Volume 9: The Acidity of the Setting Sun
Chapter 29: The Acidity of the Setting Sun
The Shenzhou College Entrance Examination is divided into three batches. The first is the early admission batch for exceptional students and those with policy advantages. This batch has the lowest difficulty and a high admission rate, making it a “guaranteed admission batch” in the truest sense. Then there is the first batch that Lu Li participated in, aimed at the majority of excellent students. The exam is extremely difficult and is a purely selective test. After that is the second batch that An Baili and Wen Hupo participated in, with moderate difficulty and a moderate passing score. For Wen Hupo, the second batch exam might have been as simple as drawing an egg, but for Baili, it was an unprecedentedly arduous battle.
She said that in her first and second lives, neither she nor Lu Li had ever aimed for a university of Mulan University’s caliber. In the past, as long as she casually memorized the syllabus before the exam, she could always get a decent score.
In any case, a month after the first batch of exams ended, the second batch also began. After experiencing a final month of Lu Li-style intensive training, An Baili nervously stepped into the examination hall. The College Entrance Examination was unremarkable for Lu Li, with not much worth paying attention to. His high school life was like a crude essay: a brilliant start, an intricate middle, and a shoddy conclusion.
In his three years of high school, he had reaped the youth of the girls, found his own treasure, shouldered some more burdens, and also lost something.
That afternoon, the sun was so intense it felt as if it would sear into the skin. All the summer cicadas in Chuanhai were chirping in unison. Hundreds and thousands of candidates walked out of the examination hall of Chuanhai No. 1 High School. He saw An Baili waving at him, he saw Wen Hupo tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and his phone still had greeting messages from Chen Jianing and Yameng—everything was so perfect.
The smoke of this war where swordsmen drew their blades had dissipated, also heralding a new stage in Lu Li’s life. In the first class after the exams, the head teacher announced that there would be a graduation party at the end of the month, where everyone would take a group photo. He didn’t say what would happen after that, but Lu Li knew that after that, the birds would scatter, and all traces would disappear.
Lu Li didn’t know if Chu Jingyi would attend the graduation ceremony. Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn’t. Just like when he had guessed whether she would go to the Winter Camp.
The graduation ceremony was like the final period of this crude essay. Perhaps it was the author’s signature, or perhaps it was something else. After the second batch of exams ended, Lu Li began to think: if he saw Chu Jingyi on the day of the graduation ceremony, what would he say to her? If that was the last time they would ever meet in their lives, what would he say?
A week before the graduation ceremony, the third-year classrooms were already empty. No students came to class, and no teachers checked attendance. But Lu Li still arrived at school on time, just as he had for the past three years. He didn’t go to the classroom, but to the botanical garden of Chuanhai No. 1 High School.
Flipping back dozens of pages in the attendance sheet at the entrance of the botanical garden, one could see the girl’s elegant handwriting: “Chu Jingyi ✓, Lu Li ✓.” Was that handwriting from last year, or the year before?
That tall, silent, ancient osmanthus tree still stood motionless, as steady as a mountain. Lu Li remembered that his relationship with Chu Jingyi had broken through at this very spot. At that time, he had just made up with An Baili, and the still-naive Chu Jingyi had stumbled upon them. The pure young girl didn’t understand what liking and loving meant; she only knew heartbreak and endless tears.
He also remembered that he had once nonsensically said that the setting sun also had a taste.
If he could see Chu Jingyi one more time, he would definitely correct his mistake. The setting sun wasn’t sweet; it was sour. After a brief sweetness, the setting sun had to face the fact that it was about to fall. That taste was sour and helpless. After that came the long, dark night, and its place would be taken by the moon.
If they could meet again.
“Li, are you still thinking about Jingyi?” An Baili’s voice suddenly came from behind. Lu Li quickly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. How could a real man cry so easily? “How did you get here?”
“I’ve actually been following you the whole time.” An Baili hugged him. Her movements were extremely gentle, not the usual greedy, love-seeking embrace, but an embrace as calm as a summer stream. “Actually, I miss Jingyi too. If it weren’t for her, I might not have gotten over my own obsession so quickly.”
Lu Li wanted to talk about something happy. He feigned a smile. “By the way, how did you convince Jingyi to fly to Mulan City to confess back then? You know, that really scared me at the time.”
“I just told her some things about Chen Jianing. By the way, Jingyi even asked me innocently if I would be jealous.” An Baili remembered Chu Jingyi’s expression at that time and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Jingyi is sometimes too straightforward. If it were someone else, they’d probably be driven mad by her.”
“How did you answer?”
“I said… good friends should share their blessings.” An Baili said with a smile. “Otherwise, why do you think Jingyi accepted me so easily later? It’s called laying the groundwork.”
“Auntie, are you scheming against a little girl who’s dozens of years younger than you?” Lu Li also laughed.
“If I’m an auntie, then you’re a grandpa.”
“Alright, an old man with a young girl is still a win for me.”
“Hmph, when you’re really old, let’s see if you can still handle it.”
“Why not? Do you remember that person…”
The couple chatted as they walked toward the Low-Rent District. Lu Li suddenly stopped talking. He realized that he and An Baili had unknowingly passed by the bookstore where he and Chu Jingyi had first met. Lu Li walked into the bookstore and came to the English literature section.
“It was right here that I met Chu Jingyi. Yameng even had a small conflict with her, but maybe neither of them remembers it now,” Lu Li said with emotion.
“What was your impression of her back then?”
“My first impression was that she was very pretty. She has two eyes, one nose, and one mouth.”
An Baili was amused by him. “Idiot.”
“Do you think she’ll attend the graduation ceremony?” Lu Li suddenly asked.
“Of course she will,” An Baili said with determination. She raised her fist like a certain manga character. “Use your true feelings and confess to her! Don’t let her leave with regrets.”
A beautiful vision also appeared in Lu Li’s mind. “Then I’ll have to take her under the osmanthus tree.”
An Baili continued the train of thought. “You also have to wear the same clothes you wore back then.”
“And we have to make a pinky promise. That silly girl loves to make pinky promises.”
“You have to move her to tears.”
One after another, they described their final meeting as if it were a fairytale from a dream. Lu Li also gradually became convinced that she would definitely attend the graduation ceremony. That girl always brought him surprises. It was like that during the Mulan lockdown, and it was like that during the Winter Camp.
And the facts were indeed so; that girl was always unpredictable.
At the graduation ceremony a week later, the students of Class One of the third-year liberal arts track gathered together again after a long time. Lu Li, wearing an ordinary school uniform, sat nervously in his seat. He kept looking up, not even noticing his unknown female deskmate from before greeting him.
Footsteps sounded from outside the classroom… Someone was walking toward the classroom. Lu Li looked at the only empty seat. Silly Goose, is that you?
