Chapter 17
After sending the email, Zhang Jusong stared at the screen in a daze.
The blue light from the notebook shone on her face, dimly.
So, she must be being overly sentimental, right?
We haven't been in touch for such a long time, so even if we said one word, it would be a normal conversation.
It seems that Xia Zhiheng really has no other intentions.
Thinking of this, Zhang Jusong let out a sigh of relief.
There was a sense of relief, but also a sense of inexplicable loss.
Qu Ling's voice came from far away in the living room.
"Zhang Jusong, come out and eat watermelon."
"Hey - I'm coming."
Zhang Jusong closed his notebook, got up and went out.
My uncle had just come home from a social event, and Aunt Luo took out a watermelon from the refrigerator and cut it open with a knife.
Because grandma can't use cold air, the living room is not open and the temperature is a little high.
The glass sliding door of the adjacent small garden was open, and you could feel the cool evening breeze when you walked past it.
The ice watermelon was cut into pieces and placed on the coffee table. It was a seedless watermelon with red flesh and no black watermelon. It was especially enjoyable to bite into it in big mouthfuls.
The family sat together. The uncle smiled and said, "Juzi's birthday is coming soon. Is there any dish you want to eat this time?"
It is their family custom to celebrate every family member’s birthday by going out to a restaurant for dinner together.
Zhang Jusong held the watermelon, hesitated for a while, and said: "How about we go out for lunch at noon?"
My aunt was a little surprised: "At noon, your uncle and I are both at work..."
"Forget it then." Zhang Jusong said hurriedly.
Grandma asked with a smile: "Why, what happened to you at night?"
"Hmm..." Zhang Jusong said in a small voice, "I want to see if I can invite my old friends to have dinner together."
After hearing this, my uncle said, "Sure, we can do it at noon, it won't be a problem."
Grandma thought about it and said, "Why don't you just invite your friends over to your house and have a birthday party or something...what was it?"
"Birthday party." Qu Ling replied casually.
"Yes, that's it." Grandma sat up straight in the rattan chair. "There are many people, it's lively. Let's buy some flowers and balloons and celebrate your birthday in a lively manner."
Zhang Jusong said: "This... is a bit too grand."
She was a little embarrassed: "It's not a big birthday."
Grandma threw the melon rind into the trash can: "Hey, just think of it as making grandma happy."
"Yes, look at how many classmates we have invited, how about we order a big cake with two layers?" my uncle agreed.
Zhang Jusong laughed: "Let me ask first, I don't know if they have time yet."
There were not many people she wanted to invite, only two, □□ Shen Yueran.
The three girls have been good friends since junior high school. After entering high school, although they are in different classes, they often make plans to have dinner together and can even share wardrobes.
After the college entrance examination, Zhang Jusong went to City A to study, Hua Xue went to City S, and Shen Yueran went even further, to a camel-riding university in the northwest. The three of them, from different regions of the motherland, did not need to meet in person, and even rarely used the usual online instant messaging tools.
On the one hand, due to the differences in distance and life, there are fewer common topics to talk about.
On the other hand...Zhang Jusong did deliberately reduce his contact with his friends.
As for the reason, there is actually nothing.
Zhang Jusong had secretly hoped that he could remain in their best image for a long time.
Nowadays, everyone is very busy. If one party reduces contact, the other party will gradually become indifferent, and the relationship will gradually fade away.
But the longing is still there, combined with the nostalgia for the past school days, it becomes a faint background color on the new picture of life.
Sometimes when Zhang Jusong walked on the campus and saw girls walking side by side and joking together, he would think of Chen Yueran.
What are they doing?
You must have made new friends in college, right?
Whenever he thought of this, Zhang Jusong would feel a little melancholy.
Actually...she still really wants to meet them.
After thinking for a long time, Zhang Jusong sent a few messages to the sister group that had been silent for a long time.
"Hi, I'm back in City C. Did you guys come back during the summer vacation?"
"My birthday is coming up soon. If you're free, would you like to come to my house and eat cake with me?"
I waited for a few minutes with a nervous mood.
Chen Yueran replied: "!!! I'm at home! If you have any good cakes, please leave a few pieces for me. I will definitely come."
Zhang Jusong typed joyfully: "Hehe, don't worry, I guarantee you won't get away with it."
Another ten minutes passed.
Hua Xue came late and replied: "I'm not in City C now."
"I am doing internship at the school."
"I'll try to make it."
Zhang Jusong replied: "It's okay, it's okay. If it doesn't work, forget it."
Chen Yueran: "If you don't come, I will eat your cake too. Humph, I will take pictures for you when the time comes. You will be so greedy."
Hua Xue: "Haha."
"Juzi, I wish you a happy birthday in advance. I'll see if I can arrange the time. I also want to go home and rest for a few days before school starts."
"Okay." Zhang Jusong sent an emoticon of a happy little man.
How could I not be happy to meet my old good friends again?
Zhang Jusong began to search for birthday party information on various platforms, selected some exquisite photos as reference, and ordered balloons, small colored lights and colorful flags online.
I'm tired of opening all the packages.
