The Secret in the Suitcase
With a week left before school started, Chen Yu was packing his luggage. Jiang Yizhou sat cross-legged on his bed, spinning a basketball in his hands, watching him put the folded T-shirts into the box.
"Hey, take that blue and white striped one with you." Jiang Yizhou suddenly spoke.
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow: "How do you know which clothes I have better than me?"
"I saw it last time when I went to your house to do homework," Jiang Yizhou scratched his head, "You look nice in it."
Chen Yu's ears felt a little hot. He didn't respond, but silently pulled out the T-shirt and stuffed it into the suitcase. The sunlight shone through the window onto the suitcase, revealing the neatly folded clothes inside and a few well-worn notebooks. Jiang Yizhou had forced them on him, saying they contained his "exam key points." In fact, there were a number of casually drawn little figures inside, one holding a grass in its mouth, one holding a book. You could tell who they were at a glance.
"By the way," Jiang Yizhou suddenly pulled out a bulging canvas bag from under the bed, "This is for you."
Chen Yu opened it and saw that it was filled with things: two packets of orange-flavored hard candies, his favorite brand; a thermos cup with a puppy pattern printed on it, with a small "Yu" character engraved on the bottom of the cup; and a thick photo album. Opening to the first page, it was a group photo from junior high school. Two half-grown teenagers were squeezed in front of the camera, one smiling with his fangs showing, and the other pursed his lips but couldn't hide his smile.
"My mom found this photo album," Jiang Yizhou leaned over to look at it. "She said this one looks the most energetic."
Chen Yu flipped through the pages and found a lot of odds and ends inside: a few wrinkled movie ticket stubs from the first time they watched a movie together; a dried ginkgo leaf, which he remembered he had picked up at school last fall; and a small note with Jiang Yizhou's crooked handwriting on it: "Chen Yu, lend it to me so I can copy for the exam tomorrow - promise not to tell the teacher."
Chen Yu froze when he saw the last page. It was a campus map of University A, with two places circled in red: the mathematics building and the physical education training hall. Between the two circles, a crooked line was drawn, like a clumsy bridge.
"I asked my senior," Jiang Yizhou said in a somewhat unnatural voice, "these two places are not far from each other. I can go to you for dinner after class."
Chen Yu closed the booklet and looked up, his eyes meeting Jiang Yizhou's. The sunlight from the window was reflected there, glittering like a starry sky. He suddenly remembered the boy who had thrown him his school jacket and said, "Don't get cold!" years ago; the boy who had held an umbrella in the rain and said, "I'll take you home!"; the boy who had held a failing test paper but stiffened his neck and said, "I'll definitely do better than you next time."
It turns out that those tiny details hidden in time have long been quietly woven into a net, binding them tightly together.
"The box can't hold it anymore," Chen Yu held the photo album in his arms, "I'll hold this one myself."
Jiang Yizhou laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair: "Silly boy, let's go, I'll help you carry your suitcase to the station."
The sound of rolling suitcases echoed down the hallway, accompanied by the sound of two people's footsteps, as they walked step by step into the sunlight below. The truck had already parked outside the door, and the driver was urging them to set off. Jiang Yizhou loaded Chen Yu's suitcase up and tucked his own next to it. The two suitcases were close together, like a pair of inseparable shadows.
"Let's go," Jiang Yizhou held Shen Yu's hand, "to City A."
Shen Yu nodded and held his hand tightly.
The summer is not over yet, but they know that a new chapter for them is about to begin.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
