Sycamore leaves
The chirping of cicadas on Monday afternoon, wrapped in the heat wave, made the classroom windows buzz.
Xu Yang had just folded the draft paper for the physics competition when he saw Lu Jinyu running in from outside. His hair on his forehead was wet and tied into wisps. He was holding two bottles of iced soda in his hands. The water droplets condensed on the bottles dripped onto the tiles, leaving small wet marks.
"I just grabbed this from the canteen," Lu Jinyu handed over one of the orange-flavored drinks. His fingertips accidentally touched Xu Yang's palm, and the coolness made them both pause. "I ran 800 meters in gym class, and it was so hot. Look at you, you stay in the classroom with the fan on, and your skin is whiter than mine."
Xu Yang took the soda, and the coolness of the bottle touched his fingertips, which instantly dispelled some of the stuffiness. When he unscrewed the bottle cap, bubbles popped out and splashed a few drops on his palm.
"I just finished the competition problem our physics teacher assigned me." He pushed over a piece of scratch paper covered with force analysis diagrams and highlighted key points with a silver pen. "The auxiliary lines on the last problem are a bit confusing. If you misread it, remember to ask me."
Lu Jinyu put the soda on the corner of the table, leaned over to look at the draft paper, and his nose almost touched Xu Yang's arm.
"Your diagram is clearer than the teacher's," he said, pointing to one step in the derivation. "Last time, I got stuck at this step and made three mistakes. The physics teacher punished me by making me copy the formula."
As he spoke, he pulled out his history exercise book from his schoolbag and flipped to the page with the bookmark. "Oh, by the way, I got all the answers right in my morning reading dictation yesterday about the impact of the Boxer Protocol. Teacher Zeng even drew a little red flower on my notebook."
Xu Yang looked up and saw the crooked red flower on the exercise book, but it was a sign of seriousness. He remembered that Lu Jinyu always mixed up the contents of the treaty before, but now he could even recite the details correctly. The corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously. "Let's go over the contents of the Beijing Treaty tonight. I should be able to do well on the quiz next week."
"I know," Lu Jinyu put away the exercise book, suddenly took out a mint candy from his pocket and stuffed it into Xu Yang's hand, "My mom said that eating this can refresh you. When you feel tired while doing the competition questions, just hold one in your mouth." The candy wrapper was light green with a small lotus leaf pattern printed on it. Xu Yang held it in his hand and could feel the coolness of the candy.
When school was over, the setting sun dyed the sky orange.
As Xu Yang pushed his bicycle out of the school gate, he saw Lu Jinyu waiting for him under a locust tree, with the kitten pendant hanging on his schoolbag dangling - that was the one Xu Yang picked up for him when they built the cat shed last time.
"I'll wait for you to go together." Lu Jinyu stood up and threw his schoolbag over his shoulder. "Just now, when I passed by the playground, I saw Xu Xiaoyang taking a nap in the cat shed. Fatty Orange was lying next to him, like a little bodyguard."
The two of them rode side by side, the evening breeze carrying the fragrance of locust leaves and gently blowing the hem of their school uniforms. Lu Jinyu suddenly said, "Tomorrow is Tuesday. We have self-study classes in the afternoon. Do you want to go to the library together? My mom brought me a new programming book with a small program in it that can help you organize historical timelines. Maybe it can help you remember treaties."
Xu Yang tightened his grip on the handlebars, remembering that Lu Jinyu had said last time that he wanted to make a tool for solving physics problems, and now he wanted to help him organize the historical timeline.
"Okay," he looked up at the sunset glow in the sky. The clouds looked like crushed orange candies. "I'll bring my notebook for the competition. If you have any programming questions you don't understand, you can ask me."
Lu Jinyu's eyes lit up, and he even shook the handlebars. "Really? I've been stuck on the loop statement recently. I've been reading for a long time but still can't understand it. You're so good at physics, your logic must be better than mine. Maybe I'll understand it after you explain it to me."
After returning home, Xu Yang put the mint candy on the corner of the desk. As soon as he opened the book of wrong answers in the competition, his cell phone vibrated.
