Xie Lan had to Baidu “tie tie” before he finally understood what it meant.

There were many words to express intimate interaction, but this one was uniquely cute in both its form and pronunciation. Moreover, pronouncing “tie” twice in a row was a bit tricky. Looking at the top comments, Xie Lan couldn’t help but repeat it: “Tie tie.”

The comment section was a bit noisy to the eyes: “Hahaha,” “555,” “Ahhh,” fans collectively referred to this as “chicken screaming.”

• Douzi really threw alpha energy in my face.
• JK uniforms are worthless in front of jeans!
• Only Dou Sheng appeared in the collab video, so the BGM must be Xie Lan.
• Mama is crying for you, Lan Zai 555.
• As a violin & arrangement pro, I want to say Xie Lan’s skill is truly astonishing…
• Skill astonishing +1, he keeps a low profile, those who know, know.
• My mood is a tiny bit complicated. Such a high-level work was only used by Douzi for two segments of BGM, worthy of my Dou.
• Placing a prophecy here: Annual Top 100 reserved, both cubs.

Xie Lan quickly scrolled past the praises and finally found a video interpretation he wanted to see.

• Very shocked. If anyone says Douzi is slumped again, I’ll flip out right here!! Let me briefly share my view. This is the world in the eyes of a “delinquent” youth and him in the eyes of the world. The way passersby’s faces are mosaiced in the video is different: distant, indifferent faces are blurry, while faces approaching directly are distorted—the indifference of strangers and the roughness of relatives, this is the boy’s perception. Furthermore, the camera language for him is also divided into two types: in the conventional “passerby view,” he is angry with exaggerated movements, but this BGM is a classical triple meter, relaxed, happy, and rhythmic, indicating that this is actually a moment of self-pleasing, not the so-called rebellion imagined by people at all. This is also corroborated in other high-angle and low-angle “non-human perspectives,” because in those shots he wears the same clothes, but his temperament and behavior are not abnormal! Finally, the boy takes off the dirty hoodie, washes out the dyed hair, returning from rebellion, reminding me of a sentence: Only I know that I am me. 5555 Douzi, I’m tired of saying you’re my bias UP! Finally! The transition BGM is absolutely amazing! Lan Zai! Mama loves you!!!

There were quite a few unfamiliar characters in this long paragraph. Xie Lan had to switch out to check the dictionary from time to time, taking about ten minutes to read through the whole thing.

After understanding it, he was a bit amazed. He didn’t expect someone to actually deconstruct this short film so clearly.

There were also a large number of detailed interpretations in the replies, including the perspective pointed to by each lens, the meaning of color matching, the meaning of gestures… Xie Lan read for fully half an hour and clicked an uncountable number of likes.

What he cared about most was a very short reply among them.

• Before the boy returns in the mirror, that scene of rain hitting the car window, the rain traced the shape of a leaf on the glass, seeking explanation!

Xie Lan paused. Hiding it in the classroom last night, he had actually missed this detail.

He immediately watched the video again. In the last frame of rain hitting the car window, the rain marks indeed traced out a leaf shape.

To be precise, it was a plane tree leaf, completely consistent with the simple plane tree outline Dou Sheng had casually drawn on the cover.

Facing the paused page, Xie Lan had a vague, indescribable feeling in his heart.

Dou Sheng liked plane trees and always casually added related elements here and there; he seemed to have gotten used to it. But this plane tree leaf appearing at the point before the boy returned from rebellion was somewhat subtle.

Xie Lan suddenly remembered a book he had read before, roughly saying that everything deliberately weakened and hidden in movie shots is the director’s disguised publicity.

Knock knock.

Xie Lan snapped back to reality. “Come in.”

Dou Sheng wandered in, holding his phone in one hand and a box of cream puffs in the other, wearing a face full of sleep-deprived fatigue.

He said漫不經心 (carelessly), “Need to go to cram school, still not up? You sleep way too much in a day, don’t you?”

Xie Lan sat on the bed, somewhat speechless. “I’m watching the video.”

“What video?” Dou Sheng raised an eyebrow, then realized. “Oh—I forgot about it. How is it? Satisfied with the data?”

Acting.

Xie Lan couldn’t be bothered to expose him, let alone ask if he bought the adult diapers.

“I’m reading the comments. Everyone’s understanding of the video is pretty good.”

Hearing this, Dou Sheng cracked a faint smile. “There are a few that are passable.”

Xie Lan continued swiping the screen. “What does ‘Original Intention Awakening’ mean?”

“Ah… that.”

