On the day of their parting, Xu Chen took Yu Lele to the train station. On the way, he received many phone calls asking where he kept certain materials related to the teaching evaluation. Like a butler, he gave detailed instructions: "In such-and-such office, in such-and-such cabinet, in such-and-such drawer, on the left side of the stack of envelopes, probably the third or fourth one, with the words 'Record of such-and-such' on the cover..."
Yu Lele sat next to him and found it interesting to watch his clear and logical manner.
But then I thought about leaving, and that we wouldn't have much time to meet during the summer vacation, and I felt very sad.
Xu Chen noticed something amiss, put down the phone, and pinched Yu Lele's nose, which was covered in small beads of sweat: "We'll see each other during the summer vacation."
Yu Lele smiled and said, "Okay."
The young lovers' farewell continued on, winding their way from the bus to the train station platform. Yu Lele insisted on boarding by herself, waving to Xu Chen through the window. He stood there smiling, waving once, then putting his hand back in his pocket, just watching her. Until the train gradually accelerated and went further and further away.
On the train, Yu Lele received a text message from Xu Chen: Unzip your luggage bag, there's a belated birthday gift for you in the small bag.
Yu Lele was startled and immediately frantically searched for her luggage. Sure enough, in a small side pocket, there was a small red brocade pouch, so soft to the touch. She held her breath and gently opened it, revealing a tiny ring inside that shimmered with silver light.
It's a Chow Tai Fook ring with Pt900. Xu Chen said in the text message: This is all I can afford to give as a gift. The price is limited, but the sentiment is boundless. This item, along with the person giving it, is buy one get one free, no returns or exchanges, and lifetime warranty.
Yu Lele smiled as she read the text message, then reached out and slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. The ring was a bit too big; she could only put it on her middle finger. Later, realizing what she'd done, she blushed and chuckled to herself: the ring finger is for wedding rings, and since he hadn't even proposed yet, it was embarrassing for her to be in such a hurry.
Thank goodness, he didn't see it.
Yu Lele looked up and sighed. She saw the sun shining brightly outside the window, and the wheat fields were lush and green, stretching to the horizon. The unease in her heart was sealed away by this small ring. All she could see were the trees, the flowers, and the drifting clouds rushing past, while the setting sun bloomed into a warm, golden-red glow in the distance.
So happy.
6-1
After returning from the provincial capital, the College English Test Band 4 and Band 6 exams were fast approaching. Yu Lele's English grades were still terrible, so she painfully buried herself in studying, neglecting everything else. She pretended not to know about Xu Chen's failure to be elected to the Party, and could only tell Yang Qian her thoughts, asking her to find a way to persuade Xu Chen: "Time will tell. No one can be rejected forever. As long as you're willing to work hard and have the ability, there will always be a place to recognize your worth."
Yang Qian listened to Yu Lele's rambling on the phone for a long time before finally speaking: "Lele, you're so kind. Xu Chen is so lucky to have found you."
Yu Lele couldn't help but laugh: "Yang Qian, why do you sound like my grandma now?"
Yang Qian also laughed. Hearing this, she couldn't help but think of the days when they were classmates, the strict homeroom teacher of Class 5 in the second year of junior high school, the time when she walked home from school with Kuang Yawei, Xu Chen and Yu Lele, and so many wonderful memories.
But Yang Qian suddenly remembered something and asked Yu Lele, "Is Xu Chen still going abroad?"
"Go abroad? Why would you want to go abroad?" Yu Lele didn't understand.
Yang Qian was speechless, perhaps not expecting Yu Lele to be unaware. But Yu Lele was so perceptive that she had already sensed something and pressed on, asking, "Yang Qian, what exactly happened? Why did you say he was going abroad?"
Yang Qian thought for a moment, then sighed and decided to tell Yu Lele: "Xu Chen's aunt came back from the United States a while ago and is trying to persuade him to go abroad."
"He told you that himself?" Yu Lele was skeptical.
“His aunt told me this when she was having dinner with Kuang Yawei’s father, and then Kuang Yawei told me,” Yang Qian bit her lip and, seeing that Yu Lele was silent, hurriedly explained, “You can’t take it seriously. You know Kuang Yawei is unreliable.”
After a long silence from Yu Lele, Yang Qian grew anxious: "Lele, don't overthink it. Everyone can see how Xu Chen treats you, and everyone knows whether he's sincere or not. The fact that he's not telling you means he doesn't intend to take it seriously, so why put unnecessary pressure on yourself?"
Yu Lele remained silent for a while before finally saying, "What if it's true?"
What if it's true?
If it's not true, why take the TOEFL and GRE? Taking them for fun—that's a weak excuse. A medical school graduate isn't going to work for a foreign company; wouldn't it be more important to master the English required for doctoral entrance exams? He's so busy, how could he just treat it as a hobby?
