“2018.01.03 Light rain turning sunny”
Must it be Qing University?
Must it be you?
Definitely.
——Excerpted from Tao Shuran’s Diary
The rain was still falling.
Fuqing City’s rain was like that; once it started, it never seemed to end.
During the August plum rain season, it rained for a whole month. That was when Tao Shuran had just transferred schools, and she didn’t like such weather at all.
Now she loved rainy days.
She loved… rainy days with Liang Yuanjing.
At that moment, everything was silent. She occasionally stole glances at him.
Everything was also unspoken.
Liang Yuanjing raised an eyebrow. “What, don’t you believe me?”
Tao Shuran didn’t react at first and said, “What?”
Liang Yuanjing said, “Believe that I can lead you to victory.”
He slightly lifted his chin, his jawline cold and sharp. His tone was arrogant and domineering. This spirited posture reminded Tao Shuran of every side of him that she had seen on the sports field.
She let out a light laugh and replied, “Of course.”
“Liang Yuanjing, undefeated in every battle.”
Liang Yuanjing laughed out loud and teased, “Classmate Tao, you seem to know me pretty well.”
This had originally been a casual remark on the court, passed down from Linchuan Junior Section to now. As the main vanguard of the school basketball team, every event Liang Yuanjing participated in ended in victory without exception.
Thus, the playful saying “undefeated in every battle” came about.
Tao Shuran had never had the chance to attend in person, but she had watched every live broadcast. Every word about him, she remembered in her heart.
At this moment, because of his casual remark, ripples stirred in her heart, impossible to calm.
The rain gradually stopped. The phone on the table kept vibrating. Tao Shuran glanced at it, put the phone in her bag, and pretended not to hear.
Liang Yuanjing glanced at her, a faint, imperceptible smile on his face.
The clock hands pointed to eleven. It was very late. He stood up, took two pieces of tissue paper, and wiped the water stains from her umbrella handle.
He handed it back and said proactively, “Let’s go. I’ll walk you home.”
“Don’t come out this late next time. Your family will worry.”
Liang Yuanjing glanced at the phone she had hidden behind her back and chuckled softly.
He leaned down and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Tao Shuran, actually, you’re not that well-behaved at all.”
Tao Shuran forgot how she got home. Tao Hongfeng had already gone to bed in the bedroom. Five minutes later, Zhao Yanyun, who had just finished overtime, also returned.
She was too busy with work, so mother and daughter rarely saw each other. They were both stunned when they suddenly met like this.
Zhao Yanyun asked, “You haven’t rested yet?”
“I was about to.” Tao Shuran’s heart raced a bit. She said casually, “I’ll review some more and then sleep.”
Back in her bedroom, her mind kept replaying the evening’s scenes.
A night with only her and Liang Yuanjing. Even though it was the most ordinary frame in everyday life, it felt exceptionally different in her heart.
It was the cold winter now, but Tao Shuran’s heart was ironed hot.
She couldn’t help but smile at the corners of her lips. She thought of his raised eyebrows, his irrepressible spiritedness, his resounding voice in her ears, promising to help her realize her wish.
She believed in Liang Yuanjing.
Unconditionally.
She just started to anticipate what method he would use to help her get into Qing University.
The next day, Tao Shuran understood what Liang Yuanjing meant. His words about leading her to victory weren’t just talk.
Before morning reading class started, he really took out an error notebook and told her to finish writing it this week and hand it to him.
Fang Qingyi, sitting beside her, saw it and looked at her with utmost sympathy.
“Ranran, you’re blessed. Our Teacher Liang is getting serious. Time for the strict teacher to produce a fine pupil.”
Tao Shuran asked puzzledly, “Strict teacher?”
“Yeah, back in junior high, Zhao Zhengnian asked Liang Yuanjing to tutor him. Then our Teacher Liang made the guy cry, right?”
“A one-meter-eighty tough guy, crying his heart out back then?”
