Shengxia thought she had heard it wrong.

I clicked play again.

"Please."

2S's voice sounded like a century of glaciers.

How could it be Zhang Shu?

It was played again in midsummer.

It was indeed him.

Think about it, we haven't seen each other for ten days.

Hearing his voice again, I felt as if I were in another world.

Shengxia didn't know how to respond. Should she pretend to be dead or just leave a question mark?

The next second, she received another voice message and she clicked it nervously.

This time it was Xin Xiaohe who said, "I don't know how to do it either. I'll ask Zhang Shu to show you how to do it. Don't pay attention to him. Why are you begging for help? It's just a question. Wait, I'll go ask Yang Linyu!"

It seems that Yang Linyu has returned from winter camp. I wonder how his grades are.

Shengxia continued to work on other questions.

Shengxia was startled when her cell phone rang.

[Song Jiang invites you to have a voice call...]

She thought for a moment, but without coming to any conclusion, she answered the call. From the other end came the sound of books being thrown on the table and chairs being mopped on the floor.

She seemed to be able to imagine the scene: he walked out of the classroom while calling her, threw his notes or draft book on the table in the hallway, then pulled out a chair and sat down -

"Let me explain the question just now to you." He said in a light tone.

Shengxia: "Ah? Oh, okay."

Quickly turn back to the previous question.

There was no sound for a long time. Shengxia glanced at the screen. Was the call still going on normally?

Then he coughed and began to speak: "The main point of this question is... look at the second line of the answer..."

As he spoke, she followed his thoughts and scribbled on the draft paper. After a while, he paused again, "Your signal is bad?"

Shengxia was puzzled: "No."

"Give me some reaction?" His voice was a little higher, and he sounded a little impatient, or even unhappy.

"Okay." Shengxia avoided the sharp edge and responded obediently.

But she didn't know how to respond, since he was the one answering.

After that, every two sentences he said, she would say "hmm" when he paused to show that she was listening.

But it's hard to find the right timing. Sometimes when I interrupt him, he stops, which is a bit awkward.

In the end, she was only thinking about when to "give a response" and didn't listen to the rest of the thoughts.

So much so that when he asked, "Do you understand?", I felt a little guilty.

The answer was given, but neither party hung up the phone.

She could hear the occasional laughter and chatter of classmates passing by in the corridor, and even the sound of the wind on the other end.

"Then I..." Shengxia was the first to break the silence. Before she could finish the three words "I'll hang up first", she was interrupted by the other side.

Zhang Shu: "Why are you doing such difficult questions?"

His sudden question stunned her.

Do you need a reason to do the questions?

"You can graduate as long as you pass the exam. Americans may not be able to learn to this level even after going to college. Why are you torturing yourself to do this kind of pressing question in the middle of the night?"

Perhaps because he couldn't hear her answer, he continued to explain his problem.

"I, I still have to take the college entrance examination..." she replied.

There was silence for a long time, and Zhang Shu's voice became deeper.

"Midsummer, everything I said before is still valid."

Shengxia subconsciously asked, "What?"

Still, you mean, after “this point”, still?

Zhang Shu: "I told you, if you have any questions, just ask me, don't go out and embarrass yourself."

With a beep, everything returns to silence.

He hung up.

midsummer:……

The day before the first mock exam, Shengxia submitted his paper.

Do your best and leave the rest to fate.

She had to take the SAT exam, so the institution registered her for the exam on the first Saturday of May. Lu Youze registered for the March exam and has already left for Macau, so she will not take the first mock exam.

Fortunately, she delayed her language classes long enough, otherwise she would not be able to take part in the mock exam.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, Shengxia arrived at the classroom and was surprised to find that the classroom was almost full.

The bright red two-digit number on the countdown card instantly made her nervous.

They were less than a hundred steps away from the fruits of summer.

Li Shiyi saw her first and quickly took away all the papers and notebooks on her desk, saying with a wry smile, "Xia Xia, you're here. I'm sorry to occupy your desk."

"It doesn't matter."

The classmates around her also saw her and greeted her one after another.

"Shengxia, didn't you go to Macau to take the exam?"

"No."

"I thought you went with Lu Youze?"

“I haven’t finished learning yet.”

"When are you going?"

"May."

"If it were me, I wouldn't come to the mock exam. I'm so nervous..."

When Zhang Shu entered the classroom, he heard a group of people gathered there chattering.

He immediately saw the girl standing by the table with a calm face.

The weather has been very hot recently, and he wondered how she could still wear a sweater when going out every day.

She has all kinds of sweaters in different colors.

