After school, Lin Chaoxi and Bao Xiaomeng walked together.
As the sun sets, the school is surrounded by street vendors, and the aroma of barbecue and fried skewers lingers in the air.
There was a crowd of people in front of the stall. Lin Chaoxi looked at the students around him, but didn't see Lu Zhihao and Huajuan. He thought that their Zhongming class probably wouldn't finish school so punctually.
They stood at a four-way intersection, and Bao Xiaomeng dragged her to the jewelry store again.
"I'm not going. You should go home early too." Lin Chaoxi said.
"Why?"
"There are still two weeks until the class placement test."
"Ah?" Bao Xiaomeng stood in front of the pedestrian light pole in a daze, and said with a smile, "Let's go."
"Xiao Meng, I have actually changed. I am now a woman who wants to take the first class exam."
"Stop joking, what's wrong with you today?" The cute girl looked at her strangely.
Lin Zhaoxi pinched her fair little face and said, "I'm serious."
There was a constant flow of traffic on the road and the surroundings were bustling, but Bao Xiaomeng suddenly became unhappy: "I accompany you to do this and that every day, can't you just accompany me once?" The girl said aggrievedly.
"It's really not going well lately. You should go back and do your homework. The high school entrance exam is only a year away."
After Lin Chaoxi finished speaking, he walked onto the zebra crossing, turned his back to the girl on the sidewalk, and waved.
She knew that this seemed cruel, but in the brief youth that she had finally regained, she no longer had so much time to waste.
——
It was still No. 284, Zhuanzhu Lane. Lin Chaoxi stood in front of his home, took out the key from his schoolbag, and gently opened the door.
When she left the cheese world, Lao Lin just cleared out the garbage in the yard, and the yard still looked empty.
But now, the green grape trellis, the hydrangeas in the corner, and the small goldfish in the big water tank in the corner, everything here is exactly as she remembers it.
She took a deep breath of the air in the yard, the fragrance of soil and flowers and trees caressing her face. Lao Lin was working at the welfare home and would be home in about an hour.
She could go to her room first and tidy up...
She walked along the brick road on the left to the cottage, turned the handle, and pushed open the door...
There are almost no blank walls in the cabin. The colorful celebrity posters and messy anime stickers are overwhelming and the brilliant colors rush in like waves, giving people a very strong psychological pressure.
She couldn't help but think of the room of a famous cartoonist on the Internet. Anyway, it was almost that exaggerated.
With a death stare from the heavy metal combo, she walked into the room, closed the door, and dropped her schoolbag.
Although it was still a familiar combination of furniture, the room was so complicated and messy that she didn't know where to start.
She simply sat down at her desk and prepared to make a simple cleaning plan.
Throw away the clutter first, then tidy up, that's probably the order, but in case Lao Lin thinks she has changed too much, she plans to do it step by step, tidying up a little bit every day, and today she'll start with the desk where she does her homework every day.
Thinking of this, she prepared to find a pen to write it down, so she fumbled around on the table for a long time out of habit, but found nothing.
How come there isn't even a pen holder?
As she thought about it, she subconsciously looked up at the window sill.
Suddenly, a grinning face appeared in the window and she was startled.
When she looked closely, she realized that it was a poster of the little clown from Batman. Not only did the little clown have a bloody mouth, but he was also turned around to face the alley.
Lin Chaoxi took a deep breath. The middle school version of her really had a heavy taste. Old Lin must have been complained about by his neighbors countless times.
She quickly tore off the Xiao Chou poster and prepared to replace it with a Luffy poster.
The idea was simple, but the process of finding the tape made the realization of the idea extremely difficult.
She was a middle school girl who placed things randomly, so when she came here, she had no memory of the location of the tape, so she could only rummage through the drawers.
Drawers, cabinets, and most of the storage space are filled with little girls’ shiny accessories, which tend to be dark lolita-style.
She squatted down and helplessly pushed aside the accessories to see if there was any tape.
At this time, a blue iron box was revealed.
It still has the familiar "Danish Blue Jar Cookies" logo, but the paint on the corners has slightly peeled off, revealing the silver-white metallic background.
Once, she put her most precious things in it and closed the lid of the box reluctantly...
But now, she in the cheese world seems to have not touched this box for a long, long time.
In an instant, many dusty memories suddenly emerged, and under the beams of the setting sun, dust was floating in the air.
That is a very long process.
Just as people grow, time and space continue and continue to grow and renew.
Because of her sudden arrival in the Strawberry World, she pushed the Cheese World into a new branch.
Kobayashi's rebelliousness, her self-struggle and the courage she ultimately gained, these experiences shaped her into a brand new person.
Very energetic and passionate, always striving to do the best.
But she only stayed in the strawberry world for two months before disappearing. The new her in the cheese world did not have such strong personal abilities, which was totally inconsistent with her championship position at the time.
