Evening, basketball court.
Since it was the last day of classes in senior year, there were visibly more people playing basketball than usual.
Even though high school students nowadays are already mature, and everyone restrains themselves from being lodramatic,
when this mont arrives, there is still an undeniable feeling of reluctance to leave.
Everyone wants to hold on a little longer, whether it’s for a few more minutes or half an hour.
The boys pretend to be tough, shouting playful obscenities.
The girls stand at the sidelines, quietly saying goodbye to the boys they once had secret crushes on.
In the principal’s office, Liu Xiaodong had finished discussing future teacher assignnt plans with the old man. Without arranging to do so, they both stood by the window, watching the groups of high school seniors who were lingering and reluctant to leave.
"Another school year has passed..." Liu Xiaodong said with a sip of tea and a sigh, "The graduation ceremony isn’t even here yet, and look at them."
"The ceremony is no longer important, they all know they won’t be coming back for classes," the old man gestured expansively toward the campus and said, "The school is a bond that links everyone together. Once that bond is gone, how long can they stay in touch?"
"Ah, people have to move on," Liu Xiaodong said with a smile, "there are still new environnts ahead, like university and the workplace."
"Yes, people have to move on," the old man said, leaning on the windowsill, "these changes in environnt are like shuffling the deck, bringing similar people together and letting the different ones drift apart. In the future, most of them will just go their separate ways."
"You’re right, Principal Wei, but that’s how society operates, there’s hierarchy in skills, and division in labor," Liu Xiaodong glanced at Li Zheng, who was looking for a spot on the sports field, "Otherwise, everyone would be stuck in the sa village for life, surrounded by the sa people. What would be the point of that?"
"Yeah, you’re right," the old man patted Liu Xiaodong and turned to walk out, "Ah... you know, I’m about to retire, and here I am, for no reason, reminiscing about when I graduated from middle school..."
Liu Xiaodong quickly turned to see him off.
The principal would officially retire next year, so a bit of sentintality was hardly out of place.
Playing along, Liu Xiaodong said, "Normal, normal, I think about it sotis, too."
"Xiao Dong," the old man patted Liu Xiaodong’s arm, "the genuine mories we can’t forget, they all happen before age 18. I’ve almost forgotten everything that happened in the decades after that... but the things from high school, it’s like they were yesterday, especially the regrets... You know... when we work, we make mistakes, we make the wrong choices... but now I’ve forgotten all about them... It’s only the things from high school... the regrets... that still sotis make knock on my head in annoyance."
"I can relate, I can relate," Liu Xiaodong nodded earnestly, agreeing with him.
"Alright, you’ve been very supportive," the old man said as he headed out the door, waving his hand, "Go ahead with your work, no need to see out."
"No problem at all, I indeed share the sa feelings... back in the day..."
"Enough," the old man turned and said, "Do a favor, call Sun Xiubin here for an hour to talk about work."
"Ah? We just had a eting this afternoon."
"Then have another one."
"Hmm... okay... but... why all of a sudden?"
"I just want to leave the small garden free for a day."
"...Alright!"
So, when Sun Xiubin was gearing up for her big day to flourish in the small garden, she suddenly received a call from Liu Xiaodong for no apparent reason—just a sudden urge to chat.
...
At the edge of the court, Li Zheng and his friends had been staring into space while patting the basketball for quite so ti.
There were too many people and no court available.
"Let’s just forget it," Xu ngxi said, daunted by the crowd, "We can co back after the exams, right?"
"No way, I’ve already made space for you guys to take photos," Zhang Xiaoke waved her phone, telling Jiang Qinghua, "You organized this, you find a solution, aren’t you Mr. PR?"
Jiang Qinghua was scratching his head in worry: "The courts are indeed too packed today... not even space for a connecting shot."
"Forget it, forget it," Xu ngxi waved her hands repeatedly, "Really, it’s fine, there will be another chance."
Just as they were talking, suddenly soone on the court waved over, shouting: "Brother Zheng! Over here, here, here, there’s a free court!"
Li Zheng furrowed his brows and glanced over.
The guy had semi-long hair and looked sowhat roguishly handso.
"Do I know him?" Li Zheng tugged at Jiang Qinghua.
"Isn’t that Ling Shijie..." Jiang Qinghua gestured, "the guy from class two, the little rascal."
