Zhao Mingyue sat in the back of Shen Xuyue's car, listening to him humming a song in front—the same song they both loved, "Red Berries Bloom." Zhao Mingyue hummed along. Happiness, like sunshine, filled the air, drawing envious glances from passersby.

After lunch, Shen Xuyue found a nearby department store, and the two of them strolled inside. They found it less crowded than the department stores in their county town, probably because it was more spacious, had a wider variety of goods, and the counters were more logically designed. Zhao Mingyue pretended to look around with great interest, and Shen Xuyue followed behind her, watching what she was looking at before asking, "Do you want to buy one?"

Zhao Mingyue turned around and smiled: "No need, I'm just taking a look, it's not of much use to me."

Shen Xuyue sighed inwardly. This was the downside of not having an income; you couldn't buy things for the people you liked as you pleased. He turned his head and saw a group of women gathered around something. He craned his neck to look and realized it was a counter selling scarves. Shen Xuyue tapped Zhao Mingyue's shoulder and gestured with his chin, "Let's go take a look over there."

Zhao Mingyue turned around and said, "Okay."

In this gray and drab era, the colors of scarves can only be described as absolutely beautiful: red, yellow, pink, blue, purple... like a rainbow, dazzling and eye-catching, illuminating people's eyes that love beauty.

Looking at the bright colors, Zhao Mingyue couldn't help but smile; the beautiful hues made her face appear exceptionally radiant. Shen Xuyue said, "Look, which color do you like?"

Zhao Mingyue looked at him: "Will you buy it for me?"

"Yes, it's for you. I don't think I've ever given you anything before." Shen Xuyue felt a tightness in his chest when he thought of the fountain pen that Yu Youqing had given to Zhao Mingyue. As her official boyfriend, he had never given her anything.

As Zhao Mingyue touched the silk scarf hanging on the rack, she said, "You gave it to me before, that box of pearl cream."

Shen Xuyue was taken aback: "Isn't that something that's only used once and then discarded?"

"That counts too." Zhao Mingyue smiled, pursing her lips. She had kept the box after using it up, and still carried it with her. The loose face cream she had bought was stored in that box. She picked out an orange scarf. "Does this look nice?"

Shen Xuyue nodded: "I thought you would want that." He pointed to a peach-colored scarf.

Zhao Minglang laughed: "This feels warmer." Pink is too girly; she really can't use it.

"Then let's go with the orange one. Orange looks good and complements your skin." Shen Xuyue took the scarf and squeezed to the counter to pay. Zhao Mingyue's skin was very fair. Although it would get tanned from being in the sun in the summer, it would return to its fair color after a winter.

In this era, it had become an unwritten rule for boyfriends and girlfriends to exchange scarves and handkerchiefs. The man would give the woman a scarf, and she would reciprocate with a handkerchief; this was the token of their love. A scarf costing 1.2 yuan could adorn the beauty and charm of a beloved woman, which was the romance of men in this era.

Zhao Mingyue naturally understood the significance of the scarf, and Shen Xuyue asked, "Should we tie it up?"

Seeing the expectation in Shen Xuyue's eyes, Zhao Mingyue nodded, "Okay." She folded the scarf and tied it into a bow at her chest. "Does it look good?"

Shen Xuyue looked at her and smiled, revealing his white teeth: "Beautiful."

Zhao Mingyue smiled and tugged at his sleeve, "Come over here." They went to the handkerchief counter, and Zhao Mingyue picked out a checkered handkerchief. "Do you like this color?"

Shen Xuyue said, "I already have a handkerchief."

Zhao Mingyue looked at him and said, "What's yours is yours, and what I'm giving you is mine."

Shen Xuyue finally understood: "Okay. I like everything you picked."

Zhao Mingyue picked out a handkerchief for him and paid him fifty cents. Shen Xuyue solemnly put the handkerchief away and placed it in his pants pocket: "There's a movie theater nearby, let's go see a movie."

Zhao Mingyue hesitated for a moment: "Let's just walk around and not watch a movie." If the two of them went out like this every weekend, eating, shopping, and watching movies, it would be too much of a burden for Shen Xuyue, so it's better to save some money.

Shen Xuyue looked at Zhao Mingyue and naturally knew what she was thinking: "Alright then. Let's go for a walk."

As the two exited the department store, they were met by several stylishly dressed women who were chatting and laughing. Shen Xuyue and Zhao Mingyue stepped aside to let them pass. One of them looked up, saw them, and exclaimed with delight, "Xuyue, you're back in Beijing? When did you get back? Why didn't you tell me?"

The two looked up and saw it was Wu Jie. Shen Xuyue smiled faintly: "Yes. I just got back. I didn't know you were back in Beijing too." When Wu Jie returned to the city, she went to the city where her father worked, not Beijing.

