Su Li's lips curled up slightly, but before he could say anything more, Song Jianan interrupted him, "And what about you?"
"After graduating, I went to the UK to get a master's degree, but I found it wasn't very useful, so I settled down to do my job."
Song Jianan was about to ask him what he did, but she stopped herself when she thought of his and Fang Yanyan's background. However, Su Li's next question made her even more flustered. He asked, "Song Jianan, when did you meet me?"
Her heart sank. She looked straight at Su Li, her mind filled with only one thought: why was he asking this? She paused for two seconds before realizing the question. Her neck stiffened slightly, and then she lowered her head silently, supporting it with one hand and gripping the rim of her cup tightly with the other. After a long while, she smiled softly and said, "It seems to have been in my second year of high school, but I can't quite remember."
But how could she not remember? She remembered it all too clearly. On that foggy day, the boy's back was somewhat clumsy as he struggled to move his car. Suddenly, the scene shifted to the cafeteria. His slender figure, wearing headphones, brushed past her with a cool and aloof air. It was like an old movie, replaying scene by scene in her mind, an image that time could not erase.
I once watched a movie where a girl gradually lost her memory, and eventually couldn't remember any of the details of their love. Time, like an eraser, slowly erased the traces of another person's existence. At that time, she thought that if time were an eraser, then her memories of Su Li would be engraved in every groove of her recollection, and those marks would never be easily erased.
But now I have the courage to speak out, rather than the urge to run away.
She looked up, casually brushing her bangs behind her ear, and listened quietly to Su Li's judgment. But to her surprise, he didn't say anything, just smiled and asked the waiter to come and pay the bill.
Just as she stood up to straighten her clothes, Su Li looked up at her, his narrow eyes seemingly filled with complex emotions, but they vanished in an instant. He said calmly, "Song Jianan, I met you in the math teacher's office back in our first year of high school. You were holding a test paper and asking questions, and I had to explain one question three times before you understood it. To be honest, I've never seen a girl struggle with math so much, but maybe it's because I was in the advanced class." He then laughed, a clear smile seeping from his dark, inky eyes. "I deliberately showed you that test, you saw it, didn't you?"
"So you owe me one."
Song Jianan froze, instinctively blurting out, "They're so far away, how can that count?"
He tilted his head slightly and said slowly, "Song Jianan, I thought you were a well-behaved student. I didn't expect you to actually peek at my test paper?"
"I didn't peek. I just looked up and saw it right away. Your test paper was all spread out on the table, with the corners drooping down. It was hard not to see it," Song Jianan argued vehemently.
"So, you owe me one," Su Li laughed. "At least you watched it."
Song Jianan was speechless.
Su Li's car was parked in the parking lot of a nearby building, and Song Jianan stood at the entrance of a nearby shopping mall to wait for him. It was almost the New Year, and the stores were offering discounts, making it a lively place with people coming and going.
As the weather grew colder, she kept stamping her feet. Her eyes darted around restlessly. In the bustling shopping mall, she noticed a familiar figure standing not far from her at a cosmetics counter. Leaning closer, she could see more clearly that it was Duan Jiachen and his mother.
This city is really small. She encountered the same person several times in a short period of time. She silently looked away and had no intention of going up to say hello. She told herself that since Duan Jiachen didn't want to see her so much, why should she be presumptuous?
She habitually pursed her lips, turned her face away, and let out a long breath, watching the white steam dissipate into the air, turning into glistening water droplets that floated in the cold air, until the car next to her slowly stopped in front of her. "Sorry to keep you waiting, get in."
She opened the car door and got in, but Su Li didn't leave immediately. He looked out the window for about ten seconds before closing it. "It's almost Chinese New Year, and it's very cold this year. The weather forecast says there will be heavy snow in the next few days."
Song Jianan was surprised, "It's not like it only snows during the Lunar New Year, this is too early."
"I don't know, I just feel that there's something vaguely unsettling about this year."
She looked away, fastened her seatbelt, leaned back against the soft, warm cushion, and smiled, "Oh, don't worry, let nature take its course."
They didn't speak to each other the whole way. He just drove quietly, and Song Jianan kept looking out the window. The ground was shimmering with golden light, and the white lines on the ground were rushing backward, blending seamlessly with the night view and the trees along the road.
Upon arriving at the residential complex, Song Jianan had just unbuckled her seatbelt when Su Li suddenly spoke up, "Song Jianan, can I ask you a question?"
Without even thinking, she immediately replied, "Yes, ask away."
Do you still keep in touch with your high school or college classmates?
"No, it's just a very random class reunion. I've lost contact with many people, even my close classmates and friends from before have gradually drifted apart because we live in different places." She smiled shyly, "Everyone has their own life now."
Just like Xu Yan, who was inseparable from me every day in college, Zhang Jingkang, who I could talk to about anything in high school, and Duan Jiachen, we have all drifted apart without realizing it. It is true that it is easy to part and hard to meet again.
"This is normal. Me too. I doubt many of my classmates remember me now."
