BSS - Chapter 43
Chapter 43
The meal lasted until three in the afternoon. Although Little Aunt was keeping an eye on things, the atmosphere was warm and lively with drinks, and Deng Chuan couldn't avoid having a few extra glasses.
The clear brew had a strong kick. Deng Chuan went home, changed into some comfortable clothes, and lay down for a nap. When she woke up, the curtains in the room were drawn, making it especially dark. She hurriedly grabbed her phone. Thankfully, the time showed 5:30 PM.
She fluffed her slightly messy long hair. Her bangs had gotten a little long, slightly covering her eyes. When she walked outside, Lao Deng was busy in the kitchen, while her uncle and the others were sitting in the living room chatting.
Everyone looked refreshed after their rest. Her cousin was playing video games with his little son. Seeing her come out, he called for her to have some water to recover.
Deng Chuan sat on the sofa. Little Aunt was chatting idly with her cousin. When she saw Deng Chuan sit down, she reached out to stroke her hair and asked softly, "Does your head hurt?"
Deng Chuan took a sip of water and said in a low voice, "It doesn't hurt."
"You must be hungry. We'll be eating soon."
Little Aunt helped tie up Deng Chuan's long hair. The woman chuckled softly by her ear, "Your hair is so long. Don't you get hot?"
Deng Chuan had always been sensitive to heat, a fact everyone in the family knew. Feeling the gentle pressure from Little Aunt's hands, Deng Chuan simply leaned against her. They had been close since childhood. When Little Aunt was in middle school, Deng Chuan had just been born. Little Aunt wasn't usually the type to like children, but she especially loved to play with Deng Chuan. Later, when Little Aunt went away to university, Deng Chuan would cry at the station every year.
Although she was grown up now, their bond was still close. Deng Chuan felt that Little Aunt was the best person in the family—gentle, open-minded, practical, not mercenary or ostentatious, always wearing a smile.
Before Xu Wei appeared, Little Aunt had been Deng Chuan's vision of the future. She wanted to become a person like her Little Aunt. One could say that Little Aunt was Deng Chuan's earliest projection of her fantasies about the adult world.
But things were different now.
Before, Deng Chuan had always thought about becoming someone like her Little Aunt. But that goal was vague and ethereal, because every person's journey of growth is unique and cannot be replicated. Deng Chuan now understood that she was someone's daughter, someone's niece, someone's friend, and then someone's student. Only after experiencing all these roles would she become Deng Chuan.
It was like how, before meeting Xu Wei, Deng Chuan didn't understand what love was. But now, she had experienced it firsthand. Love was loneliness, it was endurance, it was betting her own future on it as an equal stake, and it was one person's cherishing and indulgence of another. The pain of unrequited and ill-timed desires, together with Xu Wei's tenderness, intertwined to form the grit that polishes a pearl. In her pursuit of Xu Wei, it allowed her a glimpse of the light of the adult world.
Teacher. Deng Chuan had mulled over this word countless times. For her, the sweetness and pain contained within those two words had tormented her, making her toss and turn late at night.
Eighteen, the summer of her life, wrapped in pain and sweetness. Deng Chuan stretched herself out like a fish, leaping forcefully from the calm surface of the sea.
She was still young, but she would grow up.
Little Aunt had perhaps noticed the changes in the child she had watched grow up. In the eighteenth birthday present Deng Chuan had opened last time, Little Aunt had given her a collection of poems by Akhmatova.
"I will love
I will become tender, full of affection.
I will peer into others' eyes,
Revealing a charming, beckoning, trembling smile.
…"
At this moment, the way Little Aunt combed her hair was as gentle as a poem. Deng Chuan leaned against her shoulder, her head lowered as she scrolled through her phone.
Her social media feed was bustling, almost entirely filled with discussions about scores and the future.
There were those whose hearts were like dead ashes: "Don't ask my score, I'm preparing to repeat the year."
There were also those who were ecstatic: "It's just as I expected. See you all out there, brothers!"
And there were those who were content with their lot: "I'm not some academic genius, so I'm already very satisfied with this."
In the midst of all the clamor, it seemed everyone's joys and sorrows were their own, yet all these students had completed a turning point in their lives on this very day. From now on, the road ahead would be long, and new people would join them on their journey.
Deng Chuan silently browsed the information. She had anticipated this moment for so long. Her emotions had already lifted the weight of the Gaokao and set it down gently, like a swollen drop of water merging into the ocean—a natural, silent process.
She scrolled through her feed for a while, then browsed various other messages. In the photography group chat, people were planning a trip to a local mountain to shoot the sunrise. Su Mian said she would be back next week. In the class group chat, everyone was talking about their university applications. There were also many messages from underclassmen and friends wishing her a happy graduation.
Deng Chuan went through them all. As she read, she was subconsciously waiting for a message from Xu Wei.
The appointed time was drawing closer. Dinner hadn't started at home yet, so Deng Chuan estimated she would have to leave later than planned. She sent a message to Xu Wei:
"We have guests at home, I might be a little late."
After a while, Xu Wei replied, her wording as composed as ever.
"No rush."
"Take your time."
Finally, Lao Deng's masterpiece was complete. He slid open the glass door to the kitchen, and a rich aroma wafted out.
He placed a basin of boiled fish on the table and announced loudly, "Time to eat-"
Hearing this, Little Aunt tugged at her cousin, who was still playing games. "Take Deng Wen to wash his hands and get ready for dinner."
Deng Wen was her cousin's son. He was only three this year, with a sturdy build and an adorable face.
