Chapter 28 Chapter 28 2013

The winter of 2013 was a relatively low temperature across the country, with only a few areas in the southwest being relatively warm. In the first semester at No. 1 Middle School, Xu Sui seemed to have suddenly become enlightened. He performed well in physics and mathematics, which he had never been good at, in every exam.

The good here does not mean good in the traditional sense, but the result obtained by comparing with Xu Sui's previous performance. It is at an upper-middle level in the class.

That year, the Tiny Times series of films directed by Guo Jingming were released, and their high quality ignited the market and achieved high box office; Jay Chou's "Magic Wheel World Tour" traveled to many mainland cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and tickets were hard to come by.

During recess, the girls in the class gathered together to discuss the plot and their own opinions. Some of them secretly brought their cell phones and placed them under the metal drawer to play them silently. The MP3 players played the hit singles of that year.

There was a drizzle outside the window. Xu Sui put his left hand in the pocket of his winter school uniform, and kept writing on the white paper with his right hand. His brain was burning rapidly. He wore the Bluetooth headset given by Jiang Changjia in his right ear, and Jay Chou's "Red Dust Inn" was playing on his right ear. This song was inexplicably suitable for the mountain city.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of December. In a dozen days, it would be the final exams, and the Spring Festival was also approaching quietly. Xu Sui didn't know whether Zhou Xiaoling would come back this year. He had a little expectation in his heart, because Xu Changxuan would not come back anyway.

A genius known for his music, he lingers in the flourishing foreign countries and is reluctant to return home.

The girls' dormitory of Class 1 was still brightly lit at night, with various desk lamps of different shapes and colors taking turns to shine. Xu Sui used the thirty minutes or so before going to bed to memorize liberal arts subjects such as politics and history.

I review the knowledge points at night and remember them firmly and accurately. After I finish memorizing them, I can fall asleep as soon as I close my eyes when I am tired.

There were no major conflicts after that obvious dormitory conflict, but Xu Sui vaguely felt that there were cliques forming behind the scenes. It was obvious that she and another girl seemed to be isolated.

Xu Sui calmed his mind and didn't take it to heart. He was busy with his own work every day. The final exam was second only to Song Shiyang in importance to Xu Sui.

Because after this semester ends, we will have a family reunion during the Chinese New Year.

But Xu Sui didn't know why, every time he saw the girl who had helped him that day in the classroom or dormitory, his eyes would inexplicably avoid her and his face would turn away. Xu Sui could only see her thin profile and a little bruise that he didn't know where she got from.

The girl's name was Lin Zhaodi. Xu Sui was only familiar with everyone in the dormitory. She was the only one whose name he knew besides Chen Yue, so he couldn't help but pay more attention to her.

During a break, Lin Zhaodi once again passed by Xu Sui, and Xu Sui called out to her, "Artie, are you unhappy?"

The girl with very fair skin and who looked very shy seemed to be frightened by Xu Sui's shout. Her shoulders trembled and she turned around a little. Half of her face was hidden under her winter school uniform, and only her big round eyes were visible.

"Ah, ah, I'm not unhappy. I'm just a little worried about the exam coming up." Her voice was muffled, hidden in heavy clothes, as if locked in a box, and could not be heard clearly.

Xu Sui paused, feeling a little strange, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just glanced at her and said slowly, word by word: "If you have anything, you can tell me, or find Lao Zhao."

She pointed at Zhao Jianhua who was sitting on the podium looking at the test paper. The next class was math class, and he was sitting there early.

Lin Zhaodi smiled shyly, nodded, and left to go to her seat.

The weather in Yu City is not as cold as in northern Hunan, but it is surprisingly dry. The hands holding the pen are dry and cold, making people feel very uncomfortable.

This final exam is another joint exam. Unlike the last midterm exam, this one is a joint exam within Chongqing City, including Nankai No. 8 Middle School and other well-known high schools in Chongqing City, and several important high schools jointly set the questions.

The difficulty of the questions is surprisingly great.

It seems that no one has considered letting them have a good new year. Every subject is challenging their IQ.

The last bell for collecting papers rang, and the first semester of the first year of high school came to a perfect end. The students around were laughing, running, and cheering as they welcomed a brief moment of joy.

When Xu Sui was walking from the connecting corridor to West Building 2, someone suddenly tapped her. Xu Sui subconsciously looked to the right, but didn't see anyone. A voice with a hearty smile said, "Hi! Over here."

Xu Sui turned to the left and saw that slightly dark face. Although it had become much whiter than the last time they met, it still looked a little dark in the crowd.

Xu Sui frowned at him, his eyes clearly saying: "No, what's wrong with you?"

"Are we familiar with each other?"

The boy felt a little restrained when he was looked at by Xu Sui. His cheerful face suddenly became a little helpless, but he still touched his head and grinned and greeted Xu Sui: "Your name is Xu Sui, right?"

Then he stopped talking, his eyes filled with expectation as he looked at Xu Sui, as if hoping she would say, "Ah, you are xx, right?"

But obviously, he was not in Xu Sui's memory.

She doesn't remember.

Chen Yun lowered his eyes at Xu Sui's indifferent gaze, and when he raised his eyes again, he was still the cheerful and bright boy: "Hello Xu Sui, my name is Chen Yun, Erdong Chen, Yun as in Xudong. I'm from the class three next door to you."

