Review lesson

As the ginkgo leaves fell, the final report for the public welfare project was finally completed. Luo Yan stood downstairs in the sports academy's office building, holding the printed materials, her breath quickly dissipating in the cold air—as agreed, this report, which required the supervisor's signature, had to be given to Qi Sheng.

My phone rang twice. It was a message from Qi Sheng: "I'm waiting for you downstairs. I just finished a group meeting."

She looked up and saw him standing in front of the bulletin board, wearing a black windbreaker, holding a pen in his hand, looking down at the newly posted graduate thesis proposal schedule. Sunlight filtered through the bare branches, illuminating his profile and casting the shadow of his eyelashes onto his cheekbone, as clear as a sketch.

"Here you go." Luo Yan handed over the report, her fingertips brushing against his glove, feeling a subtle friction.

Qi Sheng opened the report, signed his mentor's name on the last page, and said softly, "Your technical charts are very clear. The professor praised them yesterday."

“It’s because you taught me well,” Luo Yan said softly, recalling how he taught her to use data visualization tools in the project. “I tried the function you mentioned last time, and it is indeed faster than my original method.”

He smiled, folded the report, and put it into a file folder: "Are you busy with final exams? Computer classes must be tough."

"It's alright, just a bit of a headache." Luo Yan kicked the ginkgo shells at her feet. "Too many formulas."

“I’ll recommend an online course to you later,” he glanced at his watch. “I have to go to the lab now, so I’m off. Don’t study too late, and remember to get some rest.”

"good."

Watching him walk into the office building, Luo Yan suddenly remembered the day of the project acceptance. He was squatting in the community square adjusting the sensors, his fingers red from the cold, but he insisted on not wearing gloves—saying, "Wearing gloves makes operation inaccurate." His earnestness has never changed.

The next two weeks were a tacit understanding of parallel paths.

Luo Yan studied on the third floor of the library and could always see Qi Sheng across from her. He mostly read papers, occasionally frowning at the tactical diagrams on his computer screen. She never greeted him, but when he got up to get water, she quietly pushed his usual bottled water towards his desk.

One evening around 9 p.m., Luo Yan was carrying her laptop out of the study room when she passed by the sports academy's training hall and saw Qi Sheng and his teammates packing up training equipment. He was wearing a black tracksuit, sweat beading on his forehead, and his arm muscles taut as he stacked the barbell plates.

"Still not home so late?" He saw her first and stopped what he was doing.

"Just finished my programming assignment." Luo Yan shook her laptop bag. "You guys just finished too?"

"Extra training, there's a physical fitness test next week." He picked up a towel to wipe his sweat. "Shall I walk you to the intersection?"

"No need, it's very close." Luo Yan quickly waved her hand. "You should get some rest."

Qi Sheng smiled, didn't insist any further, and turned to continue packing up the equipment. Luo Yan walked quite a distance, and when she looked back, she could still see his figure bending over to carry the vaulting box in the lights of the training hall, like a tree stretching out in the night.

On Christmas Eve, the library closed early. Luo Yan went to return her notebook and waited downstairs at the dormitory for ten minutes before seeing Qi Sheng return. He was wearing a gray overcoat with a scarf wrapped twice, only his eyes showing. He paused for a moment when he saw her: "It's so cold, why didn't you go upstairs to wait?"

"I didn't want to disturb your studies." Luo Yan handed over the notebook. "Thank you so much, senior. You've been a great help."

Qi Sheng took the notebook, then suddenly pulled an apple out of his pocket: "It was a gift from the kids in the community, and there's an extra one."

The apple was wrapped in red crepe paper and tied with a crooked bow. When Luo Yan took it, her fingertips touched his; they were icy cold. "Thank you, senior. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

Back in her dorm, Luo Yan placed the apple in the center of her desk, next to the scrap paper with the tennis racket sticky note on it. Snow began to fall outside the window; tiny snowflakes clung to the glass, quickly melting into watermarks.

This winter doesn't seem so cold.

The last time we met in the library before the final exams was three days ago. Qi Sheng was packing his things, and there was a copy of "Sports Training Science" on the corner of the table with a sticky note on the cover that read "References for the Thesis Proposal".

"The exam is tomorrow?" He saw the past exam paper for "Matrix Theory" in her arms.

"Yes, the last one." Luo Yan nodded. "Has your thesis proposal been prepared, senior?"

"Almost done, just need to verify the data." He put the book into his backpack. "Get some rest after the exam, don't think too much."

"The same to you."

By the time they left the library, the snow was falling heavily. The two walked side by side for a while, then stopped at the intersection: "I'll go this way."

"Okay, goodbye, senior."

"goodbye."

He turned and walked into the snow, his black figure quickly disappearing into the white. Luo Yan stood there, watching his footprints fill with the fresh snow, and suddenly remembered a sentence from her notebook—"Just find a point of leverage." Perhaps some things, too, need a suitable "point of leverage."

On the day the exams ended, Zhang Qi dragged Luo Yan to a coffee shop to celebrate. In the warm yellow light, her best friend's voice, like a pebble, rippled through her heart: "If you like her, just say so! Look at you two these past two weeks, your eyes are practically locked in a knot..."

Luo Yan held her hot cocoa cup, watching the snowflakes fall outside the window. Suddenly, she took out her phone, her fingertip hovering over the screen for a long time before finally pressing the send button.

"Senior, thanks to you for the last project, I'd like to invite you for a coffee. Do you have time?"