No wonder Shi Nan felt a little disappointed, but he quickly overshadowed it with the name Wang Fan.
Wang Fan? She had never passed notes to Wang Fan, nor had she done anything with him that she would do with other close male friends. Because she cared, she couldn't let go.
But why did Wang Fan give her the note at this time? Wang Fan was sitting in the rightmost group, in the same row as Lan Di, so it must have been passed on like this.
Shi Nan slowly unfolded the note, afraid of missing a single word.
After reading it, I read it again.
Then he took another piece of paper, quickly wrote "hmm" on it, turned around and handed it to Zhang Hao, asking him to pass it back to Wang Fan, thus avoiding Lan Di.
Shi Nan could see Lan Di out of the corner of his eye, but he seemed to ignore everything and was writing his exam paper.
She turned around and prayed that the bell would ring soon. Sure enough, the school bell rang not long after.
I quickly packed my bag and fled the classroom.
After dinner, Shi Nan went into his room and took out a note.
Was it a dream? No. Shi Nan's mother pinched his cheek while he was eating, and it hurt.
Wang Fan's note, though short, was like fireworks, releasing its power in Shi Nan's heart:
"Shi Nan,
I'm afraid it won't be enough time.
I like you.
I applied to Peking University.
I hope you won't apply to universities in other provinces.
Wang Fan likes himself too. Wang Fan likes himself too. Wang Fan likes himself too.
Shi Nan bit her lip again, becoming even more certain that it wasn't a dream.
Shi Nan took out a piece of paper and wrote "I applied to Beijing Foreign Studies University," then crumpled it up and threw it away. She decided to tell him herself.
Before class started the next morning, everyone seemed to have arrived very early and were chatting amongst themselves, mostly asking each other about their choices.
Shi Nan was also whispering among herself and those around her. In fact, she really wanted to know where Lan Di had reported.
Just as he was about to ask, he heard Zhang Hao shout, "Lan Di, are you crazy? You listed Tsinghua University's architecture department as your first choice, and left your second and third choices blank?! Do you know how high the admission scores are for the architecture department?"
Upon hearing this, Shi Nan immediately turned to look at Lan Di, staring at him in astonishment, "Lan Di, you..."
If Lan Di performs exceptionally well, he might be able to get into Tsinghua University, but not a highly competitive department; however, if he performs normally or even poorly, he has no chance. He didn't even fill in his second or third choices!
Shi Nan suddenly reached out and touched Lan Di's forehead.
Lan Di paused for a moment at her action, then smiled slightly and blurted out, "Aren't you afraid Wang Fan will see this?"
Shi Nan's eyes betrayed her astonishment. She suddenly found the person in front of her terrifying; how could he seem to know everything? But Shi Nan then gave a silly smile, pretending not to understand his words and that her astonishment was only about Lan Di's ambition. "What are you thinking?"
Lan Di remained silent, his eyes lowered, clearly indicating that he didn't want to pay attention to her.
Shi Nan, having been turned away, turned back to her table with a flushed face, regretting that she had spoken to him. She wished she had just given him the cold shoulder.
Soon after, another finger touched me from behind.
Lan Di passed me a note: "I have to go to university in Japan. All I need is my high school diploma and my college entrance exam scores."
"I see," Shi replied, "I've never heard you mention that before."
Landi replied, "There's no difference, right?"
Shi Nan didn't quite understand what those words meant. He thought to himself, "How can there be no difference? Does he not consider me a friend?" But in the end, he didn't ask.
She didn't want to delve into it; at the moment, she felt relaxed and was still immersed in the joy she felt yesterday because of Wang Fan.
After class, Shi Nan bumped into Wang Fan in the corridor. His eyes lit up at Wang Fan's slightly shy expression. He got closer and said to him, "I applied to Beijing Foreign Studies University."
Wang Fan smiled and said, "I'll call you after the exam."
"Hmm," Shi Nan said without further ado, skipping into the classroom. Just as she sat down, Lan Di said, "You're smiling so happily, did he ask you out?"
This time, Shi Nan couldn't pretend anymore. She turned around in slow motion, giving Lan Di a thoughtful look. She didn't say anything, just stared.
Lan Di didn't say anything, just stared at Shi Nan. The only thing moving was the pen she was skillfully twirling in her right hand.
The two men stared at each other, one interrogating the other, the other silent yet head held high.
Until the school bell rang.
Shi Nan was experiencing a complex mix of emotions. On one hand, she was excited by Wang Fan's confession, but on the other hand, she was flustered by Lan Di's knowledge of the secret.
Why should she panic? The parties involved have already laid their cards on the table, so what is she afraid of him doing?
