◎Prophecy◎

Chun Zao had never imagined that her first kiss would happen under such circumstances. Light as a cicada’s wing, almost without a trace, but also with the tremendous aftereffect of high-concentration alcohol, though she had never touched a drop, but being tipsy… this was probably what it felt like.

Until bedtime, her face remained flushed red. Whenever she thought of the boy’s momentum as he leaned directly toward her eyes, her heart would convulse like being electrocuted.

She had heard Tong Yue talk about her first kiss, which was roughly in the winter of their second year of high school. She said they were walking on the school playground, both dressed like big bears. When they reached the dark area under the bleachers, the boy suddenly looked down and asked her, “Can I kiss you?”

But Yuan Ye didn’t even ask – he just went straight for it.

Chun Zao reminisced to herself, opening her phone. Yuan Ye’s WeChat message appeared as expected.

He asked straight to the point: Voice call today?

Chun Zao held her face in both hands and replied: No.

Because of that surprise kiss, she felt so shy. The overwhelming shyness and sweetness enveloped her, making her unable to face him directly for the time being.

The boy was dissatisfied, sending a “?” in greeting.

Then he asked directly: Is it because I kissed you? Are you unhappy?

Help me, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Queen Mother of the West. Chun Zao’s features scrunched together. Why did he have to ask it so directly? No. I’m not unhappy.

It’s just…

She didn’t know how to cope. After all, when that kiss ended, all she could manage was to say “goodbye” stiffly, and he stiffly replied “see you tomorrow,” and then they parted ways.

Her performance was so terrible, it could be described as “fleeing in panic.”

The other person began to convince himself on his initiative, determining that his actions were somewhat rash: Sorry. I should have asked for your consent first.

Chun Zao didn’t know what to do, both laughing and troubled: It really doesn’t matter!

That exclamation mark was used just right.

Yuan Ye finally believed: As long as it doesn’t matter.

He added: I’m going to take a shower first, I’ll be back in a bit.

The chat fell quiet.

Chun Zao sighed and sought help from Tong Yue, typing for quite a while before finally organizing a question that wouldn’t make her face burn with embarrassment: Yue, how did you react during your first kiss back then?

Two minutes later, Tong Yue filled the screen with question marks: ？？？？？？

Tong Yue: You and Yuan Ye kissed??

She transformed into a crazy shipping fan: Dry? Wet? Or both dry and wet?

Chun Zao couldn’t understand her bewildering description, pausing for two seconds: We just touched briefly.

Tong Yue’s tone immediately became listless: Tch, I thought it was something special.

Then she teased: Today’s only the 11th, right? Not even a week, and you two are progressing pretty fast.

Chun Zao scratched her eyebrows restlessly: Can you please answer the question seriously?

Only then did Tong Yue get back to the main topic: Very simple. After that little brat Lu Jingheng asked, I didn’t say anything and just stood on my tiptoes and pecked him. He was completely stunned, okay? I stared at him intensely and said: That’s my answer. Pretty cool of me, right?

Chun Zao was amazed. If it weren’t for the screen between them, she would have stood up and applauded like a seal.

With this on her mind, Chun Zao didn’t sleep very well that night either, waking intermittently, and whenever she suddenly opened her eyes, she blamed and regretted her inappropriate and ungraceful reaction. The consequences of poor sleep were obvious – on her way to see Yuan Ye the next day, she was yawning continuously.

The boy got up earlier than yesterday and didn’t pull any of those fake tricks, being perfectly proper.

Once familiar, twice easy. After opening the door and entering, he was already waiting respectfully by the shoe rack.

The afterglow of their first kiss lingered into the present.

The two exchanged an uncomfortable glance. Yuan Ye proactively took the breakfast package from her hands while Chun Zao lowered her eyelashes, changing shoes with restraint.

Yuan Ye had also ordered breakfast in advance.

The small round table was filled with both Chinese and Western delicacies. As they ate and chatted, the awkward atmosphere gradually eased.

After cleaning up the table together, they went into the kitchen one after the other.

Yuan Ye bent down to tie the garbage bag with its drawstring, and just as he was about to stand up and take it to the door.

His short-sleeved shirt hem was tugged. He turned around to meet the girl’s slightly lowered face: “Yesterday I…”

Yuan Ye looked at her: “Mm?”

