The day before the college entrance exam, the swelling in Fei Ni’s face finally subsided, and she no longer needed to apply medicine patches.

Fang Muyang pinched her cheek and said, “Your face has gotten thinner.”

“Stay away from me—I might not be completely well yet.”

“If you didn’t infect me when you were at your worst, you definitely won’t now.”

“Better to be careful.” Fei Ni deliberately kept her distance from Fang Muyang, examining him from afar. “Your face has gotten thinner too.”

After these days of intense studying, Fang Muyang had lost more weight. Unlike others, when he lost weight, it showed immediately on his face.

They took photos of each other, recording their appearances.

Fei Ni also photographed their dinner that evening. She had been extravagant these days, not worried about wasting film, taking dozens of photos.

Since Fei Ni’s mumps diagnosis, at her insistence, they had been eating separately, with marked bowls and chopsticks. That evening, they would have continued eating separately if not for Fang Muyang’s strong objection. Fei Ni partially gave in to his request—she agreed to eat together but insisted on using serving chopsticks.

Using serving chopsticks for just two people seemed more troublesome than eating separately, but despite his reluctance, Fang Muyang agreed.

During dinner, Fei Ni first used the serving chopsticks to pick up some beef for Fang Muyang, then he used them to pick up a meatball for her. Neither remembered to eat their food, constantly serving each other. Seeing the mountain of food in her bowl and the pile in Fang Muyang’s, Fei Ni said, “Let’s hurry up and eat.”

They toasted with water instead of wine.

Fei Ni wished Fang Muyang would perform exceptionally well in tomorrow’s exam.

Fang Muyang wished Fei Ni would perform normally in tomorrow’s exam.

Though the exam was tomorrow, Fang Muyang didn’t mention it further, jumping straight to post-exam plans. He asked Fei Ni where she wanted to travel after the exam, saying he’d compile their desired destinations and plan the route once the exam was over.

Fang Muyang told Fei Ni about the places he’d been, speaking about local customs and scenery as if he were a resident rather than a tourist.

Fang Muyang told Fei Ni: “I spent all the money you gave me back then on drawing paper. Without that paper, my impressions wouldn’t have been so vivid.” During his networking travels, Fang Muyang had seen the country’s beautiful landscapes and turned all his blank paper into drawings. He had given these drawings to the villagers during his time in the countryside—some hung on their walls, some were used to patch windows. He didn’t particularly mind. His happiest moments were always while painting, and of all the paintings he’d done, he hadn’t wanted to keep many.

Fei Ni remembered that money—it was payment to Fang Muyang for giving her a box of books to enrich her spiritually impoverished life. When she opened the box, she found the books were completely useless to her.

As Fang Muyang told Fei Ni about his travels over those years, she felt regret that his paintings hadn’t been preserved.

“Where did you go during the networking movement?”

Fei Ni said, “I didn’t go anywhere.” When everyone was rushing to take trains to other places for networking, she had wanted to go look around too, but her parents wouldn’t let her, and her siblings wouldn’t take her along, so she had to stay home. She never had the chance to travel far after that, barely even riding trains, and had always regretted it.

“That’s perfect—this time we can take trains to all the places you want to visit.” Back then, Fang Muyang had thought about going networking with Fei Ni but only thought about it, never saying it aloud. Any parents with a sense of responsibility wouldn’t allow their daughter to travel far with a boy who had barely finished elementary school. And knowing Fei Ni as he did, even if her parents agreed, she wouldn’t have.

“I still have to work after the exam.” Fei Ni picked up another meatball for Fang Muyang. “Once we’re in university, we’ll have winter and summer breaks—we can go then. You can sketch on location too.”

This time, Fang Muyang’s paintings couldn’t be lost again.

Even before the exam, under Fang Muyang’s lead, Fei Ni began dreaming about post-exam life, her voice growing increasingly light and cheerful as if she were drinking wine instead of water.