Zhao Zhengnian shouted from behind, “Fang Qingyi, you’re spilling all my black history, huh?”
“I wasn’t crying because of Liang Yuanjing, okay.”
“The questions were too hard! Too hard. I was moved to tears by the problems.”
Fang Qingyi burst out laughing with a “pfft,” giving him no face at all.
“I don’t buy it.”
They bantered noisily. Tao Shuran lowered her gaze and stared blankly at the error notebook alone. There weren’t many problems on it, mostly handwritten, with a few clipped from test papers. The ink notes beside them were still fresh.
Somewhat incredulously, she asked, “Did you prepare all this last night?”
Liang Yuanjing propped his chin, his eyelids drooping slightly. He gave a low “mm,” his voice a bit lazy.
“I looked at your monthly exam scores a few times. Your main weak points in math and physics are just those few knowledge areas. Brute-forcing with question seas won’t help. You need to understand why.”
“Your essays are a strength. As long as you don’t lose points in sciences, you can definitely close the gap.”
Liang Yuanjing was uncharacteristically serious, hands folded under his chin. He looked at her and smiled, then joked—
“Don’t worry, it’s different for you than for him.”
Tao Shuran was still immersed in this painstakingly made error notebook when his voice pulled her back. She blanked for a moment.
She quickly assured him, “Teacher Liang, I’m not afraid of hard work.”
“Oh.”
Liang Yuanjing drawled slowly, “But I don’t want to see you cry.”
Tao Shuran suddenly froze in place.
The words themselves had no ambiguity, but in the ears of someone like her who was paying close attention, they always carried a few shades of ambiguous allure.
She bit her lower lip, forcing herself to calm down.
Then she heard Liang Yuanjing say casually, “Too noisy.”
Zhao Zhengnian said with deep feeling, “A Jing, how come you’re not this dedicated to me.”
Liang Yuanjing didn’t hold back. “Could a pig brain like you even understand the problems? This is the advanced version.”
“When you take first in the sports meet, I’ll make you a basic one.”
Zhao Zhengnian: “Pass, thanks.”
Hearing this, Fang Qingyi, who had been holding a book in front, turned around again and asked, “Zhao Zhengnian, you’re really going pro?”
Tao Shuran didn’t expect Zhao Zhengnian’s answer to be so firm.
He said, “Yeah, that’s my dream. Even if it takes more effort, I’m willing. Once I’m famous, you might only see me on TV if you want to meet.”
“Great, Star Athlete Zhao. Could you sign an autograph for me?”
Zhao Zhengnian acted all “sure thing” and grabbed a pen, dashing off his scribbly signature with flair.
Fang Qingyi pressed her palms together, shook the folded note, and flaunted it around in her hand.
“Done. Contract formed. You’ll be my slave for twenty years, Zhao Zhengnian.”
Childish.
Zhao Zhengnian rolled his eyes and retorted, “Twenty years? Might as well sell myself to you.”
“No way, I’m not interested in your body at all.”
Zhao Zhengnian followed up, “Then whose are you interested in?”
Fang Qingyi’s eyes darted around. Just then, Fu Changpei passed by the classroom door holding homework. Her eyes lit up in an instant, and she called out cheerfully, “Fu Changpei!”
A Wangzai milk candy sat in her palm. Fang Qingyi handed it over with a grin. “Fu Changpei, have some candy.”
Zhao Zhengnian hollered from behind like a ghost, “Only him?”
“Jealous? Too bad.”
Fang Qingyi glared at him, then pulled out a whole pack from her drawer. She stood up and distributed one to everyone around.
Tao Shuran stared at the candy in her palm and couldn’t help but smile softly.
Liang Yuanjing peeled open the wrapper and asked casually, “What brand was that mint candy you bought last time?”
He had taken the initiative to talk to her several times today.
Tao Shuran felt a bit overwhelmed by the favor. “You like it?”
