“2018.09.01 Late Summer Longing for Summer”
And so summer arrived, and we met again.
—Excerpt from Tao Shuran’s Diary
“Liang Yuanjing”: The photos are developed. Give me an email, and I’ll send you a copy.
It turned out to be about this.
“Tao Shuran”: Okay. Anything else?
Having just gone through a heart-to-heart with Fang Qingyi, Tao Shuran was in low spirits. She realized the emotion in that sentence didn’t fit, so she wanted to withdraw it.
But Liang Yuanjing replied first.
“Nothing else. Fu Changpei had something come up, so he’s taking the early bus back to Fuqing City tomorrow. Tell Fang Qingyi.”
Tao Shuran replied with “Mm,” knowing this was Liang Yuanjing hinting that it was better to give her a reason now than let her find out on her own tomorrow.
That night, Fang Qingyi came down with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea. They rushed her to the hospital and dealt with it all night. The Liandu trip finally ended hastily.
On the way back, Tao Shuran went with Liang Yuanjing.
Zhou Hongcai was the Fang family’s driver, so he naturally prioritized Fang Qingyi. Their four places weren’t on the way, and shuttling around would waste time.
When they reached Fuqing City, Liang Yuanjing got off first and conveniently took Tao Shuran along too.
“I left something at Fu Changpei’s house.”
Liang Yuanjing carried his bag. He saw her holding two large boxes of Liandu specialties, paused his steps, and took one from her.
He asked casually, “Have you figured it out?”
“What?”
“The volunteer form.”
Tao Shuran caught on. She hadn’t expected him to still have it on his mind.
She quickly said, “I’ve decided. I’m going for cultural relics restoration.”
Liang Yuanjing gave a low “Mm.” “No regrets?”
Tao Shuran smiled at him. “For something or someone you love, no regrets.”
That night after getting back, Tao Shuran sat face-to-face with Zhao Yanyun in an unprecedented negotiation.
The scene was very grim, the atmosphere frozen solid.
Zhao Yanyun had a cold face. “You made me drive an hour home just to hear you spout nonsense about only applying for cultural relics restoration?”
Choosing this major wasn’t a whim.
Tao Shuran said earnestly, “I’ve looked into it. Later, I can work in a museum or do cultural relic protection work. I think it’s very meaningful.”
“No one takes such high scores to pick a niche major like that.”
Zhao Yanyun tried to persuade her patiently. “If it were really that good, would it be niche?”
“Besides, cultural relics restoration requires an art foundation. Do you have one? You’ve been slow at learning things since elementary school. These handicrafts take three to five years to master. In the end, you’ll be stuck in the middle, good at nothing.”
“Mom, back when I chose liberal arts, it was because you said my brain was slow and only good for rote memorization.”
Tao Shuran paused. Memories hurt by those words flooded back, tinting her tone with sadness. “Now, are you going to use the same reason to deny me again?”
She countered, “Does that mean paths others have taken must be the right ones? Does worldly ‘decency’ equal success?”
Zhao Yanyun was so angry she had nothing to say.
After a long while, she spat out, “So I can’t control you anymore, huh?”
“It’s not that you can’t control me.” Tao Shuran shook her head gently. Her soft, watery eyes looked at her. “It’s because I love you, Mom. I believe you’re doing it for my own good, so I’ve been willing to respect and obey the decisions you make for me.”
She knew there was no room for compromise anymore.
Zhao Yanyun said coldly, “Since you’ve made up your own mind, just don’t regret it later.”
After all, she was her own daughter. She understood a bit of Tao Shuran’s temperament.
She looked obedient and compliant, but had a soft yet unyielding stubbornness deep down.
Actually, that was pretty good.
As a mother, her heart always worried that Tao Shuran was too soft and would get bullied later.
…
After much hardship, Tao Shuran finally gained the autonomy to choose her own volunteer major.
She couldn’t help jumping up in joyful cheers.
