“2017.08.22 Weather: Cloudy turning sunny”
The sunlight shone brightly, and the cicadas chirped endlessly.
Today you called my name for the first time, and I was very happy. This was the first happy thing since I came to Fuqing City.
—Excerpted from Tao Shuran’s Diary
The first thing Tao Shuran noticed in her field of vision was the young man’s pair of clean and slender hands. His skin was fair and delicate, with neatly trimmed and rounded nail edges, without a single hangnail.
Her heart raced, and she didn’t dare lift her head to look straight at his face.
She flusteredly took the thing he handed over—it was a national-standard B5 loose-leaf notebook.
It even had colored tabs marking the subjects inside, making it very convenient to look up.
This must have been the “secret weapon” that Fang Qingyi had said she would find for her exam yesterday.
But why did they have Liang Yuanjing deliver it?
This feeling was quite wondrous. Two parallel lines that had no business crossing paths suddenly intersected one day.
Tao Shuran didn’t even dare to think about it.
She lifted her head and, catching a glimpse of his departing back with her peripheral vision, finally mustered the courage to say to his back, “Thank you.”
Liang Yuanjing didn’t turn around. He casually raised a hand while slinging his backpack over one shoulder, and the golden shards of light filtering through the sycamore branches bloomed into little golden flowers under his feet on the corridor’s pure white tiles.
Tao Shuran suddenly recalled the moment she had just seen him—
His slightly damp black hair fell over his forehead, his school jacket rolled up into a bundle around his waist, with just a simple black T-shirt inside. His shoulders were level, his waist narrow, exuding an irrepressible youthful vibe.
The eyes he turned toward her were as bright and shining as the sun.
They made Tao Shuran’s heart swell up, blown full by a whole scorching summer breeze.
In the evening, she walked home stepping into the falling dusk, with cicadas chirping nonstop along the way.
Fang Qingyi called right on time to ask her, “Hey, Ranran, did you get that notebook? I asked Fu Changpei from Class 4 to give it to you.”
“I got it.”
Tao Shuran paused, then said softly, “But it was Liang Yuanjing who delivered it.”
As she spoke, her peripheral vision caught sight of a small shop by the roadside. Thinking of Ms. Zhao’s exquisite breakfasts, Tao Shuran decided to buy some bread to stock up at home ahead of time.
On the phone, Fang Qingyi clicked her tongue. “Good thing he came to find you after class, or the girls in our Class 1 would’ve exploded.”
Tao Shuran asked softly, “Do a lot of girls in Class 1 like him?”
“No no no.” Fang Qingyi said in an exaggerated tone, “It’s not just Class 1—it’s all the girls in the school who like him.”
“Of course, except for the great and wise me.”
Tao Shuran let out a “pfft” and laughed. “Not talking to you anymore. I’m buying some stuff.”
After hanging up, Tao Shuran walked straight into the small shop.
It was a modest-sized supermarket, with some loose bread on the shelves. Tao Shuran thought for a moment, then turned back to the front to grab a weigh bag.
She casually placed the book in her hand on the glass counter in front.
She grabbed some blueberry bread, purple sweet potato toast, and caterpillar bread, stuffing them into the plastic bag. After browsing two aisles, she decisively added a bag of chips.
“Boss, how much is it?”
“Eighteen fifty.”
Just a casual glance, and he gave such a precise number. Tao Shuran glanced at the scale reading, which matched her mental calculation pretty closely.
Only then did she notice that the boss sitting behind the counter was a boy about her age, with soft hair hanging over his forehead. He had eyelashes even longer than a girl’s, drooping quietly, giving him a gentle and serene air.
Moreover, Tao Shuran noticed that the book in his hand was a Level 4 English vocabulary book.
She had memorized a round of it over the summer to expand her vocabulary, on the recommendation of her English teacher at the time.
Tao Shuran couldn’t help but take another look. After paying, she picked up her things to leave, but the boy also picked up the loose-leaf notebook in front of him and stuffed it into his bag.
She immediately said, “Sorry, that’s my book.”
