Time Passed Us By - Chapter 8

The sunset painted the sky red, leaving an ambiguous hue on the teaching building of the affiliated high school.

After the last exam, the whole campus was in an uproar. The crowds poured out, carrying relieved expressions. Song Jianan walked across the playground with her schoolbag on her back and around the pond. The ivy had already densely covered the flower racks.

 Thousands of examinees rushed out together, but Song Jianan was not in a hurry. She was a liberal arts examinee and was taking the exam at her own school. She was somewhat curious about this school when she first came to it because it was Su Li’s junior high school alma mater.

 There is a forest behind the gymnasium. Umbrella-shaped ginkgo leaves flutter down, bringing with them the unique fragrance of the plant. The image of that handsome and gloomy boy suddenly flashed through her mind. She smiled slightly, and a faint longing surged from the bottom of her heart.

After moving to the liberal arts building in her senior year, she hardly saw Su Li anymore and rarely heard rumors about him. If a person is really cruel enough to give up love, then even a short distance can be as far as the eye can see. Although she still thinks of him from time to time, she has to tell herself that this is just a little girl’s fantasy, a beautiful but somewhat cruel dream during those ignorant years.

She returned home, threw down her schoolbag, and laid on her sofa, staring at the ceiling in a daze. The phone rang, and when she picked it up it turned out to be Zhang JingKang. Zhang JingKang’s tone could not hide her excitement and joy being relieved, “Song Jianan, how was the exam?”

She smiled faintly, “It’s okay, not too difficult, how about you?”

 “Ah! Physics is really difficult. I just asked a lot of people and they said they didn’t do well on the test. Oh, whatever, it’s fine. We’re taking graduation photos tomorrow and then we’re going to have a party at Hotpot City. Do you want to go?”

 She thought for a while and said, “Okay, but you can call me when the time comes.”

Zhang JingKang was very excited, “Okay, no problem, I’ll call you then, and we’ll go to Hotpot City together.”

Holding the colorful graduation guestbooks in their hands, the girls finally took off their heavy and ugly school uniforms, put on light skirts, and looked for classmates to leave messages in the crowd. Song Jianan signed until her hands were tired and told her deskmate helplessly, “It feels like a farewell to life and death. I am at a loss for words by the end of all this writing. It’s all a burden!”

The girl smiled shyly, opened her own graduation guestbook, and was also quite touched, “Before the college entrance examination, everyone signed the guestbook like an underground party. It was so enthusiastic at the time and was caught by the class teacher several times. But now it seems that no one is interested anymore.” 

“It was a suppressed happiness at the time,” Song Jianan concluded, “Luckily I’m not interested in this.” 

The girl tilted her head to look at the flower bed, and after a while, she suddenly asked, “Song Jianan is there anyone you want an autograph for, someone you’ve never spoken to and who probably doesn’t even know you?” 

She was stunned. The word “Su Li” was the first thing that popped into her mind. Almost like a conditioned reflex, she cast her eyes towards Class 8, but there was no familiar figure. She hurriedly retracted her gaze and said, “No. how could it be someone I don’t know?” 

The girl was a little disappointed. At this time, the head teacher came over and instructed, “Everyone, stand according to your height. We will take a group photo of all the graduates soon. When the time comes, make sure to open your eyes so you don’t look like a blind person.” 

Song Jianan was very tall, so she had to stand in the last row of girls. The boy behind her recognized her and started talking to her. She glanced up inadvertently and saw Su Li at the end of the line, wearing a white shirt with his hands in his pockets and his chin slightly raised, as if he was looking at the sky. 

There were large patches of clouds in the sky, flowing rapidly across the sky, The calm and melancholy temperament of the boy in white blended perfectly into this silent sea of sky. It seemed that there was only Su Li in her eyes. For just a second, Song Jianan suddenly didn’t know what emotion to use to face it, and could only turn her eyes away. 

Her heart began to ache. She could never be so bright to match such a melancholy sky. 

Only time can slowly sooth out the memories.  

Half a month passed in a flash. On the day the college entrance examination results inquiry hotline was opened, Song Jianan could not get an ounce of sleep. The Song family was immersed in great joy. Song Jianan performed usually in the college entrance examination, and it even seemed that she performed better. 

Calls came one after another, all from classmates asking about their scores. Song Jianan responded politely while comforting others. This year, almost all science students were wiped out in physics, and it was the first time that the scores of liberal arts students surpassed those of science students.

 She suddenly began to worry about Su Li, so she had to secretly ask her classmates from the psychology class about it and planned to inquire about it when filling out her college application form.

 But she wasn’t at school that day to fill out the applications. Her cousin who was studying in Singapore asked her to go there for a trip. All the applications were managed by Song’s mother. Duan Jiachen was the first in the class and applied for the architecture department of the best university in the city. Some were happy and some were sad, but no one mentioned anything about Su Li. When she came back, the admission letter had arrived. 

She went to pick up her admission letter on a sunny afternoon. The campus was empty, and there was a teacher on duty in the office working hard to register the number of admission letters. She gave her name, and the teacher immediately smiled and said, “It’s you. You are the only one going to Sun Yat-sen University from our school this year. You did really well in the exam.” 

The teacher turned and went into the reference room to get her EMS. Song Jianan leaned over to look at the name on the registration form. Duan Jiachen had already come to get the notification slip. It was indeed that university. Before she had the time to take a closer look, the teacher handed her the EMS and registered it on the registration form, saying, “It’s too hot today, so only two people came to get the notification slip. It was a boy this morning. By the way, he’s from Renmin University and also did very well in the exam.” 

Song Jianan smiled politely and asked casually, “Teacher, what is his name? Maybe I know him.” 

The teacher took a quick look, and said, “Oh, his name is Su Li. There aren’t many people with the last name Su these days.”

The school is a new campus, and behind it are large suburban fields. 

The unknown grass grew as tall as half a person, and the roadside was full of wildflowers called double ginger grass. Both the leaves and flowers were edible and had strong vitality. They could be seen everywhere, with dark red and withered yellow intertwined, and the summer seemed to reveal a kind of autumn decadence. 

The wooden fences on both sides of the road were covered with lush green vines. Song Jianan ran and screamed hard into the wild, scaring the birds resting on the fence and making them fly away, creating ripples.

 She was extremely tired from running. All the pressure she had been under for many years was suddenly released at once. The summer wind was hot, and the sun made her face red. She thought of Su Li, Renmin University, and herself, one in the south and one in the north, going in opposite directions.

 Tears suddenly fell without warning and then stopped quietly.

It was as if all these years were a dream, and everything with Su Li was an end without a beginning.