After taking a shower, Sang Zhi returned to her seat and fiddled with the camera for quite a while. She transferred Duan Jiaxu’s photo to her computer and created a new folder to store it in.
She also added the group photo she had taken during her previous visit to Duan Jiaxu’s home.
After some thought, she logged into QQ on her computer and retrieved the photos she had secretly taken of Duan Jiaxu from a private album in her space.
The three photos had different tones and resolutions.
Placed together like this, they vividly conveyed the passage of time.
Sang Zhi stared blankly at them for a long while, suddenly reminded of that period during her senior year of high school.
During that time, her condition inexplicably worsened. Physics, a subject she had always excelled in, was often marred by careless mistakes. Her overall grades plummeted, and her ranking in the grade kept slipping.
On the day she received the coming-of-age gift from Duan Jiaxu, the results of the Nanwu city-wide mock exam were also released.
It was the worst performance she had achieved throughout her entire senior year.
Because of this, after self-study ended that day,
she was called in for a talk by her teacher.
The homeroom teacher had noticed the incident between her and the student athlete from the neighboring class earlier. So when her grades dropped, the teacher immediately assumed it was due to her being in a relationship, which had affected her academic performance.
When speaking with her, the teacher was particularly harsh.
Sang Zhi listened silently to the reprimand, only repeating, "I’m not in a relationship," before returning to the classroom, grabbing her backpack, and taking the bus home.
To put it in perspective, during senior year, they only had half a day off each week.
After school ended on Saturday afternoon, they had to return the next day for evening self-study. However, most students would leave home around noon and arrive at school by the afternoon.
The day she returned home happened to be her birthday.
Li Ping and Sang Rong were busy cooking in the kitchen.
Perhaps because it was her birthday, Sang Yan was unexpectedly at home, sitting on the sofa watching TV. When he saw her return, he merely lifted his chin and said calmly, "Duan Jiaxu sent you a package. It’s in your room."
Sang Zhi nodded and silently went to her room.
She closed the door, placed her heavy backpack on the desk, and looked down at the sender’s name on the package. Then, she slowly opened the box.
Inside, she found a set of cosmetics along with a greeting card.
Sang Zhi opened the card.
The man’s handwriting was bold and neat, with only one line written:
—Wishing little Sang Zhi a happy coming of age.
It seemed like something she had been looking forward to for a long time.
All her emotions surged at once.
The pressure of senior year, the teacher’s unfounded accusations, and the overwhelming sense of injustice.
Sang Zhi stared at the words, her eyes gradually reddening. After a while, a sob escaped her throat, accompanied by tears that fell uncontrollably.
She felt utterly overwhelmed.
Afraid of being heard by anyone, she crouched on the floor, using all her strength to suppress her sobs. Her entire body trembled, and she began to hiccup from crying.
It felt as though she couldn’t catch her breath.
In that moment,
Sang Zhi truly realized what it felt like to truly grow up.
It was no longer daring to cry freely, treating confiding as something shameful;
It was no longer daring to treat willfulness as a daily occurrence, clearly understanding what should and shouldn’t be done;
It was no longer daring to dream wildly, no longer daring to treat fairy tales as reality, making life rigid and monotonous.
It was something utterly not worth looking forward to.
…The sound of her phone snapped Sang Zhi out of her thoughts. She blinked hard, reached for her phone, and glanced at the screen.
—A message from her admirer.
Sang Zhi opened it.
Admirer: 【Free tomorrow?】
Sang Zhi thought for a moment: 【No.】
Admirer: 【How about the day after?】
Sang Zhi: 【No.】
Admirer: 【The day after that?】
Sang Zhi: 【No.】
Admirer: 【Not even in the evening?】
Seeing this, Sang Zhi checked her class schedule and replied: 【No classes on Wednesday evening.】
Admirer: 【What a coincidence.】
Admirer: 【I’m free too.】
Sang Zhi: 【But I have homework to do.】
Admirer: 【Want me to keep you company?】
Sang Zhi curled her lips and typed "Okay," but quickly deleted it, replacing it with the more reserved "We'll see." She put down her phone, washed up in the bathroom, and returned to bed.
It was already lights-out time, and the others in the dorm had also gone to bed.
Only her phone screen was still glowing.
She chatted with Duan Jiaxu until she unknowingly fell asleep. Perhaps because she hadn’t replied for a long time, the screen lit up again after a while.
Admirer: 【Good night.】
The time displayed on the phone had already passed midnight, ushering in a new day.
Sang Zhi bid farewell to her eighteenth year.
On her nineteenth birthday, she picked up the dream she had at thirteen.
But this time, it was different from before.
That time had been hopeless.
This time, it would surely come true—
The next day, after morning classes ended.
Sang Zhi went to the cafeteria with her roommates and overheard them discussing something: "I saw in the group chat that the school is hosting the 5th Digital Media Art Competition soon. Do you guys want to participate?"
Wang Ruolan: "Do we need to form a team?"
Ning Wei: "Yeah, no more than six people per team."
Yu Xin: "Can students from other departments join?"
Ning Wei: "Of course, it’s open to the whole school."
Wang Ruolan: "Are you all joining?"
Yu Xin wasn’t very interested: "Nah, I’m too lazy."
"Let me check," Sang Zhi took out her phone and opened the class group chat. "The competition categories include animated short films, microfilms, game design, interactive design..."
Ning Wei: "Animated short films sound good. What’s the theme?"