"Oh, right, now I rember."
As they spoke, Ling Shijie had already run over and upon seeing the situation, imdiately pointed back at the court and said, "Perfect timing, we were just leaving, you guys take over."
Liu Xin was delighted: "So many people, all leaving?"
"Yes, everyone," Ling Shijie said as he pulled Liu Xin and Jiang Qinghua toward the court, "Hurry up, or soone else will take it."
Li Zheng was pushed over by Qiao Bixia as well.
Ling Shijie rushed back to the court and promised a treat of skewers, prompting the crowd to really just up and leave.
As they were departing, Ling Shijie aningfully nodded to Li Zheng.
Liu Xin, giddy and slapping the basketball, went onto the court: "Ha! Lucky day for us."
"Lucky nothing, it’s obviously the master’s prestige, okay?" Photographer Zhang Xiaoke took command from the sidelines, "Move it, move it, I’m ready to capture the mont."
After a brief warm-up, they entered the court and started shooting hoops aimlessly, the passion clearly gone.
Zhang Xiaoke was getting desperate, clutching her phone and cursing, "This is the last ti! Can you not be so boring, please? This is for the yearbook, Qinghua, hurry up and liven things up for ."
Jiang Qinghua also felt bitter, if only he’d known it would be like this, he wouldn’t have organized it...
After weighing it for a mont, he gathered a few people, aimlessly dribbling the ball, a lancholic look spreading across his face.
"How about we do it like the first ti we played basketball?"
"Boys on one team, girls on the other, and everyone plays hard."
"Use the beginning, to end it."
Although the suggestion had a hint of sadness, everyone still agreed.
But the atmosphere beca even more oppressive, and there was even less enthusiasm than before.
Unable to bear it any longer, Zhang Xiaoke forcefully intervened, "Do you guys even know how to play? Who would take it seriously with just a silly bet?"
"Here you go again!" Li Zheng cursed, "Just go and take the photos properly."
"Fine, no bets then, let’s have a punishnt. The loser has to reveal their most embarrassing high school mory. If you don’t want to, or if everyone thinks it’s not embarrassing enough, then you have to run 1000 ters," Zhang Xiaoke pondered, scratching her chin.
"I think that’s a great idea." Liu Xin was imdiately energized, "Sister Xiaoke really knows how to play."
Jiang Qinghua nodded in agreent, "I don’t mind if the girls agree."
"Heh, think I’d be scared?" Qiao Bixia supported the idea with enthusiasm on both sides, "Worst case, I’ll just run 1000 ters, let’s do it."
anwhile, Lin Yujing and Xu ngxi were panicking to death.
"Umm..."
"This..."
Zhang Xiaoke didn’t plan to give them a chance to change their minds, she ran to the side of the court and started shouting, "Alright, alright, alright, the battle of face-sha, begins!"
With Zhang Xiaoke’s forced teasing, the ga really started, forced into existence.
After playing rock-paper-scissors, the girls got the ball.
As expected, the ball quickly made it to Lin Yujing, who was in charge of the offense.
Jiang Qinghua quickly gave Li Zheng a look, "Go on, Li Zheng."
"I rember the first ti we played basketball, you were marking Lin Yujing," Li Zheng instead pushed him back, "I’ll cover ngxi."
"...Alright." Jiang Qinghua’s expression suddenly beca complicated, "I’m telling you Zheng, so obsessions can be deadly."
"Hurry up!!!" Liu Xin, pushing against Qiao Bixia inside, shouted, "I don’t want to be embarrassed and I don’t want to run laps either."
Jiang Qinghua had no choice but to brace himself and defend, rely symbolically blocking the path forward, deliberately keeping a good distance in his defense.
Li Zheng casually strolled over to Xu ngxi’s side.
The reason he was slow was that Xu ngxi was slow too.
The two of them seed to be taking a leisurely walk.
For a mont, it felt like an eternity had passed.
The leisurely stroll continued, and Lin Yujing scored from a mid-range shot.
"Hmm!"
Celebrating with a fist pump.
"Great!" Xu ngxi called out her approval from afar.
Liu Xin, on the other hand, started cursing outright, "Qinghua, what are you doing over there, taking a walk? What are you defending if you’re two ters away?!"