But no matter what the answer was, he wouldn't tell her; he wouldn't tell her anything.
Yu Lele raised her hand, the ring on her middle finger gleaming under the light. It seemed like only yesterday she had made a solemn promise, yet now it all seemed so unreal. Yu Lele could barely hear Yang Qian's earnest words on the other end of the phone; she just stared blankly at the ring under the light, thinking: What if it were true?
If it's true, does it mean the show will just end and everyone will leave?
Yu Lele was unaware that at the same time, Xu Chen was struggling to resist his aunt's persuasion.
My aunt was a typical strong woman, speaking with a firm and forceful voice. As my father's eldest sister, she held a very important position in the Xu family, and her words carried considerable weight. Therefore, she became increasingly angry at her nephew's nonchalant attitude: "Xu Chen, I'm talking to you about yourself, can't you be serious?"
While dealing with his aunt's rant on the phone, Xu Chen looked at his textbook, scribbling on the page with one hand, listening only intermittently.
“Xu Chen,” Aunt’s tone softened, “Look at your father’s situation, it’s really bad for you right now. You know that in China, political future is everything. Even if you study medicine, you’ll inevitably encounter all sorts of troubles once you get a job. Sending you abroad is for your own good.”
“Aunt,” Xu Chen said, “What’s the rush? I won’t graduate for another 5 years. I can go abroad after I get my master’s degree.”
“Xu Chen, you don’t understand the situation here at all. In the US, either you come here after graduating with your master’s degree and then take the doctoral entrance exam, in which case you’ll be stuck doing research in a lab for the rest of your life. I don’t know if that’s your personality, or if that kind of life suits you.” Auntie changed her tone: “In the US, if you want to practice medicine, you have to pass the medical licensing exam here and start as an assistant. By the time you can practice independently, seven or eight years will have passed. Think about how old you will be then?”
"Auntie, nothing can be achieved overnight. It's better for me to study step by step. If I were to become a doctor, I would definitely kill someone. You know how difficult it was for me to get into a combined bachelor's and master's program, so please let me finish it." Xu Chen joked with his aunt.
After a moment of silence, the aunt suddenly asked, "Is it because of that girl?"
"What?" Xu Chen didn't react.
“I heard it from your mother,” Auntie said. “Your mother has a very good impression of her. Actually, I was also very touched. I think the feelings between people your age are really pure and beautiful.”
“But,” Auntie changed the subject, “if she really cared about your well-being, she should have let you go instead of keeping you here.”
Xu Chen's head was buzzing and throbbing. He wanted to say something but knew it was pointless, so he simply kept quiet.
The aunt noticed Xu Chen's silence and remained silent for a while before finally sighing, "Xu Chen, even if you don't care about your future, you should think about your mother."
Mom? Xu Chen's mind was jolted awake.
Xu Chen knew how many tears his mother shed after his father's arrest. She was a gentle woman; when his father was alive, she listened to her husband in many things, and she was the epitome of the traditional "virtuous wife and loving mother." She was an accountant at a public institution and never aspired to be a career woman; all her happiness came from her family and son. She never beat or scolded Xu Chen, but Xu Chen knew that his mother's expectations of him far exceeded those of his father. She poured all her energy into her son, hoping that he would succeed academically and be healthy in body and mind.
However, when her father was suddenly taken away, her mother's world collapsed.
She often cried in the middle of the night. Xu Chen would wake up in the middle of the night and hear his mother's suppressed sobs. She quickly became haggard, having to deal with the cold stares of others, sell their possessions to atone for her husband's sins, and prepare tuition fees for her son's university education. Fortunately, she had her aunt and uncle, who generously supported Xu Chen's family materially. If it weren't for them, Xu Chen thought his mother would probably have collapsed long ago.
“Xu Chen, if you stay in China, you’ll find all sorts of obstacles appearing in your path at any time. Every time one appears, your mother’s memories will be repeated. Don’t you think she’s suffered enough?” Aunt’s voice grew increasingly sorrowful.
“Xu Chen, I’m not exaggerating. You’ve probably felt it yourself and can imagine that going abroad will be a completely new beginning for you. If you’re good enough, you and your mother can both live a better life than before. Even if you don’t think about yourself, at least think about her,” his aunt noticed Xu Chen’s hesitation and softened her tone. “As for your girlfriend, she can apply for a dependent visa. You’ll be 23 when you graduate with your bachelor’s degree. You can register your marriage and go abroad together. If she truly loves you, she’ll agree.”
Xu Chen listened silently to his aunt's words, but suddenly realized that—"If she really cared about your well-being, she should have let you go instead of dragging you along," and "If she truly loved you, she would have agreed"—how come these assumptions were all based on "if she really cared about your well-being" or "if she truly loved you"?
Is it possible that whether or not to leave is a test of love?