Chun Zao explained vaguely: “I just didn’t know what to do for a moment. I had no experience handling that kind of situation, that’s why I ran away. My performance wasn’t very good – don’t overthink it.”

Yuan Ye blinked twice, his ear tips slightly warm: “No, it was my problem. You’re the one who shouldn’t—” his tone carried a slight laugh: “You’re the one who shouldn’t overthink it.”

He pulled her to his chest with one hand, his lips unconsciously moving to her bangs, nestling intimately against them.

The girl’s hair had a camellia fragrance. He took a deep breath, and strange impulses stirred within him again.

“Today, do you want to try again?”

Damn, his words were faster than his brain.

The girl indeed quickly looked up, staring at him: “What?”

Yuan Ye averted his eyes slightly, paused for a moment, then uttered two words: “First kiss.”

Chun Zao was speechless: “Wasn’t yesterday that?”

“Yesterday doesn’t count.” How could that count as a first kiss? He was unsatisfied: “It wasn’t serious enough.”

Chun Zao’s face was burning hot, but she didn’t forget to express the curiosity unique to good students: “Then what would count as serious?”

Yuan Ye’s gaze slipped down a few degrees, his Adam’s apple moved, then quickly returned to her eyes.

How should he answer? His thick eyebrows knitted slightly, as if enduring something, unable to express it.

The next moment, the girl suddenly stood on her tiptoes, touching his lips, flowing like clouds and water as she launched her attack, catching him completely off guard.

Yuan Ye was stunned, his eyes bright and clear.

Like a bright mirror, reflecting one of the few bold acts of her life.

Chun Zao admitted she was imitating Tong Yue, like Dong Shi imitating Xi Shi’s frown. Just this action alone had consumed all her energy and courage. Her whole head was dizzy and so hot it was about to explode. She buried her face in his chest: “Does this count?”

Why in this kind of situation?

Was he still holding a garbage bag in his hand?

Yuan Ye’s heart rate surged rapidly, almost jumping out.

“Wait for me.” He pulled apart their distance, dropped the garbage bag, washed his hands directly in the sink, then began rummaging through the cabinets.

Chun Zao watched him motionlessly, not understanding what he was looking for or what he intended to do.

Finally, the boy found a piece of candy. The moment she realized what was happening, he crunched it between his teeth, walked straight over, and eagerly cupped her face with both hands, kissing her.

Both their breathing became heavy in unison.

Chaotically intertwined.

When his moist lips gently held her lower lip, sweetness was also transferred over. Chun Zao made a soft sound, and Yuan Ye immediately pulled back a few degrees, his fingers still restrainedly gripping the edge of her jaw.

His voice was rough and hoarse, so close his eyelashes almost scraped her face: “What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable?”

Chun Zao denied it with a completely flushed face: “No.” It was just… too sweet, too hot, and too moist.

So this was what Tong Yue meant by “wet.”

A moist, sweet kiss.

“Tell me if you’re uncomfortable.” He would stop immediately.

But she had completely lost the ability to speak.

When the boy’s tongue tip tentatively pressed between her lips and teeth, both their breathing stopped simultaneously.

Chun Zao’s legs went completely soft, the tingling sensation shooting straight from her head to the soles of her feet.

She didn’t know when she had closed her eyelids.

Jello, pudding, mousse… these desserts flashed chaotically through her mind.

Her consciousness descended, and the fingers clutching his shirt front unconsciously tightened.

Yuan Ye could feel it.

But at this moment, he couldn’t keep the promise he’d made moments before, could no longer pause.

The two of them communicated inexpertly, like playing bumper cars or spinning teacups at an amusement park for the first time.

Bumping into each other, getting dizzy, clumsy, but wonderfully, beautifully so. Fireworks burst in colorful succession against the dark sky.

Noticing the girl’s weakness again, Yuan Ye hooked one arm under her armpit and lifted her onto the counter.

Through the thin fabric, the cool marble surface stung Chun Zao’s skin. She shivered, then was quickly occupied by the heat source in front of her.

Yuan Ye’s body pressed against her was frighteningly hot.

So was she.

The young man braced one hand beside her leg and pressed the other against her back, fiercely and urgently squeezing her, also pressing her toward himself.

