The anniversary ceremony of Provincial No. 1 High School will be held in the coming days.

Lin Zhixia and her friends all received invitations from the principal.

The principal hoped that Lin Zhixia could serve as an “Outstanding Graduate Representative” to deliver a speech to the younger students, encouraging everyone to live actively and bravely step toward the future.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Zhixia agreed.

She also told Jiang Yubai, “I’m going to give a speech at the Provincial No. 1 High School anniversary ceremony this year.”

When Lin Zhixia was talking to Jiang Yubai, he was sitting in the study, checking a document. While writing with an electronic pen, he replied, “I’ve seen the speaker list. There’s Lin Zhixia, Duan Qiyan, Jin Baihui, Tan Qianche…”

But Lin Zhixia asked, “You’re not on it?”

Jiang Yubai said, “I’m just an ordinary person who has reached where I am today, all because of the conditions provided by my family. If I were to give a speech to high school students, I could only offer pleasantries with no real meaning.”

Lin Zhixia thought to herself: he casually mentioned “no real meaning,” which indicates that the principal of Provincial No. 1 High School must have approached him.

Facts proved that Lin Zhixia’s guess was quite correct.

That evening, Duan Qiyan notified everyone in the WeChat group: “Brothers and sisters of Provincial No. 1 High School, you must attend the school anniversary in September this year! I will be giving a speech at the ceremony. Dozens of outstanding graduates from different years will take turns on stage, each speaking for only ten minutes. If you have time, come support me and we’ll have a class reunion while we’re at it!”

He specifically tagged Jiang Yubai: “You refused the principal, don’t refuse me.”

Jiang Yubai replied with a “yes” emoji.

Everyone responded enthusiastically.

Duan Qiyan was the organizer of this class reunion. After booking the restaurant and writing up the plan, he suddenly faced a dilemma. He wasn’t sure whether he should invite Jin Baihui.

Jin Baihui was a high school classmate of Duan Qiyan and the others.

However, no one in the class had ever interacted with Jin Baihui.

If Duan Qiyan invited her, he worried she might have nothing to talk about with the others and would sit alone in one place, which would be awkward.

If he didn’t invite her, she was one of this year’s outstanding graduate representatives. She had stayed in Beijing to pursue her doctorate and had just published an important mathematics paper that was widely acclaimed internationally. Jin Baihui’s abilities were evident, and perhaps she could discuss mathematics with Lin Zhixia and the others.

So, Duan Qiyan wrote Jin Baihui an email.

Jin Baihui replied to him that same day: “I will come, thank you.”

Duan Qiyan then added Jin Baihui’s name to the “Class Reunion” spreadsheet.

*

On the day of the anniversary ceremony, the entire Provincial No. 1 High School was packed with people.

A huge red banner hung on the school’s iconic clock tower, which read: “Warmly Welcome Alumni Back to Their Alma Mater!”

This year marked the tenth year since Lin Zhixia left Provincial No. 1 High School, and she still had vivid memories of every building at her alma mater.

She clearly remembered the classrooms in both the junior and senior high sections.

And now, she herself had become a teacher.

For this year’s school anniversary, Lin Zhixia had carefully prepared a speech. She also communicated with Tan Qianche to avoid both of them covering the same topic from the “Four-School Joint Research Group.”

However, Tan Qianche said, “My speech will end in three minutes. I’ll only talk about study methods and won’t overlap with your content.”

“Isn’t three minutes a bit short?” Lin Zhixia asked him.

Tan Qianche shrugged, “I was pushed into this reluctantly.”

Tan Qianche was standing in the backstage resting area of the school auditorium. He wore a pure black suit with a golden osmanthus flower pinned to his collar—this was Provincial No. 1 High School’s school flower.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking around.

Lin Zhixia continued to discuss business matters with him: “Next month, I’ll be taking several students to a conference in the United States. If the remaining students encounter any problems, they might seek help from you… and Teacher Meng. I’ve already spoken to Teacher Meng about this.”

“You don’t need to tell me,” Tan Qianche looked at himself in the mirror, “your students are my students.”

Jiang Yubai’s reflection appeared in the mirror.

Jiang Yubai and Tan Qianche’s eyes met through the mirror, and Tan Qianche smiled and explained, “Don’t misunderstand. Teacher Lin and I are both heads of the Four-School Joint Research Group. Our students receive cross-training, so I’m responsible for them too.”

“Don’t be nervous,” Jiang Yubai responded, “I’m just here to see Teacher Lin.”

