Chapter 27 Growing Pains Finally, they met again.
「2018.09.01 Dusk Summer Mucha」
So this summer came and we met again.
——Excerpt from Tao Shuran’s Diary
*
"Liang Yuanjing": The photos have been developed. I'll send you a copy via email.
So that's what it was.
「Tao Shuran」: Okay, is there anything else?
Tao Shuran was in a very low mood because she had just had a heart-to-heart talk with Fang Qingyi. Realizing that the emotion expressed by this sentence was not right, she wanted to withdraw it.
Who knew that Liang Yuanjing replied first.
"No, Fu Changpei has something to do and will take the bus back to Fuqing tomorrow morning. Please talk to Fang Qingyi."
Tao Shuran replied with an "hmm", knowing that Liang Yuanjing was hinting at her that it might be better to find a reason to tell her rather than letting Fang Qingyi discover this herself tomorrow.
That night, Fang Qingyi had a fever, vomiting and diarrhea. She was sent to the hospital and stayed there all night. This trip to Liandu ended abruptly.
When going back, Tao Shuran followed Liang Yuanjing.
Zhou Hongcai is the Fang family's driver, so naturally he has to put Fang Qingyi first. The four of them don't live on the way, so it would be a waste of time to drive them back and forth.
When they arrived in Fuqing, Liang Yuanjing got off the car by himself and took Tao Shuran with him.
"I left something at Fu Changpei's house."
Liang Yuanjing was carrying a bag and saw that she was carrying two large boxes of Liandu specialties. He paused and took one box.
I asked casually, "Have you figured it out?"
"What?"
"Volunteering."
Tao Shuran reacted, but she didn't expect that he was still thinking about this matter.
I quickly said, "I've decided. I want to study cultural relic restoration."
Liang Yuanjing hummed softly, "No regrets?"
Tao Shuran looked at him with a smile: "Don't regret it for the people or things you love."
*
After returning that day, Tao Shuran and Zhao Yanyun sat face to face in the evening for an unprecedented negotiation.
The scene was very cold and the atmosphere was freezing.
Zhao Yanyun's face was stern. "You made me drive an hour back home just to listen to you spout nonsense about not reporting anything unless it's cultural relic restoration?"
Choosing this major was not a whim.
Tao Shuran said seriously, "I've learned about it. I can work in a museum or in cultural relics protection. I think this is a very meaningful thing."
"No one would choose such an unpopular major with such a high score."
Zhao Yanyun tried to persuade her earnestly, "If this business is really that good, do you think it will be unpopular?"
"Besides, cultural relic restoration requires a foundation in fine arts. Do you have that? You've been slow to learn since you were little. It'll take you three to five years to master these crafts. In the end, you'll be neither high nor low, and you won't be able to do anything well."
"Mom, I chose liberal arts because you said I was stupid and only knew how to memorize things by rote."
Tao Shuran paused, the hurtful memories of those words resurfacing in her mind. Her tone was tinged with sadness. "Now, are you going to deny me again with the same reason?"
She asked in return: "Is the path others have taken necessarily a good one? Is respectability in the secular sense necessarily success?"
Zhao Yanru was so angry at her that she had nothing to say.
After a long pause, he uttered, "I can't control you now, can I?"
"It's not that you can't control me." Tao Shuran shook her head gently, looking at her with a pair of eyes as soft as water. "It's because I love you, Mom. I believe you are doing this for my own good, so I am willing to respect and obey the decision you make for me."
I know there is no turning back.
Zhao Yanyun said in a cold voice, "Since you have made up your mind, don't regret it later."
After all, she was her own daughter, so she understood Tao Shuran's temper a little.
Although he looks obedient and docile, he actually has a stubborn nature.
It’s actually pretty good.
As a mother, I am always afraid that my daughter will be too weak and be bullied in the future.
…
After going through untold hardships, Tao Shuran finally gained the autonomy to apply for admission.
She couldn't help but jump up and cheer.
When I went downstairs to buy ice cream, I saw Fu Changpei smoking there at the corner of the corridor.
