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When the alarm clock rang at 5:30 in the morning, Xu Yang was dreaming of the physics rematch examination room.
The sliding rheostat in the dream was like a disobedient snake, with the thread wrapped around his fingers tighter and tighter, until he suddenly opened his eyes and found that his wrists were strangled by the crumpled bed sheets he had clenched.
The sky outside the window was just beginning to turn pale, and the shadows of the camphor trees in the community were dimly reflected on the curtains. Xu Yang sat up and took out the mobile phone under the pillow - the screen was still stuck on the chat interface with Lu Jinyu last night. The last message was a grinning emoticon sent by the other party, and the time showed eleven and three minutes.
His fingertips paused on the screen and clicked on the weather forecast. There was a small sun next to the icon for tomorrow.
When changing into school uniform, Xu Yang found a cardboard at the bottom of the wardrobe. When he opened it, he found it was the admission ticket for the rematch issued by the organizing committee of the physics competition last week. In the photo, he was frowning and the collar of his school uniform was crooked.
He remembered that on the day of the photo shoot, Lu Jinyu made faces beside him, causing the photographer to shout "do it again" three times. The corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily, and when he stuffed the admission ticket into the side pocket of his schoolbag, he deliberately put a piece of clean draft paper under it.
When I went out at 6:10, the voice-controlled lights in the corridor were still on.
Xu Yang pressed the elevator button, and the metal door reflected him carrying a schoolbag - the schoolbag was heavier than usual, and inside it was a copy of "Analysis of Experimental Errors" borrowed by Lu Jinyu, and between the pages were slips of paper with little figures drawn on them yesterday.
As the elevator descended, he felt the change in his pocket. It was enough to buy two tuna sandwiches and some left over.
The rolling shutter of the convenience store was just halfway up, and the clerk in blue work clothes was bending over to clean the glass.
Xu Yang stood at the door and waited for half a minute. The mist on the glass gradually dissipated, revealing the sandwiches neatly arranged on the shelves inside.
When he pushed the door open, the wind chimes jingled. The waiter looked up and smiled: "Good morning, do you want tuna?"
"Two." Xu Yang pointed to the packages in the freezer, leaving a faint mark on the glass with his fingertips.
He watched the clerk put the sandwich into a plastic bag, and suddenly remembered the crumbs stuck to the corners of Lu Jinyu's mouth when he bit into the sandwich last time. He couldn't help but ask for another tissue.
When walking out of the convenience store, the morning light just filled the traffic light on the corner of the street. Xu Yang leaned against the bus stop sign, the plastic bag was slightly inflated by the wind, and the fishy smell of tuna mixed with the scent of grass and trees in the early morning drifted into his nostrils.
He glanced down at his phone. It was six forty, twenty minutes before the agreed time of seven, but he could already see a figure riding a bicycle at a distant intersection, a corner of his school uniform jacket fluttering in the wind.
"Earlier than me?" Lu Jinyu's voice came over with the wind, and the schoolbag in the basket shook, making a slight sound of stationery colliding.
He stood on one leg and stopped in front of Xu Yang. A few strands of hair on his forehead were wet with sweat. The morning light slid down along the lines of his hair and shattered into stars on the school badge on his collarbone.
Xu Yang handed over one of the sandwiches, and his fingertips accidentally touched the back of his hand. The other person's skin had a little warmth from the sun, like the resistance wire he touched in the last experiment class. It was obviously cool because of the metal, but it became warm because of the current flowing through it.
"Someone said they'd give you enough." When he withdrew his hand, the plastic bag left a faint red mark on his palm. "Now it seems like it's your turn."
Lu Jinyu took the sandwich and suddenly laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking slightly. He tore open the wrapping paper a little hurriedly, and the sound of plastic friction was particularly clear in the quiet street corner.
"Okay, I'll take care of it all tomorrow." He took a big bite, leaving crumbs on the corners of his mouth. He spoke with a nasal lilt, "I made mistakes on yesterday's physics questions. I spent half the night looking at the last three big questions, but I still can't figure out the critical condition for conservation of momentum."
