Ju smiled broadly at the camera in 1997. The image was frozen in time.
Later, when she got the photo, she realized that she was actually the one with the brightest smile among the four people.
After taking the photos, Wu Yu said she would leave with Ju Nian, but Ju Nian declined, saying she wasn't feeling well and told him to go ahead and not wait. She had eyes; she could see Chen Jie Jie's hesitant yet expectant look, and perhaps that expectation was also Wu Yu's. She was very perceptive.
After lingering in the women's restroom for a while, Ju Nian finally came out. Worried about running into Wu Yu and the others again, she deliberately chose to walk through the side entrance of the gymnasium.
Unfortunately, one can dodge the stars, but not the moon. Down those dozen or so steps is the side gate, where Ju Nian met Han Shu.
She intended to pretend she hadn't noticed and continue on her way, but Shuhan was clearly not one to play dumb. He fiddled with his racket, following behind her, and said, "Xie Junian, don't you think it's awkward not to greet people you know?"
Ju Nian turned around and said, "Oh. Hi, Han Shu, you're here too?"
Han Shu said, "Don't think you're the only one."
Yes, I understand. Chen Jiejie's parents asked me to keep an eye on her, and I'm not going to be a third wheel... By the way, let me interview you. What are your thoughts right now?
He used the handle of his racket to simulate a microphone and handed it to Ju Nian, asking, "Are you upset? Jealous? Want to cry? Or are you just as great as always?"
"Stop fooling around." Ju Nian gently pushed his racket away.
"Aren't you tired of holding it in? I'm in a good mood today, so I don't mind listening to you cry."
Ju Nian didn't want to talk to him, but when she saw the bruise on his right cheek, her heart softened.
She was furious that day and hit her too hard. No matter what, hurting someone is not something Ju Nian would willingly do. It's quite surprising that Han Shu, with his temper, didn't even bother to settle the score with her.
"Is your face alright... I'm sorry," she said in a muffled voice.
Han Shu touched his face, "How dare you say that! Is there any girl as ruthless as you? My dad is cruel enough; he never even hits my face..."
The sight of Han Shu getting a spanking made Ju Nian burst into laughter.
When Han Shu saw her smile, his tone softened, no longer as sharp and sarcastic as before.
"It's all swollen, it hurts to talk and eat... Don't believe me? Feel it, tsk, feel it!"
"No, no need," Ju Nian said, startled, and smiled as she avoided the question.
Han Shu ignored all of that and grabbed Ju Nian's hand, pressing it against his wound. "You won't know how outrageous you are until you touch it."
Ju Nian wanted to pull her hand away in embarrassment, as it would be awkward if others saw it, but she couldn't resist Han Shu's stubbornness. Her fingers finally touched his cheek, which was burning hot, as if he had a high fever.
"Hiss..." Han Shu guided her fingers to press on his cheek. "Did you touch it... You really have the heart to do that."
This was the first time Ju Nian had heard Han Shu speak softly, as if it were right next to her ear.
His hand, his young face, his affectionate complaints—everything about him was filled with ambiguity, making Ju Nian extremely uncomfortable. She subtly withdrew her hand, her eyes looking away awkwardly.
When her hand was finally freed, Han Shu seemed to cough softly, "You kicked me last time too..."
"I won't touch that!" Ju Nian said hastily, without thinking.
Han Shu was speechless for a long time. "You're the real scoundrel."
His face was still flushed, yet he maintained a dignified air, except for his unusually bright eyes. Ju Nian thought that he wasn't a bad person; sometimes, he was more like a spoiled child.
"I'm going back now." She quickened her pace.
"Wait, I haven't finished yet. You refused to partner with me, now you regret it, right? If we team up, the championship might be ours."
"There's no point in talking about this now."
"Here, this is for you."
Han Shu handed her his Kenneth racket.
Ju Nian took it blankly, "Give it to me? Why?"
"This racket was given to me by Dean Han after I won my first place in a city-level competition when I was in the third year of junior high school. He has never been willing to give me anything good before, this is the first time. I always bring it with me when I get good results. I'm giving it to you as a reminder, so that you'll regret not partnering with me this time. I'll ask my mom to buy me a better one."
Ju Nian looked at the racket, its grips covered with the signatures of his good classmates and friends. Han Shu was well-liked, but this didn't seem like something he would give away so casually. Ju Nian held it in his hand and suddenly felt it weighed a ton.
"I can't accept this." She hurriedly shoved the racket back to Han Shu.
"I've given it to you, so what are you whining about?"
"This racket has a lot of sentimental value; you should keep it."
