Chapter 10: Future
Evening self-study in senior year always dragged on late. In the last few minutes, not many students were still focused on their studies. They were all waiting for the teacher to dismiss them, so they could drag their exhausted bodies home to rest.
“Class dismissed…”
As soon as the bell rang, the entire building erupted in noise. The late night was the liveliest time at school. Su Yu watched as they hurriedly packed their bags and rushed out of the classroom. He wasn’t in a hurry, because he had cleaning duty today. There was no point in rushing; he would need at least ten more minutes to finish cleaning before he could leave.
“See ya.”
“Yeah.”
Chen Kai said goodbye to Su Yu and left. They didn’t live in the same direction, so even though they were close, they always went their separate ways.
Su Yu looked at the mess left behind in the classroom and sighed. Senior year… was still so tiring.
“Su Yu, how should we split the cleaning?” Xia Qian Ge, who sat in front of him, suddenly turned around, looking at him.
“Huh? Us?”
Su Yu was taken aback. He remembered… it wasn’t Xia Qian Ge who was on cleaning duty with him today, but another boy in the class.
“Oh, I was supposed to be on duty tomorrow, but I have something to do, so I switched with the person on duty today,” Xia Qian Ge explained with a smile, seeing his confusion.
Another discrepancy? Su Yu began to doubt his own memories. Why were things unfolding differently from his previous life? Although they were small differences, they gave him a bad feeling.
“I see.” Su Yu’s expression remained unchanged. He looked at the faint smile on the girl’s lips but couldn’t detect anything amiss. “You can wipe the blackboard, I’ll mop the floor.”
“Can you manage by yourself?”
“It’s fine, I’m pretty quick.”
“Okay then. Su Yu…” Xia Qian Ge bit her lip, her eyes filled with unreadable emotions, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let’s finish quickly and go home.”
Xia Qian Ge shook her head and turned back to her task.
The school’s liveliness faded quickly. Within minutes of the bell, almost everyone had left, only a few students on cleaning duty like them still lingering in the hallways.
Su Yu mopped the floor, his gaze fixed on Xia Qian Ge.
He couldn’t let go, not so easily. He watched as the girl stood on tiptoe, revealing her slender ankles, the edges of her socks adorned with delicate white butterfly lace.
Xia Qian Ge still seemed like the Xia Qian Ge in his memory, the girl who captivated his gaze, a star that had fallen into his otherwise ordinary life.
“Su Yu? What’s wrong?” Xia Qian Ge’s pleasant voice broke through his thoughts.
“Oh, nothing. Just a little tired.” Su Yu quickly averted his gaze, looking at the clean blackboard behind Xia Qian Ge. “I’m almost done here. We can go.”
“Okay, let’s go back then.” Xia Qian Ge nodded slightly, brushing aside a strand of hair that had stuck to her cheek from sweat. “If we’re any later… we’ll miss the bus.”
…
The school was exceptionally quiet at night. Only a few classrooms still had their lights on, almost everyone gone.
Su Yu and Xia Qian Ge walked side by side along the path leading to the school’s side gate. They were close, so close that Su Yu could smell a faint floral fragrance, like Xia Qian Ge’s own scent, or perhaps the lingering fragrance of gardenias that had withered a week ago in the woods.
“Your home is near Huatian Square, right?” Xia Qian Ge suddenly turned her head and asked Su Yu.
“Yeah, why?” Su Yu responded, puzzled. He didn’t know why she was asking. “I live there.”
“Then we should be going the same way. I often see you on the same bus as me, but it’s always so crowded, I never have time to say hello before you get off.”
“Same here.”
Su Yu subconsciously touched his neck. It wasn’t a coincidence that he and Xia Qian Ge took the same bus. Thinking about his childish behavior of deliberately waiting for her at the bus stop, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
Silence fell between them. The faint chirping of insects mingled with the occasional meow of a cat. The night air was cool. Su Yu wasn’t the same person he used to be; he wouldn’t deliberately search for trivial topics just to talk to Xia Qian Ge.
They walked out of the school gate. Xia Qian Ge’s pace was slightly faster than Su Yu’s, as if worried about missing the bus. Su Yu followed behind. Under the dim yellow streetlights, her hair had a faint golden halo.
Xia Qian Ge suddenly turned around, her large eyes sparkling, a sweet smile on her face. Su Yu’s heart almost skipped a beat.
She always seemed to be smiling, but Su Yu had the illusion that her smile… seemed especially radiant in front of him.
“Su Yu, which university do you want to go to?”
“Huh? I…” Su Yu snapped back to reality, then paused for a long time, finally shaking his head. “I haven’t decided yet.”
Xia Qian Ge prompted him, “I think it’s better to decide these things sooner rather than later.”
“I know, I’ll think about it.” Su Yu scratched his head and smiled. “What about you? Where do you want to go?”
“Me?” Xia Qian Ge chuckled, answering without hesitation. “I’m going to Jiangnan.”
Su Yu already knew this answer and wasn’t surprised. He had asked Xia Qian Ge the same question before, but that was after the gaokao.
“I see. Your grades should be good enough.”
“Yours aren’t bad either, Su Yu. Your scores have been improving with each weekly test. Everyone in class thinks you’ve suddenly become a genius.”
“I…”
Su Yu suddenly wanted to tell Xia Qian Ge that he wasn’t going to Jiangnan. Qingchuan was far, far away from Jiangnan. They might never see each other again.
“The bus is here.”
Xia Qian Ge looked past Su Yu and suddenly grabbed his sleeve, pulling him towards the approaching bus.
“Here!” Xia Qian Ge waved at Su Yu from the back of the bus. There was an empty seat next to her.
Su Yu, still slightly dazed, instinctively moved through the crowd and sat beside her.
Even though they had seen each other on the bus before, Su Yu had never sat next to Xia Qian Ge like this. Back then, he hadn’t dared, afraid she wouldn’t want him to.
It all felt like a dream. Just by changing a few of his past choices, he could easily do things he had never imagined before.
“Ugh, I’m so tired.” Xia Qian Ge’s still-youthful chest rose and fell slightly, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. “I’ll rest for a bit. Wake me up when we get to your stop, Su Yu.”
“Okay.”
The bus moved quickly in the late night. The lights outside flashed by, outlining the silhouettes of skyscrapers in the distance under the neon glow. It all felt like a dream.
But Su Yu could hear the girl’s soft breathing beside him. The girl he had longed for was sitting next to him. It all felt so real. When the bus bumped, her head even leaned against his shoulder.
“It’s not too late. It’s not too late until he fills out his university application,” the thought suddenly appeared in Su Yu’s mind, startling him.
After Su Yu got off, Xia Qian Ge waved goodbye through the window, but the smile that had played on her lips was gone.
She watched the boy’s figure disappear into the night, a few drops of ink staining her bright, spring-water-like eyes. The ink slowly spread, like darkness seeping into her pupils, revealing a coldness, a darkness, and… a hint of disappointment.
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