Chapter 4  

Port City was a small place and life moved at a relatively slow pace. People got off work on their bicycles in twos and threes on the streets. Chen Hansheng and Wang Zibo walked slowly in the afterglow of the sunset. The evening sky was illuminated by a mesmerizing light as the shadows of the duo stretched out long before them.

Chen Hansheng had been looking at the scenery with great interest. Some of these buildings would not exist anymore in the future. So, it was best to appreciate them now.

As he was enjoying the scenery, he suddenly heard a bell behind him. Chen Hansheng looked back and could not help but grumble in his heart, “Why do I keep getting entangled with them on the first day of my rebirth?”

Since the duo had been walking so slowly, Xiao Rongyu and the group of students easily caught up with them on their bikes.

Wang Zibo even waved politely to show his respect. But Chen Hansheng found them to be a nuisance as he turned back around and pretended not to see them. In the end, Xiao Rongyu had to stop him.

“Chen Hansheng, Wang Zibo, only the two of you haven’t left a message in my notebook.”

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Xiao Rongyu took out an exquisite hard-cover notebook from her bag and said, “Write something casual. Just treat it as if you’re giving me a souvenir.”

Chen Hansheng was not very interested at first, but he got distracted by Xiao Rongyu’s sweet and beautiful soul reflected in her beautiful oval face.

When Xiao Rongyu smiled, the dimples on her cheeks were faintly discernible. How could any guy not be smitten? She was the school belle for a reason.

“Chen Hansheng, come on, write in my notebook. Where are your eyes looking at?”

Gao Jialiang couldn’t be bothered with the duo initially. But when Xiao Rongyu said that, he noticed Chen Hansheng checking out Xiao Rongyu.

This made Gao Jialiang so angry that he started cursing. Even Wang Zibo was puzzled. Chen Hansheng could be quite carefree. But no matter how much he liked Xiao Rongyu, he still respected her as a person and would never check her out in such a way before.

But Xiao Rongyu was not an easy girl either. She noticed how Chen Hansheng was looking at her and glared at him. “If you look at me like that again, I’ll gouge your eyes out. You know what, I’m going to tell Mrs. Chen too.”

Chen Hansheng could not deny that Xiao Rongyu was starting to become a woman. Nevertheless, he took the notebook. When he opened it up to write his message, he noticed a message from a girl:

[No matter what happens in the future, please cherish every bit of our time together. No matter how many reincarnations we have gone through, I will still be your friend.]

Someone had also written a poetic message:

[Graduations do not end friendships. Separations do not stop fate. The end of the world will never remove our blessings for and memories of each other.]

There was a simpler message from someone else:

[I wish Xiao Rongyu will forever be happy in university.]

Someone else had written a short poem:

[Green hills and clear water of youth,

we have been together for several years.

No other gifts,

just a blessing as a souvenir.]

Then, Chen Hansheng saw Gao Jialang’s love poem:

[My love, how I wished we were as white birds on the foam of the sea!

The meteor’s light, fleeing and faded, has us tired;

As the blue star of twilight’s flame hung low in the sky;

A hint of sadness in our hearts, my love, has awakened.

– By Gao Jialang]

How shameless of Gao Jialang! He was clearly plagiarizing William Butler Yeat’s “The White Bird” and yet dares to sign his name at the end of it.

Xiao Rongyu saw Chen Hansheng reading others’ messages to her and she started to blush. “Don’t peek at other people’s. Find an empty spot and just write yours, quickly!”

Chen Hansheng handed the book to Wang Zibo. “Here, you write first.”

Wang Zibo had been racking his brain to think of a sentence that would leave a deep impression on Xiao Rongyu, the beauty. Flustered, he took the pen and grumbled unhappily, “I haven’t thought of it yet.”

Wang Zibo was not prepared to be writing it so soon. In the end, he just wrote a formal and detached message:

[May Xiao Rongyu be beautiful and happy always.]

Finally, it was Chen Hansheng’s turn. He had originally wanted to write: ‘I wish that you would be able to return to your youth halfway through life.’

But it was too cryptic and was not interesting enough. Thus, he wrote: “For life in a pond, the loach may be ugly but it speaks wonders; the toad may be sloppy but it can bring joy; the snail may be slimy but it has a gentle heart. The little crucian carp is your goddess.”

Gao Jialiang was standing a little further away. But once Chen Hansheng put his pen down, he started to grow anxious and hurried over to see what the latter had written. In the end, he only read words describing creatures in a pond. He smiled contemptuously and said, “Even elementary school students write better essays.”

But another girl from the group shook her head and said, “Not necessarily. At first glance, it looks very boring, but if you read it carefully, it holds quite a deep meaning. Chen Hansheng, are you calling Rongyu your goddess?”

Gao Jialang may act like a spoiled brat at times, but as a student of The First Port City High School, his language literacy was quite decent. He knew that the girl was right but he refused to admit it. In the end, he impatiently said, “The sky is almost dark. Let’s hurry home.”

Xiao Rongyu noticed the beauty of Chen Hansheng’s message. However, she was not too surprised. Chen Hansheng had always been a genius.

The class teacher, Mr. Xu, had once said that if Chen Hansheng only put his mind to it and calmed down, he would definitely succeed in the future.

“Your writing is tolerable. I’ll hold off telling Mrs. Chen for now. You’d better not smoke again.”

It was only after the group left that Wang Zibo, who had always been cowardly, bared his teeth at Chen Hansheng. “I wasn’t ready just now, but you f*cking forced me to write first.”

Chen Hansheng did not refute him. He only asked, “Well, it didn’t matter how brilliantly you wrote. The real question is, are you going to pursue Xiao Rongyu?”

“How is that possible?!” Wang Zibo was shocked. “I only get the courage to talk about her when she is not around. I don’t even dare to raise my head in front of her.”

Well, at least Wang Zibo was aware of himself and admitted it. Chen Hansheng grinned and wrapped his arms around his friend’s neck, just like he did seventeen years ago.

“Then let’s cut the crap. We’ll go to Shuangqiao Plaza another day for that newly opened Mcdonald’s treat.”

“Why not go tonight?”

Mcdonald’s was still quite a rarity in Port City.

“Not tonight.”

Chen Hansheng directly refused. “I want to have dinner with my dad and mom.”

Wang Zibo was stunned for a moment. “Don’t you always find them naggy?”

“It’s OK. You wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Chen Hansheng waved Wang Zibo goodbye. “Go home.”

As Chen Hansheng’s figure disappeared from the dim streetlights, Wang Zibo had a sense that Chen Hansheng had a lot more to say.