"Whether it's valuable or not is up to me. If you feel bad about it, then give me your racket, and we'll be even."
Why would we exchange gifts for no reason?
"Then what remarkable reason did you have for giving Wu Yu that racket?"
"...Who told you that?"
"That's none of your business!"
He is him, and you are you.
Han Shu's expression suddenly changed. "What makes me worse than that epileptic?"
Ju Nian's face turned deathly pale instantly. The hidden pain that she and Wu Yu had carefully protected was so brutally torn open by Han Shu.
How did you know?
Han Shu scoffed, "I wasn't sure before, but judging from your expression, it seems to be true. Don't forget, my mom is a neurosurgeon. She saw right through Wu Yu's reaction that day. No wonder you were so anxious to withdraw; you were afraid people would find out he had that disease, weren't you?"
"Alright, Han Shu, please stop talking," Ju Nian pleaded.
"Tell me what he's like when he has an attack? My mom says this disease is incurable..."
Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud crash as the racket was forcefully thrown down the steps by Ju Nian. She gave him a cold look, then ran down the steps without a word.
"stop!"
That racket was Han Shu's prized possession. Even under normal circumstances, he cherished it and wouldn't let anyone touch it easily. Yet now she had thrown it away so carelessly, all for that person. How could he not hate her?
"Xie Junian, pick it up."
Ju Nian had her back to him and seemed to chuckle.
This further enraged the proud and arrogant boy.
"Chen Jiejie doesn't know he has that kind of illness, does she?"
Ju Nian turned around in disbelief, her gaze piercing Han Shu like a knife.
"Go ahead and pick it up for me."
He felt like he was no longer recognizing himself.
After a while, Xie Junian said softly, "Okay, you can pick it up ten thousand times if you want."
Later on, Han Shu forgot many things, but the racket still remembered its scars.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Only Freedom
With his graduation exams over, Wu Yu's student life came to an end. He had long lost interest in his studies; further education was an unrealistic fantasy for him. Ju Nian knew that persuasion would be futile, so she remained silent. Perhaps everyone has their own life path, these paths intersect, but their destinations are not all the same. Books and teachers tell us that all people are born equal. But speaking specifically of Han Shu and Wu Yu, from the moment they were born, were they ever on the same starting line?
Two months after her grandmother's death, Wu Yu, as agreed with Lin Henggui beforehand, cleared out the deceased's belongings, moved out of the house where he had lived for eighteen years, and rented a dilapidated little single room in the most remote corner of the city with the second payment of one thousand yuan from Lin Henggui. At that time, Lin Henggui had paid a total of nine thousand yuan for the rent, with eight thousand yuan remaining. He said that his small shop needed working capital and he could only pay off the remaining amount within five months.
Ju Nian instinctively doubted Lin Henggui's character. She said to Wu Yu more than once with concern, "I don't trust that scoundrel. You have to be careful when dealing with him. You sold the house because you were desperate and had no other choice. Seventeen thousand yuan was already a bargain for him. Now he has only paid half the money. You've already vacated the house. What if he reneges on his promise based on just an IOU?"
Wu Yu understood Ju Nian's reasoning perfectly well, but handing over the house within three months of receiving the down payment was a condition he had to agree to when his grandmother was critically ill. His grandmother didn't make it through, and as her grandson, he had done everything he could. As for the final outcome, that was fate's arrangement.
Wu Yu knew Lin Henggui's despicable nature better than anyone else, but he said to Ju Nian, "At the time, all I wanted was to get the money. Even if I couldn't save my grandmother, I wanted to at least make her suffer less. I promised Lin Henggui that I would vacate the house on time. If I broke my promise, how would I be any different from a despicable person like Lin Henggui? Ju Nian, I don't want to be like him."
In the end, as if comforting Ju Nian and herself, Wu Yu smiled and said, "Lin Henggui promised me that he would never cut down that loquat tree, so don't worry."
Ju Nian didn't speak. If that loquat tree no longer belonged to him, even if it bore fruit one day, what would it have to do with her?
Besides continuing to work at internet cafes, Wu Yu also worked as a waitress at the "KK" bar through his "friends'" connections. Holding two jobs was enough to support herself, but working day and night made her even thinner. Because of the lack of sunlight, she was so pale that she seemed transparent, as if she would turn into nothingness when the sun shone on her.
Knowing that he was busy all day and neglected his own care, Ju Nian would always take time out of her busy study period to visit him at his place. The most eye-catching feature of that humble abode was the orange checkered curtains that Ju Nian had personally chosen and hung up. The simple bowls and chopsticks, and the small lamp by the bedside were all cheap items that the two of them had found at the night market. Ju Nian even cut some branches from a pomegranate tree in the martyrs' cemetery and brought them back, planting them in an earthenware pot to make a potted plant. Wu Yu would remember to water it every day before leaving the house and place it in a corner where the sun could reach it. Before long, new buds sprouted.
