Chapter 34 Group Photo
The cheers from the audience could not calm down for a long time. The last program was a chorus performed by all the student union members who worked behind the scenes for the welcome party. But during the chorus, the audience was still cheering the word "Siren" and even stopped shouting Lu Qingmian's name.
The seats for freshmen are concentrated in the front, and the last two rows are reserved for sophomores and above who come to join in the fun.
At this time, at the edge of the last row, several girls were also following the freshmen in enthusiastically shouting "Siren", occasionally mixing in Jiang Jinyue's name.
The girl sitting in the middle was a little stunned, and even stood up and kept looking towards the corner of the stage and backstage.
The girl sitting next to her tugged at her arm, "Zheng Yue, stop looking! They left a long time ago. Come on, sit down!"
"Yes, Zheng Yue, ever since you heard that the sea monster Jiang Jinyue and Lu Qingmian are both from Ze County, something seems to be wrong with you."
"Zheng Yue's hometown seems to be in Ze County as well. Did you two know each other before?"
The girl named Zheng Yue sat back in her seat in a daze, her pupils trembling violently, obviously still in shock.
The welcome party was coming to an end, and there was nothing left to see, so the sophomores and above who were not bound by any restrictions began to quietly leave.
Zheng Yue was dragged out by a few friends. She was distracted the entire way, like a wandering spirit. Her friends were still engrossed in Jiang Jinyue's singing, praising her enthusiastically. As they neared the girls' dormitory, the excited girls suddenly looked at Zheng Yue and exclaimed, "Zheng Yue, you and the new Siren seem to have a connection! You're all Yueyue!"
"You are all Yueyue!"
Zheng Yue's legs went weak, and she fell to the ground, sweating profusely. Her friends were startled and immediately went to help her, only to find that she suddenly covered her face and started crying, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
On the other side, Lu Qingmian and Jiang Jinyue had already left the auditorium.
Lu Qingmian took off his red dress, revealing a complete black suit. With broad shoulders and long legs, he looked particularly handsome.
The red dress was not thrown away, but was put in a paper bag and taken away.
The two people walked slowly out along the street lights beside the playground. There were not many people on the playground at this time, and everyone had gone to the auditorium to join in the fun.
The night wind was a little chilly, gently blowing Jiang Jinyue's long bangs. He raised his hand to tuck his bangs behind his ear, then looked up at Lu Qingmian beside him and asked, "Did I sing well tonight?"
Lu Qingmian glanced over and said, "It sounds great, much better than the piano I play."
Thinking of the piano piece that Lu Qingmian had played faster to save 30 seconds, Jiang Jinyue smiled and said softly, "Lu Qingmian, thank you."
Lu Qingmian paused, "Nothing."
Jiang Jinyue looked at the paper bag in Lu Qingmian's hand again, "Can you give me that red dress?"
Lu Qingmian handed the paper bag over: "Do you want me to wash it before giving it to you?"
Jiang Jinyue hugged the paper bag, looked inside with great care, and shook her head, saying, "No, I can wash it myself. I want to keep this skirt as a souvenir."
Lu Qingmian didn't say anything more. The two of them walked out of the campus slowly in the night breeze. The street outside the school gate was busy with traffic and the lights were much brighter. Jiang Jinyue stopped where he was.
He subconsciously reached into his pocket, trying to take out his glasses and mask and put them on.
Lu Qingmian said nothing, neither urged nor stopped, just watched quietly.
Jiang Jinyue held the mask and glasses and lowered his head. He looked at the wrinkled mask and thick glasses in his hands, took a deep breath, turned and walked towards the trash can, and slowly let go of his hands.
The glasses and the mask were light and didn't even make a sound when they fell into the trash can, but Jiang Jinyue felt his whole body relax, as if he had thrown away a heavy shackle.
His slightly bent back slowly straightened, he turned to look at Lu Qingmian, and walked towards him step by step.
Under the street light, the shadows of two people slowly approached each other, gradually standing side by side, with their hands connected.
"Let's go home."
At the school gate, Chen Keai, who had caught up, wanted to run up and talk to them, but he stopped when he saw this. He looked at the backs of the two people leaving hand in hand, and smiled with his hand on his forehead.
