Xia Li’s two friends had contrasting personalities. Xu Ning was deeply into anime , a homebody who was lazy and averse to trouble. Instead of socializing, she preferred interacting with fictional characters. On the other hand, Lin Qingxiao naturally attracted people with her charm and could easily get along with anyone.

Xia Li seemed to be in the middle of their spectrum: gentle, slow to warm up, relatively introverted. She could be friends with anyone casually, but Lin Qingxiao and Xu Ning were her true close friends. When Xia Li entered, Lin Qingxiao was singing Guo Jing’s “Next Dawn,” while Xu Ning lounged on the sofa, watching anime on her MP4 player.

Xia Li said, “You go ahead and sing, I’ll eat something first.” She hadn’t had lunch and had bought a KFC meal combo before coming to the KTV.

Despite receiving ample pocket money from her parents, she was frugal, typically eating at the cafeteria unless it was a special occasion. The price of a KFC meal combo wasn’t cheap for her at that time.

Xia Li spread the food box on the coffee table and invited everyone to snack. After Lin Qingxiao finished singing, she handed Xia Li a birthday gift and joined them.

Eating fries with ketchup, Lin Qingxiao mentioned, “Our school will open an international class next semester. Have you heard?”

“Some outstanding alumni donated a large sum to support Mingzhong in piloting the international class,” Lin Qingxiao shrugged. “My family can’t afford it.”

Xu Ning added, “And studying abroad for a bachelor’s degree means the real expenses are in tuition and living costs every year.”

Lin Qingxiao came from a dual-income family, while Xu Ning’s mother was a civil servant, and her father ran his own business. Their family conditions were not sufficient to afford the international class, let alone Xia Li’s more ordinary family background.

Studying abroad was something she didn’t dare to think about. “I think Tao Shiyue will definitely go,” Lin Qingxiao said.

“I remember her dad works in the Municipal Committee?” Xia Li asked.

Lin Qingxiao nodded, “He’s quite a high-ranking official. Her mom is the chief surgeon at City First Hospital, and she even arranged surgery for Lao Zhuang’s father.”

Lao Zhuang was their class teacher.

Lin Qingxiao knew this because they were in the same class in junior high, and they got along quite well at the time. However, due to some unpleasant incidents, Lin Qingxiao had never liked her since then.

Some classmates also didn’t like Tao Shiyue because she often gave off a subtle sense of superiority in her interactions.

“By the way, didn’t the school’s heartthrob chase after Tao Shiyue?” Lin Qingxiao continued, “But I heard he might be with Zhong Qianqian lately.”

They were in the liberal arts experimental class.

Mingzhang High School only had one experimental class in liberal arts. During the second year, students were selected based on their grades. The head teacher, Lao Zhuang, was strict, and there were rarely any romantic affairs in the class, at most subtle glances exchanged in private.

It was different in other classes, especially in the arts class.

Lin Qingxiao was close to a girl in the arts class, and she often got the latest gossip firsthand. Who was dating whom, who was cheating on whom, who might have already done ‘that’…

Xu Ning asked, “Is Zhong Qianqian the one who danced jazz at the New Year’s Eve party?”

Lin Qingxiao nodded.

Xia Li then asked, “Do we have a recognized school heartthrob?”

“Chen Yu,” Xu Ning said. “I thought you were talking about Shen Yang. I was wondering when Shen Yang pursued Tao Shiyue. Chen Yu is obviously more handsome.”

“Shen Yang? He’s too slick,” Xu Ning retorted.

“If you think Chen Yu is handsome, does Nie Chuhang know?” Lin Qingxiao teased.

Nie Chuhang was the guy Lin Qingxiao liked.

“With someone like Nie Chuhang, a top student, how can we use such shallow judgments as handsome or not?”

The two couldn’t come to a conclusion, so they both looked at Xia Li, letting her make the final decision.

Xia Li hesitated, biting her straw.

Suddenly, she clearly understood the phrase “Apart from Mount Wu, there are no other clouds.”

Not knowing whether to mention it, she had met a boy today who seemed to have stepped out of a shoujo manga.

Since meeting him, other boys in her eyes had become ordinary and unremarkable.

It was truly a difficult choice, but Xia Li finally said, “Chen Yu.”

