Answered the call.
Lulu’s voice ca through, "Hello? Zhang Yan, are you okay? I’ve been ssaging you, but you haven’t replied."
"I’m fine." Zhang Yan said softly, "I bought the books."
Lulu said in a low voice, "Sigh, you know. The chubby guy was quite upset with you. You were a bit too impulsive before; at least don’t embarrass him in front of others."
"I..." Zhang Yan moved her lips, lowered her gaze, and said no more.
"Okay, okay, as long as you’re fine. I was really worried about you. I’ll co see you tonight."
Zhang Yan hesitated for a mont and responded with a "hmm."
After hanging up the phone, she exhaled and rode the shared bike towards the tro station.
Dusk gradually swallowed her slender figure.
...
Liquan District, Lanxin Garden District.
"Eee–ah—" The old security door was pushed open.
"ow—" Orange imdiately darted out from the corner of the sofa, with light and playful cat steps, nuzzling affectionately against her pants leg, purring contentedly in its throat.
Zhang Yan squatted down, fondly petting its fluffy head, then quickly moved to the desk in the living room.
Opening her backpack, she solemnly took out the two brand-new comic books, brushed aside a row of books on the makeshift bookshelf, and neatly placed these last two inside.
Now, the 2009 Qiong Island edition of "Dragon Ball," all thirty-four volus, was complete.
Her fingers started from the spine of the first volu, one by one, slowly brushing back until they touched the edge of the last volu.
Ti seed compressed at this mont, and those dusty, fragnted mories of youth and comics surged into her mind like a tide.
She closed her eyes and exhaled a long, gentle breath.
The wish that had been buried in her heart for so long was finally at the point where it could be made.
Outside, the sky had completely darkened.
Sitting upright at the desk, Zhang Yan took out from the drawer a stack of letter paper with the header "Yan City Agricultural University" and picked up the carbon pen she was used to.
Unlike in those past years, this ti, she felt none of her usual hesitation and timidity.
It seed that "Dragon Ball" had indeed given her boundless courage.
The paper lay flat, the tip of the pen hovered, and then it touched down.
Neat handwriting appeared on the stationery: "Hello, classmate: —"
...
At eight o’clock in the evening, in the quiet private office on the 97th floor of the presidential suite at the Four Seasons Hotel.
"Ding-dong—" The WeChat notification sound suddenly rang out.
Tang Song’s gaze moved from the laptop to the phone.
A few new ssage notifications were quietly lying on the lock screen.
[Smiling Breath: photo.jpg...]
Seeing this familiar yet unfamiliar nickna, Tang Song’s thoughts paused imperceptibly, and so mories instantly surged to the forefront of his mind.
It seed like a few months ago, this "Smiling Breath" had added him as a friend.
Because they addressed him as "Classmate Tang Song," he had accepted.
He unlocked the phone, clicked on the notification, and entered the chat box that had been silent for a long ti.
The previous chat history was still there, from 4 months ago.
[Smiling Breath: "Hello, Classmate Tang Song. I’m not adding you for Pinduoduo support, nor to borrow money, and I’m definitely not trying to sell you anything. I an no harm. I just haven’t figured out what to say yet, so could you not delete ?"]
[Tang Song: "Okay, classmate."]
[Smiling Breath: "Thank you."]
Further down were a few photos she had sent.
Tang Song clicked on the photos.
A carefully taken picture of a piece of letter paper filled the screen.
The edges of the paper were slightly curled, showing that it had been carefully preserved for a long ti.
On it were handwritten words.
Neat and orderly, each stroke carried a kind of almost clumsy earnestness, like a child cautiously filling out practice books, afraid to make a single mistake.
Then, line by line, the words unfolded before his eyes.
——————————
Hello, classmate:
I’ve thought about this for a long ti, not knowing what kind of address would appear both formal and sincere; nor what kind of opening would be fitting without seeming abrupt and presumptuous.
In the end, I chose this simplest and clumsiest way.
I think the most romantic thing about paper is perhaps that it can be folded, touched, and preserved for a long ti, becoming tangible evidence of the years.
But my handwriting is really not pretty, always so ordinary and lacking in character. I can only try to make it a bit neater, but I’m too embarrassed to really send this letter, carrying so many emotions, to you.
So in the end, I can only send it to you in this electronic form.
I suspect you probably don’t rember much. So, I won’t say my na (actually, I’m a bit embarrassed).
I’m 26 years old now, and I don’t know which day I’ll be pushed by life’s waves into the next stage of life. So before everything completely changes, I want to simply summarize and say goodbye to my past.
From my hotown to Yan City, from high school to university, and then drifting from Imperial City to the southern Yang City.
In this long decade, my heart seems to be made up of only three things: studying, working, and you.
I have no intention of causing you any disturbance, nor do I expect anything.
I just wanted you to know that there was once a person’s gaze, which followed you for a very long ti.
I wonder if you’ve ever read a book called "Scenes That Exist Everywhere, While I Am Nowhere".
If I were to summarize everything I’m about to say with the utmost precision, I think nothing fits better than this book’s title.
Perhaps you’d notice the playground on Tuesdays being a bit emptier than usual; you’d rember which volu of "Slam Dunk" had just arrived at the bookstore across from school; you’d know that the spicy hotpot at the cafeteria of Yan City University of Science and Technology had increased by one yuan again; and you might even have your attention caught for a mont by the announcents in the crowded tro of Imperial City.
But you probably wouldn’t notice .
In every detail of your life, I once earnestly and distantly peeked at a corner.
The chances to et you were actually few, and I cherished each one greatly.
When you appeared before , it was as if a perfectly frad picture would imdiately materialize in front of my eyes.
It wasn’t very big, just fitting your lone figure; it wasn’t very long, just long enough to read a Shakespearean sonnet.
And I would stand quietly outside that fra, watching until both the fra and your figure disappeared together.
The later life was like a book flipping quickly at the rcy of the wind.
I drifted from one city to another, from the north to the south.
Sotis, waking in the cold, wet nights of Yang City, listening to the fine rain outside the window.
In my eyes, I’d always see you in a white shirt and faded blue jeans, biking swiftly past .
The impression of that clean, radiantly youthful figure in my mind supported through countless long and tough days.
The overlapping faces of youth have mostly blurred, yet your silhouette grows clearer in my heart, day after day.
This is the complete collection of "Dragon Ball" that I’ve spent a long ti gathering, the 2009 edition. If you’re willing, I’d like to send it to you.
I hope your life will surely be as exciting as the shōnen manga you love, full of passionate comrades and thrilling Chapters.
So, I also wish you will eternally remain as fervent and brave as in your youth, with eyes full of light.
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