He was very quiet, especially when he was smoking.
Those gentle eyes that could condense water now had a bit of unclear gloom under the blue-gray smoke.
Tao Shuran leaned on his arms and stood on the corridor to enjoy the breeze.
When Fu Changpei came out, she had just finished the ice cream in her hand, leaving a wooden stick that she folded and played with in her hand.
Seeing her, Fu Changpei was stunned again.
He threw the cigarette butt between his fingers into the trash can, and slowly took out a wet tissue from his pocket and gave it to her.
Tao Shuran smiled and said, "Thank you," then lowered his head to wipe his sticky hands.
"Have you volunteered yet?"
If I remember correctly, today should be the last day.
Fu Changpei: “Not yet.”
"If you decide, I can help you."
Tao Shuran half-jokingly said, "At worst, I'll get a beating from my mom. She must have been wanting to spank me lately."
It was rare for her to say something so witty, and it was also because she had been hearing the noise coming from Fu Changpei's house these days.
Because of the volunteer issue, he must have had a bad relationship with his family.
But Tao Shuran felt that Fu Changpei had helped her a lot in her studies during her senior year of high school, and it was reasonable for her to help him.
Fu Changpei looked at her quietly, and a smile suddenly appeared in his calm eyes.
He whispered, "Okay."
*
At 11 o'clock in the evening, a burst of urgent 120 emergency bells broke the tranquility of Xikang Road.
Tao Shuran had just closed her eyes in bed when she was frightened by the sound and sat up again. She opened the curtains and saw that the lights in Fu Changpei's house across the street were on, and there were several people gathered inside and outside.
When she walked out the door, Zhao Yanyun and Tao Hongfeng were putting their coats over their pajamas.
Tao Hongfeng patted her shoulder and said, "It's okay. Dad and Mom will go check on the situation."
"It's probably Old Man Fu who's not feeling well," Zhao Yanyun said. "We're all neighbors. I'll go check it out."
After this happened, Tao Shuran couldn't sleep.
Later, when it was almost dawn, Zhao Yanyun finally came back from the hospital. He couldn't hide the fatigue on his face, and he just waved his hand when he came in.
He told her cryptically, "He left in the early morning."
Fu Changpei was raised by his grandparents since he was a child.
Tao Shuran sighed inwardly and started calling Fang Qingyi.
Coincidentally, Fang Qingyi also called.
The tone was very anxious: "Of course, have you seen Fu Changpei? I can't contact him."
Tao Shuran quickly asked Zhao Yanyun: "Mom, did you see Fu Changpei in the hospital?"
"I saw it. He should have gone back to his hometown with us for the funeral."
Zhao Yanyun said with regret: "I only found out today that Fu Changpei wanted to study medicine not only because his father was a doctor, but also because of his grandfather's illness."
"Alas, the child is a good one, but he's so pitiful. His father died on the operating table, and his mother said she would never allow him to study medicine."
Is this the reason?
No wonder he always hides in the corner smoking alone. Compared with the hardships she went through in choosing her major, this is the truly insurmountable difficulty.
Tao Shuran gradually became worried about Fu Changpei's condition.
But what none of them expected was that Fu Changpei completely disappeared throughout the summer vacation.
No one knows where he went or what major he finally chose.
Later, the school released the application list. After asking around, Tao Shuran finally heard about his whereabouts from others.
In the end, Fu Changpei gave up his dream of becoming a doctor.
I chose the economics major at Qinghai University.
The growing pains came belatedly, and Tao Shuran stood in front of the corridor looking at the empty room.
I slowly began to realize that youth does not mean that everything can go as you wish.
For example, when she entered Qing University, she did not get close to Liang Yuanjing at all.
After returning from Liandu, they never contacted each other again.
Outdated □□, like disbanded classmates, gradually became old things. Liang Yuanjing's online time was getting shorter and shorter, but Tao Shuran had not yet found an opportunity to add his new contact information.
She was a little depressed.
