Fate had already been decided
When the summer heat marked the end of her second year of high school, Jin Can naively thought that what awaited her was the last long and free vacation of her high school years, a vacation she could squander at will.
However, reality quickly gave her a resounding slap in the face.
The so-called summer vacation is nothing more than a false truce period that has been compressed to the extreme before the long battle of senior year.
They first had to attend a week of make-up classes before their official holiday, and then they were notified that school would start a week earlier.
All things considered, the time that truly belongs to oneself is very little.
The mountain of summer homework was only half completed on the eve of the start of school, and in the end, it could only be done hastily and perfunctorily.
The entire senior year of high school was like a machine that had been sped up to double speed, rumbling and grinding forward.
The vibrant campus life was completely alien to them; club activities, arts festivals, and sports meets became distant memories of the last century.
Senior high school students have a unified evening self-study session until 8:30 p.m., and everyone's world is simplified to a three-point line: classroom, cafeteria, home or dormitory.
Ge Ouchen seemed to have plunged headlong into the deep sea of competition, rarely appearing and disappearing from sight, and hardly ever coming to school.
Once, Jin Can ran into him in the corridor. He was in a hurry, carrying thick professional books in his arms, and there was a hint of fatigue in his eyes.
The two could only nod hastily, without even having time to say another word.
Without Ge Ouchen's constant guidance, Jin Can could only form a "life-or-death alliance" with Lin Xiaoxiao and a few others, keeping an eye on each other and sticking together for warmth.
Under immense pressure, everyone's nerves are stretched taut like a string about to snap, and their tempers become unusually volatile.
Sometimes, a minor conflict can erupt in the classroom simply because someone knocks over something or makes a slightly loud noise when pulling out a chair.
Arguments, cold wars, and then awkward reconciliations.
Looking back on those days now, they seem somewhat unbelievable.
Everyone was like being in a giant pressure cooker, being tortured by invisible steam, colliding with each other, yet supporting each other.
More than a month later, when the weather cooled down, everyone gradually adapted to this suffocating pace and learned to suppress all their emotions and transform them into motivation for writing.
After the National Day holiday, Ge Ouchen finally returned.
He brought with him a refreshing autumnal feeling and a bombshell: thanks to his gold medal in the National Mathematics Competition, he successfully gained admission to Tsinghua University through a guaranteed admission program.
The news spread, and the entire grade was in an uproar.
It was envy, it was jealousy, but more than anything, it was a burning fighting spirit ignited by a role model.
Jin Can sat in his seat, looking at the figure that had returned to the back row, familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar.
The tension in her heart didn't ease; instead, it was tightened even more by an even stronger force.
"Congratulations, Dog Bro," she congratulated him during the break.
Ge Ouchen turned around, his face not showing much pride, but simply nodding calmly.
"How's your impression of Tsinghua University?"
"I've never been, so I don't know." He looked at her earnestly. "What about you? Have you made up your mind?"
Jin Can met his gaze, her heart pounding strongly.
She grinned, revealing a bright, almost dazzling smile: "Then I'd better work harder too!"
From that day on, an even more intense training program began.
The two of them, along with all their classmates, studied day and night, without rest or interruption.
At 5:30 a.m., you can already see them hunched over their desks in the teaching building; at midnight, you can still hear them whispering ancient texts in their sleep.
Time was stretched into an infinitely extended yet extremely compressed progress bar, and all the days merged into a blurry, huge block of color, leaving only rote memorization and exams.
Looking back now, Jin Can can't even remember exactly what happened that year.
All she remembers are those test papers covered in red crosses, countless times of self-doubt with tears in her eyes, and having to go to the hospital for IV drips even when she has a cold and fever.
And... Ge Ouchen would occasionally fill her thermos with water and quietly place it on her desk.
The bell signaling the end of the college entrance examination pierced the long, dark night.
When Jin Can put down her pen and walked out of the examination room that held countless sweat and tears for her, she felt like she was floating.
There was no ecstatic joy as I had imagined, only a profound sense of emptiness after being completely hollowed out.
She had only one thought in her mind: go home, sleep, and sleep forever.
However, the biological clock is the most stubborn thing in the world.
The day after the college entrance examination, at 7:00 a.m. sharp, Jin Can opened his eyes on time, his mind was clear, and he was no longer sleepy.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, and suddenly felt a little lost.
The spring that had powered her for a whole year suddenly disappeared.
Just then, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Ge Ouchen: "Come down."
Simple and clear, just like him.
Jin Can got up slowly, washed her face quickly, and didn't bother with her hair. She tied it into a ponytail with a hair tie at the back of her head, then went downstairs in her slippers.
She thought to herself, we've known each other for so many years, what kind of messy look haven't we seen, it doesn't matter.
Downstairs, Ge Ouchen was already waiting there.
He was wearing a simple white T-shirt, and his upright posture made him look exceptionally clean in the morning sunlight.
She approached him, but he remained silent, though his eyes shone with an astonishing light.