The boy slightly raised his head, pressed a long finger on the cover, then flipped open the title page with one finger, pointing to a not-very-obvious signature. “It has my name on it.”
“This is my notebook.”
Tao Shuran looked at him in surprise. “You’re Fu Changpei?”
At the same time, Fu Changpei spoke up. “You’re Tao Shuran?”
In a flash, he remembered.
“Sorry.” Fu Changpei said. “I’m used to putting away books. I forgot I lent it out.”
Tao Shuran hurriedly said, “No no no, my bad. Little Yi said she borrowed it from you. If you need it, go ahead and take it.”
Fu Changpei said, “You use it.”
Staring at his face, Tao Shuran had a vague sense of familiarity. She racked her brain, and finally, upon hearing his voice, all the memories came flooding back.
“It’s you?”
“It’s me.” Fu Changpei smiled faintly. “Sorry for bumping into you that day.”
He apologized again.
This was absolutely not what Tao Shuran intended by bringing it up.
“It’s fine. Then I’ll buy a case of water. Help me calculate the total.”
Fu Changpei glanced over, stood up, and asked her, “You live upstairs?”
Tao Shuran softly said “mm,” not expecting to run into a classmate here.
After paying, she suddenly realized how she was going to carry this whole case of water up.
Fu Changpei volunteered, “I’ll carry it up for you.”
“Knock knock knock—”
“Coming.” Zhao Yanyun, tying her apron, ran over to open the door, still holding a spatula. But upon opening it, she froze.
Why was there a handsome young guy standing at the door?
Three seconds later, Tao Shuran’s head poked out from behind him, then the rest of her squeezed in.
“Mom, I bought a case of water—it’s too heavy. My classmate brought it up for me.”
“Oh oh.” Zhao Yanyun snapped out of it and warmly invited him, “Have you eaten? Want to come in for a bite?”
Tao Shuran’s eyes widened. Without thinking, she hugged the things from Fu Changpei’s hands and put them inside.
While gently pushing him out, she turned her head to Zhao Yanyun and said, “Mom, he already ate dinner. He still needs to go back and study.”
Outside the door, Fu Changpei was baffled.
The girl’s strength wasn’t great—pushing him felt like a kitten kneading milk—but he still cooperated by stepping back a bit.
The moment the door closed, he heard Tao Shuran whisper in his ear—
“Sorry, but my mom’s cooking is really super bad.”
Outside the door, Fu Changpei froze for a second, then chuckled and shook his head.
On the Affiliated Middle School track field, whistles blew nonstop, filled with the sounds of legs lifting and falling in training.
“You there, lift your legs higher! High knees, high knees! You lifting that low, you want a beating or what?”
The instructor nearby narrowed his eyes and spotted a familiar figure in the distance, barking angrily.
“Liang Yuanjing, late for training again. Go do 50 extra push-ups over there.”
Liang Yuanjing said nothing, dropped his backpack, braced his arms, and swiftly went up and down repeatedly, so fast it nearly blurred.
“Rare sight, Liang bro. You actually late for flight training.”
It was their sports students’ training time in the evening. Zhao Zhengnian rubbed his wrist, warming up beside him.
He leaned in and whispered, “What mischief did you get up to?”
In less than a minute, Liang Yuanjing finished the fifty push-ups quickly.
Under the scorching midsummer sun, he grabbed a water bottle from nearby, tilted his head back to drink, sweat trailing down his sharp jaw to his muscular chest, his Adam’s apple bobbing several times.
He just said, “Helped Old Fu deliver something.”
Who knew Zhao Zhengnian’s eyes would light up. “Helped who? A girl?”
Liang Yuanjing didn’t reply, so Zhao Zhengnian took it as a yes.
“This blockhead’s finally wised up. Weren’t you usually too shy to say more than a word to girls?”
Once Zhao Zhengnian started, he couldn’t stop, chattering away.
“Let me tell you, my new desk mate is super gentle. Always smells nice. Wasn’t my knee scraped yesterday?”
