The heat after the art festival continued to ferment in the following days.
The most important thing is that at that time, most of the students who played instrumental music and formed bands in the school were sophomores, and most of these students were pursuing arts and had practiced before. A group of students with weak foundations like Lin Chu started a band in the first year of high school, which was actually not favored at the beginning.
But with Cheng Ran joining and Qin Xizhen leading the team, this band, which was established only two months ago, wowed the audience at the art festival. The song "Choose C" became the most popular and widely circulated song, and it became quite popular.
So much so that on the Friday after Cheng Ran's Art Festival party, when he went to school, some people came to him specifically to ask for the lyrics. In fact, the lyrics were not that great. The song was mainly about its catchy melody, so everyone would hum along to some of the lyrics.
That night on the rooftop with Yang Xia, Cheng Ran recalled many things from the past.
These memories are distant and yellowed enough for him, who has lived two lives. But it is precisely because of the distance that when he suddenly remembers them, he feels a shock as if the seal of time has been released.
Everything is real, including their memories of playing in the yard from childhood to adulthood, their moving from the old building to the new building, and then watching the new building gradually turn into the old building. During this process, they grew from children to teenagers, young adults, and then gradually moved out of the yard, moving further and further away, and having no books, they could only get a few words about each other's lives from the conversations of acquaintances.
Cheng Ran had experienced such a process once.
Every encounter in life seems to be leading to a final farewell.
Because of the butterfly effect of his rebirth, everything has changed in this life. Jiang Hongshao, who originally only stole loquats with him, has a deeper intersection with him, and because of him, she left Shanhai prematurely and went to Rongcheng. Xie Feibai's family returned to normal life without the tragedy of family breakdown. Yang Xia, who was originally drifting away from him and should have been in two different schools, has restored her relationship with him.
There are many other people who have already stirred up waves invisibly.
However, Jiang Hongshao's example also made Cheng Ran alert. When he changed some things, the future changes caused by such changes would also be unpredictable.
But sometimes, on second thought, it seems that what he is pursuing is not the complete control of his life.
Sometimes Cheng Ran would wonder what the meaning of rebirth is, and why he was reborn in such a world that is different from the past. If there is really a great power hidden in all this, perhaps it is to make up for the regrets, truly sink into the scenery of life, become a part of it, and no longer just watch the scenery.
Just live in the present moment.
Cheng Ran thought of Yang Xia on the rooftop again. The way she stood in the bright light made him involuntarily associate her with the figure on the playground of the first junior high school in the sunset.
Sometimes Cheng Ran couldn't help but laugh at himself. It seemed that as a reborn person, time and space were already smooth sailing before him. However, the boundaries in real life were still clear and insurmountable.
Just like even if he wanted to go to Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School, he had to pass a transfer exam. Just like even if he had the experience of the future and knew clearly that Cheng Feiyang was already at the cusp of the times, he still needed time and opportunities to polish him and wait for the wind to rise.
It was as if even though he and Jiang Hongshao had a deeper intersection, they were masters of loneliness and sympathy for each other, but there were still many natural gaps between them. Only a few letters a month communicated time and space, linking each other's lives.
There is no way to get involved too deeply, and there is no reason to get involved too deeply, just like the things he saw in his later life, often saying that he would "remember you forever", but in the end, he would lose you forever. Maybe one day, all we have is a memory we once shared.
In human nature, which cannot withstand the test, forgetting is the biological nature of human beings.
…
After the break, Cheng Ran walked along the main road to the mail room as usual. Then, among a pile of letters in the mail room, he saw the eye-catching and familiar handwriting of "Class 9, Grade 1, Shanhai No. 1 High School, received by Cheng Ran".
Just after he took out the letter, Xie Feibai happened to be walking down the path below the mail room. When he saw him, he came straight over.
"Get the letter... Is there any for me?"
Cheng Ran looked at him with a strange expression, "Will someone write to you?"
Xie Feibai considered his interpersonal relationships over the years and said, "Tsk," "Writing letters, being pen pals, etc. are all boring things... I don't care. Do I look like such a boring person?"
Then he glanced at the envelope held by Cheng Ran. When he saw clearly that the signature was "Jiang Hongshao", he was stunned for a moment and stared at Cheng Ran carefully, "Have you been in contact with her?"
He didn't call Jiang Hongshao by name. In fact, in his circle, he had known Jiang Hongshao for a long time. But as far as their fathers were concerned, Xie Houming and Li Jingping were people who could have an equal dialogue, and they might even be qualified to compete with each other.
Xie Feibai thought about it and gave Cheng Ran a thumbs up, "You are awesome."
"But this woman is not a simple person. Don't blame me for not reminding you..."
Cheng Ran didn't comment and opened the letter.