Xu Chen understood that this test was not fair to Yu Lele.
However, he also knew that his aunt was right; she was his family, while his mother was the person he worried about the most.
Xu Chen finally understood what it meant to be "caught between a rock and a hard place".
6-2
At 10 p.m., Yu Lele was doing reading comprehension in the study room. She didn't hear Lian Haiping enter and was still guessing the meaning of a word. It wasn't until she saw a huge apple fall from the sky that Yu Lele looked up in the direction the apple had fallen and saw Lian Haiping standing next to her, holding another apple in his hand.
"Is it apple season now?" Yu Lele asked groggily.
“That’s not important,” Lian Haiping shook his head. “What is important is that when an apple fell from the sky, Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation and became famous overnight.”
"What does this mean?" Yu Lele put down her pen and looked at him with amusement.
Lian Haiping continued his witty remarks: "This means that when I bring you apples, girl, you'll definitely pass your CET-4 exam."
"What is all this nonsense?" Yu Lele pouted. "Do you think everyone has Newton's brain and good luck?"
“Wrong!” Lian Haiping said seriously, “Newton’s luck was that he was enlightened after being hit by an apple, but you need two apples to become Newton, that’s all.”
"Tch!" Yu Lele looked down at her problem and ignored him. "Two apples smashing each other didn't create Newton, they created an idiot."
Lian Haiping smiled, put down the apple, and sat down next to Yu Lele: "If you pay tuition, I can consider becoming your tutor."
Yu Lele looked at Lian Haiping and laughed: "I know you graduated from a foreign language high school and scored 97 on the CET-4. Don't come here to provoke us poor and lower-middle peasants, okay?"
She then gave him a hard shove: "You'll be taking the CET-6 exam in a few days, go study!"
Lian Haiping helplessly pulled down Yu Lele's arm, which was pushing him hard: "Stop messing around, stop messing around, I'm here to study."
As he spoke, he pulled a small vocabulary booklet from some pocket, its edges already curled and looking rather rough.
"Did a dog bite you?" Yu Lele teased him.
“You’ve chewed on it,” Lian Haiping glared at her. “Focus on your studies and stop looking around.”
"Didn't the teacher say that learning English shouldn't just be about memorizing words?" Yu Lele asked, staring at the vocabulary booklet in Lian Haiping's hand.
“That varies from person to person,” Lian Haiping said, flipping open his vocabulary handbook. “I’ve memorized this handbook perfectly, so passing the CET-6 exam shouldn’t be a problem.”
"You can recite it backwards perfectly," Yu Lele gasped, "Really?"
“If you don’t believe me, just ask me,” Lian Haiping pushed the vocabulary booklet in front of Yu Lele. “Actually, it’s not that exaggerated. I would say I’ve basically memorized them all. If there are any you don’t know, don’t be too disappointed.”
Yu Lele was skeptical and actually asked Lian Haiping a few questions, but to her surprise, Lian Haiping could recite them perfectly. Yu Lele was filled with admiration and stared at Lian Haiping with adoration all night.
"Well, young lady, how about you become my apprentice?" Lian Haiping glanced at Yu Lele.
"How is tuition calculated?" Yu Lele asked.
"Breakfast." Lian Haiping was pleased.
"What breakfast?" Yu Lele asked, confused.
“Is it too much for your apprentice to bring you breakfast from the canteen after your morning run?” Lian Haiping patted his stomach: “I haven’t eaten breakfast in almost two years.”
Yu Lele found it hilarious: "You mean you haven't gone for a morning run in the two years you've been in college?"
“Yes, that’s right.” Lian Haiping said calmly.
"No way, aren't they going to check?" Yu Lele looked at Lian Haiping with a puzzled expression. "There's roll call every morning. If you don't do morning exercises, there will definitely be a record, and you won't get a scholarship at the end of the semester." Yu Lele clearly remembered that Lian Haiping received a second-class scholarship last semester.
“Sigh,” Lian Haiping reached out and patted Yu Lele’s head: “Good child, do you know what it means to be bold and get rich, while timid starve? Our school rules and regulations are only useful for children like you.”
Yu Lele glared at Lian Haiping with resentment: "That's too much!"
Lian Haiping smiled and reached out to touch Yu Lele's head: "This child is so cute."
"Lian Haiping!" Yu Lele said angrily. There was no one else in the classroom, and Yu Lele's voice was very loud: "Don't call me 'child'."
As they were talking, the phone rang, and Yu Lele answered it. Lian Haiping was eating an apple while looking at a vocabulary book, and the classroom was filled with the fresh aroma of apples.
It was Xu Chen calling.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Yu Lele immediately became very happy: "I need to study, the CET-4 exam is coming up soon."
"Oh." Xu Chen wasn't very interested, which Yu Lele noticed and found strange.
"What’s wrong with you?"
"fine."