Chapter 33

In 2003, the alien craze sparked by the Starship crash had yet to subside. However, for the ordinary people of Jiangnan Province, their own lives were of greater concern.

Compared to three years ago, the cheapest mixed vegetable and meat set meal at the fast-food restaurant had risen from three yuan to five yuan, and even the affordable Lanzhou noodles had gone up by one yuan. For some reason, the prices of seafood at the market were getting higher and higher. Fortunately, the five-yuan fried noodles and fried rice at the night market stalls still came with a small bowl of bone soup. Every evening, some private vendors would push their simple oil-frying stalls, dodging city management officers while calling out to customers. The one-yuan skewers of pork loin and the four-yuan fried quails, served with sweet and spicy sauce, always attracted the appetites of passersby.

Over these three years, the arcade halls that once drew boys, teenagers, and even young adults to battle side by side had gradually declined, replaced by one internet cafe after another. A crude game called "MIR2" had miraculously become popular across the country. Websites like The Last Eden and Anime Infinity, which serialized comics, gradually squeezed out the small bookstores that rented pirated comics and martial arts novels. The works of Jin Yong and Gu Long, which once captivated the older generation, were gradually giving way to new novels that emerged on the internet. From across the ocean came cheap novels like "Dragonlance" and "Dark Elf," leading some Chinese youth into a different world of fantasy, distinct from the martial arts and mythology they were familiar with.

Everything was changing, whether it was events or people.

In front of the First High School of Huanghai City, a car with a government license plate stopped. The door opened, and a girl stepped out.

The girl, carrying a schoolbag, was about sixteen years old, with a neat ponytail. Her delicate features exuded the gentle sweetness characteristic of Eastern girls, but her bright eyes sparkled with vitality. She was slender, standing over 1.7 meters tall, a very beautiful girl.

"Uncle Wu, you can stop here. Bye-bye," the girl waved to the driver with a smile.

"Okay, I'll come to pick you up after school in the afternoon," Uncle Wu nodded, watching the girl walk into the school before driving away.

The ponytailed girl entered the school and soon found the principal. The principal quickly called a teacher and introduced her as the new class teacher.

"Hello, teacher~" she bowed politely to the teacher. The principal and the class teacher immediately smiled, their eyes crinkling, and nodded, "Good, good. Qin Xia'er, is your father, Secretary Qin, not busy these days?"

"Not busy," the ponytailed girl smiled.

After a few more words, the class teacher led the new girl to the key class she would be joining. In front of the forty or so classmates, the girl introduced herself with poise, winning the favor of many students—especially the female students and most of the male students.

After a few classes, the ponytailed girl, who was always surrounded by girls and bombarded with questions during breaks, finally found an excuse to run to the quiet and empty music room during lunchtime.

"Phew, really, so tiring!" The ponytailed girl let down her guard, stretching her slender arms like a cat, yawning widely.

The students didn't know about her family background. If they did, she might be even more tired... the ponytailed girl thought.

The music room's window was open. She walked over and leaned her elbow on the windowsill. Outside, an old willow tree swayed in the early summer breeze, rustling softly and soothingly.

Her father had been transferred to this city, and she had come with him. A new environment, a new beginning. But for some reason, there was a hint of loneliness. The melancholy of a sixteen-year-old girl often came without reason or warning.

"I'm not lonely when I'm alone, but I am lonely when I think of someone... Those with company are having fun, but what about those who are lonely...

Looking out the window, down the long street... happiness is silent, like a card.

The lights are like stars, shining brightly down the street, and the feeling of missing someone makes my eyes wet and bright.

I'm not lonely when I'm alone, but I am lonely when I think of someone... Those with company are having fun, but what about those who are lonely...

I think of you while singing, imagining you watching...

Touched, I am held, and my tears smile...

The scarf... gently touches my lips, a bit warm, like a kiss...

Breath turns to white smoke... passing over my brows... colliding with memories, a snowfall..."

The ponytailed girl's lips parted, and she softly hummed a song she liked. Her clear, bell-like voice, carrying a faint emotion, echoed in the quiet music room.

"Huh, who is it, talking about scarves and snow in the middle of summer..."

A lazy voice suddenly sounded, startling the girl. She turned around and saw a boy sitting up from behind a few desks, rubbing his head and squinting his eyes.

The boy, probably hiding here to take a nap, had been woken up by the girl's singing. As he sat up, he and the girl made eye contact, and his expression clearly changed slightly.

The ponytailed girl, initially startled, then puzzled, soon broke into a radiant smile. In the warm afternoon sunlight filtering through the window, her youthful smile, tinged with surprise, a bit of nostalgia, and even a hint of anticipation, was captivating.

"Classmate Li Pu!" The ponytailed girl raised her finger, pointing at the boy with a playful scolding, "You're skipping class and sleeping again!"

"Hehe, it's Class President Xia'er." Li Pu, already seventeen and a second-year high school student, looked up and down at his old sparring partner, who had grown into a beautiful young woman, and smiled, "Feeling lonely and missing your boyfriend, huh?"

"Stop talking nonsense, that's just the lyrics. I just thought the melody was nice..." Qin Xia'er's face turned red, annoyed at how she always got angry when she met this guy.

Li Pu didn't care about this, waving his hand, "Please don't go running to the teacher like you did in elementary school. It's lunchtime now. Besides, they won't bother me. I'm going back to sleep..."

Li Pu unceremoniously lay back down, leaving Qin Xia'er fuming and wanting to pinch him. But she held back, looking around the room and even checking outside the music room.

Finally, she trotted over to the row of chairs where the boy was lying, poking him with her finger.