After all, Chen Yu was in the science experimental class, while Shen Yang was in the regular class, with poor grades and a bad reputation for changing girlfriends frequently. Everyone said he had a charmingly roguish air, but Xia Li didn’t feel anything for him.

The type she liked was outstanding in academics and not easily swayed.

Xu Ning playfully hit her and said, “What kind of aesthetics is that?”

—

That summer, the main theme was the Beijing Olympics.

By the time all the Olympic events had finished, school was about to start.

Entering the second year of high school, the humanities experimental class didn’t change classrooms and remained the first room on the left side of the third-floor stairs.

But there were changes in the students—Lin Qingxiao guessed right, Tao Shiyue and three other classmates from the class had indeed transferred to the international class.

Early in the morning, Tao Shiyue came to Class 7 to pack her things and asked two good friends from the class to help her move books.

Someone leaned over and asked her about the international class-related matters. She smiled and said, “It’s all arranged by my parents. Actually, I really didn’t want to go.”

“I envy you so much. It’s great not having to go through the college entrance examination.”

She said, “I envy you guys too! You get to experience real youth.”

These words made everyone around her involuntarily fall silent.

Tao Shiyue seemed oblivious to how subtly profound her words were. She waved at the door with a stack of books and said with a smile, “I’m off! The international class is on the first floor. Come find me when you’re free!”

Class 7 was, after all, a humanities experimental class, and everyone had high quality. They all spoke up, wishing Tao Shiyue all the best in her new class.

Tao Shiyue: “I wish everyone a bright future too!”

On the first day of school without teachers present, all classes were self-study.

Lin Qingxiao changed seats to sit next to Xia Li. At this moment, she lightly scoffed, “She leaves and still wants to show off.”

Xia Li smiled and said, “If it were me, I’d want to show off too.”

“It seems like sour grapes.”

“Yeah, kinda.”

They laughed for a while.

Generally, the establishment of the international class was big news, but the atmosphere in the class was subtle, as if everyone tacitly avoided this topic.

In Chucheng, this small place, Mingzhang Middle School was the beacon for aspiring students.

With a long history, it ranked first in Chucheng and was originally founded as the Mingzhang Academy during the Qianlong period. Mingzhong generally sent a considerable number of Qings throughout the course, School same rate.

Xia Li hurried over and picked up a broom. “Did you sweep here?”

“I did—go sweep over there.”

Soon, it started to rain. The two sped up, sweeping the dust and dead leaves into a pile and dumping them into a nearby trash can with a dustpan. Just before the rain soaked the ground completely, they quickly ran into the corridor in front of the teaching building to take cover.

Almost bumping into someone, Xia Li abruptly stopped. Then she froze. She was out of breath from running, holding a dustpan and two brooms, her hair partially wet from the rain, with her bangs hanging damply over her forehead. At her most disheveled, she unexpectedly ran into someone she thought she’d never see again.

Fortunately, the boy didn’t notice her. He wore a white T-shirt, a black backpack slung over one shoulder, and stood wearily beside an elderly man. The elderly man looked to be in his sixties, with graying hair and a kindly smile on his face. Across from them stood the headmaster, also smiling warmly.

The elderly man said, “… I’m confident in Mingzhong’s rigorous teaching. This child is sensible and won’t trouble you, Mr. Zheng. Please keep an eye on him.”

Mr. Zheng replied, “Don’t worry, we are responsible for all our students…”

Xia Li stood there, feeling an unexpected joy as if she had regained something she had lost. How could it be, how could she meet him again…

At that moment, Xiao Yulong, who had gone ahead, urged her to catch up, and Xia Li snapped out of her daze and followed. Only when they had walked a distance did she dare to look back. She saw the rain drifting under the corridor, and his figure, tall and slender, stood out like a solitary crane, taller than Mr. Zheng by a head.

Xiao Yulong went to dump the trash himself, letting Xia Li return to the classroom first. Walking through the first-floor corridor, she passed by the international class. The international class was number twenty, and at that moment, several students surrounded Tao Shiyue near the window.

Tao Shiyue had a somewhat proud look, not blatantly superior, but upon closer inspection, it could give that impression. Xia Li didn’t dislike her much, as Tao Shiyue was the typical ‘little princess’ of the class—privileged, pretty, popular, and successful in academics. It made sense for her to have a sense of superiority.