She took an unopened strip from her pocket and placed it in front of him. Her trembling eyelashes betrayed her irrepressible emotions.
Soon, Tao Shuran stood up too and, like Fang Qingyi, gave one to everyone.
In the crowd, Fang Qingyi held her candy and gave her a thoughtful glance.
Tao Shuran didn’t know what to say and guiltily looked away.
Not just Fang Qingyi—turns out, she couldn’t hide her secret crush either.
The pre-gaokao preparations had entered a fever pitch. Tao Shuran’s evening self-study sessions kept getting extended.
By the time she got home from school, it was nearly eleven.
After a quick shower, back in her room, Tao Shuran took a deep breath and stared at the prominent countdown on her diary.
The pressure weighed heavily on her heart. After thinking, she could only write it in the diary.
That night she saw Liang Yuanjing out late, and later she vaguely heard Fu Changpei and others mention that his relationship with his family wasn’t close. Arguments were routine.
She wondered if things had eased between him and his family now.
As she thought, the computer in sleep mode suddenly lit up with a short notification sound.
Tao Shuran paused, then slowly opened the minimized email.
A long-overdue reply arrived—one she hadn’t even hoped for.
It was her question to Liang Yuanjing about a certain competition math problem. She knew he rarely used social apps, especially QQ, with tons of girls adding him daily. He mostly ignored them.
Not to mention fishing out a message from his email sea.
Tao Shuran thought for a bit. Her fingers hesitated on the keyboard, deleting and rewriting for a full fifteen minutes before finally typing out a passage.
“y, actually, I’ve had some family issues lately. I fought with my parents, and I’m really upset. But then I thought, we’re all independent individuals with our own souls, fully in control of our lives. So don’t be sad over unworthy people. The journey of eighteen years is about to begin, and after that, among ten thousand lights, there will be one for you and me.”
She sighed inwardly.
She wondered if this comforted him even a little.
Perhaps it was prophetic.
Past midnight, Tao Shuran still hadn’t slept.
She took off her headphones, paused the English listening, and heard arguing voices from outside the door. At first muffled through the wall, then growing louder, snippets audible.
Tao Hongfeng usually spoke softly, but now he raised his voice unusually.
He shouted at Zhao Yanyun, “Is it that hard to respect the child’s own wishes?”
“You didn’t even ask if she wants to be a lawyer before deciding for her?”
“I’m doing this for her own good!” Zhao Yanyun said. “Don’t you know what our daughter is like? Average grades, not clever, bad with words. If she studies law in college, at least I have some resources to help her out.”
“What else do you think she can do?”
Tao Shuran lowered her lashes and listened quietly from outside the door.
After a while, a door slam sounded. Zhao Yanyun had a hair-trigger temper. Tao Hongfeng usually went along with her at home.
Rejected like this, she grabbed her bag in a huff and stormed out.
It was the middle of the night—nowhere safe. Argument or not, Tao Hongfeng couldn’t let her go alone and chased after.
The house returned to quiet, as if the argument had never happened.
Tao Shuran looked up at the sky. After several bouts of continuous rain, the stars in the night sky were dim and lightless.
From childhood, the most common comment she heard about herself was “hardworking but not smart.”
She was obedient, diligent, sensible, but her talent was what it was. She could never become the top student everyone admired.
She couldn’t be the number one in her parents’ hearts. It was a sad thing. Tao Shuran gripped her pen tightly, tears threatening to spill but suppressed fiercely.
She flipped open the error notebook again, forcing her attention onto it.
But she couldn’t focus no matter what. Zhao Yanyun’s frustrated words echoed in her ears. Since coming to Affiliated Middle School, she had plummeted from top of the class to the bottom. The gap was hard to accept.
She needed to work even harder.
At this thought, double the pressure suffocated her. She pushed open the window, letting the biting cold wind pour in, barely catching her breath.
She wondered if Fu Changpei’s family’s little shop downstairs was still open.