Dou Sheng opened the box, pinched a cream puff, and tossed it into his mouth, his cheeks bulging as he swallowed the cream.

Xie Lan looked up. “Hm?”

“Nothing, just recently regained a bit of the original passion for making videos. Wasn’t I a bit depressed because of the Top 100 thing last year?”

Xie Lan couldn’t help asking, “Then why did you make videos in the first place?”

Dou Sheng didn’t make a sound. He continued to stand in front of Xie Lan’s bed eating cream puffs, eating them one by one very seriously.

Waiting for his answer, Xie Lan gradually became confused.

“Those cream puffs were for yourself?” Xie Lan frowned and whispered, “I thought they were for me to eat?”

Dou Sheng’s fingers holding the last cream puff stiffened.

“We can share.” As he spoke, he pinched that cream puff to Xie Lan’s mouth. “I washed my hands.”

The sweet scent of cream approached, the soft puff skin touching Xie Lan’s lips indeterminately.

Xie Lan paused for a moment before accepting and eating it, the dense cream wrapping around every taste bud.

Dou Sheng mumbled, “The original intention was simple, just wanting to convey relaxation and happiness. Before, when I was unhappy, watching other people’s videos made me feel healed, so after I became happy, I also wanted to heal others.”

Xie Lan said “Oh.” “Indeed, many people start making videos like this.”

He just mentioned it casually, but unexpectedly, Dou Sheng frowned upon hearing this.

“What ‘many people’?” Dou Sheng mumbled in dissatisfaction, “My original intention is very unique, okay? Forget it, I can’t explain it to you clearly. Let’s go to school.”

Xie Lan was stunned. “Which sentence didn’t I understand? Isn’t it spreading happiness?”

“You don’t understand!” Dou Sheng said with a straight face.

The math competition training and Chinese basics classrooms were next to each other. Dou Sheng was busy shouting in all his fan groups for people to get up and watch the video the whole way. Passing by Xie Lan’s classroom door, he said bye-bye without looking up.

Xie Lan was speechless, perfunctorily said bye-bye, turned around, and stepped into the classroom.

Old Ma was sitting by the podium desk. Seeing him come in, his eyes lit up. “Good morning.”

“Morning, teacher,” Xie Lan said quickly, walking to his usual seat.

So sleepy. Didn’t sleep soundly last night, eyelids were fighting a bit today.

He lowered his head and yawned. Just as he put down his bag and was about to sit, his steps suddenly stiffened.

Xie Lan jerked his head back to stare at Old Ma in front of the podium, then scanned the surrounding students with some confusion.

—That’s right, they were all people he had seen but didn’t know. No owls from Class 4. This was clearly the Chinese basics classroom.

Old Ma sat at the podium desk, looking at Xie Lan with a smile, eyes shining.

Xie Lan suspected he saw something called “fatherly love” in his eyes.

“Teacher…?”

Old Ma picked up his thermos and took a sip of water. “Nothing, I just came to see you.”

Xie Lan: “?”

The sound of the Chinese teacher’s high heels rang out from outside. Old Ma stood up and smiled, “That city-wide placement exam, the scores are still being compiled, they won’t be released until Monday. But I heard a big dark horse appeared, from Yingzhong.”

Xie Lan frowned in confusion. “Big dark horse? What does that mean? Broke into the grading group and gnawed on the papers? Scores can’t be released normally?”

Does the Yingzhong cafeteria raise horses??

Old Ma’s smile froze.

“No.” Old Ma’s face was full of shock. “‘Dark horse’ means a contestant who suddenly rushes out with excellent performance, which no one expected, or whom everyone didn’t know before. It’s a metaphor.”

Xie Lan suddenly realized. “Oh, I don’t quite understand these metaphors. Can you be more direct next time?”

“Okay… I just have a premonition that the dark horse might be you, and heard the score shocked the grading group, so I came over to take a look at you.” Old Ma sighed deeply. He raised his hand and patted Xie Lan’s shoulder again and again, saying earnestly, “Do well in Chinese, do well. No need to rush with math, you have no problem. Ah, I originally wanted to say I’d wait for you next door, forget it, forget it. You just do well in Chinese, strive to bring up the score as soon as possible, don’t be dragged down.”

Xie Lan: “Okay, teacher.”

Old Ma walked to the door holding his thermos with unfocused eyes. The Chinese teacher happened to come in and said curiously, “Eh, Teacher Ma? Did you go to the wrong classroom?”

Old Ma sighed softly, pulled her over, and whispered a few words. The Chinese teacher glanced at Xie Lan with some surprise. “Oh okay, don’t worry, I treat him like a child from my own class.”