"I was wrong, Lu Qingmian... you are still a good match for our Yueyue."
The road back to the Rhine Community was not far, but the two of them walked very slowly, occasionally looking at the green trees on the roadside, or pointing at a fallen leaf and chatting. Occasionally, someone would look at them curiously when passing by. Jiang Jinyue would be stiff at first, but after doing it many times, he gradually relaxed.
This was the first time in all these years that Jiang Jinyue went for a walk outside without a mask or glasses, and she was holding hands with Lu Qingmian.
There were situations where they almost bumped into other people on the road, but every time Lu Qingmian would pull Jiang Jinyue back to his side, avoiding any accidents.
They slowly walked back to the Rhine Community. Lu Qingmian sent Jiang Jinyue back to 1203 and then walked towards the stairwell.
Just as she pushed open the door of the stairwell, the elevator door behind her opened. Chen Keai walked out and was stunned when she saw Lu Qingmian.
Lu Qingmian turned around and was not surprised to see Chen Keai. He just said, "Let him have a good rest tonight. Don't look for him."
After saying that, Lu Qingmian walked into the stairwell.
Chen Keai thought about it, opened the door of the stairwell and followed.
"Hey, Lu Qingmian!"
Stopping Lu Qingmian as she was walking up, Chen Keai asked directly, "You like Jiang Jinyue, right?"
Lu Qingmian stopped, but did not turn around or answer.
Chen Keai took a few steps forward and stood behind Lu Qingmian. The nonchalant look on her face disappeared and she became extremely serious.
"Although I met Yueyue after you, I value Yueyue no less than you... I admit that I was a little prejudiced against you before, but today... you really surprised me. I also felt the courage you wanted to pass on to Yueyue. You helped Yueyue and made him brave. I will no longer stop Yueyue from getting close to you." Chen Keai said.
"You're wrong," Lu Qingmian, who had been silent the whole time, turned around and stood on a few steps, looking down at Chen Keai. "It's not me who made Jiang Jinyue brave. It's Jiang Jinyue who has always been brave. He just... got lost temporarily."
After saying that, Lu Qingmian continued to walk up.
Chen Keai was stunned and didn't chase after him.
That night, Jiang Jinyue took a hot bath, climbed into bed early, and had a very comfortable sleep.
He slept relaxed and peacefully, but some people had a restless sleep all night.
In a female dormitory of H University, Zheng Yue was lying on the bed, unable to fall asleep. She turned over several times, but was afraid of disturbing her roommates, so she didn't even dare to turn over.
She kept recalling Jiang Jinyue's appearance walking out from behind the stage curtain, and recalling what her friends said about him being from Ze County. Tears silently rolled down her eyes, soon soaking the pillow.
"Jiang Jinyue...is that you?"
A few years ago, Zheng Yue also went to school in Ze County. She was very naughty since she was a child and could not stay at home. She would go to the small park to play for a while after school every day. Because she was more domineering and tall when she was a child, other children were not willing to play with her.
One day, an extremely pretty child appeared in the small park. He looked introverted and shy, and his big, clear, black eyes looked longingly at the other children playing together, but he didn't know how to fit in.
Maybe it was because the child was too pretty, or maybe it was because the child had a soft and cute personality, the bully-like Zheng Yue took the initiative to walk up to the child and became friends with the child.
During that time, they often played together in the small park, and Zheng Yue also learned the children's names.
The child is one year younger than her and his name is Jiang Jinyue. Coincidentally, both of their names contain the character "yue" (moon), so their parents like to call them Yueyue.
Zheng Yue also called Jiang Jinyue Yueyue, and she asked Jiang Jinyue to call her Sister Yueyue.
With Zheng Yue, the little bully, around, other children didn't dare to compete with her for the big slide in the park. Zheng Yue took Jiang Jinyue to the slide all to herself, and they had a lot of fun every day.
Until one day, the two of them played until very late. The other children had gone home for dinner, and Jiang Jinyue also wanted to go home, but Zheng Yue had not had enough fun and wanted to play for a while longer.
Jiang Jinyue, who had always been well-behaved, agreed and stayed.