On her way downstairs to buy ice cream, she passed the corner of the corridor and saw Fu Changpei smoking there again.
He was very quiet, especially when exhaling smoke.
Those gentle eyes that could almost condense water now held an indistinct gloom amid the grayish-blue haze.
Tao Shuran leaned on the corridor railing and blew in the wind for a while.
When Fu Changpei came out, the ice cream stick in her hand had just been eaten down to the wood. She snapped it in her hand, playing with the pieces.
Seeing her, Fu Changpei was stunned again.
He tossed the cigarette butt from between his fingers into the trash can, then slowly pulled a wet wipe from his pocket and handed it to her.
Tao Shuran smiled and said, “Thanks.” She lowered her head and wiped her sticky hands.
“Have you submitted your volunteer form?”
If he remembered right, today was the last day.
Fu Changpei: “Not yet.”
“If you’ve decided, I can help you.”
Tao Shuran half-jokingly said, “Worst case, I get a beating from my mom. She’s probably itching to give me one lately.”
It was rare for her to say something so playful, especially after hearing the commotion from Fu Changpei’s house these past few days.
He must have had a big fallout with his family over the volunteer issue.
But Tao Shuran felt that during senior year, Fu Changpei had helped her studies a lot. For both reason and emotion, she should help him.
Fu Changpei looked at her quietly. A hint of amusement rippled in his calm eyes.
He said softly, “Okay.”
At eleven that night, the urgent wail of an ambulance siren shattered the quiet of West Kang Road.
Tao Shuran had just lain down and closed her eyes when the sound startled her upright. She pulled back the curtains and saw the lights blazing across at Fu Changpei’s house, with several people bustling around.
She went out, and Zhao Yanyun and Tao Hongfeng were pulling coats over their pajamas.
Tao Hongfeng patted her shoulder. “It’s fine. Dad and Mom are just going to check the situation.”
“Probably old man Fu isn’t doing well,” Zhao Yanyun said. “We’re all neighbors. I’ll go take a look.”
With something like this happening, Tao Shuran couldn’t sleep.
It was almost dawn when Zhao Yanyun finally returned from the hospital, exhaustion plain on her face. She just waved her hand upon entering.
She hinted obliquely, “He passed away around midnight.”
Fu Changpei had been raised by his grandparents from childhood.
Tao Shuran sighed inwardly and started calling Fang Qingyi.
Just then, Fang Qingyi called her.
Her tone was extremely anxious. “Ranran, have you seen Fu Changpei? I can’t reach him.”
Tao Shuran quickly asked Zhao Yanyun, “Mom, did you see Fu Changpei at the hospital?”
“I did. He probably went back to the hometown with them for the funeral.”
Zhao Yanyun said with regret, “I only learned today that Fu Changpei wanted to study medicine not just because his dad was a doctor, but also because of his grandpa’s illness.”
“Sigh, the kid’s a good one, just too pitiful. His dad died on the operating table, and his mom refused to let him study medicine no matter what.”
So that was the reason?
No wonder he always hid in corners smoking alone. Compared to the ordeal she faced choosing a major, this was a truly insurmountable difficulty.
Tao Shuran gradually grew worried about Fu Changpei’s state.
But to everyone’s surprise, throughout the entire summer vacation, Fu Changpei completely vanished without a trace.
No one knew where he went or what major he ultimately chose.
Later, when the admission lists came out, after asking around, Tao Shuran finally heard about his whereabouts from others.
In the end, Fu Changpei gave up his dream of becoming a doctor.
He chose the Qing University economics track.
The growing pains arrived belatedly. Tao Shuran stood in front of the corridor, looking at the now-empty house.
She slowly realized that youth didn’t mean everything went as wished.
For example, she had entered Qing University but hadn’t gotten any closer to Liang Yuanjing.
After returning from Liandu, they had no further contact.
Outdated chat records, like dispersed classmates, gradually became old relics. Liang Yuanjing’s online time grew shorter and shorter, but Tao Shuran still hadn’t found a chance to add his new contact.
