The Fading Away of Our Youth (So Young) Chapter 14

When the mango trees began to ripen, it was also time for finals. Last semester, Zheng Wei had experienced the tragic historical comparisons between chinese, western, and Marxist philosophies flying overhead, this time, Zheng Wei didn’t dare focus on other things before the test, after all, unlike liberal arts students like Li Wei Juan, the teacher would designate a few key points in the textbook, as long as you got 60-70 points, there would be no problem but the Engineering College said, if there were two subjects that were failed in the same year, you had to repeat that grade level, and it was unfortunate that there were many people feel victim to this, many had met iron blooded teachers (strict, hard, mean teachers). A red light shone in front of every specialised course, public foreign languages inattentively suffered a setback, so if you didn’t pa.s.s the make-up exam, you could only sit in the same cla.s.sroom with the younger kids. Even though Zheng Wei was undisciplined, repeating such a thing was seen as an insult, she definitely couldn’t let this happen to her, so after cla.s.ses stopped she lived lazily on the bed with Zhuo Mei for a few days , and then nicely followed Ruan Ruan to the self study cla.s.srooms.

Before testing, the self studying cla.s.srooms were forever so packed, occupying a seat was a common practice, as common tools used for occupying seats, there were books, pencils, some used their homework books, some used pens. One time, when Zheng Wei and Ruan Ruan pa.s.sed through the cla.s.sroom after breakfast they found that there were two s.p.a.ces with excellent views, they both rejoiced, and quickly occupied the seats, but it was terrible that they had no good items on them, Ruan Ruan didn’t advocate the use of a key as a placeholder, so Zheng Wei took out a pack of napkins and took out a piece, she borrowed a pen to write “This table is occupied” four big words, and put it in the center of the table, and grabbed Ruan Ruan back to the dormitory to grab their books, they strove to do this as speedily as they could when they got back, the seat was already occupied by a boy, the more disgusting thing was that the napkin had been used thrown away and used by someone with a cold, thrown to the side.

Ruan Ruan tried reasoning, but how was that boy willing to leave, he only said he hadn’t seen a napkin on the desk as a placeholder, and he asked, since they could use anything as a placeholder, how could they prove that the napkin was their’s? Ruan Ruan initially wanted to pick up the napkin to show him the words on it, but it was too disgusting, Zheng Wei, at the side was furious, and picked up a piece of hair on the table, and looked at it, then she looked at her own hair, the two lengths weren’t too different, she confidently said, “Do you see this, this is what I used as a placeholder, my hair. If you have the guts, take out the hair of the same length from your own head, any hair from any section is good, but as long as it’s the same length, I’ll leave!” The boy left, defeated.

Zheng Wei liked to sit near the window, this way she could look at the window, if she was lucky, she could see that shadow. Every since cla.s.s had stopped, her timetable that she had got was of no use, and he was determined to avoid her, and she had to study, so for a time, she was increasingly elusive to his whereabouts, she only waited eagerly for a chance. Murphy’s Law said, when you hate someone, he will continue to pop up in front of you, but when you want to see someone, you cannot find him. Zheng Wei had such distractions, so reviewing naturally didn’t really do anything. The good part was that University Exams were like a kitten who had constipation, today they would test, and many days later they would test again, she still had enough time to prepare, so after she counted many times, her eyes suddenly brightened, Ruan Ruan didn’t try to persuade her.

Of course, she didn’t see the wrong person, even if his figure was tied into a knot, she would still know him, she anxiously ran up to him and even planned to sit next to him, to scare him, but after she got closer, she realized that he was going to a big door that had “Testing Area”, the two words, pasted on it. She had a look inside at the people lined up neatly, and knew that she had happened upon his testing time, she could only watch as he walked into the cla.s.sroom, and stayed outside, alone, helplessly.

She returned to Ruan Ruan’s side to sit for a bit, but she finally couldn’t help herself, this time, it was different from the past, she had something important to tell him, if she let him slip, she wouldn’t know where to find him. She persevered for half an our, worrying he would leave early, she packed up her things, telling Ruan Ruan, and went directly to the Testing Area entrance to wait for him.

Chen Xiao Zheng never picked his seat when it came to an exam–at his other school they had separated the two testing groups based on the number they chose, and then he would sit in a specified gap, of course many people liked to go early to get places close to the teacher, and the treasured seats were the ones close to good students like Chen Xiao Zheng and Ceng Yu. Deep down, Chen Xiao Zheng hated those who idled, when it came to the crucial point they would attempt to muddle through by cheating off of people, so pa.s.sing the answers, or deliberately placing the papers prominently was something he disdained, but the final wasn’t any life-threatening exam, most of the time he would sit in a seat the cla.s.smates he knew reserved for him, as for whether they could see his papers during the exam, that was destiny, he only cared about his own answers, and then checked and corrected, he would turn his test in and leave.

This time, he had just finished his last questions when the guy poked his back lightly with his pencil, waiting for the moment when Mr. Zhou wasn’t looking, he frowned, and ignored him, who knew that rascal would poke him harder. He endured it and turned around to fend off the attack when he heard that guy’s pen pointing out the window. Softly he said, “Ah Zheng, see who’s outside?”

