Chapter 28
Since the regular class time of 7:20 has not changed, and the monthly exams will be conducted in accordance with the school's new regulations and with reference to the college entrance examination format.
So the schedule remains the same: two subjects in the morning and one subject in the afternoon, except there are no exams in the evening.
After cleaning, the two returned to the classroom, where Guan Nan took a nap on the desk.
In the classroom, students with special talents whose academic performance was unbalanced or not so good were busy cramming at the last minute, and some were trying to find Guan Nan to give them key points and exam predictions, but when they saw that Guan Nan was taking a nap, they gave up.
At 13:15, the class arrived at the classroom and woke up the sleepy students.
"It's still 10 minutes until the exam starts. Everyone get up, wash your faces, and get your things ready to go back to the exam room." The class monitor walked around the classroom, calling out to each student: "You're all sleeping so hard your faces are red."
Guan Nan quickly grabbed her pencil case and, as she stood up, glanced at Jiang Li, who was sitting at the same desk, and noticed that his seat was empty.
Without thinking much about it, she washed her face with cold water in the restroom and headed towards the art building.
At the third-floor corner, Guan Nan saw Jiang Li leaning lazily against the wall, head down, playing on his phone, and paused for a moment: "Jiang Li?"
"Hmm." Jiang Li looked up and smiled, then slowly put away his phone.
He stretched out his left hand, holding a bottle of Sprite and a bottle of strawberry milk between his large palms, his face bearing that nonchalant yet captivating smile.
Guan Nan hesitated for two seconds, then reached out and took the strawberry milk, saying softly, "Thank you."
He didn't say anything, just waved casually, and drove his Sprite upstairs.
The sound of boiling bubbles echoed in her ears even from half a floor away.
For a moment, Guan Nan couldn't even tell whether it was the Sprite that was boiling or her heartbeat.
......
However, Fuzhong High School, which always values time and efficiency, rarely extends its exams by two days.
During evening self-study, Guan Nan overheard a teacher from the next class making a phone call, complaining about the harsh exam format, arguing that it was a waste of time, that time is life, and that their behavior was irresponsible towards life.
This teacher was a retired teacher who was rehired, and he showed no mercy when he reprimanded people.
During the break between the first evening self-study sessions, Guan Nan returned to the classroom to get her water bottle and found someone sitting in her seat, engrossed in a game with her deskmate Jiang Li.
"Help me!" Yu Shu cried out, his shoulders hunched, the voice on his phone repeatedly pleading, "Help me!"
Guan Nan hesitated for a moment, then walked over and called out to him.
"Wait a minute!" Yu Shu didn't even look up, completely unaware of who the person was. He was fully immersed in the game and, still in the middle of it, his tone was rather impatient.
Jiang Li, who was next door, heard a familiar voice, glanced up at her, and stopped playing his game.
He nudged Yu Shu and said indifferently, "Go back to your seat."
"Wait until I finish this game." Yu Shu was very annoyed and turned on his microphone to his teammates, "We're pushing the crystal, what are you guys doing? Do you even know how to play? If you can't play, then don't play, okay? Damn it, I'm reporting you!"
"......"
"......"
Yu Shu was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice anything amiss in the atmosphere. He kept typing away on the keyboard, driving the other person to shut up and become speechless.
Before he could continue, Jiang Li frowned and said, "Get out of the way."
Yu Shu looked up: "Who is it?"
Upon seeing the person in front of him, Yu Shu paused for two seconds, then quickly stood up to make way for him, awkwardly putting away his phone and saying, "I'm sorry, class monitor, I didn't know you hadn't left."
Guan Nan shook her head: "It's okay, I'll just grab something and leave."
"Go home?" Jiang Li asked.
"...helping the teacher grade papers."
"oh."
The two didn't speak again. Guan Nan took a water glass from the desk drawer and headed towards the water dispenser.
Halfway through filling the cup with water, Jiang Li, who had been talking to her earlier, also came over with a water cup, slowly unscrewing the lid to fill it with water, rinse it, and pour it out.
A few seconds later, Guan Nan heard his nonchalant voice from her left: "Want to walk home together after school?"
Guan Nan stared at him blankly until the water overflowed from the rim of the cup.
She snapped out of her reverie, lowered her eyes, wiped the water from her fingertips and the rim of the cup, and then heard him say "Hmm?"
