EAY Chapter 19

Graduation

19

“Is this really the last tutoring session?” Shi Ran asked, somewhat blankly.

How could it be so fast? He put down his pen, rested his chin on the table, and looked at the dwindling number of cakes in the glass cabinet in front of him.

Over the past year, he had eaten every cake in this shop multiple times, confirming his favorite lemon flavor. He’d also tried all the drinks, not finding a particular favorite, except that coffee was the most refreshing.

During the most challenging period of studying, he felt like the road ahead was endless, with problems he couldn’t finish and knowledge points he couldn’t memorize. He felt countless times that he was daydreaming and simply couldn’t do it.

But Qi Ye believed in him without a doubt.

Shi Ran’s feelings towards Qi Ye had also quietly changed. Some people’s shining points are persistent in being discovered, while others don’t care about those things, and may not even know they have any.

Qi Ye was the latter.

“Yeah, the last tutoring session. Time really flies,” Qi Ye said with a slight smile, turning to rummage through his backpack next to him.

Knowing that this day would come, it still felt sudden when it actually arrived. Shi Ran looked at Qi Ye, grateful to have him. Otherwise, his entire high school career would have been spent in chaos.

As Shi Ran turned to look out the window, he suddenly heard Qi Ye call his name softly, followed by the sound of a camera shutter clicking.

“You brought a camera with you?” Shi Ran smiled. “Taking candid shots of me?”

“Because it’s the last day, I borrowed my dad’s camera,” Qi Ye said a little shyly. “If you don’t like it, I’ll delete it right away.”

“I don’t mind. I’m not enthusiastic about taking pictures, but I don’t dislike it either.” Shi Ran looked out the window and said, “Are you going out to take pictures of the scenery? There’s still sunlight now.”

“Okay.” Qi Ye also wanted to record the road they walked for tutoring. Maybe someday, he would walk it again with some kind of nostalgia.

But no one can predict the future. If he left this city, it wouldn’t be so easy to come back. Photos could be carried around as a way to remember the moments.

As they were leaving, the shop owner even gave them new drinks to try, knowing that they were about to take the college entrance exam, and offered them as encouragement.

Qi Ye and Shi Ran quickly thanked the shop owner, apologizing for bothering them for over a year.

“I should be thanking you,” the shop owner said with a smile. “Ever since I saw you studying in the shop, my child who is in junior high school has also been greatly influenced. I don’t have to nag them to do their homework at all after school.”

Coming out of the shop, they walked the same route as before. Qi Ye took many photos along the way. Actually, he really wanted to take a photo with Shi Ran, but he never found an opportunity. Shi Ran was still worried about the most important exam the day after tomorrow, and looked preoccupied with his hands in his pockets. Qi Ye didn’t want to bother him.

After returning home, Qi Ye held the camera and flipped through the photos. The candid shot in the cake shop was the best. Shi Ran suddenly looked at the camera, his eyes slightly widened, his expression innocent and cute. With the sunlight adding to the effect, he looked bright and warm.

You can’t see any trace of the “school bully” from before, Qi Ye murmured.

But if Qi Ye recalled carefully, Shi Ran had been in well-behaved mode during their interactions over the past year. He didn’t complain or get frustrated. When he encountered difficult problems, he humbly asked for help. When he was very exhausted, he would just lie on the desk for a while and then continue studying.

Qi Ye put down the camera, planning to develop the photos after the college entrance exam was over. He opened the drawer, and a yearbook came into view.

A few days ago, it was popular in the class to write in these things. Qi Ye wasn’t very interested at first, but when he saw Shi Ran writing in one for others at his seat, he had a small thought.

Shi Ran was really working hard, the yearbooks handed to him were piled high. He didn’t want to waste the tutoring time after school, so he desperately wrote and wrote at his seat after each class, as if he was signing books.

When Qi Ye handed his to him, he comforted him: “Just write whatever you want.”

Qi Ye didn’t know if Shi Ran took this to heart. In the largest blank space for messages, there were only a few large characters written in a flamboyant style – Deep gratitude beyond words!

Qi Ye smiled wryly.

He bought this yearbook just to have Shi Ran write in it, so he only took out one page.

Qi Ye put the camera into the drawer as well. For him, having these things with the person he liked was enough.

–

The day the college entrance exam ended was extremely lively at the school. Everywhere, people were cheering and jumping for joy. Old test papers and practice problems fluttered down from the windows like snowflakes. The school’s loudspeakers were playing celebratory music, and everyone was hugging each other, jumping and shouting.

Qi Ye and Shi Ran weren’t in the same exam room, and their return times to school were also different. Qi Ye’s bus was the last one to return, and the carnival party on campus had already begun.

After encouraging each other before the exam, Qi Ye hadn’t contacted Shi Ran. He didn’t know how Shi Ran had performed. His phone had been at home the whole time and he hadn’t brought it.

After getting off the bus, he found a circle of people gathered below the teaching building, cheering and making noise about something. Qi Ye never liked joining in on the excitement, and he was eager to find Shi Ran, wanting to see how he was doing after the exam. Whether it was good or bad, it was finally over.

Only two or three students were talking together in the classroom, and Shi Ran wasn’t there. Qi Ye walked out of the classroom, and many people were leaning on the railing of the corridor, raising their hands and shouting down below. Among them, a voice was calling out, “Shi Ran is mighty! It’s graduation, kiss her already!”

Only then did Qi Ye slowly walk to a blank space and cast his gaze downward.

It turned out that the main character surrounded by the people below was Shi Ran, and a girl with two long braids, holding a sunflower in her hand.

The girl was still saying something, but the crowd was too noisy. Everyone’s already excited mood was stimulated to the extreme by this confession scene.

Qi Ye pursed his lips, gripping the railing tightly with one hand. Spending so much time with Shi Ran, he almost forgot that he was such a popular person, completely different from himself. This kind of place surrounded and watched by others was his comfort zone.

But would Shi Ran really agree? This girl…

Qi Ye’s eyes suddenly widened. Once again, an astonishing cheer erupted from the crowd—

Shi Ran took the flower from the girl’s hand and hugged her tightly with a smile.

After the hug ended, they were like the male and female protagonists in a story, holding hands, smiling and gesturing to everyone.

Then, Shi Ran led the girl away from the crowd.

Everyone was cheering, for Shi Ran, and for themselves.

Finally grown up, they could fall in love, they could openly display those hidden feelings under the sun.

Only Qi Ye’s face was as pale as white paper.

He really didn’t want to admit it, but it turned out that he had been holding onto a fluke all along. He didn’t think that graduation would be the end, that separation would be the end.

It was that Shi Ran had someone else by his side. That was the real end for them.

Qi Ye was really good at deceiving himself, leaving himself a little leeway, but this time he really couldn’t deceive himself any longer. He had to leave, he had to stay far away from Shi Ran.