Old Ma nodded heavily.

Xie Lan felt a bit baffled, walked back to his seat, and sat down.

Halfway through the Chinese class, Xie Lan received a text message.

[Dear Student Xie Lan: Welcome to join the Yingzhong Debate Club! The first training activity of the Debate Club will be held on Wednesday from 5 PM to 6 PM. The location is Laboratory Building 303. The content of this activity is ice-breaking and grouping for new members and discussion of the debate topic. You can learn about the topic in advance—Should gender symbols exist? Reply 1 to confirm participation.]

After understanding it, Xie Lan quickly replied with a 1.

This should count as the first student club activity he participated in at a domestic school. He cherished it very much, copying the topic down in his notebook, planning to find time tomorrow to prepare in advance.

---

During lunch, the squad was discussing this morning’s video.

“Your follower growth speed is too scary!”

Che Ziming slurped noodles while pawing at his phone, speaking indistinctly, “It’s only been a few hours? Seventy-eight thousand!”

Dai You nodded. “This is having strength and someone to guide you. Eh, let’s find time to celebrate?”

Che Ziming immediately followed up, “Later when the math placement test results are out, someone will definitely treat the top scorer to barbecue, we’ll do it together then!”

Xie Lan, who was eating with his head down, paused his chopsticks upon hearing this. He looked at the innocent-faced Che Ziming and asked casually, “Who did you bet on for first place last time?”

“Douzi!” Che Ziming said. “But later I regretted it a bit. Lan ah, how did you do on the test?”

“Didn’t feel much.”

“Oh ho, done for.” Wang Gou sighed faintly. ” didn’t feel much’ means didn’t feel the difficulty. I feel like I’ve been scolded.”

Che Ziming immediately turned into a repeater. “I feel like I’ve been scolded.”

Dai You smiled and followed: “I’ve been scolded.”

The whole table looked at Yu Fei. Yu Fei opened his mouth impatiently, “I… I’m speechless, okay? So childish.”

“Feiyu has been doubly irritable recently,” Che Ziming whispered. “I seriously suspect he has a situation.”

Dou Sheng put down his chopsticks. “Explanation?”

“Before, he would definitely lose contact within two hours after school, sleeping. But recently I often get up in the middle of the night and see him still lit up, poking him and he’s still online.”

Hearing this, Wang Gou asked in a whisper, “Do you always get up in the middle of the night?”

Che Ziming: “…?”

“Might need to get that checked.” Wang Gou looked worried. “Anyway, us village people are like this. Whose boy gets up often in the middle of the night, the village people will gossip, saying he— Ahhh you stepped on my foot!”

Yu Fei sighed heavily. “Been a bit annoyed recently. How about playing ball this afternoon, 2V2.”

“Sure.” Che Ziming agreed readily. “Playing ball with you is fine, but say it in advance, go easy on me.”

Yu Fei frowned. “Do you have no shame?”

Che Ziming said righteously: “No.”

The whole table laughed until they fell over. Xie Lan couldn’t hold it back either.

The biology class in the afternoon was high value. The teacher started from Compulsory Biology 1, and Xie Lan found biology simpler than he imagined. As long as he remembered those terms, the rest was very easy to understand.

Near the end of class, the small group chat suddenly vibrated.

• RJJSD: I bought the medicine, heading back, ten minutes.
• Dai You: Okay, we’re still at the spot.
• RJJSD: Did you guys call?
• Che Ziming: Called, his mom is on the way.
• RJJSD: /OK

Xie Lan was a bit confused and asked: What happened?

Che Ziming replied quickly: Poor Student Feiyu sprained his ankle, sprained it quite badly, the person is basically useless.

While Xie Lan was still confused, Dou Sheng sent a sentence in the group: ankle twist (ankle sprain).

Xie Lan understood then: How bad is the injury?

Che Ziming sent a photo.

It had only been a short while since the sprain, but the ankle was already completely red and ridiculously swollen.

Xie Lan asked: Small playground? I’ll come over immediately after class.

Dou Sheng replied: Not that urgent, just wait for his mom to pick him up. I’ll buy medicine and spray it on him to stop the pain first, you go to your class.

Yu Fei himself also sent an “En” in the group.

When Xie Lan rushed to the small playground, Dou Sheng and the others were still there. Yu Fei’s mother had just arrived, and the school security guard was also beside them.

Yu Fei sat on the ground somewhat weakly. “Sigh, why make such a big fuss? I could just let Che Ziming and the others help me to the school gate.”

