remember
On his 30th birthday, Shen Yu found a dusty iron box while sorting out old things.
The box was from high school, its corners rusted. When I opened it, the scent of stale paper mixed with the faint aroma of candied oranges filled my air. There was nothing valuable inside, just a stack of yellowed notes, a few crumpled movie ticket stubs, and an orange soda bottle cap carefully taped shut.
Chen Yu pinched the bottle cap and suddenly smiled.
It was the summer of my sophomore year. They were drinking soda at a barbecue stand on the back street of the school. In a desperate attempt to grab the last piece of grilled kidney, Jiang Yizhou swung his hand and knocked over his bottle, splashing orange liquid all over his pants. The man fumbled and apologized, picking up the bottle cap, saying he'd "keep it as a souvenir." He actually taped it shut and stuffed it into his book.
"What are you looking at?" Jiang Yizhou's voice came from the door. He had just returned from the gym, his forehead still sweaty, and he was holding a cake box in his hand. "Why is the birthday boy hiding in the study?"
Chen Yu raised the iron box in his hand: "I found some old stuff."
Jiang Yizhou came over and saw the bottle cap at a glance. He smiled and showed his two small canine teeth: "Oh, you still have it? I remember you were so angry that you ignored me for three days."
"Who's angry?" Chen Yu raised an eyebrow, "I think you're clumsy."
"Yes, yes, I'm stupid." Jiang Yizhou responded readily and reached out to pull out a photo from the box - it was taken when they just moved into their new home. The two of them were wearing the same gray home clothes and squeezed in front of the dressing mirror in the entrance. Chen Yu was holding an unopened mop in his hand, with a helpless expression, while Jiang Yizhou smiled like a child who had successfully stolen candy.
"This one needs to be put up." Jiang Yizhou stuffed the photo into the frame on the desk. "It's much better than the serious ID photo you put up last time."
Chen Yu didn't stop him, but just watched his busy back, and suddenly remembered the wedding day, when this man was standing at the end of the red carpet in a suit, his palms sweating with nervousness, but he still stiffened his neck and said, "I'm not panicking at all."
"By the way," Jiang Yizhou suddenly turned around, took out a small bottle from his pocket, and stuffed it into Shen Yu's hand, "This is for you."
It was a glass bottle of orange-flavored soda, the same kind they'd used to drink in high school. The label was a bit worn, as if someone had searched for it for a long time.
"The owner of the convenience store downstairs said this is the last bottle in stock." Jiang Yizhou scratched his head, "I wanted to find the brand you liked in high school, but I couldn't find it..."
Chen Yu unscrewed the bottle cap, and bubbles hissed out, carrying a familiar sweet and bitter taste. He took a sip, and when he looked up, he met the anticipation in Jiang Yizhou's eyes, much like the boy who had slipped him the amulet at the railway crossing many years ago.
"The taste hasn't changed." Shen Yu said with a smile.
"That's right," Jiang Yizhou raised his chin proudly, "Just like how I treat you, it hasn't changed."
The sunlight from outside the window filtered through the blinds, casting mottled shadows on the floor. Chen Yu leaned on Jiang Yizhou's shoulder, listening to him hum an off-tune old song, holding the bottle of orange soda in her hand. Suddenly, she felt that the so-called peaceful years were probably like this—having someone accompany you from youth to the sedate middle age, making all the trivial days taste like the sweetness of orange candy.
The notes in the tin box were gently flipped by the wind. The top note was written by Jiang Yizhou when he was twenty years old: "Chen Yu, when we are old, we still want to drink orange soda together."
The handwriting is still bold, but it is more confident than before.
Shen Yu picked up the pen and added a sentence on the back of the note: "Okay."
The sun is shining, the years are long, and they still have many, many years to slowly fulfill this promise.
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