It was a photo sent by Lu Jinyu - the photo showed a historical timeline chart he had drawn, with wars, treaties and influences marked with different colored pens. There was also a small programming icon next to it, with the text "Ask Teacher Xu for programming advice tomorrow!"
[Xu Yang]: The table is very clear. I will help you with the programming questions during tomorrow's study session.
[L]: Great! By the way, I just saw the lights on in your house from the balcony. Don't stay up too late studying, remember to eat dinner. My mom made braised pork today, and it was so delicious that I ate two big bowls.
[Xu Yang]: I get it. Don’t play games too late.
[L]: Don't worry! I'll go to bed after I finish memorizing the Beijing Treaty. I'll be full of energy to listen to your programming talk tomorrow!
Xu Yang was bored, so he casually clicked on Lu Jinyu's WeChat homepage to take a look. He discovered that Lu Jinyu's obsession with cats was as great as his obsession with history. Even his WeChat profile picture was a ginger cat, and his signature was indeed very unique. : Meow meow meow~
Xu Yang put down his phone, looked at the timeline table on the screen, and lightly touched the programming icon with his fingertips.
He took out the mint candy given by Lu Jinyu, peeled off the candy wrapper and put it in his mouth. The cool taste slowly spread, and his heart felt refreshed.
During self-study class the next day, sunlight shone through the glass windows of the library, falling on the wooden desk and reflecting the fine dust.
As soon as Xu Yang spread out the notebook of wrong answers for the competition, Lu Jinyu ran over with a programming book and a notebook. The chair legs made a slight sound when they rubbed against the floor, attracting the attention of the administrator.
"Keep your voice down," Xu Yang pulled at his sleeve, "Don't let Auntie tell you." Lu Jinyu immediately covered his mouth and nodded. He gently placed the programming book on the table and turned to a folded page. "Look at this step. The loop statement won't run. I tried three times and it gave an error every time."
Xu Yang leaned over to take a look. The notebook was filled with code, with several crossed-out areas. He picked up a silver pen and drew a simple flowchart on the scratch paper. "You're missing a condition here. The program doesn't know when to stop looping, so it's reporting an error."
He pointed to a line of code and said, "Change this variable to dynamic retrieval and add a termination condition, and it will work."
Lu Jinyu stared at the flowchart for a few seconds, then suddenly slapped his thigh and quickly covered his mouth. "I see! I was focusing on the loop body and didn't pay attention to the condition." He picked up a pen and quickly modified the code. The sound of the pen tip sliding across the paper was very light. "You are amazing! You explain it more clearly than the programming teacher."
Xu Yang didn't say anything, but just pushed the notebook with the wrong questions towards him: "While you are revising the code, I will look at the competition questions. If there are any questions we don't understand, we can ask each other."
The sunlight fell on the side of his face, and his eyelashes cast a small shadow under his eyes. Lu Jinyu looked at it and suddenly felt his heart beating faster. He quickly lowered his head to modify the code.
By the time Lu Jinyu finished modifying the code, it was almost time to go home from school.
As he was saving the file, he suddenly remembered something and took out a small canvas bag from his schoolbag and handed it to Xu Yang: "Last time you said you liked collecting leaves, so I picked some up at the park this weekend. They're all flattened."
Xu Yang took the canvas bag and opened it. It was filled with various leaves, including sycamore leaves, maple leaves, and a few small ginkgo leaves. Each leaf was pressed flat and had a note with the time and place where the leaves were picked up.
"Thank you." He took out a ginkgo leaf with distinct veins and a light yellow edge. "I'll bring it with me tomorrow and use it as a bookmark."
Lu Jinyu scratched his head, the tips of his ears reddened. "You're welcome. I saw you put a sycamore leaf in your history book last time, and I thought you liked it. By the way, do you want to go see Xu Xiaoyang and Fatty Orange together tonight? I bought some new cat food, chicken flavored, they're sure to like it."
"Sure," Xu Yang put the leaves back into the canvas bag and carefully put it into his schoolbag. "I'll sort out the materials for the physics competition and then go over."