The three-day college entrance examination ended, and Shi Nan felt that he had performed normally and was at ease. As expected, he received a call from Wang Fan, inviting her to Ritan Park the next day.
Mr. Shi was surprised. Do men and women go to Ritan Park for dates?
Upon seeing Wang Fan, dressed in light blue, Shi Nan vaguely recalled someone. That person was more suited to light blue.
Shi Nan shook his head, trying to shake off the shadow. Seriously? Today was one of the most important days of his life—his first date with the guy he liked—how could he be thinking of someone else?
Wang Fan's first words were direct and to the point: "Shi Nan, are you wondering why I asked you to meet here?"
"Um."
"I fell in love with you here."
Shi Nan thought for a moment, "That class activity?" That was the only time he appeared here at the same time.
"Um."
What did I do?
"Nothing was done."
"......?"
"When you were jumping rope, you fell and hit your knee, and it bled. I thought you would cry, but you didn't. You didn't do anything and just kept jumping."
Shi Nan blushed, lowered her head, and after a long while, blurted out, "I was used to falling when I was little."
“Although I guessed wrong, Shi Nan,” Wang Fan said, taking Shi Nan’s hand, “you know what? I stared at you for a long time that day. You were like a strong little wild chrysanthemum. I’ve never been so impressed by a girl before.”
Shi Nan's palms were sweating. This was her first time holding hands with a boy, and she was happy inside, but she pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "But don't boys like roses or lilies?"
Wang Fan laughed, "How do you know you won't become a rose in the future?"
Love
While having dinner that evening, Shi Nan was still recalling Wang Fan's words, her smile barely concealed. Her mother asked, "What's wrong? Were the results released early?"
"Yeah, I dreamt that the results were announced."
"Come on, hurry up and finish your food. Oh, by the way, a male classmate called this afternoon looking for you, what's his name?"
"Landy?"
"Yes, yes, I told him you went to Ritan Park."
"Oh my god, why would you tell him I'm going there?"
"Oh, I just said it offhand. What? You're meeting someone at the park? You can't keep it a secret?!"
"Yes, that's where you went to make contact. Now you've exposed the secret."
After finishing her meal, Shi Nan pondered what to say to Lan Di on the phone. For some reason, she was reluctant to let Lan Di know about her date with Wang Fan.
"Landy, this is Shi Nan. My mom said you called?"
"Hmm. You went to Ritan Park?"
Sure enough, they'll ask, "Hmm... Shall we go for a walk?"
"Myself?"
"..." As if having made up his mind, Shi Nan gave a soft "hmm," which made the lie sound less jarring.
"Shi Nan..."
"Um?"
"Why did you lie to me?" The question was embarrassing, but his voice remained calm, as if he had expected her to answer that way.
"Hmm...?" After being seen through by Lan Di time and time again, Shi Nan began to be certain that Lan Di must have put roundworms in his stomach one day.
Can you give me a reason?
"..." After a long silence, "How did you know?"
Landi did not answer.
Over the phone, Shi was already incredibly embarrassed, holding the receiver and only able to breathe.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, "Never mind, it's nothing, I just thought of you this afternoon." Then he hung up the phone.
It wasn't until his mother came in to get something that Shi Nan realized he had been staring blankly at the phone without moving since Lan Di hung up. His mother had left with the comment, "You look so forlorn, like you've just broken up with someone."
Heartbroken??? I just started dating someone I've had my eye on for ages! I should be happy every day, so why did his random phone call ruin everything?! Why, why, why?! Just because he's handsome, does he think he can mess things up for other people like that?!
After hastily dialing the redial button, Lan Di had barely uttered a soft "Hello?" when Shi Nan shouted at the top of his lungs, "Lan Di, what are you doing?!" before slamming the phone down before Lan Di could speak.
Shi Nan continued to experience the stirrings of first love, going on dates with Wang Fan: eating out, shopping, watching movies, flying kites, strolling in the park, and eating at the night market. They were all very affectionate and tender, just like any other young couple.
And my first kiss.
That night, Shi Nan and Wang Fan ate their fill at Wangfujing Snack Street. Suddenly, Wang Fan stopped and looked at Shi Nan, smiling. Shi Nan pondered for a while, unable to figure out what was funny, and asked him what he was laughing at. Wang Fan rubbed the tip of her nose with his finger; it turned out there was some lamb skewer sauce on it. Shi Nan's face immediately flushed red. "Cute," Wang Fan said, wiping it away with his hand, but his finger didn't move away. He stopped smiling, and his eyes suddenly brightened. Looking into those starry eyes, Shi Nan seemed to sense what was about to happen, and began to hold her breath, waiting… His fingers moved to her chin, lifted it, and as Shi Nan closed her eyes, he lowered his head and kissed her.