Paper flowers, caught in the rooftop breeze, danced over Xia Yi’s head. She blinked, her gaze settling on the boy in front of her, dressed in a white shirt and a dark blue tie. A wide smile curved his lips, his hair and tie fluttering in the wind as he opened his arms like a great magician.
The sun had already set, but the sky wasn’t completely dark yet. The world was bathed in a pale, cool blue. Behind him, fireworks rose into the air against the soft blue backdrop, flickering in and out of sight.
In this fleeting moment, fire and artificial light rivaled the lingering glow of the sun. Even if they burn, the blaze wasn't dazzling; all the light sources blended softly, like colorful fish swirling in water.
A gentle melody played in Xia Yi’s mind. She thought, Nie Qingzhou might actually know magic.
Nie Qingzhou also turned his head to look at the fireworks in the sky. He took two steps back, before leaning against a table, his arms propped up on the surface.
"So beautiful," he sighed. "The last ten minutes of twilight before the sky turns dark—fireworks are the most beautiful at this time."
"Mm," Xia Yi agreed, nodding.
She tilted her head back, gazing at the azure sky. Her pale, smooth neck curved slightly, and the purple ribbon in her hair swayed in the breeze as she hummed a vague tune.
Nie Qingzhou stole a glance at her. The fireworks' glow danced in Xia Yi’s dark eyes. Her expression was focused, just as it would be years later when she looked up at the stage fireworks during her concerts.
In the many concert videos his cousin had shared, whenever fireworks lit up the sky, Xia Yi would always look up, even if she was in the middle of singing or playing the piano. Nothing could stop her.
At that time, his cousin flipped through the video and said to him with emotion, "Xia Yi is like a child. I always feel that she has a very sincere and simple soul in her body."
Now she was his Xia Yi. Soon, she would shed the 'his' and become the Xia Yi of the entire world. Thousands upon thousands of people across the globe would yearn for her love.
He even had the strange premonition that he would gradually drift away from her.
Nie Qingzhou watched Xia Yi. She was sitting on the table, her hand beside his, barely an inch away.
Mesmerized by that tiny distance, he slowly moved his hand closer. But at that very moment, Xia Yi suddenly turned around and looked at him.
"What's wrong?" She asked earnestly.
Xia Yi saw the flicker of panic in Nie Qingzhou's eyes, fleeting as a firework's burst. He touched his nose and pretended to be calm. "Ah... oh, I just... suddenly remembered, it seems a lot of people have confessed to you recently."
Xia Yi was stunned.
She thought, there are also many people who confessed to you.
But she simply nodded. "I refused."
They both turned back to the fireworks, the display was now nearing its end as darkness gradually enveloped the sky.
Nie Qingzhou cleared his throat. "So, what are your thoughts… about falling in love?"
His voice was slightly hoarse, as if he was a little nervous.
Xia Yi, inexplicably, felt a surge of nervousness too. But she thought carefully before answering, "I have no idea. I don't have the time, and it would affect my studies."
Nie Qingzhou fell silent for a moment. His nervousness seemed to dissipate, replaced by a strange stiffness as he gave a thumbs-up.
"I think… that's a very sensible approach."
The good news was that Xia Yi didn't consider the time she spent with him a waste or a detriment to her studies.
The not-so-good news was that Xia Yi hadn't considered any of their shared experiences as anything remotely romantic.
Nie Qingzhou suspected that, for Xia Yi, 'love' was merely a meaningless noun, existing only within the context of confessions and rejections.
His phone vibrated, breaking the silence. Nie Qingzhou glanced at it and chuckled, then shook it up for the bewildered Xia Yi to see.
"We won third place in the second round of the chorus, 'The Broad and Wide Road to Heaven'! We lived up to everyone's expectations!"
The phone vibrated again.
Xia Yi leaned closer, tapping the screen with her finger. Then, she looked seriously at Nie Qingzhou. "Peiqi says Teacher Dong is about to take attendance. Anyone who slipped away early will be considered to have left early."
For a split second, they were silent. Then, they both jumped off the table. Nie Qingzhou had barely taken a step when he screamed, his face contorting as he turned and squeezed his eyes shut.
Xia Yi looked down. Five or six centipedes were crawling on the ground. Apparently, the rooftop was home to a centipede nest, and they, the uninvited guests, had disturbed it.
She remembered that Nie Qingzhou seemed to be very afraid of centipedes. The first time they met, he almost gave away his position because of one.
Xia Yi smiled. So, his magic had limits; there were times when he couldn't remain calm and collected.
Nie Qingzhou felt a pair of slightly cold hands cover his eyes. He froze in the darkness, hearing Xia Yi's voice, "Follow me."
He reached out and held her arm, following her steps through the impenetrable darkness. After about ten steps, Xia Yi put down her hands. Nie Qingzhou’s vision became bright again. They were standing in the stairwell.
Nie Qingzhou closed the door to the rooftop, and then, in perfect unison, they raced down the stairs. He watched the purple ribbon in Xia Yi's hair flutter as she ran ahead of him, and he couldn't help but smile.
In this timeline, he was a chaotic Schrödinger's cat, seemingly able to glimpse the future yet understanding nothing.
But that didn't matter. At least he had this moment.
Xia Yi and Nie Qingzhou rushed back just as several other students were also returning. They returned to the auditorium in a mighty manner just as Teacher Dong was finishing taking attendance, claiming they had just gone to the bathroom.
Teacher Dong glared at the large group of 'bathroom-goers' carrying their school bags. "Who are you trying to fool? You all snuck out, didn't you?!"
