Chapter 60 Friends
The airport was bustling with people. The sweet sound of luggage chugging along mingled with the gurgling of luggage over the radio. The last vestiges of late summer's heat washed over me. A tall woman, wrapped in a black wallet, leaned against the doorway. The round double-ring necklace around her neck flashed a cool light. She stared outside the station and dialed a number. "I'm here. Arrange a car to pick me up."
After saying this coldly, the girl pressed the hang-up button, and the incessant chatter on the other end of the phone came to an abrupt end.
She lowered her head and stared at the video playback on her phone. The vague words "National Men's Tennis Finals" and "Seishun Gakuen wins" drilled into her ears. Her long nails rested on the phone case, tapping it occasionally. Her gaze finally fell on the girl standing in the center of the crowd. She was wearing the Seishun Gakuen uniform, and her smile was more dazzling than the sunlight outside.
She stared at the person in the video, her calm eyes slowly dropping like the temperature in autumn.
…
The last semester of the third grade arrived with a strong autumn wind. The bare branches of the cherry trees pierced the sky, and large clouds came from the other side of the sea.
"Essay Contest" Feng Jian was stunned.
"Yes," Teacher Toyota said, folding his hands as he sat behind the desk, looking at her kindly. "Ms. Kazama, your Chinese grades are very good, especially your writing skills. It would be a shame if you didn't participate."
Fengjian lowered his head and stared at the registration fee in his hand. The words "Century Cup High School Essay Competition" were like needles piercing his eyes.
Teacher Toyota continued to patiently encourage him, "Besides, this competition is sponsored by Japan's prestigious Writers Association. If you win a prize, it will be very helpful for your high school entrance exam."
"Thank you, teacher," Feng Jian slowly clenched his fingers and bowed slightly to her, "I will think about it carefully."
As soon as the door of the classroom office closed behind him, Yuan's excited voice penetrated his eardrums, and he rushed straight into his arms, "April——"
The petite figure hugged her tightly, the excitement in his eyes unable to be concealed at all, "I heard that you were selected to participate in the "Century Cup", right?"
"I heard there's only one spot for the entire second grade," Taocheng said, standing behind her and giving her a thumbs-up. "Kazama, you're truly amazing."
Fengjian was stunned for a moment, put the registration form in his hand behind his back and clenched it slightly, pursed his lips and smiled, but said nothing.
"Hey," Yuan stretched out his hands and gently pulled her face to the sides, "You look very serious, aren't you happy?"
"That's not true," Feng Jian smiled and pushed people towards the classroom, "Of course I'm happy."
"Kazama, if we win first place and get a prize, don't forget to treat us to hamburgers." Momoshiro followed beside him, his tone as cheerful as if he had already eaten an extra-large hamburger.
"Momocheng, you guy, is there anything else on your mind besides eating?" Yuan showed a contemptuous expression.
"The burgers are super delicious," Taocheng touched the back of his head with a smile, "Gen. You like them too, don't you?"
"I'm not like a big eater like you."
The sound was scattered in the sunlight that slanted in from outside the corridor, and the shadow quietly spread to the staircase covered with yellow leaves.
"I'm back."
As Feng Jian opened the door, Ling Jie's voice mixed with the sound of the store's radio gymnastics came over, "Why are you back so early today?"
"Training ended early," Feng Jian walked past the neatly arranged tables and chairs and went straight upstairs, "Sister Ling, I'll come to settle the bill after I take a shower."
"I've already calculated it. Autumn is almost here, and business has slowed down quite a bit," Sister Ling sighed to herself, twisting her arms. She glanced at Fengjian, who had slumped shoulders and looked as if his yang energy had been drained away. "Why do you look so listless? You young people should be full of energy."
Fengjian didn't say anything, just waved his hands weakly. After taking a shower, he threw himself into the quilt and turned to stare out the window in a daze.
The setting sun crept in through the open window, landing on the open notebook and the completed application form. The tinkling of wind chimes in the evening breeze brought her wandering thoughts back a little. She stood up, walked to the table, sat down, and flipped to the first few pages of her notebook.
It was a habit of writing a diary that she had kept since elementary school. The words "Rikkai University", "Let's go out and play together", "Necklace"... and "Asagiri" rushed into her pupils, more dazzling than the sunset outside the window.
"Kazama April, I will never forgive you!"
The girl's crying voice still seemed to echo in my ears, and my heart felt heavy as if it was filled with a sponge soaked in water.
She covered her forehead with her hands, then after a moment, crumpled up the form and threw it into the trash can. As the paper fell into the wastebasket, there was a "thump" sound, especially clear in the quiet space.