"Shut up!" Jiang Qinghua cursed back, his face turning red, "Do you have any idea how much I’m dealing with right now?"
Liu Xin, still up against Qiao Bixia, retorted, "Ha! Do you know how much Newton’s force I’m dealing with?"
"Just play," Jiang Qinghua said, running to the centerline without further arguing.
The losers inbounded, and he threw the ball straight to Li Zheng.
Li Zheng caught the ball and instinctively went to break through.
But seeing that Xu ngxi was just symbolically standing there, he gave an awkward smile.
Forget it...
He passed the ball back to Jiang Qinghua.
Jiang Qinghua got the ball, and Lin Yujing imdiately rushed him with a formidable presence.
Too difficult...
He had no choice but to pass the ball to Liu Xin in the paint.
But Qiao Bixia was not soone to ss with either; despite Liu Xin pushing against her with all his might, he couldn’t advance an inch.
Helpless, he raised his head, ball in hand, ready to pass it out.
But seeing Jiang Qinghua and Li Zheng both with an air of total dejection, completely out of position, there was, after all, no passing line available.
"Ah..." Liu Xin paused and then understood.
These two fucks, they didn’t even want to win!
Liu Xin had another mont of contemplation.
And then it hit him!
Upon closer consideration, wasn’t this just Truth or Dare?
The "dare" part was just nonsense, but the truth could be the most thrilling.
The one who got hit had to openly share their embarrassing secrets from the past.
There was a unique kind of thrill to it.
"Fuck... both of you are perverts..." Liu Xin cursed and then stopped passing the ball, deciding instead to attempt a forceful jump shot.
Of course, the ball didn’t go in, and it was rebounded by Qiao Bixia who passed it to Lin Yujing.
As a result, the scene just replayed itself.
Li Zheng and Xu ngxi looked as if they had nothing to do with the ga, walking around leisurely as if they were flying.
"As expected, confrontations and competitiveness aren’t really for ," Xu ngxi said with a smile while walking. "Don’t go easy on us, just play properly."
"That wouldn’t be right," Li Zheng said with a silly grin. "If it were Lin Yujing, I might still have the heart to block her shot, but looking at you, I really can’t bring myself to do it..."
A subtle change flickered across Xu ngxi’s face, disappearing almost instantly.
"Then... you go mark Jingjing..."
"She’s a bit scary today, I want to stay as far away as possible."
"Not at all..."
"Yes, she is. Look at her now, glancing over at every now and then as if she’s about to draw a sword..."
"Now that you ntion it... it does seem like that... wait a minute, I feel like she’s looking at ?"
"Anyway, she looks at everyone like that, Xiaoke got caught in it too."
The ga continued with the sa rhythm.
Zhang Xiaoke taking photos on the sidelines made for an even stranger experience.
In his lens, Liu Xin and Qiao Bixia were fiercely competitive, full of fiery passion.
Jiang Qinghua was distracted, Lin Yujing eager to win.
Li Zheng and Xu ngxi were just casually together.
This basketball ga was captured in three distinct moods by Zhang Xiaoke’s cara, and even he was impressed with himself.
Twenty-sothing minutes later, the ga ended, with the won’s team winning 10:4.
"Oh dear—we lost—" Jiang Qinghua drawled as he walked to the sideline, his face showing a hint of anticipation, "Now I can only talk about embarrassing things—"
"Your mother, you’re just a pervert!" Liu Xin, dripping with sweat, burst into a swear. "Why the hell did you drag into this?"
"You could run 1000 ters."
"Damn!"
"Haha." Jiang Qinghua walked over to Zhang Xiaoke. "How’s the shooting?"
"Hmm..." Zhang Xiaoke scrolled through his phone, looking at the material, and said seriously, "We better not go public with this..."
Soon enough, everyone gathered again at the sidelines.
Jiang Qinghua chose to share an embarrassing story, while Li Zheng and Liu Xin both chose the 1000-ter run.
"Hmm... too boring..." Lin Yujing instantly lost interest.
"How about going to the cat cafe for a bit?" suggested Qiao Bixia.
"Great!" Lin Yujing turned and asked, "ngxi?"
"Hmm... it’s good to relax occasionally," Xu ngxi nodded in agreent.