Jin Can felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, yawned, and asked vaguely, "What's up so early..."
Before she could finish speaking, Ge Ouchen suddenly asked a question that instantly brought her to her senses.
Can I kiss you?
Jin Can's brain froze for three seconds.
She blinked, wondering if she was still half asleep.
"What?" She scratched her ponytail. "What did you say?"
"I asked, 'May I kiss you?'" he repeated, his tone calm, but his eyes incredibly serious.
"No..." Jin Can thought this guy's thought process was so bizarre that it was incomprehensible.
"In the normal procedure, shouldn't the first question be 'Can you be my girlfriend?'"
"So, is it possible?" He immediately pressed, following her logic.
Now it was Jin Can's turn to be speechless.
She was caught off guard by his sudden, direct approach, and her cheeks instantly flushed.
She stubbornly replied, "Uh... you can't answer my question."
“Oh…” Ge Ouchen nodded, as if accepting the answer.
"Then I won't ask."
Jin Can just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the awkward topic was over.
The next second, Ge Ouchen suddenly stepped forward, put one hand on her shoulder, and pressed the back of her head with the other, giving her no chance to dodge, and kissed her precisely.
It was a kiss that carried the scent of morning sunlight and the aroma of mint.
Soft, warm, with a touch of the clumsy yet stubborn strength unique to young people.
Jin Can's eyes widened instantly like copper bells, and his mind went blank with a burst of dazzling light.
He quickly let go of her, but his hand was still on her shoulder.
Jin Can stood there dumbfounded, looking at him with slightly reddened ears, but his eyes held a sense of satisfaction that his wish had been fulfilled.
It took her a long time to find her voice. She raised her hand to wipe her mouth, feeling her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.
Jin Can stared at the nonchalant guy in front of him and made a precise assessment: "I used to think you were just a little repressed, but now I realize you're a pure pervert."
Ge Ouchen smiled noncommittally.
Jin Can felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, and subconsciously raised her hand to adjust her crooked ponytail, which she had tied in a hurry.
Having not been groomed for a long time, my hair had grown to my waist when it was down, making it look rather cumbersome.
"How about we get a haircut?" Ge Ouchen suddenly suggested.
“Okay!” Jin Can agreed without hesitation.
It seems that everything changed from that kiss onwards, and cutting off one's hair became a highly ritualistic choice.
An hour later, at the barbershop.
Jin Can looked at his brand-new self in the mirror and applauded himself with satisfaction.
She cut off her hair, which she hadn't had time to manage since the second semester of her junior year of high school, and got a layered wolf tail bob that was shorter in the front and longer in the back. Paired with her clean-cut face, it made her look cool and stylish.
When she stood up from the chair and looked at her androgynous reflection in the mirror, a playful thought arose within her.
She walked over, put her arm around Ge Ouchen's waist, gently lifted his chin with her fingers, lowered her voice, and asked in a sleazy tone:
"Want to get gay, bro?"
Ge Ouchen's face flushed red from his ears to his neck.
"Yeah, I want to do it! I want to do it!" Ge Ouchen said softly.
"Hey! No driving!" Jin Can pretended to hit Dog Brother, and the two chased each other again after leaving the barbershop.
——
"...They were classmates, comrades-in-arms, from the verdant campus of elementary school to the lush campus of Tsinghua University. They accompanied each other all the way, witnessing each other's most hardworking and shining moments. Today, they have finally decided to step out of the campus and into society, choosing to go from close friends to life partners..."
Inside the dressing room, Jin Can listened to the host's heartfelt opening remarks outside the door, her palms sweating with nervousness.
The reflection in the mirror showed me wearing a pure white wedding dress, with exquisite makeup, looking like a stranger.
"I really envy you two. Such a long-lasting relationship, it's like a fairytale romance."
The makeup artist next to her was adjusting her veil while sincerely admiring her.
Jin Can chuckled self-deprecatingly: "What fate? He's the real academic genius, crushing everyone else and now he's going straight to his PhD. As for me, I was just lucky back then. I performed exceptionally well in the college entrance exam, but I barely managed to get into Tsinghua University because my major was assigned to me. I don't want to study anymore, I just can't handle it. Jobs are hard to find now, and the company I was interning with gave me an offer, so I quickly accepted it, and that's how I became a Beijing drifter."
Looking at herself in the mirror, she suddenly blurted out, "Do you think this counts as getting married young?"
"If we've known each other since elementary school... wow, that's been sixteen years now?"
"It's not like we started dating right after we met in first grade!" Jin Can retorted, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.
"But it's also quite good."
"Yes, it saves so much trouble of getting to know each other," the makeup artist concluded.
The door was pushed open, and bridesmaid Lin Xiaoxiao poked her head in: "Cancan, are you ready? It's time to go on stage!"
Jin Can took a deep breath, lifted her skirt, and stood up.
When she stepped onto the stage and saw her relatives and friends sitting below, and saw the two mothers wearing identical cheongsams, sitting intimately together wiping away tears, all her tension suddenly vanished.
