(1)
The waves washed over the golden beach again and again.
In this pure land far removed from the noise of the world, it felt as though all worries could be forgotten.
“Ying Ying, come look at this.”
Wang Xinru called out to Zhu Ying.
She had found a particularly beautiful shell.
It looked completely intact as well.
“It’s red, and the patterns on it are really pretty.”
“Ooh~ It really is.”
Zhu Ying’s eyes widened.
“It’s even a gradient red.”
“The bottom is lighter, and it gets darker the higher it goes.”
“So pretty.”
“The thing inside is gone already?”
“…Only the shell remains.”
“Let’s keep it, Xiao Ru.”
“We can stick it on the wall later.”
“Huh?”
“Decorating your own room makes it feel like it’s truly yours.”
“Your room is very clean, but…”
“It always feels kind of empty.”
“You haven’t filled it with things you like.”
“You mean decorations in the room?”
“Yep!”
“But it’s only a rented house…”
“That’s true.”
Zhu Ying nodded.
She was already carrying several blue shells of the same color.
“Look.”
“I picked up so many pure blue ones.”
“Such a beautiful shade of blue.”
“But somehow it feels like the kind of thing that would poison you if you ate it.”
“You can’t eat shells in the first place.”
“There’s no meat inside.”
“And definitely no Pearls.”
“Does Xiao Ying only collect one color?”
“Mm.”
“Because Xiao Jing gives me the feeling of a deep blue color.”
Zhu Ying laughed cheerfully.
“I’m planning to grind all of them into powder.”
“Then make one of those sticker pictures.”
“The kind they always sell near supermarket entrances.”
“They set up a little stand, sell the pictures, peel off the Sticker layer, and use toothpicks to stick colored powder onto it.”
“Have you ever played with those, Xiao Ru?”
“I have.”
“But they make your hands really messy.”
“I’m only going to use blue powder.”
“Pure blue.”
“And make a picture~”
“Won’t the color be too monotonous?”
“Hmm.”
“I’m not planning to draw a background anyway.”
“I’m only planning to draw Xiao Jing.”
“Huh?”
“Ying Ying knows how to draw?”
“Not really.”
“Kindergarten level at best.”
Zhu Ying coughed awkwardly.
“But I still want to give it a try.”
“Do you want me to sketch the outline for you?”
“It might turn out better that way.”
“Huh?”
“Xiao Ru can draw?”
“When I was studying in another City…”
“I attended an art class for two years.”
“I-I’m not particularly good at it though.”
Wang Xinru waved her hands nervously.
“M-Maybe we should forget it…”
“If you’re willing to help, that would be great.”
“Then I’ll leave the sketch to you.”
“Okay!”
A genuine smile immediately bloomed across Wang Xinru’s face.
“Pure blue would still be a little plain, right?”
Zhu Ying suddenly thought of something.
“Xiao Jing can be blue.”
“I’ll be red.”
“Xiao Ru…”
“Do you want to draw yourself into it too?”
“Huh?”
“I-I can?”
“It’s not some special gift.”
“Just a little gift I suddenly felt like making.”
“It doesn’t have any special meaning.”
“Hmm.”
“You should put yourself in there too.”
“Oh, and Xiao Jing’s best friends.”
“Fang Qiang and Zhou Chao.”
“Them too.”
“All three of them too?”
“Yep.”
“The three of them can use ordinary beige.”
“As for us, I picked red.”
“Xiao Jing gets blue.”
“What color do you want, Xiao Ru?”
“Orange…”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s collect shells in those colors.”
(2)
Night had not fully arrived yet.
Half of the Evening Glow was submerged in the rolling sea.
Orange-red light illuminated the water.
Meanwhile, the moon had already begun rising on the opposite side of the sky.
The sight of the sun and moon shining together was common at sea.
For An Jing, who had grown up on an Island, it wasn’t strange at all.
The brilliant stars replaced the sun with their radiance.
Though nowhere near as bright, they were enough to keep the beach from becoming completely dark.
“Ah! Found one!”
An Jing’s eyes lit up.
She dug a blue piece of glass out of the wet sand.
Half of it had been buried beneath the surface.
It had once been part of a glass bottle.
When it first broke, its edges must have been razor sharp.
But the sea had worn away every corner.
Though its surface was still rough, there was no longer any danger of getting cut.
This was the seaside specialty Minghui Yu had asked An Jing to bring back.
A specialty born from both humanity and nature.
Sea Glass.
It possessed a frosted blue appearance.
The color wasn’t especially dark.
Under strong light it even looked slightly green.
But overall, it was still blue.
Even on the Island, Sea Glass wasn’t especially common.
When An Jing was little, it had been considered a rare treasure.
But over the past few years it had gradually become more common.
Especially on broad beaches like this.
As long as one searched carefully, traces could always be found.
“I wonder what Huihui Jie wants this for.”
An Jing muttered.
“Maybe she’ll turn it into jewelry and wear it.”
She carefully brushed away the damp sand sticking to it before slipping it into her pocket.
Meanwhile, Zhu Ying and Wang Xinru were walking back together in the distance.
Bathed in the final glow of sunset, they waved vigorously.
“Xiao Jing—!”
