Regarding the decision of the two no longer going to school, the homeroom teacher didn’t say much. Song Fu had always been the most worry-free one, and Ci Ye had recently developed some self-motivation, so it definitely wouldn’t mean he was just eating, drinking, and playing around at home.
Winter vacation ended, and on the first day of school, as per custom, seats were rearranged based on the final exam scores from the previous semester.
The homeroom teacher gave a heads-up and had the sturdy classmates help move the two empty seats to the corner position. Their daily routine still needed to continue—
When Zhu Chenxi went to find Song Fu to hang out, she had heard the news early in the morning, so she didn’t show any surprise.
Additionally, she had learned that Ci Ye’s mother had already been ill before saving her, a condition beyond medical help. But that was all—just knowing it. Regardless of whether she had been sick or not, the help she had received hadn’t changed, and her desire to repay it wouldn’t sour because of this.
On the weekend, during the rare free time off, Zhu Chenxi brought the recently graded test papers to hang out with her two friends. She had specially asked the homeroom teacher for blank ones. By doing the school’s test papers, they could also gauge the school’s teaching progress.
Zhu Chenxi sat on the sofa opposite the two, excitedly talking about recent school events, like who got caught dating early and who got their phone confiscated. “It was found in the pillow in the dorm, and then the homeroom teacher pulled out all the classmates who had been chatting or online during school hours for talks. The scene was super scary—it involved several classes, and in the end, they collected a whole bagful.”
Ci Ye raised an eyebrow in realization. “No wonder Li Qiang has been so quiet lately.”
Zhu Chenxi nodded. “Yeah, the homeroom teacher said they’d go to the grade director after the College Entrance Exam to sort it out.”
“The homeroom teacher must’ve been pissed,” Song Fu said. She could already picture the balding teacher banging on the blackboard, spittle flying, frustrated like iron that wouldn’t become steel.
Zhu Chenxi looked terrified in retrospect. “He scolded them for two whole evening self-study sessions. The next morning, his voice was hoarse.”
Zhu Chenxi couldn’t stay long either—just one day off, and she hadn’t even washed her clothes yet. So she sat for a bit, remarked on Ci Ye’s dark circles, and left.
After seeing her off, Ci Ye belatedly reacted. “Dark circles?” He finally found a mirror and seriously examined his face. Staring at the haggard reflection, he was speechless for a moment. He tugged at his eyelids and gave himself an evaluation. “Not bad.”
It wasn’t the kind that was particularly ugly—just looking a bit down, which probably wouldn’t affect his image in Song Fu’s eyes.
Ci Ye had been cramming and doing problems day and night. He used to go through a pen refill in three days; later, it evolved to two days per refill.
Fortunately, this effort showed results in his scores.
…
With Song Fu’s strength, even if she stopped preparing and went straight to take the College Entrance Exam, she could still get into the school she wanted.
Now, she just did some problems when she had nothing else, filled in gaps, gathered all her notes, marked key points based on Ci Ye’s weak areas, and tutored him one-on-one—it counted as review for her too.
Her fair fingertip pointed at the formula on the notes. “See, the question you got wrong has the exact same logic as this one. The steps are all here.”
Ci Ye looked seriously for a moment before suddenly asking, “What if I don’t get into the university you want?”
“The one I want?” It was the first time Song Fu had heard this. “You go to the one you want.”
Come to think of it, before this, she hadn’t asked why Ci Ye had suddenly started working hard. In the plot, the female lead urged him to study and made progress, so afterward, she hadn’t thought much about it and naturally accepted Ci Ye’s diligence. Now that she thought about it, the logic hadn’t changed much—just from wanting to go to the same university as the female lead to wanting to go to the same one as her. But why not go to the one he wanted?
“I don’t have one,” Ci Ye answered.
Which university he went to wouldn’t impact his future much, and he had no preferences—he just wanted to stay with Song Fu.
Song Fu was quiet for a moment and didn’t press. Instead, she asked, “Then there must be a major you want?”
Ci Ye hadn’t seriously thought about it.
Song Fu reminded him. “Don’t you like a lot of things?”
She counted them off on her fingers. “You like photography—every photo you take is great, so you could study that. You like playing games, so you could study programming…”
“How about I study law?” Ci Ye suddenly suggested a major completely out of Song Fu’s expectations.
Song Fu wasn’t too familiar with it, but anyway, “As long as you’re interested.”
Ci Ye got excited. “Didn’t you say lawyers are cool before?”
Song Fu’s mind short-circuited. “Did I say that?”
“You did.” Ci Ye remembered clearly. “In that movie about legal aid—we watched it together.”
With that said, Song Fu remembered. It was during New Year’s; the Spring Festival Gala got more boring each year, so they picked a well-rated movie instead. They were both moved to tears by the lawyer protagonist who upheld justice. Afterward, Song Fu even wrote a long review, praising the protagonist lavishly.
But that wasn’t the point.
