In winter, Wencheng’s streets hadn’t changed much, except that the greenery along both sides of the road had thinned.
The last time Xie Shenci had come, the city was lush with foliage, but he hadn’t stayed long. This time, he finally had the chance to properly explore Wencheng.
Hand in hand, Chu Duxiu led him out of the neighborhood, ready to begin their cat-walking outing, and sighed, “I never thought I’d be the one playing tour guide.”
The two had once traveled together in Haicheng – back then it was Xie Shenci who planned everything. Now, however, their roles were reversed.
Xie Shenci said, “Looking forward to a one-day tour of Wencheng.”
“Let’s get this straight first – Wencheng doesn’t have that many fun places. If walking around gets boring, you’re not allowed to blame me,” Chu Duxiu pouted, shamelessly shifting the blame. “If it’s not fun, that’s the city planners’ fault, not mine.”
Xie Shenci said, “It won’t be boring. Aren’t we going to your school?”
“You really want to visit my middle school?” she asked in surprise. “It’s just like any other school.”
Chu Duxiu had asked him beforehand whether he wanted to see natural scenery or experience the city’s history and culture. To her surprise, he was more interested in something else – he was hung up on the school she’d only casually mentioned.
“How could it be ordinary?” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s the alma mater of a well-known stand-up comedian.”
Compared with Wencheng’s scenic spots, he was more curious about the place where she had grown up. Once, he could only glimpse fragments of it through her stand-up routines; now, following her to see it in person, the experience would naturally be different.
He had a small, private wish: since he had both the “on-stage” and “off-stage” her, of course he wanted to visit the place that carried so many of her memories.
“Fine then – welcome, distinguished stand-up comedy expert, to my alma mater for guidance.”
It was winter break, and the traffic at the middle school gates was sparse, unlike the usual bustling scene.
Walking along the road, they soon saw the school’s entrance. The teaching building bore a prominent school emblem, and the wide playground lay silent, with no students around during the holiday.
“I haven’t been here in ages – it looks pretty much the same as before.” Chu Duxiu looked around as she spoke, pointing things out. “Across the street there’s still a little shop; I used to go there after class to buy water. That small building over there was for extracurricular tutoring. It wasn’t part of our campus – I never went inside, just waited downstairs a couple of times for my sister…”
Returning to familiar grounds stirred up long-buried memories. As she led him through the old campus, she found herself talking on and on for no reason she could explain.
Perhaps because she knew he wouldn’t grow impatient, it was as if she had opened a floodgate, recounting one childhood story after another.
As Chu Duxiu grew more animated with her stories, Xie Shenci was caught up in her cheerful mood as well. With interest, he asked, “Did you go to middle school here? Or high school?”
“The middle school and high school sections are right next to each other. This is the middle school; the high school is just across the street.” Chu Duxiu suddenly stopped when something caught her eye and called out, “Look – that’s our school’s famous Honor Roll!”
They halted before the bulletin board, where photos of school events were posted, along with commendations for outstanding graduates of past years.
Xie Shenci asked curiously, “The Honor Roll you mentioned in ‘Retaking America’?”
If he remembered correctly, she had joked about it in one of her sets.
“That’s right. Let me check… Now it’s without my sister, but back then her name stayed up there for years…”
Chu Duxiu’s gaze wandered across the board, but in the end she found nothing. With a hint of regret, she said, “My sister was really famous back then. When I’d just started high school and wanted to come back here during break, the security guard wouldn’t let me in without a uniform. I didn’t even need to write my own name in the visitor log – just putting down ‘Chu Shuangyou’s younger sister’ was enough. I wonder if that would still work now.”
The two of them walked and chatted along the way. Before long, they reached the school gate – when suddenly a voice called out from inside the campus.
“Chu Duxiu?”
Both Chu Duxiu and Xie Shenci stopped at the sound. Through the iron gate, they saw a female teacher. She looked to be in her forties or fifties, and had just stepped out from the security booth where she’d been sitting at a small table, a thin booklet tucked under her arm.
