spring
This year's winter came and went quickly.
As the warm March breeze blew through the window lattice, Xu Yang was frowning at the final mechanics question.
The tip of the pen drew a half-page force analysis diagram on the draft paper. Suddenly, a few pink and white petals floated in from outside the window and landed at the end of the formula like an unexpected punctuation mark.
He looked up and saw that the cherry trees behind the teaching building were in full bloom. The branches were bent with pink and white blossoms. The wind blew up "flower snow" all over the sky, and even the air was filled with a faint sweet fragrance.
The phone vibrated slightly on the table. It was a message from Lu Jinyu: "Going to Sakura Road after class? I brought something."
At the end, there is a cartoon man holding a camera.
Xu Yang stared at the screen, curled his eyes, tapped "OK" with his fingertips, and casually put the falling cherry blossom petals into the physics textbook - that page happened to have the little snowman note drawn by Lu Jinyu last winter. The pink and white petals were next to the ink-black snowman, just like winter and spring colliding with each other.
As soon as the bell rang, Xu Yang was dragged by Lu Jinyu towards the cherry blossom path.
The boy was wearing a light grey hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms, revealing a simple black watch on his wrist.
He was holding a canvas bag, which was a birthday gift from Xu Yang last year. The strawberry pattern printed on it had washed out a little.
"Last week I discovered the cherry blossoms were in bloom here, so I checked the weather forecast and it said today wouldn't be too windy, making it a good day for taking photos."
Lu Jinyu shook the camera in his hand. It was still the same silver camera from last year, but with a strawberry pendant that Xu Yang liked hanging on it. "I spent a lot of time studying the composition. I promise to make your photo look better than the cherry blossoms."
There was a thin layer of petals on the cherry blossom path, which felt soft to step on.
Lu Jinyu asked Xu Yang to stand under the blossoming tree, and he stepped back a few steps, half-crouching to adjust the angle: "Tilt your head a little, yes, smile—" The camera clicked, and he immediately ran over to show his treasure, "Look, the petals falling on the ends of your hair, so gentle."
Xu Yang leaned over to take a look. In the photo, he had curved eyebrows and eyes, with cherry blossoms like clouds behind him. The wind just lifted the corner of his clothes, making him look more lively than usual.
"Let me take the photo for you."
Xu Yang took the camera and directed Lu Jinyu to stand in the sun.
The young man raised his hand and rubbed his hair, the tips of his ears glowing light pink in the sunlight. He inadvertently raised his hand to catch a falling petal, which was captured accurately by Xu Yang.
"This one looks the best," Xu Yang handed the camera back, "It's better than the one you took of me."
Lu Jinyu stared at the photo and laughed, then tapped the screen lightly with his finger:
"No, you took good pictures because I'm handsome."
Before he could finish his words, Xu Yang smiled and pushed him. Their laughter mixed with the sound of the wind, startling a few sparrows perched on the branches.
When they reached the end of the cherry blossom path, Lu Jinyu took out an insulated box from his canvas bag. It was not the one with the teddy bear pattern as before, but a plain white one with a handwritten note on it with a small cherry blossom pattern drawn on it.
"I passed by a dessert shop last week and saw they were making sakura mousse. I thought you would like it, so I ordered it in advance."
He opened the thermal box, revealing two small mousse cakes. A fresh cherry blossom adorned the pink and white cream. "I specifically asked the boss to use less sugar, fearing you'd get sick of it."
Xu Yang picked up a small piece with a fork and put it into his mouth. The fragrance of cherry blossoms mixed with the sweetness of cream melted on his tongue. It was neither strong nor greasy, just the taste he liked.
"tasty."
His eyes lit up, and he picked up another piece and passed it to Lu Jinyu's mouth:
"Try it too."
Lu Jinyu opened his mouth to take it and said vaguely: "I knew you would like it. I waited in line for 20 minutes at that store."
Xu Yang was stunned. This dessert shop was in the city center, not very close to the school. It seemed that he had specially taken advantage of the weekend to go there.
The two sat side by side on the bench, and Lu Jinyu suddenly took out a notebook from his bag. The cover was the light gray color that Xu Yang liked, and there was a small cherry tree drawn on it with a marker.
"This is a collection of wrong physics questions I compiled."
He handed over the notebook. "There are a few questions in it that you said you couldn't answer last time. I've marked the key points and written down two ways to solve them."
