SSB – Chapter 49

Chapter 49

　　After her shower, Sang Zhi sat back down and fiddled with the camera for a while. She transferred Duan Jiaxu’s photo onto her computer and created a new folder in her favorites.

　　She also added the group photo they took at Duan Jiaxu’s house during her last visit.

　　Then, she logged into QQ on her computer and retrieved the candid photo she had secretly taken of Duan Jiaxu from a private album on her social media account.

　　The three photos had different color tones and pixel qualities.

　　Placing them together created a distinct and evident sense of the passage of time.

　　Sang Zhi gazed at them for a while, suddenly recalling her senior year of high school.

　　During that period, her condition inexplicably worsened. Even in physics, a subject she had consistently excelled in, she started making careless mistakes. Her overall grades plummeted, and her class ranking slipped significantly.

　　On the day she received the coming-of-age gift from Duan Jiaxu, the results of a mock exam for the university entrance exam were released.

　　It turned out to be the worst score she had gotten throughout her senior year.

　　As a result, after the self-study session that day, her teacher asked to have a conversation with her. The homeroom teacher had noticed her previous interactions with the athlete from the neighboring class.

　　So, when her grades took a nosedive, the teacher assumed it was because of a romantic involvement affecting her academic performance.

　　During their conversation, the teacher’s words were particularly harsh.

　　Sang Zhi listened silently as her teacher admonished her. She only repeated, “I’m not in a relationship,” before returning to her classroom. After packing her bag, she took the bus home.

　　When you consider it, there was only half a day off during the entire senior year of high school.

　　After school on Saturday afternoon, they had to return the next day for evening self-study. However, most students, in general, left home around noon and arrived at school in the afternoon.

　　The day she returned home happened to be her birthday.

　　Li Ping and Sang Rong were in the kitchen preparing dinner.

　　Perhaps due to her birthday, for the first time in ages, Sang Yan was also at home, sitting on the couch watching TV. Seeing her return, he merely lifted his chin and said softly, “Duan Jiaxu sent you a package, it’s in your room.”

　　Sang Zhi nodded, went silent, and headed back to her room.

　　She closed the door behind her, placed her heavy school bag on the desk, and lowered her gaze to the sender’s name on the package. Then, she slowly opened the box.

　　Inside, she found a set of cosmetics, accompanied by a greeting card.

　　Sang Zhi opened the card.

　　The man’s handwriting was bold and neat, with just one line written.

　　Wishing Sang Zhi a happy coming-of-age.

　　It was as if these were the words she had been anticipating for a long time.

　　All sorts of emotions surged within her.

　　The pressure brought by the senior year of high school, the teacher’s relentless criticism, and the overwhelming sense of grievance.

　　Sang Zhi stared at this sentence, and her eyes gradually turned red. After a while, a choked sound escaped her throat, accompanied by tears streaming down uncontrollably.

　　She felt unbearably tormented.

　　She didn’t dare to let anyone hear, crouched on the ground, and tried her best to stifle her crying. Her whole body trembled, and then she began to hiccup as she cried.

　　As if she couldn’t catch her breath.

　　At that moment…

　　Sang Zhi genuinely realized what it meant to truly grow up.

　　It meant no longer daring to cry freely, treating expressing oneself as an embarrassing act;

　　It meant no longer indulging in capriciousness as a common practice, clearly understanding what should be done and what shouldn’t;

　　It meant no longer having fanciful dreams, no longer treating fairy tales as real life, and making days become orderly and dull.

　　It was something that wasn’t worth looking forward to at all.

　　The phone rang, interrupting Sang Zhi’s thoughts. She snapped back to reality, blinked hard, reached out to pick up the phone, and looked at it.

　　Suitor had sent a message.

　　Sang Zhi clicked to open and read.

　　Suitor: [Are you free tomorrow?] 

       Sang Zhi thought for a moment: [No.]

　　Suitor: [What about the day after tomorrow?]

　　Sang Zhi: [No, I’m not free then either.]

　　Suitor: [How about the day after the day after tomorrow?]