Song Jianan rolled her eyes in disdain. "Forget it. Last time at Renmin University, your junior recognized you immediately."
"It doesn't matter," he smiled. "As long as some people remember me."
He let out a soft sigh. In the shadows, his eyes and smile were extremely gentle, shedding his original aloof and indifferent aura. His whole body was enveloped in a gentle and warm glow against the light, blurry and unreal.
As if bewitched, looking at his gentle eyes and brows, she blurted out, "I remember," and was immediately startled by her own words. She hurriedly and flusteredly explained, "I mean, that's not what I meant."
He simply smiled faintly, the smile in his eyes serene and distant, reflected in her eyes and enveloping her heart.
Author's Note:
colors
If you want progress, I'll give you progress. Progress, right? Haha.
It's so cold, my fingers are all stiff. Good luck to all those taking exams or preparing for postgraduate entrance exams!
Another development in two chapters
"Time's Edge" by Sheng Li, Chapter 35 — Jinjiang Original Website [Works Library]
Today, the city had its first snowfall of the year. It was fine and gentle. Watching the white snowflakes fall from the office, like drifting willow catkins, spreading gently, with the wind blowing bleakly, made me realize that winter had truly arrived.
Everyone in the office was peering out the windows at the snow scene. The girls were all taking out their phones to take pictures. Even more impressively, Fang Yanyan borrowed a professional camera from a photographer from the city section and rushed downstairs to take pictures with great enthusiasm. Then, more people ran out and cheered in the snow. Even the usually serious director chuckled. Only from a few rooms away, from the Focus on People's Livelihood section, could one hear occasional curses: "It's snowing so heavily, and they make us go to the meteorological bureau for an interview? Are they crazy? It was bound to snow. Those guys at the meteorological bureau are all talk about air currents and air quality."
Song Jianan flipped through the calendar on the table, casually circled it with a red pen, then frowned, feeling that something was wrong. "Why is it snowing so early this year? It usually snows one or two days before the New Year."
"This year is probably not going to be a good year. My mom said that all the good luck this year has been taken up by the Olympics. Even my cousin's wedding was postponed for a year. The two of them just got their marriage certificate, and the wedding banquet may not be held until New Year's Day next year."
Another colleague exclaimed, "No way! We can't even get married? Does that mean my wife will become an unwed mother?"
An eerie silence fell over the office, followed by a burst of laughter and shouts: "That's unethical! Getting her pregnant and then refusing to take responsibility!"
The male colleague chuckled and scratched his head. "Then my wife and I are going to get our marriage certificate tomorrow and hand out wedding candies. Everyone, please do us the honor of joining us!"
"Don't buy White Rabbit or Golden Monkey brand products; I ate them when I was a kid and they still give me cavities!"
One of the girls laughed and said, "I want Dove, Cadbury, or Figaro."
“Dove won’t do,” the male colleague said seriously. “When my wife hinted at marriage and indirectly proposed to me, she gave me Dove chocolates. Dove sounds like ‘get a husband,’ right?”
The office was immediately filled with laughter again, along with congratulatory messages from next door. The joy and happiness added a touch of festivity to the otherwise oppressive and dull atmosphere caused by the high-pressure work.
Song Jianan suddenly remembered a legend: if you dye your nails red on the day of Lidong (the beginning of winter), and the red color hasn't faded by the time the first snow falls, you will be blessed with a beautiful love.
In my makeup bag lay a bottle of exquisite nail polish, a prize from a cosmetics launch event. It shimmered with a faint pink luster under the lights. Out of curiosity, I unscrewed the cap and tried applying it to my nails. The light pink color wasn't very noticeable, but my fingertips looked delicate and pink, with a subtle, sandy sheen.
I wonder when the color on her fingertips will fade. If it hasn't disappeared before New Year's Eve, then she will definitely have a beautiful and sweet love this year.
Just as she was blowing on her still-damp fingertips, her phone suddenly rang. When she answered, she heard her mother's voice, "Nannan, come home for dinner tonight. Your father just got back from a meeting and said he misses you. Come home for dinner."
Without even thinking, Song Jianan said "Oh," and then asked, "Should I take some groceries back with me?"
"When you get off work, turn onto Yuxitang on Chengde Road. I ordered a roast duck there for lunch, the kind that costs 188 yuan, and a fresh vegetable and three-treasure bun. I was planning to pick it up, but it's snowing now and it's too much trouble to go out. Remember, you must go!"
A hint of doubt crept into her mind. "Hey, it's just a meal at home, why all this fuss?" Before she could finish speaking, Song's mother hurriedly hung up the phone, leaving her completely bewildered.
She left early, while Fang Yanyan was still organizing her manuscripts. When she saw her, she grinned and then leaned out the window to look out. "Hey, Sister Jia Nan, go out and ask the security guard to call a taxi for you. It's so snowy, it's hard to even get to the subway station."
"And you, how are you going to get home tonight?"
Fang Yanyan pursed her lips, "It's okay, I'll call my sister to come pick me up. You go back first, be careful on the road."
Song Jianan asked curiously, "Where is Su Li?"