The sky gradually darkened, and the last rays of dusk fell on the horizon.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Zheng Yue planned to climb up the big slide one last time and then go home.
She had just climbed to the top of the big slide and squatted on the top of the slide which was built into a small house when several men suddenly walked into the small park.
The men were dressed in slovenly clothes, wearing masks and hats, and holding iron bars in their hands.
They walked straight towards Jiang Jinyue who was waiting at the bottom of the big slide. They roughly pulled Jiang Jinyue's arm, looked him up and down, and talked to their accomplices:
"The main buyer is a girl. The second child said he's been scouting the park for days. Recently, there's a girl named Yueyue who always stays up late in this little park. Is that the girl?"
Jiang Jinyue was lifted up by the man's arm, her small body almost hanging in the air, her toes touching the ground, she was trembling with fear, her beautiful eyes wide open, looking at the men in front of her with horror.
The other man stared at Jiang Jinyue's face, slapping the iron rod in his hand. He frowned and said, "He's quite good-looking. How could a boy look like this? It must be him. There are no other children around here."
"Tsk, don't catch the wrong one. That jerk, Lao Er, has diarrhea at any other time, but today. If we catch the wrong one, we'll be in big trouble."
As he spoke, the man raised his arm and lifted up the little Jiang Jinyue. "Hey, let me ask you, is your name Yueyue?"
Little Jiang Jinyue was so frightened that she seemed unable to speak, tears streaming down her big eyes.
"Are you scared? Speak!" The man's patience was clearly running out. He pinched Jiang Jinyue's arm hard and yelled, "Are you a girl?"
Jiang Jinyue tilted his little head slightly, as if he wanted to look up the big slide, but in the end, he didn't look over.
He trembled and cried, and answered in a small voice: "Yes... I am... a girl."
The man got the answer, picked up Jiang Jinyue, turned around and walked quickly out of the small park.
Jiang Jinyue was forced to lie on the man's shoulder. She raised her tear-stained little face and looked up at the big slide with wide eyes. She saw Zheng Yue covering her mouth and crying in the small house.
The next second, a towel soaked in medicine covered his face and he knew nothing.
After that day, Jiang Jinyue was kidnapped by human traffickers and was not found for several days.
Zheng Yue came down from the slide limply only after Jiang Jinyue was taken away. She ran back home and told her parents about the incident while crying.
Her parents were also terrified and hugged Zheng Yue tightly, but when Zheng Yue said she wanted to find the police and tell them what those people looked like, they slapped her hard.
A few days later, Zheng Yue's parents took Zheng Yue away from Ze County completely. From then on, Zheng Yue never heard any news about Jiang Jinyue again.
This also became an eternal guilt in her heart. She always thought that Jiang Jinyue was dead, but she didn't expect to see Jiang Jinyue at the welcome party of H University.
He is still as handsome, as dazzling, and as brave as ever.
Zheng Yue curled up on the bed in the dormitory, crying breathlessly, her mouth opening and closing, saying silently: "It's great that you are still alive, Yueyue, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Thank you, thank you for being alive..."
Lu Qingmian was not wrong. Jiang Jinyue was very brave and had been since childhood.
The next day, after the welcome party, military training continued as usual.
Jiang Jinyue did not go to school to watch Lu Qingmian's military training. He also needed time to adjust himself and have a good rest.
He didn't go out, but Chen Keai couldn't sit still.
In the afternoon, Chen Keai invited Jiang Jinyue to visit his home.
Jiang Jinyue wanted to refuse, but Chen Keai was too enthusiastic and kept sending messages to Jiang Jinyue, so Jiang Jinyue had no choice but to go.
The room 903 is much more richly decorated than Jiang Jinyue's room 1203, and it also seems more popular. After all, Chen Keai has lived here for a year, and he even installed a TV in the living room.
As soon as Jiang Jinyue entered the room, she saw that Chen Keai had piled snacks on the coffee table, and there were several pillows and stuffed dolls scattered around on the sofa. Chen Keai was taking out the fruit tea that had been prepared in advance from the refrigerator, and also took out two extra-large boxes of ice cream.
