In the afternoon, after the military training ended, head teacher Dan Qingrong announced that everyone would stay at school for evening self-study, with dismissal at nine-thirty.
Upon hearing this, the students inwardly cursed the school as idiots. After training hard all day and feeling utterly exhausted, they had been looking forward to rushing home to lie down and rest, only to be told they had to attend evening self-study.
They hadn't even been issued their textbooks yet—what kind of self-study were they supposed to have?
Seeing the looks of resistance on the students' faces, Dan Qingrong chuckled and said, "Nothing to be done about it, these are the school's rules. How about this, I'll put on a movie for everyone tonight."
The classrooms at No. 4 High School were multimedia classrooms equipped with computers and projectors, which were frequently used for regular classes and were very convenient.
Hearing that they would watch a movie, the students' moods improved a bit. Watching a movie at school was still quite a pleasant experience.
Only Xue Yuantong wore a gloomy little face. She hadn't known in advance about the evening self-study. If it went until nine-thirty, even though it was summer, it would be pitch dark outside. By then, she would have to walk three kilometers alone along the River Dam, which was terrifying just to think about.
Although she considered herself exceptionally bold, walking alone on a night road... what if she ran into a bad person along the way? The more Xue Yuantong thought about it, the more frightened she became, her face turning pale as all sorts of horror movie scenarios flashed through her mind.
Because of the military training, she hadn't brought her phone today. Her mother had gone to the village to help her grandparents harvest peanuts and wouldn't be home for the next few days, so no one would be coming to pick her up.
She was done for, utterly done for. Xue Yuantong felt miserable right now.
Several times she wanted to stand up and tell Dan Qingrong that she needed to go home early, but that would be too embarrassing. If Dan Qingrong asked her for a reason, what should she say?
Tell him she was afraid of walking in the dark?
Ridiculous, simply ridiculous. Would she, Xue Yuantong, ever be afraid of a mere night road?
The classroom lights were turned off. The movie Dan Qingrong put on for everyone was *Spirited Away*, projected onto the screen.
Xue Yuantong's expression shifted constantly in the shadows, her mood wavering.
Jiang Ning had seen this movie in his past life. Back then, on the first day of military training ending, Dan Qingrong had been just like today.
Watching it again now, it gave him a somewhat different feeling.
In the past, Jiang Ning had thoroughly enjoyed watching movies in class. Coming to school on regular days was all about studying, and playing on a phone had to be done on the sly. Watching a movie openly always gave him a sense of getting away with something.
Such permitted transgression was actually quite rare throughout one's entire life. When he was a student, he sneaked around playing on his phone; later, when he entered society and worked in an office, he still sneaked around slacking off. It was always clandestine. It seemed as though a lot had changed, yet nothing had changed at all.
Whether now or in the future, various rules were everywhere. Jiang Ning's life was filled with compromises and helplessness, and he had never attained true freedom.
Jiang Ning quietly enjoyed the movie until nine-thirty arrived, and he found Xue Yuantong in the plaza in front of the classroom.
"It's getting late, walking the night road isn't safe. Come back with me."
Hearing this, Xue Yuantong walked along while saying with feigned confidence, "It's fine, I walk night roads all the time, it's nothing worth mentioning."
Jiang Ning fell silent.
Xue Yuantong wished she could slap herself across the mouth. She had worried for the entire evening self-study and thought of all sorts of ways to get home—she could have taken a taxi, but the money she had brought with her had already been spent.
Just as she finally waited for Jiang Ning to speak up, her big mouth had gone and refused.
Now look at this; Xue Yuantong felt her future was pitch black.
Xue Yuantong's refusal was within Jiang Ning's expectations. He could actually have ignored her, seeing as she had rejected him several times already, but then he remembered he still needed to dig up her house.
"You know I usually go to the River Dam at night, right? The River Dam isn't safe, there are often drunk men around. Last time I looked closely, there's a grave mound every so often in the fields nearby. Sometimes in the middle of the night, you can even hear people sitting on the grave mounds talking. It's pretty creepy," Jiang Ning said calmly.
These words struck Xue Yuantong completely silent.
