(1)
April 19, 2010, Monday.
A drop of cold rain fell from the sky every now and then, seemingly signaling that a downpour was imminent. However, by the time An Jing and Zhu Ying stepped into the school building, the heavy rain had still not arrived.
The lead-gray clouds were so heavy that they looked like they could collapse onto the roof of the school at any moment, crushing the entire world beneath them.
“Is it going to rain or not?” An Jing grumbled, leaning against the hallway railing and looking up at the sky.
“Not only is it not raining, but the sky is getting even darker,” Zhu Ying said, leaning her back against An Jing’s and swaying gently. “Since it’s been brewing for so long, maybe it’ll be a massive rainstorm?”
“Then shouldn’t we stay inside?”
“Why?”
“If it’s a massive rainstorm, maybe classes will be canceled…”
“Pfft, like that would ever happen. Besides, heavy rainstorms usually come and go quickly.”
“True…” An Jing sighed. “Looks like my vacation plans are ruined.”
“We’re graduating in a little over a month. I actually hope I can spend more time at school.”
“Really? Well, to be honest… I don’t really feel much about graduating. It was the same when I finished elementary school. You just finish class like any other day, go home, and then you never go back. It didn’t seem like a big deal.”
“I don’t think the current you would find it to be ‘no big deal.'” Zhu Ying rubbed the back of her head against An Jing’s short hair. “Junior high and elementary school are different.”
“Anyway, for now… I really don’t feel much. I don’t feel like staying at school longer. Don’t I still rush home every day after class?”
“But the number of times you chat with your friends has clearly increased.”
“Has it?”
“Of course it has!”
“When is it going to rain?”
“Do you really want it to rain that badly, Jing?”
“I like spring and summer rain because it always feels like the weather will be especially nice after it stops.”
“Why does it have to be spring or summer?”
“Well… probably because spring and summer rains usually don’t last very long? They don’t make people lose their patience while waiting.”
“You have your own little philosophy on life, don’t you?”
“Does that count as philosophy?”
“I think so.” Zhu Ying gently pushed open the wooden door—at some point, the doors to Grade Nine, Class Five had stopped being locked. Perhaps it was to make it easier for everyone to get to the classroom early to study.
After all, just last week, someone had arrived at the classroom at 4:30 AM for morning reading…
In the third year of junior high, some people give up completely and begin to sink; some suddenly wake up and struggle to reclaim forgotten knowledge; and others feel that they haven’t done nearly enough, starting to study like madmen as if overdrawing their own potential.
“Oh, right. I’ve run out of pen refills. Do you want to go buy some at the gate later?”
“Sure! I actually need to buy a new correction tape too.”
“Didn’t you just buy one?” An Jing asked, tilting her head as she stuffed her backpack into her desk drawer.
“I dropped it and it broke.”
“Then fix it. I remember Zhou Chao knows how to fix those.”
“…What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’?” An Jing blinked in confusion.
“Never mind. It’s better to just buy a new one. The casing on this one is worn out anyway; it doesn’t look good anymore.”
“…As long as the inside works, it’s fine. If you really can’t do it, I’ll fix it.”
“Ahem, actually, I wanted to see if there were any other designs…”
An Jing’s mouth twitched as she suddenly remembered elementary school, when girls loved buying fruit-scented erasers. They would spend all day smelling them or admiring the shapes over and over, as if they would never get tired of it.
Speaking of which, it was the same when they played games. An Jing would wait for Zhu Ying to finish her daily quests, only for her to spend thirty minutes browsing the mall just to pick one out of several outfits. The kicker was that, in the end, she didn’t even buy anything…
***
It was still early, and the Stationery Store at the gate had just opened. The owner was using a crowbar to prop up the rolling shutter, dark circles hanging under his tired eyes as if he hadn’t slept well the night before.
A breeze carrying a hint of moisture brushed against their faces, yet the sky still refused to rain.
The air inside the small shop was a bit stifling. The owner fanned himself, moved a chair that was blocking the aisle outside, and looked back at An Jing and Zhu Ying, who were waiting for him to open. “It’s about to rain.”
“We’ve felt it since we came out, but it still hasn’t started yet.”
“Ha, maybe the clouds will just clear up later.” The owner limped further into the store. “Take a look and see what you need.”
The Stationery Store at a junior high gate was different from the small convenience stores at elementary schools.
Convenience stores had all kinds of snacks and toys; by comparison, stationery was only a small part of their inventory.
In contrast, the Stationery Store near a junior high had a mountain of strange and quirky stationery—though some of it looked like it was more for playing than writing.
During different holidays, the Stationery Store would stock different goods. For instance, in the spring, they sold various bookmarks made of flowers and leaves.