After stuffing the ice cream into Jiang Jinyue's arms, Chen Keai pulled Jiang Jinyue's hand and sat on the sofa together. She also stuffed two pillows between the two of them and winked at Jiang Jinyue: "To prevent me from accidentally bumping into you."
Jiang Jinyue had never interacted with anyone so naturally before, and thanked him awkwardly, "Chen Keai, thank you."
Chen Keai dipped the spoon into Jiang Jinyue's ice cream, unwrapped some popping candies and soft candies, and poured them in, urging her, "What are you thanking me for? Come on, try it! This is my favorite way to eat it!"
Jiang Jinyue picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful of ice cream and put it into his mouth. The cool ice cream melted in his mouth along with the popping candy. At the end, he could chew the bouncy soft candy. It had a rich taste and was especially delicious.
He immediately scooped up another spoonful and put it in his mouth, squinting his eyes in satisfaction.
Seeing that Jiang Jinyue liked it, Chen Keai leaned back on the sofa contentedly, turned on the TV, and began to stuff her mouth with ice cream spoonful by spoonful. As she ate, she said, "Yueyue, you just need to relax here with me. This is just a simple tea party with your best friends!"
Jiang Jinyue was very obedient and did not correct why he and Chen Keai were calling each other best friends. She just looked at the TV screen with Chen Keai.
Chen Keai was changing channels while chatting with Jiang Jinyue. They talked about some meaningless topics and occasionally talked about some school gossip, which made Jiang Jinyue's face full of curiosity.
Chen Keai pressed the remote control until it made a clicking sound. He changed the TV channels twice but couldn't find the program he wanted to watch. He simply threw the remote control away and concentrated on chatting with Jiang Jinyue.
"There's nothing good to watch on TV. It's so annoying."
Jiang Jinyue nodded seriously and said, imitating Chen Keai's tone, "Yes, it's really annoying."
Chen Keai burst out laughing and started chatting about gossip with Jiang Jinyue again. As they talked, Jiang Jinyue relaxed and his tone became much lighter. The two chatted for a long time. After they finished eating the ice cream, Chen Keai ran to rummage through the refrigerator and started looking for something delicious.
The television, with no one watching it, was stuck on a news channel that was broadcasting a news report about drought. The camera zoomed in on patches of dry and cracked land, where all the crops had died due to lack of water. Although the few farmers being interviewed did not cry, their weathered faces showed only fatigue and despair.
Chen Keai came over with two boxes of small cakes, glanced at the news, and frowned: "The drought is really tormenting."
He handed a box of small cakes to Jiang Jinyue and chatted, "My grandfather's family were farmers when they were alive. They worked hard on their own small piece of land year after year. Whether they could eat depended entirely on the weather. Sometimes, they would work hard for a whole year, but would not harvest a single grain due to bad weather."
"Ever since I was a kid, my grandfather and his family have made offerings to the gods every year, worshipping the Dragon King and so on. But when it's drought, it's still drought, and when it's flood, it's still flood. Even if there are gods, they are all high and mighty. Who cares about the lives of ordinary people?"
After Chen Keai finished speaking, she took a deep breath, pulled herself out of her memories, picked up the remote control and changed the channel. "Oh, let's not talk about these unhappy things today!"
Jiang Jinyue nodded, his eyes still on the TV.
The TV screen had switched to a variety show, but Jiang Jinyue was still thinking about the news.
After leaving Chen Keai's house, Jiang Jinyue returned to 1203, took out the laptop that Lu Qingmian had not taken away, and began searching for news about the drought.
He didn't search too far, only looking for areas nearby where there was drought.
After looking up a news item from a few days ago, Jiang Jinyue enlarged the news video, looked at the dry and cracked land in the camera, closed his eyes, and gently placed his hand on the computer screen.
He tried hard to sense the power in his body, recalling the feeling when he successfully communicated with the sea through the video of the sea, but still to no avail.
After trying several times, Jiang Jinyue had no choice but to give up.
He was sure he couldn't control the rain in the area where the video was located based on just one news video.
But he was unwilling to give up just like that.
Jiang Jinyue played the news over and over again and finally made a decision.