Jiang Yubai was also wearing a black suit, but there was no golden osmanthus on his collar. Tan Qianche was slightly surprised: “You’re not going on stage to speak?”

Jiang Yubai straightened the golden osmanthus on Lin Zhixia’s chest: “I’ll be applauding for you all from the audience.”

“Great!” Lin Zhixia said, “After the speeches, we’ll go to dinner.”

“Your class dinner?” Tan Qianche interjected.

Out of politeness, Lin Zhixia invited him: “A dinner for our high school class. You can also join if you’d like to come.”

Tan Qianche asked further: “Where are you having dinner? At that most expensive restaurant next to the school?”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia said, “the restaurant gave us a discount.”

The host was announcing on stage, and an elderly man over seventy was the first speaker—he was a graduate of Provincial No. 1 High School from the last century, with gray hair, wearing glasses, and needing assistance to walk.

But when he spoke, his voice was strong and vigorous, inspiring all the students present. Even Lin Zhixia couldn’t help but applaud for him.

“Will I be like that when I get old?” Jiang Yubai suddenly said.

He stood behind Lin Zhixia, very close to her.

He lowered his voice, as if talking to himself.

Lin Zhixia comforted him gently: “No, you won’t. Our generation has better physical health. By the time you’re seventy, technology will be very advanced, and you’ll be a sprightly old grandpa.”

Jiang Yubai laughed and said, “What I meant was, when I’m old, will you applaud for me?”

Lin Zhixia extended two index fingers and quietly tapped their pads together—this was her self-created “low-key applause method,” born specifically to encourage Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai looked at her for a few seconds before saying, “So cute.”

Lin Zhixia modestly replied: “You flatter me.”

The host announced Lin Zhixia’s name, and she waved to Jiang Yubai before ceremoniously walking toward the stage.

In the vast auditorium, the students were extraordinarily quiet, without even a whisper. Just as Jiang Yubai was finding this strange, he saw Lin Zhixia’s career achievements to date displayed on the circular large screen in the auditorium. No wonder—Jiang Yubai thought that if he had met such senior students during his high school years, he would probably have been speechless too.

Lin Zhixia spoke eloquently on stage. Her tone was relaxed, her voice gentle, yet extremely firm when discussing “ideals.” She conveyed an extremely strong sense of conviction to her junior schoolmates. The applause from below was unprecedentedly enthusiastic and lasted for a long time.

Jiang Yubai remained backstage.

Duan Qiyan joked with Jiang Yubai: “You’re the man behind Lin Zhixia.”

Jiang Yubai tugged at his tie. He wore a platinum ring on the ring finger of his left hand, and the mechanical watch on his wrist was also part of a couple’s set. He seemed to accept the description of being “the man behind Lin Zhixia.”

Duan Qiyan also told him, “Next year, Tingting and I will have our wedding. You must come.”

“No problem,” Jiang Yubai promised.

Duan Qiyan put his arm around Jiang Yubai’s shoulders, and they seemed to return to their chuunibyou teenage years from over a decade ago.

Duan Qiyan’s attention was focused on the stage when he suddenly felt Jiang Yubai’s shoulder sink—another arm had been added. He thought Tan Qianche had also come to get close to Jiang Yubai, but when he turned around, he saw Shen Fuxuan.

“Hey, Little Shen,” Duan Qiyan called out to him.

Shen Fuxuan smiled before speaking: “Sorry, brothers, I’m late. Traffic jam.”

“Fortunately, you’re not giving a speech,” Duan Qiyan said.

Shen Fuxuan shook his head.

Duan Qiyan suddenly remembered that Shen Fuxuan’s mother was the principal of Provincial No. 1 High School. In other words, if Shen Fuxuan wanted to speak on stage, he would only need to ask his mother.

Jiang Yubai changed the subject: “You smell like osmanthus.”

Shen Fuxuan confessed: “To be honest, there was no traffic jam. Outside the auditorium, I ran into Jin Baihui. She had three osmanthus flowers pinned to her collar. I chatted with her for a bit, and now I smell fragrant too.”

“What?” Duan Qiyan was somewhat surprised. “Are you still secretly in love with Jin Baihui?”

Shen Fuxuan turned to look at him with a glare that could kill.

“Do you have a secret crush on Jin Baihui? If it’s true, I’ll help you out,” Duan Qiyan fearlessly pressed.

In Duan Qiyan’s impression, Shen Fuxuan always appeared carefree and nonchalant, maintaining a relaxed, joking attitude even in the face of disaster.

But now, Shen Fuxuan’s expression was slightly serious: “You guessed half right.”