"Oh." Guan Nan responded, then subconsciously glanced at Chen Aimei's position. Chen Aimei was also staring at her, her expression not very pleasant.
She paused, then silently turned her head away.
Since the incident at Jialing Park, Chen Aimei has ignored her completely, and she hasn't replied to any of the several text messages she sent.
Jiang Li filled a glass halfway with water and said lazily, "I'll be waiting for you at Jinbu Bridge."
"Progress Bridge" is also known as "Bridge for People". Students who secretly dated would always walk on the bridge under the deep moonlight, since "Lovers' Bridge" is the closest to the student dormitory and can be the quickest way to disperse when teachers were catching students all over the campus.
Another point is that the playground is brightly lit at night, and the "Lovers' Bridge" under this light always seems to have an ambiguous and affectionate feel.
Although Guan Nan was a well-known good student, she had heard about these things.
When class ended, Guan Nan hesitated for a long time, dawdling until the boarding students started their third evening self-study session, before she slowly went downstairs with her schoolbag on her back.
Jiang Li should have left by now, right?
If I leave, I'll have a reasonable excuse to face him tomorrow.
Or, just avoid him altogether.
However, you can avoid it for a while, but not forever.
Guan Nan was a little depressed.
She has indeed changed a lot recently. After careful consideration, all the reasons point to the same person: Jiang Li.
She also vaguely sensed some subtle changes.
However, they lack the courage to face it directly.
"Are you a snail?" Jiang Li leaned lazily against the railing, and put down his phone when he saw the person approaching.
Guan Nan: "I was born in the Year of the Rabbit."
"Oh," Jiang Li laughed casually, "I thought you were a snail."
“…” Guan Nan knew this meant she was slow, so she pretended not to understand the implication and answered literally, repeating, “I was born in the Year of the Rabbit.”
“Yes,” Jiang Li said, “He was born in the Year of the Rabbit.”
Then he added, "I understand, rabbits are slow too."
Guan Nan disagreed, saying, "The tortoise and the hare race is fake."
Jiang Li: "..."
“Rabbits can run at speeds under 80 kilometers per hour,” Guan Nan explained to Jiang Li with a serious expression. “Because rabbits are too weak, but they are very alert and perceptive. Only by running fast can they protect themselves from being eaten by other animals.”①
After she finished speaking, the air fell silent.
Then she noticed that Jiang Li was just staring at her with his eyes down, the campus lights were very bright, and the incandescent bulbs enveloped him.
Perhaps the light was too bright, Guan Nan's vision was blurry, and she couldn't see him clearly at all.
After a while, Jiang Li asked her, "Are tigers fast?"
"Huh?" Guan Nan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded: "Quickly."
Jiang Li: "Can you catch up?"
"...Does a tiger chase a rabbit?" The answer is immediately clear if a carnivore is chasing a herbivore, and Guan Nan thought for a moment whether that was what he meant.
"Um."
"Can."
"Can?"
"Exactly, we can catch up."
Jiang Li relaxed and said leisurely, "As long as we can catch up."
“Oh.” Guan Nan was somewhat suspicious.
The two walked out side by side. Guan Nan had always been curious about Jiang Li's annoying remark that day, "In short, to sum it up."
Now I'm curious about why he's so fixated on the tiger chasing the rabbit.
"Where are you going back to?" Jiang Li asked, hooking his backpack strap and glancing at her sideways.
Guan Nan was preoccupied with other things and her reaction was a little slow: "Hmm?"
Jiang Li, without showing any impatience, repeated it clearly and distinctly.
She turned her head and looked at Jiang Li, "Tangzi Alley."
"oh."
As I left the school gate, the 813 bus had just passed by, and the next one wouldn't arrive for another ten to fifteen minutes.
The two walked side by side for a long distance in silence.
Guan Nan took the initiative to ask him, "Have you been studying music for a long time?"
“Hmm,” Jiang Li said, “it seems to have started when I was 5 years old.”
"So early?" Guan Nan asked. "Have you been keeping this up until now?"
Jiang Li stared at her. "Yes."
Guan Nan admired his perseverance, and after thinking for a moment, she couldn't help but ask, "Do you play many musical instruments?"
"Hmm?" Jiang Li raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why do you say that? I didn't play any instruments last time, did I?"
Guan Nan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I didn't play any instruments at the last roadshow, but... it was just a feeling."
