“2019.06.22”
There was that one instant when she wanted to tell him that she liked him.
—Excerpt from 《Tao Shuran’s Diary》
It turned out he had called her over to serve as his excuse for rejection.
Tao Shuran felt a bit helpless. What did he mean by his girlfriend being fierce? Was she fierce?
As if he had seen her disagreement with the excuse, Liang Yuanjing continued slowly, “My family tutor is strict too.”
“They never allowed me to add any girls on WeChat.”
With things said to that point, the girl had no intention of persisting.
She sneered, “Real or fake? You have a girlfriend.”
The girl looked Tao Shuran up and down and commented, “Can’t tell at all. She looks like a little sister.”
The moment she spoke, Liang Yuanjing had already stepped forward proactively, blocking Tao Shuran completely behind him.
He smiled faintly, his voice emotionless.
“Isn’t it a bit much to casually judge others?”
Tao Shuran bit her lower lip and looked down at her outfit—a simple white T-shirt paired with black long pants. Her daily style was comfortable and casual, indeed not very fashionable.
She didn’t know where she mustered the courage, but she reached out and took hold of Liang Yuanjing’s hand hanging at his side.
Like she was declaring ownership, she said, “We’re a real couple.”
After the girl left, Tao Shuran immediately let go of his hand. Her lowered eyelashes trembled, and the heat in her palm burned, yet she felt like a child who had done something wrong.
Liang Yuanjing chuckled lowly. “Why are you the one getting angry after rejecting someone else?”
He deliberately bent down to tease her. “Your eyes are so round. You look just like Novia.”
Mentioning Novia reminded Tao Shuran of something.
She lifted her head and glared at him without much menace. “Liang Yuanjing, you lied to me.”
“Novia isn’t a cat at all.”
The last time she went to Lin Tingzhou’s house, she had asked about Novia, and Lin Tingzhou had looked surprised.
“We’ve never had a cat at home. Both A Jing’s mom and I have severe mysophobia.”
“Novia? That’s A Jing’s little cousin. She’s only five this year. What’s wrong? Did A Jing tease you by saying Novia was a kitten?”
Tao Shuran still remembered Lin Tingzhou’s teasing expression from back then. She had wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it right there.
Now that Liang Yuanjing brought up the old matter, she naturally had to settle the score with him.
Liang Yuanjing’s laughter grew even more unrestrained. He opened his mouth and went, “Ah.”
He seemed a bit regretful that she had found out just like that.
Then, without much sincerity, he said to her, “Sorry.”
“Then I’ll meow meow meow for you.”
He still dared to mention it!
Tao Shuran angrily punched his arm, but who knew that his well-exercised forearm had smooth lines and hard muscles. Hitting it only hurt her own hand.
She fumed, “Liang Yuanjing, how could you do that?”
Liang Yuanjing: “Meow.”
“You’re so annoying.”
Tao Shuran stomped her foot in place out of anger. She hugged her arms and turned away, deciding not to talk to him anymore.
Anyway, whatever she said, he would just “meow” back.
He was probably the most cat-like person in the whole world.
“Really that annoying?”
Liang Yuanjing slowly pulled a ticket out of his pocket and placed it in front of her like magic.
He snorted a laugh. “But what am I supposed to do with this ticket I haven’t given away yet?”
“For the sake of the Ferris Wheel and carousel, forgive me?”
On the way back, Liang Yuanjing drove them. Tao Shuran sat in the back seat, distributing the amusement park tickets one by one.
Fang Qingyi pretended to be troubled. “But I have class on June 22nd. What now?”
She had originally wanted Liang Yuanjing to think of a way to help her skip it.
Unexpectedly, Liang Yuanjing didn’t take the bait at all. Instead, he shrugged indifferently.
In a tone like he had her figured out, “I don’t know. But I can confirm Old Fu is going.”
Fang Qingyi went silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll go.”
Liang Yuanjing burst out laughing, as if the result was no surprise.
When the car reached the entrance of Fuqing Normal College, Fang Qingyi pushed open the door and got out.
Watching her retreating back, Tao Shuran propped her chin and asked slowly, “Why do you always use Fu Changpei to tempt her?”
“But it works.”
Liang Yuanjing raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you think those two match well?”
“One chatters nonstop, the other is a quiet type who doesn’t talk.”
From a personality standpoint, the two were indeed complementary. Fang Qingyi was the pure little sun type—even if she got rejected by Fu Changpei after confessing, she would cry it out and be back to normal the next day.
As for Fu Changpei… he had become even less communicative these past two years. Tao Shuran felt his life was indeed missing a beam of light shining on him.