Buying different colors of the same style of clothing is a hassle-free behavior that usually only boys would do, but it is rare among girls.

Today was different. She also changed into a short-sleeved school uniform. Her arms had become whiter after being covered in it for a whole winter.

Shengxia raised her eyes slightly and saw Zhang Shu.

He must have just had his hair cut, as the fringe on his forehead had become much shorter, and a pair of sword-like eyebrows could be vaguely seen.

The look under his sword-like brows did not look happy.

Somehow, the laughter died down, and everyone tacitly created an atmosphere for the two people who were staring at each other.

Shengxia looked away first and sat down to sort out the papers that had been handed out recently.

In half a month, the papers piled up were almost as thick as a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude...

It feels really lonely to think that it would take a hundred years to finish writing.

As the exam time approached, the monitor instructed everyone to move their desks.

Shengxia and Li Shiyi, please help each other and move the table.

"Thank you for your hard work when I was away." Shengxia said apologetically.

Even after moving a lot of books back, her desk was still very heavy. She hadn't been there for two weeks, so she must have moved it twice.

Li Shiyi waved her hands: "No, no, no, I didn't move it. It was Zhang Shu who moved your desk every time..."

Shengxia's eyes lit up at first, then her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she frowned again.

Li Shiyi pursed her lips and said nothing.

Who doesn't know that this "class couple" broke up because of their future plans? After the oath-taking ceremony, many people also saw that Shengxia's family background was not ordinary. Even Lu Youze's father was respectful to her father.

To be honest, everyone around them thinks it's a pity.

But what can we do?

There are so many people who break up right after graduation. Instead of wasting so many months, it is better to end it early and have fewer ties.

Maybe it's been a long time since she finished a whole set of questions, so Shengxia didn't feel very good, especially in math and comprehensive science. She felt like she was going to fail after taking the exams. But in English, because of the TOEFL class, her sense of language has improved a lot, and she can easily deal with the cloze test, which used to be the most troublesome thing for her, and she feels good about herself.

The first mock exam is a city-wide joint exam, and the marking is also unified, because all teachers have to mark the papers, so the weekend is changed to self-study. It is a real self-study, and you don’t have to go.

I have been too busy these past few days in the summer, working day and night. My mind is still immersed in poetry and singing, and I can't quite wrap my head around it, so I plan to give myself a Saturday off.

It wasn't really a holiday, I just got up a little later, studied at home, helped Wang Lianhua make a meal at noon, and went to the institution for classes in the evening.

Wang Lianhua just thought she was taking a weekend break and advised her not to go to school so late at night.

Shengxia turned back at the door and asked, "Mom, what if I can get into a better school than NUST, but it's far from home?"

Wang Lianhua was obviously confused for a moment, then gave a clear answer: "It depends on what kind of school it is. If it is only slightly better, then it is better to study at South China University of Technology. It will have an advantage in future employment, and your network of contacts will all be your classmates..."

"Okay, got it."

She closed the door and left. Wang Lianhua stood in the room, deep in thought.

The sky is low and the clouds are chaotic, and the rain is falling erratically.

It was clearly March rain, but it was not gentle at all and fell heavily.

Standing under the eaves in the middle of summer, I was glad that I hadn't set out on my bike yet, otherwise I would have become a drowned chicken.

She had to take a taxi.

The rain was so heavy that the street lights were dimmed in the mist, the intersections were blocked, and the sound of whistles could be heard one after another.

The two ambulances flashed their warning lights and shouted in vain, but they couldn't speed up at all. A doctor leaned out of the passenger seat and yelled, "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

After yelling, he yelled at the person on the phone: "Please ask the traffic police to evacuate! Quickly!"

"Little girl, can we take a detour to make room for the ambulance behind us?" the taxi driver asked.

Shengxia naturally agreed: "Okay, it's my duty, let's give it up quickly!"

The master had difficulty squeezing into the left turn lane. Cars in front and behind honked their horns to make way. An ambulance whizzed past their car, splashing up mud all over the road.

"Hey, you're in such a hurry. I don't know what happened."

"Hey, there are two ambulances again. I guess there was an accident. The weather is bad today. I guess it was another car accident..."

The master was still muttering to himself, with a sigh in his tone, but more than that, it was just the idle talk of an outsider.

It was past nine o'clock when I came out of class in midsummer and the rain was getting lighter.

Just as I was about to take a taxi, I saw an unexpected person in the lobby: Zou Weiping.

"I'm working overtime at the company, which is in the next building. Your father asked me to take you home." Zou Weiping stated his purpose.

Sheng Xia declined: "Don't bother, I can just take a taxi back."