"There are several: commemorating the centennial of Yihe University, promotional themes, and Yihe folk culture." Sang Zhi scrolled through the details and added, "Game design doesn’t have to follow this theme."
Wang Ruolan: "But for game design, wouldn’t we need to team up with someone from the Software Department?"
Ning Wei: "Not necessarily, we can ask a teacher first."
Wang Ruolan: "How do we sign up?"
Sang Zhi: "We need to find an advisor first, then form a team and register."
Yu Xin: "Are you all joining?"
Wang Ruolan: "I’m just asking. Honestly, I’m too lazy too."
After chatting a bit more about the competition, the conversation naturally drifted to other topics.
Sang Zhi, always eager to join competitions whenever possible, heard that Liang Jun, a senior in her department from the same major, was planning to participate. She reached out to him, and the two decided to form a team.
They were joined by Ning Wei, one of Liang Jun’s classmates, and another girl from their class.
Thus, the team was finalized with these five members.To accommodate everyone's schedules, Liang Jun scheduled a Wednesday evening dinner for five people to discuss their project. Thus, the previously arranged plans with Duan Jiaxu fell through.
Knowing she had her own commitments, Duan Jiaxu didn't press further and simply rescheduled with her for the weekend.
The competition allowed two months from registration to submission.
The group had settled on a theme, found an advisor, and planned to create an animated short film. Creative ideas were slow to come by, so nothing was finalized yet.
After some discussion, and with one group member having another class, Liang Jun didn't waste more time. He assigned tasks to everyone and asked them all to brainstorm ideas individually.
Ning Wei didn't return to the dorm with her, heading off to meet her boyfriend right after the meeting.
Sang Zhi checked the time—just past 8:30 PM, still early. She pulled out her phone and slowly sent a WeChat message to Duan Jiaxu: [What are you doing?]
Admirer: [Working overtime.]
Sang Zhi: [Oh.]
The next second, Duan Jiaxu called and asked, "Free now?"
"Just finished the meeting," Sang Zhi said. "Why do you always have to work overtime?"
"Nothing else to do, just putting in extra hours." Duan Jiaxu's voice carried a light laugh. "If you're free, I'll clock out then."
Recently, Yihe had been warming up, but the nights still held a chill. Sang Zhi tucked her other hand into her pocket, kicked a small pebble in front of her, and reminded him, "It's already 8:30."
Duan Jiaxu: "Curfew at the dorm?"
Sang Zhi: "Yes."
"What time?"
"Midnight."
"That's still three and a half hours away."
"Oh." Sang Zhi murmured, "But I don't want to go back that late."
There was a rustling sound from Duan Jiaxu's end as he said leisurely, "How about I take you for a late-night snack, then drive you back to the dorm? Sound good?"
Sang Zhi thought for two seconds: "What are we eating?"
Duan Jiaxu: "What do you feel like?"
Sang Zhi: "Haven't decided."
"Then I'll figure it out when I get there. Find a place to sit for a bit," Duan Jiaxu said. "I'm driving over now."
—
Duan Jiaxu walked into the parking lot, found his car, and unexpectedly saw Jiang Ying, whom he hadn't seen in months. His eyelids twitched as he glanced at her, then immediately averted his gaze.
Seeing him, Jiang Ying stepped forward and stood in front of his car. She pulled a wallet from her bag, turned it upside down, and said earnestly, "I'm out of money."
Duan Jiaxu unlocked his car and got in.
Jiang Ying remained standing there, staring at him in the driver's seat, and declared with utter entitlement, "Give me some money to spend."
"..."
A few seconds of silence passed.
"Duan Jiaxu, did you really get a girlfriend?" Jiang Ying spoke up again. "That college student from the hot pot place last time? College students really are easy to fool, huh."
Duan Jiaxu lowered his gaze to his phone, replying to a message from Sang Zhi.
Jiang Ying continued on her own, "I've already told people you're going to marry me. I told my mom about it too, and she agreed."
"..."
"Don't even think about being with another woman. You and I are bound for life. You know I've liked you since junior high," Jiang Ying pointed at him, her eyes reddening as she said, "How dare you get a girlfriend! How dare you!"
Hearing this, Duan Jiaxu looked up.
He remembered back in junior high.Compared to back then, the woman before him had shed her youthful innocence, becoming mature yet carrying a hint of weariness. Yet her appearance seemed unchanged in every other way.
She remained just as hysterical as ever, brimming with hatred.
She would accuse him in front of anyone, calling him the son of a murderer. Whenever she saw him, she was always agitated and furious, her eyes filled with resentment, as if he were Duan Zhicheng himself.
The most severe incident occurred when she pushed him directly from the second-floor stairwell of the teaching building. Watching him fall and bleed from his forehead, she showed not a trace of unease, instead revealing a nearly twisted smile.
"Your father killed my dad, so you should die too."
...
Duan Jiaxu rolled down the car window and curled his lips: "Let me tell you something."
Jiang Ying stared at him fiercely.
"If you think this isn't over, go find Duan Zhicheng." Duan Jiaxu's tone was flat, devoid of emotion. "If you want him to marry you and become my stepmother, I have no objections at all."
Disgusted by his words, Jiang Ying immediately stepped closer to the driver's side and spat out furiously: "Fuck you!"
The next moment.
Duan Jiaxu started the car and said gently: "Then I'll wish you an early happy marriage."
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