The first thing that caught my eye was a photo. Jiang Hongshao was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt with a small collar, holding a stack of colorful materials that looked like some kind of event, and smiling at the camera.
The charm of that glance made Cheng Ran a little dazzled.
Then he opened the letter below, which was written by Jiang Hongshao. "Thank you for giving me this photo right away. How do you feel? Please check the following three options: a. I didn't look away for even a minute. b. It was so suffocating. d. All of the above."
Cheng Ran couldn't help but smile.
"I'm about to attend an event. If you reply to this letter when you receive it, I may receive it after the event... I have read the letters I wrote to you in the past six months. Sometimes I feel that time flies. In the blink of an eye, such a long time has passed..."
"1994 and 1995 were truly the miracle years for movies. There were so many good movies that it felt like every one of them could last a hundred years. Not long ago, I watched The Shawshank Redemption, and for that I also read the book A Tale of Four Seasons, but the movie still had some changes, and it was different from the book itself..."
"I like the words in the chapter "Spring" in the book. It says that cowardice imprisons the human soul. Hope can make you feel free. The strong can save themselves, and the saints can save others."
Sometimes I feel that peeping into Jiang Hongshao's life in the form of letters is a different kind of experience. Life in No. 1 High School is calm but also has ups and downs. In the things that he leads, the board game Three Kingdoms is slowly becoming popular and spreading, and his father Cheng Feiyang's Fulong Company is continuing to expand and develop. And in Rongcheng, Jiang Hongshao's life is still going on.
However, the writing in Jiang Hongshao's letters to him was mostly cheerful and lively. What she shared with Cheng Ran were mostly entertainment, campus fun, or movies, as well as book recommendations and reading notes.
But life is not always like this. There can also be things that are not so interesting or pleasant. For example, recently a student at Chengdu No. 10 Middle School was diagnosed with a terminal illness and the entire school was raising funds. She often just brushed aside these in her letters and avoided talking about them.
Given Lao Jiang's maturity, she knew that even if she discussed heavy topics in the letter, she probably knew that it would be useless and could not change anything except to cast a gloomy shadow on Cheng Ran on the other side of the mountains and seas.
In fact, Cheng Ran had mentioned this intentionally or unintentionally in his reply letter. She could also tell him about her unhappiness. He not only appreciated her cheerfulness, but was also willing to share her negative emotions.
However, she always responded with "understanding". She probably hoped that what would be left in Cheng Ran's mind was a positive, interesting and cheerful side.
Well, that's what she thinks is the best.
After reading the letter, Cheng Ran held the letter paper in his hand. He felt that every time he read the letter she sent, he had two emotions. One was that he felt unsatisfied, and the other was that he couldn't wait to write back. At this time, he missed the future technology with developed network. If they could communicate via WeChat with zero delay, wouldn't they probably send 80,000 messages a day
When Cheng Ran was reading the letter, Xie Feibai didn't even glance at the contents of the letter. Perhaps he had a clear impression of Jiang Hongshao and even showed self-discipline in the letters she wrote to Cheng Ran.
But he did see the photo that Cheng Ran held in his hand at the beginning.
When Cheng Ran finished reading and was about to put the photos and letter paper into an envelope to take back to the classroom, Xie Feibai suddenly poked Cheng Ran with his elbow.
They were now on the main road of the administrative building, next to which was the reading column window. Every day, there would be someone in charge who would replace the newspapers in the reading column. There were only a few newspapers displayed here every day, including the Shanhai Daily, the Chengdu Metropolis Daily with the largest circulation in the province, the Tianfu Morning Post, and so on.
After Xie Feibai poked Cheng Ran with his elbow, he pointed his finger at the other end of the bulletin board, his eyes still blank.
There were some people standing at the bulletin board reading the contents of the newspaper, but following Xie Feibai's finger, Cheng Ran saw at a glance that among the several photos on the fourth page of the Rongcheng Metropolitan Daily on the bulletin board, there was a photo of Jiang Hongshao that looked exactly like the one in his hand.
Above the photo is the title "Youth Day opens at Chengdu Convention and Exhibition Center, youth role models make their debut, showing their youthful sweetness!"
Below the photo was an introduction in densely packed small print, followed by the content "In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of... in colleges and universities across the country, and guide young students to achieve national prosperity and national rejuvenation..." None of this was important. What was important was that there were people gathered in front of the bulletin board, and most of them were students who didn't read the content but only admired and praised the photos.
Cheng Ran was looking at the Youth Day rally in the background of the Great Hall, and finally understood what was going on with Jiang Hongshao's white shirt with a small edge collar that looked like an event outfit.
"Youth role model..."
Facing this title that he would probably never get in his lifetime, Xie Feibai muttered, "Damn... Is this woman really that perverted!?"