Her gaze fell on the other end of the stage, on the handsome man in a sharp suit who made her momentarily stunned.
Ge Ouchen was also looking at her, his eyes filled with a tenderness she had never seen before, a tenderness that could drown a person.
The officiant was their former homeroom teacher, Mr. Yang. He sincerely congratulated the newlyweds and vividly recounted several funny stories about how the two of them used to compete with each other in high school, which drew good-natured laughter from the audience.
Lin Xiaoxiao, as a bridesmaid, was busy with everything, but before the ceremony was even over, she started crying like a rabbit.
Everything felt like a hazy, beautiful dream.
After the wedding banquet, the couple returned to their honeymoon suite at the hotel.
Jin Can kicked off her high heels and collapsed onto the bed without any regard for her image.
Ge Ouchen also slumped onto the sofa, loosened his tie, and revealed an innocent and harmless expression. His wet eyes looked just like a puppy's as he stared at Jin Can, who had already changed out of her wedding dress.
"Rich woman," he shouted, "I'll give myself to you tonight, you have to take care of me, I'm still a pure young man."
Jin Can was amused by him and threw a pillow at him: "You're so ambitious. By the way, what time is our flight tomorrow? We have to rush back to Beijing after the wedding, it's really a tight schedule."
"Three o'clock in the afternoon."
Ge Ouchen sat up and looked at her seriously. "Will you regret it? You've made all the decisions so hastily..."
"Of course not." Jin Can shook her head and walked to the window, looking at the dazzling night view of the city outside.
"It's like... a feeling of floating, like it's not real. It's like everything happened too fast."
Ge Ouchen walked over and gently hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I used a little trick in Hokkaido, and Lord Jin Can readily agreed to the marriage proposal."
He whispered in her ear in a theatrical, Japanese-style tone: "Although I know I am somewhat attractive, I am still deeply moved by your unpretentious and generous nature."
Hokkaido... a marriage proposal...
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck Jin Can's mind.
A long-forgotten scene suddenly became incredibly clear.
It happened sometime during her second year of high school. Chao Ningning had demonstrated it to her to prove the existence of superpowers.
She showed Jin Can a "memory" of her own.
It turns out that the scene was taken at the local fireworks festival by Lake Toya. Afterwards, Ge Ouchen knelt down on one knee and presented her with a ring.
At the time, she was completely baffled.
But now she realized with a start that the so-called "memory" was not the "past" at that point in time, but the distant "future"!
This is a paradox!
How could Chao Ningning possibly let her see the future?
What exactly happened?
Just as Jin Can was in deep confusion, the doorbell rang for the suite.
A waiter pushed in a food cart with three beautifully packaged gift boxes on it.
"Mr. Ge, Ms. Jin, the front desk received three express delivery gifts for you and has brought them to you."
The two exchanged a glance and opened the gift box, filled with doubt.
The first box contained a gemstone whose surface seemed to contain an entire galaxy, with countless dazzling points of light slowly flowing within it, as radiant as the most magnificent gemstone on the British Queen's crown.
The card bore the words in a flamboyant, flowing handwriting: "Sending you the brightest star in the entire universe as a wedding gift! Happy Wedding! — Zhou Yu."
The second box contained a bottle of red wine that looked quite expensive.
Shi Yanxi's message was concise yet ambiguous: "Please make sure to drink in a safe space where the two of you are alone. Have a wonderful night."
Jin Can and Ge Ouchen both shuddered as they looked at the bottle of wine and the pointed remark.
The third and last box was sent by Chao Ningning.
The box contained some standard gifts: a pair of mugs, a doll, and coffee beans and a moka pot, both from Yunnan province.
only--
Ge Ouchen picked it up and flipped through the return address, a look of surprise on his face: "Huh? Isn't this the place...?"
"The school issued a notice calling on everyone to participate in a teaching support program during the summer vacation. The location is here, in a small town on the border of Yunnan and Guizhou."
Jin Can leaned over and glanced at the school's information, which detailed the local middle school's teaching environment and student situation.
She looked up at Ge Ouchen: "Are you going to teach in a rural area?"
"I was planning to spend more time with you," Ge Ouchen said thoughtfully, looking at the documents.
"Registration hasn't closed yet... Can I go and take a look, my dear wife?"
He didn't dwell on the magical coincidences and origins of the gifts; his attention was gradually drawn to the teaching materials.
As Jin Can watched the focused and pure light rekindle in his eyes, the paradox of "future" and "memory" in his heart suddenly seemed less important.
At that very moment, at the intersection of countless timelines, her fate and Ge Ouchen's were already sealed.
What happened in the past and what the future holds may not be a question with a standard answer.
The three of them, in a way that transcends reality, opened a window for Jin Can's life.
But real life is about finding that direction you're willing to strive for in the ordinary, mundane world, even after saying goodbye to all adventures and fantasies.
Just like now, outside the window is the dazzling night view of the bustling city, but they are discussing the distant mountains.
Jin Can smiled.
She thought that this might be the best wedding gift.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
