Chapter 10
Sang Sui had just returned to the classroom and hadn't even warmed her seat when Chu Xiran came over to remind her, "Teacher Ji wants to see you and asks you to go to her office."
"What do you want with me?" Sang Sui asked, puzzled. She recalled her math grades, which, while not meeting her expectations, were not so bad that the math teacher would call her to his office alone.
Chu Xiran shrugged and said, "I don't know either."
Sang Sui got up and went to the office.
On her way to the teachers' building, she ran into Song Shiyue.
Song Shiyue greeted her first: "Are you going to see the teacher too?"
"My math teacher is looking for me."
"What does Teacher Ji want with you?"
"I don't know," Sang Sui shrugged, "but it's probably not an insult directed at me."
Song Shiyue smiled, revealing his prominent canine teeth.
Sang Sui took the initiative to ask, "And you?"
"Me? Yuan Ying is looking for me, but I'm most likely going to get yelled at this time."
"Oh, why did she scold you? Did she catch you during a check-up because you weren't paying attention in self-study?"
"How could that be? I'm a model student, okay?"
Sang Sui didn't want to expose the fact that he, as the class monitor, always fell asleep during self-study and was caught by Chu Xiran countless times.
Song Shiyue said, "It was about the division of arts and sciences. Teacher Yuan advised me to study science."
"So you want to choose a story?" Sang Sui was somewhat shocked: "You actually want to choose a story!"
Rongcheng No.1 High School has always had more science students than humanities students. Song Shiyue's science scores are not bad, so it would be quite easy for him to get into a good science and engineering college.
"Hmm." Song Shiyue raised an eyebrow: "Judging from your surprised look, you're sure I'll study science?"
“The school has always favored science over humanities, and science will be a major in the future…” Sang Sui realized something: “When I said that, I was indeed favoring science over humanities, so don’t take it too seriously.”
"What's the big deal? You're just stating the facts. Even if we don't talk about school, society also values science over humanities. Everyone says that it's easier to find a job after studying science. My parents and Teacher Yuan have both said that. This is the second time they've tried to persuade me to change my major, but no matter what I do, I will not give up studying humanities."
Sang Sui paused for a moment, then said, "I respect your decision."
I thought you would try to persuade me.
"Why?"
“For the sake of the so-called future! Cheng Xiao said to me: ‘Brother, you actually studied literature. Liang Fengshen is an art student. It’s one thing for him to study literature, but you’ve lost your mind!’” At this point, Song Shiyue smiled, lowered his head and said softly: “Actually, I also think I’ve lost my mind.”
Upon hearing the name "Liang Fengshen," Sang Sui's heart trembled involuntarily.
People often fall in love with someone during their adolescence, without realizing it or realizing it later.
But I never expected that the aftereffects would be so great.
Sang Sui said, "It's too far to think about the future now. As long as you choose to give up the path you like and don't regret it later, it's worth sticking with."
Song Shiyue smiled but did not answer.
He turned his head and saw a slender figure flash by under the orange tree not far away, swaying gently in the morning breeze, making a rustling sound. That figure lingered in his mind for a long time.
It's not that he doesn't care about his future, and liberal arts wasn't his first choice before meeting that person, but some people are more precious than a promising future.
Cheng Xiao is absolutely right; he's just out of his mind.
The sky was very blue. When they parted at the entrance of the building, Song Shiyue suddenly asked, "Sang Sui, do you think it would be foolish to study literature for someone else?"
Sang Sui was stunned, wondering why Song Shiyue would suddenly say these things to her, since the two of them weren't even that familiar with each other yet.
But some things are actually easier to say to people you don't know very well.
Sang Sui replied, "No, I think it's very brave."
At least she lacked this kind of courage.
"I'm afraid I'll disappoint my family."
“No matter what choices you make in life, there will always be regrets,” Sang Sui said rationally. “What’s more, you ranked second in your class this time, and you’re in the top 100 in the grade. Your ranking will rise even more after you choose your major. So whether you study humanities or sciences, you will excel.”
Upon hearing this, Song Shiyue smiled with relief.
Sang Sui walked into Ji Yungui's office.
In the afternoon, sunlight slanted across the desk piled high with homework. Ji Yungui adjusted his glasses and gently pushed a monthly exam report card in front of Sang Sui.
"Sang Sui, your teacher would like to talk to you about your recent progress." His voice was gentle, carrying the concern typical of a teacher. "You got 103 on the monthly math exam, which is quite a drop from your previous quizzes. Can you tell me what happened?"
Sang Sui lowered her eyelids and didn't mention that she had been sick during the exam.