Recognizing her, Chu Duxiu exclaimed in delight, “Ms. Li, you’re at the middle school now? You’re not teaching at the high school anymore?”
It was none other than her high school math teacher. She had assumed the school would be empty during the break, never expecting to run into her here by chance.
Ms. Li said, “I’m just here covering a shift. I still teach over at the high school.”
Xie Shenci followed behind her and also greeted Ms. Li.
Ms. Li looked the two of them over. She nodded toward Xie Shenci, then turned her gaze back to Chu Duxiu and smiled. “From a distance, I thought it looked like you. If I hadn’t seen you on that show recently, I wouldn’t have dared to be sure – afraid you might have changed too much.”
Chu Duxiu was taken aback. “You’ve watched our show?”
Even though plenty of people around her had seen it and knew she was now doing stand-up comedy, hearing it from her teacher felt different – especially since her math grades had always been just average, not particularly good. Inevitably, she still felt a certain awe toward her math teacher, and couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.
Ms. Li teased her, “That’s right – it really surprised me. I remember back in class you never volunteered to raise your hand, but on stage you’re nothing like that…”
Chu Duxiu’s face flushed with embarrassment. She mumbled, “That’s different…”
The exchange of old school memories between teacher and student fascinated Xie Shenci, who listened with keen interest.
After a bit of small talk, Ms. Li handed over the thin register book along with a pen and said, “If you want to go inside, you’ll need to sign in. Both of you have to fill it out.”
“Okay.”
Chu Duxiu took the register, carefully wrote down her name and phone number, then passed it to Xie Shenci.
Once he finished filling it out, Xie Shenci handed the booklet back.
“All right, go on in and have a look around…” Ms. Li took the register, glanced at it casually – then suddenly let out a sharp gasp. She lifted her eyes toward Xie Shenci, hesitated, and finally said, “Hmm… well…”
After pausing for two seconds, she didn’t press the issue further. With a sigh, she said, “Young man, I’ll let it slide this time, but next time you need to write your real name.”
“What did he write?”
Chu Duxiu, completely puzzled, immediately took the register. She saw that while Xie Shenci had filled in his phone number, in the name column he had written: ‘Relative of Chu Duxiu’.
“…”
What kind of ridiculous entry was that!!
Seeing her wide-eyed glare, Xie Shenci looked genuinely surprised. “You mean I can’t write that? Didn’t you once put down something like that too?”
After all, she had once signed in as ‘Chu Shuangyou’s younger sister’.
Chu Duxiu was both exasperated and amused. “That was back in middle school…”
And he was definitely not a middle schooler.
Ms. Li waved her hand generously. “It’s fine. Since the two of you came together, you won’t get lost. Just leave it like that for now.”
Chu Duxiu’s face turned crimson, and she quickly said, “Thank you, and sorry for the trouble.”
“Looking around now, I’d say out of your class, you’re the one who’s really done well.” Ms. Li sighed with emotion. “Back then you were quiet, low-key, never drew attention. Who would’ve thought that just a year or two after graduating, you’d have both work and personal matters all sorted out?”
Back in school, Chu Duxiu had always given the impression of being steady and well-behaved, never one of the star students everyone talked about. Who could have imagined that after graduation she would take such a striking path, even making her mark on variety shows.
Now, standing side by side with Xie Shenci – her bright and lively, him calm and composed – they looked inexplicably well-matched.
Ms. Li studied the two of them, looking more and more pleased, and eagerly pried, “So when are you planning the wedding banquet?”
Chu Duxiu’s eyes went blank. “Huh?”
“You’ll probably hold it back here in Wencheng, right? If I recall, your parents are still living here?”
Flustered, Chu Duxiu blurted, “This is so surprising – back in class you were the one cracking down hardest on early romance…”
Who would have thought that one day, the very teacher who once patrolled against puppy love would be asking her about her wedding plans? The irony left her full of mixed feelings – material fit to be a stand-up bit!
Ms. Li said, “Silly child! You’ve already graduated and started working – how could it still count as early romance?”