Tao Shuran kind of wanted to go down for a drink and chat with someone.
Luckily, Fu Changpei’s place wasn’t closed yet. This famous top student in their grade actually put in no less effort than any of them.
Many times, Tao Shuran woke up groggy in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and still saw a faint light in his bedroom across the way.
She put on her own white down jacket that reached her ankles, stuffed some change into her pocket, grabbed a flashlight, and headed out.
In the old neighborhood, the streetlights were hit or miss—some worked, some didn’t. The few that did were dim, barely illuminating the road.
Venturing out in the middle of the night, Tao Shuran felt a bit scared.
But luckily, Fu Changpei’s family’s small shop was right across the way. She made her way over using the faint light spilling from his place. This time, she was familiar with the route and stood at the counter by the door, picking out drinks.
“Give me two more candies. I want green apple flavor.”
“How much, Fu Changpei?”
No sooner had she spoken than the boy behind the counter looked up. His slightly parted bangs fell over his forehead, and his subtly upturned eyes carried a hint of allure.
That saying was spot on—the way he smiled really did seem like he was tempting someone.
Tao Shuran asked in surprise, “Liang Yuanjing, what are you doing here?”
“Grandpa Fu got sick. Fu Changpei went to the hospital with him, so I’m filling in temporarily.”
He had a mint candy in his mouth, crunching it noisily. His clearly defined fingers pushed aside the old glass display case.
Without looking up, he asked her, “Which candy do you want?”
Tao Shuran lowered her head. She had no real interest in choosing—her heartbeat had gone haywire from this unexpected encounter with him.
She blurted out, “Any one is fine, as long as it’s sweet.”
“Are there candies that aren’t sweet?”
Liang Yuanjing let out a low chuckle, but his words suddenly trailed off. In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of her disheveled state.
Her ankle-length down jacket had its zipper undone, revealing the pure cotton fabric of her pajamas underneath. On her feet were rabbit-shaped fluffy slippers. She’d probably rushed out in too much of a hurry to put on socks, leaving her slender ankles red from the cold.
He asked, “This is…?”
Tao Shuran pressed her lips together. The north wind howled wildly at the mouth of the alley, carrying sub-zero chill, yet here she was, running into him.
This was hardly the ideal moment for a meeting—at least, not when she looked far from her best.
“Parents fighting? Kicked you out?”
By the end of the sentence, even Tao Shuran’s tone turned questioning—the brush-off was obvious.
Liang Yuanjing burst out laughing and teased her. “Your parents fight and kick you out? Sounds pretty loving to me.”
Just then, her phone buzzed with a new message from Tao Hongfeng. It said that due to a sudden matter, he and Zhao Yanyun had to head back to their hometown. He told her to take good care of herself over the next couple of days and eat at the school cafeteria.
Tao Shuran lowered her gaze. She wanted to say she already knew the truth deep down.
Her parents had argued again—because of her.
She turned off her phone, planning to play dumb until the seven o’clock bell rang the next morning. Then she’d resume her role as the obedient, sensible daughter.
“Not going home? Planning to camp out here until school tomorrow?”
Liang Yuanjing remarked, “Little girl, you’ve got quite the temper.”
Tao Shuran pressed her lips tightly together. She tilted her head up toward the residential building in the distance. After a moment, she spoke in a muffled voice.
“To give me better learning resources, my mom switched her job from back home to Fuqing. My dad quit his job to take care of me too. They used years of savings to rent this place for my studies. The moment I think about going back home, I feel immense pressure.”
“I have to study hard to live up to their sacrifices.”
Liang Yuanjing turned his head to listen.
After a while, he drew closer. Tao Shuran froze, catching the crisp, summery mint scent that was uniquely his.
“How about—”
Liang Yuanjing stood at the mouth of the wind, shielding her from the gusts. He leaned in like summer itself and murmured his suggestion—
“I take you in for the night?”