She pointed at Nie Qingzhou. "Nie Qingzhou, what kind of example are you setting as a class monitor!"
Nie Qingzhou lowered his head, looking like a model student. Teacher Dong vented her frustration, but ultimately didn't mark them for leaving early. Others who had wandered farther weren't so lucky; Teacher Dong called their parents.
It turned out, this 'broad and wide road' of escape, was neither broad nor wide.
With the chorus festival concluded, the last recreational activity of their sophomore year came to an end. Everyone plunged into the intense preparations for the Huikao (High School Academic Proficiency Test). The Huikao, usually held in March of the second semester of sophomore year, required core subjects like Chinese, Mathematics, and English to make way for the Huikao subjects. Electives like music, art, and physical education were completely sidelined.
It is normal to take turns to take an exam in four Huikao subjects every day, leaving everyone feeling burnt out.
"Which genius decided that History and Politics should be closed-book exams?! There are so many knowledge points to memorize! Who can possibly remember them all?" Zhang Yukun wailed.
Zheng Peiqi flipped through her notes, asking, "When did the Opium War take place?"
"..." Zhang Yukun stared blankly, speechless.
Lai Ning spoke weakly, "It seems like it was in the 18th century…?"
"1840," Xia Yi answered. After a pause, she added, "It should be in the upper half of page sixteen of the handout, somewhere in the middle of a line."
Zhang Yukun flipped to the page in Zheng Peiqi’s handout and, sure enough, found the information exactly where Xia Yi mentioned. He cried out, "Xia Jie! Help! How do you memorize all this?!"
The handout was standard issue for the entire grade. Xia Yi took out her own copy and flipped to the same page. There were various traces drawn on the page with orange and blue highlighters.
"Orange highlights the dates, blue highlights the keywords. I first recall the visual layout of the page, the color scheme, and then the specific information. I use pictures to remember; it helps me remember better." Xia Yi explained.
Lai Ning seemed to be thinking about something, and he said, "Oh, I get it. We input text and store it in our brains, but Xia Yi saves it as a labeled image, so it's quick to find!"
Zhang Yukun, feeling he had stumbled upon a brilliant technique, turned to Nie Qingzhou. "Hey, Zhou Ge! Come look at Xia Jie’s…"
But Nie Qingzhou’s expression was grave. He shushed Zhang Yukun.
Nie Qingzhou had been acting strangely all day. He was absent-minded during lunch, and on his way home from school on this friday afternoon. He didn't feel happy about the weekend at all, but looked serious instead.
As they walked out of the school gates, Nie Qingzhou quickened his pace while saying, "Stay away from me."
The remaining four exchanged puzzled glances. Lai Ning asked Xia Yi, "Why does Zhou Ge always act weird on Fridays? Did someone offend him? Did we offend him?"
Xia Yi, equally bewildered, shook her head.
Across the street from Changchuan No. 1 High School was a primary school. Most of the children had finished school at this time, there were still a few children running out of the school gate.
Changchuan wasn't a large city. Many children could walk home, and they weren't treated as preciously as city kids. Relatively few parents came to pick them up.
Nie Qingzhou slowed down his pace, his eyes searched back and forth in the crowd, and his whole body was tense.
Zhang Yukun asked, puzzled, "Zhou Ge, what's…"
Before he could finish asking 'what's wrong', Nie Qingzhou suddenly dropped his bicycle and rushed out. He sprinted towards a man in an army-green coat, took off his school bag and took something out of it, then suddenly braked - almost hitting the man's back.
He stood frozen, staring at the kind-looking old man in front of him holding a small children's water bottle.
"Uncle... I don't have money to take the bus, can you lend me some money?" He said to the kind-looking old man in front of him.
The old man smiled kindly. "Oh dear, young man, did you lose your wallet? The economy isn't doing well these days; there are so many thieves around."
Nie Qingzhou watched cautiously as the old man reached into his pocket.
Oblivious, the old man smiled and handed Nie Qingzhou a one-yuan coin. Nie Qingzhou took the money, thanked him, and watched as a little boy came running up to be scooped into the old man's arms.
It shouldn't be this old man.
So, it's not today either?
Nie Qingzhou breathed a sigh of relief. He turned and walked back towards his confused companions not far away, who were staring at him as if they were looking at a madman.
Zhang Yukun pointed at the bicycle on the ground. "Zhou Ge, what did your bike do to you this time?"
Lai Ning asked worriedly, "Zhou Ge, are you under too much stress?"
Nie Qingzhou picked up his bicycle from the ground, feeling utterly unable to explain.
"It's nothing, just… I have my reasons."
Xia Yi looked at him thoughtfully.
When Nie Qingzhou locked the bicycle downstairs at home, Xia Yi suddenly took off his bag unexpectedly.
"Hey!" Nie Qingzhou spun around in a hurry to grab it, but Xia Yi held it up, unzipped it, and pulled out a baton and a spray bottle.
Nie Qingzhou’s hand froze in midair.
"A baton? What's this spray?" Xia Yi looked up at him with a serious face. "What do you want to do? Didn't we agree not to fight anymore?"
Nie Qingzhou scratched the back of his head, at a loss for words. He sighed. "It's pepper spray… this whole thing… it’s a long story…"
The second-highest priority event in his notebook was about to happen—sometime during winter, at the elementary school gates, a man in an army-green coat, seeking revenge on society, would attack students with a knife. A high school sophomore would bravely intervene, preventing the man from harming anyone.
That student was him, Nie Qingzhou.
A life-or-death situation fell from the sky and was about to hit him head on, and he had no idea exactly when or how it would happen.