A moment of clarity

Lu Jinfeng's eyes were bright, as if he had finally found the answer, but also full of boredom after the excitement of trying so hard to solve the problem faded away. His tone was almost begging, "Shall we be friends?"

"OK?"

The sound of fireworks rang out, and Lu Jinfeng clearly saw Bai Shunan's eyes widen a little, and his eyes were filled with panic and helplessness.

Others took this opportunity to make wishes.

Lu Jinfeng remembered that they were not all memories of rainy days. There was a summer when the extremely hot temperature invaded everyone.

Lu Jinfeng, who had stayed up all night, had no time to catch up on his sleep, so he went to the new classroom early. He deliberately chose a seat at the back near the window, found a comfortable position and fell asleep.

When the noise grew louder and louder, he was about to open his eyes when he smelled a slight damp smell of rain nearby. He opened his eyes and looked, only to see a thin figure.

Soon, the teacher rearranged the seats, and he was moved from his preferred seat to a seat near the front in the middle. He saw the thin figure again, sitting with his head down in the seat he had originally chosen. The man's hair on his forehead buried his eyes, and he could not see him clearly.

Lu Jinfeng saw him raise his head and look out the window, so he followed him and looked out the window. He only heard the teacher read out a name - "Bai Shunan."

Then, he turned his eyes to look at him again.

The arrangement of the blackboard newspaper made the air more and more chalk dust. He returned to his seat and saw that figure again.

He was standing on a chair, and it was hard not to focus on him at first. He raised his hand and drew on the blackboard newspaper. A girl stood next to him and handed him chalks of different colors.

He saw his hands clearly, which were covered with dust of many different colors. From a distance, they looked like an impressionist painting.

While painting with one hand, he gently wiped away some unnecessary marks with the other hand. His fingertips lightly stroked and brightened an area.

Lu Jinfeng looked at the shining spot for a long time.

One time, when he returned to the classroom after dinner, he saw him standing alone on a chair drawing. His body was slightly leaning to the left, with one hand reaching down, as if trying to reach something.

Lu Jinfeng pursed his lips, and walked over in two steps, pretending to be casual but trying to speed up his pace. Lu Jinfeng tentatively picked up the blue chalk and touched his finger with it. He watched his finger shrink, and only after a closer look could he see the details. "This one?"

Bai Shunan didn't look down. After grabbing the chalk from Lu Jinfeng's hand, he held it in front of his eyes: "Yes, thank you."

The light and shallow responses, with a subtle southern accent, moved Lu Jinfeng's heart slightly. He turned it over and over in his mind, trying to figure it out.

Sounds good.

It just sounds good.

It just sounds pure and simple.

Because of his subjective and emotional excessive appreciation this time, from then on, he was always able to capture his voice clearly and accurately amid the noisy reading and clamorous conversation.

I feel proud of this attention, and also feel unique because of this attention.

Lu Jinfeng raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips. He raised the corners of his lips and said nonchalantly, "No thanks."

Lu Jinfeng smelled the clean and fresh scent of soap mixed with chalk dust that kept drifting towards him. It was completely different from the smell when he first smelled it. When he sniffed it carefully, he could smell a faint fragrance similar to the one when he first smelled it.

He smelled a hint and wanted to smell more, so he got closer and almost threw himself on Bai Shunan's waist when he was called back by the gentle voice.

"White."

"Oh, okay." Lu Jinfeng quickly took a white chalk and handed it over.

He looked panicked and raised his head, seeing Bai Shunan's focused expression and his profile clearly visible. He didn't want to look at him too blatantly, so he shifted his gaze to his hands.

The pair of hands with distinct joints and visible meridians, holding the chalk lightly or heavily, sketched out the climbing vines stroke by stroke, scattering the dust floating in the air. His mood fluctuated with it, and his youth became indelible from then on.

Afterwards, someone called him to play ball, and he left in a hurry.

However, Bai Shunan's voice lingered in his mind from his ears.

When he returned to the classroom, he always entered from the back door, walked to the innermost part, and slowly walked forward along the corridor, and he would always pass by Bai Shunan.

Later he clearly saw that the originally white vines on the completed blackboard newspaper had turned green.

At that time, he saw Bai Shunan sitting there doing his homework. He felt as if he understood him. When he saw him, Lu Jinfeng's heart was filled with emotion as if a light drizzle had fallen.

But after Bai Shunan finished drawing the blackboard newspaper, they no longer had such contact. Bai Shunan was either doing homework or sleeping after class, and he often asked for leave.

As a result, he can never be seen.

Young people don’t know the taste of sorrow.

It would be better if he couldn't see him. Lu Jinfeng, who was scolded by his parents for his poor grades, was thinking frantically, why did Bai Shunan, who slept all day, score so much better than him? Every time he looked at the grade ranking list, he found Bai Shunan at the top and himself at the bottom.