"I won’t go, can’t afford it," Liu Xin said pitifully, looking at the track. "Of course... if soone else is treating..."
However, no one paid any attention to him.
"Then I won’t cause any trouble," Jiang Qinghua said blushing, "Um, is there a specific category for the embarrassing thing?"
"I’m going to change clothes..." Lin Yujing said without any emotion, shouldering her backpack and turning towards the academic building.
"I’ll co with you." Qiao Bixia also picked up her backpack, gave Lin Yujing a sideways hug, then turned to speak.
"How could I miss out on this!" Zhang Xiaoke put away his phone and chased after them.
"I guess I’ll go too..." Xu ngxi followed as well.
"The two of us will go running then," Li Zheng said, nudging Liu Xin to start the 1000-ter run.
Suddenly, only Jiang Qinghua was left standing there.
The disordered wind scattered his hair.
"So... no one wants to hear my embarrassing story..."
Li Zheng ran so fast, he finished the 1000 ters in just over three minutes, and the thirst was welling up in him. He picked up his water bottle and jogged to the water room.
By chance, Xu ngxi was also there filling water bottles for three people.
"That’s a lot for one person," Li Zheng said with a smile as he approached.
"They insisted on peeking at Jingjing changing, so I ca to help fill the bottles," Xu ngxi said, stepping aside, "You go first."
"No worries, you fill."
"..."
The two looked at each other in silence, neither looking at the other, nor knowing what else to say.
Soon, Xu ngxi finished filling the bottles and stepped aside with the three water bottles in her arms, "Your turn."
"Yeah," Li Zheng stepped forward.
At that mont, Qiao Bixia’s shouting ca from outside, "Who’s the pervert that stole my water bottle!"
"Haha..." Xu ngxi laughed awkwardly and pointed outside, "Then I’ll... get going..."
"Yeah," Li Zheng nodded, "You guys go straight to the Cat Café, don’t wait."
"Yeah..." Holding the water bottles, Xu ngxi turned and started walking slowly towards the exit.
Who would’ve thought that the final farewell would be even more unremarkable than the most mundane one imagined.
Yet, the water bottles in her arms were clutched tighter and tighter, and her steps grew slower and slower.
She listened carefully to the sound of rushing water behind her, afraid that it would stop.
She was waiting, waiting for a signal that was unlikely to co.
For that signal, she wanted to drag this last ter, which was less than a lifeti, to be as long as a lifeti.
The sound of water filling stopped abruptly.
At that mont, Xu ngxi was also suffocating.
Then.
Gulp, gulp...
The sound of drinking water followed by the sound of water being filled again.
A faint sigh arose in Xu ngxi’s heart.
So be it... let’s go...
What else could be done, anyway?
Just as she was about to take the next step with determination.
Clang!
Li Zheng’s water bottle suddenly dropped to the ground.
Xu ngxi’s eyes widened slowly in response.
The sound was like a dagger striking her long-suppressed heart.
Even as just an insignificant, tiny trigger, it beca the last straw that broke the cal’s back.
As if completely losing her sanity, Xu ngxi turned around sharply, with all her blood rushing to her brain.
"Li Zheng!"
Li Zheng, who was bending down to pick up his water bottle, had never seen Teacher ngxi like this before.
"I’m very ordinary, even with all the effort I’m just 1% as ordinary as you, no, one-thousandth of one percent, one ten-thousandth of one percent as ordinary." Every vein in Xu ngxi’s body was taut, at that mont, she had the courage to confront the whole world, "The only thing that’s not ordinary is, I like you!"
"I’ve liked you since the first ti we played basketball."
"You don’t need to say anything."
"I just selfishly wanted to tell you that."
"You’ve always called Teacher, convinced that I’ve helped you."
"But in fact, you’ve helped far more than I’ve ever done for you!"
"At the very end, could you please grant a tiny, insignificant request?"
"The college entrance exams end on June 9, and the physics finals start on June 13."
"During those three days in between, could you let help you, take care of you, just once?"
"I know we’re too far apart in our studies; you don’t need my help at all."
"Even if it’s just cooking, cleaning, folding clothes, it should be okay, right?"
"Think of it as your teacher’s way of repaying you, okay?"
"After three days, I won’t bother you, I won’t make things difficult for you anymore."
"I’m sorry, I like you!"
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