Above them, fireworks blossomed in the sky, vibrant and colorful.
Pei Chen heard Liang Zhiyi’s voice, and for a moment, it felt as if the air had frozen.
He turned around and saw the bright and familiar girl before him. Her face overlapped perfectly with the one that had appeared countless times in his dreams, leaving him in a daze, his mind blank.
After crossing mountains and rivers, enduring countless days and nights of torment, she was finally standing before him again.
In that instant, even the dazzling fireworks paled in comparison.
Pei Chen gazed at her, unable to speak, his eyes burning with warmth.
Liang Zhiyi stood before him, blinking her eyes: “Classmate, don’t you want to set off fireworks with me?”
He hurriedly responded:
“I… I do.”
The girl smiled, glanced around, and pointed to a slightly distant, open space: “Let’s go over there.”
Pei Chen agreed and walked with her, while she carried a bag of fireworks. In the next moment, the bag was taken by him.
As they walked closer together, their clothes brushed lightly against each other, and an unspoken tension quietly rose in the air.
Even though they hadn’t seen each other for a year,
they didn’t feel unfamiliar with one another.
Liang Zhiyi wore a pale yellow sweater under a beige cotton jacket. With her hands in her pockets, her delicate brows and red lips stood out, her profile fair and radiant. Pei Chen tried to restrain himself from looking at her, but his gaze couldn’t bear to leave.
The girl looked ahead, her ears tinged with a blush, her head slightly lowered, as her soft cheeks were gently buried in her beige scarf.
When they reached the sparsely populated open space, Pei Chen took the fireworks out of the bag and placed them on the ground.
Liang Zhiyi handed him a lighter. Pei Chen looked at her and, in a low, gentle voice, said, “Stand back a bit.”
“Oh…”
She turned and ran a few steps to the side.
Pei Chen watched her wrapped in her coat, soft and adorable, and he thought of the little penguin he had seen that night by the sea, feeling his heart fill up.
Once she was at a safe distance, Pei Chen lit the fireworks and then returned to her side. A few seconds later, the fireworks shot up into the sky, exploding into golden bursts.
Liang Zhiyi lifted her head to watch the sky, her eyes brightened by the light, her red lips curved into a smile.
They quietly watched the fireworks for a while.
When they were done, Liang Zhiyi lowered her head, gently scuffing the ground with the tip of her shoe. The boy stood facing her, his tall figure enveloping her, looking down at her, and softly spoke:
“I originally wasn’t planning to return to Lincheng for the New Year. But when I heard from Tongzhou that you’d be coming here tonight, I decided to come by first.”
“I hadn’t intended to come back to Lincheng, but later I thought I should come back to see my grandmother.”
“When does school start?”
“The sixth day of the new year.”
“So, you have to leave tomorrow?”
“Yes, I’m going to my grandmother’s house.”
Hearing this, Pei Chen could only suppress his urge to ask her out again. He remembered something and said, “I heard from Uncle Lin that you went to the noodle shop when you came back last year.”
“Yes, it’s rare for me to come back, and I missed Uncle Lin’s pork trotter noodles.”
The image of them at the noodle shop together surfaced in his mind.
The girl lowered her head, and then the boy’s low voice reached her ears: “Next time you go to Old Lin’s Noodle Shop, can you take me along?”
Before, it was she who said she hoped he would accompany her.
Now, it was him saying he wanted to be with her.
Liang Zhiyi turned her gaze away proudly and replied lightly, “That depends on my mood.”
She used to chase after him, but now it was time for the roles to reverse.
He readily agreed, “Alright.”
Then he took out a delicate dark blue gift box from his bag and handed it to her, “Zhiyi, Happy New Year.”
She accepted it and felt the warmth of the box, “Thank you.”
She murmured softly, “But I didn’t prepare a gift for you…”
He looked at her and said, “It’s alright, I’ve already received my New Year’s gift.”
A ripple stirred in her heart, and just then, the phone in her bag rang. It was a call from Zhong Xinrou: “Uh… I’ll be back soon… No need to pick me up…”
After hanging up, she said to him, “My mom is urging me to go home.”
Pei Chen acknowledged and walked with her.
On New Year’s Eve, the streets were brightly decorated, but sparsely populated, with only a few children playing with fireworks.
Liang Zhiyi asked him, “How’s Uncle Pei’s health?”
“He’s doing well. I’ve started helping him with rehabilitation, hoping he can stand again.”
“And your leg?” she asked softly, “Are you taking good care of it?”
“Yes, I rarely do any intense exercise now, and I’ve controlled the amount of time I play basketball.” He remembered what she had said and didn’t want her to worry.
“I heard from Tongzhou… Why didn’t you accept the special admission from that university? They could have helped treat your leg…”
Pei Chen swallowed, “My goal is only C University.”
It was the promise he had made with her in the beginning, and he wasn’t going to give up.
The girl responded with a soft “Oh,” understanding the meaning behind his words, and lightly pressed her lips together.
As they walked slowly together, they eventually reached the gate of the villa area. Liang Zhiyi stopped and said, “You can stop here.”
She looked at him and remembered something:
“Last year, when I suddenly had to transfer schools, it was actually because my parents found out about me chasing after you.”
This was something Liang Tongzhou hadn’t mentioned to Pei Chen, though he had vaguely guessed it might have been because of him.