The Testing Area was on the first floor, he looked outside, bewildered and found that it was the person who made his head hurt the most, she held two books outside, walking around, looking at the sky, and then looking at the people coming by, obviously sitting back and waiting. A cry sounded in his heart, it had been so hard to clean his ears (of her) these few days but he had been found again by her, that rascal wouldn’t even let him go during the testing period.

While the proctor wasn’t looking their way, Chen Xiao Zheng had already gave up on handing hi test in, he didn’t look at her anymore but turned to pay attention to his papers, “Cool, you even have someone to wait for you during your test, and girls from the South always have good skin.” Chen Xiao Zheng snorted from his nose, and as if to refute the guy’s vulgar eyes behind him, his eyes inadvertently glanced over. She was wearing a duck yellow jacket, with extremely eye-catching colors, he didn’t like it at all. And that yellow jacket on her body made her white skin more dazzling, especially the round face, full of powder, like if he pinched it, it would squeeze out water, he suddenly hatefully thought, if he were to use strength to pinch this deceptive face, the gritted teeth and smiling face would hurt to the point of crying, this was a matter of venting anger. As if he despised his own ideas, he quickly rethought his mindset, pinch her? He couldn’t even look at her except with disdain.

“I wasn’t wrong right.” A sound that seemed like mosquitoes came from behind him. Chen Xiao Zheng couldn’t help but burst in anger, there was actually this type of person, who usually didn’t work hard, and during testing, still didn’t change his heart and resigned himself to imminent death. How were his eyes that bad. He (the person behind him) deserved to not finish within the testing time. Thinking about it like this, his face became colder, and took back his papers that he had placed around randomly and organized them, folding them inside, not caring about the edgy person behind him.

Zheng Wei stood outside for a long time, she had even counted the number of roses in the flower beds, one after another, the exam was handed in, Chen Xiao Zheng had obviously already stopped writing but had checked his answers for so many times, he just had to keep sitting down as rock solid as ever. How did she know he was purposely avoiding her, the more she waited, the more he wouldn’t come out. Even though he knew that after the testing time of 2 hours, it would end, and no one could stay in the testing area, torturing her for another minute more was also good, it was hard to to find another place besides the men’s restroom where she wouldn’t dare go. Usually she was like dogskin plaster, sticking to him, that was too outrageous. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, turning around the flower beds for several laps, and squatting in the end, using a small stick to move the dirt around, bored. The cla.s.smates in the testing area were less and less, he had never stayed inside for so long after answering the questions, at this time he had to admit that the rascal’s perseverance was really terrible.

The bell that announced that the testing time was over rang. Chen Xiao Zheng and the only remaining guy in the room could only leave the testing area. She was still crouched there, and from his point of view he could only see one side of her. Despite the fact that she was as tough as a monster, actually she was pretty skinny, when she crouched there she became smaller. He thought, she had heard the bell sound anyways, so he couldn’t escape. Why not go see what she was up to and see what she had constructed.

When she pitifully looked up at him, Chen Xiao Zheng reminded himself that he absolutely could not be tricked by the demon’s appearance. “Why don’t you have anything to do, don’t you need to prepare for your exams, do you not need the whole time?” He couldn’t understand.

“I have something to say to you.” Her voice never sounded so big before.

“Let’s go, why are you crouching here for, don’t talk while you walk, I’m in a hurry.”

She paused, and found that he exposed his typical indifference and coldness, and said, embarra.s.sed, “I’ve crouched for a long time, my legs fell asleep.”

Chen Xiao Zheng sighed to the heavens, and grudgingly stuck out a hand to her, she smiled, and grabbed his hand. He pulled her up once and she could stand, just as quickly, he let go of her. He wasn’t long-winded and walked to the front.

Zheng Wei rubbed her small legs and stumbled to catch up, “Chen Xiao Zheng, tomorrow is my birthday, I’ll treat you to cake.”

He didn’t hesitate to turn her down, “There’s no need.”

Where was Zheng Wei willing to follow, she got a hold of his sleeve and kept shaking it, “Go go, I only have one birthday, go go, go go, go go……”

The people at the side looked over, Chen Xiao Zheng felt his face getting redder as she kept making noise, he couldn’t make any bad remarks, so he could only dodge her to avoid her, she came again, and still made her general incantations, “Go go, 8:30 pm, I’ll be in front of the Mao Yi Sheng statue to wait for you, there won’t be anyone else, I’ll give your a piece of cake and definitely won’t do anything bad, I won’t leave you alone either, how many birthdays are there in a year, I just have this tiny wish, go go……”

He was annoyed but there was no escape, he pointed at her, warning, “That’s enough, don’t make a large ruckus, tugging back and forth, you’re still a girl.”

“Go go, go go, go go……” She seemed to only know this sentence.

Chen Xiao Zheng felt like he was about to go crazy, for the end of this crazy spell he could only consent, “I have to see if I have time, if I have time I’ll go……”

“Really?” Her eyes brightened, “You’re not allowed to change your mind.”

