Chapter 16

On the eve of the college entrance examination, there was a heavy rain in Guangzhou.

Wu Ye sat at his desk, his fingertips tapping unconsciously on the surface. Outside the window, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and raindrops clattered against the security net.

"Nervous?" Li Ruiyuan leaned against the door frame, holding a can of beer in his hand.

The boy shook his head, but his eyes drifted to the clock on the wall - there were still twelve hours and thirty-seven minutes until the college entrance examination.

"Come out if you can't sleep." Li Ruiyuan turned around. "Mom made some sweet soup."

In the living room, her mother was pouring lotus seed soup into a bowl. Li Xuan had already fallen asleep on the sofa, a math formula book in her arms.

"Drink a bowl to calm your nerves." Mother pushed the bowl towards me, her eyes a little dark. "I added lily bulbs."

Wu Ye sipped the sugar water and suddenly said, "The final question of last year's mock exam..."

"Stop." Li Ruiyuan flicked his forehead. "Is this the time to talk about this?"

As the sound of the rain died down, my mother suddenly stood up and took out a red cloth bag: "I went to Liurong Temple."

"Mom..." Li Ruiyuan frowned, "It's the middle of the night." "Sincerely, your wish will come true." His mother had already changed her shoes. "You two go to bed first."

At five in the morning, Wu Ye was gently nudged awake. Li Ruiyuan was standing by his bed, holding a brand new school uniform.

"Put it on." His tone brooked no refusal. "This is the consecration dress my mother asked for."

There was a small "Successful Examination" embroidered on the chest of the school uniform, and the stitches were so fine that it didn't seem like the work of my mother.

There were crowds of people outside the test center. Li Ruiyuan stopped his motorcycle outside the cordon and suddenly grabbed Wu Ye's wrist.

"Listen." He stuffed a piece of candy into the boy's palm, "It's okay if you don't do well on the test."

Wu Ye pinched the candy, his fingertips burning: "Hmm."

The three-day exam felt like a long marathon. When the bell rang for the final exam, a light drizzle began to fall again.

Wu Ye walked out of the examination room and saw Li Ruiyuan standing at the front of the crowd. He didn't hold an umbrella, and raindrops dripped down his hair, but he was holding a bouquet of sunflowers tightly in his hands.

"Congratulations." The bouquet was stuffed into his arms. "You're free."

The motorcycle was speeding back. Wu Ye hugged Li Ruiyuan's waist and pressed his face against his soaked back. The rain was salty, mixed with some scalding liquid.

On the day the results were announced, the whole family huddled around the computer. The page-loading circle spun for so long that Li Xuan started biting her nails.

"7...732?" Mother's voice trembled. "Is there something wrong with the system?"

When the number popped up, ranking 19th in the province, the living room fell eerily quiet. Li Ruiyuan was silent for a few moments before getting up and walking out. "I'm going to buy some firecrackers."

The day the Tsinghua University acceptance letter arrived, the alleyway was packed with people. The red envelope shone brightly in the sun, and the postman smiled and called out, "Sign for this, top scorer!"

Wu Ye took the envelope, and his first reaction was to look for that figure. Li Ruiyuan stood under the lychee tree, smoking, his expression blurred by the smoke.

That night, the small supermarket hosted a buffet. Neighbors raised their glasses to congratulate him, and his mother distributed red envelopes with tears in her eyes. Wu Ye drank several glasses of beer, his cheeks flushed.

"You've made it!" Lin Lixin patted his shoulder vigorously. "I'll be relying on you when I go to Beijing!" Li Ruiyuan kicked the empty bottle away: "Don't lead him astray."

It was already early morning when the crowd dispersed. Wu Ye leaned against the wall to sober up and saw Li Ruiyuan burning something in the yard.

Only when I got closer did I see it was the school uniform embroidered with "Successful in the Imperial Examination." The flames licked the silk thread, making a subtle crackling sound.

"Why burn it?" Wu Ye asked.

"Bad luck." Li Ruiyuan poked the fire with a branch. "No need."

Amidst the flying ashes, he suddenly turned around and looked at the boy: "Are you really going to Beijing?"

"Um."

"so far away..."

Before he could finish his words, Wu Ye suddenly hugged him. The smell of alcohol mixed with the sweetness of tuberose was like an intoxicated dream.

"Four years." The boy's voice was muffled in his shoulder. "Very soon." Li Ruiyuan froze for a moment, and finally raised his hand to ruffle his hair: "I will come to see you."

Guangzhou was still sweltering in late August. The night before his departure, Wu Ye was packing his luggage when he stumbled upon a Mickey Mouse headband at the bottom of his suitcase.

Memories of that night at Disneyland came flooding back: the fireworks, the ice cream, the scratches from the height measurement.

He pushed open the door to the next room. Li Ruiyuan was studying a map of Beijing on his computer, the screen filled with annotations.

"This..." Wu Ye handed over the hairband, "I'll leave it as a souvenir for you."

Li Ruiyuan raised his eyebrows: "It's so ugly." But he still took it and put it on the monitor.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the silence between the two. Wu Ye suddenly realized that he needed to lower his head to see the other person's expression clearly.

"Brother Yuan."

"Um?"

"Will you come to Beijing to see me?"

The light from the computer screen flickered on Li Ruiyuan's face. "It depends on my mood." He turned back to studying the map. "I have a flight tomorrow."

At Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport, the announcements repeated boarding instructions. With red eyes, his mother adjusted Wu Ye's collar, while Li Xuan held onto her brother's waist tightly.

"Video chat three times a week." The mother choked, "Eat meals on time..." Li Ruiyuan stood a few steps away, turning the boarding pass with his fingertips.

When the final announcement sounded, Wu Ye suddenly walked towards him. In the crowded terminal, the young man opened his arms.

"Give me a hug." The voice was very soft, like a feather brushing past.

The moment Li Ruiyuan was stunned, he was already embraced by a strong embrace. The scent of mint shampoo hit him, mixed with the boy's hot body temperature.

"Wait for me." The whisper in my ear came with a hot and humid breath.

Then let go, turned around, and disappeared at the end of the boarding bridge