He lowered his eyes, but then she added, “But my parents were only worried that our relationship might affect our studies, so they made me transfer. They don’t dislike you, in fact, they actually like you quite a lot.”
Liang Zhiyi brought this up because she didn’t want him to feel burdened.
Pei Chen was slightly taken aback. Thinking about what happened the day he delivered the New Year’s gifts, he suddenly wondered if he had misunderstood something.
He didn’t bring it up and simply said, “For the next six months, let’s work hard together.”
The girl nodded, “I’ll head home now.”
He gazed at her reluctantly, “Okay.”
Seeing the strong, suppressed reluctance in his eyes, Liang Zhiyi couldn’t help but secretly smile. “Hold out your hand.”
He hesitantly extended his hand, and she placed something from her bag into it, then proudly said:
“I was just kidding.”
She had prepared a New Year’s gift for him after all.
Pei Chen looked down and saw a hand-knitted jasmine flower keychain in his hand, with a small card attached. On it was written:
“Wishing you prosperity and good fortune year after year.”
For over a decade, Pei Chen had lived a tough life. She hoped that from now on, he could always be healthy, safe, and happy.
The girl turned to leave, but after taking a couple of steps, she looked back at him and huffed, “Next time you buy something, don’t make Liang Tongzhou deliver it to me.”
Pei Chen was left stunned.
How did she know…
As he watched the girl jog into the villa area and disappear from his view, Pei Chen lowered his head to look at the jasmine flower keychain in his hand, his heart pounding rapidly.
Seeing that she was willing to meet him, willing to smile at him, he felt as though the emptiness inside him was slowly being filled.
On the other side.
As the girl returned to the villa area, her heart, which had been racing like a deer, gradually calmed down.
She pinched her flushed cheeks, muttering to herself, “So useless…”
Had he completely won her over? Even after a year, seeing him still made her heart race.
In fact, the message sent by Liang Tongzhou tonight had been with her permission. After a year apart, how could she not want to see him too?
She had always known that he sent her various gifts and snacks. She wasn’t foolish. Liang Tongzhou might buy her something occasionally, but it was only Pei Chen who naively thought he could keep it a secret from her. And she eventually found out that he had gone to W Province to look for her last year as well.
She had gradually become aware of Pei Chen’s feelings for her.
She looked up at the sky and sighed lightly, unable to believe that a whole year had passed just like that.
After a while, she returned home and went upstairs. When Liang Tongzhou saw the expression on her face, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and raised an eyebrow:
“So, you met up with him?”
“How did you know?”
“Look at you, grinning so wide your teeth are about to fall out, and you’re practically floating.”
She glared at him, “Don’t you dare tell anyone.”
“I know, I know.”
She spent some time watching TV with her parents, and after a while, she returned to her room. Throwing herself onto the bed, she pulled out the small box Pei Chen had given her and opened it—
Inside was a platinum and jade crescent moon pendant.
The white jade gleamed under the light, translucent and radiant, with a smooth and delicate texture. It was exceptionally exquisite.
It was her favorite—the moon.
Liang Zhiyi stared at it, her heart fluttering.
After a long moment, she took out her phone and dialed a number.
On the other end, Pei Chen had just returned home. Seeing the incoming call from an unfamiliar number, he answered, only to hear a soft, familiar voice:
“Do you know who this is?”
Hearing the familiar voice etched into his mind, Pei Chen suddenly froze.
For the past year, he had no way of contacting Liang Zhiyi directly and had to go through Liang Tongzhou.
His voice was slightly hoarse as he spoke, “Zhiyi…”
“Are you home?”
“Yes.”
She looked down at the pendant and rubbed her nose, “Why did you buy me such an expensive New Year gift?”
She could tell that the pendant was not cheap, and she wondered how long he had scrimped and saved to buy it. How could he be so foolish, not knowing to take better care of himself…
Pei Chen lowered his eyelashes, “I just thought it suited you. I didn’t have enough money to buy the whole set, so I’ll complete it with the chain in the future.”
She felt a warmth in her heart, “Alright…”
Pei Chen hesitated for a few seconds before asking, “Zhiyi… what’s your new WeChat ID?”
Liang Zhiyi heard this and smiled silently, “You want to add me?”
“Can I?”
She leisurely teased, “Why do you want to add me? I don’t add people I’m not familiar with.”
“…”
Since when were they unfamiliar…
After a couple of seconds, he realized she was repeating the words he had once said to her when he refused to add her on WeChat.
He remained silent for a few moments, then spoke in a low voice, “Zhiyi, I really want to add you. Even if you don’t chat with me, it’s okay. I won’t bother you or disrupt your studies.”
But it was too painful not being able to contact her at all.
The girl curled her lips into a smile, “I know, I’ll log back into my old WeChat.”
After a few more words, she said she was going to take a bath and ended the call.
After hanging up, Pei Chen put down his phone and looked down at the jasmine flower keychain in his hand. Finally, he took out his diary.
He had always had the habit of keeping a diary, especially during the year without Liang Zhiyi.
Looking at the jasmine flower keychain in his hand, he wrote in his notebook:
“There were so many things I didn’t get to say to her tonight.
My guilt, my feelings for her—there are so many things that I can’t express right now.
Just need to endure for six more months.
I wish time could pass faster, even faster.”