Yu Fei’s mother put her hand on his head, squatted down, and gently touched the swollen part of his ankle. “Mom’s not at ease. Sprains shouldn’t be moved carelessly. You spray the medicine first to relieve it, then we’ll slowly move out.”

Yu Fei looked very much like his mother, but their temperaments were completely two extremes. His mother looked petite and delicate, spoke slowly and softly, and her tone was also very gentle.

“Auntie, he shouldn’t have a big issue.” Che Ziming said from the side, “We tested it for him just now, it should just be a sprain, bones are fine. If you’re worried, take him for an X-ray. We already sprayed the white medicine.”

Yu Fei’s mother smiled. “Thank you. You are all here?”

“Yeah, we were playing ball together.”

Dou Sheng spotted Xie Lan, came over, and whispered, “It’s fine.”

Xie Lan glanced at Yu Fei’s ankle. “Seems more swollen than in the photo just now.”

Dou Sheng hummed. “It will definitely continue to swell for a while. His mom will take him to the hospital later.”

Yu Fei’s mother must have rushed over from home, not bothering to put on a coat, just draped in a cashmere shawl. The camel-colored shawl wrapped her petite figure, long hair loose on her back, as she squatted to carefully check Yu Fei’s ankle.

Looking at her, Xie Lan’s heart sank abruptly—

Her temperament was very similar to Xiao Langjing’s. Gentle and introverted, speaking softly yet steadily, making one unconsciously want to rely on her. Their dressing style was also similar. In the last period, Xiao Langjing didn’t wear hospital gowns anymore. She asked Xie Lan to bring her own clothes from home. Every day it was just a thin fleece shirt plus a shawl like this, sitting on the bed reading books and watching movies.

Yu Fei sat waiting for the medicine to take effect, his mother still stroking his head stroke by stroke.

“Stop touching, Mom, touching it bald.” Yu Fei said, a bit embarrassed. “I’m almost a senior in high school, so many classmates are here.”

Yu Fei’s mother laughed. “I touch if I want to, what’s it to you.”

Although she said that, she still withdrew her hand and picked up the medicine nearby to read the instructions carefully.

After a long time, she sighed: “Son, spraining your ankle just playing ball, what’s going on lately? Mom feels like you’re restless.”

Yu Fei looked down at the big lump on his ankle with drooping eyebrows and eyes. “Annoyed.”

“You’re annoyed every day.” Yu Fei’s mother said helplessly: “You’ve been annoyed since you were born, never seen you happy.”

Beside them, Che Ziming and Wang Gou hit each other frantically to hold back laughter. Dai You also kept hooking the corners of his lips, bending over to pack up the scattered medicine boxes and instructions on the ground.

After a long time, Yu Fei said, “Doesn’t seem to hurt that much anymore, let’s go now? Where is the car?”

“Just outside. The security guard brother let me drive in as much as possible, thanks.” Yu Fei’s mother smiled gratefully at the security guard. When Che Ziming helped Yu Fei up, she immediately supported the other side of Yu Fei’s body.

The woman looked thin and small, but she was very steady when supporting her son.

“Let’s go to the hospital near home, this orthopedics department near your school isn’t very good.” She asked softly for Yu Fei’s opinion.

Yu Fei was quite obedient in front of his mother. “Whatever works, sprayed medicine so it doesn’t hurt that much for now.”

Che Ziming looked back. “Don’t follow, Auntie and I will get him out.”

Dou Sheng nodded and instructed: “Be careful, watch your step.”

“Got it.”

The three moved out slowly. Dai You sighed, “Feiyu has been a bit irritable lately. He was playing ball with fire just now too. The four of us playing ball, why did he charge so fiercely.”

Wang Gou shook his head. “Don’t understand. Shall we send this pole back to the cafeteria?”

“Oh right, forgot.” Dai You said, casually picking up the stainless steel pipe next to him and walking towards the cafeteria. Wang Gou followed behind.

When people left, Xie Lan asked in a muffled voice: “What’s that pole for?”

Dou Sheng was speechless. “I don’t know either. Saw it there when I came back from buying medicine. Guess that melon skin¹ Che Ziming wanted to DIY a crutch for Yu Fei.”

“Oh.”

Xie Lan turned to walk towards the school gate. “Let’s go home.”

Yu Fei and the other two were still not far ahead. It was getting a bit windy, the plane tree leaves on the lined path rustling. In the distance, Yu Fei’s mother’s long hair was blown up by the wind; she kept holding her hair with one hand to prevent the strands from hitting her son’s face in the wind.