Xu Yang opened the notebook. The handwriting was much neater than last year. The steps for each question were written clearly, the key points were marked with red pen, and there were small strawberry or cherry blossom patterns drawn at the end as a mark.
"When did you sort it out?"
Xu Yang's fingertips slid across the paper, feeling the delicate touch.
"I spend half an hour every night doing this," Lu Jinyu scratched his head, his ears slightly red. "I always asked you to help me with the questions before, so I wanted to do something for you this time. By the way, there's a physics competition next weekend. Let's go to the library to review together. I've got a window seat so I can see the cherry blossoms."
Xu Yang looked up at him. The boy's eyes sparkled in the sunlight, like stars in spring.
He suddenly remembered the figure standing in the snow last winter. At that time, Lu Jinyu always said "my mother said", but now, he will quietly remember his preferences, make strategies in advance, and carefully organize the collection of wrong questions - he is getting closer and better in his own way.
"OK."
Xu Yang thought to himself: If possible, I want to stay with you for a very long time, until we both grow old, and stay together.
Thinking back, Xu Yang smiled and nodded, holding the notebook in his arms, "Then I'll bring coffee, the American style you like, with less ice."
Lu Jinyu immediately smiled, his eyes curved into crescents:
"I knew you remembered."
Xu Yang lowered his eyes and thought to himself: It's more than just remembering. Your every preference, every characteristic and even every smile have taken root in my head and can't be erased. Lu Jinyu, I really love you.
During the afternoon self-study class, Xu Yang opened the notebook of wrong answers given by Lu Jinyu. There were detailed comments next to each question, and occasionally he would write a sentence like "Don't get this formula wrong."
"Xu Yang will definitely understand it at a glance."
He couldn't help but draw a small strawberry in the blank space and wrote "thank you" next to it. Just as he closed the notebook, he felt someone touching his hand under the table.
Turning around, he saw Lu Jinyu secretly looking at him, making a "come on" gesture with his hand, and a smile on his lips.
Xu Yang smiled back, and his heart felt like a piece of warm candy, just the right sweetness.
When school was over, cherry blossoms were still falling. Lu Jinyu held Xu Yang's hand and walked towards the bus stop. When they passed the stationery store at the school gate, they suddenly stopped:
"Wait me a moment."
He ran into the store and quickly came out with a small glass bottle that was half filled with cherry blossom petals. The sunlight shone through the glass, and the pink and white petals seemed to float in the light.
"For you."
He handed the bottle over. "I looked it up. Cherry blossom petals can be used as bookmarks. When we get tired of reviewing, we can press them together."
Xu Yang took the bottle, and the petals inside swayed gently, with a faint fragrance.
He suddenly leaned over and gently touched Lu Jinyu's cheek, feeling like a petal falling on the skin.
Lu Jinyu's face turned red instantly. He stopped and looked at him stupidly, even forgetting to hold the camera tightly in his hand.
"What's wrong?"
Xu Yang asked while suppressing his laughter.
“No, nothing…”
Lu Jinyu hurriedly lowered his head, then immediately raised it again, his eyes brightening surprisingly, "I just feel... spring is so beautiful."
Xu Yang looked at his reddened ears, smiled, and squeezed his hand tightly: "Well, spring is really nice."
It’s better with you.
The evening breeze blew through the cherry trees, and petals fell on the two of them.
Lu Jinyu put Xu Yang's hand into his sweatshirt pocket, interlocking their fingertips tightly.
At the bus stop, the shadows of the two people were stretched out by the setting sun and pressed tightly together, like two cherry trees growing close to each other, slowly growing and blooming in the same direction in this spring full of hope.
After returning home, Xu Yang placed the cherry blossom petal vase in a corner of the desk, next to which was the snowman pendant and a glass bottle filled with ice cubes given by Lu Jinyu.
He opened his physics error book and wrote on the last page: March 15th, the cherry blossoms bloomed. Lu Jinyu took a photo of me, gave me cherry blossom mousse and the error book, and even picked up cherry blossom petals.
He remembers my preferences, spends time with me, and plans the future with me. It turns out that liking someone means walking with him from the cold winter to the warm spring, and watching him and I slowly change for the better.
I have to study hard for the competition next weekend, win the prize with him, and see more cherry blossoms with him.
After writing, he took out the snowman note that was stuck in his textbook last winter and put it in his notebook together with today's cherry blossom petals.
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