“What half?” Duan Qiyan didn’t understand.

Before he finished speaking, Lin Zhixia appeared just in time: “You’re all here, that’s great. Later we’ll go to the restaurant together.”

The old classmates began to catch up, while Tan Qianche walked past them and headed straight to the front of the auditorium stage.

The spotlight shone on Tan Qianche’s head.

As soon as Tan Qianche appeared, there was scattered applause from below. At Provincial No. 1 High School, the name “Tan Qianche,” like “Lin Zhixia,” represented a school-famous figure known to all.

Tan Qianche caught sight of Wei Ruoxing sitting in the fourth row.

Why would Wei Ruoxing appear at this year’s school anniversary ceremony?

Because Provincial No. 1 High School’s anniversary ceremony was held at the end of September, and next month would be the National Day holiday. Wei Ruoxing and her husband had returned to the provincial city early to visit their parents.

Wei Ruoxing heard that Lin Zhixia would attend the anniversary ceremony and wanted to see her. After Lin Zhixia finished her speech, Wei Ruoxing was about to leave when Tan Qianche entered the stage.

After a moment’s thought, Wei Ruoxing still chose to exit.

Wei Ruoxing’s husband held a briefcase in his left hand and held Wei Ruoxing’s wrist with his right hand. Their tall silhouettes gradually disappeared into the dark audience seats, while Tan Qianche still stood upright on the stage.

Tan Qianche began speaking content that wasn’t in his prepared speech: “You are students of Provincial No. 1 High School, and you should learn to distinguish between reality and ideals. Luck and talent might be more important than your ability. As an ordinary student, without struggle, there is no future…”

Tan Qianche was eloquent and good at public speaking.

He was skilled at controlling the atmosphere and arousing the audience’s emotions. In just three minutes, he made some students’ moods sink repeatedly, yet they still genuinely admired him and acknowledged that every word he said was the naked reality.

“Wow,” Duan Qiyan commented, “that’s sharp.”

Jiang Yubai reminded him: “You’re the next speaker.”

“Is Tan Qianche better than me?” Duan Qiyan suddenly asked.

Jiang Yubai changed the angle: “Competition coaches have no weekends, no winter or summer vacations. Your job is not easy at all. You have to guide dozens of students every year, which is quite impressive. You should have confidence.”

Tan Qianche’s speech had already ended.

Duan Qiyan steeled himself and went straight to the stage. He generated even greater cheers, as he was a competition coach at Provincial No. 1 High School, and many students had seen him before.

He adjusted the angle of the microphone and began in a deep voice: “I am the mathematics competition coach for the high school section, and I was a student in the class of 2004. Having spent so many years at our school, I’ve developed an idea: no one knows you better than yourself. Listen to all sides, and you will be enlightened; believe in only one side, and you will be in darkness.”

So Duan Qiyan also had such a mature and steady side.

*

After the anniversary ceremony, Lin Zhixia and her group headed to the restaurant together.

At the entrance of the restaurant, Lin Zhixia ran into two senior female schoolmates, Luo Ying and Meng Liansi—Meng Liansi was also a graduate of Provincial No. 1 High School and had been a beauty and academic star who captivated the entire school back then.

The two beautiful senior female students had a cool temperament with their long hair flowing. They walked arm in arm, creating an extremely pleasing sight.

Lin Zhixia greeted them: “Senior, Teacher Meng!”

Meng Liansi smiled and said, “Are you having a reunion dinner?”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia asked, “What about you?”

Luo Ying answered: “We just finished eating.”

Luo Ying had a silver rose earring on her left ear, and the matching earring hung on Meng Liansi’s right ear—Lin Zhixia noticed this detail. She guessed that the relationship between the two senior female students must be quite stable, and she couldn’t help feeling happy for them.

After the senior students left, Lin Zhixia headed straight to the private room in the restaurant. As soon as she entered, everyone called out: “Class Monitor Lin!”

Lin Zhixia scanned the room and saw many classmates from her middle school class. Their appearances had changed somewhat, though some looked almost the same as before, like Jin Baihui. Jin Baihui still had short hair, wore a short shirt and sports pants, and had red-framed glasses.

Lin Zhixia waved to her in a friendly manner.

Jin Baihui ignored her.

Time has left almost no trace on her, Lin Zhixia thought.

Jiang Yubai put his arm around Lin Zhixia’s waist and led her to one side of the round table. She immediately sat down. The classmates were still calling each other by their old nicknames, and one male classmate loudly declared: “Back then, I said in our class that Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia were a couple, and Duan Qiyan and Tang Tingting were a couple, but none of you believed me! See? Time proves everything!”