Zhao Wenying was actually very gentle too, but her gentleness was hidden under nagging and complaints. Moreover, she often traveled for business and met rarely. Unlike Yu Fei’s mother, who reminded Xie Lan of that person instantly from all aspects.

Walking along, Xie Lan suddenly thought again, Dai You mentioned his mother was a middle school teacher, Wang Gou’s mother ran a small shop in the countryside, Che Ziming’s mother worked out of town but often mailed things back.

Actually, only he…

Another gust of wind rose head-on. A bright, fresh leaf was caught by the wind, swirling and dancing in the air to Xie Lan.

Dou Sheng skillfully reached out and grabbed that leaf. “Ms. Zhao Wenying is back.”

Xie Lan stopped and turned his head to look at him. “Now?”

“Just messaged me.” Dou Sheng shook his phone. “Calling us home for dinner, also asked if you eat tomato hot pot.”

Xie Lan paused. “Using tomatoes for hot pot?”

Dou Sheng shook his head. “Tomato is just the base soup, you’ll know later. It’s not spicy, very delicious.”

“Okay,” Xie Lan said. He raised his head and took a silent, deep breath.

The two walked quietly for a while until the figures of Yu Fei and his mother disappeared at the school gate.

“I seem to smell someone feeling sour in this wind.” Dou Sheng suddenly whispered.

Xie Lan froze. “What?”

Dou Sheng didn’t speak immediately. After a while, he said, “I’ve seen photos of Auntie Xiao and my mom when they were young. Her temperament is indeed a bit similar to Feiyu’s mom.”

Xie Lan hummed, thought of a phrase Che Ziming often said, and repeated faintly: “Yes, I’m lemoned (jealous).”

Dou Sheng burst out laughing beside him.

His laughter was very light and low, seeming to make the heaviness in the air disappear a little.

Xie Lan walked side by side with him. After a while, he stopped and whispered, “She’s been gone for so long. Actually, I’ve long sorted out my mood. It’s just that sometimes, I suddenly think of her, can’t escape it.”

His eyes were a bit hot, so Xie Lan looked ahead without turning back.

Dou Sheng pinched the stem of that plane tree leaf, placed it before his eyes, and gently rotated it.

On the bright green leaf, the vein patterns were very clear. It was translucently green in the sunlight, as if one could see the life of the green leaf flowing.

“If you want to cry, you can cry now. I’ll barely pretend not to see,” Dou Sheng said. “Use this leaf to cover for you.”

What could a leaf cover?

Xie Lan took the plane tree leaf. The stem still retained the warmth of Dou Sheng’s fingertips. Touching it caused a moment of trance, as if hooking Dou Sheng’s finger.

He lowered his eyes to look at the leaf veins. “I just have some regrets. That last day I was panicking, crying the whole time, forgot to say goodbye to her properly. That goodbye was said at the funeral. She had already left, don’t know if she could still hear it.”

Dou Sheng didn’t make a sound. He didn’t know where he fished out another leaf, slightly yellower than the one just now, and placed it in Xie Lan’s palm as well.

After a long time, Dou Sheng whispered, “Have you heard a fairy tale?”

“Hm?”

Dou Sheng raised his hand and touched his hair. “As long as a person still remains in the memory of the living, she has never truly left.”

“So, as long as you still miss her, she will always be there.”

The wind blew Dou Sheng’s voice a bit faint.

But Xie Lan heard it. His gaze moved slightly, pinching the two leaves, one green and one yellow, staring blankly at Dou Sheng under the plane tree for a moment.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the plane tree leaves, casting pale golden spots on Dou Sheng’s dazzlingly white jacket. It made Xie Lan unexpectedly remember the poem Dou Sheng recited that night in the South Alley courtyard, and the rambling exhortations she gave in the hospital two years ago.

On that last day, he indeed forgot to say goodbye properly.

But he kept holding her hand and saying, I will miss you, saying it many, many times.

__

Author’s Note:

Lazy Egg sat at the table eating breakfast, looking worriedly into the room.

The room was clanging and banging, all kinds of things flying wildly.

Lazy Egg poked Dou Egg weakly: What’s wrong with the keyboard smash… why go crazy suddenly…

Ignore her. Dou Egg leisurely picked up the tea cup and drank tea: She’s going to be late for work.

__

NOTES:

1. A dialect word (common in Shaanxi/Sichuan regions) meaning “Watermelon Rind.” It is a slang term for “idiot,” “goofball,” or “dummy.” It is derogatory but often used affectionately between close friends. ↩︎