Chalk dust

That night, Lin Luo and Tong Yun were playing in their room. Tang Muchen came in and was startled to see them. He rolled up his sleeves, pouted, and said, "Sister, tell me who bullied you. I'll help you get revenge."

"Tang Muchen, you haven't finished your homework yet! Come here quickly." Du Yunyan's voice came over. He shrank his neck. Tong Yun touched his head, "No one bullied us."

Tang Muchen blushed. Seeing how useless he was, Lin Qi said, "Go now! Mom will be angry soon."

He walked out slowly and closed the door. Lin Qiao reported back to Zhu Changyu. He learned what happened this afternoon. "Goddess, are you hurt? Do you want me to bring you some ointment tomorrow?"

Lao Hu: [No, thank you!]

Zhu Zhu Xia: [Okay, then I won't disturb the goddess' rest and will withdraw first.]

Tiger: [Well, bye!]

Tong Yun saw the message from Zhu Changyu and said to her, "Xiaoxiao, you are also my goddess."

"Then I'm really charming!" She said jokingly. Speaking of charm, she suddenly remembered something, "Tong Yun, do you still remember the song you played for me in Huaicheng?"

"Remember."

"I want to learn Cantonese, can you teach me?"

"good."

Tong Yun taught Lin Luo to sing word by word. She didn't know why she was willing to spend an entire night learning to sing this song.

But in the end she learned it and felt very happy.

The green light was passed twice in a row

Love him for thousands of miles

When this light turns red, we'll say goodbye

Luck determines my life or death

Pray to heaven and earth to let a pair of lovers go

What you fear will never happen

…

It was a bit sad at the end of the song.

This was the first Cantonese song that Lin Qi learned. She later learned more, but this one was still her favorite.

She felt a deep connection to the song. Her experience was similar to that of the girl she secretly loved in the song, and the ending was the same.

In December, a cold snap hit. The windows were covered in mist. Some said it was the return of the south wind, others said it was an inversion before the temperature dropped. The whole classroom was damp, like an ice cellar.

Lin Luo was afraid of the cold, so she wrapped herself in a cotton coat early. She entered the classroom from the back door, but found that the coldest person in the class had melted. She saw Ruan Ye write "An" on the glass.

It is "An".

He is together with Zhu Sui'an.

Fu Xingchuan wiped the letters off the glass and patted the back of his neck, still grinning foolishly.

Lin Luo looked at Fu Xingchuan's surprised expression as he looked at the fool and almost bumped into someone else's table.

She returned to her seat, now in the middle of the second largest group.

Ever since Du Yunyan and Cheng Kaizhong said those words last time, he didn't dare to be too arrogant.

Lin Luo contributed six points to the class in the sports meet, and after winning the sprint class and getting the highest score except for the physical education class, everyone got along well with her.

Sometimes she and Xu Yangyang would meet Tian Yajun on the road. Tian Yajun would greet them first, and occasionally they would have dinner together.

Everything was getting better, including her grades. Lin Xiao was getting closer to Fu Xingchuan in her own way. The process was difficult, but sometimes coincidences could make her happy for a long time.

In math class, Cheng Kai called out student numbers and asked people to go to the blackboard to do a problem: "16 and 42."

After the classes were divided in the third year of high school, the student numbers were randomly arranged. Lin Luo was still a little uncomfortable with it, but when she heard the first number, her pen paused and pierced the paper.

Fu Xingchuan went up to the podium first, and she put down her pen and followed.

Lin Luo and he stood side by side, answering questions on different blackboards. They were assigned different questions. Lin Luo's question was a big derivative question. She got stuck on the third question and had no idea how to solve it.

She heard the "tapping" sound of chalk next door and took a quick glance. Fu Xingchuan stopped to check after finishing his writing and happened to meet her gaze. Lin Luo quickly shifted her gaze back to the blackboard in front of her.

But she still couldn't do it. The sound of "da da da" was heard again, followed by a "dong dong" sound. Lin Luo looked to the side and saw Fu Xingchuan knocking on the blackboard with his hand, signaling her.

Fu Xingchuan's hand was on the spot where he had written the solution to her third question. He raised an eyebrow at her, and Lin Luo said softly, "Thank you."