“…”
Chu Duxiu was speechless. The other, however, remained perfectly calm.
Xie Shenci answered with composure, “Yes, we’ll hold it in Wencheng. We’ll definitely invite you, and also her classmates, so everyone can get together.”
Ms. Li smiled warmly. “Good, good – that’s wonderful. Now go on in and have a look around.”
The two waved goodbye to the teacher at the security booth, then headed inside in high spirits.
Chu Duxiu muttered, “Unbelievable… I can’t believe those words actually came from Ms. Li…”
Puzzled, he asked, “Why?”
“Because you’ve never seen what she was like when I was in school.”
Suddenly, Chu Duxiu took Xie Shenci’s hand, glanced back at Ms. Li in a furtive, guilty way, then turned to him and whispered, “If it were the her from back then, she’d have rushed over by now, pried us apart with force, and given us a loud scolding. Back in school, even having a crush wasn’t allowed.”
But now, Ms. Li didn’t so much as move. When she noticed them turning back – and even saw them holding hands – she simply smiled kindly, completely different from the strict figure she had once been.
Chu Duxiu couldn’t help but feel a rush of emotion, suddenly struck by the realization that she had grown up.
Even though she had returned to the campus, she was no longer the same person she had been. Those unripe, faintly sour fruits of youth had, through the ferment of time, transformed into mellow wine, leaving behind a completely different taste.
“Your teacher already said it – you’ve missed the age for secret crushes.” Xie Shenci clasped her hand tighter, their fingers interlacing, and declared with confidence, “Now it can only be an open crush.”
The two exchanged a smile, then walked hand in hand into the corridor, searching for her old classrooms and sharing stories from her school days.
In her memories there was her outstanding older sister, Ms. Li who wore a stern face in public but was gentle in private, classmates who loved discussing the latest anime, the strange and quirky dark student cafeteria, and the clouds tinged with pink and violet by the evening glow as classes let out. Even the most ordinary little things, when told by her, became vivid and delightful.
This was a side of her he had never known – now slowly sketched before his eyes, filling in the gaps from the time before they had met.
Xie Shenci listened quietly, his gaze gentle and calm – until at one point, his expression shifted slightly. Out of nowhere, he asked, “So this classmate who always talked to you about anime… was it a boy or a girl?”
Chu Duxiu didn’t understand why he was asking. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Uh… a boy…”
Xie Shenci’s voice sank. “In that case, I’ll have to thank Ms. Li later.”
Chu Duxiu asked, “Thank her for what?”
He fixed her with a brooding look. “For strictly cracking down on student romances back then. After all, once you join the company, they’ll assign you a partner anyway.”
She caught on, half laughing, half exasperated. “You’re overthinking it! Back then we really were just talking about anime!”
His imagination was truly something – how did he even get that idea!?
“So, will you be inviting him to the wedding banquet?”
She froze.
Xie Shenci seized on it, full of resentment, and accused, “You hesitated.”
Flustered, Chu Duxiu waved her hands and hurried to explain gently, “No, it’s just – I don’t have his contact information anymore. I hesitated because I can’t invite him…”
He was just a middle school classmate – someone she hadn’t spoken to in ages.
Still, her explanation was clearly useless. After all, cats are creatures that hold grudges.
Perhaps it was that opening the box of memories had stirred something – after they left the classroom building and passed the empty basketball court, a fresh wave of old grudges was sparked.
A lone basketball lay under the hoop. Xie Shenci, recalling something, bent down and picked it up with one hand. He dribbled casually a couple of times, then shot it toward the hoop. The ball traced a perfect arc, and the next moment – swish, a clean three-pointer.
Seeing this, Chu Duxiu stopped in her tracks. “Want to play for a bit before we head back?”
She had never seen Xie Shenci play basketball before. The court itself was nothing special, and she couldn’t tell why he suddenly felt the itch to show off his skills.
At her words, Xie Shenci cast her a cool glance and asked, “That shot just now – compared with the ones you used to watch back in school, which looked better?”
“???”
