Chapter 1865: Chapter 976: See You at the Next Intersection

7:05 AM.

Qing Chen was standing at the Xingfuli Station in District 5 of City 5, waiting for the light rail train to arrive on schedule.

He looked at everything in front of him, always feeling like he had forgotten something, yet it also seemed as if he had never remembered anything.

At 7:10, the light rail arrived.

Qing Chen stepped onto the train and quickly walked toward the second car.

He held onto the handle inside the car, his body swaying slightly with the train, which was weaving through buildings in the city’s morning like a white flying horse.

Making a rumbling sound.

At 7:35, the light rail reached Gingko Station, where a massive ginkgo tree stood outside the window. In the autumn, the ginkgo tree’s leaves had turned golden, scattered all over the ground.

The area within tens of meters of the ginkgo tree seemed to be coated in a layer of golden sunlight, solid and magnificent.

Qing Chen glanced sideways at the door as a girl with twin ponytails and headphones came in and stood not far from him.

There were two meters between them, and he had to look through the gaps between passengers to catch a glimpse of the girl’s profile.

Just then, someone tapped his shoulder and said with a smile, "Morning!"

Qing Chen looked back to find Zard boarding the train at this station too, standing behind him with an arm around Xiao Liu, who laughed and asked, "What are you looking at? How come you’re zoning out?"

Xiao Liu leaned in, following Qing Chen’s gaze through the gap, looking at the not-so-distant Ying Ying, and immediately snickered in a low voice, "How many years has it been?"

Zard said, "Qing Chen, did you do the homework?"

Qing Chen replied, "I did. Go ahead and copy it, but if you guys don’t study hard, you might not get into Qinghe University next year."

Xiao Liu said nonchalantly, "Someone like me is destined not to go to college. I don’t have big ambitions either. When you get into Qinghe University, I’ll set up a pancake stall at the entrance, and you can convince your classmates to support my business. Am I not business-minded? I’ll give you a commission!"

Qing Chen: "..."

Xiao Liu asked, "Why are you working so hard to get into Qinghe University?"

Zard chimed in, "I know!"

Saying this, he nodded towards the girl, "I heard Ying Ying wants to go to Qinghe University, so he wants to go too. Heh heh heh."

Qing Chen was silent for a moment: "Why do I feel that you’re less likable since you got normal?"

Zard scratched his head, "What do you mean? What do you mean by ’since I got normal’?"

"Just copy your homework."

Zard and Xiao Liu took out their LCD pads on the light rail and frantically copied Qing Chen’s answers, deliberately changing a few options to avoid the teacher’s suspicion.

Qing Chen, Zard, and Xiao Liu wore identical school uniforms, like the close friends everyone had in their youth. One always wore their backpack carelessly, another never did homework the day before, one always boasted, and someone secretly had a crush on a girl, hiding their feelings deep inside.

Watching the two copy homework, Qing Chen somehow felt cheerful.

It wasn’t because they were copying, but because seeing them still around made the world seem exceedingly beautiful.

Strange, why do I have this feeling?

When they reached the school station, the girl got off first, and the three of them followed, playfully bantering as they discussed playing soccer after school.

The classroom was lively, with Ying Ying stuffing her backpack into her desk on the front row, while Qing Chen sat at the back row near the window with his close friends.

Sunlight fell on his face, and his gaze fell on the back of the girl.

During exercise sessions, students formed a matrix on the playground. Qing Chen stood at the front, counting the beats, and during the sixth torso rotation exercise, he could sneak a glance at the girl diagonally in the back of the queue. She wore the white school uniform, looking youthful and mesmerizing.

The little thoughts from school days, even when placing homework next to the person you liked, would bring a secret joy to the heart.

Youth is like a cheap chilled soda from the school shop; it was so wonderful at the time, but looking back, you can’t find that taste again.

At noon, the three close friends went to the cafeteria to eat. Wang Yuchao, Zhao Mingke, and others from the same neighborhood gathered around. When Wang Yuchao saw the meat on Qing Chen’s plate, his eyes lit up, "Your older brother and sister-in-law are so good to you, working hard on the construction site yet giving you such a high allowance, afraid you’ll go hungry."

Qing Chen smiled without responding. He ate everything on his tray cleanly, and after eating, the plate was so clean it could reflect light.

At this moment, an old man hunched over walked through the cafeteria, kindly supervising students not to waste food, "Who knows how much hard work goes into every grain of rice, just like Qing Chen, don’t waste food!"

When the students saw him, they quickly stood up to greet him, "Hello, Principal."

Principal Li Xiurui smiled and said, "Sit down, sit down, hurry and eat your meal."

Qing Chen looked at the principal’s hunched figure, always there day after day in the cafeteria, watching over the students as if they were his own children.

If he noticed any student unusually poor, only able to eat protein bars, he would offer work-study opportunities.

It’s said that last year this principal even staged a hunger strike sit-in at the education department until he secured a lunch subsidy for the students, making the cafeteria meals half the price of those outside.

The biology teacher Ban Shou and geography teacher Hawthorn mentioned that the education department intends to stop the subsidy this year, and the old principal plans to sit in again, with them ready to accompany him.

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