Time Passed Us By - Chapter 5

       The ancient and quiet city was submerged in the vast fog. The tall clock tower on the campus sank into silence in the twilight of the green shadow. The orange light of the street lamp was hazy in the thin mist.

　　It was not even six o’clock, but the sky was already dark. A cluster of students were pushing their bicycles out of the campus.

　　Song Jianan was pushing her bicycle with a group of girls. They were quite dissatisfied with the fact that the school did not have a day off on its anniversary celebration. After venting their dissatisfaction, the topic turned to the anniversary performance. Zhang Jingkang asked, “Where are the handsome boys in our school? Are they going to dance again?” 

A girl answered, “Who knows? I heard they formed a band and it became viral.”

　　”Last time they performed Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. Oh, it was so funny.” 

　　”Yeah, yeah, it was so ugly, but the junior high girls kept screaming. I really don’t understand them. Are all the boys in our school stupid from studying all the time? Why isn’t there anyone decent in dancing or singing?

　　”Yeah, yeah, they aren’t as good as the Second Affiliated High School. The boys there are all Beijing Broadcasting Institute and Shanghai Theatre Academy material.”

　　Song Jianan remembered a discussion with Su Li about Michael Jackson’s songs. Su Li described them as “eye candy”. Although she had some complaints, after listening to Irish music for a long time, she also felt that trendy songs were not necessarily memorable.

　　She and Su Li seldom chatted on the BBS, but they exchanged the novels they read recently and the music they listened to. And every time, she was the one who mustered up the courage to talk to him first. The excitement she felt at the beginning changed to a slightly upset feeling now, and she didn’t know why.

　　Every time she took the initiative and Su Li was unconsciously passive, she felt a little tired. In front of Su Li, Song Jianan was timid, cowardly, and inferior. She didn’t know how to change this situation, so she had to let it go.

　　Someone called her name from behind, and a group of girls stopped. Song Jianan smiled and asked the girl who chased up to them, “We’ve been waiting for you for a long time but you didn’t show up. Where have you been?”

　　The girl was sweating profusely and answered while panting, “Academic Affairs Office, helping the teacher organize the list of school anniversary scholarships.”

　　Everyone was excited when they heard the word “scholarship”. “I heard that this year is the 100th anniversary of the school, so the number of scholarships will double,” Zhang Jingkang asked confidently, “Is that right?”

　　”Yes, there are a lot of places this year. By the way, Song Jianan, you got the second prize. Please treat us to dinner!”

　　She was completely stunned. “No way, I got second prize? Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?”

　　The girl smiled, “My eyes are not blurry. There are only three places in our class. You got second prize, Duan Jiachen and the class monitor got third prize. By the way, there is also a first prize, which went to the study representative of the intensive class. I forgot his name.”

　　”Intensive class, Class 8. Their class monitor Su Li?” someone asked immediately.

　　”It’s like this.” The girl lowered her voice slightly, “I heard from the teacher that Su Li originally won the first prize, but later he asked the teacher to give the first prize to the study representative of their class because it seems that the study representative is a poor student and the first prize scholarship is almost twice that of the second prize. That study representative is arrogant and never accepts help from others openly, so it ended up like this. By the way, don’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

　　”I know, don’t worry.”

　　The girls expressed admiration and emotion, and Song Jianan also smiled and agreed. She remembered that Su Li always had a dull expression and an unsociable attitude, but under the indifference, there was a side that was approachable and caring, which had never been exposed to others.

　　Her heart was filled with ripples, and she silently recited Su Li’s name. Unconsciously, she feelings for him grew.

　　It rained heavily on the day of the school anniversary. The leaves of the school’s sycamore trees fell on the paths one after another. Only a few scattered leaves still retained their former vitality, which made people feel a little desolate in an instant.

　　Song Jianan was late. She rushed to the auditorium in the rain. The teacher in charge of the scene grabbed her and said, “Why did you arrive just now? Go find a seat and sit down. The director will come to present the awards soon. The second row on the right, do you see it?”

　　She nodded quickly and ran to the second row awkwardly in front of everyone. There was only one empty seat. She sat down without hesitation. Just as she took out a tissue to wipe the rain, the person next to her handed her the program list. She took it without thinking and didn’t even get to say thank you.

　　Song Jianan took a quick look. The scholarship award ceremony wouldn’t start until halfway through. Suddenly, the lights in the venue went out. It was pitch black. The students on the ground whispered, and a faint light flashed next to her. The white light went through her fingertips, and then the lights on the stage lit up. She unthinkingly glanced at the origin of that white light, and that person happened to look at her. When their eyes met, Song Jianan’s mind “buzzed” and became confused— Su Li was actually the one sitting next to her.

