When my wife and I get our marriage certificate, we'll sign it like this too...
Later that day, Lin Shih-jen caught a few more beautiful fish. He couldn't bear to eat them and insisted on taking them home to keep as pets. He didn't know if the water in the fish tank was wrong or if the way he kept the fish was wrong, but all the fish died within a week.
Zhou Lin seemed to have already guessed the outcome, and even laughed at her.
So cold-blooded.
With a heavy heart, Lin Shih-ren buried them in the flower bed downstairs in his apartment complex. When he re-entered the building, he couldn't help but complain, "It must have been because you fished their mouths until they were rotten that day. They couldn't eat and that's why they died."
Zhou Lin denied this charge: "It seems someone tried to renege on their promise about the speech, and accidentally kicked over the bucket?"
It would have been better if this topic hadn't been brought up, because once it was, Lin Shih-jen completely wilted.
"Didn't you say that my fate is in my own hands, not in the MBTI's? I can refuse things I don't want without any guilt or remorse..."
Zhou Lin hugged her from behind, rubbing his chin against her hair crown: "Yes, so you should quickly tell Teacher Chen that you don't want to give the speech. I will support you 100%."
After saying that, he even made a fake cheering gesture, which infuriated Lin Shiren. He forcefully broke free from him, stomped hard on the back of his foot, and then played with Schrödinger on the living room carpet, leaving only the back of his head visible to him.
Zhou Lin went to the kitchen and cut some fruit. He put a piece of honeydew melon on a fork and fed it to her, but she wouldn't eat it. He looked amused and annoyed.
What are you anxious about? Tell me.
Lin Shih-jen had just learned to be brave enough to express his needs, so he looked up at him and said very seriously, "What if I get too nervous during a speech and forget my lines?"
"I'll stand in the front row and be your teleprompter."
"What if the microphone runs out of power?"
"I'll check everything for you before you go on stage, and I'll also prepare a spare microphone for you."
"What if terrorists come and bomb the school? I'm standing in such an obvious spot, it's so dangerous!"
"..."
That's just cheating.
Zhou Lin, with his arms draped over his knees, sat directly opposite her: "Let's make a deal. If you're going to pretend to faint, remember to give me a wink. Otherwise, I'll give you CPR in front of the whole school, and then..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Shiren rushed over and covered his mouth, catching Zhou Lin off guard and giving him a tight hug.
Her waist was very supple, and her long, thick hair brushed against the side of his neck. Her expression was a mix of shyness and embarrassment: "Your mother will be coming too. She's the parents' representative. If she talks to me, I don't know what to say to her..."
Zhou Lin cupped her face in his hands, his eyes brimming with barely concealed amusement. He deliberately drew out his words, "Oh, so you're worried about meeting your future mother-in-law~"
Who is this person?!
Lin Shiren regretted saying all that to him. Her ears were red as she raised her chin and said, "You're a boyfriend enthusiast, let me remind you, talking like that will only prolong your probation period indefinitely."
The little girl is starting to threaten people.
Progress!
Zhou Lin sighed as if he had just made a move, and gave her a light peck on the cheek: "My dear wife, I was wrong."
*
Huiwen's 100-day countdown rally and coming-of-age ceremony were scheduled for the same day. The head of student affairs repeatedly emphasized over the loudspeaker that students should behave like students and pay attention to discipline and appearance during activities. At noon, she patrolled each class like a radar, checking on those whose appearance was not up to standard. It is said that a girl from one class who was putting on makeup in the bathroom was chased for most of the playground.
Today is the 100-day countdown to the Party's founding, but it's also a coming-of-age ceremony. Who wouldn't want to take some beautiful photos on such an important day in their life? Everyone is criticizing Abbess Miejue for being heartless.
Lin Shih-jen was so agitated by the chaotic atmosphere that he almost forgot his speech, so he went up to the rooftop on the fourth floor to practice.
That was the first time she had faced Xu Yiqiao in a month.
She was still strikingly beautiful, touching up her makeup with a mirror in her hand, with Ruan Ya by her side, who was always by her side. She had a black hair tie in her mouth and her five fingers deftly braided the stray hairs on her forehead.
Although Lin Shih-jen and Hsu Yi-chiao were in the same classroom and their seats were only a few meters apart, it was hard to say who was avoiding whom. The two never spoke to each other, and when they bumped into each other during breaks, they would quickly look away.
So when their eyes met, all three of them looked quite awkward.
The wind on the rooftop was quite strong. Just as she pressed the doorknob to give the space back to the other person, Xu Yiqiao walked over to her and said, "We've finished drawing, so you can keep the space."
It's like a gesture of goodwill.
However, this behavior was inconsistent with Xu Yiqiao's usual arrogant personality. Lin Shiren's mind was a bit confused, like a frozen puppet, not knowing how to react.
Xu Yiqiao understood, and a cryptic smile appeared on her lips: "What, you don't think of me as a rival, do you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Shiren immediately shook his head.
Xu Yiqiao is the kind of girl that both boys and girls would like: beautiful, generous, and radiating confidence. She's like the heroine in a romance novel; after her confession was rejected, she immediately distanced herself from Zhou Lin, neither hiding her feelings nor getting bogged down in romantic entanglements.
Why did Zhou Lin go blind when she was such a good girl?
No! Saying he's blind seems like belittling himself, so Lin Shiren silently retracted his earlier thoughts.
A slanting wind swirled between the two.
Xu Yiqiao slowly approached: "Before Teacher Chen announced the student representative, I had a feeling it would be you. I didn't expect that I would actually guess right. Congratulations."