Birthday cake is the highlight. Although generally speaking, except for children, people nowadays have no great interest in eating birthday cake, but the candles must be placed somewhere. Without the birthday cake, it always feels like something is missing.
Zhang Jusong picked and chose in the cake shop, and finally chose a platter cake. Different from the usual prototype cake, this cake is square, made up of small cakes of different flavors. Black Forest cake next to white strawberry mousse, and then a piece of matcha chocolate cake... a variety of different flavors, try to avoid the birthday cake becoming breakfast on the second or even third day.
A few days before her birthday, Hua Xue also confirmed that she would take the flight home that afternoon and should be able to make it.
On his birthday, Zhang Jusong woke up very early. When he opened his eyes and looked at his phone, it was just past five in the morning.
But I can’t sleep anymore.
She simply opened the door and walked out.
"Hey, you woke up so early?"
Grandma was sitting on a rattan chair, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan. When she saw Zhang Jusong, she smiled and said, "Our Ju cub has passed another year of peace and security."
"Come here and see what grandma has prepared for you this year."
Zhang Jusong obediently stretched out his left hand and shook the red string on his left hand: "I guess it's better to braid the bracelet with the lucky beads."
"Haha, yes, I just made this up."
Grandma smiled as she put on a new bracelet for her: "I discovered this last time. Two of the original ones broke. This time I made it stronger."
Zhang Jusong hugged his grandmother and rubbed her arm affectionately.
"Thank you, grandma."
"Silly child, why are you thanking grandma?" Grandma stroked her hair and said, "Then, in the new year, you should be safe and sound, and everything will go smoothly."
Grandma smiled and said, "You see, your old friends are coming to celebrate your birthday. This is a very good start."
Zhang Jusong smiled embarrassedly.
She understood that her grandmother always wanted her to have a few good friends to talk to and relieve her boredom.
So, grandma is also particularly happy today.
Walking in the bright afternoon sunlight, Shen Yueran and Hua Xue arrived one after another.
As soon as they met, Shen Yueran gave Zhang Jusong a hug.
"I missed you so much, Orange."
Zhang Jusong was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Me too."
Hua Xue stood at the door with a faint smile on her face: "Happy birthday."
It's so strange. Even though we've been apart for a long time, when we meet again, it's as if the past estrangement never existed.
Still laughing and chattering like before.
The gift that Shen Yueran brought was a bunch of dried fruits and nuts from the northwest.
"I think small ornaments are too fancy, and food is more substantial." Shen Yueran boasted, "This is an authentic specialty. I personally carried it back from far away. Fortunately, you said in advance that you wanted to celebrate your birthday together, otherwise, I would have eaten it all."
She smiled and looked at Hua Xue: "Hey, what gift did Xue Bao prepare?"
Hua Xue pursed her lips and opened the bag: "Here, it's food too."
They are some cakes and pastries that look good, taste delicious, and have good meanings.
"We are thinking the same thing!" Shen Yueran groaned, "Today, we won't go home until we are full!"
They laughed and joked with each other and sang birthday songs together.
When making a wish, Zhang Jusong closed his eyes and prayed in his heart.
I hope my family and friends are safe and everything goes well.
In midsummer, it gets dark late.
After eating the cake, the sky started to darken.
Shen Yueran held Zhang Jusong with one hand, and beckoned Hua Xue desperately with the other hand: "Come here, come here, let the three of us hug together."
Although Hua Xue said "boring", she still walked over and hugged them.
About to leave.
Zhang Jusong accompanied them all the way to the gate of the community.
"Goodbye," they said.
"goodbye."
Zhang Jusong smiled.
The sun sets back below the horizon.
On the way home, Zhang Jusong walked slowly with his head down.
Aunt Luo was cleaning the table when she heard the noise and said, "By the way, when you sisters were eating cake just now, there was a delivery. I put it in your room."
"Okay, thank you Aunt Luo."
Zhang Jusong did not return to his room immediately, but turned and went to the small garden.
There were only a few stars in the city's night sky. She looked at those stars and felt a little disappointed.
These stars are probably separated by dozens or even hundreds of light years, right?
She looked at the stars quietly for a while until the cell phone in her pocket glowed in the night.
It’s Xia Zhiheng’s call.
"Sister! Happy birthday!"
The boy's voice was excited, but the background was a bit noisy.
"Thank you." said Zhang Jusong.
"Do you like my birthday present?"
"ah……"
It turned out that the forgotten package was sent by Xia Zhiheng. Zhang Jusong hesitantly said, "I like it very much. Thank you."
Xia Zhiheng smiled and said, "Actually, I really like the words on the card, so I took the liberty to share them with you."
I could faintly hear the sound of a whistle, and a voice urging me: "Hurry up, the break is over, we need to continue the training."
"Got it." Xia Zhiheng said hurriedly, "As always, happy birthday, sister. Be happy every day. I'm hanging up--"
Zhang Jusong burst out laughing.
Back in the room, she unpacked the package. Under the ugly package was a very delicate box.
When I opened it, I found it was an astronomical telescope.
There was also a handwritten greeting card in the box.
Zhang Jusong picked up the greeting card and read out the words on it.
"In the vast space and infinite time, it is my honor to share a planet and a period of time with you."①
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