Zeng Shuyi looked at her, her left hand holding a tracksuit and her right hand holding a bottle of mineral water, and she was muttering to herself. She teased, "Song Jianan, the way you are right now is just like when we were high school girls helping the boys who played basketball and soccer with their clothes and water. Haha, did you ever do this kind of thing in high school? You're so good at it."
"Nonsense, you just did it." As if her thoughts had been exposed, she glared at Zeng Shuyi, turned her head to hide her slight embarrassment, and walked straight towards Su Li, who was standing under the basketball hoop.
He was slightly out of breath from the strenuous exercise, with a few beads of sweat on his face that snaked down from his brow to the bridge of his nose. His pale skin was flushed with a faint blush. His cold and aloof demeanor had vanished, replaced by a vibrant and resolute masculine aura that made one's heart race and one blush.
She handed him the bottled water, looked into his eyes, and said sincerely, "Thank you."
The spectators gradually dispersed, and the gray clouds in the sky pressed down low. The darkness of the winter night quietly covered the faint light of day. He unscrewed the cap of his mineral water bottle, brought it to his lips, and then put it down again. "I didn't win."
Her lips curved into a playful smile. "Winning or losing doesn't matter. It's enough that you play basketball very well."
Su Li couldn't help but ask curiously, "You've never seen me play basketball before?"
"Please, I'm a sports idiot. I never go to physical education classes, so of course I haven't seen it." Song Jianan laughed embarrassedly, with a hint of reproach in her voice. "Besides, you never told me."
The complex emotions welled up in her heart again. Su Li looked around at the dwindling crowd, the surrounding high-rise buildings, and the broadcast that rang on the campus at the appointed time. John Lennon was singing gently: "Oh my love for the first time in my life, I feel sorrow, I feel dreams, I feel life, I feel love."
Do you know what song this is?
The melody was beautiful, and the man's performance was tender. She casually asked, "What song is this?"
"Oh my love!" He casually draped his tracksuit over his shoulder and laughed, "Song Jianan, this is your alma mater from your graduate school days, you must be very familiar with it, would you like to walk around with me?"
"This is Dezheng Building, where we have classes, but it's too far from the cafeteria, which is very inconvenient for the national economy and people's livelihood."
"The dormitory building is right behind that building. It's very old and dilapidated. In the spring, the dampness seeps all the way down to the fourth-floor floor, and the cement floor is covered with a layer of dampness. Although it's two people to a room, the conditions are not as good as the four-person dormitories in the new campus."
"When I was a graduate student, it was terrible. I was just wasting my days like a pig or a dog."
"By the way, this is my favorite place to come here, come up and have a look."
The rooftop of the secluded seven-story building was piled with discarded construction materials. Apart from that, it was an empty platform with an endless, unobstructed view. Not far from the school, the distant mountains stretched out, their dense green shadows faintly visible beneath the dark clouds. There were traces of damp rain on the ground, and a chilly wind blew in.
“You can see many sights of this city from here.” Song Jianan spread her arms and took a deep breath. “When people feel tired or sad, they come here to take a look. When summer is almost over, the scorching sun heats the cement to a warm temperature. Lying here and watching the sunset is truly a pleasure in life.”
"Like sitting on the stands of a playground and looking at the sky?"
"Mmm." She smiled softly, looking into his eyes. Their gazes met for a moment, and the atmosphere became subtly ambiguous.
Finally, a cool, damp chill, carrying a biting cold, began to fall from the sky. Winter rain quietly blanketed the city once more. Song Jianan pulled up her collar and muttered to herself, "It might snow."
"Okay, let's go back first."
She gently closed the rooftop door, and suddenly she was enveloped in darkness. All she could see was pitch black and blankness. Song Jianan had always had poor night vision, and when darkness enveloped her eyes, it felt as if she was the only person left in the whole world.
And the sound of footsteps of the person walking in front.
Many years ago, time came unexpectedly, like the chilling dampness in the sky. Ten years ago, she was a pretty girl with an ambiguous personality. Ten years ago, she followed behind this cold and gloomy boy, walking down a dark staircase with varying lengths, praying that it would never end. Ten years ago, she never imagined that this walk would last for ten years.
Composing herself, she reached for her phone to light her way, but before she could reach it, a cool yet warm voice came from the darkness, "Song Jianan, what's wrong?"
She was slightly embarrassed. "It's too dark, I can't see clearly."
She couldn't see the stairs clearly because she was slightly nearsighted. Holding onto the wall, she carefully descended two steps. Before her feet even touched the ground, a strange heat source slowly approached her. The back of her hand touched the warmth of her palm and the firm intertwining of her fingers.
She was at a loss for what to do, her eyes wide with panic. In the darkness, Su Li tilted his head slightly and looked at her with a smile, his fingers firmly holding her hand in his. "This way, even if you can't see, you don't have to worry."
She couldn't describe the feeling—numbness, shock, or joy. In that instant, even she herself didn't know. Song Jianan just stood there blankly, her dry voice escaping her throat and turning into brief breaths.
He looked at her and said slowly, word by word, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, but thankfully it's not too late."
When he finally received a response in his own world, the world, no matter how vast, was no more than a stone's throw away.
Stepping out of the building, a blast of cold air hit her face. The fine raindrops in the sky transformed into large snowflakes, fluttering and swirling. Amidst the dancing and scattering snowflakes, she could clearly see his eyes, shimmering under the lamplight.
It was as perfect as a dream. When I closed my eyes, I could feel the warmth of his hand. When I opened my eyes, ten years had passed. The faces of the young man were blurred and indistinct. Those memories, fabrications, fantasies, and hopes, spanning ten years, all overlapped with reality and the most beautiful time of the present.
Ten years have passed, filled with both joy and tears.
All for the sake of fate, which arrived late.