At the seaside, everyone seemed to speak louder.
Perhaps the vast ocean encouraged people to cast aside the restraints they unconsciously carried every day.
“What’s in the bags?”
An Jing looked at them curiously.
Each girl carried two Black plastic bags.
They rustled softly as they walked.
“Secret!”
(3)
The tide temporarily retreated.
The ocean at night seemed calmer.
The star-filled sky appeared deep violet.
With no clouds to obstruct it, the moon generously scattered its light across the beach.
Many people who had grown up in the City suddenly realized something surprising.
Even without lamps, shadows still existed at night.
Campfires burned one after another across the golden beach.
Everyone gathered with their close friends and chatted endlessly.
The most common topic was probably the future.
Next month they would graduate from Junior High School.
Not everyone would continue into High School.
There were a few people like Fang Qiang who had already given up or held little hope.
Some planned to start working.
Others wanted to learn a trade.
There were also those unlikely to get into High School but unwilling to enter society immediately.
They discussed the Zhi Gao schools they hoped to attend.
Even some students capable of entering High School joined the conversation because they worried about performing poorly on the exams.
Children at the Junior High School age possessed innocent and simple visions of the future.
Even someone like Fang Qiang had not thought very far ahead.
He merely looked forward to earning money after entering the workforce.
How much could he save in a year?
How many things could he buy?
Those were the sorts of things he imagined.
“If you’re going to vocational school, I think studying early childhood education in T City is best.”
“What’s good about that?”
“It’s all girls.”
“Wouldn’t it be awkward for us guys?”
“Dude, you don’t know anything.”
“The more girls there are, the fewer fights there’ll be.”
“What kind of man is afraid of fighting?”
“Hu Ge, that’s you.”
“We’re not as tough as you are.”
“My mom wants me to study accounting.”
“She says it has a bright future.”
“But I get headaches whenever I see numbers.”
“I really don’t want to.”
“My mom’s the same.”
“She insists I study international business.”
“She says after I graduate I can work at Father’s Company with one of our relatives.”
“But we’re not even that close.”
“She’s being way too optimistic…”
“If I don’t get into High School, I’ll study computers.”
“Oh right.”
“With your grades, even if you fail, you can still do a three-plus-two program, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Then I can transfer from Da Zhuan into a bachelor’s program later.”
“Damn.”
“You’ve planned way ahead.”
“It wasn’t my idea.”
“My dad planned it all.”
“But I do think computers are pretty interesting.”
“Programming is a pain though.”
“You’re probably just interested in video games.”
“Studying computers is completely different.”
“What else can I do?”
“It’s not like there’s a gaming vocational school in this Shi Jie.”
“Sigh.”
“If only I’d studied harder back then.”
“Then I wouldn’t have to worry about failing the High School entrance exams.”
“Haha.”
“So you actually regret things too?”
“Of course…”
The campfire where An Jing’s group sat was one of the few that included both boys and girls.
In reality, aside from Fang Qiang and Sun Wei, everyone else there was female.
That naturally included Zhou Zhao, who still hadn’t changed back today.
“Wangwang is really going overseas after Graduation?”
Zhou Zhao tilted her head.
Her tone carried a trace of regret.
“I’m not sure.”
“But I’ll probably go abroad.”
Wang Xinru smiled and nodded.
Rarely, she even made a joke.
“Zhao Zhao, want to come too?”
“Hah.”
“I don’t have the money for that.”
An Jing and Zhu Ying had already explained the situation to Wang Xinru.
But she still retained memories of the Female Version of Zhou Chao.
As a result, her way of addressing Zhou Zhao had changed slightly as well.
For some reason, she felt a little closer to her than she had to the male Zhou Chao.
“Sigh.”
“If you go abroad, we won’t be able to keep in touch.”
Fang Qiang scratched his head.
“Back then, just moving to a different City was enough for people to lose contact completely.”
“It’s fine.”
“We still have the internet.”
Zhou Zhao remained optimistic.
“Whatever.”
“People splitting up is normal.”
“Speaking of which, Awei.”
“Why did you bring your backpack to the beach?”
“Oh!”
Sun Wei, who seemed to have been searching for an opening, finally found one.
“Hehe.”
“I brought a Prank Expert Kit.”
“Want to try it?”
“How?”
“It’s a Prank Game.”
“The loser has to accept a punishment.”
“There are electric chewing gums, scary bug toys, and stuff like that.”
“It even comes with cards.”
“Whatever card you draw determines which prank item you have to use on yourself.”
“Damn.”
“I remember now.”
“The first time I met you was in seventh grade.”
“You used that fake bleeding prop.”
“I seriously thought you coughed up blood after I punched you.”
“It scared me half to death.”
“Haha.”
“I was trying to scare someone else.”
“But you suddenly punched me in the back.”
“I couldn’t hold it in and ended up spitting it out.”
“I mistook you for one of my elementary school classmates.”
“Turned out you weren’t.”
“Your way of greeting people has always been that violent?”
“I was already being gentle.”
“Right, An Jing?”
Fang Qiang heavily slapped An Jing on the shoulder.
An Jing’s little face immediately collapsed.
“It hurts like crazy…”