The next day, Jiang Jinyue sent a WeChat message to Lu Qingmian, saying that he would be away for a few days.
Lu Qingmian didn't ask Jiang Jinyue where he was going, nor did he stop Jiang Jinyue. He just replied:
be safe.
Lu Qingmian was worried about Jiang Jinyue, but he never treated Jiang Jinyue as an appendage, nor would he restrict Jiang Jinyue's freedom.
Jiang Jinyue contacted a taxi that took private jobs and planned to go to the nearest dry land to H City.
Although he has already thrown away his glasses and mask, it is still a fantasy to ask him to take crowded means of transportation such as trains and buses.
Fortunately, Jiang Jinyue is not short of money now, so he doesn’t have to feel too bad after booking a taxi.
In the morning, Jiang Jinyue packed some simple luggage and set off.
He went to a village adjacent to a nearby county town. That county town was a notoriously poor county, and the village adjacent to it was also very poor. The drought this summer and autumn had plunged the entire village into gloom.
Although the current rainfall can no longer solve the problem of seasonal crops, it can at least save some vegetables with a short growing period.
The car drove for an entire afternoon and arrived at the destination in the evening.
Jiang Jinyue carried his luggage and checked into a small hotel. The hotel was very shabby and almost no one stayed there. The owner's attitude was not warm, but it made Jiang Jinyue feel relieved.
Due to the drought, even basic water supply for daily life has become a problem in this place, and water is only supplied for a fixed few hours a day.
That night, he rested in a small room in the hotel and did not contact Lu Qingmian.
Living alone in a strange place and a strange room, it would be a lie to say that he wasn't afraid, but all this was Jiang Jinyue's own decision. He had already anticipated the situations he might face. Although he didn't sleep well that night, fortunately he slept for a few hours.
The next morning, Jiang Jinyue went out with his things.
He checked the route and followed the instructions on the map on his phone up the mountain, where he found a small river marked on the map.
In the photos taken by the map software, the water in this small river is clear and the flow is gurgling, but now due to the drought, the water level has dropped a lot and the river water appears much more turbid.
The forest is quiet and deserted, with only the sounds of wind, trees swaying and the occasional bird singing.
Jiang Jinyue walked to the river, spread out the small blanket he had prepared, took off his shoes and put them aside, then took off his pants and took out a red lace long skirt from a bag beside him. This skirt was the one Lu Qingmian wore at the welcome party.
Jiang Jinyue shook off her skirt, paused, slowly raised her legs, and put on the skirt.
The long skirt that reached Lu Qingmian's ankles covered Jiang Jinyue's feet.
He lifted the hem of his skirt, revealing a pair of thin and white legs, and gently put his legs into the river. The sudden coldness made Jiang Jinyue squint her eyes.
The sunlight shone through the shade of the trees onto Jiang Jinyue's body in patches. Jiang Jinyue lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand and supported her body with the other hand. Her calves and below were soaked in the river water, and her feet were constantly splashing water.
There was no one else in the forest, which made Jiang Jinyue feel particularly relaxed. He kicked the water hard with his feet, and the splashing water reflected the sunlight in different colors.
Under the light, Jiang Jinyue's legs were covered in a hazy soft light. His eyes became lighter and lighter, and he lowered his eyes and looked at his legs wrapped in the light indifferently.
When the light faded, a beautiful fish tail replaced the legs and was immersed in the cool river water.
The fish's tail was soaked in water and swayed comfortably, its tail fin swaying and fluctuating in the water flow, and the glazed color reflected brilliant colors.
Jiang Jinyue raised his head and looked at the sunlight in the mountains and forests through the shade of the trees. He supported himself with his arms, slowly leaned back, relaxed his whole body, and slightly opened his red lips, humming a soft tune.
The melodious singing passed through the mountains and forests. A little squirrel poked its head out from the branches, holding a pine cone in its arms.
The little squirrel shook its furry ears, jumped down the tree, and ran towards Jiang Jinyue curiously. It placed the pine cone next to Jiang Jinyue's hand. Seeing that Jiang Jinyue did not drive it away, it squatted obediently beside him, tilting its little head to listen to Jiang Jinyue singing.