…
"Kazama-san, Kazama-san..."
Before the teacher on the stage rang out his voice for the third time, Yuan couldn't help but poke Fengjian who was still in a daze, but the other party suddenly stood up like a frightened bird.
"exist!"
After a few seconds of silence, the classroom began to buzz like a pricked beehive, and low laughter filled the air. Seeing Yuan's helpless look and the teacher's gloomy face on the stage, Fengjian realized what had happened belatedly.
Although he was the first in class and was spared from being punished by standing, as soon as the class was over, Feng Jian was called to the office by the teacher and given a stern lecture.
Yuan was waiting outside the door. When he saw her come out, he leaned over and looked at her. "Did the teacher say anything to you? You haven't been in good shape these past few days since the start of school. April, what happened?"
"It's okay," Feng Jian gave her a reassuring smile, "What could happen to me?"
"I'm really defeated by you, and you don't say anything." Yuan said with a bitter face, flicked her forehead lightly, and raised the lunch box in his hand, "Forget it, forget it, let's eat first, I brought your lunch box for you."
Kazama stared at Gen's hand shaking the bento, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly, "Let's go."
"Kikumaru-senpai said that Gan-senpai made his own lunch today," Yuan said, already smiling and holding her arm, dragging her towards the upper grades, his tone cheerful as if singing, "I really want to try it."
"But judging from the dry juice, Senior's cooking skills should be..." Fengjian saw Yuan raised his fist out of the corner of his eye, and immediately changed his words, "We should look forward to it."
The girl's humming of "That's more like it" drifted away and sank into the afternoon sun.
Dusk swallowed the last ray of the setting sun, leaving only a streak of orange, elongating the huddled figures of the young men. Gen walked in front, his hands behind his back, flanked by Gan, who occasionally tilted his head. In the middle stood Momoshiro and Kikumaru, arm in arm, arguing endlessly over whether to get hamburgers or ramen. Oishi, trying helplessly to mediate, and Fuji, watching with a smile and occasionally adding fuel to the fire...
Kazama lowered her head and walked at the back, until a shadow suddenly fell at her feet. She turned around and saw Tezuka walking beside her. The ends of his chestnut hair were tinged with a hint of gold. His meticulous face looked at her and said, "Something's on your mind."
"It's okay..." Feng Jian subconsciously said the words of refusal, but after meeting his calm eyes that seemed to see through everything, he fell silent again. He lowered his head and his gaze fell on the kicked stone. The sharp edges flashed a sharp white light under the setting sun. The voice was muffled in his throat and he couldn't say it.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Tezuka paused as his eyes swept over the straps she unconsciously clenched, his tone still calm, but slowed down, "But are you free tomorrow morning at ten?"
She was stunned, and before she could reply, she heard him continue, "It happens to be the weekend, so there aren't many people in the city library at ten o'clock."
Kazama then realized that he was talking about his promise to take her to the library to find German study materials during their last training session. She didn't expect him to still remember it, so she nodded quickly, "No problem, thank you, President Tezuka."
Tezuka pushed up his glasses and said, "I've already quit the tennis club. You don't have to call me president."
"Then...Senior Tezuka," Kazama asked tentatively, turning his head to look at him.
Tezuka nodded slightly, and neither of them spoke for the rest of the journey. The wind whistled past their ears, the leaves on the side of the road rustled, and the light of the setting sun was almost close to the horizon. When they approached a fork in the road, the group went their separate ways.
Fengjian bowed and said goodbye. Before he took a few steps, he heard his calm voice coming into his ears on the wind behind him.
"See you tomorrow, Kazama."
She turned her head, her thin, tall shadow stretched to her feet. Because of the backlight, she couldn't see his eyes clearly, and the thin lenses flashed a warm color. "Have a good rest tonight."
Fengjian only felt the warm light of the setting sun against her chest. She nodded, and a slight curve appeared at the corners of her lips.
"President Tezuka too, see you tomorrow."
After getting off the subway station, Fengjian's steps were still brisk, and he clenched his shoulder straps tightly, but not just because of something else, but he couldn't help but take a few quick steps towards home.
Until I opened the door, "I'm back..."
The cheerful voice stopped abruptly when he saw the figure in the store. The backpack was hammered into the air like a lead ball, and fell to the ground with a dull "bang".
The girl sitting by the window was bathed in sunlight, with light and shadow intertwined on her face. The round double-ring necklace around her neck pierced her eyes like needles. When she looked up, the hand that was half supporting her chin slowly lowered, and the corners of her straightened lips let out a light sigh.
"Seeing my former good friend, this is what he looked like"
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