“Shiyue, how do you know him?” Xia Li heard someone ask as she walked by.

“His grandmother used to work at the same hospital as my mom, so my mom was sort of her student,” Tao Shiyue replied.

Xia Li paused. She didn’t know who they were talking about, but she had a strange feeling. Could they be talking about that boy?

Someone exclaimed and asked, “What school did he transfer from?”

“From Beicheng.”

“Why come to a small place like Chucheng from Beicheng?”

“That’s why they set up the international class,” Tao Shiyue explained. “Most of the funding for the international class was donated by his grandfather. But he’s probably just here temporarily for applying to schools and will return to Beicheng eventually.”

At this point, Tao Shiyue noticed Xia Li and waved, “Hi!”

Xia Li, hands full, just smiled and said, “Hi.”

Though curious, she didn’t feel it was appropriate to linger by another class, so after greeting Tao Shiyue, she moved on. She put away the broom and dustpan and went to the restroom at the end of the corridor to wash her hands.

Soon after she returned to the classroom, Lin Qingxiao came back from the cafeteria with a bowl of fried noodles for Xia Li. Xia Li thanked her.

Lin Qingxiao sat at Xia Li’s desk, sipping a yogurt and said, “You missed it while you were on duty—a really handsome guy joined class twenty.”

Xia Li paused while breaking apart disposable chopsticks. “I heard Tao Shiyue and her friends discussing him. It seems she knows him.”

Lin Qingxiao said, “Of course she’d take the chance to show off.”

Three other girls walked in, excitedly chatting about the same topic.

One girl said, “I heard he’s still in the office building.”

“Shall we go see?”

“Better not, it seems too obvious.”

“How handsome is he? Handsomer than Shen Yang?”

“Shen Yang’s just average compared to him.”

From their conversation, Xia Li learned more details. The boy had arrived just before the last class of the afternoon to drop off his books. He hadn’t greeted anyone but had responded coldly when Tao Shiyue called his name. After class, he had left and was later seen in the office building.

Xia Li felt a strange sensation. Later, in 2013, a song called “Miss Dong” became popular, with lyrics saying, “You’re not just any girl with a story.”

Xia Li is just an “ordinary girl without a story.”

Gentle, obedient, methodical, and never overstepping boundaries.

But at this very moment, she is so close to having a story.

There’s an impulse to declare to the world that this person you talk about once borrowed my earphones and listened to music for two hours.

But that’s not possible.

Someone would definitely question its authenticity.

Did it really happen? Even she has some doubts.

If only she had been brave enough to ask his name back then.

Knowing his name, he would no longer seem like a daydream she had on the bus.

Xia Li asked Lin Qingxiao, “What’s his name?”

“Yan Sishi.”

“How do you write it?”

Lin Qingxiao took her pen and draft paper.

Yan Sishi.

“Peace in the world, joy in my life, uniquely at this moment.”

Intro“I like his name.
I like my life, destined for this moment.”
·
A high school classmate got married, and that day we had a class reunion at a friend’s house.
Somehow, we ended up talking about the silly and romantic things we did during our school days that no one knew about.

When it was Xia Li’s turn, she said, “On his birthday, I used my position at the radio station to play his favorite songs all afternoon.”
Someone asked who “he” was, but Xia Li just smiled and wouldn’t say.

Halfway through, she went to the restroom and bumped into someone coming out of the adjacent room.
It was Yan Sishi.
Yan Sishi looked down at her, his gaze deep, “So it was you.”

·

“From Chucheng to Nancheng, from Nancheng to Beicheng, from Beicheng to Los Angeles.
To be closer to you, I crossed three thousand days and nights, ten thousand kilometers.
But you don’t need to know, because I’m about to forget you.”

·

“Even six years after graduation, I still dream of him. Back then, I hated geography the most, but I served as the geography class representative for two years. Because going to the liberal arts office meant passing by his classroom. Carrying a stack of books, my heart felt both heavy and light, like holding a huge secret. Later, while shuttling between the gray office buildings in the business park, I often thought of those times. I will never have such pure feelings again, in that year, at sixteen, in that summer when the boy arrived.”