On August 26, 1994, I embarked on a new journey in life.
The ups and downs of the three years of high school slipped through my fingertips like quicksand, and some precious things were treasured in my memory forever.
In three years, I went from being a top student with high hopes to a self-depraved person who was despised by others.
In the past three years, I have reaped the sweet and bitter first love, and watched it wither and die little by little, and finally disappeared into the dust.
I set off for a strange city, where I could finally throw away all my bags and cans and start a new life with ease.
In that era, it was not an exaggeration to call college students "proud students". Although my college entrance examination results did not meet expectations, I was still considered rare among my peers.
I am studying at a science university, majoring in mechanical manufacturing.
It takes more than 7 hours to get to school from my hometown by train.
At this time, it was still more than two years before the first major national railway speed increase in 1997.
In 7 hours, the trains at that time could only run 500 kilometers.
What's even more annoying is that it's impossible to buy a seat on this train that doesn't require transfers, so just having a place to stand is a plus.
It was my first time traveling far away, and I was full of curiosity, my eyes kept looking out the car window.
At a station on the way, a girl with a suitcase got on.
She must have been struggling and looked a little embarrassed.
The first impression she gave me was that her eyes seemed to speak.
She gave me a pleading look, and I knew she needed my help.
I helped her put the suitcase on the luggage rack. It was a very heavy suitcase, and it was difficult for a weak girl like her to carry it onto the train.
She thanked me several times, and I felt awkward. It was such a simple thing, why was she being so polite?
Then she sat down in her seat and leaned over to the passenger sitting next to her and begged her to move a little further in.
After a lot of effort, she managed to squeeze out less than half a space for her butt.
She said, "You look tired and sweaty. Why don't you sit down for a while? It's not easy to go out."
Her cheerfulness, enthusiasm and boldness were something I had never seen before. I had only one feeling at the time - novelty.
It was midsummer, and she was only wearing a light yellow dress with small white flowers. I was both excited and nervous to sit so close to a girl.
She saw that I was hesitant, chuckled, covered her mouth and said, "You are so young, why are you still so feudal?"
It would be a bit presumptuous of me not to sit down. What's more, I was too tired from standing, and the temptation of this seat was too great.
I had no choice but to sit next to her.
She asked me if I was a college student going to register.
I said yes.
She asked me which school I was from.
I uncomprehendingly pronounced the name of the school.
She asked me what I majored in.
I said I was majoring in mechanical manufacturing in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
She gave me a sly look and smiled.
She got off at the same station as me. I wanted to help her with her luggage, but she said someone would come to pick her up soon and she didn't need to bother me.
It was my first time in such a big city. The tall buildings and the hustle and bustle of the city dazzled me. For a moment, I didn’t know where to look or where to walk.
She touched my arm, pointed to a place not far away and said, "Student, look over there is your school's freshman reception desk. There are special buses to pick up and drop off freshmen."
I nodded gratefully and said goodbye to her quickly.
Sitting on the school chair, I breathed a sigh of relief with satisfaction, feeling the comfort and honor brought to me by the seat back, and closed my eyes.
Then I heard exclamations from inside the car: "Look, Audi 100, and it's a V6!"
I opened my eyes and looked in the direction the student was pointing. A tall and thin boy wearing glasses was loading the suitcase of the girl who was in the car with me into the car.
Someone on the bus said, "Fuck, the people who ride this bus are either rich or high-ranking officials."
The car started slowly and slid out of the parking lot.
I stared out the window, watching the boy open the door and let her into the black car.
My heart was restless for a long time. The smug feeling of glory just now was replaced by a shameful feeling of inferiority.
On the second day after registration, the counselor held a class meeting for us, which was actually a meeting for freshmen.
The 30 classmates in the class sat together, and I saw her at a glance among a group of strangers.
There are only 5 girls among the more than 30 students in the class, and her appearance, dress and temperament are definitely unique.
A touch of red among thousands of flowers, it is hard not to see her at first glance.
Everyone knows that there are few girls majoring in mechanical engineering, and the quality is relatively low.
If you take any one of her facial features out individually, there is nothing special about them; but when they are combined on her face, there is an otherworldly beauty.
At this moment she was looking at me with a teasing look.
It seems like he is saying, I never thought that we are actually classmates.
Talking about this past event, Tang Xiaomei told me that this kind of girl is the most scheming. She knew that they were classmates, but she didn't point it out on the train.
I explained for her that maybe she just wanted to create a surprise and she didn't have any bad intentions.
When all the classmates introduced themselves one by one, I heard her name for the first time - Zhou Xintong.
After more than a month, the students got to know each other well and had endless topics to talk about.
After the lights are turned off in our dormitory, we have a gossip discussion every day.
Dormitory No. 5 said that he and Zhou Xintong were from the same high school but in different classes.
Lao Ba said: "You are the first to get the moon because you are close to the water. You can marry a beautiful woman when you graduate from university."
Lao Wu said, "No chance. She has a boyfriend in high school. His family seems to be a high-ranking official. He also went to our school, probably in the electronics department. His college entrance examination score was high enough to pass our school's admission score by more than 30 points. If it wasn't for Zhou Xintong, why would he choose to apply to our school?"
I didn't interrupt, and the image of the boy who picked up Zhou Xintong in a car at the station appeared in front of my eyes.
It seems that what Lao Wu said was true, Zhou Xintong does have a boyfriend.
After the novelty of college life wore off, the dull college life of dormitory-canteen-classroom continued in a repetitive cycle.
The only thing we talked about was that every time we had class, Zhou Xintong would take the initiative to sit next to me.
When the teacher was teaching, she always asked me all kinds of strange questions in whispers.
Once I had a large class in a lecture hall with more than 200 people sitting in the classroom.
She went about her normal business, peppering me with questions.
For example, which heroine do you like best in Wang Shuo's novels? In "Ordinary World", can people with such different statuses as Sun Shaoping and Tian Xiaoxia develop true love?...
Things like this never get annoying.
Sometimes we even have a few arguments about a certain issue.
But it all ends with her victory.