After all, a mistake is a mistake.
She simply shook her head gently: "Teacher, I will try harder next time."
Ji Yungui took out a file from the drawer: "Actually, you were one of only two students in the class who scored above 140 points in the last math quiz. Besides Chu Xiran, it was you."
He paused, observing Sang Sui's reaction. "The teacher is curious, why didn't you sign up for the math competition?"
"But I have no competition experience," Sang Sui said softly.
"Give it a try." Ji Yungui pushed an application form in front of her. "Even if you don't win, it's still a chance to break through your own limitations. Don't rush to refuse; take the application form home and think it over carefully."
Sang Sui left the office with the competition registration form, and as usual, took a detour past Class 6. She glanced into the classroom, hoping to see Liang Fengshen's back, but by sheer coincidence, she met Cheng Xiao's smiling eyes.
She was startled and, fearing she would be discovered, quickly ran away.
Liang Fengshen noticed that Cheng Xiao was looking out the window at the corridor with a half-smile. He turned his head and glanced at the corridor, only to find that there was nothing there.
He asked, somewhat puzzled, "What are you looking at?"
Cheng Xiao said in a refined manner, "Looking at a young girl's feelings is always poetic."
Liang Fengshen hesitated, then finally muttered under his breath, "Are you crazy?"
When he returned to the classroom, the setting sun was shining directly on Sang Sui's desk.
Sang Sui noticed that the neatly folded arts and sciences division chart was still on her seat.
"Yanqi," she asked Zhao Yanqi softly, "do you know which class Mingying is in?"
Zhao Yanqi, who was organizing her notes, asked without looking up, "Class Six, what's wrong?"
Sang Sui was slightly taken aback.
Class Six—that was Liang Fengshen's class.
What a coincidence, Mingying is actually in the same class as Liang Fengshen.
Sang Sui shook his head slightly: "It's nothing, it's just that Mingying's science/arts choice form is with me, so I'm taking it to her."
Zhao Yanqi asked curiously, "Do you know Mingying?"
"I wouldn't call ourselves acquaintances; we've only met a few times."
Zhao Yanqi nodded without asking any further questions, since in her view, getting to know Mingying seemed to be a perfectly normal thing.
Mingying is very beautiful, the kind of beauty that you can't forget after just one look. In addition, she has excellent grades, so it's normal that she has many crushes at school.
Sang picked up the subject assignment sheet and walked hesitantly toward the next classroom.
Standing at the back door of Class 6, she cautiously peered inside, but couldn't find that familiar figure anywhere.
"Sang Sui?" he asked, sounding somewhat surprised.
A clear male voice came from behind me, like a mountain stream flowing over blue stones.
Sang Sui turned around, stunned, and saw Liang Fengshen standing in the light and shadow of the corridor, his white shirt collar slightly open, revealing his well-defined collarbone.
Seeing her stunned expression, Liang Fengshen asked again, "Who are you looking for in Class Six?"
Sang Sui realized what had happened: "I found Mingying's subject selection form."
"Mingying?"
"Um."
Liang Fengshen held out his hand: "Just give me the registration form, I'll pass it on to her."
"Oh, okay." Sang Sui nodded and handed him the form. Her fingertips inadvertently touched his fingers, and a slight tingling sensation spread from the point of contact.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"It's nothing, just a small matter." Liang Fengshen glanced down at Mingying's arts/science track selection form, then looked at Sang Sui: "Is there anything else?"
“Nothing else.” Sang Sui felt her face burning.
She knew she would miss Liang Fengshen if she couldn't see him, but when he finally appeared in front of her, she wanted to run away.
As she turned to leave, she could still hear her own heart pounding in her ears.
After sending out the subject assignment form, Sang Sui dared not look back, fearing that if he lingered for even a second longer, he would reveal the secret in his heart.
In the classroom, Cheng Xiao, never one to miss a good spectacle, whistled and jokingly predicted, "Oh, a little fangirl bringing a gift?"
"Don't talk nonsense. He's just an ordinary student from the next class who found our classmates' subject selection forms."
"Whose?"
Liang Fengshen smiled, a rare occurrence for him: "Mingying."
After returning the watch, I went back to the classroom for morning reading.
Throughout the entire morning reading session, Sang Sui felt that Zhao Yanqi, He Lili, and Qiao Chunzhao were all acting mysteriously, with unnatural "mischievous smiles" on their faces.
She was thinking of asking them what they meant after the morning reading class ended when the bell rang. They all pulled out various snacks from their pockets as if they were Doraemon taking out something.
Weilong spicy strips, Planet Cups, Little Raccoon crispy noodles, chocolate. The rest are all kinds of candies and jellies.