In the end, wasn’t this choice still for her? She lightly tapped her forehead, gave up persuading him, and refocused on the wrong question. She tapped it twice with the pen tip. “You should figure this one out first.”
…
The pressure was indeed great. As the College Entrance Exam approached, Ci Ye even got blisters in his mouth. To keep Song Fu from seeing and remembering it, he wore a mask almost twenty-four hours a day, just one day short.
Ci Ye pinched his nose and drank the cooling tea, his mind on backup plans. Even if he didn’t get into Song Fu’s university, there were others nearby he could settle for—
Fortunately.
In the end, hard work paid off for the diligent.
Song Fu and Ci Ye’s admission notices arrived on the same day, in identical packaging with the same school emblem.
Only then did Ci Ye fully relax. He laid the two admission notices side by side. “My grandma burned incense for me for days.” Saying it out loud was embarrassing. These past couple days, his nightmares had been about slipping up, ending up separated from Song Fu, and her being chased down by that annoying guy.
Song Fu was busy activating her campus card. She spared a glance at them without much excitement—after all, they could check the school website long ago. Now it was just receiving the documents and learning about payments.
After activating her campus card, she didn’t forget to message Zhu Chenxi: Ci Ye and I got our admission notices. What about yours?
Zhu Chenxi first replied with a crying cat emoji: Mine’s still on the way.
Zhu Chenxi: I’m working part-time at a milk tea shop, planning a trip next month [confetti.jpg]
When Song Fu was asked for recommendations, she seriously replied. She turned to Ci Ye. “What was the name of that orthopedic shop we went to before?”
Ci Ye pulled it up on his phone map app and shared it.
Song Fu continued her enthusiastic recommendations.
About fifteen minutes later, she looked up and met Ci Ye’s dark eyes, puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
Ci Ye cleared his throat with a “whoosh,” somehow producing two sheets of paper. “Well, wasn’t it agreed we’d talk after graduation? You didn’t forget, right?”
Song Fu hadn’t forgotten and had no intention of going back on it. She nodded lightly. “Sure, let’s start dating.”
Her eyes curved in a smile. “In that case, you’re my boyfriend.”
Ci Ye looked at the beautiful smile before him, and his heart suddenly filled up. He reciprocated politely. “Yeah, you’re my girlfriend.”
Then what?
There didn’t seem to be any obvious or dramatic changes.
The two stared at each other for nearly a minute.
Song Fu broke the silence first. “Want some coffee?”
Ci Ye replied, “Plain water’s fine for me.”
He followed Song Fu as she got up and grabbed a chilled bottle from the fridge. He chugged more than half, making it look like downing alcohol, his Adam’s apple bobbing prominently. “I want to kiss you.” The young man was serious and solemn.
Song Fu was drinking coffee and nearly choked. “Don’t say that next time while I’m drinking.”
Ci Ye said “oh” and leaned close to Song Fu. “How about now?”
“…Fine.” They’d agreed to date, so being coy about this was pointless, though it didn’t stop Song Fu from feeling it was fast. She hadn’t dated before, but she knew, “Shouldn’t we start with holding hands?”
Ci Ye didn’t know either—he just wanted to, and had wanted to for a long time, so he said it. He looked at her eagerly. “Still kiss?”
“Sure.”
With permission, Ci Ye hesitated, lifting his hand only to lower it again. He dropped his gaze to Song Fu’s rosy lips.
Song Fu felt scorched by his stare and uncomfortably pressed her lips together.
Ci Ye’s face drew near, slowly closing the distance to inches apart. Though they’d grown up together, this was Song Fu’s first time looking at Ci Ye’s face so closely—she even noticed the faint tremble of his eyelashes.
While she was dazed, a light kiss, like a feather brushing over, landed on the corner of her mouth.
Song Fu felt her cheeks heat up, and she noticed Ci Ye’s equally flushed face and more noticeably trembling eyelashes.
They stayed like that, pressed together, for three seconds before parting.
Ci Ye suddenly realized something. Blushing, he stammered, “You didn’t close your eyes?”
Song Fu felt embarrassed. “Forgot.”
Ci Ye’s ears were red enough to bleed. He schooled his face. “Close your eyes next time.”
“Okay.” Song Fu grinned and made an OK sign. First time—not familiar with the process, totally normal.
Then Ci Ye took her hand, first hooking fingertips, then fully clasping it, fingers interlocking.
Acting like nothing had happened, he suggested, “How about we take Huan Huan for a walk in the park?” Going out would let everyone see—they could now hold hands and kiss.
The hand holding Song Fu’s connected to her heart, beating together, making her unable to ignore it. “Too early now—we should wait till evening when there are fewer people.” Huan Huan had a good temperament, but it was almost a large dog, so restrictions were stricter.
“Then, just the two of us go for a stroll?” Ci Ye didn’t let go.
After he squeezed her hand twice, Song Fu got it and smiled. “Sure, and catch a movie?”
Ci Ye agreed instantly. They left right away.
Under the clear sky needing no poetic adornment, the two’s shadows huddled tightly at their feet, merging together.