It seemed like an instinct – if he could be fierce enough, she could be placed into his suddenly hollow chest cavity.

It was also like carelessly releasing another side of himself.

Yuan Ye’s other side.

He could be sunny skies, but he could also be a night, summer nights invaded by violent storms.

Heart-stopping.

Chun Zao’s lips went numb, her body soft and numb too.

If not for his hands supporting her, she would fall backward.

The young conqueror was like a young general’s first campaign, barely thinking of anywhere else.

Just the lips, that one point, that one place, he wanted to repeatedly mark and crush until it was truly his own.

(Censors, please see clearly, this is only lip description, only kissing)

When Chun Zao involuntarily hummed out a trembling note, the entanglement between lips and tongues paused briefly, then became even more reckless.

Her mind was a complete mess.

Consciousness was draining away, rationality was draining away, and she was draining away. Draining away into his reckless kisses.

She could only grip Yuan Ye’s shoulders tightly, creating deep wrinkles in his clothes there.

…

This kiss finally stopped when they were on the verge of suffocation.

The boy collapsed against her shoulder, his breath like flames scraping against her neck, continuous and rapid, one breath not waiting for the next.

And Chun Zao’s face was red enough to drip blood.

In the narrow kitchen walkway, with him standing and her sitting, the two of them collapsed together in exhaustion, savoring, calming down, finding relief.

After a moment, Chun Zao cleared her mind and pushed his shoulder, because of the soreness in her tongue: “Are you crazy?”

Yuan Ye leaned against her shoulder, immovable as a mountain, letting out a muffled laugh.

Yes, he was crazy.

Not only was he crazy, but there was something else – that was—

He spoke his sincere, bastard truth: “…That felt amazing.”

—

Chun Zao wrapped an ice pack in a towel and applied it for several hours before her slightly swollen lips could barely return to normal by evening.

Otherwise, with Chun Chuzhen’s sharp eyes, she would be interrogated and tortured through the night.

As for Yuan Ye, no matter how much he pretended to be an honest, down-to-earth person, he still received her continuous barrage of threatening glares.

On June 15th, Chun Zao received calls from both the coffee shop and the educational institution. One told her they could accept summer workers, but she had to work a full 8 hours daily and they wouldn’t accept short-term workers for less than a month; the other was urgently recruiting teaching assistants – going there for four hours every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon to help the institution’s teachers with miscellaneous tasks, with daily pay, and requiring one week’s advance notice if she wanted to quit.

Since she planned to find one-on-one tutoring jobs after exam results came out, Chun Zao decisively chose the latter.

His girlfriend’s planning was so clear that Yuan Ye complained resentfully during their voice call: “Can’t you just stay at my place and vacation?”

Chun Zao rejected his suggestion: “No. Are you going to waste such a long holiday? Don’t you want to do something?”

Yuan Ye replied: “I am doing something – being Chun Zao’s boyfriend.”

Chun Zao burst into laughter: “That’s not a job, and it doesn’t make money.”

Even though he was displeased, Yuan Ye controlled himself and didn’t obstruct or interfere with her plans too much.

He gave up: “Anyway, this vacation: first, have a good relationship; second, lie flat. Don’t come to me for anything else.”

Chun Zao pouted: “Well, I have lots of things to do.”

“Yes, Miss Celebrity,” Yuan Ye responded lazily, then childishly demanded: “But Yuan Ye has to be ranked first.”

Chun Zao clicked her tongue: “Do you think we’re still in high school? Your ranking is forever NO.1.”

Yuan Ye: “Why not?”

In mysticism, there’s a concept called “prophecy fulfillment.” On the afternoon of the 18th, Yuan Ye and Chun Zao were successively pulled into several WeChat groups with few members, all filled with volunteers from recruitment (grabbing) teams of various top national universities.

The upperclassmen talked eloquently about campus environment and character, bombarding them daily with tempting photos and short videos, answering every question, so eager they practically wanted to fly over and invite them to lavish banquets.

The two young lovers bumped into each other in there and privately chatted: What a coincidence, you’re here too.

But because of this matter, the sense of urgency in Chun Zao’s heart arrived early. She searched out answers for all subjects and carefully compared them again, trying to ease her anxiety.