She felt a bit dim.
On the day classes officially started, she felt a slight hopeful anticipation again—would they reunite in the new campus?
For the sense of ceremony in starting university, Zhao Yanyun specially took a day off to personally escort her for registration.
As they left, Tao Hongfeng whispered in her ear, “Your mom won’t say it, but she’s really proud you got into Qing University.”
“She brags about you to everyone.”
Tao Shuran felt a bit embarrassed. Sitting in the car, she said to Tao Hongfeng and Zhao Yanyun, “Mom, Dad, just drop me at the gate. Qingyi said she’s waiting there.”
Fuqing Normal College started two days earlier than Qing University.
Thus, Fang Qingyi had settled in ahead of them.
For the university celebration vibe, she had dyed her hair a flashy red during vacation. With her fair skin and tall figure, wearing a short-sleeved top and shorts at the school gate, she was strikingly beautiful.
“There are so many people at your school gate. I was worried you wouldn’t spot me.”
Tao Shuran tugged her hair. “With this head of hair, I saw you first thing in the crowd.”
Qing University lived up to being Fuqing City’s top comprehensive school. The campus was vast, beyond sight. From the main gate, a wide asphalt road led in, flanked by bus stops and bike rental stations—like a miniature city.
Even Fang Qingyi couldn’t help smacking her lips.
“Your Qing University is so fancy. Feels like my little rundown school isn’t even as big as your entrance area.”
“Suddenly regret not studying harder. Ranran, think I could repeat a year?”
Tao Shuran: “You mean getting up at five-thirty and sleeping at twelve-thirty?”
Fang Qingyi: ……
“Where do we go now?”
Tao Shuran didn’t know either.
Logically, senior students should greet freshmen at the gate, but today being the first peak registration day, the school’s manpower was clearly insufficient.
At that moment, Tao Shuran stood with her suitcase in a shady spot, looking a bit lost.
Her phone had a Qing University map guide downloaded before school started. The colorful arrows dazzled the eyes. Tao Shuran’s sense of direction was just up-north down-south.
Coincidentally, Fang Qingyi’s was left-west right-east for the rest.
“How about we ask someone?”
Fang Qingyi glanced around. “Where’s Fu Changpei? Shouldn’t he be registering today too? Haven’t seen him.”
“You’re here to accompany me for registration?”
Tao Shuran unceremoniously exposed her. “Why do I feel like you have other motives?”
Fang Qingyi didn’t even pretend. She asked directly, “Where’s the Finance and Economics College?”
“Broke up in love?”
“Haven’t even been in love, where’s the breakup?”
Fang Qingyi clasped her hands, back to her full-of-energy self.
“Long time no see. After a summer apart, I feel like I like him even more.”
Tao Shuran cut her off promptly. “So, classmate Fang Qingyi, can you tell me how to get to Chongming Building?”
According to the freshman handbook, new students had to go to Chongming Building first for registration, get their number tag, and then enter the dorms.
“How about we just walk ahead and see?”
That was all they could do.
The heavy suitcase dragged arduously over the uneven bluestone path. Tao Shuran used all her strength, sweat beading on her forehead.
She looked up at the lush green campus and yearned endlessly in her heart.
In the long-awaited Qing University, could she reunite with the person she longed to see?
Speakers installed around campus corners blared a harsh noise, followed by scraping adjustment sounds. Then a deep, rich voice slowly rang out—
“In this midsummer, welcome all new students to Fuqing University. I will now issue the freshman guidance.”
Please enter from the north gate, proceed straight, turn at the second intersection into Chongming Building to handle enrollment procedures.”
The broadcast area seemed noisy, with intermittent voices from others. After this, a girl’s playful voice came from nearby.
“What if we still can’t find the place?”
“Can I add your contact, Liang classmate?”
Tao Shuran stopped in her tracks.
She turned her head and exchanged a knowing look with Fang Qingyi.
It was Liang Yuanjing.
Finally, they met again.