Messages in the address book

The hustle and bustle of the graduation ceremony gradually faded, and a sweet and sad atmosphere filled the classroom. The classmates passed around beautiful address books, each page filled with parting messages. Lin Weixi sat by the window, holding the blue address book with the school emblem in her hand, her fingertips repeatedly stroking the page with Chen Wang.

"Wei Xi, please write a message for me!" Chen Siyu pushed her address book over, the pages already densely packed with blessings. Lin Weixi took the pen and wrote carefully: "May our friendship last forever and our future be bright." Only after she finished writing did she realize that this was exactly the same message that Chen Wang had written on her textbook.

When it came time to write Chen Wang's address, she hesitated for a long time. Her pen hovered over the paper, ink forming a tiny dot on the tip. She wanted to write so much, to tell him about her secret crush over the years, to thank him for every unintentional kindness he showed her. But in the end, she only managed one sentence: "Thank you for making me a better person."

Before the ink had dried, she hurriedly turned to the next page, fearing that someone would see these words that contained so much worry.

In another corner of the classroom, Chen Wang was surrounded by his classmates. His address book was passed around, and every page was filled with long or short blessings. Lin Weixi watched from afar, seeing his focused profile as he lowered his head and carefully read each paragraph.

"Weixi, give me your address book." Zhou Xu had come to her desk at some point. "Chen Wang asked me to pass on a message, saying he wanted to write a few words for you."

Her heartbeat suddenly quickened, and she carefully handed over the address book. She felt her breathing become shallow as she watched Zhou Xu walk towards the corner with the book in his hand.

Time passed by minute by minute. Lin Weixi pretended to organize her schoolbag, but her eyes drifted in that direction from time to time. Chen Wang held the pen, sometimes thinking, sometimes writing. A few times, he looked up at her, making her hurriedly lower her head and pretend to read.

When Zhou Xu finally returned with the address book, there were a few lines of cool handwriting on the page:

"Student Lin Weixi:

Three years of studying together, witnessing growth.

I wish you a bright future and keep your passion.

Chen Wang

It was so concise, almost polite, but it made her eyes warm slightly. Especially the last part, "keep your passion," seemed like a tacit code - he knew she loved photography, loved words, and loved all the beautiful things in life.

"What did he write to you?" Shen Siyu came over curiously.

Lin Weixi hurriedly closed the address book: "Just... ordinary blessings."

The school bell rang, and the students began to say goodbye to each other. Lin Weixi slowly packed her schoolbag and watched Chen Wang surrounded by a group of classmates in the middle of the classroom. He smiled and shook hands and hugged everyone, saying "keep in touch."

When she finally mustered up the courage to walk towards him, a junior girl rushed over to hand over the yearbook: "Senior, can you sign it for me?"

Chen Wang took the pen and wrote his blessing fluently on the title page. When he looked up and saw Lin Weixi, he smiled slightly: "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her voice so soft that it was almost inaudible.

He took out an envelope from his schoolbag: "This is for you."

The envelope was very light, and there was no writing on it. When Lin Weixi took it, her fingertips accidentally touched his fingers, and a subtle electric current ran through her body.

As she left the teaching building, the setting sun stretched her shadow. She sat on a bench by the playground and carefully opened the envelope. Inside was a photo—a silhouette of her standing in front of a display board during the art festival, introducing her work. On the back of the photo were small words: "You, behind the lens, also shine."

Tears fell without warning. It turned out that he knew everything, knew that she was always hiding behind the camera, knew her cautious thoughts.

She opened the address book and gently added a line of small words on the blank page where he had written: "I hope you remember that there was a girl who spent her entire youth silently watching your back."

The ink slowly dried up in the sunset, like a silent farewell.

That night, Lin Weixi put the address book and photos into a tin box. On the lid of the box was a note: "To my chaotic youth."

Many years later, when she was sorting out old things in the attic and flipping through the address book again, she found that there was a faint mark on the page where she had written "Thank you for making me a better person" - as if someone's fingers had repeatedly stroked that corner.

The ink color of the word "love" in "keep loving" written by Chen Wang is darker than that of other words.

These details, in her youth, she had never noticed. Just like the wind that summer, it blew gently, leaving a code that only time can decipher.