Chapter 44 Rewind 2: Rainy Day
There are quite a few student activities at Lincheng No. 1 Middle School. From the beginning to the end of the year, there are large-scale campus activities almost every month.
The most popular activity in spring is the Love Second-hand Market, because the school will suspend classes for an afternoon and let all students move freely in the central playground.
However, these activities have nothing to do with the senior high school students. All the happiness belongs only to the freshmen and sophomores.
The temperature in Lincheng in April is still relatively low, with the highest daytime temperature being no more than 20 degrees. Luo Qinglin is afraid of cold, so even in mid-spring, he still has to wear a thick turtleneck sweater under his school uniform.
From the first class in the afternoon, the loud music from the central playground occasionally spread into the senior high school classroom, making the students uneasy.
Luo Qinglin was also uneasy.
However, he didn't want to go to the central square to relax, but wanted to go to the market to see if there were any cheap second-hand cameras for sale.
Several students in the back row who had already planned to study abroad were running away during breaks. But Luo Qinglin did not dare to escape. Instead, he tried his best to concentrate and did not leave until the class was finished.
Fortunately, at the end of the third class, the central playground was still bustling.
It looks like the activity in the second-hand market is not over yet!
Luo Qinglin took out his wallet from the compartment of his schoolbag and put it in his pocket, then ran downstairs briskly. When he ran to the first floor, Luo Qinglin stopped as usual and looked up at the opposite side.
As usual, Jiang Yanyu stood on the balcony in front of the classroom, looking up at the sky alone and admiring the sunset.
Luo Qinglin also raised his head and looked at the sky.
It's cloudy today. There's a large dark cloud in the distant sky. It's expected to move over within half an hour and start a cool spring rain.
What's so good about this gloomy day?
Luo Qinglin was puzzled. He stood there and looked at Jiang Yanyu greedily a few more times before reluctantly running towards the central playground.
The second-hand market is divided into classes, and each stall is hung with eye-catching posters.
Luo Qinglin had done his homework and found the class that was promoting and selling second-hand cameras. He walked directly to the stall to inquire about the price.
Fortunately, there were few students buying cameras, and there were still quite a few old ones left on the table.
Luo Qinglin picked up an old-fashioned Leica camera on the table that looked still usable and asked, "Classmate, how much is this camera?"
The stall owner was a pretty, ruffian girl with a high ponytail. She was sitting with her legs crossed, chewing gum, and looking down at her phone. "Three hundred yuan."
This price doesn't sound expensive, but for Luo Qinglin, it is almost a month's food expenses.
Thinking that his current savings were less than ten thousand yuan, which was only enough to pay for his first year of college tuition, Luo Qinglin stood there hesitantly, unable to make up his mind.
Seeing that the customer who was asking for the price suddenly fell silent, the girl with a high ponytail raised her head and looked at Luo Qinglin.
"Which class are you from?" asked the girl with a high ponytail, her eyes sparkling.
Luo Qinglin was stunned when he heard this, blinked in confusion, and replied: "Class 12 of Senior 3."
"So it's you, senior..." The girl with a high ponytail smiled and asked ambiguously, "Does senior have a girlfriend?"
The school spirit of Lincheng No. 1 Middle School is not strict. The school advocates giving students maximum freedom within the school rules.
Besides, school rules never mention anything about student romance. The teacher turned a blind eye and pretended not to see it as long as it did not affect the students' studies.
Although Luo Qinglin is a loner and low-key person, his pair of peach blossom eyes, even if covered by lenses, will occasionally emit a bewitching light.
In addition, Luo Qinglin is fair-skinned and has a calm temperament. Unlike other boys who are noisy and annoying, he can receive two or three love letters a year.
Of course, these love letters include both men and women, both junior and senior students.
The girl with a high ponytail stood up and was about to walk around the table towards Luo Qinglin.
Luo Qinglin took a step back in fear and quickly replied: "Yes! I have a girlfriend!"
However, just as he took a step back, Luo Qinglin's back bumped into someone, and the ground under his feet felt soft, obviously he was stepping on the foot of the person he bumped into.
"I'm sorry." Luo Qinglin retracted his foot and apologized hurriedly.
"It's okay," the person who was hit retracted his foot, walked to the stall, pointed at the camera that Luo Qinglin liked and asked, "How much is this camera?"
This voice is... Jiang Yanyu? !
Luo Qinglin's heart suddenly hung in his throat. He did not dare to look up or to the side. He could only look at the camera nervously.
"Handsome guy, this senior was the first one to see this camera." The girl with a high ponytail replied.
Jiang Yanyu looked at Luo Qinglin and asked for confirmation, "Is that so?"
Feeling Jiang Yanyu's gaze, Luo Qinglin clutched his pockets tightly with his hands and stammered back, "No, it's okay. I can look at other things."
Jiang Yanyu was still looking at him. Luo Qinglin felt very embarrassed. He scratched his head helplessly, pushed the wooden-framed glasses on his nose, and his eyes wandered around the table.
Boom!
It was about to rain, there was thunder and strong winds.
The wind blew from the southeast, bringing the cool minty scent of Jiang Yanyu to Luo Qinglin's nose. The minty scent should be cool and elegant, but Luo Qinglin felt that it was hot and spicy, burning his heart.
"Want to buy a camera for your girlfriend?" Jiang Yanyu suddenly asked.
"No, I didn't..."
Luo Qinglin wanted to say that he didn't have a girlfriend, but he remembered the lie he had just told in front of the girl with the high ponytail, so he could only change his words and say, "I use it myself."
"Do you guys want to buy it or not? It's going to rain soon, I have to close the stall."
Seeing that Luo Qinglin was trying to avoid her, the girl with a high ponytail immediately lost interest and sat back in her seat, urging him.
