The two boys at the front desk tactfully stopped discussing the topic and turned around to watch the movie.
But Ji Qingyou became quiet. Unlike what everyone else assumed, she had never thought she would become a real doctor, nor had she thought she would become the next Qin Bailan, or the next Qin Shuangchi.
She didn’t like being the center of attention, or being compared.
Some people said, it’s a shame, coming from a medical family and not studying medicine. Others said, with your calm personality and good grades, if you become a doctor like your sister, you would be a great doctor too.
But Ji Qingyou didn’t think so.
Every time a teacher talked to her, or a classmate chatted with her about her dreams, she would shake her head and keep silent. She didn’t have any dreams. If she had to have one, it was that she would at least not become a doctor.
At the age of five, Ji Qingyou’s house caught fire. She was locked in the study but managed to escape. Later, she was adopted by the Qin family. In the decades that followed, she could never open her heart to the Qins. Although Qin Bailan treated her as her own, she couldn’t break through that innate barrier.
Perhaps, she was afraid that the world would discover her clumsy, flawed self. So for a long time, she was determined to become the complete opposite of Qin Bailan and Qin Shuangchi.
She couldn’t share her fears and clumsiness with anyone, nor could she say that she “absolutely wouldn’t become a doctor” to anyone, including Qin Bailan and Qin Shuangchi.
Except for Yu Qinjiu.
Yu Qinjiu, who was like an adjective in her life.
Thinking of this, Ji Qingyou slightly lowered her eyes and looked at Yu Qinjiu, who was lying on the desk. Yu Qinjiu’s eyelashes were very long. When her breathing was even, they trembled like little butterflies.
Suddenly, lightning flashed outside, illuminating her bright, soft brows and eyes clearly. But because of the lightning, Yu Qinjiu slightly puffed up her cheeks, as if expressing displeasure.
Ji Qingyou put down her pen. She moved her stool next to the wall and sat down. She pressed down the curtain that was blowing in the wind, not letting a single ray of light through.
The movie was still playing. The classroom was dark.
It was hard to do exam papers or study in this kind of light. It would be bad for the eyes.
The classroom was never quiet during movie time. Some girls went from discussing why Qingchuan didn’t like the Fourth Prince in this year’s hit TV show Palace, to the rumor that 2012 was the end of the world.
“Hey, if 2012 really is the end of the world, then we wouldn’t have to take the college entrance exam. We’d all die together. That would be great.”
“You’re an idiot. The end of the world is December 21, 2012. Even if it’s real, we’d have to finish the college entrance exam and have one semester of university before we die.”
“Pfft, I don’t believe it. Only girls believe in that stuff,” a boy chimed in. “They said the year 2000 was the end of the world too, and I’m still alive and kicking!”
The girls who were discussing were unhappy. “We weren’t talking to you.”
The boy kept on nagging, mimicking the girls’ voices in a high-pitched tone. “If the end of the world is coming, why are you still sitting here putting on makeup? Shouldn’t you go do something?”
The girls attacked him as a group, throwing a book at his head, saying in unison,
“None of your business!”
Ji Qingyou listened to the commotion calmly, then said, “Quiet.” The noise in the classroom subsided. This was a common atmosphere in Class 434. A bit noisy, but Ji Qingyou usually didn’t bother. She only spoke up when it got really out of hand.
Fortunately, the troublesome students in the class listened to her. They didn’t make much noise, just chatted softly, their topics drifting to who knows where.
Ji Qingyou leaned against the wall, arms crossed, eyes slightly lowered, thinking about the mock application form. The homeroom teacher had made the form to motivate everyone for the exams. She said she would compile them and put them up on the classroom wall.
She hadn’t filled it in last time.
So this time, the homeroom teacher had specifically told her to take a good look at the universities. With such good grades, she shouldn’t waste them. At the very least, she should bring glory to the school.
She had never been very smart.
Her grades were just a byproduct of immersing herself in studying.
She glanced at the book The Temperature of the Brain on her desk. For no particular reason, she started thinking, maybe becoming a doctor really was the best path for her.
When this thought came to her, she pursed her lips slightly. But she caught a glimpse of Yu Qinjiu staring at her. The projection wasn’t very good, the light was dim, but when it fell on Yu Qinjiu’s face, it created a dreamy, oil painting-like effect.
Her just-opened eyes were a little hazy, as if covered by a layer of rippling, watery light.
Yu Qinjiu’s narrow chin was buried in her school uniform sleeve. She blinked slowly, stared at her for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Ji Qingyou, is 2012 really the end of the world?”
Ji Qingyou never believed these rumors. “No.”
“I thought so. I’ve never experienced the end of the world before.” Yu Qinjiu moved a little closer. The projection light cast a dim shadow over her full tear mole, making her look like she was inside the movie being projected. “If the world really is ending, what would you do? You’d have to do something, right?”
Ji Qingyou was a little uncomfortable being stared at like that.
She moved the large stack of books piled on the right side of her desk to the left, blocking Yu Qinjiu’s view, and said, “I wouldn’t do anything. I wouldn’t do anything at all.”
Yu Qinjiu didn’t seem satisfied with this answer. She moved the stack of books away, rested her chin on them, tilted her head to look at her, her just-awakened voice soft and carrying an airy lightness.
“If the world really does end in 2012, then I want to die with you.”
Yu Qinjiu’s statements were always dangerous.
