On the first day of entering the school, Wu Chun’s feelings of missing home persisted for three consecutive days, but they eased a bit amidst the busyness and trivial matters.
The university campus was not far from what Wu Chun had imagined.
He had also seen various descriptions of university life in the books he read before. In a nutshell, the university campus depicted in those books was like a paradise on earth.
Beautiful campus surroundings, helpful senior students, harmonious teachers, and even the majority of people would experience romantic encounters in such an environment.
Perhaps it was because Wu Chun mentioned the romantic encounter in his life during the summer vacation that he felt didn’t quite match the description of the university campus in the books, at least not for him.
Compared to the excitement of others, Wu Chun’s inner feelings were much calmer.
After returning from Shili Mountain, Wu Chun’s heart became unusually tranquil. Maybe he missed until he felt numb inside. During those three days, Wu Chun was always alone, holding a pinecone in his hands and sitting by the window for the entire day.
However, when his parents were around, Wu Chun still tried his best to put on a facade of being okay.
If they were to see him like this, having left Shili Mountain twice and appearing lost, they would inevitably ask him about it.
Asking questions can easily lead to mistakes.
Xu Shi Yao’s presence, as Grandpa said, didn’t need to be known by others anymore.
Wu Chun put his luggage in the dormitory.
The dormitory was a four-person room, but when Wu Chun arrived, there was only one person inside. They exchanged simple greetings, and then that person left with their parents.
Wu Chun tidied up his bed quickly, sat on it, and pondered for a while. In the end, he picked up the campus map that the senior had given him during registration and walked out.
The campus of this school was quite spacious. Taking a left turn after leaving Wu Chun’s dormitory, it wouldn’t take a long time to reach the school’s sports field.
With one hand holding the map and the other clutching the pinecone in his palm, Wu Chun walked to the sports field. Once there, he picked up the pinecone and held it close to his mouth, speaking softly.
“This should be the northwest corner of the school, and there’s a large sports field here. Inside, there’s a running track, and outside, there are basketball courts and a few table tennis tables. It’s quite hot right now, and there are people running on the playground.”
As he continued along the path, Wu Chun walked for a while and soon saw a teaching building.
Wu Chun came closer for a look and was unexpectedly surprised to find that his own academy was right there
This teaching building should have been recently constructed, as it looks much newer than the surrounding buildings. Wu Chun circled around the teaching building, and then, facing the pinecone, he described its features in detail.
Over the next couple of hours, Wu Chun spent almost two hours wandering around the entire campus.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wu Chun’s sense of direction wasn’t particularly good, even if he looked at the map. Sometimes, he would find himself in a state of confusion when he arrived at a place. At those moments, he would smile at the pinecone.
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After visiting the last location, Wu Chun’s feet were a bit sore, and the weather was quite hot. At this moment, he sat under the shade of a tree, feeling a bit dizzy.
“This won’t do,” Wu Chun self-mockingly said to the pinecone, “The tasks I’ll have to do in the future will be much more demanding than simply walking around now. My body lacks exercise! I’ll start running on the sports field from now on.”
After saying this, Wu Chun felt a cool sensation in his hand.
Wu Chun widened his eyes in astonishment. He remembered Xu Shi Yao saying that he had extracted all the coolness from the pinecone, but the feeling just now couldn’t possibly be an illusion.
With excitement, Wu Chun looked at the pinecone and whispered softly, “Is it you responding to me, Xu Shi Yao?”
Perhaps due to the play of light, Wu Chun always felt that after he asked that question, the pinecone seemed to flicker.
Wu Chun couldn’t help but let out a low laugh.
Under the shade of the tree, Wu Chun lowered his head and gently kissed the pinecone.
Meanwhile, on Shili Mountain in the distance, where the weather remained calm, the pine tree swayed significantly twice.
However, during the lunchtime, no one passed by, so no one noticed this unusual phenomenon.
…
On the first evening of the freshmen’s enrollment, there was a freshmen’s welcome meeting. After the meeting, Wu Chun learned that the freshmen military training might take place a week later.
The moment the counselor mentioned this news, Wu Chun’s first thought was to go back home.
With almost no hesitation, this idea naturally sprouted in Wu Chun’s mind.
However, before Wu Chun could get too excited, the counselor quickly explained the schedule for the week.
It consisted of various trivial matters, scattered throughout each day from Monday to Friday.
Wu Chun let out a light sigh, and he took out the books he had received from the village chief from his backpack. Sitting alone in a corner of the classroom, he carefully started reading.