"Thanks."
Lin Shih-jen always feels embarrassed when praised, but besides thanking her, she really can't think of anything else to say.
Suddenly, a loud commotion broke the awkward conversation. The three of them went downstairs and looked down. A group of students were gathered together, surrounding the dean of students, arguing about something.
Ruan Ya spoke first: "Is Abbess Miejue going through menopause? The students are dressed up so nicely, what's it to her? She's really making a big deal out of nothing."
Xu Yiqiao leaned against the railing for a while, then slowly looked up, her gaze returning to Lin Shiren's face: "You're going on stage this afternoon, let's do your makeup."
Lin Shiren: "?"
Cosmetics really do have magic. Just a simple layer of light makeup makes it look like you're wearing armor. When Lin Shih-Jen stood on the stage, his back was straighter than before.
It was 2 p.m., and the sun was shining brightly.
The coldest winter has passed, and the campus of Huiwen High School is filled with red banners with slogans such as "A hundred days of hard work, a dream come true" and "With dreams as our steeds, we live up to our youth." These banners exude an inspiring power.
The students passed through the Victory Gate one by one and stood in an orderly manner on the playground, while the parents, led by the teachers, stood behind their children's classrooms.
The big screen played a short video titled "100-Day Sprint: To Our Future Self," which recorded countless days and nights of hard work by students through the changing seasons, as well as messages from teachers.
When it was student representative Lin Shiren's turn to go on stage, all eyes swept over her at once, and suddenly not a single word of her well-rehearsed speech remained.
The surroundings were completely silent. She knew everyone was watching her, but she couldn't see the faces of anyone in the audience. She could only hear the pounding of her own heart.
Until Xu Yiqiao whispered a reminder from the side: "Shakespeare said..."
She was the host of today's event. I read Lin Shih-Jin's speech when I was doing her makeup on the rooftop at noon.
As Shakespeare once said, youth is a fleeting dream; when you wake up, it is gone without a trace…
Lin Shih-jen answered directly, her voice tight with nervousness and slightly higher than usual: "Since the start of my senior year, I've done 9,242 practice problems and used up 168 ballpoint pens. I've seen the moon at midnight 236 times. My alarm clock rings at six every morning, but many times I wake up naturally before it rings. It's anxiety that wakes me up, because once I open my eyes, I'm one day closer to the college entrance exam."
At this point, many people were secretly wiping away tears, and the parents were also very moved, because the senior year of high school is really too tough.
Lin Shih-jen's voice was choked with emotion: "I often feel afraid, afraid that I am not working hard enough, afraid that my dream is right in front of me, but I have not grasped it."
"This world has so many great lives and wonderful experiences, it seems that as long as the ending is not satisfactory, we will feel it is a tragedy. But there is another kind, exactly the opposite, where as long as there is a moment of redemption in the ending, we will forget all the breakdowns and pain in the process..."
"So take a deep breath, wipe away your tears, we still have to fight. But please remember, you are not alone, there are more than ten million test takers across the country struggling to move forward."
"This is senior year of high school, this is youth. We are all the protagonists of our youth, and we are also warriors charging forward!"
After speaking, Lin Shiren bowed deeply, and the whole audience erupted in applause. Zhou Lin looked at the girl on the stage, his eyes burning with emotion.
A hundred days of racing, a crowning moment for youth; students clench their right fists, their oaths resounding through the heavens.
Parents excitedly put adult hats on their children, and the prelude to "Chasing the Light" began, with everyone singing along.
And the thing Lin Shih-ren was worried about did not happen.
Before Zhou Lin's mother, Han Yilan, spoke on stage as a parent representative, she was waiting on the other side of the stage. Judging from Zhou Lin's raised eyebrows, she knew that he was the one who orchestrated this.
Han Yilan has very defined features and exquisite makeup. There are no traces of cosmetic surgery on her face. She wears a camel cashmere coat with white wide-leg pants, looking both elegant and capable.
She was a university professor, and her speech was naturally extraordinary. She could draw on a wide range of sources, from ancient times to the present. Lin Shiren could vaguely see the shadow of Zhou Lin in her.
After the group photo was taken, students and parents were free to take photos together. Xin Xiaomei took a few photos with her and then hurriedly returned to the hospital. Zhou Lin was surrounded by several parents who shared their study methods.
"Zhou Lin!"
He looked toward the source of the sound. The clear sunlight was unobstructed. Lin Shiren waved excitedly at him. The little girl's hair fluttered in the wind, and the downy hair on her face was gilded with a layer of golden light, making her dazzlingly beautiful.
She jogged over, and Zhou Lin reached out and pinched the back of her neck, his voice close to her ear: "Why are you running?"
Lin Shih-jen had been in a state of excitement ever since his speech. She felt a tingling sensation in her ear, turned her face away, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him toward the display board with the names of those who had passed the imperial examination: "When we sign autographs later, let's secretly sign each other's names."
Zhou Lin let her lead him, and chuckled softly in his chest: "Lin Qiaoqiao, exchanging names is a really good idea, it seems even more romantic than exchanging rings."
Lin Shiren felt her face flush again at his teasing words. She puffed out her cheeks and glared at him, saying, "If you don't want to sign, then forget it."
"I really want to sign."
Zhou Lin grabbed her slender wrist and pulled her into his arms: "When we get our marriage certificate in the future, we'll sign it like this too."
That coquettish glance back, that gesture of taking his hand, were like slow motion in his youth film, a moment that felt eternal.
Zhou Lin felt he would never forget this scene for the rest of his life.
-----------------------
Author's note: 50 red envelopes~
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