Dying together. Like some kind of suicide pact.
Ji Qingyou glanced at her and nodded perfunctorily. “Okay.”
Seeing that she didn’t object, Yu Qinjiu fell into a wonderful train of thought. She talked to herself softly. “If the world really does end on December 21, 2012, and it doesn’t actually happen, then I’ll meet you at the first second after that day ends…”
As she spoke, she curved her eyes and smiled. After smiling for a while, she picked up the stack of books and moved a little closer, staring at her with eyes that seemed to hold the vivid images from the movie.
“And I’ll be the first to tell you that the end of the world has passed. Not only has the world not ended, but we’re also still together.”
Ji Qingyou was a little dazed. Just as she was about to say something, she heard a girl in the front row suddenly start crying loudly. In an instant, the sounds of the drizzling rain and the movie dialogue outside flooded back into her world.
She suddenly realized.
She had just blocked out all sounds except Yu Qinjiu’s.
The movie was still playing. An incomprehensible language filled her ears. The subtitles rolled on the screen.
/A person like him often looks into the distance. Those eyes are always clear, the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.
Maybe it’s because I like him, so I feel this way./
The font on the screen was very small. Ji Qingyou skimmed over it, but for some reason, she memorized this line. Even three, five, or ten years later, whenever she recalled this line, she would always arbitrarily change the “him” in the line to “her.”
And she would remember the full, unrestrained emotions in Yu Qinjiu’s eyes as the movie frames switched and flashed.
Yu Qinjiu took a strawberry lollipop out of Ji Qingyou’s drawer, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth. When she was about to throw away the wrapper, she stopped, staring at the word “Alps” on the wrapper.
And the topic suddenly jumped.
“Ji Qingyou, what do Alps lollipops and the Alps mountain range have in common?”
Ji Qingyou didn’t react for a few seconds. “They shouldn’t have anything in common.”
Yu Qinjiu leaned in, looking at her. Her light-colored pupils reflected the flickering projection light. She curved her eyes and smiled. “Did you know that the snow on the Alps is actually very beautiful?”
As she said this, her breath was filled with the sweet, cloying smell of strawberry candy. In this stuffy, dim classroom, it carved out a unique scent.
Ji Qingyou pursed her lips slightly. She didn’t say that the Alps didn’t produce Alps lollipops, or that the Alps were actually a mountain range spanning many countries.
Because Yu Qinjiu always seemed to do everything with an innate bright color, and an overly bold and jumping soul. And these were exactly the qualities Ji Qingyou lacked.
So Ji Qingyou was very envious, and she wanted to have them too.
But it was hard for her to distinguish at that moment, whether she wanted to have her boldness and jumpiness, or whether she wanted to have her.
Or perhaps, both.
She thought for a moment, trying to grasp this ambiguity. “How beautiful?”
Yu Qinjiu tilted her head and thought. “The kind of beautiful that would make a great wallpaper.”
“How about I send you a picture when I get home?”
The classroom lights were flickering, it was noisy and chaotic. Ji Qingyou looked at her. Amidst all the crying and noise, she nodded lightly and repeated.
“Okay.”
Self-study ended at 9:30 pm. Ji Qingyou went home. Qin Bailan was out again. She had left a note on the table, telling her to lock the door when she went to bed.
Ji Qingyou pursed her lips slightly. After washing up, she half-dried her hair, leaving it slightly damp and hanging by her face. She went back to the study to read The Temperature of the Brain. The author was Qin Bailan.
She had just randomly pulled a book from the study. When she saw the author’s name, she felt a bit of resistance. But after reading a few pages, she found the cases in it interesting, so she brought it to school.
But she still hadn’t even considered becoming a doctor.
Time passed minute by minute. She closed the book and was about to go to bed when she saw a message pop up on the computer’s QQ. It was from Yu Qinjiu.
Only two messages were sent:
A picture sent two hours ago, of a beautiful snowy mountain, probably the Alps.
And a text message:
【Ji Qingyou, are you there?】
Sent ten minutes ago.
Ji Qingyou pursed her lips. She used the phone Qin Bailan had left for her to call. She didn’t like carrying a phone. She fumbled in the drawer for a while before finding it. She had to charge it for a while before it turned on.
The call wasn’t answered immediately.
She called two more times. The call was answered for one second, and then there was a loud crash, as if something had fallen to the ground, or someone had fallen.
Then there was a busy signal.
The call was disconnected.
She froze, then immediately grabbed her keys and ran out the door. She ran to the house across the hall and pounded on the door, shouting loudly, “Yu Qinjiu, are you home?”
Yu Qinjiu had often been home alone recently.
Ji Qingyou pounded on the door. There were also loud noises inside, Yu Qinjiu’s sobbing and crying, the sound of furniture accidentally being bumped.
But Yu Qinjiu couldn’t answer her. She just kept sobbing and crying, every breath seemed hard to take.
Ji Qingyou felt like she was also falling into this fear and stifled breathing. She didn’t have a key to Yu Qinjiu’s house. So she had to quickly go back to her own house and quickly walk over from the balcony. There was an iron gate in between, but it wasn’t locked.
The rain was pouring down, thunder and lightning flashed.
Ji Qingyou was drenched. Her hands were too slippery to turn the bolt on the iron gate. After finally fumbling to open it, cutting her fingers in the process, she climbed through to the balcony of Yu Qinjiu’s house.