"Go to the classroom for evening study." Xu Yang took a bite of the sandwich, and the tuna fat melted on the tip of his tongue, with a slightly fishy and salty taste.
He watched Lu Jinyu standing on tiptoe to lock his bicycle to the railing. The back of his school uniform was blown to his back by the wind, revealing a black T-shirt with the band's logo printed on it - that was what Lu Jinyu bought when he went to see a show last weekend. Lu Jinyu said that the lead singer's guitar playing was cooler than the physics teacher's blackboard writing.
Five minutes before the morning self-study bell rang, the two had just thrown the wrapping paper into the trash can when Lu Jinyu suddenly grabbed Xu Yang's backpack and ran towards the teaching building, his running shoes making a brisk clattering sound on the asphalt.
"Hurry up, the teacher will check for latecomers today." His voice was filled with a smile. The hand that was pulling the strap of the schoolbag would occasionally touch the back of Xu Yang's hand. He would jump away as if he had been electrocuted, but he couldn't help but grab it again at the next intersection.
"Slow down." Xu Yang staggered as he was pulled by him, and the thermos in his schoolbag hit the side, making a muffled sound.
His mother had just given it to him yesterday, saying it contained wolfberry and chrysanthemum tea, which could help relieve fatigue from staying up late. He looked at the corners of Lu Jinyu's clothes that were blown up as he ran, and suddenly remembered the time when he was a child chasing kites. There was always an indescribable sweetness in the wind.
As they rushed into the classroom, the bell for preparation had just rung for the last time. Lu Jinyu pulled Xu Yang towards their seats, and the wind they created blew up the ponytails of the girls in the front row.
As soon as the two sat down, the teacher came in with the lesson plan. He glanced at their slightly panting appearance from behind his glasses and frowned, "Next time, come earlier."
Xu Yang lowered his head and opened the textbook, his ears still burning. Lu Jinyu was standing next to him, shielding his face with the textbook, secretly making a victory gesture at him, his fingertips stained with mayonnaise from the sandwich.
He watched the yellow color spread across the pages of the book and suddenly felt that it was much more interesting than physics formulas.
In the physics class, Teacher Li filled the blackboard with notes on the rematch, and chalk dust fell in the sunlight.
When Xu Yang lowered his head to take notes, he felt someone nudging the back of his hand with their elbow. He looked up and saw Lu Jinyu pushing a piece of paper torn from a homework book towards him, with jagged edges.
There was a drawing of a crying little man on the paper, with a head as big as a potato, and the words "The experiment is so difficult" written crookedly next to it.
Xu Yang suppressed his laughter and took out a red pen from his pencil case. Next to the little man, he drew a stick figure holding a trophy. The trophy had the word "1" written on it, and a line of small words next to it read: "Alliance will never admit defeat."
Not long after the note was passed back, it was folded into a crooked paper airplane. Xu Yang heard a "whoosh" sound, and the paper airplane flew over and landed right on his notebook.
He unfolded it and saw that next to the original little man there was a little dog wagging its tail, holding the trophy in its mouth and giving it to the little man. There was also a small heart painted on the dog's tail.
The sunlight outside the window rose higher and higher, causing the corners of the paper airplane to curl slightly. Xu Yang clipped the note into his notebook, and when he looked up, he met Lu Jinyu's gaze.
The other person blinked at him, her eyelashes casting a light shadow in the sunlight, and the light in her eyes was brighter than the chirping of cicadas outside the window.
During lunch break, Xu Yang went to the bench beside the playground with his vocabulary book.
The leaves of the sycamore tree were bright green, and spots of light shone through the gaps between them onto the pages of the book, making the word "ambition" particularly clear.
He had just recited the third page when he heard the sound of a basketball hitting the ground coming closer and closer, with a familiar rhythm.
"Want to watch the basketball game?" Lu Jinyu stood in front of him holding a basketball. The sweat on his forehead slid down his jawline and dripped onto his white jersey, leaving small dark dots.