Fei Ni looked at Fang Muyang and smiled, but quickly suppressed it. Celebrating things before they happened could jinx them—extreme joy could lead to sorrow. To avoid sorrow, it was best not to be too happy before the official results came out.

“Let’s talk about these things after the exam.” Fei Ni quickly changed the subject, starting to quiz Fang Muyang and help him review key points.

She changed so abruptly that Fang Muyang had to remind her: “Ni, let’s eat first.”

“Mm.” Fei Ni used the serving chopsticks to take some food for herself, then pushed the plate toward Fang Muyang. “The rest is yours—eat more, you’ve gotten thinner these past few days.”

The review continued from the dinner table to the bed. Fei Ni, still worried about infecting Fang Muyang, faced away from him while talking.

“Weren’t we just face-to-face during dinner?”

“Dinner was only for a short time.” Though Fei Ni knew the chance of infecting Fang Muyang was minimal, she didn’t want to risk it. “After the exam, you can do whatever you want, but for now, let’s keep our distance.” Even ten meters apart, their hearts were close.

“Whatever I want?”

“Really.”

“Don’t go back on your word then.”

“I won’t.” After making this declaration, Fei Ni helped Fang Muyang review key points, all of which were in her head—she didn’t need to look at any books.

Fei Ni grew more excited as she discussed the exam points, but to avoid disturbing Fang Muyang, she stopped talking at 10:30, pretending to be asleep. Fang Muyang knew she wasn’t asleep and asked, “Are you sleeping?”

Fei Ni said, “Let’s sleep.”

“But I can’t sleep—talk to me some more.”

“What should we talk about?”

“Whatever you most want to say.”

“Then let me tell you more about geometric sequences.”

“Alright.”

Fei Ni started explaining again, continuing until she fell asleep.

Fei Ni’s sleep was short but sweet, and the morning porridge was sweet too—Fang Muyang had added white sugar.

Fang Muyang prepared two spare fountain pens for Fei Ni, just in case. Before leaving, he wrapped her face carefully with a scarf and put a hat on her. Everything she wore, from clothes to shoes including gloves, was newly bought by Fang Muyang. Fei Ni rode on Fang Muyang’s bicycle to the exam site. Though the wind was strong that day, whistling past her ears, she didn’t feel cold at all.

The first two days were mandatory subjects. Outside the exam site was lively, full of relatives waiting for exam takers. Fang Muyang was struck by the scene, feeling it would make a good painting—the scene outside the exam site attracted him more than inside. Finding each other among so many people wasn’t easy, but after each exam, Fei Ni could always spot Fang Muyang in the crowd, smiling at him from afar.

They would meet in the crowd, have lunch together, return to the exam site together, go home together, and study back-to-back, with Fei Ni explaining and Fang Muyang listening.

Fei Ni hadn’t expected the exam questions to be so simple—had she known, she would have spent all her time helping Fang Muyang review. She finished each exam early but waited until the last minute to hand in her paper, using the extra time to check her answers repeatedly.

After the last exam on the second day, Fei Ni handed in her paper and left the exam room, making her way through the crowd to see a girl standing beside Fang Muyang. The person talking to Fang Muyang was Xu Hui, who had learned painting with him as a child. She had later moved to the Northeast with her parents, then to several other places. Recently, her parents had been transferred back, and she had returned with them, coincidentally taking the same college entrance exam as Fang Muyang. Xu Hui had greeted Fang Muyang first—they hadn’t seen each other since they were around ten years old, and both their appearances and builds had changed. At first, Xu Hui only felt Fang Muyang looked familiar, not immediately recognizing him. She couldn’t help but notice him as he was always the first to hand in his exam paper in their exam room. Coming out of the exam room, she saw the first person to finish standing outside sketching, and the sketching Fang Muyang overlapped with her childhood companion in her mind.