"Feelings?" Jiang Li finished speaking and chuckled lightly, his tone casual and frivolous.
“I have a feeling,” Guan Nan nodded, “that you must be very capable.”
"It's alright, just... so-so."
He said it was just so-so, but his tone and posture showed no humility whatsoever; his expression seemed to say, "You have good taste."
This reminded Guan Nan of a time when he was young and modestly told someone, "Just average, only third in the world."
Right now, Jiang Li perfectly embodies this statement: confident yet not arrogant.
"You're pretty good," Guan Nan complimented him.
Polite but not lacking in manners, it's all very mechanical.
Jiang Li pretended not to hear and asked in return, "And you, what have you learned?"
“I…” Guan Nan gripped the strap of her schoolbag tightly, looked down and rubbed the pebbles under her feet, and said in a low voice, “I haven’t learned anything.”
"Is that so?" Jiang Li asked indifferently.
Guan Nan abruptly changed the subject: "What musical instruments do you play?"
He walked through a streetlamp, his expression inscrutable in the dim light: "So concerned about me?"
"······"
Guan Nan's cheeks burned as she tried to change the subject.
Fortunately, the large banyan tree blocked out the light, allowing only a few specks of light to filter through the gaps.
Jiang Li smiled and stopped teasing her. She seriously counted the pieces: "My mom runs a music store and taught me piano. Later, I learned harmonica from my uncle. During summer vacation, I learned hulusi and erhu from my maternal grandfather. Later, I learned drums, guitar, and violin for all sorts of random performances. They were all basic beginner-level skills."
Judging from Jiang Li's knowledge of various musical instruments, Guan Nan guessed that learning these should be no difficulty for him.
Moreover, his understanding of music and his deep empathy were also quite unexpected.
"You," Guan Nan hesitated, "are you perfect pitch?"
Seemingly unaware that she was using technical jargon, Jiang Li casually replied, "I suppose so."
Guan Nan lowered her head and said "Oh".
“My mom used to have a student who was also a piano student. She was really good at it, but it’s a pity she passed away,” Jiang Li said regretfully. “My mom can’t help but sigh every time she talks about her.”
Guan Nan didn't understand what he meant.
Fortunately, Jiang Li naturally moved on from the topic.
He unzipped his backpack with one hand, pulled out a gleaming silver harmonica, and said with a hint of pleasure, "Oh right, I brought my harmonica."
Guan Nan was surprised: "Have you always brought this with you?"
“Yeah,” Jiang Li said, “When I used to skateboard, I couldn’t carry many instruments, so I would just stuff a harmonica in my pocket and play it when I was bored.”
After saying that, he handed the harmonica to Guan Nan: "Can you play? I just got a new harmonica."
"I can't," Guan Nan shook her head.
"Alright, if you have the chance to come and support me, I'll give you a seat in the VIP section." Jiang Li said jokingly as he put his harmonica back in his bag.
Guan Nan smiled and said, "It's my pleasure."
After a while, the bus came from behind and Jiang Li reminded her to run quickly, as the bus stop was not far ahead.
This time, Jiang Li did not go with her, but stood still.
Guan Nan stopped at the platform, but the bus was still some distance away.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Li called her name: "Guan Nan".
Upon hearing this, Guan Nan immediately turned her head away.
He said, "Look."
"I'm right here."
Guan Nan was stunned. They stood one in front of the other, one in the light and one in the shadows, as if something was stirring up a turbulent tide, yet they were still half-concealing their faces.
Urged on by the bus driver, Guan Nan didn't have time to think and quickly boarded the bus.
But something seemed to have squeezed into that empty heart. That same night, she had a dream, a chaotic dream containing all sorts of things.
Hecangyuan, an art center and piano training institution.
Long streets, tall buildings, pianos everywhere, and children.
Here, Guan Nan saw her younger self, holding her mother's hand, smiling brightly as she said goodbye to her teacher.
The teacher was accompanied by a friend, dressed in a gentleman's suit, formal and appropriate yet not dull.
The baby fat has faded, and although she dresses like a little adult, she still exudes a childlike innocence.
Guan Nan took two steps closer, trying to see who the other person was, and why the face in her memory was so blurry.
But for some reason, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see that small face clearly.
In the end, Ran Mingju led little Guan Nan away.
She heard the man say through the music:
"Mom, is the xxxx you're talking about her?"
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