The playground was quiet in the evening, the birdsong a little softer than during the day, and the evening breeze carried the scent of grass. As Xu Yang reached the sycamore tree, he saw Lu Jinyu squatting in front of the cat shed, cat food in hand. Fatty Orange was circling around his feet, tail held high. Xu Xiaoyang was lying in the cat shed. Seeing Xu Yang, he slowly came out and rubbed his trouser leg.
"Look, Fatty Orange is being very friendly to me now," Lu Jinyu poured cat food into the plate. "Last time I fed him canned food, he bit me, but now he even dares to rub my hand."
Xu Yang squatted down and touched Xu Xiaoyang's head. Its fur was much smoother than before, and its eyes were much brighter.
The two of them sat on the folding stools they had brought earlier, watching the kitten eat. Lu Jinyu suddenly said, "By the way, if I get a 70 on the history test next week, can you go to a movie with me? There's a science fiction movie coming out lately, and I heard it has some physics in it. I'd like to watch it with you."
Xu Yang looked up and saw Lu Jinyu's eyes filled with anticipation, like falling stars. He remembered that Lu Jinyu arrived ten minutes earlier than everyone else every morning to memorize history, and even spent his time reading his workbook during breaks. He nodded and said, "Okay, if you get 70 points on the test, we'll go."
Lu Jinyu smiled instantly, his dimples showing. "Keep your word! I'm sure I can get 70 points. Then we can go to the latest show and eat kebabs on the roadside afterward."
The sky gradually darkened and the street lights came on, with warm yellow light falling on the cat shed and on the two people.
Xu Yang felt a warm feeling in his heart as he watched Lu Jinyu playing with the kitten. He recalled the first time he met Lu Jinyu, waiting for him at the playground gate, holding an old wooden plank, a sycamore leaf in his hair. Now, they fed the cat together, did homework together, and planned their future together. Those small moments, like that sycamore leaf, were ordinary yet filled with tenderness.
On the way home, Lu Jinyu suddenly took out a strawberry-flavored candy from his pocket and handed it to Xu Yang: "Do you like the mint candy today? I'll bring you more tomorrow, as well as candy. I'll bring you a different flavor every day."
Xu Yang took the candy, peeled off the wrapper, and put it in his mouth. The sweetness slowly spread, with the fragrance of strawberries. "I like them all," he said, his voice softer than usual. "You don't have to change it every day. Just pick the flavor you like."
Lu Jinyu was stunned for a moment, then he laughed. The car bell rang, and the crisp sound melted into the evening breeze. "Okay, then I'll bring you strawberry flavor every day until you get tired of it."
Back home, Xu Yang took out the leaves from his canvas bag and stuffed them into his history book one by one. When he found the ginkgo leaf, he noticed a line of small words on the back of the note: "Ginkgo leaves will turn yellow in autumn. Let's go to the park together to pick them up."
Xu Yang looked at the words, his fingertips lightly touching them, and his heart felt as if it were filled with something. He took out a silver pen and wrote a small "OK" next to the note, then closed the book and placed it on the corner of the desk.
The birds outside the window continued to sing, and the moonlight shone through the window onto the desk, illuminating the history book between the leaves, and also illuminating the tenderness that was quietly growing in the boy's heart.
It turns out that companionship in youth is not just about doing exercises and taking exams together, but also about small agreements like this - picking leaves together, watching movies together, working hard for goals together, and making ordinary days sweet together.
On Monday's history quiz, Lu Jinyu had indeed scored 72 points. His eyes lit up as he ran over with the test paper in hand, and he handed it to Xu Yang. "Look! 72 points! Teacher Zeng even praised me for my progress and said that if I keep working hard, I can get 80 points on the final exam."
Xu Yang took the test paper and saw that the red ticks were neatly arranged. The answer to the last major question was written in full, not even missing any details. "Very good," he handed the paper back. "We'll go to the movies this weekend. You choose the time."
Lu Jinyu immediately took out his phone and opened the ticket purchasing app: "I've already booked the show. It's Saturday at 3pm. Afterwards, we're going to eat skewers. I know a place that has really good skewers."
The sunlight filtered through the window, falling on the two of them. The red tick on the test paper stood out in the sunlight. Xu Yang watched Lu Jinyu carefully choose his seat, his lips curled up, and he thought to himself, this autumn seems to be more lively and gentle than previous years.
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