“Fang Muyang!” Afraid he wouldn’t recognize her, Xu Hui introduced herself first. Seeing her old painting companion still drawing, Xu Hui remembered their time learning to paint together—those had been her most carefree days, her biggest frustration being that she lacked Fang Muyang’s talent and could never paint as well as him. Out of frustration, she would occasionally try to disrupt him. But even in causing disruption, she couldn’t match his talent. Because of Fang Muyang’s existence, she had once considered giving up painting. Yet in the difficult days that followed, her greatest comfort still came from the paintbrush. In her hardest times, she would think of Fang Muyang, always telling herself she couldn’t lose to him. After returning, she bought Fang Muyang’s comic books from the bookstore, examining them page by page, imagining what his oil paintings might look like.

With Xu Hui’s prompt, Fang Muyang immediately recognized her. That energetic manner was unmistakable—there couldn’t be another person like that. Xu Hui told Fang Muyang she had applied to the art academy. She excitedly recalled the past with him, her descriptions so vivid they stirred Fang Muyang’s memories too.

“You’re amazing, finishing so quickly every time.” She waited until the exam bell to hand in her paper, with questions still unfinished. She only cared about painting—it didn’t matter to her at all if Fang Muyang surpassed her in other areas.

Fang Muyang laughed: “That’s because I know so little—there’s no point dwelling on what I don’t know.”

Though they hadn’t seen each other for years, they didn’t exchange pleasantries upon meeting—neither was that type of person. Xu Hui had many things she wanted to tell Fang Muyang, but seeing him drawing now, she wanted to see his skill level, forgetting what she had wanted to ask him, silently watching him draw instead.

While others treated the college entrance exam as a life-changing event, Fang Muyang treated it like an autumn outing, even wearing a camera around his neck. During the exam, he had left the camera with the proctor and retrieved it afterward.

Fang Muyang stood there speed-sketching, his pen moving constantly, his eyes fixed on the crowd, watching steadily until his pen stopped moving. Xu Hui followed his gaze to see a girl wearing a large mask that hid her features, standing on tiptoe to wave at them—no, at Fang Muyang.

Fang Muyang raised his camera and captured Fei Ni waving at him, taking several shots in succession.

Fei Ni walked over, and Fang Muyang made introductions.

When introducing Fei Ni, he said, “This is my wife Fei Ni. We got married last year.”

Having finished the exam, Fei Ni finally felt comfortable removing her large mask, no longer worried about infecting anyone.

Through Fang Muyang’s introduction, Fei Ni learned that the girl standing beside him had studied painting with him years ago. She smiled and greeted Xu Hui.

Xu Hui said to Fei Ni, “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before—which school did you attend?” The question sounded like a boy trying to strike up a conversation with a girl, but Xu Hui genuinely felt Fei Ni resembled someone she had seen.

Fei Ni had never left their city and hadn’t attended the same elementary school as Xu Hui.

Xu Hui explained it to herself: “Maybe beautiful people all look somewhat similar.”

Hearing people around discussing the last mathematics question from the morning exam, she noticed her answer was different and asked Fang Muyang and Fei Ni for their answers. Fang Muyang said he hadn’t solved it. Fei Ni, unsurprised by Fang Muyang’s admission, calmly gave Xu Hui the answer.

Xu Hui realized her answer was completely different, and Fei Ni’s answer sounded correct.

Fei Ni’s logical explanation of the problem inspired Xu Hui’s trust, and she checked her other math answers with Fei Ni. The result pleased her—she differed from Fei Ni by about twenty points. Judging by her assessment of Fei Ni, Fei Ni would score at least ninety, and she would likely pass. Before the exam, her mother had specially arranged for the best math teacher from the affiliated middle school to tutor her. She had studied reluctantly for a month, and it had paid off.

Xu Hui asked Fei Ni, “Who tutored you?” Fei Ni’s secondary education couldn’t have been much better than hers—scoring this well-meant she must have had a tutor. If she didn’t get into university this year and had to try again next year, she would need Fei Ni to introduce her to her tutor.

“I studied by myself.”

Xu Hui repeated: “You studied by yourself?”

Fei Ni confirmed again.