The first little squirrel ran over, and immediately the second, the third... many little squirrels ran over. In addition to the little squirrels, small birds of all shapes also flew over and landed beside Jiang Jinyue. Their little eyes looked at Jiang Jinyue intently, as if immersed in the singing.
Jiang Jinyue was in a good mood, his tail swayed gently along with the water flow, and his singing gradually became more cheerful.
In the clear sky, a bean-sized raindrop suddenly fell.
Gradually, more and more raindrops fell, and heavy rain came in an instant, soaking a group of small animals so much that they jumped around in place, but they were reluctant to leave.
Jiang Jinyue lowered his eyes, reached out and poked a little squirrel's head, causing the little squirrel to fall to the ground. However, its two little paws held Jiang Jinyue's fingertips, and it didn't want to leave even though it was wet.
Suddenly, a little bird flew to a tree branch, plucked a leaf, and circled above Jiang Jinyue's head in the heavy rain. Then one bird after another followed suit, plucked a leaf, and flew to Jiang Jinyue's head and circled.
Soon, countless birds holding leaves in their beaks formed a natural umbrella above Jiang Jinyue's head, and the small animals on the ground crowded under the natural umbrella to shelter from the rain.
Jiang Jinyue's singing gradually stopped, but the rain was still falling.
The dry and withered ground was moistened by the rain, and the water-deficient grass slowly raised its leaves in the heavy rain.
In a village at the foot of the mountain, none of the villagers stayed at home to hide from the rain. They ran out cheering and placed containers outside to collect water.
"It's raining! It's finally raining!"
"Get more water, get more water!"
"God bless, may the rain get heavier!"
The rain continued until dark. At dusk, Jiang Jinyue turned his fish tail back into legs, packed up his things and returned to the small hotel.
Just like the previous Mary Sue incident where she turned into an angel, in the later stage of the Mary Sue incident, Jiang Jinyue felt that he could freely control his legs and transform them into a fish tail.
Every day after that, Jiang Jinyue would go to the small river in the mountains to sing, and heavy rain would come every day, whether it was sunny or rainy.
It was the penultimate day before the end of military training, and this was also the last time Jiang Jinyue came to the river.
He sat by the river and sang as usual, stretching his beautiful fish tail freely in the sunny and heavy rain.
At this moment, a rustling sound came from the bushes nearby. A little girl with two pigtails parted the grass. When she saw Jiang Jinyue sitting by the river, her innocent eyes immediately widened. "Grandma, it's a mermaid..."
Before the little girl could finish her words, an old hand covered her mouth and pressed down her head, and the old and the young hid back in the tall grass together.
The old man shook his head at the little girl, then slowly let go and whispered in her ear, "Nannan, that is the god who brings rain for us. Don't disturb him."
The little girl nodded ignorantly, and then, under the guidance of her grandmother, she kowtowed reverently several times in the direction of Jiang Jinyue and quietly left.
A long, long time later, the little girl grew up. She understood a lot, but she still believed in the existence of gods in the world, because she saw with her own eyes that the gods came and brought heavy rain, which represented hope, to their village that was about to dry up.
The day before the end of military training, Jiang Jinyue finally contacted Lu Qingmian.
He didn't say anything, just said: "Lu Qingmian, I will go back tomorrow."
Jiang Jinyue didn't say anything, and Lu Qingmian didn't ask, "I'll pick you up."
This time Jiang Jinyue did not refuse. He and Lu Qingmian agreed on a time, but set the location at the entrance of Rhine Community.
The next evening, the taxi stopped at the gate of Rhine Community. As soon as Jiang Jinyue got out of the car, he saw Lu Qingmian standing at the gate of the community.
Lu Qingmian had changed out of his camouflage uniform and was wearing casual clothes. He was leaning aside, holding a thin silver-white mobile phone in his hand. He looked over immediately after Jiang Jinyue got out of the car.
The two people's eyes met in the air, as if they were back to the day when Jiang Jinyue first met Lu Qingmian in the Rhine Community.
Unexpectedly, in less than two months, so much had happened between them.
