Chapter 4 Memories
Little Jiang Yining tilted her head back, her cheeks rosy like ripe apples, her eyes big and bright. She was panting, her little hands clutching the hem of her clothes tightly: "Ningning... Ningning's afraid of getting lost..."
From then on, Xie Shiyan was always followed by a little tail. When they reached the end of the corridor of the high school teaching building, Xie Shiyan, wearing a blue and white school uniform, leaned against the window, holding a can of iced cola in his hand. Fine water droplets condensed on the surface of the aluminum can and slowly slid down his knuckles.
He stared blankly into the distance. Jiang Yining was surrounded by several boys from her grade or older. She was holding a few books, her head slightly lowered, and her ears were flushed.
A tall, handsome basketball captain, his face flushed, shoved a carefully decorated love letter in a light blue envelope into her hand, while several boys around them cheered.
"Jiang Yining, please accept this. Our captain is truly sincere."
"Yeah, yeah, give us a chance, school beauty."
Jiang Yining clutched the book somewhat helplessly; the love letter felt like a hot potato. She quickly looked up, her gaze piercing through the crowd, carrying a hint of barely perceptible panic and pleading, and landed precisely on the boy standing by the window at the end of the corridor.
The instant that gaze fell upon them—
"Crack"
A piercing metallic creak suddenly rang out.
The Coca-Cola can in Xie Shiyan's hand was instantly deformed by his unconsciously tightening fingers. The cold, brown liquid, mixed with bubbles, gushed out from the mouth and twisted seams, splashing onto his hand and wetting the surface of his clean white sneakers.
The biting cold made his fingers tremble. He stared intently in that direction, his jaw taut into a sharp line, his eyes as cold as a blade tempered with ice, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze.
He stepped forward, took Jiang Yining's hand, and coldly looked at the person who confessed: "This is my girlfriend, are you out of your mind?"
The scene shifts to outside the Tsinghua University freshman registration point, where the first snow of early winter has quietly fallen. The night is gentle, and the orange streetlights turn the swirling snowflakes into golden sprites.
Xie Shiyan wore a simple white turtleneck sweater with a dark overcoat over it, and a thin layer of glistening snowflakes settled on his shoulders and the ends of his hair. He stood under the lamp, his breath condensing into a small puff of white mist in the cold air.
Jiang Yining ran out from the bustling crowd of students registering for university, her face flushed with excitement, her nose slightly red from the cold, and her eyes shining brightly. She waved two thin pieces of paper in her hand—her newly received university acceptance letters.
“Ayan, Ayan, look.” She rushed to him like a happy little bird, still a little out of breath. “We…we both got into Tsinghua University’s Foreign Languages Department and Computer Science Department.” She pointed to the column with their names and majors printed on it.
He looked at her face, so close to his, so vibrant with excitement, and at the glistening snowflakes on her eyelashes. He suddenly reached out and gently cupped her cheeks in his hands.
His fingertips touched her cool, delicate skin, and he lowered his head to kiss her lips deeply.
Her lips were soft and slightly cool, carrying a hint of sweetness. The kiss was clumsy and awkward, yet burning hot enough to melt away all the surrounding cold and falling snowflakes. Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
Snowflakes fell silently on their hair, shoulders, and skin pressed together, bringing a subtle, cool touch, but doing nothing to cool the burning passion in their two young hearts.
He stepped back slightly, forehead to forehead, nose to nose, their breaths mingling in a hot embrace. Snowflakes melted on his burning skin.
"Ningning...we made a promise...now, we can start dating."
...
A flood of memories surged forth, carrying the sunshine of yesteryear, heartbeats, cherry blossoms, the first snow, and that burning kiss, finally settling on the scene from a few days earlier, by the campfire at a campsite, where she leaned on his shoulder, gazing at the starry sky, and he whispered a promise in her ear:
"After graduation, Ningning, we'll get married."
Every word is as clear as if it were yesterday. But before me, there is only a cold tombstone and a smile frozen in time in the photograph.
"Didn't we agree..." He looked at the cold stone, his voice suddenly rising, tinged with a tearing sob, "...to get married right after graduation?"
"Ningning," he clenched his fist tightly, his nails digging deep into his palm, but he felt no pain, only the emptiness of his soul being ripped out. "You lied to me, you broke your promise."
“Liar!” he roared, his forehead slamming against the cold edge of the tombstone. The hard stone dug into his flesh, causing a sharp pain, but it was nothing compared to the excruciating pain in his heart.
His body trembled violently and uncontrollably. The suppressed sob finally broke through the blockage in his throat, the sound hoarse, broken, and desperate.
"Come back...please come back...please...please, Ningning..."
His sobs were broken and fragmented. Large, scalding tears, which he had forcibly suppressed for three days, fell uncontrollably, slamming heavily onto the cold tombstone and leaving small, dark watermarks. He called out in vain to the one who would never answer him again.
After an unknown amount of time, he reached inside and groped around, his fingertips touching a familiar, angular, hard object.
He took it out. It was a small, transparent, sealed bag with a lemon pattern printed on it, containing a few round, bright yellow lemon hard candies. The bag was already half empty.
This was Jiang Yining's craving; it was so sour it could make anyone wince, but she always said it was refreshing. She would occasionally take one out and pop it into her mouth, and sometimes she would mischievously sneak one into his mouth when he wasn't looking, then giggle as she watched him grimace from the sourness.
The lemon candy lay quietly in his cold, pale palm, its transparent packaging reflecting the leaden light of the sky.
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