“Then I must have seen you in some study newsletter—that’s why you seem so familiar. Did you share study tips in a newsletter?”

“No.”

“Then where have I seen you?” Xu Hui asked Fei Ni, “What’s your first choice university?”

Fei Ni told her truthfully, and Xu Hui said, “Just based on your math performance, I can tell you’ll get in.”

Xu Hui talked so much that she left little room for Fang Muyang to speak. She kept trying to remember where she had seen Fei Ni, her eyes moving between Fang Muyang and Fei Ni until she finally had an answer.

When Fang Muyang was learning to paint with her, he had drawn a portrait of a girl. He had drawn many peers, but Xu Hui thought that portrait was the best—not because the subject was beautiful, but because it was so vivid.

The person in the painting was so lifelike as if sitting right across from her. She had told Fang Muyang she would trade her best painting for his portrait of the girl. Fang Muyang refused, and his blunt refusal hurt Xu Hui’s pride. But she wanted it so badly that she offered to trade the art album her father had given her. Her father had high hopes for her painting and gave her the best of everything—not just paper and paint, but also art albums and 1:1 reproductions of famous paintings that others couldn’t see. This time, Fang Muyang didn’t immediately refuse but hesitated for a long time before still declining. On the day Xu Hui left for the Northeast with her father, Fang Muyang agreed to the exchange and asked her to take good care of his painting.

Xu Hui left her hometown with Fang Muyang’s painting. Years passed, and she moved from place to place, but she kept the painting. All these years, she never stopped honing her skills. Fang Muyang’s childhood painting style now seemed naive to her, but she still found it vivid.

Its vividness always stirred memories of the past, reminding her of happy childhood times when she too had eyes full of curiosity about the world.

She had looked at the painting so often that she had memorized the subject’s features, which was why she felt familiar with the adult Fei Ni at first glance.

Once again, Xu Hui thought Fang Muyang was fortunate to have married the girl from the painting.

She said to Fang Muyang, “Do you remember the painting you gave me? I still have it, and I still think it’s well done.” Technique was important, of course, but what moved people often wasn’t technique.

This held a different meaning for Fei Ni—a painting companion still keeping a childhood painting by Fang Muyang. But the naturalness of both people’s manner prevented her from thinking otherwise.

Xu Hui turned to Fei Ni, “When you’re free, let me paint your portrait.” She wasn’t the same Xu Hui as before—she wanted to show Fang Muyang that her painting was now as good as his. He had looked down on her so much back then—how could her paintings be inferior to those reproductions? But she couldn’t criticize Fang Muyang’s aesthetic taste; whether in painting or marriage, his taste was excellent.

Fei Ni, who had only ever modeled for Fang Muyang, wasn’t comfortable with others’ scrutiny and politely declined.

Xu Hui said, “Don’t refuse so quickly—look at my current work first, then decide. Are you free tomorrow?”

Fei Ni told Xu Hui she had an English exam tomorrow. The mandatory subjects took two days, and on the third day, students applying for foreign language majors had an additional English test.

“You’re applying for a foreign language major? The country does need foreign language talents now.” Xu Hui affirmed Fei Ni’s chosen major and then returned to the previous topic. “Then you’re free tomorrow afternoon, right? If you don’t want to come to my house, I can bring my paintings to you.”

Fei Ni couldn’t understand why Xu Hui was so insistent on painting her portrait after such a brief meeting. But Fang Muyang understood—after all these years, she was still as competitive as ever, always wanting to outdo him, treating every painting like an exam. He had painted childhood Fei Ni, so she wanted to paint adult Fei Ni and paint her better than he had.

Xu Hui pressed on, “If tomorrow doesn’t work, when can you…”

Fei Ni had to answer, “Tomorrow is fine.”

“Then I’ll come find you tomorrow. I haven’t given you a wedding gift yet.” Xu Hui looked at Fang Muyang’s camera. “Give me the camera—let me take a photo of you two. A husband and wife taking the college entrance exam together is worth commemorating.”

