Chapter 33

The matter of transferring schools was finally put on the agenda. Grandfather said he had finally managed to pull some strings. Jiang Du didn't say a word, her silence serving as acceptance.

Alone, she stared blankly at the sofa. It was as if the sound of rain was still in her ears, and that figure was still sitting there. After he stood up, he left a small indentation behind. Amidst the lightning and thunder, the leaves of the osmanthus tree were tossed about by the wind.

"I took the bus myself today. All in all, including waiting for the bus, it took an hour," Grandfather said in a robust voice. He was very meticulous, having calculated the time for Jiang Du in advance. Grandmother nodded along, "County No. 3 Middle School is one of the best schools in the area. Sweetie, for now, let your grandfather pick you up on weekends. Once we find a good house and rent it, we'll move there so you don't have to travel back and forth."

The two elderly people spoke one after another, the wrinkles on their faces like carvings from a knife. Jiang Du looked at the white hair at their temples and was suddenly struck by a deep sense of guilt.

Immediately after, a strong and clear thought formed in her mind: She was leaving.

She would never be able to see Wei Qingyue again.

Life was still long, but for her, it would be best if time could just stop at those moments when she could write him letters, and never move forward again.

Late at night, when all was quiet, she found her grandfather's lighter and took out the three letters she had written later but never given to Wei Qingyue. In those moments, there was either a moon or starlight outside the window, precious and fleeting. She had many books of all kinds, and the letters were tucked inside an old book. There was no need to worry about anyone prying; her grandparents had always been very respectful of her, even knocking before entering her room.

'For Grandfather and Grandmother's sake, I have to be strong and study hard.' Large tears streamed down Jiang Du's face silently. She caressed the letters, then kissed them. All the loneliness of her youth was written into these unreceived letters.

The summer night carried the scent of lushly growing grass, wafting in through the window. "Peaches in three years, apricots in four, plums in five; to eat ginkgo, you'll wait for three generations." Some proverbs popped into Jiang Du's head. She and Wei Qingyue had to be like peaches, apricots, and plums—three years, four years, five years. They must not be like ginkgo.

I hope we meet again, I hope we meet again, I hope we meet again.

This was the only sentence recorded in her diary for June 2007. Jiang Du never wrote about sadness or despair, not mentioning a single word about the events she encountered that summer.

The room was filled with the smell of burning paper. She opened the window to let the smell dissipate with the wind.

The next day, Jiang Du was bedridden and couldn't get up. She had a fever. A summer cold was always more miserable than a winter one.

Her head was groggy, her body weak, and after taking cold medicine, all she wanted to do was sleep. On Monday, Jiang Du insisted on going to school to pack her things herself. Her grandfather wouldn't let her, and she burst into anxious tears, saying she could do it.

It would be too regretful if she couldn't say a proper goodbye. She wanted to see Wei Qingyue one more time, and she also wanted to take another good look at Mei Zhong. The tree near the library would be lonely.

But she looked truly weak, her face pale and listless. Her grandfather told her to rest at home for another day before going to school.

On Tuesday, he personally took her to school.

Knowing she was transferring and needed to pack her things in the dormitory, Li Suhua rushed over to help.

When Jiang Du entered the classroom, everyone was looking at her. She thought that the head teacher must have already announced her transfer. Sure enough, written on the blackboard in large characters was, "Wishing classmate Jiang Du a bright future and smooth sailing."

"Are you really transferring?" Zhu Yulong rarely initiated conversation with her. Jiang Du wasn't feeling well, and her voice was weak. "Yes, it's all been arranged."

"Then," Zhu Yulong started, then hesitated. She extended her hand, meaning to shake hands with Jiang Du. Jiang Du extended hers as well. "I wish you all the best."

"You too." Jiang Du squeezed her hand slightly, her breathing quickening. "Zhu Yulong, can you help me check if Wei Qingyue from Science Experimental Class One is in his classroom?"

Zhu Yulong had a surprised expression on her face. She asked, "You don't know what happened yesterday?"

After speaking, she remembered that Jiang Du had taken leave yesterday, Monday.

"What happened yesterday?" Jiang Du's voice was muffled.

Zhu Yulong didn't know if she should say it. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I thought you knew. We all thought you wouldn't be transferring anymore. Yesterday, Wei Qingyue was beaten up by that person at the gate. I don't know how the fight started, but I heard from a classmate that Wei Qingyue's spleen was ruptured and three of his ribs were broken from the beating."

Jiang Du froze.

A sharp pain shot through her body. The girl's breath caught in her throat, as if she couldn't take her next one.

Before she could process her emotions, the class president came in and told her a girl from Science Experimental Class One was looking for her. Jiang Du ran out. She had a slight cough, but upon seeing Zhang Xiaoqiang, she began to cough incessantly, as if she wouldn't stop until she had coughed up her insides.

Zhang Xiaoqiang helped her downstairs, unscrewed a water bottle, and offered Jiang Du some warm water.

"I have a cold," Jiang Du said, pushing the water away. But Zhang Xiaoqiang said, "It's fine. You're coughing so much, drink some water."

Jiang Du shook her head. She was coughing so hard that her face was covered in tears, which she couldn't wipe away fast enough.

The two sat down in a cool, shady spot behind the administration building. Jiang Du looked extremely pale. In the end, she didn't drink a single sip. She couldn't ruin Zhang Xiaoqiang's thermos. She was carrying hot water, perhaps because she was on her period. A thermos cost several dozen yuan...