He wiped his face with the hem of his jersey, revealing a faint sunburn mark on his collarbone. He said in a deep voice, "We have a class match this afternoon. Those guys from Class 3 were even saying yesterday that they were going to beat us by twenty points."
Xu Yang shook his head and moved the vocabulary book to the middle: "I need to practice exercises." He looked at the basketball in Lu Jinyu's hand. The orange surface of the ball was a little hot from the sun, and there were some grass clippings from the playground on it.
Lu Jinyu paused, then slammed the basketball to the ground. With a "bang", the sparrows in the tree flew away in shock.
"Okay, I'll find you after the game." As he turned and ran towards the court, he suddenly looked back, and the sunlight just happened to fall into his eyes. "Take a break, otherwise your brain will be in a mess."
Xu Yang looked at his back as he leaped into the court and thought to himself that it was your fault that his brain was in a mess. Lu Jinyu's jersey fluttered in the wind like a bird with its wings spread.
He lowered his head and opened the exercise book, but found that he could not remember any of the words he had just memorized. What kept appearing in front of his eyes was the corner of Lu Jinyu's clothes rising when he shot, and the sound of his schoolbag strap hitting his back when he ran.
The afternoon basketball game was incredibly intense. Xu Yang was sitting in the classroom doing homework, but he was constantly distracted by the cheers coming from the stadium.
When the bell rang for the third class,
Suddenly there was a deafening cheer, and even the window panes buzzed.
He finally closed the book, walked to the window and looked down - Lu Jinyu was surrounded by a group of boys cheering him on. His school uniform jacket had been taken off and thrown aside. His T-shirt was soaked with sweat, and the clear outline of his shoulder blades could be seen on his back.
Suddenly, Lu Jinyu's gaze passed through the crowd and fell precisely on the window on the third floor.
He grinned, raised the basketball in his hand and waved it, the sunlight dancing on his wet hair, as if he was showing off some great trophy.
Xu Yang's heart skipped a beat and he quickly turned around and went back to his seat. He opened his physics wrong answer book and found that next to the puppy that Lu Jinyu had drawn last time, there was a small basketball with "23" written crookedly on it - that was Lu Jinyu's jersey number.
The evening study room was silent, with only the rustling of pens across paper. As Xu Yang was explaining how to connect a sliding rheostat to Lu Jinyu, he suddenly nudged his arm with his elbow. "Did you know what? During the last play of today's basketball game, the thing I was thinking about was the 'voltage divider connection method' you mentioned."
Xu Yang's pen tip paused, leaving a small ink dot on the draft paper.
He could smell the faint scent of laundry detergent on Lu Jinyu, mixed with a hint of sun-dried scent, like a white shirt drying on a balcony.
"Then you should review more." He lowered his head and continued to draw the circuit diagram. The tip of the pen moved rustlingly on the paper, but he drew the sliding resistor as a crooked spring.
Lu Jinyu laughed, his voice low, as if afraid of being heard by the students in the front row. "But I made it."
He leaned closer, his breath brushing against Xu Yang's ear, bringing with it the coolness of mint candy. "Like you said, allies never admit defeat."
Xu Yang felt the tips of his ears getting hot, like pieces of iron exposed to the setting sun.
He lowered his head and continued to explain the problem, but his voice was lower than usual: "The next step is to move the slider to the maximum resistance before closing the switch..." Before he finished speaking, he saw Lu Jinyu drawing a small sun on the draft paper. Next to the sun stood two little people holding hands, one wearing glasses and the other with messy hair.
By the time they finished explaining the problem, it was completely dark outside the window. The lights in the teaching building went out one by one, leaving only their classroom still lit.
When Lu Jinyu was packing his schoolbag, he suddenly took out something from it and put it on Xu Yang's desk - it was a candy wrapped in cellophane. It was different from the star shape last time. This time it was in the shape of a kitten, with pointed ears and a tail curled into a circle.
"Reward." Lu Jinyu's ears were a little red, as if stained by the light of the evening study session. "The teacher appreciation banquet started early to celebrate our class winning the basketball game."