"Hey, hey~~" Qin Xia'er rudely disturbed his nap again. Humph, who cares if he's so annoying.

"Huh, what do you want now?" Li Pu opened his eyes.

Qin Xia'er's eyes widened with anticipation, "Where's Classmate Chen Xian? She's always been inseparable from you. Where did you hide her?"

Compared to the bad student Li Pu, she was more concerned about the classmate who had always outshone her in various ways, intentionally or unintentionally, during elementary and middle school.

Qin Xia'er asked the question matter-of-factly. But after asking, she noticed a slight darkening in Li Pu's expression, a look she had never seen on him before.

"Her father took her back to America three years ago," Li Pu answered after a moment of silence. "I haven't been able to contact her, so I don't know where she is exactly."

"Her father took her back to America?" Qin Xia'er couldn't believe it, confirming with the boy several times before looking at him with a complex expression, "Oh..."

"Sorry," Qin Xia'er pursed her lips, sitting down on the table next to the boy, suddenly saying without any context.

"Why are you apologizing..." This time, it was Li Pu's turn to feel a bit awkward. He preferred bickering and fighting to being pitied.

This was a perfect opportunity to tease him, but Qin Xia'er's maternal instincts kicked in, and she didn't take advantage of the situation. The two of them sat in the quiet music room, their thoughts drifting to the vast ocean on the other side.

"What a pity~~" Qin Xia'er suddenly clasped her hands, stretching her slender, white arms in a yawn, "If she were in this school, I could finally have a proper competition with her."

"You still haven't forgotten about that," Li Pu sighed, "You're too competitive."

"Of course I haven't forgotten! Classmate Chen Xian is my arch-rival!" Qin Xia'er clenched her fists,不服气地说：“现在的我比以前优秀多了，无论是学习还是其他方面，我都能赢过她！”

“省省心吧。别说现在，好几年前，小娴的兴趣就不在普通的学习成绩上了。而是……嘿，竞争的基础都不存在。非要比嘛……”

李谱上下打量了少女，装出一副很认真考虑的样子，手还很微妙地比划着说道：“嗯，你的胸部从以前就比小娴发育得好得多。现在都快有D了吧？这一点恐怕是你赢了。”

“不过，”他话锋一转，“小娴当初毕竟年纪小，去了美国，又有一半外国人血统，也许现在也是美国尺寸了。那你还是要输诶。”

“呜，笨蛋！流氓！色狼！”秦夏儿没想到李谱说话这么直白，不由得双手抱在胸前，羞恼地胡乱踢了李谱一脚，转头就跑掉了。

李谱目送少女跑出音乐教室。没想到她又去而复返，在音乐教室的门口对他吐舌头，“噗噗！搬砖搬到死哦！”

奈何这个鬼脸看上去太可爱了，实在一点杀伤力都没有。大概是怕李谱的反击，她转头就一溜烟逃掉了。

被她闹腾到现在，李谱的睡意早已消散，嘴角浮现出一丝不易察觉的笑意。就算个子长高，身材变得有点前凸后翘，她还是那个夏儿班长啊。

仍然是童年记忆里，那个嘴硬、爱哭、管家婆、好胜……又无比善良的女孩。

“八婆是八婆了点，但至少沉闷的高中日子，会稍微不那么无聊一点了。”这三年多的独自生活里，性子已经有些孤僻的十七岁的少年漫不经心地想。

夏日的清风拂过绿意盎然的树梢，吹入音乐教室内。而室外的走廊上，一位马尾辫少女快步走着，裙角飞扬，神情还是有点不愉快似的。但不知为何，她的步子，却轻快得仿佛一只开心的小鹿。

这是2003年的初夏，相隔四年的小小重逢。

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Translation:

"Of course I haven't forgotten! Classmate Chen Xian is my arch-rival!" Qin Xia'er clenched her fists,不服气地说：“现在的我比以前优秀多了，无论是学习还是其他方面，我都能赢过她！”

"Save it. Not to mention now, even a few years ago, Xiao Xian's interests were no longer in ordinary academic performance. But... hey, the basis for competition doesn't even exist. If you must compare..."

Li Pu looked the girl up and down, pretending to think seriously, and subtly gestured with his hands, "Hmm, your chest has always developed better than Xiao Xian's. You're almost a D now, right? I guess you win in that aspect."

"But," he changed the subject, "Xiao Xian was young when she went to America and has half foreign heritage. She might be an American size now. So you'd still lose."

"Ugh, idiot! Pervert! Creep!" Qin Xia'er, caught off guard by Li Pu's blunt words, crossed her arms over her chest, kicked Li Pu in frustration, and ran off.

Li Pu watched the girl run out of the music room. Unexpectedly, she returned, sticking out her tongue at him from the doorway, "Puh puh! Work yourself to death!"

Despite the cute face, it had no real impact. Afraid of Li Pu's retaliation, she turned and ran off.

After all the commotion, Li Pu's sleepiness had vanished, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. Even though she had grown taller and her figure had become more curvaceous, she was still that Class President Xia'er.

Still the same girl from his childhood memories, mouthy, prone to tears, a busybody, competitive... and incredibly kind.

"She's still a nag, but at least my dull high school life will be a bit less boring," the seventeen-year-old boy, who had become somewhat reclusive over the past three years, thought absentmindedly.

The summer breeze blew through the lush tree branches, entering the music room. Outside in the corridor, a ponytailed girl walked briskly, her skirt flaring, her expression still a bit unhappy. But for some reason, her steps were light and quick, like those of a happy little deer.

It was early summer 2003, a small reunion after four years.

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