Another example was the Dragon Boat Festival, when they would sell Zongzi-shaped Correction Tape. But those were usually limited-edition holiday items; once the holiday passed, they were gone.
And today… it wasn’t any kind of holiday; it was just an ordinary day.
But since the time for the third-year students to graduate was drawing closer, the most prominent spot at the entrance was filled with things that would make any grade nine student stop in their tracks.
Most of those items shared a common prefix: ‘Memory.’
Memory logs, Memory Books, memory notebooks…
Some were hardcovers, some were softcovers, and some even had little locks on them.
An Jing, who had intended to come in for pens, was drawn in by the variety of designs and couldn’t help but look over.
“I bought something like this back in elementary school too.” Zhu Ying leaned down and picked up an opened Memory Book, flipping through it quickly. It was filled with all sorts of beautiful patterns, but there weren’t many lines meant for actual writing.
“Do you still have it?”
“Of course! It’s in my room. But I’ve lost contact with most of those classmates. I tried adding a few people on QQ a few days ago, but no one responded.”
“Ah… I have no idea where mine went.”
“You didn’t keep it, Jing?”
“Back then, I just did it because everyone else was. Once graduation hit, I forgot all about it…” An Jing scratched her cheek awkwardly. “Thinking back, there was probably a lot of important information in there…”
“Like what?”
“The names of my elementary school classmates.”
“…You didn’t forget their names, did you?”
“Cough, I can’t seem to remember most of them.” An Jing gave a dry cough. “We’re graduating soon, too. Should we… buy one?”
“Yes! I’ve been thinking recently that with only a month or so left, maybe it’s time to start writing in them.” Zhu Ying picked up a purple Memory Book. “What style do you think is good?”
“There are so many styles here. How am I supposed to know which one to pick?”
“Is there nothing you particularly like, Jing?”
“Well… this one.” An Jing pointed to a hard-shell notebook. Aside from a pattern of a beautiful girl on a swing, it was as ordinary as a common diary.
“It’s so plain.”
“I just think it’s refreshing… besides, don’t you think it looks like you?”
“Me?”
“Short legs, baby fat…”
“Who has short legs?!” Zhu Ying’s eyes widened, and she pinched An Jing’s cheek hard.
“I am, I am!”
“Hmph—I like this one.”
“A black one? It has so many patterns.”
“A skull will pop out when you open it!”
“As a girl, why do you like such scary things…”
“How is it scary? Don’t you think it’s cool!”
“…How is it cool?”
“Anyway, I’ve decided to buy this one!”
“Then I’ll get this one. Mine is 5 yuan.”
“Mine is 15.” Zhu Ying flipped it over to check the price on the back.
“That’s so expensive, and it doesn’t even look good. You should pick something else.”
“I want this one!” Zhu Ying’s attitude became stubborn. “That’s what makes it special!”
An Jing helplessly covered her head, watching Zhu Ying hug the black Memory Book as she headed toward the correction tape section.
As she expected, Zhu Ying came back with a Butterfly-shaped Correction Tape.
Furthermore, there was another skull on the butterfly’s wings—this time it was blue.
Just like Zhu Ying’s QQ Zone, An Jing really couldn’t understand how such a cute girl could like that kind of style…
***
Back at her desk: “Write!”
As soon as they returned to the classroom, Zhu Ying couldn’t wait to take out the Memory Book. She flipped to the first page and placed it in front of An Jing.
“Is there really such a rush…?”
“The first page has to be written by you, Jing!”
“Eww—”
“And the first page of yours has to be written by me.”
“Wow, yours is so complicated.” An Jing took a close look and grumbled as if she were reciting a menu. “Name, age, height, weight, appearance, zodiac sign, date of birth, favorite color, favorite stars, favorite movie characters, favorite vegetables, things you hate, and people you hate… there’s way too much!”
“That’s the only way to record things truthfully!”
“Mine is much simpler. You just need to write your name and gender, and then a message…” An Jing’s lip curled. “It’s one thing to ask for a QQ number and a phone number, but what even is MSN?”
“Just leave it blank if you don’t have one.”
“Then can I leave most of it blank?”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Cough… there’s even such a huge section at the bottom for a message.”
“You have to fill it up, Jing!”
“Hey, how am I supposed to fill all that?”
“I don’t care how you do it, just fill it up. I’ll fill up yours too!”
An Jing was already starting to feel a headache. “Are you an elementary schooler…?”
“This is very important to me.” Zhu Ying had a serious look on her face.
“Alright, fine…”
“How are you planning to write it?”
“Hey! You’re not allowed to look until I’m finished!” An Jing covered the Memory Book with her left hand. Feeling that wasn’t secure enough, she hugged it and sat in the seat closest to the window. “No peeking!”
“Hmph, so mysterious. You have to show it to me eventually anyway.”
“That—that’s different!”
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