Zou Weiping explained: "There was a violent attack nearby today, and the suspect ran away like a madman. Your father was worried about you going back alone."

"good."

On the way, Shengxia took out her phone to check today's news. Zou Weiping chatted casually in the front row: "Today there was a brave young man who said he was from your affiliated high school."

Shengxia was also shocked. Considering what she had heard before, she asked, "Is it the violence today?"

"right."

"Is he okay?" Shengxia asked concernedly.

"It's not clear yet, but they say he was stabbed."

Zou Weiping said: "Just this evening, a crazy man with a knife was slashing everywhere. He slashed the cashier at a convenience store and rushed to the road. Many people ran away. This man is a typical retaliatory person. He went to where there were many people. Finally, he went into a bookstore, slashed the owner, and then rushed in to attack the students who were reading..."

Shengxia listened and became more and more nervous. "Bookstore? Which bookstore?"

There are a lot of people around here, and there is only one bookstore on the roadside. Was the owner injured?

Which classmate was it? She had never met a classmate from the Affiliated High School in Yifang Bookstore.

"I can't remember clearly. Your father only told me a little bit. The police report hasn't come out yet, so we dare not spread it randomly," Zou Weiping replied. "If this matter is not handled properly, it will cause a huge public outcry."

Shengxia quickly opened the class group, thinking there would be something interesting to talk about.

For some reason, her heart beat faster and faster, and she always had a bad feeling.

Class group message 99+

Shengxia's heart sank and he clicked it.

A heated discussion was going on, and messages flashed by as quickly as flowing water, making it difficult to see clearly.

"Oh my god! Are you really not lying to me?"

“I hope it’s safe!”

"Pray! God, please don't let the talented be envied!"

"Shut upstairs, whatever you're saying, nothing will happen!"

"The idiot who is seeking revenge against society should just explode right here. Why do you have to do this?"

"Zhang Shu! Oh my god, Brother Shu, please don't do this!"

"Cry me to death, tell me this is not true!"

"God, please!"

"What's the situation now? Does anyone have a family member in the hospital?"

"I'll ask my aunt!"

"Don't panic, Brother Shu is so kind, he will be fine. God will not let him go!"

"Brother Shu, don't get into trouble!"

"No, the police have blocked it and can't ask anything!"

"Old Wang, go ask the school! Hurry up!"

"Brother Shu, please be well!"

…

…

In the middle of summer, I feel like something is sticking in my throat, which is both impossible to penetrate and suffocating.

She only saw two words in her eyes - Zhang Shu.

Her hands were almost trembling as she scrolled up the messages. If her movements were not smooth, new messages would pop up. She scrolled up again and again. Her hands, lips, and heart were trembling. She couldn't help but feel a sore nose and hot eyes, and her eyes began to moisten.

Zou Weiping was frightened and quickly pulled over to the side of the road. He moved from the driver's seat to the back seat and almost couldn't bear to ask, but he still spoke: "Yes, a classmate with whom I have a good relationship?"

Shengxia looked at the densely packed chat box with Zhang Shu, Brother Shu, and her tears finally burst out.

Was he stabbed?

How could this happen?

How could it be him?

Why is he in Yifang Bookstore?

Shengxia slowly raised her head and met Zou Weiping's anxious eyes. For the first time, in front of this strange yet familiar woman, Shengxia couldn't hold back her emotions: "No..."

Zou Weiping felt a little relieved, but he still gently stroked her back to comfort her.

After a long while, Shengxia's almost broken voice was heard again: "It's not a classmate...it's...someone I like very, very much..."

Zou Weiping was also frozen. Looking at the girl's distraught look, he was also at a loss as to what to do.

She had no children and didn't know how to comfort a child, so she just held Shengxia in her arms, rubbed her back to soothe her, and took out her cell phone to call Sheng Mingfeng.

"What's the progress of today's incident? Please reply quickly... Don't ask anymore, hurry up!"

Shengxia could no longer hear what Zou Weiping was saying; her head was buzzing.

Yifang Bookstore...

Violent attacks...

Act bravely...

Cut...

Zhang Shu...

She swallowed hard, regained some normal breathing rate, found Zhang Sujin's phone number and called her.

During all the long hours of after-school care, she never made any requests and never made this phone call.

Beep, beep, beep——

No one answered.

If it was Zhang Shu, and it was true, then the one who had no time to care about anything else at this moment was Zhang Sujin.

Can't bother her anymore...

Shengxia wiped away her tears, looked at the screen clearly, and remembered that she had added the customer service WeChat when she applied for a membership of Yifang Bookstore. She hurriedly clicked on WeChat and found the customer service.