He checked for a while, and only after Lin Luo finished writing did he step down from the podium and walk to the back of the classroom.

Returning to her seat, Lin Luo looked at the chalk dust on her hands and curled the corners of her mouth.

After class, Lin Luo went to the sink to wash her hands. The cold water felt cold on her hands, but her heart was warm.

She turned around and shook her hands, trying to shake off the water droplets, but unexpectedly splashed a few drops of water on Fu Xingchuan. She quickly said, "I'm sorry."

Fu Xingchuan took out a pack of tissues from his pocket, took out one and gave the rest to Lin Luo, then wiped off the water droplets, "Aren't you afraid of the cold? Why are you washing with cold water?"

"How...how do you know I'm afraid of the cold?" Lin Luo felt her ears were very hot.

Fu Xingchuan turned on the faucet. The sound of water covered his low laughter, but Lin Luo heard him say, "Because you've wrapped yourself up like a dumpling."

She looked down at herself. She was wearing a thick cotton coat with several layers underneath. Two words could describe her: "bloated."

Her face also turned red. After washing his hands, Fu Xingchuan walked up to her and his eyes fell on the tissue in her hand. Lin Luo reacted and took one out and handed it to him, "Oh, here you go."

My face was so red from the cold, and the wind blew

"Is it still cold?" Fu Xingchuan asked.

Lin Luo shook her head. She didn't want to be a zongzi.

Zhu Sui'an walked towards them, holding a camera in her hand. Fu Xingchuan saw that she was only wearing a sweater, frowned and asked: "Can you wear more clothes?"

"I'm hot." They saw Ruan Ye behind them, holding Zhu Sui'an's coat in his arms.

"What are you doing with my camera?" he asked calmly.

"Play." She smiled and took Lin Luo's hand. "Lin Luo, let's go to the playground during the next PE class!"

"good."

Ruan Ye and Fu Xingchuan followed them from behind. Zhu Sui'an gave the camera to Lin Luo and let her see the photos taken in it.

The latest one was a photo of her and Ruan Ye, with Ruan Ye's dimples showing, and they looked very well matched. The one before that was a photo of her and Fu Xingchuan working on homework at the blackboard in class, their backs to each other, which she must have taken secretly.

Lin Luo looked at the photo, wishing time would stop at that moment. But time couldn't be stopped. After a few seconds, her hand accidentally touched the button and jumped to the previous photo, which was Tong Yun.

She smiled brightly and was beautiful.

This photo should have been taken by Fu Xingchuan. Lin Qi shuddered.

"Lin Luo, did my photo come out good?" Zhu Sui'an asked her, looking at the basketball court. She immediately flipped back to the photo of her and Ruan Ye. "Very...very good."

"Let's take a photo together!" Zhu Sui'an said, handing the camera to Fu Xingchuan behind him, "Take a nice photo."

Fu Xingchuan glanced down with an indifferent expression, as if he was not very happy. Lin Luo pursed her lips.

Zhu Sui'an smiled with his teeth showing and made a "V" sign. Lin Luo couldn't smile. She didn't look at the camera, but at Fu Xingchuan.

She couldn't explain how it felt, but it was definitely unpleasant.

After Fu Xingchuan finished filming, he looked at his work. In every photo, Lin Luo did not look at the camera.

What is she looking at?

Fu Xingchuan turned around and saw Ruan Ye standing beside him, looking at Zhu Sui'an.

Why did he feel cold too? Was there still cold water on his hands that he hadn’t wiped clean?

He opened his hands.

Zhu Changyu handed him a pair of chopsticks. Fu Xingchuan looked up at him and asked, "Aren't you asking for chopsticks? Or a tissue?"

"Chopsticks." He said in a low voice.

"Let me tell you, this noodle shop's noodles are delicious. Their sauce is very special. I tried it yesterday and brought you here today. You're being righteous!"

"I've been here before." Fu Xingchuan said as he mixed the noodles.

Zhu Changyu took a sip of Coke and said, "Who are you and? This shop seems to have only been open for a short time! You came here and didn't tell me there was such a good shop!"

"The food wasn't very good when I came here." He thought of Lin Luo again and wondered if she had come here again. It seemed that the store had adopted her suggestions. She would probably be happy if she knew!