To no effect.

In the countdown days waiting for results, she became more restless each day, unable to eat or sleep peacefully.

Even when she went to Yuan Ye’s place during free time, nestled in her boyfriend’s arms drinking soda and watching movies, she couldn’t concentrate, sometimes distracted, sometimes dazed.

And whenever this happened, he would deliberately peck behind her ear, then bite, and when she ignored him, he’d peck and bite again, rubbing here, pinching there, making her itch until she laughed and fought back, before he’d hold her tight again: “What are you thinking about?”

Chun Zao rested her chin on her hand anxiously: “Results are coming out soon, I’m so nervous.”

Yuan Ye remained as breezy as always: “Didn’t you already estimate your scores?”

Human joys and sorrows are not universal. Chun Zao sighed inwardly – until the dust settled, her heart would remain unsettled.

Finally, they made it to June 23rd.

Chun Chang took leave early to return home, absolutely not wanting to miss such a major moment in her sister’s life.

Even though they had already received some enthusiastic phone calls from universities in advance, the whole family was still restless.

Near four o’clock, everyone gathered around the old desktop computer at home. Chun Zao sat in the center, upright and formal, stopped at the score-checking interface. She carefully input her exam registration number digit by digit, her heart pounding like drums, also breaking out in goosebumps all over her arm.

Before pressing confirm, the girl brought her fisted hands to her face, gripping until her knuckles turned white, closing her eyes and praying devoutly.

Chun Chang was even more excited and nervous than her, urging: “Hurry up!”

Chun Zao shouted: “What’s the rush?”

Saying this, she moved to the mouse and left-clicked.

The webpage showed the system was busy.

Everyone sighed in unison.

“Try again, try again.” Chun Chuzhen patted her shoulder.

Chun Zao’s fingers began to tremble, shaking like a sieve. She clenched them, steadied them, entered again, clicked, and a white-background results page flashed out. She almost instinctively squeezed her eyelids shut and turned her head away, not daring to look.

The next moment, her sister, whose head was pressed tightly against hers, let out a piercing shriek: “Ahhhh—!!!!!!”

Then she grabbed her neck and began shaking vigorously: “Ahhhhhhhh 657!!!!! Chun Zao ahhhhhhhh you’re amazing!!!!!!!”

657?

Higher than she estimated?

In the continuously shaking field of vision, the girl’s widened eyes also reflected the bright dots of the display screen.

All those days of rising early and sleeping late, giving everything she had, and swallowing broken teeth – that vast expanse of time was now condensed into these tiny characters:

Chinese: 136

Mathematics: 130

Foreign Language: 142

Comprehensive: 249

Total Cultural Course Score (excluding policy points): 657

Provincial Ranking: 18th

Secured.

Her dream was rock-solid, within reach.

“Holy shit—” Chun Zao threw her arms up in liberation and cheered, then slammed the table and stood up, turning to face all the family members surrounding her.

The girl’s eyes were moist red but tenacious, rarely using profanity, also challenging everyone: “Tell me, am I awesome or what?”

She was strong, excellent, and invincible.

Let’s see who dares to deny her in the future!!

Chun Chang hugged her tightly: “You’re the most awesome in the whole world!!!!!!”

The two sisters embraced tightly; Chun Chuzhen stood there in a daze, tears bursting from her eyes, unstoppable no matter how much she tried to wipe them with one hand. Chun Chang noticed her and pulled their mother over without question. Like this, the three women hugged in a group, spinning in circles, jumping and bouncing continuously.

After her emotions calmed down a bit and she had digested her scores, she hurriedly called Yuan Ye, afraid of being too slow.

After two rings, he answered immediately.

Chun Zao asked with rapid breathing: “Did you check your scores?”

“Haven’t checked yet.” his surrounding environment seemed somewhat noisy, with continuous voices. But the boy’s attitude was calm, only his tone sounding quite helpless: “Can you wait for me?”

Chun Zao was puzzled: “What’s wrong?”

Yuan Ye: “I’ve been locked in a hotel by teachers from your dream school.”

Author’s Note:

Tsinghua & Peking: I’m recruiting! I’m recruiting hard!

—

Wishing both of them dream fulfillment and meeting at the peak.