Everyone took their seats. On the table, the huge basin of boiled fish was particularly eye-catching. Around it, plates were packed tightly together, filled with a variety of braised dishes, cold appetizers, and stir-fries.
Back in the day, Lao Deng had won over Deng Chuan's mother with his excellent cooking skills. Unfortunately, his job transfer made him so busy that he rarely had a chance to show them off. For this family banquet celebrating the end of Deng Chuan's Gaokao, he finally got to display his talents.
Seeing his daughter eating with her head down, Lao Deng picked up a piece of braised beef for her. "You like this, eat more."
Lao Deng considered himself an unqualified father. He was too busy with work and often neglected his daughter's emotional growth. Time waits for no one, and in the blink of an eye, his daughter had grown into an adult, about to embark on a new journey in life.
The road ahead would be long and arduous, and what parents could provide was ultimately limited.
Lao Deng was feeling a mix of emotions, and Tang Lijuan wouldn't let him drink tonight, which left him feeling quite stifled. Deng Chuan, on the other hand, finished her dinner with ease. She wandered around the living room for a few minutes, pretended she had plans with a friend, and then turned to leave.
Ten minutes earlier, Xu Wei had messaged to say she had arrived, telling Deng Chuan not to rush as she was looking for a place to park.
But Deng Chuan knew that when Xu Wei said that, she had usually already found a spot and parked the car.
Sure enough, as she walked out of the residential complex gate, Deng Chuan spotted Xu Wei at a glance.
She was standing under a streetlight, enveloped in a soft, fuzzy halo of light. Her hair rested smoothly on her shoulders. Hearing Deng Chuan call her name, she looked up, her lips pressed together slightly before curving gently upward.
Deng Chuan walked over and handed her the bouquet of flowers she was holding. Xu Wei lowered her head, sniffed them lightly, and asked:
"Why did you buy flowers?"
Deng Chuan gazed at her calm expression. "When I saw them, I thought they really looked like you."
The flowers were from a shop in the complex: gentle Aisha roses, pink lisianthus and gerbera daisies, with slender eucalyptus leaves. In summer, the sky darkens late. The twilight glow gave Xu Wei, who was holding the flowers, an oil-painting-like quality.
The sky was a dark blue. Xu Wei was wearing a white dress, revealing her fair shoulders and arms. Hearing Deng Chuan's words, she smiled faintly again and took the initiative to hold Deng Chuan's hand.
"You just finished eating, right? Let's go for a walk."
Deng Chuan squeezed her hand back tightly, turning her head to assess which of the nearby streets would be suitable for a stroll. She then asked, "Where did you park your car?"
"Over there."
Xu Wei led Deng Chuan to the car and placed the flowers on the passenger seat, explaining, "It's inconvenient to carry them." She touched Deng Chuan's face. "I'll put them in water when I get back. They might even last a bit longer."
Deng Chuan said, "If you like them, I'll give you flowers every day."
Xu Wei shook her head and gave her a look that was somewhere between reproach and not. "I only want today."
Hand in hand, they walked to a nearby, less crowded street. This area was a commercial district where gleaming skyscrapers and bustling night markets coexisted without conflict. There were too many people, and neither of them wanted to let go of the other's hand, afraid of running into someone they knew.
The sky turned completely dark. A gentle evening breeze brushed past them. At first, neither of them spoke, with only the sound of their footsteps for company.
Just as they were about to reach the end of the street, Xu Wei gently tugged on Deng Chuan's arm and asked, "Have you decided which university you want to apply to?"
Deng Chuan looked at her, her gaze a little dazed. She reached out and pulled her into an embrace, saying with a sigh, "When I go to university, will you come visit me?"
Xu Wei gave her a light push, but Deng Chuan held her fast, her tone incredibly clingy. "If you don't come see me, I'll just apply to a local university."
The somewhat heavy atmosphere was instantly broken. Xu Wei gently bumped Deng Chuan's chin. "Stop being coy. Speak properly."
Deng Chuan was about to say something more when she heard someone approaching from the corner not far away.
She turned, slightly shielding Xu Wei in her arms. When the figures drew closer, she realized it was a couple. The two were walking like conjoined twins; from a distance, they looked like a single person.
The boy's hand was on the girl's waist, restlessly caressing it. In summer, clothing is thin, and his hand gradually slipped under her clothes.
Deng Chuan saw it clearly, and so did Xu Wei. She turned her face away, a little flustered. The next second, she felt a soft kiss land between her eyebrows.
A snow-like cold light seemed to wash over Xu Wei's features, while Deng Chuan was as devout as a pilgrim on a sacred journey to a snow-capped mountain.
The youthful kiss was hot enough to melt ice and snow, but there was only one—intimate, yet restrained.
Deng Chuan released Xu Wei and took her hand, continuing to walk forward.
As they walked, she muttered in a low voice, "Doing that in public, they have no decency."
"Mm," Xu Wei nodded seriously and reached out to cover her eyes. "You're not allowed to look."
"Hey, I can't see the road," Deng Chuan said playfully, squeezing Xu Wei's fingers. "I need Teacher Xu to lead me."
They walked past the corner and the view brightened. White-collar workers just getting off work were streaming out of the nearby subway entrance, and a 24-hour convenience store had its doors wide open. Deng Chuan let go of her hand, looked down at Xu Wei, and said, cautiously and deliberately, "I'm thinking I'll go to P University to study at the School of Economics and Management. After I graduate, I can come back to work. By then, wherever you want to go, I can go with you."
Under the tall, bright streetlights, cars whizzed by. The young woman's tone was full of regret:
"But if I do that, I'll have to make you wait for me for another four years."
"I'm sorry, Teacher."
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