As if struck by a sudden realization, she asked, “Liang Yuanjing, can liking someone really come true?”
“Not necessarily.”
Liang Yuanjing slowly pressed the accelerator. He glanced at her face in the rearview mirror.
He teased, “What, thinking about that crush of yours again?”
“Seriously, introduce me sometime.”
He pressed his tongue against his cheek, sounding a bit gritted.
“I want to see just what kind of person it is.”
A single amusement park ticket made the entire month of June something to look forward to.
During the hectic end-of-term week when she was spinning like a top, Tao Shuran’s mood was unprecedentedly good.
This change was obvious—even the most oblivious Lin Shuang in the dorm noticed.
One day, Lin Shuang suddenly exclaimed, “Ranran, you seem a lot prettier lately.”
“Really?”
Tao Shuran hugged her books and looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a sky-blue cotton long skirt, no big change from her usual.
“It’s a glow from the inside out. You look radiant all over.”
Lin Shuang sighed. “Looks like this romance has been nourishing you plenty.”
Setting aside the element of love, Liang Yuanjing was indeed the perfect boyfriend without flaws.
He was always considerate and attentive, mindful of her moods. Once he learned about her period pain, he started sending longan and red date soup on time every month, claiming the auntie at home made too much.
Perhaps precisely because there was no love, he could treat her so well without any reservations, like a friend.
At that thought, the smile on Tao Shuran’s face faded a bit.
“I might come back late tonight. If the auntie checks the dorm, let me know.”
“What, got a date tonight?”
Tao Shuran smiled a bit embarrassedly.
Luo Qiuya poked her head out. “Wish you two a happy day.”
Before heading to the amusement park, Tao Shuran made a trip to Lin Tingzhou’s office.
Lin Tingzhou was watching the replay of her competition that day. Although the list of entrants hadn’t come out yet, she valued the on-site performance more than the results.
Clearly, Tao Shuran’s performance had been good.
But in the sparse shots of the audience seats, Lin Tingzhou spotted an unexpected person.
As she thought about it, Tao Shuran knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
“You’re here, sit.” Lin Tingzhou pointed to the seat in front of her, gesturing for her to sit, and asked mildly, “I called you today to talk about your future plans.”
“This semester’s classes are ending soon. You’ll be a sophomore next year, and the school needs to tally grad school aspirations. I wanted to ask if you plan to go straight to work after graduation or continue further studies?”
Tao Shuran thought for a moment and said, “I plan to take the grad school entrance exam.”
Lin Tingzhou hummed, signaling her to continue.
“On one hand, I feel the knowledge I gained in undergrad isn’t enough to make me a professional cultural relics restorer. On the other, I want to delve deeper into this field and become someone like you in the future.”
Lin Tingzhou looked at her approvingly. “Have you thought about which school? Staying at Qing University?”
“I want to go to Jingbei.”
The answer surprised Lin Tingzhou.
She raised an eyebrow and said from a teacher’s perspective, “Your grades are top three in the year. As long as you stay steady the next two years, getting recommendation exemption here won’t be an issue. Why go all the way to Jingbei?”
“Fuqing Museum is famous nationwide too. You could do research with me there.”
“Thank you for your kindness, but I still want to go to Jingbei.”
Tao Shuran paused, a stubborn determination flashing across her youthful face.
“It’s not because Fuqing isn’t good enough, but because of one person.”
Lin Tingzhou’s gaze fixed on the screen. After a moment, she understood everything in a flash.
She smiled. “Teacher respects your decision.”
“After all, youth is about being head over heels.”
In Tao Shuran’s planned life, during her junior year, Liang Yuanjing would head far away to Jingbei Aerospace University for intensive training.
And in that year without him, she would double her efforts to get into a university in Jingbei.
That way, she would follow him, stepping in his footsteps, moving forward bit by bit.
That was the best ending, the most wonderful youth.
On the taxi ride to the amusement park, the street scenes outside the window flashed by like in a movie.
Today was June 22nd, an extremely special day for her.
Tao Shuran closed her eyes and made a heartfelt wish: May everything she wanted steadily come true.
The tickets were for the evening. As lights came on, neon flickered, but the amusement park’s lights were unusually dim.
At the ticket check, Tao Shuran hesitated and asked the staff.
“Is this a blackout?”
“Temporary facility maintenance.”
The staff directed her forward. “Our Ferris Wheel is operating normally. As compensation, here’s a small animal hairband. Pick one.”
Near the entrance, by a shelf, there was a display rack of various small animal hairbands.