"Auntie told me before she left that we should look out for each other when there's trouble. If anything happened to you on your walk, I'd definitely feel bad about it."
"Fine, fine, fine, stop talking. I'll ride with you, alright?" Xue Yuantong crossed her arms over her chest and let out a huff. "I'm not scared of walking the night road at all. I just think you look pretty pitiful riding your bike alone at night, so I'll keep you company as a favor."
Watching Xue Yuantong put on airs, Jiang Ning didn't expose her.
When Shen Qing'e was leaving the school grounds, she saw Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong chatting ahead of her, and her expression shifted slightly. Jiang Ning hadn't contacted her in days, to the point where she had to go shopping in person for her usual things, and she found herself feeling somewhat unaccustomed to it for a moment.
She glanced at Xue Yuantong a few times. Although the girl's face was clean, she was ridiculously short, just like a primary school student, and she constantly wore a scowl. Jiang Ning really had a bizarre taste in people.
"Shen Qing'e, let's go," a classmate beside her called out.
"Yeah, okay," Shen Qing'e replied. She didn't say hello to Jiang Ning; there was completely no need. When she used to study at the township middle school, she had thought Jiang Ning was somewhat unique. But now, arriving at No. 4 High School, he was completely unremarkable in class—just an ordinary classmate.
And what about herself? After two days of school, she had become the main topic of discussion among the boys in her class. During the afternoon military training break, a bright and handsome boy from the next class had brought her a cola, drawing the envy of the surrounding girls. Bathed in the gazes of those girls, Shen Qing'e had worn a sweet smile.
She was living at her sister's house, and with the help of Jiang Junlong, who would be studying in the experimental class at No. 2 High School in the future, her grades would undoubtedly improve by leaps and bounds, leaving Jiang Ning far behind.
She and Jiang Ning were long past walking the same path; the gap between them would only grow wider in the future. As for the past, she felt no attachment to it whatsoever—let it be buried in memories!
Shen Qing'e got into her sister's car at the school gates. Through the car window, she saw Jiang Ning pushing his bicycle, followed by the short stature of Xue Yuantong.
The car started and drove toward the neon-lit city center. The rearview mirror reflected a vast, gloomy expanse of the suburban outskirts, resembling a dilapidated village—and that was precisely the direction Jiang Ning was pushing his bike toward.
A faint smile curved the corners of Shen Qing'e's lips.
...
Jiang Ning pushed his bike the entire way, while Xue Yuantong walked silently behind him.
Jiang Ning mounted the bike, resting the tips of his toes on the ground. "Hop on."
Xue Yuantong said, "You ride first, I'll jump straight onto the back seat in a second."
Jiang Ning pressed down on the pedal, the wheels turned, and the mountain bike moved slowly forward.
Xue Yuantong took a running start from behind and kicked off with her short little legs...
And kicked empty air, failing to reach the seat.
Jiang Ning pretended not to see and slowed the bike down again.
Xue Yuantong took a deep breath and tried again, but still failed to get on.
Jiang Ning stopped the bike, and the atmosphere suddenly grew suffocating. Xue Yuantong's face turned beet red. It was too humiliating; she felt like she wanted to die.
After a long while, Jiang Ning broke the silence: "Well, the military training instructors are pretty strict, and today's training intensity exceeded the limit. All the guys in our platoon were complaining they couldn't take it."
Xue Yuantong went along with it: "Oh right, right, military training is a piece of cake for me, it's just that my shoes didn't fit right and they were super uncomfortable, you know?"
"I know, I know," Jiang Ning said with a half-smile.
Xue Yuantong pretended not to see Jiang Ning's expression and looked away.
"Get on the bike."
"Coming." Xue Yuantong finally got on. She sat sideways, and the cushion on the back seat was very soft, not hurting her bottom at all.
The mountain bike gradually picked up speed. Xue Yuantong's small hands gripped tightly onto the edge of the back seat, her body pressing against Jiang Ning.
She had never been pressed this close to a boy before. The headwind of the night brushed the strands of hair across her forehead, and Xue Yuantong's heart beat slightly faster than usual.