The dark clouds were blown overhead by the wind, blocking most of the daylight and making the world gloomy.
"I want this," Jiang Yanyu casually picked up another worn-out digital camera, took out a stack of hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and put them on the table, "No need to give me change, just donate the extra money."
After he finished speaking, Jiang Yanyu turned and left without even looking back, as if he was afraid that others would return the money.
The money is not thin, about five thousand yuan.
It seemed like she was seeing this kind of scene for the first time. The girl with the high ponytail froze in her seat, stunned for several seconds before she came to her senses.
"Handsome guy, be so generous!" The girl with a high ponytail shouted towards Jiang Yanyu's back.
Delightedly putting the money into the donation box, the girl with a high ponytail said to Luo Qinglin generously: "Senior, this camera is for you. I'm going to close the stall soon!"
Drops of rain fell from the clouds, dripping onto Luo Qinglin's lenses and hair, feeling a little cold.
Afraid that the camera would get wet by the rain, Luo Qinglin quickly picked up the Leica camera and held it in his arms.
Seeing Jiang Yanyu being so generous while he was being shy, Luo Qinglin said embarrassedly: "I'd better give you the money, three hundred yuan?"
The girl with a high ponytail stopped putting away her camera, as if she saw his embarrassment and hesitation, and said with a carefree smile: "I'll give you a discount, fifty will be fine."
The rain quickly got heavier, and the wisps of rain soon turned into big raindrops.
After handing the money to the girl, Luo Qinglin protected the camera with one hand and put the other hand on his forehead to block the rain, then ran towards the teaching building.
The students who stayed in the playground also ran to the shelter from the rain. There were chaotic sounds of breathing and footsteps everywhere, and it was very panic-stricken.
There was rain on the lenses, and the whole world seemed to be covered in misty glass, wet and blurry.
The teaching building not far away seemed to have turned into a magic house from another world. Looking through the convex lens-like raindrops, it became distorted and the roof was tilted to the middle.
With his vision restricted, Luo Qinglin put his sleeve over the lenses and was about to wipe the water off them when his arm was suddenly grabbed by someone.
Luo Qinglin stopped, turned his head, and looked to the right rear in confusion.
"Ha ha......"
Jiang Yanyu stood in front of him, panting, holding a transparent umbrella, the cool minty scent driving away the damp smell of rain.
This minty smell was like a drug that could make people hallucinate. It reminded Luo Qinglin of the green grass after a summer rain, and the dark blue roses called the blue sea and sky in front of the summer tombstone...
The falling raindrops did not fall on Luo Qinglin, but were blocked by the umbrella above his head. The raindrops fell on the umbrella and slid down along the curved surface, forming winding water marks.
The classmates around were running in a hurry, but the two people under the umbrella stopped where they were, staring at each other blankly.
Luo Qinglin wondered, if there was a camera placed in front of him and taking a long-exposure photo, would everyone else in the photo become blurred light and shadows, with only him and Jiang Yanyu clearly visible?
"Classmate, what a coincidence. Are you going back to the classroom or the dormitory?" Jiang Yanyu asked.
"Islamic...dormitory." Luo Qinglin lied.
"I just happen to be going to the dormitory to look for someone too, let's go together."
"Thanks."
It usually takes at least twenty minutes to walk from the central playground to the dormitory.
It was raining at the time, and both of them walked very slowly. It took them more than half an hour to walk a twenty-minute journey.
Boom, boom, boom.
Luo Qinglin's heart was pounding. He didn't dare look to the side. Instead, he stared straight ahead with a serious face, his steps stiff, as if he was marching in step.
"Are you also a senior high school student?" Jiang Yanyu asked.
"Ah...yeah." Luo Qinglin replied.
"Which university are you planning to apply to?" Jiang Yanyu asked again.
"I haven't thought about it yet." Luo Qinglin replied stutteringly.
After a brief conversation, the two fell into silence again, with only the sound of dripping rain remaining around them.
Arriving at the door of the dormitory where Luo Qinglin was, Jiang Yanyu sent Luo Qinglin inside and then turned around and walked out of the dormitory.
"Thank you." Luo Qinglin thanked Jiang Yanyu from behind.
"You're welcome." Jiang Yanyu didn't look back and kept walking.
Wet raindrops were flying everywhere. The umbrella Jiang Yanyu was holding was not big and could clearly only accommodate one person.
But along the way, Luo Qinglin's shoulders were not touched by rain, while Jiang Yanyu's left shoulder was already wet...
-
"Thank you..." Luo Qinglin closed his eyes and mumbled incoherently.
"Who are you? Why are you here alone?"① (Who are you? Why are you here alone?)
Who is speaking classical Chinese?
Luo Qinglin yawned and opened his eyes drowsily.
What was in sight was not the car driven by Jiang Yanyu, but the roof of an ancient wooden pavilion, which was located in the center of the emerald green lake.
Luo Qinglin sat up in a panic, only to see Jiang Yanyu wearing a moon-white silk cross-collared skirt, a palace gown with a crimson jade pendant with a dragon pattern around her waist, and her long black hair was half-tied up, fluttering in the breeze over the water.
Jiang Yanyu walked in slowly with a willow-leaf sword in his hand, lifted Luo Qinglin's chin with the sword, and shouted sternly: "Who are you!"
What's going on?
Luo Qinglin raised his hand in confusion and found that the sleeves were wide and he was wearing a bright red robe embroidered with gold flowers, which was obviously the clothing worn by men in ancient times when they got married.
Wake up and...travel through time? !
The author has something to say:
Jiang Yanyu: Surprise!
Luo Qinglin: Ah! ! ! I traveled through time!
Annotation:
① From "Xun Jubo Watching His Friend's Illness from a Distance" by Liu Yiqing of the Southern Dynasty
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