Lu Qingmian walked over, took Jiang Jinyue's things, and walked beside Jiang Jinyue.
Jiang Jinyue was actually very tired, but after seeing Lu Qingmian, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.
The hands of the two people hanging at their sides bumped into each other from time to time. It was unknown who stretched out his fingers to hook the other's first, and gradually the two hands were tightly clasped together, with their fingers entangled.
Jiang Jinyue looked up at Lu Qingmian, his eyes reflecting the warm orange light in the dusk: "Lu Qingmian, aren't you going to ask me where I went and what I did?"
Lu Qingmian also lowered his head to look at Jiang Jinyue. His dark eyes were gloomy, but Jiang Jinyue was reflected in his eyes.
"Can I ask?"
Jiang Jinyue laughed: "Of course, you can ask anything."
Lu Qingmian asked, "Where have you been? How have you been these days? Are you happy?"
Jiang Jinyue gently shook their hands and began to chatter softly. He told Lu Qingmian every detail of the past few days. In fact, his days were very boring except for singing by the river, but Lu Qingmian listened very carefully and asked a few more boring questions from time to time.
The short separation of a few days did not make Lu Qingmian and Jiang Jinyue estranged, but made their relationship closer.
At night, Lu Qingmian and Jiang Jinyue huddled together on the sofa in room 1203, their heads leaning against each other, one of them poking at the screen of their phone to play games. The phone became hot from playing games for a long time, but Jiang Jinyue didn't feel it. He only felt that his body temperature was getting hotter and hotter, and it wouldn't go down no matter what he did.
Fortunately, Lu Qingmian was pressing the other side of the screen, so he didn't touch his fingers or notice his hot body temperature.
Lu Qingmian stayed until very late before leaving. After Lu Qingmian left, Jiang Jinyue was still sitting on the sofa, his thoughts a little confused, as if he was still in a remote mountain village.
Tomorrow is the last day of military training and the military parade. After the parade, freshmen will start classes. The freshman group and class group are very lively. The students are discussing tomorrow's military parade and the university life that is about to officially begin.
Seeing his classmates chatting enthusiastically and happily, Jiang Jinyue was also infected, and his heart was filled with some anticipation.
The next morning, Jiang Jinyue received a call from her counselor.
The counselor told Jiang Jinyue that after the military parade at noon, a class photo would be taken and hoped that Jiang Jinyue could come.
"Although you didn't participate in military training, you are still a member of the class, so you should always come for the group photo."
Jiang Jinyue hesitated and didn't agree immediately: "I..."
The counselor understood Jiang Jinyue's situation. She didn't force her, but simply said, "Think about it carefully."
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Jinyue held the phone in his hand and lost in memories.
After that incident, Jiang Jinyue returned to school at the end of the sixth grade of elementary school. However, due to severe PTSD, Jiang Jinyue naturally did not participate in the graduation photo when he graduated from elementary school. Not only in elementary school, but also in junior high school and high school, Jiang Jinyue did not participate in any group photos. He did not have any of those photos that he could pick up and recall the past with a smile many years later.
Is he going to take part in this photo?
Jiang Jinyue sat on the sofa, looking at the clock hanging on the wall.
The pointer ticked and time passed by little by little.
9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock... the military parade will be over soon.
Jiang Jinyue stared at the minute hand, and soon the time came to 11:30.
Have we started taking photos now?
Jiang Jinyue thought that even if he went now it would be too late.
11:40.
Jiang Jinyue suddenly stood up from the sofa, ran to the door, put on his shoes, and ran out madly.
As the elevator reached the first floor, Jiang Jinyue looked at the slowly increasing numbers on it, turned around, pushed open the door of the stairwell, and ran down the stairs one step at a time.
12th floor, 11th floor, 10th floor… 5th floor, 4th floor… it will be here soon!
Just as Jiang Jinyue turned the corner of the third floor, he bumped into Lu Qingmian who was running upwards.
The two men stopped and looked at each other, one taller than the other.
Jiang Jinyue was sweating profusely from running, and Lu Qingmian was not much better. He seemed to have run all the way from school.
"Lu Qingmian? Why are you back?" Jiang Jinyue asked breathlessly.