Snacks were piled up like a small mountain on Sang Sui's table.
Sang Sui was stunned: "What is this?"
The three girls wished each other a happy Children's Day!
Sang Sui was a little confused, but mostly happy, her smile almost bursting out: "Wait, are you sure it's Children's Day?" She never expected them to celebrate Children's Day, and even to prepare so many delicious things for her.
"Why not?" Zhao Yanqi said. "How are you feeling now?"
Sang Sui: "I'm not in a bad mood."
"Actually, we could all tell the day the monthly exam results were released that you weren't in a good mood," He Lili said.
Qiao Chunchao, who was standing nearby, noticed that Sang Sui was a little embarrassed, so he peeled a White Rabbit milk candy and put it into Sang Sui's mouth: "Isn't it sweet?"
Sang Sui nodded.
Even though the candy was very sweet, she inexplicably felt like crying.
She had tried very hard to hide her emotions that day, but they still noticed.
It turns out that there are people who care about her feelings. Besides Jiang Yaoyue, they are the only ones who would celebrate Children's Day with her.
Seeing so many snacks in the back row, Zhang Da walked over with his hands in his pockets and a swagger: "We're classmates, you have so many snacks, aren't you going to share some with me?"
Zhao Yanqi was a little speechless, and said jokingly, "Get lost, do you even need a share?"
Luo Kewei said, "Don't give it to him. Zhang Da has a mouth that's both poisonous and greedy."
Zhang Da and Luo Kewei got into a fight.
Chu Xiran shouted helplessly, "Can you two stop fighting? Go outside and fight. You don't need to study, but others do!"
After finishing the candy in his mouth, Sang Sui also picked up the bag from the convenience store, saying, "Actually, I also bought a lot of candy."
"Huh?" The three girls were dumbfounded.
Then they looked at each other and burst out laughing: "How are we supposed to finish this?"
Some of the candy from that day was eventually shared with the other students in the class.
How can I describe how I felt that day?
No words could possibly capture the joy Sang Sui felt that day.
With their arrival, she began to realize how wonderful the world was and fell in love with the unfamiliar city of Rongcheng.
Before evening self-study, Sang Sui went to the school's express delivery station to pick up the package sent by her grandmother, Mo Luying.
These are some local specialties from Linchuan.
When you're far from home, you miss your hometown. Even though you can find plenty of delicious food in Fuzhou, the food from the place where you grew up is still the best.
Mo Luying specially made vacuum-packed items in town, including sausages, cured meat, pork ribs, beef, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, and dried plum vegetable cakes.
A whole box full.
The moment Sang Sui opened the box, her lips twitched, and she felt like crying. She wondered how long and how much it must have taken her grandmother to pack so many things.
She also shared these things with Zhao Yanqi and the others. But when it comes to food, Zhang Da always comes over to freeload.
Sang Sui had thought they wouldn't be used to this kind of food, but in fact they weren't.
Zhang Da ate a rib after another: "Your grandma's cooking is amazing, so delicious that she didn't even know when Luo Kewei died next to her."
Luo Kewei gritted his teeth: "Get out of here."
In the morning, they distributed candy, and in the evening, they distributed specialties made by Grandma. For some boarding students, these foods were more than just food to fill their stomachs.
A group of people huddled around Sang Sui's seat, sharing food and chattering amongst themselves.
"It was practically a state banquet."
"Did your grandmother suggest having another granddaughter?"
"Why can't my mom make something this delicious?"
"Compared to this, the cafeteria is practically swill!"
Yuan Ying originally just wanted to come over to announce the college entrance examination holiday, but when she saw a bunch of people crammed together eating in the classroom, she didn't say much, just told everyone to eat in the corridor so that the classroom wouldn't smell.
Three minutes later, a dozen people lined up in a long row and stood in the corridor by the door eating.
After the rain, the rainy season has ended.
On a late summer evening, patches of orange-pink sunset clouds filled the distant sky, prompting someone to exclaim in surprise:
"Fire clouds."
"It's so beautiful!"
It wasn't just Class 7 students in the corridor; the fiery sunset also attracted students from other classes, who all ran out and looked up at it.
This also includes Liang Fengshen, who was pulled out of the classroom by Cheng Xiao.
It is said that fiery clouds are fleeting, and even a beautiful sunset only lasts for a brief eight minutes.
While everyone else looked up at the fiery sunset and the sky, only Sang Sui turned her head and secretly watched Liang Fengshen's back.
2013.06.01
"In these eight minutes after sunset, I just want to see you a few more times, even if it's just your back."
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