The Cicadas Return
Summer arrived unexpectedly. The chirping of cicadas filled the entire campus overnight, and the sun grew scorching. With only one month left until the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination), the classroom was filled with a mixture of nervous anticipation. The countdown clock ticked down day by day, seemingly pounding at everyone's heartstrings.
Jiang Yizhou's grades were consistently in the middle of the pack. While still a step below Chen Yu's level, it was a dramatic improvement from his initial position at the bottom. The homeroom teacher singled him out for praise at the class meeting, calling him "a prodigal son who has returned home," drawing laughter from the entire class. Jiang Yizhou, however, simply scratched his head and stole a glance at Chen Yu, a hint of embarrassed pride in his eyes.
Chen Yu was in great shape, studying and practicing exercises every day like a precision machine. Only Jiang Yizhou knew that he occasionally suffered from insomnia and would stare blankly at his error book late at night.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself." After evening self-study, Jiang Yizhou stuffed a bottle of iced orange soda into Shen Yu's hand, "You are good enough."
Chen Yu held the cold soda bottle, the coolness from his fingertips dispelling some of the heat. He looked at Jiang Yizhou's shadow stretched by the streetlight and suddenly said, "What if... I don't get into University A?"
Jiang Yizhou was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Then you can apply to University B, or University C is fine too. Anyway, I will go with you, wherever you go, I will go." He said it lightly, as if it was the simplest thing.
Chen Yu looked at him, and suddenly felt at ease. Yes, what was there to be afraid of? No matter what the outcome, at least he had this person by his side.
At the last class meeting before the college entrance exam, the homeroom teacher asked everyone to write down their wishes and post them on the wish wall at the back of the classroom. Chen Yu wrote "a bright future." As he put pen to paper, he suddenly remembered that Jiang Yizhou had said something similar to him a long time ago.
He turned to look at Jiang Yizhou, who was lying on the table, writing something stroke by stroke. The lines of his face looked particularly soft under the light. Shen Yu walked over and saw that there were only three words on his wish paper: "Together."
The handwriting is still bold, but with great seriousness.
Jiang Yizhou noticed his gaze, looked up and smiled at him, folded the note, and carefully pasted it next to Shen Yu's wish, as if guarding a precious secret.
"After the exam," Jiang Yizhou leaned closer to him, his voice low and expectant, "let's go to the railway crossing we went to last time."
"Okay." Shen Yu nodded.
The weather was unusually sunny during the Gaokao days. Jiang Yizhou arrived at the entrance of the examination hall earlier than Chen Yu every day, holding two bottles of orange soda, one iced and one warm—he remembered that Chen Yu didn't like to drink anything too cold during the exam.
Before entering the examination room, he would hand the warm bottle to Shen Yu and pat his shoulder vigorously: "Come on, Shen Xueba."
Shen Yu took the soda, looked at the light in his eyes, and nodded vigorously: “You too.”
When the bell rang, signaling the end of the exam, Shen Yu walked out of the exam room, feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted. The sunlight was blinding, so he squinted and quickly found Jiang Yizhou in the crowd.
The other person was waving at him, smiling like a fool, holding the bottle of iced orange soda in his hand.
"We're free!" Jiang Yizhou ran over and stuffed the soda into his hand. "Let's go to the railway crossing."
The motorcycle raced in the evening breeze, carrying a breath of freedom. Chen Yu sat in the back seat, his arm around Jiang Yizhou's waist, listening to the whistling wind and the distant chirping of cicadas. Suddenly, he felt that this summer overlapped with the afternoon when they first met, when the cicadas were noisy and chirping.
But this time, he was no longer the boy hiding in the shadows, he had light to rely on.
The weeds at the railway crossing were very tall, and the setting sun dyed the tracks golden. Jiang Yizhou took out a small cake with a candle from the back of his motorcycle.
"Celebrate our liberation." He said with a smile, the light in his eyes brighter than the sunset.
Chen Yu looked at the simple cake and suddenly remembered that he hadn't celebrated his birthday for a long time. After his parents left, he almost forgot about such a ceremony.
"How do you know..."
"I guessed." Jiang Yizhou scratched his head, "I just wanted to celebrate with you."
He lit a candle, and the flame flickered gently in the evening breeze. "Make a wish."
Chen Yu closed his eyes, with only one wish in his heart: I hope we can be together forever.
The moment he blew out the candle, Jiang Yizhou suddenly came over and kissed him lightly on the forehead, like a feather falling, with a warm touch.
"Chen Yu," Jiang Yizhou's voice was soft but very clear, "I love you."
The cicadas were still chirping, and the evening breeze carried the fragrance of grass and trees. Chen Yu looked at the seriousness in his eyes and suddenly felt that all the waiting and suffering were worth it.
He stood on tiptoe and gently kissed Jiang Yizhou's lips.
The long, distant train whistle blared as if blessing them. In this summer filled with the incessant chirping of cicadas, they could finally stand confidently in the sunshine and embrace their future.
The dead trees have already welcomed spring, but their spring has just begun.
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