So unhappy.

He hated him, so he always paid attention to him. He would always look for his name first on the grade list, and even observe him, watching his every move, when he studied, when he ate...

One day, Bai Shunan cut his hair shorter, revealing a pair of clear and gentle eyes.

Some of his classmates didn't recognize him, but he knew it was him at first glance, and he hated him even more.

He had always been proud of his looks, but compared to Bai Shunan, he didn't know who was better looking. He also hated Bai Shunan's voice, which he had always loved. He often studied at night, but he could never catch up with Bai Shunan, who was always sleeping.

Every time he walked out the door, he could see his older brothers and sisters’ certificates and trophies displayed in the living room.

More and more people noticed Bai Shunan, and more and more people gathered around him.

Normally, Lu Jinfeng could see Bai Shunan by just glancing back slightly, but ever since Bai Shunan had his hair cut, he could never see him at the first moment. The word "gap" frequently appeared in his mind at that time.

Lu Jinfeng would always look at Bai Shunan secretly, and when Bai Shunan was about to notice him, he would quietly shift his gaze and look out the window.

He always felt that he was being somewhat deliberate, always looking away just when Bai Shunan was about to notice him. He looked out the window, and every time he saw the same yet different scenery, he pretended to be casual, tapping the table with his fingers, just like Bai Shunan had just done.

Sometimes, if they accidentally bumped into each other, Lu Jinfeng would always hear Bai Shunan say "I'm sorry" or "Sorry" as he walked past with his head down.

Lu Jinfeng thought that if they had the chance to talk, they could become friends, chatting about everything, and doing all sorts of unconventional things. Then, his jealousy towards him would disappear. But there was a crucial problem: Lu Jinfeng had never taken the initiative to make friends. Most of the time, it was others who approached him first.

During one of his spare time, he rarely took out a test paper. Looking at the math problems that he couldn't figure out, he hesitated for a long time and wanted to get up.

At this moment, a voice stopped him, "Let's go, didn't we make an appointment to play ball with the class next door? Why don't you go?"

Lu Jinfeng curled his fingers slightly, wrinkling the edges of the test paper. He let go of his hand and said, "Let's go."

The desire to ask for advice was put to rest.

One afternoon, it was a sunny day and it was extremely hot.

After he finished his meal, he and his classmates ran into the classroom. Perhaps because they made so much noise, they woke up many sleeping classmates, including him.

Bai Shunan opened his eyes, his face full of fatigue, and he looked in a certain direction in a daze.

Suddenly at a certain moment, they looked at each other.

They looked at each other for the first time.

Such a clear moment, but only a second.

Bai Shunan looked away and tried to fall asleep.

Lu Jinfeng remembered very clearly that Bai Shunan at that time didn't care about him at all. Thinking of this, Lu Jinfeng felt unbalanced. He cared about him so much, always observing him from time to time, and would inadvertently mention Bai Shunan when chatting with classmates. He didn't know why, but he always liked to hear others talk about Bai Shunan, to fill in his blank cognition about him.

He learned a lot from it, and he wanted to shout to the sky: I am the person who knows Bai Shunan best in the world.

But everything that happened later was completely beyond his expectations. Bai Shunan became like a fog in his mind again. He didn't know what was going on. Everything began to get out of control, just like a cup of hope was broken, and the incompleteness inside was discovered, revealing its naked true face.

After he beat Bai Shunan on a rainy day, he also heard Bai Shunan's confession. At that time, he must have been scared. Lu Jinfeng had forgotten a little, but anyway, he felt it was incredible.

That night, he kept laughing while thinking about what Bai Shunan was dreaming about. He kept thinking and laughing for half the night.

Lu Jinfeng went to sleep that night, determined to find him at school the next day to get to the bottom of things. But when he went to school the next day, he heard the news that Bai Shunan had dropped out. That sudden departure sent a torrent of emotions through Lu Jinfeng, shattering his then-immature thoughts and understanding.

Lu Jinfeng couldn't understand why Bai Shunan didn't bother him anymore after he beat him up, and just left him like that. He had been watching him for so long, and Bai Shunan had only been watching him for half a month, so why did he just give up?

-

Bai Shunan pushed him away.

"Okay?" Lu Jinfeng was a little anxious. He asked again, offering his bargaining chip. He thought Bai Shunan should need it. "I allow you to come close to me..."

A sudden "pop" sound suddenly rang out, and the light illuminated the corner. Then came a question: "What are you doing?"

Lu Jinfeng turned around and saw Zhong Mianqing standing under the light. She tilted her head to look at Bai Shunan who was standing behind Lu Jinfeng and chuckled, "Shunan, come here. I'm drunk. Take me home."