He lifted his leg to show the band-aid. “See? She’s so thoughtful—specially got it from Fang Qingyi for me.”
It was just a small scrape from running yesterday.
Liang Yuanjing glanced over and sneered coldly, “So delicate.”
“I wish you another one today to make a pair.”
Zhao Zhengnian’s eyebrows shot up. “Why’s your mouth so venomous?”
“Jealous!”
“Pure jealousy!”
……
“What are you two bragging about over there? Get moving!”
The instructor in camouflage walked over, tone stern.
“Final year sprint—not just studies, physical training can’t slack either.”
He pointed. “Liang Yuanjing, go do two more sets of wheel rolls.”
Zhao Zhengnian bolted immediately.
He had curiously tried the wheel roll before. Standing on it was fine, but once it spun, the world whirled and he felt like dying after three turns.
When he got off, he vomited up last night’s dinner and took a day off to recover.
But Liang Yuanjing acted like it was nothing.
If others did 5 turns, he made himself do 10.
By now, he could handle advanced training: ten forward, ten reverse, then another ten forward.
Zhao Zhengnian thought he didn’t need to push so hard.
“You already passed the Flight Class selection anyway. As long as Gaokao isn’t bad, Aviation University is a sure thing.”
“I want more than that.”
Liang Yuanjing raised his head firmly, gazing at the boundless blue sky.
“My dream is to soar into the clouds.”
The day after the baseline exam ended, Affiliated Middle School posted the Honor Roll on the bulletin board under the teaching building.
At breakfast, Zhao Yanyun casually asked, “Ranran, do you have any dreams?”
“What do you want to do in the future?”
Tao Shuran pursed her lips and said nothing.
Zhao Yanyun said offhandedly, “Then be a lawyer after graduation. Jingbei Politics and Law University is pretty good. Work hard and aim for one of the four departments or five academies.”
After seeing the score rankings on the Honor Roll, Tao Shuran stared woodenly, thinking Ms. Zhao’s expectations for her probably wouldn’t come true.
She couldn’t even touch the threshold of those elite schools.
This baseline exam covered the entire high school curriculum. Even after cramming before the test, Tao Shuran still hadn’t mastered all the points.
The liberal arts were okay, but math was the killer—many definitions she hadn’t learned, and she left the final pressure questions blank.
The score loss was devastating.
In the crowd, Fang Qingyi let out a miserable wail. “We’re done for. Gotta get parents called in again this time.”
Zhao Zhengnian patted her shoulder by way of comfort.
“This time it’s us two at the bottom, standing in line outside the office.”
He glanced at Tao Shuran and added, “Oh, the three of us this time.”
“New desk mate, congrats on joining our bottom-feeder squad.”
Fang Qingyi slapped away his hand reaching for a high-five pact. “Pah pah pah, bad luck. Who wants to bottom with you.”
“Get lost, Zhao Zhengnian. This time English was your only fail—believe Zhao-teacher’s gonna roar again.”
“She’s got her shrewish roar, I’ve got my earplugs.” Zhao Zhengnian shot back. “As for you, Miss Fang, your dad’s on finance news and still has to come to your parent-teacher conference. Won’t you get an earful at home?”
This hit Fang Qingyi right in the heart.
Everyone knew her dad cared most about his only daughter’s studies, and she was the least promising. After every teacher scolding, it was phone confiscation and card freeze at home—a whole routine that tormented Fang Qingyi.
Furious, she tussled with Zhao Zhengnian on the spot.
Watching their playful scuffle brought a bit of lively cheer that slightly dispersed the gloom of her poor exam.
A smile tugged at Tao Shuran’s lips. Her gaze instinctively drifted upward.
Finally, it fixed on a certain name, and she suddenly felt a matching gaze upon her.
Then, a clear, crisp youthful aura drew close. Tao Shuran froze rigid, not daring to move.
Because she realized Liang Yuanjing was standing right behind her.
Tao Shuran’s heart pounded heavily, nearly leaping out of her chest.
At the same time, her gaze instinctively dropped.
At that moment, his shadow fell, completely enveloping her.