Wu Jie said happily, "I came back to Beijing to prepare for the college entrance examination. What about you? How did you get back?" She looked at Zhao Mingyue next to Shen Xuyue, feeling that she looked somewhat familiar, but couldn't remember her name. "And who is this?"

Shen Xuyue said, "I took the college entrance examination last year and came to Beijing to study. This is my girlfriend, she is also studying in Beijing."

Wu Jie's face immediately turned very ugly, and she stammered, "Your...your boyfriend?" Her voice rose as she continued, "When did this happen?"

Shen Xuyue said, "We started dating last year. Her name is Zhao Mingyue. Mingyue is the daughter of one of my uncles, named Wu Jie. She used to be sent to the countryside in the same county as us."

Zhao Mingyue certainly knew Wu Jie. She had thought that she might run into Wu Jie in Beijing, but she didn't expect to meet her so soon. She nodded politely to Wu Jie and extended her hand: "Hello, nice to meet you."

Wu Jie didn't extend her hand; both her hands gripped the straps of her shoulder bag, her knuckles turning white. She bit her lip and looked at Zhao Mingyue: "You were also sent to the countryside in Jinan District, how come I don't recognize you?"

Zhao Mingyue glanced at Shen Xuyue, who said, "She's a local from Jinan; her home is in Moon Bay."

Wu Jie's eyes were practically blazing with jealousy, as if she wanted to burn two holes in Zhao Mingyue's face. She swallowed hard and said, "Heh, I see. Good, very good." Without saying goodbye, she turned and walked away, looking extremely angry.

Watching Wu Jie's retreating figure, Zhao Mingyue looked at Shen Xuyue with some concern: "Is she angry?" Beijing is really small; you can run into Wu Jie just by going out for a stroll. She knew from her past life that Wu Jie was madly infatuated with Shen Xuyue, and now that she'd witnessed it, she hoped Wu Jie wouldn't do anything rash.

Shen Xuyue sighed: "It's alright, let's ignore her. Let's go."

Shen Xuyue pushed the cart, and the two walked slowly along the roadside, chatting as they went. However, the atmosphere was far less relaxed than at the beginning, and both of them were somewhat affected by Wu Jie. Shen Xuyue tried his best to talk about happy things to liven up the atmosphere, and Zhao Mingyue pretended to be very relaxed and cooperated with him. Gradually, they finally put Wu Jie out of their minds.

People in the throes of new love always have endless topics to talk about. They walked and chatted, resting by the roadside when they got tired, or riding their bicycles for a while. They walked all the way back to Zhao Mingyue's school, where Zhao Mingyue said, "Let's eat at our school cafeteria before we go back."

Shen Xuyue nodded: "Great, the food at your school is better than ours."

This is probably true, since teachers' colleges offer more subsidies than other types of schools, so the meals are better. However, "better" only means that there's at least one meat dish at every meal. In those days, resources were scarce, and often, even with money, you couldn't buy anything.

Zhao Mingyue said, "Then I'll go back to the dorm to get my lunchbox. Wait for me."

As soon as Zhao Mingyue returned, everyone stopped her: "Wow, Xiao Zhao, did your boyfriend give you this scarf? It's so pretty. Has he left already?"

Zhao Mingyue said, "Not yet, we're going to eat in our cafeteria, are you coming too?"

"Go ahead, is your boyfriend treating us to dinner?" Li Chunmei asked jokingly.

Remembering Shen Xuyue's promise to everyone last time, Zhao Mingyue coughed and said, "Alright then, how about I treat everyone to a meal at the cafeteria?"

Gao Dongfang laughed and said, "Look, Xiao Zhao is so good at saving money for her partner, she's such a good wife. Okay, the cafeteria it is. Let's go, sisters."

Tang Weihua said, "It's a pity that Xiao Qian went home today and hasn't come back yet, so we won't be able to enjoy this free meal."

Zhao Mingyue said, "We'll invite her separately next time. I'll go tell him first, you guys come later." She quickly ran downstairs to inform Shen Xuyue, who said, "Invite her now? Let's go outside."

Zhao Mingyue smiled and said, "I told everyone that I'd treat them to a meal at the cafeteria. It won't cost much. They can order their own food, and we'll just give them meal tickets."

Shen Xuyue laughed: "Okay, this is a good method."

When their roommates arrived, they couldn't help but chuckle with envy at the handsome couple. Shen Xuyue said generously, "I'm a little short on money right now, so I can only treat everyone to a meal at the cafeteria. I'll treat you all to a meal at a restaurant when I'm better off. Please bear with me."

Tang Weihua said, "Okay, we'll remember that. Remember to treat us to a meal later."

Because we weren't very familiar with each other, we were a little reserved and didn't order much. Each person only ordered one meat dish and one vegetable dish, which cost less than 30 cents. The total cost for the four of us was just over one dollar, which was really not expensive.