Wu Yu also gave Ju Nian a key to his place. Ju Nian would often sneak out of his school and home. When he was there, the two of them would cook noodles together. When he wasn't there, she would tidy up his room and sometimes even wash his dirty clothes.
Wu Yu felt bad and would always say shyly, "Ju Nian, you don't need to do these things for me."
Ju Nian knew that he gave her a key simply to prove that he wasn't alone, that he still had a place to belong in this city. But she did all this not for him, but for herself; she was happy while doing it.
Wu Yu didn't like calling Ju Nian's house. He had an old, quirky pager, and according to Ju Nian, she would call it five times, and the old machine would only answer once at most. Their communication relied more on small notes they left for each other, which they always folded up and tucked under the earthenware pot of their pomegranate planter.
"Ju Nian, I've been working the afternoon shift these past few days, from 3 PM to 11 PM..."
"I know, there have been so many exams lately..."
"That joke you told me last time was really funny..."
"Is it really funny? Actually, I think it's not a joke at all..."
They communicated silently in this way, finding great pleasure in it. No one but the two of them knew that such a secret lay hidden beneath the ugly, clumsy pottery jar.
Sometimes, Ju Nian would hesitate as she inserted the key into the lock of Wu Yu's apartment. Did Chen Jiejie have the same key? She didn't want to push open the door and see that beautiful face. Although she vaguely knew that Wu Yu and Chen Jiejie's relationship had never truly ended, she didn't want to know about that story from another time. Fortunately, that never happened. There was no trace of another girl in Wu Yu's place, except that once, when Ju Nian was folding his clothes, she noticed a dried nail polish mark on the back of his T-shirt.
Early July, the height of summer. Ju Nian's college entrance exam arrived calmly and as scheduled. In the morning, she went out as usual, carrying her schoolbag, eating breakfast, and heading towards that turning point that could change many people's lives. The next afternoon, after leaving the exam hall, she even moved Wu Yu's potted plant to a sunnier spot. Wu Yu, in his silliness, had written the words "Victory is certain" in large characters on a piece of paper at the bottom of the pot. Ju Nian looked at it and kept laughing at his ugly handwriting.
The Xie couple's concern came belatedly. One evening, Xie Maohua said to his daughter, "The college entrance exam is coming up soon, which is a big deal. Do you have any favorite foods lately? Ask your mother to make them for you to help your brain."
Ju Nian frantically tried to teach the restless Wang Nian to read pinyin, only managing to reply, "Uh, no need, Dad."
“Why not? If people find out, they’ll think we don’t care about you. But when have we ever treated you and Wangnian equally?” Mom said from the side.
Ju Nian was a little embarrassed. "I know. But I already finished the last exam the day before yesterday, and the school organized an estimated score today. I don't need to study hard for the time being."
Her estimated score was quite good, nothing unexpected, and it was consistently above her usual standard. Her Chinese teacher was particularly worried that she might make a mistake with her composition again, so she specifically asked her to rewrite it from memory. After reading it, the teacher's smile lasted for a long time.
Everyone says that Han Shu did well on the exam this time, and he will naturally get into the best political and legal college. It seems like a sure thing. The number of top liberal arts students from No. 7 High School this year was unexpectedly high.
In late July, Wu Yu's landlord proposed a 30% rent increase. Wu Yu negotiated with him multiple times without success, but to no avail. Even at Zhang Hou's current rent levels, it would be virtually impossible to find a better place. Although the small house was humble, it was at least a private space that provided shelter from the wind and rain, and not only he, but also his potted plants, had adapted to the place.
The extra rent was undoubtedly a heavy burden for Wu Yu, making it even more difficult for her to make a living. At this time, Lin Henggui's agreed-upon deadline for paying the balance had passed, but he still pretended not to hear.
Wu Yu said, "I'm going to find him and make him pay the money."
"I'm afraid he doesn't seem like a person who keeps his word," Ju Nian said worriedly.
"I don't believe he could be that shameless. I still have the IOU with my fingerprint on it, in black and white. If he dares to act like a scoundrel, I'll fight him to the death!"
Ju Nian grabbed Wu Yu, her hand almost digging into his flesh. "Wu Yu, you can't fight him head-on. He's the worst kind of person. It's not worth it for you to fight him."
"I can't just let him bully me like this. I have no complaints about giving him the house, but I can't lose a single penny of the money that is rightfully mine."