　　Su Li smiled, then turned his face away, put the flashlight keychain into his pocket, closed his eyes, and propped up his head, frowning slightly, as if he was very tired. Song Jianan didn’t come back to her senses for a long time. She tried to bury her head low, her heart beating like thunder.

　　It was her first time looking at Su Li up this close, Song Jianan had to pretend to watch the show and secretly look at him from the corners of her eyes. When he closed his eyes, she could see his long eyelashes very clearly. His face was coated with a layer of golden light, which was very vivid. There was cheerful music on the stage and applause from the audience, but there was nothing in her ears, only her own heartbeat and Su Li’s shallow breathing.

　　The program list in her hand was almost wet from her sweat. She had never been this nervous before. Song Jianan was almost restless, and strange thoughts were circling in her mind– did Su Li know that she was the girl sending him messages? What would happen if he knew? But how would he know?

　　About half an hour later, the lights in the venue came back on, and then the familiar march tune sounded. The teacher in charge waved their hand, and then the host said, “Please invite the scholarship winners to the stage to receive their awards.”

　　Song Jianan nervously looked at Su Li who was still sleeping soundly. Just as she was about to quietly pull the corner of his clothes, a girl behind him poked him with a rolled-up program list, “Wake up, Su Li.”

　　The boy opened his eyes, and a mischievous smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, which almost looked like it was for Song Jianan. He slowly turned his head and joked, “I wasn’t really asleep. “

　　Song Jianan couldn’t help but look at that girl named Qin Yuanyuan. She was very beautiful and looked very bright when she smiled. It seemed that she was very familiar with Su Li. Qin Yuanyuan also smiled, “Who knows if you’re sleeping? You just like to blank out. If you’re not sleeping, then you’re blanking out. I really don’t know how you got a second-prize scholarship.”

　　Su Li stretched out his stiff shoulder and calmly said, “Secret.” Then he stood up and straightened his clothes. Song Jianan still looked at Su Li blankly. He smiled knowingly, “Classmate, it’s time to go on stage.”

　　After receiving the certificate of the second prize scholarship, she shook hands with the silly director and they took a group photo. Su Li was next to her. The lights clicked, and the scene of this moment was firmly recorded forever.

　　Many years later, Song Jianan saw this photo again. She had a pretty face and a frank smile. She held the certificate in her hand, her eyes half-closed, and she looked very delighted. On her left stood the person she had a crush on in her youth. The boy raised his chin slightly and showed a faint smile, but it still made people feel a thousand miles away. The distance between her and him was only ten centimeters, and it was the closest distance between her and him.

　　At that time, Song Jianan just smiled foolishly and happily holding the photo. For a long time afterward, the photo was suppressed at the bottom of her memory and never came back up easily.

　　After the award ceremony, they left the stage. The rain was still falling and the sky was gray. Everyone else had left, but Song Jianan stood on the steps and jumped up and down, worrying that she didn’t bring an umbrella.

　　Duan Jiachen walked out of the auditorium and saw Song Jianan staring at the sky blankly. He immediately waved his hand in front of her, “Come back to your senses, second prize. Why didn’t you bring an umbrella?” 

　　”Yeah, I didn’t bring an umbrella, how do I go home? Duan Jiachen, you didn’t bring one either!”

　　”It wasn’t raining at all when we left.” He stretched out his hand to test the rain, then quickly took off his coat and threw it to Song Jianan, “Put it on, let’s rush out together and run to the classroom. We’ll find an umbrella anyhow there.”

　　Song Jianan looked at him puzzledly, “Duan Jiachen, you’re only wearing one shirt on and it’s raining, so you’ll definitely catch a cold. Hurry up and put on your clothes.”

　　”Woman, why are you talking so much nonsense? The time you put in your words could be spent on running back to the classroom,” Duan Jiachen’s teeth were chattering with cold, and he tried to keep his voice steady, “Hurry up, I’ll rush when I say one, two, three.”

　　The raindrops broke in front of them, carrying the silky lines of late autumn chill, floating densely and slanting in the air, with water splashes flying under their feet, causing bursts of bone-chilling coolness.

　　When she ran to the teaching building, her trousers were already mostly wet. Song Jianan wiped her wet bangs and handed the clothes to Duan Jiachen, “Put them on quickly, it would be terrible if you caught a cold.”

　　Song Jianan’s bangs had a few wet strands falling onto her forehead, with crystal clear water drops flowing down between her eyebrows. Her eyes were clear and bright, and her grin was so genuine. Duan Jiachen didn’t know why his heartbeat accelerated. He took the clothes, blushed slightly, and turned away.

　　She thought he was too cold and had to go to the duty room to turn on the heater, so she hurriedly shouted from behind, “Duan Jiachen, go home and take some cold medicine, be careful of catching a cold, I’m going to the classroom first.”

　　The boy was flustered. At that moment, like many times, but also different from many other times, his mood was slowly changing. He realized that the feeling was clearly love.