All classic park IP designs. Tao Shuran scanned them and chose a brown raccoon ears one.
She put it on and slowly walked toward the Ferris Wheel.
Tao Shuran had never properly ridden a Ferris Wheel before. Since coming to Fuqing, she had been racing against time and never properly enjoyed the city’s entertainment spots.
Under the Ferris Wheel, Fang Qingyi and Zhao Zhengnian were already queuing.
“Ranran, we’ll take the next one. I checked online—half past seven when it gets dark is best for the night view.”
Tao Shuran agreed with a “good.”
After about five minutes, Liang Yuanjing and Fu Changpei came jogging over from nearby.
Strangely, though the whole park was pitch black, in Tao Shuran’s eyes, their figures running against the wind still shone with youthful sparkle.
She smiled lightly and raised her hand in greeting. With Liang Yuanjing’s arrival, she felt a slight tension.
A new Ferris Wheel cabin soon arrived.
Before boarding, Fang Qingyi exclaimed, “Oh no, seems like max four per cabin.”
“Can’t leave someone alone, right? We’ll three go first.”
Fang Qingyi grabbed Fu Changpei with one hand and Zhao Zhengnian with the other, piling in.
Once seated, she shot Tao Shuran a knowing look. Fang Qingyi thought bitterly to herself that she too wanted some alone time romance with Fu Changpei.
But Zhao Zhengnian, that clueless third wheel, would definitely squeeze between Liang Yuanjing and Tao Shuran, blabbing nonstop and ruining all the ambiance.
For her good sister’s happiness, Fang Qingyi resolutely sacrificed herself.
“Careful.”
Tao Shuran held the railing and slowly boarded the Ferris Wheel. She sat opposite Liang Yuanjing, their gazes inadvertently meeting.
She frantically turned her head away, only to catch in the glass reflection the moment Liang Yuanjing hastily looked away.
What was he flustered about?
None of it was knowable. Tao Shuran quietly gazed out the window, watching the Ferris Wheel lights slowly rise, gradually reaching the top.
At that point, the whole park would be in view, the city’s brilliant lights below—surely a beautiful scene.
Too bad the lights were faulty tonight.
At that thought, Tao Shuran felt a bit regretful.
And in that instant, with a “ding,” as the Ferris Wheel reached the top, all the lights around her lit up one after another.
She couldn’t help but go “wow,” amazed by the spectacular sight.
Meanwhile, Liang Yuanjing, who had been silently counting with eyes closed, opened his eyes. Sweat beaded tensely in his palm, his eyes bright as he looked at her and said—
“Tao Shuran, seven thirty-two. Your birth time, down to the second.”
“This is the gift I give you.”
When the Ferris Wheel reached the highest point, the lights of the entire amusement park lit up to celebrate her birthday.
Tao Shuran fixed a pair of eyes completely focused on him.
The legend held that each cabin of the Ferris Wheel was filled with happiness. When the happiness one longed for had not arrived for a long time, one could ride the Ferris Wheel to the highest point in the sky and overlook the entire city.
Tao Shuran now understood those words. When the splendid streetscape of the entire city lay beneath her eyes, and in the instant all the lights blazed for her, her peripheral vision fell only on the person sitting beside her.
It turned out her happiness had long since arrived by her side.
Seeing her still dazed, Liang Yuanjing swung his long legs over and sat directly beside her.
He grasped her wrist and pointed slowly at the night sky at the moment they reached the top. “Tao Shuran, from here you can see the moon.”
“You try a little harder, and you can even touch the moon.”
Tao Shuran’s eyelashes trembled sharply. The lights stretched like tracks across the city’s hubs, penetrating through her blood into every cell of her body.
The heart buried deep in her chest cavity clamored madly.
At that moment, she turned her head. Hazy moonlight and the reflections of sparkling lights draped over Liang Yuanjing’s profile. For an instant, his face resembled a curved crescent moon.
Tao Shuran lowered her head to gaze at his fingers holding hers. A profound sense of fulfillment filled her body.
She smiled and said, “I have already touched the moon.”
There would be no more regrets.
The boy she had admired at fifteen gave her a grand birthday celebration in the year she turned nineteen.
Tao Shuran felt deeply moved from the bottom of her heart. She tried her best to suppress the urge to cry and lifted her face slightly.
But as she turned her head, she saw Liang Yuanjing stand up.
He stood at the exit, extending his hand toward her.
As Tao Shuran walked toward him, she heard his low voice fall gently beside her ear.
It was like a secret blessing meant for her alone.
“Tao Shuran, you deserve the very best everything in the world.”