How to describe this imperfect "Zhong Lin Chaoxi"? She recalled the personality psychology course she had taken at the College of Education.
The "actual self" and "ideal self" in her personality do not match each other. Her actual ability is insufficient while her ideal is too beautiful. The difference between the two constantly causes her negative emotions.
If "Zhong Lin Chaoxi" had studied calmly, things wouldn't be like this now.
But she always thought she should be very, very good, but her performance in every test was unsatisfactory, and sometimes she couldn't even get the additional questions on a math test right.
It was a very painful process. She would often open the iron box and look at the championship certificate, thinking that she should have achieved such a result, but the reality was always disappointing.
She kept fighting back, kept failing, and her will kept wearing away in each fight.
In order to make herself look smart, she finally found a reason not to work hard. She indulged herself in watching TV series and new anime to numb herself.
But when she opened the drawer late at night and saw the iron box, she knew very well that she shouldn't have done that.
But there is no other way. Entertainment is too enjoyable and relaxing, much easier than fighting back every day without knowing one's own limitations.
With his hands on the cold iron box, Lin Chaoxi savored his own mental journey and suddenly became clearer than ever before.
She still thought the problem was too simple.
Just constantly telling yourself "you have to use courage" and "you can do it" is a routine of false success.
Suddenly she realized that she wanted to apply to the Department of Mathematics at Sanmi University, but could she really withstand repeated failures?
It is so difficult to persevere every day to achieve your goals, but laziness comes suddenly.
The only reliable things are the accumulation of knowledge, the gradual improvement of ability and the hard work every day.
There has never been a moment when she was more lucid than now, and there has never been a moment when she was more grateful for the door that could open time and space.
She hoped that the time she stayed here could be long enough, enough to make up for the time that had slipped away so easily through her fingers, long enough for both her here and her there to be able to pursue a better future.
Lin Chaoxi thought so, closed the drawer, and did not open the dusty iron box again.
——
When Lao Lin came back, she had already tidied up the desk and started doing her homework.
It was almost dark when Comrade Lao Lin knocked on the door and came in, letting out a "whoa" sound.
Lao Lin's smiling face appeared in the background of the twilight courtyard, and the smell of cooking smoke from every household poured in.
His face was darkened by the light, yet radiant with youth.
Lin Chaoxi pushed the chair away and stood up in an instant, but was afraid that it would be too obvious. She resisted the urge to rush out, and changed her movements abruptly, pressing on the desk coolly.
If there is still time to make up for it, she would like to spend more time with Lao Lin, and she also wants Lao Lin to spend more time with her.
Lao Lin wiped his trousers with his wet hands and said casually, "Are you back?"
Lin Chaoxi's heart shuddered, she always felt that Old Lin was hinting at something, but it could also be that she was just feeling guilty about being a thief.
Sure enough, when she was about to respond, Lao Lin said, "Isn't that Lavender Love still on? Why don't you watch it?"
"I'm too lazy to read it."
"What happened?!" Lao Lin's tone was particularly exaggerated, but his body was walking leisurely into the yard.
He slowly sat down at the stone table, on which was placed the green beans he had just bought for dinner.
Lin Chaoxi couldn't help but follow and sat down in front of Old Lin.
Lao Lin, however, opened the plastic bag and started selecting vegetables without even raising his head.
No matter how the world changes, Lao Lin remains as unique as ever.
"Dad, you don't care about me. Why don't you ask me what happened?" She imitated the tone of Zhong Lin Chaoxi asking for pocket money and spoke to Lao Lin.
"Why should I care about you? Ever since I found out that you like Zheng Tianming, we have been at odds with each other for a long time. I have to save my own money to buy Avril's new album."
Lin Zhaoxi: “…”
"Not even as good as Lu Zhihao." Old Lin muttered in a low voice with disdain, feeling very resentful.
"I don't like him anymore. I want to apply to the Zhongming class." Lin Zhaoxi said.
Lao Lin suddenly put down what he was holding. Under the dim light of the chandelier in the courtyard, his face was extremely serious: "Is it really because of Lu Zhihao that you still have me as your father in your eyes?"
Why are you so excited?
Lin Chaoxi was almost frightened by Lao Lin's sudden change of expression. When she heard this, she knew that Lao Lin was teasing her again.
It is really difficult to play a middle school girl, but the slogan has been shouted until now, so I have to finish it.
"I suddenly woke up from my middle school years!" she shouted loudly.
There wasn't even the symbolic stagnant air in the comics. When Lao Lin heard this, his hands started moving.
Snap, snap, the emerald green beans broke into pieces. She was waiting for Lao Lin to respond. Lao Lin looked her up and down, then shook his head and said, "I don't think so yet. Is Pei Zhi back?"
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