Classmate Lu Yang of Senior Two, Class 14.”
Lu Yang and Yu Zao instinctively stood straighter, only to see Tian Fengyu standing by the broadcast station, jumping and waving at them.
The broadcast was passionate and loud.
“When you run, the codfish in Alaska leap out of the water; when you sweat, the seagulls on the far side of the Pacific flap their wings past the city skyline; when you scream hoarsely in your heart, the night sky over the polar regions is filled with a kaleidoscope of colors!”
Lu Yang: “What does that mean? If I run out of Earth, can I still come back to have lunch with Xin Hexue?”
“You will ultimately endure all hardships, pass through the sea of people, pass through the track of time, to become the king of the world!”
Lu Yang was baffled: “I don’t plan to proclaim myself emperor for the time being.”
Yu Zao: “…”
He had a bad premonition.
“To Classmate Yu Zao of Senior Two, Class 14.”
“You are the wild leopard galloping across the grasslands, you are the Dilu horse startled by the bowstring, you are the morning sun piercing the clouds, the lightning splitting the sky, you are the wind, the thunder, the majesty!”
Yu Zao looked at Lu Yang: “Am I still human?”
“Even if there is the coldest wind, you must have the hottest blood! Even if no one cheers for you, you must encourage yourself! Always believe in yourself: you can do it, there’s time, you can make it, you are worth it! Run, brother!”
Xin Hexue had just returned from the teaching building when he heard the passionate cheer draft from the broadcast station.
Yu Zao, who was taking off for his jump, stubbed his toe badly on his paronychia and nearly fell to his death.