　　Sang Zhi: [No.]

　　Suitor: [What about in the evening?]

　　Seeing this, Sang Zhi checked her schedule and replied: [I don’t have class on Wednesday evening.] 

       Suitor: [That’s a coincidence.]

　　Suitor: [I’m also free.]

　　Sang Zhi: [But I have homework to do.] 

       Suitor: [Can I keep you company?]

　　Sang Zhi curled her lips and typed “Okay,” but quickly deleted it and changed it to “We’ll see.” She put down her phone, went to the restroom to freshen up, and then returned to her bed. It was already lights-out time, and her other roommates in the dormitory were all in bed. Only the glow of her phone remained.

　　She chatted with Duan Jiaxu, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

　　Perhaps due to not receiving her reply for a while, after a long time, the screen lit up again.

　　Suitor: [Goodnight.]

　　The time displayed on her phone had crossed midnight, welcoming a new day.

　　Sang Zhi bid farewell to her eighteenth year.

　　On her nineteenth birthday, she reclaimed the dream she had at thirteen. But it was different from the last time.

　　That period had felt hopeless.

　　This time, she was certain she could make it come true.

　　The next day, after morning classes ended, Sang Zhi and her friends went to the cafeteria together. They overheard a conversation in their group: “I saw in the group chat that the school is organizing the 5th Digital Media Art Contest. Are you guys interested in participating?”

　　Wang Ruolan: “Do we have to form teams?”

　　Ning Wei: “Yes, the maximum for each team is six members.”

　　Yu Xin: “Can students from other departments participate too?” Ning Wei: “Yes, it’s open to the whole school.” Wang Ruolan: “Are you guys going to participate?”

　　Yu Xin wasn’t too enthusiastic about it: “I’m too lazy for that.”

　　”I’ll consider it.” Sang Zhi took out her phone, opened the class group chat, and looked at it. “The categories for the competition include animation shorts, microfilms, game design, and interactive design.”

　　Ning Wei: “Animation shorts seem good. What are the themes?”

　　”There are several options: Commemorating the centenary of Yihe University’s founding, promotion, and Yihe folk culture.” Sang Zhi flipped through and scanned again. “For game design, it doesn’t have to fit these themes.” 

　　Wang Ruolan: “But for game design, do we need to team up with students from the Software Department?”

　　Ning Wei: “You don’t necessarily have to. You can start by asking the teacher.”

　　Wang Ruolan: “How do we participate then?”

　　Sang Zhi: “First, we need to find a supervising teacher, form a team, and register.” Yu Xin: “Are you all planning to participate?”

　　Wang Ruolan: “I’ll ask, but honestly, I’m feeling pretty lazy about it.”

　　After discussing this matter for a bit, the topic naturally shifted to something else.

　　With an attitude of participating in any competition that comes along, Sang Zhi heard that there was a senior named Liang Jun in the department who also planned to join. She approached him, and the two of them formed a team.

　　In addition to Ning Wei, Liang Jun’s classmate, and another girl from their class, the team was composed of these five people.

　　To accommodate everyone’s schedules, Liang Jun set a dinner gathering for Wednesday evening, where they could discuss their project.

       So, the agreement Sang Zhi had with Duan Jiaxu ended up falling through.

　　Knowing that she had her own commitments, Duan Jiaxu didn’t say much and simply made plans with her for the weekend.

　　The competition allowed two months from registration to submission of the works.

　　The team had settled on a theme and found a supervisor. They planned to create a creative animation short film. However, they were struggling to come up with a good idea and couldn’t make a decision for a while.

　　After some discussion, one person in the team had a class, and Liang Jun didn’t waste any more time assigning tasks to everyone. He let them all go back and think.

　　Ning Wei didn’t return to the dorm with Sang Zhi; after the meeting, she went to see her boyfriend.

　　Sang Zhi checked the time. It was just past 8:30, still relatively early. She took out her phone from her pocket and slowly sent a WeChat message to Duan Jiaxu: [What are you doing?]

　　Suitor: [Working overtime.] 