I just found out that I received a group message from customer service at around 7pm:

[Dear members of Yifang Bookstore: Hello, our store encountered a violent incident today and has been closed urgently. The specific business hours will be announced later. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. 】

Really, it really is a bookstore.

She had no way to comfort herself; the news was wrong.

She called the voice phone, but the line was busy...

In the class group, someone forwarded the Weibo link to me.

#Yifang Bookstore##Nanli hacking# It was so scary. I was at the newsstand opposite and saw with my own eyes the little brother next to me running over...

Shengxia swallowed hard, feeling that these words were like needles piercing straight into her flesh.

The blogger has a video. You can see the cover before you click on it. The shooting angle is opposite a bookstore. The scene is very familiar in midsummer. The back of the man running in a black T-shirt is engraved in my bones...

The video has been forwarded on Weibo over 10,000 times, but she doesn't have the courage to click play, so she scrolls down to read the comments first.

[Is this the power of youth...]

—Are all the people around him dead? Is he the only man?

—The most handsome back

—He is really handsome, from body to mind, handsome to soul.

—The world becomes more beautiful because of young people who step forward.

[Be safe @Nanli Police please issue a notice quickly, are you guys eating shit? ]

—@Nanli police came out and got scolded

—Has that psychopath been caught? Death penalty!

—If you harm a top scholar, can you just say he is crazy and get away with it? This world is too magical.

[I heard that this is the top pick in the Southern University of Science and Technology this year. Oh my god!]

—Yes, he has always been the best in our school and the best in the city-wide joint examination.

—He is still the most handsome boy in school, so outstanding that it is beyond imagination.

—Wasn’t he number one last semester?

—Shut up, damn, he is always number one!

—Please stay safe. I haven’t told you who I have a crush on.

—You are an excellent person with high moral character. You are a great talent. Don’t let anything happen to you…

—It’s true, you don’t know how good he is.

[Slap you! Go help!]

—If it were you, would you dare?

—Soul-searching is actually very difficult to do.

Shengxia still trembled as she opened the video. She still couldn't believe that such a thing would happen in her life, and would happen to someone around her...

There were noisy screams and discussions, a mixture of fear and panic, and it made people feel suffocated as soon as they opened it.

But those who made the noise were just spectators. The only one who rushed forward without saying a word was Zhang Shu.

The roads were jammed with cars stopping to watch the show, and the sound of anxious whistles could be heard everywhere.

Zhang Shu walked quickly through the crowd. The heavy rain instantly soaked him. His clothes no longer fluttered, and his hair was no longer messy. He looked very feral. He crossed the fence in the middle of the road with his long legs, ran at full speed, pushed aside the crowd and rushed into the bookstore.

He is willing to sacrifice his life without hesitation.

The distance is too far and the picture was magnified by the photographer.

Shaky and fuzzy.

All I could see was a tall man behind the glass window, waving a kitchen knife in his left hand and a fruit knife in his right hand, looking ferocious and arrogant. As everyone fled in panic, he headed straight for the window seat.

There sat a girl in a white dress, looking down at a book. For some reason, she seemed unable to hear anything and did not react at all.

Just as the machete was about to fall, someone grabbed the man's waist from behind and violently dragged him backwards.

The two men lost their balance and fell to the ground.

The subsequent images are in a blind spot and cannot be seen.

How he fought, how he got injured, and where he was injured, no one knew except the people in the bookstore and the camera.

The video came to an abrupt end amidst a series of exclamations of “Oh my god!”

They panicked, they sighed, they watched.

None of them could help the boy.

They pressed the shoot button, became traffic, and provided negotiating materials.

They are so indifferent.

I couldn't stop shivering in the middle of summer, and I felt like I had fallen into a glacier and lost consciousness.

Zou Weiping's hands kept rubbing and caressing her shoulders: "Don't worry, wait for news from your father. It's okay, it will be okay. God will bless kind and brave children."

Shengxia nodded repeatedly, she hoped that everything Zou Weiping said was right and would come true.

Those two ambulances today were so urgent, and they actually had him on board.

Where exactly was he injured? How badly was he injured? What would his condition be like? Was he still conscious?

It turned out that she had passed by him with wounds all over his body...

So close.

But she was as calm as water and didn't feel any of his pain.

Stabbed...

Where? Any other injuries?

Is he in pain?

Ah Shu, it hurts...

Ah Shu, please don’t, I haven’t told you yet, I love you so much, I have been working hard, I have never given up…

Ah Shu...

Please...

Please, please...

Please.