"The key to Wei Qingyue's locker. He gave it to me early yesterday morning. He said he was going to give it to you personally, but he heard you took the day off, so he gave it to me." Zhang Xiaoqiang took a key out of her pocket. The keychain was a Tweety Bird, identical to her own.

The yellow Tweety Bird, forever comical and cute.

Looking at the Tweety Bird, Jiang Du began to cry.

Zhang Xiaoqiang rarely cried. As far as she could remember, she had never cried over anything. What did she have to cry about? She had excellent grades, a wealthy family, parents who adored her, teachers who cherished her, and classmates who admired her. Her life was smooth sailing; she really couldn't find a reason to cry.

But at this moment, she really wanted to cry. She didn't know why. It was as if something sorrowful had suddenly taken hold of her, something in life that made one feel grief.

"Jiang Du, why are you still transferring?" She had seen the large characters on the blackboard in the Liberal Arts Experimental Class. Zhang Xiaoqiang felt heartbroken, truly heartbroken. She thought this must be the saddest moment of her entire life. "If you just leave like this, what was it all for, for Wei Qingyue? He deliberately went to provoke your dad... no, that bad person. That man nearly beat him to death. He was on the ground, covering his head and just letting him hit him. So many of us saw it. The teacher said Wei Qingyue's spleen couldn't be saved and would have to be removed. He broke so many bones. We all thought he had been beaten to death. The students were all crying. He's about to go abroad, yet he still stood up for you like this. Others might not know, but I know he wanted that man to go to jail so that you could, so that you could continue studying at Mei Zhong properly."

Zhang Xiaoqiang was sobbing so hard she couldn't continue. She covered her face, her shoulders shaking.

"This is all I can do. I don't know... how to do more." This was the last sentence Wei Qingyue said, his mouth full of blood, before losing consciousness. So many people were crowded around, the sounds of students crying and teachers shouting all mixed together. Zhang Xiaoqiang's feet were stepped on many times as she pushed forward, trying to see Wei Qingyue. She heard someone say he'd said this, but she didn't know what it meant.

She knew.

Over the weekend, Wei Qingyue had left her a message on her QQ Number. By the time she saw it, he seemed to be already offline. His profile picture was gray and never lit up again. She didn't know if he was intentionally invisible or truly offline.

He said:

My departure for abroad is imminent, and my only worry is Jiang Du. We have been classmates for several years, so there are some things I don't need to hide from you. Perhaps you have already noticed something, so I needn't say more. After I leave, I ask you to talk with Jiang Du in your spare time. If she runs into any difficulties, please lend her a helping hand so she doesn't feel too lonely. After I arrive in America, I will give you my address and other contact information. Please stay in touch. For now, only you should know of this. Do not tell anyone else. Thank you very much.

The message was calm and solemn, fully revealing the boy's mature side. Zhang Xiaoqiang was surprised when she received it, feeling as if she had swallowed a lemon. But in the end, she replied with grace:

Old classmate, thank you for your trust in me. I will definitely not let you down. I hope you continue your top-student mode after you get to America.

To keep the atmosphere from becoming too sentimental, Zhang Xiaoqiang deliberately added a smiley face emoji. However, Wei Qingyue never replied.

Until the incident the next day.

The summer wind was like a long, endless, hot broom sweeping across the face of youth, making one's skin burn. Jiang Du's mind was buzzing. For a moment, the world lost its color, leaving only black and white. Black was the blood flowing from Wei Qingyue, and white was the sunlight overhead, so distinct.

So this was what it was like. The hole in her heart whistled like a broken bellows. Liking someone could also hurt this much.

She couldn't make a sound, only cried and cried, heart-wrenching tears. The tears themselves were painful, so much so that her eyes later became swollen and sore. When she stood up, her vision went black, and she nearly fainted.

Inside the locker were a stack of Book City magazines, bundled by date, and an mp3 player.

Later, Jiang Du found out that there were only two songs recorded on the mp3 player: one was "Half a Heart," and the other was "Cold Rainy Night," both in Wei Qingyue's voice. At the end of the recording for "Cold Rainy Night," there was a nonchalantly confident question from the boy:

Did I sing it better than your male classmate?

'Better, much better. You're the best in the world.' When Jiang Du heard that "Cold Rainy Night," her tears fell like rain again.

The fine autumn rain, the bleak winter wind, the dazzling patterns in the private room... Someone had told her, "You can write me letters."

In June of 2007, before the summer vacation arrived, Wei Qingyue never came to school again. No one could contact him, not even Zhang Xiaoqiang. All his communication devices were confiscated, his internet was cut off, and he was kept in the hospital to recover. Wei Zhendong's pride had been greatly insulted. In the end, Wang Yong was imprisoned, but that's a story for later.

At the end of July, when he had mostly recovered, Wei Zhendong put him on a plane. The clouds were like a sea as he flew tens of thousands of meters into the sky. The plants, the crowds, the tall buildings and secrets—everything about his homeland slowly receded from him.

Some things are destined to be realized too late, bringing with them endless regret. Wei Qingyue didn't know that what seemed like an ordinary Friday evening would be the last time he ever saw Jiang Du.

So many things, both mundane and unforgettable, had always happened on ordinary days. But he firmly believed that he would return to this land and meet the girl from his past once more. For now, all he could hold in his hand were a few letters that he repeatedly looked down to confirm. It wasn't Jiang Du's handwriting, but he knew they still belonged to her, even if some words had never been spoken:

Classmate Ghostwriter, you're the one who has been writing to me, right? I have been waiting for good news, looking forward to your letters. Sincerely, an anonymous well-wisher.