Distance to the west of the city

In the midsummer of 2013, news came from somewhere that the Hanshi staff housing compound was about to be demolished.

Under the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley, there are always adults fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans, discussing demolition compensation and future resettlement housing.

But the first one to leave was not the old house, but Ye Zhixia.

Uncle Ye had been in the army for ten years. On the day he was discharged, the whole alley was filled with the sound of Aunt Fang crying with joy.

My mother stood on the balcony hanging clothes, looking at the busy Ye family downstairs, and sighed, "Finally, we made it. We were given a big house in the west building, with three bedrooms and a living room."

On the day of moving, Ye Zhixia was wearing a light blue dress and standing next to the truck full of furniture.

The July sunlight shone through the camphor tree leaves, casting fragmented spots of light on her.

She didn't jump over and pull my arm like she used to, but just waved at us from a distance.

"goodbye."

Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid to disturb the overly quiet afternoon.

The car door closed, the engine started, and the car slowly drove away.

We stood there, watching the silver-gray car get smaller and smaller, turning into a blurry dot and disappearing at the end of our sight.

This scene is inexplicably familiar, reminding me of when Cheng Yu'an and his family left a few years ago.

Maybe I'm just a few years older now, and I can no longer do stupid things like chasing after cars and crying hysterically.

Ye Zhixia's departure took place on a summer afternoon that could not be more ordinary.

Someone gently closed the car door, and we stood there in silence, as if we had foreseen this farewell, and even our sadness seemed restrained and dull.

Ye Zhixia's new home is in the west of the city, and she walks in the opposite direction every time after school.

Without the "neighbor" relationship and not being in the same class, our interactions decreased drastically, and sometimes we didn't see each other for a whole week.

But none of us mentioned it, as if we had tacitly consented to her estrangement.

Let the name Ye Zhixia quietly recede from our lives like the sea water at low tide.

Later, I ran into her once by chance in a new shopping mall downtown.

She stood in front of the makeup counter, trying on a strawberry-colored lip gloss in the mirror.

I stood there, hesitating whether to call her.

Just then, she looked up and saw me in the mirror.

We looked at each other from a distance of three meters.

One second, two seconds.

Her eyes were so unfamiliar that it made me feel uneasy, as if I was looking at a stranger I had never met before.

Then she turned back as if nothing had happened and continued to purse her lips in the mirror.

At that moment I knew that what stood between us was not just distance.

————

This seemingly imperceptible gap was finally completely soaked and revealed by a heavy rain.

When Aunt Fang knocked on my door, it was Sunday evening before I returned to school, and I was struggling with my weekend homework.

When there was a knock on the door, I thought it was Lulu asking me to go to school together.

"Aunt Fang?"

The woman outside the door had disheveled hair and her eyes were swollen like two walnuts.

I have never seen Aunt Fang like this. She has always been the most particular. She even puts on lipstick when going downstairs to throw away the garbage.

At this moment, her fingers were clenched tightly, and her knuckles were blue and white.

"Niannian, Xia Xia... Has Xia Xia come to see you?" Her voice was hoarse.

I shook my head blankly.

I couldn't help but think of Ye Zhixia whom I met in the corridor the day before yesterday.

She seemed to have changed a little. She wore light lipstick and the hem of her school uniform was secretly narrowed, revealing a slender ankle.

As we passed each other, our eyes met for a moment, but no one spoke.

Aunt Fang's shoulders suddenly slumped, and she wiped her face carelessly, "Where on earth did this child go..."

During evening study, the head teacher looked at us with a gloomy face.

"Has anyone seen Ye Zhixia from the next class since yesterday afternoon?"

The students in the class looked at each other and no one answered.

Lulu and I looked at each other and our hearts sank.

It suddenly rained heavily that night.

We used flashlights to search the alley behind the school, the milk tea shop we often went to, and even the sandbox where we played as children, but there was no sign of Ye Zhixia anywhere.

Aunt Fang's phone kept ringing. It was Uncle Ye calling.

The voice leaked out from the receiver, anxious and powerless, "It's raining so hard... If it doesn't work, call the police... Let's call the police..."

Somehow, thinking about the incident with Aunt Fang in elementary school, we couldn't find Ye Zhixia no matter how hard we tried. In the end, I found her in the storage room behind Aunt Shen's studio.

At that time, there were only a few places she would go.

But now, standing in the pouring rain, I couldn't think of any place she might have gone.

We grew up together, but now I know nothing about her.

————

The rain stopped the next morning.

The cracks that had been hidden before seemed to have finally revealed their deepest wounds under the washing of this heavy rain.

I stood in front of the security door of Ye Zhixia's new home and hesitated for three seconds before knocking on her door.

The door opened, and it was Aunt Fang.

There was a dark shadow under her eyes and her face was haggard, as if she had not slept all night.

She forced a smile at me, her voice light and airy, "Xia Xia is in her room... and refuses to speak. Nian Nian, can you... help Auntie persuade her?"

I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest.

Ye Zhixia sat at the desk with her hair tied up messily behind her head.

The math workbook on the table was blank.

"Xia Xia..." My throat tightened. "Where did you go yesterday? We were almost going crazy looking for you yesterday..."

She sneered, "Are you here to lobby my mother or to laugh at me?"

I sat down beside her bed and tried to speak as quietly as possible.

"I know Aunt Fang is very strict with you... When you were little, if you made a mistake in a dance move, she would scold you for half an hour. I understand..."

Her shoulders stiffened.

"But we are in the third year of junior high school now. Let's be patient and wait until the high school entrance examination is over..."

"Lin Nian." She suddenly interrupted me, "Why do you think you understand?"

She finally turned to look at me, her eyes filled with undisguised sarcasm. "Who do you think you are? A savior? A life mentor?"

"That's not what I meant..." I didn't expect her to be so sharp.

"You know what?" She suddenly stood up. "I really hate the way you act, the way you act so high and mighty, like you're the most sober person in the world."

I looked at her in disbelief.

We are friends who grew up together, but at this moment we feel so unfamiliar.

"Lin Nian," she said, emphasizing each word, "Can't you see that I don't want to be friends with you anymore?"

The room suddenly became eerily quiet.

The blood rushed to the top of his head in an instant, then receded, leaving behind a cold numbness.

“Okay, I understand.”

I stood up and imitated her words, "Ye Zhixia, you make me feel so strange."

When I walked out of Ye Zhixia's house, the bright sunlight shone on my face, stinging my eyes.

Beside the flower bed downstairs, a few children were chasing and playing, and the sound of their giggling could be heard.

In a trance, I seemed to see ourselves when we were seven years old.

She had crooked pigtails, and my trouser legs were stained with mud from the sandpit. We were both holding 50-cent popsicles and laughing heartily amid the chirping of cicadas.

Later, the popsicle melted into sticky sugar water, which was stuck in my memory and could not be wiped clean no matter how hard I tried.

Some friends can only share youth but not growth together.

Drifting apart is the final outcome of most friendships that we thought would last forever when we were young.