After getting their food, everyone sat down at the tables in the cafeteria to eat. The group chatted and laughed, creating a harmonious atmosphere. Mao Jianlan said, "I heard that Tsinghua University used to be a royal garden, and the scenery is exceptionally beautiful. When can we visit your place? Would you be our guide, Chen?"

"Of course," Shen Xuyue readily agreed. Their school was a science and engineering university, with far more men than women, and many in the dorms were single. Hearing that Shen Xuyue had a girlfriend from a normal university, she had her eye on it, saying that there were many girls at the normal university, and they could exchange ideas and study together, and also meet more people. In other words, she wanted to organize a social event to find a partner. Shen Xuyue naturally wouldn't object, but said they couldn't rush things and had to take it slow.

Gao Dongfang also said, "I heard that Tsinghua University is quite beautiful. It will be even more beautiful when spring comes and the flowers bloom."

"Okay, then we'll visit Tsinghua University together." Zhao Mingyue hadn't had a proper visit to Tsinghua University either.

Shen Xuyue suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, our school is having a welcome party next Saturday. If any of you are interested, you can come to our school with Mingyue to watch the performance." He could then arrange for his roommates to host them.

"Is it really possible?"

"sure."

"Alright, we should all go and see." There are so few entertainment options these days. Besides watching movies, the only other thing is the annual arts festival held by each commune. This is the first arts festival featuring college students that they know of, and they wonder how it will differ from the previous ones, so everyone is really looking forward to it.

The group of five girls and one boy eating in the cafeteria naturally attracted a lot of attention, including Wang Xingkai, who had come to eat. He saw all the female classmates eating, including Zhao Mingyue, and initially wanted to go over to take a look. However, upon closer inspection, he noticed a strange man sitting between Zhao Mingyue and Tang Weihua. Who was that man? Wang Xingkai didn't rush over but instead sat on the other side and quietly observed him.

The atmosphere at the table seemed quite harmonious. Zhao Mingyue was especially happy, with a touch of shyness, and she would occasionally glance up at the man to her left. Could this man be quite familiar with Zhao Mingyue? He had been secretly observing her recently and had even tried to probe her a couple of times, but Zhao Mingyue's attitude had remained indifferent. Could it be that Zhao Mingyue already had a boyfriend?

After everyone finished eating, they went to the sink to wash their lunchboxes. Shen Xuyue took Zhao Mingyue's lunchbox and washed it together, then they walked back to the dormitory together. Wang Xingkai was half-hearted during his meal, and when he saw Li Chunmei standing alone, he called out to her, "Hey, Li Chunmei."

Li Chunmei turned around and saw him, pouting slightly in displeasure: "Xiao Zi—what do you want from me?"

Wang Xingkai glanced at Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue's retreating figures: "Who was that guy who was having dinner with you just now?"

Li Chunmei laughed: "Him? As you can see, he's the boyfriend of Zhao Mingyue, the youngest in our dorm. A top student from Tsinghua University, isn't he handsome?"

Wang Xingkai wilted like a frostbitten eggplant: "Really?" He hadn't even made a move yet, and she was already taken?

Li Chunmei tossed her long braid: "Believe it or not. I'm leaving!" She turned around and hummed a song in a very good mood. Wang Xingkai, frustrated, kicked a pillar, but the force was too great, and his heavy leather shoe actually opened its mouth: "Damn it, what kind of lousy shoes are these? Terrible products!"

Zhao Mingyue escorted Shen Xuyue to the gate of the Normal University. Shen Xuyue said, "Go back now, I'm leaving. I'll pick you up next Saturday afternoon."

Zhao Mingyue said, "Why don't we take the bus there ourselves? Aren't you going to perform on stage? Aren't you going to do any preparation? Won't we be too late?" Right now, it's still a one-day-a-week system, with only one day off per week, and Saturdays are full-day classes.

Shen Xuyue said, "It's okay. I have two classes off on Saturday afternoon, so I have time. I've already practiced my program before, so I don't need to prepare anything special."

"Alright then, we'll wait for you then."

"Go back. I'm leaving." Shen Xuyue said this, but he didn't move. He just looked at Zhao Mingyue. Zhao Mingyue had no choice but to turn around and walk back. After taking two steps, she looked back at him again. He was still in the same position, watching her go. Zhao Mingyue's nose suddenly felt a little sore. She turned around and rubbed her nose with her fingers. Why did she feel so reluctant to part even with such a short separation?

She quickened her pace, reached the corner, and looked back to see that Shen Xuyue had changed his posture. He waved to himself, then stepped on the pedals, got on his bike, and rode away gracefully.

Zhao Mingyue reached out and touched her face, then looked up at the gray-blue sky. What a short but happy day! How wonderful and unforgettable!