“Ok, ok.” He waved his hand, “You don’t need to follow me around, stop following me!”

This was the first time she spoke well and didn’t think of following him anymore, she only chased behind him to remind him, “Remember, 8:30, be there or be square, the person who doesn’t come will grow hemerrhoids!”

On the night of the second day, Chen Xiao Zheng faced his review materials thinking about what Zheng Wei had said before, it was already 8:25. Would that rascal really be there to wait for him? She had always been crafty, it shouldn’t be so simple as just a piece of cake–even if it was true, what would be the difference if he went, it was impossible for him to bwe with her, why give her hope. He thought, he still had a lot of places that he hadn’t reviewed yet and many vocabulary that he hadn’t memorized, he didn’t have time, really didn’t have time.

9:30, a thought flashed, what if she kept waiting? No, since she had come, she would leave by now.

10:30, Chen Xiao Zheng ended his studying punctually, he packed his books and left, when he went back to his dormitory, he deliberately avoided the Mao Yi Sheng statue park. He walked under his dormitory and suddenly thought, she was a stubborn person, what was impossible for her, she was probably still waiting there, if he provoked her by making her anxious he would have terrible times in the future. And her last sentence from yesterday, Chen Xiao Zheng felt it was very funny, only Zheng Wei could say something like this, he of course, wouldn’t take it seriously–if she were to talk about it with her big mouth, what would he do, why not go take a look, she must have left by now, he would return immediately, and this wouldn’t count as eating his words.

He had never come to this small park at night, it was said that this was the sacred places of dating appointments, he found that he was actually a little nervous. By the statue in front of the white light in the road, he saw that there was someone sitting on the pedestal with one glance. She should have seen him but didn’t come over, Chen Xiao Zheng summoned his courage and walked over.

“You came?” Her calmness gave him inexplicable creeps.

“Mm.” He didn’t know what to say, “Did you wait long? I said I would come if I have time.”

“Not very long, it was only two and a half hours, sit down, in a moment I’ll go over, but there are too many mosquitoes.” As she said this, she even stuck out her leg that was wearing 7 star jeans, because there wasn’t much light, he could see a cross section of her leg that was full of bits of red dots.

The more quiet she was, the worse he felt, he found that he actually had a strange guilt in his heart, these feelings made him brush the dust off, using a book to cus.h.i.+on him as he sat next to her on the pedestal, “You’re dumb, you know that this place has a lot of mosquitoes but you still wore those types of jeans.”

Zheng Wei twitched her lip and gave him the cake she had put in a box, “You know that I’m dumb, I know that you wouldn’t speak the truth, but I still waited here for a whole night.”

Chen Xiao Zheng wanted to use strong words to say, It wasn’t that I couldn’t come but that I had no time, it wasn’t as if we agreed to definitely come. But he didn’t speak, because he found that she lowered her head, hair distributed finely, her eyes seemed to have a bit of water as she blinked.

Chen Xiao Zheng hated tears, he felt that it was pointless and futile, the person who cried was foolish, he thought it could never move him. But when he saw the cheerful Zheng Wei, this made her seem like she didn’t know her wrong, was it he who let this happy girl become this? He was at a loss.

What about he just let himself go die, his head hurt as he sat, and he heard her, “Since you came, just have a bite of the cake.”

“Oh.” He mechanically opened the box, and used a small fork to pick a bite and put into his mouth, this was too sweet so he lost his sense of taste, finally before she could drop her first tear he said, “Say it, what do you want, I’ll do it if it’s within my power, if you’ll just stop being this way, I’m not accustomed to it.”

“What I want to do? What can I do? You hate me so much……” Her voice changed pitch.

“Hey, stop……G.o.d! Say it quickly, what you plan to do, I’ll do it if I can.” He began to regret coming.

“Your promises are so good right now but later you’ll go back on it.”

“I definitely won’t.”

“That’s good, this week, Sat.u.r.day, the Apricot Festival at the South Mountain Park.”

He was stunned for a bit and quickly reflected for a moment, and looked at her smooth face, where was there the slightest bit of a desire to cry, he could not help but regret, he was very dumb, how would he know that there were wolves in the spring……

Only when Chen Xiao Zheng went away, furious, did Zheng Wei stand up and pat her b.u.t.t, he was mad, well let him be mad, he had said that he wouldn’t go back on his promise, if he dared eat his words she would hold it against him forever. Arguing with him, he really didn’t count that she would do such a thing. The fifth step in capturing Chen Xiao Zheng: Plaintive eyes, thick skin, then bait it with fish and put the hook out for a little longer, and the relations.h.i.+p will get debas.e.m.e.nt! Zhu Ge Liang said, “If there are no desperate measures how can I beat Cao Cao?” The ancients honestly don’t bully me.

But hindsight had never mentioned that the mosquito bites she had received in two and a half hours,would be so itchy.

Thus, on the night Zheng Wei’s 19-year-old birthday, she had given him a bewildered sweetness, he had given her the longest wait and mosquito bites all over her leg, none of them would know that they felt feelings for the other, and they even more didn’t know that everything was only just beginning.