"Oh." The tables and chairs next to him were full of people, and both walls of the store had become places where people could stick sticky notes to write down their wishes. Zhu Changyu felt curious, and after finishing his noodles, his eyes kept moving around looking at the sticky notes.

"I want to get a dog. This photo isn't signed, but it feels like it was written by Xu Yangyang."

"There's even a wish for Second Brother to be bald. Who in our class wrote that?"

Fu Xingchuan ignored him. He didn't have much appetite, but he still picked up the noodles and put them into his mouth.

"Hey, it's written by Lin Qi." Fu Xingchuan put down his chopsticks, mouth full, trying to stop him from reading, but he was a step too late. "I hope she can get 100 points in math. She can get 115 now."

"My goddess is so amazing." Zhu Changyu said shaking his head.

The sticky note was buried under many new sticky notes, and Fu Xingchuan remembered its location.

After he finished eating, Zhu Changyu asked for a sticky note, saying he wanted to write a wish as well. Fu Xingchuan moved to his seat, pushed aside the other sticky notes, and saw Lin Luo's. Her handwriting wasn't very good back then, but now it's very beautiful.

He was thinking about her current handwriting, and suddenly noticed that there was a sticky note next to it with the same handwriting as her current handwriting.

Did she write it? She was here.

Fu Xingchuan stared at the piece of paper. It said: [I hope to go to Peking University with classmate Y.]

He lowered his eyes, and his heart seemed to be poured with a bucket of cold water again.

Zhu Changyu came over with a sticky note, thinking about what to write.

He casually asked Fu Xingchuan: "You and Tong Yun seem to be quite familiar with each other now. When did your relationship become good?"

"Recently." Fu Xingchuan said with a smile.

Zhu Changyu asked again: "What do you think of her?"

"fine."

Zhu Changyu nodded, "Oh, are you writing?"

"Don't write, it's childish." Fu Xingchuan said and walked out of the store, but Zhu Changyu remained where he was.

He wrote on the paper: [I hope that no matter what happens in the future, the friendship between the seven of us will remain unchanged. —Xu Yangyang, Zhu Changyu, Tong Yun, Lin Qiao, Fu Xingchuan, Zhu Sui'an, Ruan Ye]

The paper was pasted on the highest point of the wall.

The wind blew and most of the sticky notes were blown away. The one written by Lin Luo was covered by other new sticky notes, and the words on the back were hidden well and no one noticed.

*

After evening self-study get out of class, Lin Luo got off the bus and walked into Changlin Lane. Tang Heng was waiting for her at the entrance. "Uncle, aren't you cold?"

"It's not cold."

"The street lights have been repaired, and the alley is bright now! No need to pick me up anymore." Lin Luo said this, but she knew in her heart that Tang Heng would still come tomorrow.

He really treated her as his own daughter.

"I ranked 19th in the class in the most recent monthly exam, breaking into the top 20. I got 115 in math, which is my best score ever." She said proudly, counting on her fingers.

She counted the days and found that "there are still 170 days until the college entrance examination."

It's five days until his birthday.

She was struggling over whether to ask Tang Heng for some money as she wanted to buy a gift for Fu Xingchuan.

"Uncle..." Before she finished speaking, she saw two red-haired boys with cigarettes in their mouths chatting on the side of the road.

"Damn it, Tong Xiuyuan hasn't been found yet. How am I going to explain this to the boss?" A man threw a cigarette on the ground and stomped on it. Lin Luo followed Tang Heng and walked past them silently.

Lin Luo swallowed and heard the conversation continue behind her. "By the way, that chick named Tong Yun from last time was really attractive."

"You are tired of living, how dare you think about Fu Xingchuan."

"That doesn't have to be his girlfriend!"

"He admitted it himself, how could it be false? If you don't want to die, go and provoke him and see."

"Forget it, let's change the route first. It's more important to find Tong Xiuyuan."

As they were getting further and further away, Lin Qi could not hear the rest of the conversation clearly. She only heard Fu Xingchuan personally admit that Tong Yun was his girlfriend.

"Did you have anything to say to me just now?" Tang Heng asked her.

Just as they passed by the old house, the light on the second-floor window was off. Lin Luo chuckled softly, "No."