“We got together because we wanted to,” Tang Tingting responded, “What about you? Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Yeah!” Duan Qiyan echoed.

That male student seemed to have been stabbed with a sword.

Lin Zhixia was still browsing the menu. She quietly asked Jiang Yubai: “This restaurant is owned by your mother, isn’t it?”

Jiang Yubai recommended several dishes to her. His finger pressed on the menu, and Lin Zhixia placed her fingertip on his fingernail. As he moved his finger, she followed along. This continued for less than ten seconds before he grabbed her wrist and held it down on his leg.

The tablecloth concealed all his actions.

The classmates were still drinking and exchanging toasts.

One classmate raised his glass and said very seriously, “Class Monitor Lin, back in our class, you would answer any questions we had. Now that you’re a university professor, you must be incredibly good to your students, too! Here, on behalf of students, I toast you with this cola!”

Lin Zhixia smiled and said, “No need to be so formal, we’re all old classmates.”

That classmate downed a full glass of cola in one go, and everyone applauded and cheered for him.

Without saying another word, he refilled his cola and turned to Jiang Yubai: “Class Monitor Jiang, back when Class Monitor Lin went to participate in competitions, you became the acting class monitor…”

Duan Qiyan interrupted: “I remember now, Class Monitor Jiang, you helped me a lot, thank you. No, I should call you CEO Jiang now. CEO Jiang!”

Jiang Yubai filled his glass with mineral water. Holding this glass of mineral water, he exchanged business compliments with Duan Qiyan: “Teaching is the best profession under the sun. Teacher Duan has become a teacher and is still so polite.”

Duan Qiyan enjoyed orange juice. He expressed his gratitude to Jiang Yubai with a glass of orange juice. Everyone was clamoring: “Drink up, drink up! CEO Jiang, Class Monitor Lin, Teacher Duan!”

Tang Tingting showed a displeased expression: “We finally have a class reunion, and you’re pushing this drinking culture. Just drink as much as you can handle.”

Duan Qiyan tilted his head back and downed half a glass of orange juice. After wiping his mouth, he sighed: “The orange flavor is quite strong.”

Amidst the continuous laughter and merriment, Jiang Yubai continued to eat quietly. Finding that a fish ball tasted good, he scooped a spoonful for Lin Zhixia as well. Lin Zhixia held her bowl, waiting for his feeding. The corners of his lips curved upward, and from the corner of his eye, he noticed someone watching him.

Jiang Yubai turned his head and met Shen Fuxuan’s gaze.

Shen Fuxuan smiled understandingly and raised his glass to him.

*

After the meal, many classmates dispersed.

Duan Qiyan said goodbye to Shen Fuxuan and then took Tang Tingting into the Provincial No. 1 High School campus.

Now, Duan Qiyan was the homeroom teacher of a competition class in the first year of high school.

The competition class had very strict rules, strictly prohibiting students from dating. Duan Qiyan often patrolled the small woods to catch and criticize students who dared to date—Tang Tingting had never witnessed such scenes, so Duan Qiyan brought her in to observe.

“Breaking up young lovers,” Tang Tingting said of him.

He sighed: “The competition class doesn’t have time for dating, you know that.”

Tang Tingting nodded: “That’s true. If we had dated back then, we would have broken up.”

They happened to pass by Tan Qianche.

Tan Qianche was wandering alone through the campus of yesteryear.

Teenagers in school uniforms ran past on both sides of him, with laughter and the sounds of a chase filling the corridors.

He passed by the brand-new teaching building, his shadow reflected in the glass windows. He noticed that he seemed to have a few white hairs—he was only in his thirties this year, still quite young, yet already had white hair.

He looked up at the sky.

Tan Qianche also had a very good memory.

When he closed his eyes, he could recall the vast playground, the sunlight outside the classroom windows, the verdant bamboo forest near the experimental building… For him, those were events from sixteen years ago.

Sixteen years ago.

________________________________________

He shook off his random thoughts and crossed the playground.

In a corner of the playground, Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai were taking a walk.

Lin Zhixia had eaten too much at lunch and wanted to walk around a bit. Passing by an area with horizontal bars, she was suddenly touched by the scene.

Back in the day, Jiang Yubai had stood here and told her to boldly move forward.

Lin Zhixia had been very timid as a child, and Jiang Yubai had given her a lot of courage. After so many years, their connection grew increasingly close, and Jiang Yubai was also the most important subject of observation in “Human Observation Diary.”

A permanent subject, she thought.