(1)
The sky was a dusky gray, and a gentle spring rain was falling.
An Jing loved mornings like this the most.
Her phone, earphones plugged in, was tucked in her pocket, but she held it in her hand, pressing the button lightly to instantly skip to the next song.
She liked the randomness of it—even though every song was familiar, she never knew which one would play next.
With the umbrella handle resting on her shoulder, she twirled it lightly with one hand as she kept moving forward.
It was already late when she returned from T City yesterday, and as a result, she woke up later than usual today.
The road was busier than it usually was at this hour.
There were noticeably more cars and hurried pedestrians than on a typical day.
Her phone vibrated with a buzz—not a call, but a text message.
An Jing glanced at it. On the small screen, a short line of text appeared: “Are you here yet?!”
It was from Zhu Ying—impatient, understandably so, since An Jing was running late this morning.
She quickened her pace, stepping on the asphalt that had barely any pooled rainwater—that was another reason she liked light rain: it didn’t make everything too wet, and there weren’t puddles everywhere to step in.
The familiar covered market street was just ahead.
The breakfast shops on both sides of the street were especially lively; shop owners and customers had to shout to be heard over the din.
What was interesting was that some people could only speak Mandarin normally, but whenever they shouted, they had to use their local dialect—as if Mandarin just wasn’t made for raising your voice.
The Jian’gao shop was crowded as always. To locals, Jian’gao was about as common as steamed buns or fried dough sticks elsewhere—when you couldn’t decide what to eat, you couldn’t go wrong with a piece of Jian’gao.
The breeze in the rain brought a refreshing coolness that opened every pore.
Amid the bustling crowd, An Jing immediately spotted Zhu Ying, waiting at the roadside with her umbrella.
“Xiao Ying!”
“So slow—why are you so slow today?”
Zhu Ying complained, tapping the ground with her toe, grumbling, “I’ve been waiting forever!”
“Ahem, woke up late, then had a bit of breakfast too.”
“What were you up to yesterday?”
“My cousin came back to get his license plate, then treated us to hotpot in T City.”
“The Firepot City in T City?”
“You know about it?”
“Of course, I’ve been there several times~”
Zhu Ying closed her umbrella and squeezed under An Jing’s, the two crowding together, making the breeze seem to carry a hint of spring’s warmth—even though it was still drizzling.
Wildflowers by the roadside were in full bloom.
In small cities, red flowers like these were everywhere—not always the same species, but mostly this color.
They covered the hillsides, grew under the street trees, bloomed in flower beds, and even peeked from cracks between sidewalk bricks or beside ditches.
Red flowers everywhere—the unique scenery of spring in a small city.
Set against the ever-present white walls and black-tiled roofs, with narrow rivers winding here and there, it was as if a vivid splash of color had been added to a black-and-white Jiangnan Ink Painting.
“Your dad took you?”
“Every two or three months, the whole family goes. The food’s pretty good. But in summer, we don’t go—too hot.”
“I thought it was delicious too… but the price looks expensive, even though I didn’t have to pay.”
An Jing gave a helpless look as Zhu Ying’s fluffy hair brushed her cheek.
“By the way, my cousin actually bought his car on a loan.”
“Huh, why’s that?”
“If you don’t have money, why buy one? Or just get a cheaper one?”
“It’s fine as long as he can pay it back. Nothing wrong with enjoying things a bit earlier—besides, our politics textbook says it’s the trend in developed countries to consume in advance.”
“Last year—no, the year before—the financial bubble burst, wasn’t that caused by overconsumption?”
An Jing pouted.
“Anyway, I just think being an adult is troublesome. Everyone’s like this, pretending to be richer than they are. Since everyone buys cars at that price, they feel they have to as well.”
“How much was it?”
“One hundred fifty or sixty thousand yuan. So expensive.”
“Not that expensive—it’s a car, after all.”
“But my cousin always says he’s short on money, rents his place, eats poorly, only has two meals a day, can’t afford to take girls out—so why buy a car?”
“Well—maybe if he didn’t buy it, he wouldn’t save the money anyway?”
“Really?”
“My mom says that all the time, so our family buys a lot of things on credit, then pays it back little by little. Now that she’s almost done paying off one thing, she wants to borrow to upgrade again.”
“But I don’t like leaving my future in someone else’s hands. I’d rather save on my own, even if I never manage to save enough.”
Zhu Ying just smiled softly and changed the subject.
“What’s your cousin do in S City?”
“He works at a company, I think in purchasing, or maybe sales, or maybe a bit of everything? I’m not really sure…”
An Jing shook her head.
“But life seems tough in the big city. He always says the pace is slower here in a small city, life is more relaxed.”
“But the salary’s different—otherwise, why would everyone go to the big city?”