Lu Qingmian took a few steps forward and grasped Jiang Jinyue's wrist tightly. He looked at him deeply with his dark eyes, his breathing a little disordered. "I'll pick you up and take a group photo."
Jiang Jinyue's eyes widened slightly. He never expected that Lu Qingmian could guess even this. He guessed his desire and his hesitation, so he rushed over from school to pick him up in person.
The big hand holding his wrist was hot from the exercise. Jiang Jinyue held Lu Qingmian's wrist in return, and their fingers intertwined tacitly, their fingers tightly clasped.
"Yeah! I'm going to take a group photo!"
The two men turned around and ran down the stairs frantically, out of the building, out of the Rhine community, and towards the school.
The playground of H University was very lively. Led by the counselors, each class was looking for a place to take group photos. Lu Qingmian had obviously inquired about the location of Jiang Jinyue's class and ran straight there with Jiang Jinyue.
Jiang Jinyue was not wearing glasses or a mask. Her stunning beauty attracted countless attention as soon as she walked into the crowd.
He stood at the front of his class team, panting, and immediately attracted the attention of his classmates.
Compared to his classmates who were wearing uniform camouflage uniforms, Jiang Jinyue's casual clothes seemed out of place.
He breathed hard, his black hair a little messy sticking to his cheeks, his clear eyes carefully scanned the faces of his classmates, his lips moved but he didn't speak.
The counselor was holding a camera and was a little surprised to see Jiang Jinyue. It was already this late, and she thought Jiang Jinyue would not come.
Lu Qingmian stood behind Jiang Jinyue and said softly, "Go."
Jiang Jinyue didn't move, his feet stopped where he was, and suddenly he couldn't take a step forward.
The counselor came back to his senses and waved to Jiang Jinyue: "Jiang Jinyue, come here quickly!"
Jiang Jinyue looked at the counselor and took a few steps forward.
The classmates who were also somewhat surprised gradually came to their senses. Although they had not come into contact with Jiang Jinyue during the military training, and had talked about him privately because of Jiang Jinyue's strange dress during the class meeting, they were still a group of teenagers in their teens. After Jiang Jinyue's amazing 30-second humming at the welcome party, they had long been curious about Jiang Jinyue.
The student standing in the front row suddenly raised his arm and waved to Jiang Jinyue, "Jiang Jinyue, come here! Stand here!"
After the first classmate showed goodwill, the class immediately burst into a flurry of greetings.
"Come here, Jiang Jinyue, it's time to return to the team."
"Yeah, what are you standing there for?"
"Jiang Jinyue!"
"Jiang Jinyue!"
"Let's take a group photo together. It's our first group photo as a class!"
Jiang Jinyue turned around helplessly and looked at Lu Qingmian.
Lu Qingmian suddenly took off his camouflage jacket and draped it over Jiang Jinyue. "Raise your hands."
Jiang Jinyue subconsciously raised his hand, and Lu Qingmian helped him put on his camouflage uniform, then bent down to zip it up and straighten his collar.
Lu Qingmian's camouflage uniform was too big for Jiang Jinyue. Jiang Jinyue could even smell Lu Qingmian's scent from the uniform. The familiar scent made him feel at ease.
"Go quickly." Lu Qingmian gently pushed Jiang Jinyue's back.
Jiang Jinyue took a step forward and finally ran towards his class.
The neatly-organized team made a gap in the middle, and the instructor pointed to one of the rows and said, "Jiang Jinyue, quickly stand over there!"
Jiang Jinyue walked into the gap, passed by the girls in the front row, and accidentally bumped into several of her classmates.
He quietly gritted his teeth and finally stood in his own position.
The counselor walked to the front of the line, raised the camera to his eyes, and shouted, "Come on! Three, two, one!"
Jiang Jinyue looked towards the camera and shouted along with everyone else: "Eggplant!"
“Crack!”
Smiling faces are captured in the camera.
In the photo, Jiang Jinyue stood in the middle of the team, shoulder to shoulder with his classmates, his eyes wide open, his mouth stretched into a smile because of shouting "cheese", and he took the first group photo of his life with a silly expression.
Standing in the sun.
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