That Nameless Summer Chapter 37

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As autumn gets stronger, the alienation between classes is still a little bitter. By the time the first winter snow falls on the roof of the teaching building, the distance between the three floors has been softened by time.The lights in the rocket class always come on earlier and go out later than in the ordinary class. There are more and more competition papers piled up on the corner of Ling Qingye’s desk. Qin Jiangwen’s notebook is filled with dense formulas. However, the classroom of the ordinary class is still noisy during the breaks. Song Li’s basketball beats are loud, and Xu Jiangyou’s wrong answer book is changed one after another.

Song Li no longer looks up to the top floor in physical education class, but every Wednesday morning, he finds a warm breakfast on the table – two meat buns and a cup of warm soy milk, which he has loved since childhood.There was no signature, but the packaging was Ling Qingye’s usual brown paper bag. He held the warm paper bag and said nothing, as if nothing had happened.He knew that the morning reading for Rocket Class started at 6:30, so Ling Qingye must have gone out half an hour early, took a detour to buy breakfast, and then quietly put it on his desk.

In Xu Jiangyou’s locker, a pack of warm babies and a note will appear every Friday.The handwriting on the note is still cautious, only saying “It’s cooling down, don’t freeze”. Occasionally, it will include an analysis of a difficult English problem. The thinking is clear and as detailed as when she taught Qin Jiangwen the 3000-meter breathing method.She never asks too many questions, she just sticks the warm baby on her clothes and puts the sticky notes into her English notebook. When she encounters a problem she doesn’t understand, she writes questions on the back of the sticky note. The next time she opens the locker, she can always see the detailed answer. The cycle goes on and on, silently.

Ling Qingye was under increasing pressure in Rocket Class. The competition questions were more difficult than expected, and he failed in the first mock test.That night, he stayed up until early in the morning studying questions. His fingertips were cold and he couldn’t help but click on the chat box with Song Li, enter and delete, and finally only sent a photo of an empty desk.Not long after, Song Li replied with a picture of a night scene on a basketball court, with only two words in the text: “Waiting for you.” Ling Qingye looked at the screen, his tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he fell asleep on the table, with a faint smile on his lips.

Qin Jiangwen was still reserved, but slowly found his place in the rocket class.His math scores steadily improved and he became the “dark horse” in the class.The handwriting on the page shone brightly when he touched it, and the phrase “Follow your own pace, don’t panic” became his good medicine for dealing with stress.Once in an English class, the teacher conducted a spot check on his spoken English. His voice was trembling with nervousness. Remembering the encouragement on the note, he slowly calmed down and completed his answer fluently. When he sat down, the tips of his ears were red, but he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

On the day of the winter solstice, the school had a half-day holiday, and the snowflakes were falling heavily.Song Li waited for half an hour by the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley, and finally saw Ling Qingye walking with a schoolbag on his back, a thin layer of snow on his hair, and tired eyes, but they lit up when he saw him.”Where to go?” Ling Qingye asked, his tone was calm, but his footsteps stopped in front of him.

“Eat dumplings.” Song Li shook the thermos bucket in his hand, “My mother made them with cabbage and pork stuffing that you love.”

The two of them walked side by side towards Ling Qingye’s old house, and the snow fell on their shoulders, making a rustling sound.We didn’t talk much along the way, but we didn’t feel embarrassed. I walked on the snow crunching like I did when I was a child, and felt warm in my heart.Ling Qingye’s house was still empty. Song Li poured the dumplings into a plate and heated them on the induction cooker. She watched him sitting on the sofa, rubbing his swollen cheeks, and said softly: “Don’t work too hard, your health is important.”

Ling Qingye looked up at him, with mixed emotions in his eyes, and finally just said: “I know.”

The dumplings were steaming, and the two of them sat at the small dining table and ate slowly.Song Li gave him a dumpling and said, “I don’t understand math competitions, but if you want to play ball, I will accompany you at any time.”

Ling Qingye bit the dumpling, his throat tightened, and nodded without saying anything. He just put a dumpling into his bowl. The snow-white dumpling was stained with a little red oil, like the warmth hidden in the heart of a young man.

Xu Jiangyou met Qin Jiangwen at the convenience store downstairs in the community.He was wearing a thick down jacket and carrying a bag of frozen dumplings. He was obviously here to buy ingredients for the winter solstice.”Do you like this too?” Xu Jiangyou pointed to the dumplings in his hand, which were the corn she often eats.

Qin Jiangwen was stunned, the tips of his ears turned red, and nodded: “Well, you too…”

“My mom is not at home, let’s eat together.” Xu Jiangyou smiled, picked up a bag of dumplings of the same style, and turned to check out.

Qin Jiangwen looked at her back, hesitated for a moment, and quickly followed: “I’ll help you carry it.”

The two walked side by side in the snow, their footprints crisscrossing each other.Qin Jiangwen was holding two bags of dumplings, his fingers were red from the cold, but he didn’t let go.”Your English has improved a lot recently.” Xu Jiangyou said suddenly, with a natural tone.

“Thanks for your notes.” Qin Jiangwen whispered, with a hint of gratitude in his voice.

“It’s your own hard work.” Xu Jiangyou turned to look at him. Snowflakes fell on her eyelashes, shining brightly. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself in the competition. You are already great.”

Qin Jiangwen looked into her eyes, feeling warm in her heart, and nodded: “Well, you too, don’t stay up late all night studying questions.”

The snow fell harder and harder, covering the whole city in white.Song Li and Ling Qingye were sitting in a warm room, eating steaming dumplings; Xu Jiangyou and Qin Jiangwen were walking in the snow, chatting about insignificant topics, but they felt that the distance was gradually getting closer.

The distance of three floors and the barrier between the two corridors seemed to be no longer important in the face of this winter snow.Those concerns hidden deep in my heart, those silent companionships, are like the warm sun in winter, melting the ice and snow and warming the years.They all ran hard on their own tracks, but never forgot that in a corner, someone was waiting silently, and someone was waiting quietly.

Winter snow covers the way forward, but it cannot block the steps forward; distance separates the figures, but cannot separate each other’s thoughts.They know that as long as they keep each other in their hearts, no matter how far they go, they will always find their return date.

And those tenderness hidden in time, those unspoken thoughts, will bloom into the most beautiful flowers one day in the future, illuminating each other’s journey.