Then he ran away quickly, and when he went up the stairs he couldn't control his speed and stumbled noticeably.

Xu Sui was originally confused, and since he had just finished an exam, he was deeply tired and his face was probably expressionless.

But after seeing the scene just now, he couldn't help but pursed his lips and smiled.

Just as I reached the classroom door, I ran into Shu Siyun, who was about to come out with her schoolbag on her back. Seeing Xu Suihou, she paused, pinched the corner of her right lip, and looked at him with a frown, sounding impatient. "Have you packed your things in the dormitory? My dad said he's waiting for you downstairs. We'll go move your things together then. Hurry up."

After saying that, he turned around and left without waiting for Xu Sui's response. After a second or two, Xu Sui took a step back and turned to look at the stairs, but he didn't see anyone, so he turned his head back and continued walking forward.

After Jiang Changjia packed up the last little doll, he happened to see Xu Sui coming in. He walked a few steps and ran to Xu Sui's seat. After looking around, he took a notebook from Song Shiyang's desk behind him and tore off a page of paper.

Song Shiyang was originally cleaning the drawer with his head down. When he felt someone touching his things, he looked up and saw Jiang Changjia wearing pink earmuffs on his head and pink gloves on his hands. He then looked away and continued to clean the drawer that was so full of books that it was almost full.

It was difficult to take out a book, as he had to take back all the ones he didn't need.

"Sui Sui, this is my Penguin ID and phone number. If you want to play with me, just call me. I don't mind if you plan to say Happy New Year to me on New Year's Eve." She quickly wrote down a string of numbers on the paper, then covered her pretty face with her hands, shook her head and acted coquettishly, her big eyes blinking.

Xu Sui turned his head and smiled, barely uttering the word "OK" through his laughter.

Jiang Changjia said goodbye to her with satisfaction and left.

Xu Sui watched her dark blue figure disappear at the front door of the classroom, lowered her eyes and packed her schoolbag, putting away her winter vacation homework and test papers. When she had almost finished packing, she suddenly heard a tired but warm voice ringing in her ears. The wind coming in through the window rushed into her ears and swept into her heart. It was a very ordinary reminder, but it had an extremely strong power that caused her heart to tremble slightly.

He had already packed his things and was carrying his black backpack in one hand. Xie Zhuoyuan and others were already waiting at the door, staring at him eagerly.

"By the end of winter vacation, we should have reviewed half of the second-year high school textbooks," he said.

Xu Sui zipped up his schoolbag and met his gaze. He remained silent for a long moment. Puzzlement slowly grew in the boy's eyes. He raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xu Sui shook his head, then nodded: "I understand."

What happened again, I know.

It seemed like these were the only two sentences they could say to each other.

He nodded, was silent for a moment, and called her: "Xu Sui."

"ah?"

"Happy holidays."

After saying this, he raised his leg and walked towards the back door. Xu Sui didn't even have time to reply to him. He could only see his figure quickly disappearing at the door.

It was such a cold day and everyone was wearing the thick cotton trousers distributed by the school. They were very thick and puffy, making their legs look fatter when worn.

But he seemed not to be afraid of the cold at all. Despite Zhao Jianhua's repeated warnings, he still stubbornly wore a very thin pair of autumn school pants that wrapped around his legs. Unlike jeans or tights, they were not loose, and under his hanging trouser legs were a pair of white shoes.

His winter school uniform was open, and the heavy coat did not seem bulky on him, but inexplicably highlighted his thinness.

At that moment, Xu Sui suddenly thought that if the winter and autumn uniforms were not different in color, he would definitely wear the autumn uniform. This was a very strong feeling.

Because I like you, I want to touch and understand everything about you.

I pay attention to your personality, your clothes, your behavior unconsciously, against my will and in accordance with my instinct.

**

In the last few days of 2013, Xu Sui got her first smartphone. It was not a big brand, with a light pink shell and far fewer entertainment functions than today.

It was bought for her by the stubborn old man.

It was a reward for her good performance in the final exam, mainly because Zhao Jianhua played a big role in it. When the two of them were talking on the phone, Xu Sui was listening next to them. Zhao Jianhua was worthy of being the head teacher of the grade, he could make things go crazy with just one word.

I praised her for being quiet, obedient, hardworking and serious. She unexpectedly took first place in the joint exam in biology, although there were many people tied for first place. Although she did not get first place in English, she ranked very high. She also did very well in Chinese. Finally, we talked about the score reduction in the college entrance examination due to the high school competition.

Finally, he patted his chest and guaranteed to the stubborn old man that if Xu Sui continued to study so hard in the future, he would at least be able to get into a 211 university, and he could try to get into a 985 university through competitions.

So that night the two old men took Xu Sui to the new city area to watch the fireworks show and go shopping in the pedestrian street to buy new clothes for the New Year. Finally, the stubborn old man took Xu Sui into a mobile phone store and bought her a new model from the store on the spot.

Even though Xu Sui expressed his attitude countless times, saying that he didn't need it.

But it seemed that the more she said this, the more pleased the stubborn old man became, and the more he wanted to buy her something. Xu Sui thought that maybe it was the New Year, or maybe something happy had happened.

The streets were crowded with people. Xu Sui and the two old people walked along with the crowd. The new street lamps emitted warm light, and the scattered lights connected together illuminated all corners of Chongqing City. The lights of the world and the reunion of families.