Xu Yang picked up the candy. The cellophane reflected tiny rays of light under the light, as if crushed stars were wrapped inside.
He suddenly remembered the letter of intent for early admission in the drawer. The gold-embossed school emblem glowed faintly in the dark.
His Adam's apple moved, and he wanted to say something, but in the end he just put the candy into his school uniform pocket: "See you tomorrow."
When the two walked out of the teaching building together, the moonlight stretched their shadows very long. Lu Jinyu pushed the bicycle, and the wheels rolled over the sycamore leaves on the ground, making a rustling sound: "After the competition is over, I'll take you somewhere." He suddenly spoke, his voice a little scattered by the evening breeze.
"Where?" Xu Yang kicked a small stone on the side of the road, and the stone rolled in a small arc on the ground.
"A secret." Lu Jinyu winked at him. The light from the street lamp fell into his eyes like two falling stars. "You'll know when you go there. You'll definitely like it."
When I passed by the cat's nest at the entrance of the community, I saw three kittens curled up together and sleeping.
Lu Jinyu suddenly stopped the car and took out a small paper bag from his schoolbag - inside was the ham he had not finished eating at noon, cut into small pieces.
He squatted down and gently touched the head of the thinnest one, his fingertips moving very lightly, as if he was afraid of breaking something precious.
"We can take them to the hospital the day after tomorrow." Lu Jinyu's voice was soft, completely different from his usual loud and furious demeanor on the court. "The people at the rescue center said we can adopt them after they get their vaccinations."
Xu Yang stood by and watched, and suddenly said, "I'll go with you." He could see the cat food crumbs on the cuffs of Lu Jinyu's school uniform, and remembered the rosin on it from the last lab class. He suddenly felt that these tiny traces were more beautiful than any decoration.
Lu Jinyu looked up, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he smiled, with deep dimples at the corners of his mouth.
"Okay." He stood up and dusted off his hands. "Then remember to remind me to bring a cat bag tomorrow. The one I bought last time is still on the balcony."
The evening breeze blew, bringing with it a hint of late summer warmth. Xu Yang looked at Lu Jinyu's profile. The streetlight cast bright and dark shadows on his face, like an unfinished sketch.
He suddenly felt that the unspoken words were like candies in his pocket, secretly hiding a bit of sweetness, like glucose in his mouth, which he could taste without speaking.
When he got home, the lights in the living room were still on. As Xu Yang was changing his shoes, he saw a cup of warm milk on the coffee table. Next to it was a note in his mother's handwriting: "Go to bed early, don't stay up late." He took a sip of the milk, the warm liquid sliding down his throat, like the hot water Lu Jinyu had handed him during evening study.
When putting the kitten-shaped candy into the glass bottle, Xu Yang counted the candies inside - three, two stars and one kitten.
He placed the glass bottle on the windowsill of his desk. The moonlight shone through the glass, dyeing the candy a light silver.
Suddenly remembering something, he took out his phone and sent a message to Lu Jinyu: "Tomorrow's sandwiches are on me."
The reply came almost immediately, the same grinning emoji, followed by the sentence: "Then add a soft-boiled egg."
Xu Yang smiled as he looked at the screen, tapped his fingertips on the dialog box, and replied "OK." He turned around and took out the letter of intent for early admission from the drawer. This time, he didn't put it back, but gently placed it on the corner of the desk.
The edge of the letter of intent was a little curled, which was a sign of it being crumpled by him last time.
The moonlight outside the window was very bright, shining on the letter of intent and the physics rematch preparation book spread out next to it.
Xu Yang opened the book and saw that next to the puppy drawn by Lu Jinyu, the tail of the kitten he had drawn seemed to have curled up into a small smiling face, exactly the same shape as the candy in his pocket.
He took out a pen and drew a small basketball next to the kitten, with the number "23" written on it. The tip of the pen scratched across the paper very softly, as if he didn't want to wake the little man in the book.
The halo of light from the desk lamp fell on the paper, dyeing the crooked strokes into a warm yellow.
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