When the day of school officially starts, I look forward to seeing him again in the new campus with a little excitement.
As a ceremony for the new students, Zhao Yanyun took a day off to personally take her to report.
When they left, Tao Hongfeng whispered in her ear, "Your mother doesn't say it, but she's very proud that you got into Qingda University."
"I praise you whenever I meet someone."
Tao Shuran felt a little embarrassed. While sitting in the car, she said to Tao Hongfeng and Zhao Yanyun, "Mom and Dad, just send me to the door. Qingyi said she's waiting for me there."
Fuqing Normal University starts two days earlier than Fuqing University.
Therefore, Fang Qingyi settled down earlier than them.
To celebrate the sense of ceremony of going to college, she dyed her hair a bold red during the summer vacation. She has fair skin and is tall. She stood at the school gate in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and she was very beautiful and eye-catching.
"There are so many people at the school gate. I was worried you couldn't see me."
Tao Shuran held her hair and said, "Your long hair made me see you first in the crowd."
Qingda University is worthy of being the top comprehensive university in Fuqing. The school is so large that you can't see the end of it. Entering from the main gate of the school is a wide asphalt road. There are even bus stops and bicycle rental facilities on the side of the road. The campus is like a miniature city.
Even Fang Qingyi couldn't help but smack her lips in amazement.
"Your Qing University is so luxurious! My little shabby school doesn't even have the space you need to enter."
"I suddenly regret not studying hard. Ranran, do you think I can repeat the year?"
Tao Shuran: "You mean get up at 5:30 and go to bed at 12:30?"
Fang Qingyi: ...
"Where are we going now?"
Tao Shuran didn't know either.
Normally, there would be senior students greeting the new students at the entrance, but perhaps because today is the first day of enrollment, which is the peak period, the school’s human resources are clearly insufficient.
At this moment, Tao Shuran was standing in a cool open space with a box in his hand, looking a little confused.
On his phone was a map guide of Qingda University that he had bought online before going to school. The colorful arrows were dazzling to look at, and Tao Shuran's definition of direction was only north up and south down.
Coincidentally, Fang Qingyi's definition is the remaining left west and right east.
"How about we ask someone?"
Fang Qingyi glanced around. "Where's Fu Changpei? Shouldn't he be reporting in today? Why don't I see him?"
"Are you here to accompany me on the report?"
Tao Shuran exposed it bluntly: "Why do I feel that you have other intentions?"
Fang Qingyi stopped pretending and asked directly, "Where is the School of Finance and Economics?"
"Not heartbroken anymore?"
"I've never been in love, so how can I be heartbroken?"
Fang Qingyi put her hands together and regained her energetic look.
"We've been reunited for a long time. After not seeing each other for a whole summer, I feel like I like him even more."
Tao Shuran interrupted her in time: "So, classmate Fang Qingyi, can you tell me how to get to Chongming Building?"
According to the instructions in the freshman handbook, new students must first report to Chongming Building and obtain the corresponding number plate before entering the dormitory.
"How about we try moving forward first?"
That's all we can do.
Tao Shuran dragged the heavy suitcase with great difficulty on the bumpy bluestone road. He used all his strength and sweat broke out on his forehead.
She looked up at the lush campus, with endless prospects in her heart.
In Qingda, the university she longs for, can she meet the person she longs to see again?
The speakers installed in various corners of the campus emitted a shrill noise, followed by the scraping sounds of debugging equipment. Then, a deep, mellow voice slowly rang out.
"In the height of summer, I welcome all new students to Fuqing University. Now, I will give you the freshman orientation.
New students, please enter through the north gate, go straight ahead, turn at the second intersection and enter Chongming Building to complete the admission procedures.
The place where the broadcast was being broadcast seemed very noisy, with many intermittent voices of other people talking. After he finished speaking, a girl was heard playing around next to him.
“What if I still can’t find the place?”
"Can I add your contact information, Liang?"
Tao Shuran stopped.
She turned her head and looked at Fang Qingyi knowingly.
"It's Liang Yuanjing."
Finally, they met again.
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