"Oh, he's on a business trip. He arrived in Changsha, Hunan yesterday and will be going to Shenzhen in a few days." Fang Yanyan replied casually, his hands clattering on the keyboard. "Sister Jianan, hurry back, or the road will be even harder to walk on after dark."
Song Jianan pointed at the screen and said, "If you switch the positions of this sentence and the next sentence, it looks weird. Okay, I'm leaving now. Don't go back too late, and be careful on the road at night."
Fang Yanyan turned her head to the side, her narrow eyes narrowing into slits, then she broke into a smile, "Sister Jia Nan, your nail polish is nice, pink, the color of love, haha."
Her face flushed, and she quickly withdrew her hand, slapping him hard on the head. "Hurry up and write your article, I'm leaving."
Braving the heavy snow, she took a taxi to pick up food, and then made her way home. The taxi couldn't get into the community, so she had to run back through the snow. Panting, she entered her building and saw the white light streaming down into the dark stairwell. Then she heard footsteps and excited voices. The voice was so familiar; it was her mother's voice, who else could it be? "Oh my, long time no see, long time no see! Come in quickly, it's snowing so hard outside."
So it's an invitation to dinner, huh? Song Jianan rolled her eyes. Just as she stepped onto the stairs, a louder voice reached her ears, "Oh my, it's Duan Jiachen! I haven't seen him in years, he's changed so much, he's gotten more and more handsome."
She abruptly pulled her foot back, her whole body trembling involuntarily. She heard Song's mother complaining, "Why isn't Song Jianan back yet? Come in first, I'll call her." Then she heard the door close.
The wind kept blowing in from the stairwell, carrying snowflakes that stung her face until she could no longer feel them. Song Jianan stood there blankly for a while, and sure enough, her phone started vibrating violently in her pocket. She sighed heavily, resignedly loosened her stiff fingers, forced a smile, and secretly cursed herself for being so fake and pretentious.
Climbing the mere dozen or so steps was incredibly difficult. Then she pressed the doorbell, and a milky white light shone through a crack, slowly elongating. Standing before her was a man almost a head taller than her, silently and calmly looking at her. She looked up at him too; that familiar face, unchanged over the years. Unlike Su Li's handsome features, Duan Jiachen possessed a sunny, heroic air. But at this moment, his coldness was like the colors of his shirt and tie—quiet, aloof, and starkly contrasting.
She could only squint her eyes slightly, trying to ignore his indifference, and breathed softly, pretending to laugh carefree, "I'm back. The snow outside is so heavy, the first snow of the year."
Water droplets slid down my forehead and into my eyes, instantly blurring my vision. My eyes felt sore and swollen, and even the light seemed to flicker.
Duan Jiachen took a few steps back to let her into the house without saying a word. Song Jianan forced a smile and then greeted Duan's mother and father, who were sitting on the sofa, with a smile, "Hello, Uncle and Aunt."
His gaze was fixed on me from behind, and I felt as if I were being pricked by needles.
Not wanting to face this awkward situation, she ran into the kitchen and refused to come out, while also helping Song's mother with the cooking. Song's mother, who was already talkative, couldn't stop now, saying, "Duan Jiachen is much more handsome than when he was a child. Boys really grow up and change. His demeanor is different after returning from studying abroad."
Song Jianan made a half-hearted attempt to keep up with the image of that cold face flashing through her mind, making her feel uncomfortable all over. She really didn't want to continue this boring topic. "Mom, stop talking like that, let's change the subject."
Song's mother seemed to be still immersed in her own world. "Nan Nan, you two were so close when you were little, always sticking together. Duan Jiachen's mother and I even joked about arranging a marriage between you two."
She rolled her eyes helplessly. "Mom, it's been so many years, why bring it up again? Duan Jiachen has a girlfriend now."
"Oh? I asked his mother last time and she said he didn't have any. It's only been a few days, you're just making things up." Song's mother stared at her suspiciously for a few seconds. "Wash some green peppers for me, and make a stir-fried three delicacies dish."
She picked up four green peppers from the ground, threw them into a basin, added water, pinched the top of one pepper, pressed it down, and removed the seeds. The intense spiciness immediately burst out, and she immediately and pathetically sneezed loudly.
Tears welled up from the spiciness, and her nose itched. She could only lean against the wall, gasping for breath. Seeing her miserable state, Song's mother was at a loss. "Go, go, go, don't make things worse. Go out and rest. It's really not easy for you to do this."
"If it weren't for this chili pepper being too..." She couldn't finish her sentence and went straight to the bathroom after opening the door.
Applying warm water to her nose didn't help much, so she had no choice but to cover her nose with a tissue and go out, looking rather disheveled. Duan Jiachen was standing behind the sofa watching TV casually. When he saw her come out, he walked over and asked, "Can I use your computer in your room?"
He moved his hand away a little, looking pitiful. "Okay, the one without a password, you can just turn it on."
"Song Jianan, what's wrong?" Duan Jiachen asked, looking down at her. "Do you have a fever?"