Fei Ni glanced at Fang Muyang, who handed the camera to Xu Hui. He reached out to put his arm around Fei Ni’s shoulders but, worried she might feel embarrassed in the crowd, put his hand back in his pocket. Even the most intimate couples had to maintain distance in public. They smiled at each other, and Xu Hui captured the moment with the camera.

During the formal photo, Fei Ni didn’t look at Fang Muyang. Although her upper body maintained distance from him, their feet’s positioning revealed their relationship.

Fei Ni took the camera from Xu Hui. “Let me take one of you two as well.”

Meeting again at the college entrance exam after so many years was fate.

Xu Hui noticed Fang Muyang was now much taller than her—the last time they met, he had only been a few centimeters taller.

After the photo, Xu Hui said to Fang Muyang, “Take one of us too.”

Xu Hui naturally put her arm around Fei Ni’s shoulders—being both women, there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Xu Hui offered to develop the film.

Fang Muyang declined her offer, “I’ll do it myself.”

Xu Hui wrote down her home address and phone number for Fei Ni, inviting them to visit, and asked Fei Ni to write hers so she could visit tomorrow.

Fei Ni wrote an address, telling Xu Hui they didn’t have a phone.

Looking at the address and learning they had no phone, Xu Hui deduced that Fei Ni and Fang Muyang didn’t live with their parents.

They exchanged addresses and said goodbye. In just one meeting, Xu Hui had become familiar with Fei Ni.

After Xu Hui left, Fei Ni got on the back of Fang Muyang’s bicycle and asked, “How do you feel about the exam?” Though she wanted to ask what painting Fang Muyang had given Xu Hui, that was far less important than the college entrance exam.

“Not bad, pretty good.” Fang Muyang thought he had done just okay, but if he said it wasn’t good, Fei Ni would immediately start tutoring him, preparing him for the next attempt, which would be too much to bear.

“Let me treat you to a restaurant meal.”

After two days of exams, Fang Muyang was completely free. Fei Ni, who had applied for English Language and Literature, needed to take an additional English test tomorrow—her burden wasn’t fully lifted. She had planned to celebrate properly with Fang Muyang here after all the exams, but seeing how thin he had become, she decided to move up the celebration.

Fei Ni was generous when ordering, even getting a bottle of wine. “Let’s take it home and drink tomorrow—we’ll finish the whole bottle together.”

Though Fang Muyang didn’t have to take the English exam, he woke up earlier than Fei Ni, who awoke to the smell of tomatoes.

Fang Muyang was making her tomato noodles.

Tomatoes weren’t easy to find in winter—who knew where Fang Muyang had gotten them?

With Fei Ni completely recovered and Fang Muyang’s exams finished, she happily shared a bowl of tomato noodles with him.

After eating the noodles Fang Muyang made, Fei Ni rode on his bicycle to the exam site.

The English exam was as simple as the other subjects. Fei Ni finished quickly, but despite her confidence, she checked her answers several times before submitting.

A boy came out right after her. His name was Su Jing, and he had recognized Fei Ni at once as the girl he had met at the ice rink last year. Sitting at the desk next to hers, he could see how she worked on the problems. He hadn’t even started the translation section when she had already finished the entire paper. Though he considered himself good at English, Fei Ni’s speed put great pressure on him. However, she only handed in her paper after he had finished his.

Su Jing asked Fei Ni how she did, and she said it was fine. It was normal for strangers to ask each other about the exam afterward. Looking at this boy who wasn’t yet twenty, Fei Ni had only one thought—the college entrance exam had been restored too late. She envied the boy before her, who could take the exam right after finishing high school. If the exam had always existed, she would already be in graduate school. Fei Ni thought of Fang Muyang talking about graduate studies…

“Did you find the English exam very simple?”

“It was okay.” At least not difficult.

“Which school are you planning to attend?”

After hearing Fei Ni’s answer, Su Jing said, “We might be schoolmates then.” Probably even in the same major.