The blazing sun poured down unimpeded, baking the city streets to a scorch. Cicadas chirped cacophonously, and the air was filled with the scorching smell of melted asphalt and the lush greenery of the trees along the roadside.
It was the peak time for school dismissal at the gate of the Municipal No. 1 Middle School.
Students in blue and white school uniforms poured out of the school gate like a tide. The noise, bicycle bells, and vendors’ cries mixed together, filled with the restless and lively atmosphere of youth.
Ning Xiwan stood under the shade of the tall sycamore tree opposite the school gate, with beads of sweat oozing from her forehead.
She was wearing a neatly cut off-white linen dress, with her long hair loosely tied up. A few unruly strands of hair were stuck to the side of her fair neck by sweat, adding a bit of laziness.
She fanned herself impatiently with her hands, her eyes scanning the crowd like a searchlight, her brows slightly furrowed.
"What is this little ancestor dawdling about?"
She complained, but there was a subtle intimacy in her tone.
"We agreed to come out early today to try that internet-famous ice cream shop. If we're any later, the line will stretch out to the street."
Duan Shuce stood quietly half a step behind her. His ironed light grey shirt was spotless, and he wore exquisite frameless glasses on his nose. His gaze behind the lenses was as calm as a deep pool, isolating himself from the heat of the outside world.
He held two bottles of ice-cold mineral water with condensed water droplets in his hands. The coldness of the bottles formed a strange harmony with the calm aura around him.
Hearing Ning Xiwan's complaints, he simply handed over one of the bottles, his voice steady and calm, as if stating an established fact: "Wait a little longer. You're in your second year of high school, and the workload is tight. You might be called by the teacher at short notice."
His gaze also turned towards the school gate, accurately capturing a specific figure in the crowd.
Just then, a figure walked out of the school gate quickly.
It’s Bai Zhiye.
She wore the same blue and white school uniform, with a slender figure and a calm temperament. Her long black hair was tied into a simple ponytail, revealing her smooth forehead and delicate eyebrows.
She was carrying a schoolbag and holding a few books in her hands. Her eyes calmly swept over the noisy crowd, as if she was looking for something.
Ning Xiwan's eyes lit up, and she immediately waved: "Zhiye! This way!"
Bai Zhiye looked in the direction of the sound and saw Ning Xiwan and Duan Shuce under the shade of a tree. A faint but gentle smile appeared on her face. She quickened her pace and walked over.
"Sister Xiwan, Brother Shuce." Her voice was very soft, with the clearness unique to a young girl.
"Are you feeling too hot? Drink some water to cool down." Ning Xiwan stuffed the other bottle of ice water in Duan Shuce's hand into Bai Zhiye's arms without saying a word, her movements natural and intimate.
She even subconsciously raised her hand to help Bai Zhiye tidy up her ponytail which was slightly pressed down by the backpack strap.
But at the moment when Bai Zhiye's fingers were about to touch her hair, she turned her head naturally and unnoticeably, avoiding the closeness.
Her movements were smooth, with a reservedness that was ingrained in her bones and kept people at a distance.
"Thank you, Sister Xiwan. I can do it myself." She unscrewed the bottle cap and sipped the ice water, her eyes still fixed on the school gate, as if searching for something important that had not yet appeared.
There was nothing on her fair, slender wrist, and her clean skin glowed softly in the sunlight.
Ning Xiwan's hand paused in mid-air for a fraction of a second, then she withdrew it as if nothing had happened, her smile unchanged: "Waiting for a friend? Have an appointment?"
"Yeah." Bai Zhiye didn't take his gaze away, but just responded softly.
"We agreed to go to the library together to look up some information." Her voice was soft, but with an unquestionable certainty.
Duan Shuce stood silently by the side, his eyes behind the lenses falling on Bai Zhiye's empty wrist, then slowly moved away to the still surging crowd at the school gate.
Duan Shuce's face was expressionless, except for the knuckles of his fingers, which had turned slightly white from the force of gripping the mineral water bottle. Duan Shuce stood silently by, like a perfect sculpture.
The gaze behind the lenses lingered for a moment on Bai Zhiye's empty wrist.
That gaze was deep, like a stone thrown into an ancient well, instantly swallowed up by the bottomless darkness without causing a ripple.
Duan Shuce's fingers were holding the mineral water bottle, but his knuckles were slightly white due to the unconscious force. The cold bottle could not suppress the hidden spasm coming from his fingertips, which came from the depths of his soul.
He looked away and returned to the never-ending crowd, as if confirming a predetermined, suffocating answer.
Not far away, Hua Jinyue looks like a colorful bird that doesn't know what sorrow is.
Carrying a huge schoolbag full of various furry cartoon pendants that formed a huge contrast with her petite figure, she was chattering as she walked out of the school gate side by side with a girl with playful twin ponytails.
There was a bright, dazzling smile on her face, and she was gesticulating with her hands, as if she was sharing something extremely interesting. Her laughter was as clear as a silver bell, and she was completely unaware of the silent trio under the shade of the tree.
On the other side of the school gate, Mu Xinrong was pushing a mountain bike and walking out with a tall and strong boy arm in arm.
Mu Xinrong was wearing a sports T-shirt with exaggerated patterns. His hair was soaked with sweat, with a few strands sticking to his full forehead.
There was a pure, sunny smile on his face, and his eyes were as clean and bright as the sky washed by water, without a trace of haze.
There was no one around Mu Xinrong, not the black figure who was always silent and gave off an aura of keeping strangers away.
His laughter was hearty, full of the simple joy that belonged to his age, and drifted away with the summer breeze.
Among the crowd, Zhang Xuanhua's figure was particularly eye-catching.
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