“Yeah, your dad wants to get transferred to the provincial capital, and my dad went there ages ago,” An Jing muttered.
“Honestly, I’m a little worried.”
“Worried about what?”
“That I won’t adapt to life in the capital?”
“What part of life?”
“Everything…?”
“Don’t be so dramatic. How could you not adapt?”
Zhu Ying laughed, her eyes crinkling. “You’re the most adaptable person I know.”
“Really…?”
***
(2)
At the school gate, the students on ceremonial duty had been standing with their umbrellas for a while already.
More and more students streamed into the school, and occasionally a teacher would drive into the campus.
A Suzuki Beidouxing, white with black trim, approached slowly.
The students on duty straightened up at once, and the lead boy called out, “Good morning, Teacher!”
They were all second-year students, looking far more energetic than the third-years.
“That’s Teacher Wen Ye.”
An Jing tilted her head for a look.
“She’s wearing a red dress today. So pretty.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen any other teacher wear a red dress at school.”
“Now that you mention it… I guess not?”
Zhu Ying blinked.
“Maybe they think it’s too eye-catching?”
“Or maybe the school has a rule—teachers need to wear more subdued colors?”
“If that’s the case, why is she wearing one?”
“Maybe she… doesn’t have to follow the rules?” An Jing coughed.
***
(3)
The liveliest time at school was probably the last twenty minutes before the bell for being late.
Most students arrived then, so the stairways were always jammed with the big backpacks of the students ahead.
That was why An Jing preferred to come early—a rare time when someone who loved bustle would rather have some peace.
Fang Qiang carried two buckets of water upstairs with ease, looking light on his feet. He had a part-time job delivering water outside school, and even at school he helped carry water to the classrooms every day…
“A Qiang!”
“Hey, you’re late today!”
“A bit late. You’re carrying water again? Hardly anyone uses the water dispenser at the back of the classroom.”
“Really? I think the water goes pretty quickly.”
“I saw someone throw chalk into the dispenser once, and it never gets cleaned—it seems really dirty…”
“No worries, I cleaned it this morning.”
“When did you get so keen on doing good deeds?”
“I’m just bored,” Fang Qiang scratched his head. “Last night I randomly scribbled down my homework, so I won’t have to copy today.”
“Homework? Ah? Wait, I think I forgot to do some assignments!” Zhu Ying glanced at her. “You forgot because of hotpot, right?”
“Yeah!!”
***
(4)
“An’an, I did your math for you…”
“Ah, thank you, thank you! You saved me!”
“Even An’an forgets her homework sometimes,” Wang Xinru giggled.
“Ahem, I went for hotpot yesterday, then came back late and forgot for a moment.”
“Was eating hotpot really that time-consuming?”
“Well, we also wandered around for a while and watched Fei Jie get her ear pierced.”
“Fei Jie’s first piercing?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s rare. Lots of high schoolers and even junior high students have pierced ears these days. Most people get it done in college, right?”
“She doesn’t seem like the type to care about stuff like that. If Huihui hadn’t suggested it, she probably still wouldn’t have done it.”
“Xiao Jing, will you get your ears pierced someday?”
“No way…”
“Tch, then I’ll do mine myself.”
“Why even get your ears pierced?”
“So you can wear earrings, of course.”
“I think it’s cleaner and fresher without them. Wearing earrings… just feels… too grown-up.”
“Fine, then wait until you feel you’re mature enough to get them.”
“I refuse.”
“An’an, Teacher Ye is here.”
“Ah? Ah…”
Before An Jing could react, Wen Ye poked her head over—the first seat of the third group was just too close to the podium.
“Hmm—copying homework, are we?”
“Ahem, cough! N-no!”
“Copy if you must, just don’t mess up on the test.”
Wen Ye waved her hand dismissively, “You probably forgot to do it because you were busy yesterday?”
“Yes…”
“Oh, you can skip copying the English. Let’s just say you did it this time.”
“Ah?”
An Jing was surprised—she’d never met such an easygoing teacher.
“So… so what about me?”
“Just listen in class and don’t forget next time,” Wen Ye patted An Jing’s head lightly, smiling gently as if looking after her own junior.
“If I didn’t have to manage this class, Qianyu would be your English teacher right now.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing, just an old friend of mine,” Wen Ye stretched and yawned hugely. “She’s probably out on a date with Tianleng Xue right now. Ugh, I’m so jealous. I still have to come teach class.”
An Jing tilted her head at Zhu Ying, ready to say something lighthearted, when she noticed Zhu Ying’s face had turned bright red. Looking to the right, she saw Wang Xinru burying her face in her arm.
She could faintly hear Zhu Ying’s grumbling between clenched teeth: “Xiao Ru, thinking about that stuff first thing in the morning… seriously—and in a car, in the middle of the main street…”
“Ah? Ahaha?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.