       Sang Zhi: [Oh.]

　　The next second, Duan Jiaxu called. He asked, “Are you free?”

　　”We have just finished the meeting,” Sang Zhi replied, “Why are you always working overtime at your job?”

　　”There’s nothing else to do. I’m just putting in some extra hours.” Duan Jiaxu’s voice carried a faint hint of laughter.

　　”If you’re available, I’ll finish work.”

　　The weather in Yihe had started to warm up, but in the evenings, there was still a bit of chill in the air. Sang Zhi put her other hand in her pocket, kicked a small stone in front of her, and reminded him, “It’s already 8:30.”

　　Duan Jiaxu: “Is there a curfew in your dorm?”

　　Sang Zhi: “Yes.”

　　”At what time?”

　　”Midnight.”

　　”Well, isn’t that still three and a half hours away?”

　　”Oh,” Sang Zhi muttered, “But I don’t want to go back that late.”

　　On Duan Jiaxu’s end, there was a rustling sound, and he said in a leisurely tone, “Let me take you out for a late-night snack, then I’ll drop you back at the dorm, how about that?”

　　Sang Zhi thought for a moment. “What are we going to eat?”

　　Duan Jiaxu asked, “What do you feel like eating?”

　　Sang Zhi: “I haven’t decided yet.”

　　”Alright then, I’ll decide when I get there. Find a place to sit for a while,” Duan Jiaxu said, “I’m driving over now.”

　　Duan Jiaxu entered the parking lot, found his car, and unexpectedly saw Jiang Ying, whom he hadn’t seen for a few months. His eyelids twitched. He gave her a passing glance, then quickly averted his gaze.

　　Seeing him, Jiang Ying took a step forward and stood in front of his car. She reached into her bag, turned her wallet upside down, and said earnestly, “I’m out of money.”

　　Duan Jiaxu unlocked his car, got in, and closed the door.

　　Jiang Ying remained stationary, staring at him sitting in the driver’s seat. With an air of nonchalance, she said, “Give me some money to spend.”

　　A few seconds of silence reigned.

　　”Duan Jiaxu, are you really looking for a girlfriend?” Jiang Ying spoke up again, “That college student from the hotpot restaurant last time? College students are indeed easy to deceive.”

　　Duan Jiaxu lowered his gaze, glanced at his phone, and replied to the message from Sang Zhi.

　　Jiang Ying continued, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, “I’ve already told people about it, and I’ve even talked to my mom about this. She’s okay with it.”

　　”And don’t you dare try to find another woman. You and I will never be over in this lifetime.” “You knew all along that I’ve liked you since middle school,” Jiang Ying pointed at him, her eyes red. “And you still have the audacity to look for a girlfriend! How dare you!” 

　　Hearing her words, Duan Jiaxu raised his eyes. He remembered their middle school days.

　　Compared to back then, the woman in front of him had shed her innocence and became more mature, carrying a hint of weariness. But her appearance remained unchanged.

　　She was still as hysterical as ever, brimming with resentment.

　　She would accuse him in front of everyone, claiming he was the son of a murderer. Whenever she saw him, it was always with intense anger, eyes filled with bitterness, as if he were Duan Zhicheng himself.

　　In the most severe incident, she had pushed him down the stairs from the second floor of the teaching building. Looking at his bleeding forehead after the fall, there was no hint of concern on her face, only a twisted semblance of a smile.

　　”Your dad killed my dad, so you should die too.”

　　Duan Jiaxu rolled down the car window and curled his lips into a smile. “Let me tell you something.” Jiang Ying stared at him intently.

　　”If you still feel unsettled about this, go talk to Duan Zhicheng.” Duan Jiaxu’s tone remained calm, devoid of any fluctuations. “If you want him to marry you and be  my stepmother, I have no objections whatsoever.”

　　Jiang Ying was disgusted by his words and immediately walked up to the driver’s seat, screaming in anger.

　　In the next moment, Duan Jiaxu started the engine and spoke gently, “Then congratulations in advance on your upcoming wedding.”