In the following week, whenever Wu Chun had free time, he would make his way to the library.
By a fortunate chance, Wu Chun discovered that the library had a much larger collection of materials than he had imagined.
Every day at dawn, Wu Chun would step out of his dormitory, but at that time, the library was still closed. In front of the library, there was an artificial lake with a pavilion by its side. Wu Chun would sit under the pavilion, waiting for the library to open, and he would read the books he had borrowed from the library the day before.
Wu Chun’s reading interests were no longer confined to a single field; anything available in the library, he wanted to explore.
Wu Chun hoped to make the most of his four years in university to learn as much knowledge as possible. In the past, he didn’t have a clear goal; he was simply following the path that everyone seemed to take: college entrance exam – work.
In that state, Wu Chun didn’t have very strong determination; he could only focus on doing well with what he had at hand.
But now, things are different from the past. Present-day Wu Chun already has a clear life goal, and his future trajectory will be closely connected with a mountain and a village.
Once you leave the mountain, it’s not easy to return.
The knowledge Wu Chun had learned in the past now seems so meager. What he needs goes beyond what the teachers have taught. He also needs to spend a significant amount of time delving into various subjects, so he can qualify to go back.
Wu Chun feels some pressure, but the busyness also makes his life gradually more fulfilling.
During this week, apart from going out for a meal with his roommates once, most of Wu Chun’s time was spent either in the classroom or the library. In just one week, he filled two-thirds of a notebook with his notes.
Time flew by quickly, and when busy, the longing for Xu Shi Yao also eased considerably.
However, in the quiet of the night, when lying in bed, the inner longing would surge once again.
During those moments, Wu Chun would take down the pinecone and hold it in his arms throughout the night. He suddenly realized that the pinecone Xu Shi Yao gave him was thoughtful. At least, when he was alone outside, he had something to embody his longing.
Until Friday afternoon arrived, watching his roommates heading home nearby or spending time with their girlfriends, Wu Chun’s longing reached its peak.
Wu Chun would dare to say that it was the craziest thing he had ever done. When the longing became unbearable, Wu Chun recklessly rushed from the university to the station, as if fate also wished for him and Xu Shi Yao to meet. Wu Chun boarded the last bus back home.
As the weather gradually turned dark, there were only four people on the bus, including the driver.
As the evening approached, the speed of the bus slowed down, and when Wu Chun arrived home, it was already 9 PM.
To get from here to Shili Mountain, he would need to take another, longer bus.
Wu Chun had considered whether to go home, but going home would inevitably lead to questions from his family.
After much consideration, Wu Chun decided to find a cheap hotel near the bus station and spend the night there. Then, at dawn the next day, he finally boarded the bus heading to Shili Mountain.
The journey took nearly a whole day.
As the scenery outside gradually became more rugged, Wu Chun’s excitement grew.
He must make it before sunset, Wu Chun prayed in his heart.
He wanted to catch the last rays of sunset with Xu Shi Yao. He also wanted to make this challenging journey back more meaningful.
And this time, the timing was just right.
Before sunset, Wu Chun rushed back to Shili Mountain.
Without exaggeration, when he saw that pine tree, Wu Chun couldn’t wait and ran towards it, embracing the tree tightly.
“I missed you so much.”
Wu Chun said softly, and at that moment, the branches of the pine tree slightly trembled.
Wu Chun looked towards the end of the mountain, and suddenly, at a certain moment, his lips curled up, and he began counting, “Ten, nine, eight, seven…” As he reached one, a cool breeze swept past him from behind.
Before he could even turn around, Wu Chun fell into a cool embrace accompanied by the scent of pine wood.
Just like what Xu Shi Yao had said when Wu Chun first arrived, Xu Shi Yao now whispered softly into Wu Chun’s ear, “Wu Chun, I missed you so much.”
It was that inexplicable yet incredibly familiar longing in his heart, and it was the longing that had been building up for a whole week, the eagerness to see each other.
At the moment of seeing Wu Chun, all the feelings instantly returned to their original place.
He finally came…
The time written on his bark was much earlier than what he had expected.
“Wu Chun, didn’t you say it would be after a month?”
“Shh!” Wu Chun held onto Xu Shi Yao’s arm and whispered, “Let’s not talk now, the sunset is about to pass…”
A soybean:
Hahahaha, Wu Chun: Even if I have to crawl, I’ll crawl back!
