Chapter 1

There is still no one on the road. The morning sun shines through the leaves, allowing the shadow to leak on the ground and flow without a trace.

I was sixteen years old that year. It was the summer vacation when I graduated from junior high school. I wore a sun hat and left Shanghai alone. I walked over a distance of more than a thousand kilometers and returned here like a pilgrimage.

Return to this empty city

Walking on this old cement road again, looking up again, seeing the platycodon flowers

It was a five-story building made of gray bricks, with red wooden windows and gray balcony. The balcony on the second floor was filled with platycodon flowers. They always bloomed in the beginning of such midsummer, purple and white, beautiful in one piece.

She was wearing a white, loose shirt in the shadow of the platycodon, and the sun shone on her long black hair, shiny

I suddenly became stupid, stood on the side of the road, tilted my head and watched her do things on the balcony

She put the white sheet into two clothes hangers, grabbed one of them with her left hand, and used the clothes rod with her right hand to support the other on the bamboo pole on the ceiling.

When she hangs the entire sheet, she raises her hands and stretches her waist

At that time, the wind could not disperse the morning mist, but it had already blew her hair. She lifted the shiny hair on her face, turned her head inadvertently, and saw me

Hey! You! She suddenly said hello to me on tiptoe

Ah?!Me?!

You! Yes! It's you!

Me?………………I’m sure she recognized the wrong person

I left this empty city more than ten years ago and only came here every summer vacation to stay for more than a month. In all my memories, my childhood belongs to Shanghai

I don't have a playmate here, so it's even more impossible to know her

Yes! It's you, I remember you, are you back? Her voice is sweet and crisp

Ah, I'm back I thought to myself, what am I talking about Ah, she recognized the wrong person and had to quickly add: You may have recognized the wrong person

She was laughing, a little excited, and said loudly: No, I have seen you, are you the child living in that building?

As she said that, she pointed to the gray small apartment building not far away, which was grandma's old house

right!

You only come back every summer vacation, right?

right!

That's right Ah, it's you, I remember you

I see

Suddenly talking to this girl made me a little shy

I was originally full of doubts, but when these doubts were resolved, I felt a little panicked. I didn't know what to say, I only knew to laugh foolishly, and raised my hand to wave to her.

But she suddenly said: Wait a moment! Then, she retreated from the platycodon flowers

The stairwell of the small building had hollow walls. I watched her open the door, close it, and ran down the stairs. After a while, she ran out of the small building and came to me.

This time, I saw her clearly

She is as tall as me, with slender limbs and tall figure. Her skin is white and a little translucent. Under the morning light, you can vaguely see the cyan blood lines on her slender neck.

When she approached me, I saw her face clearly

Just like an angel

My whole body was stiff and I don't know what to say

But she was laughing, sweeter than honey

How old are you? She suddenly asked for no reason

I...sixteen...whether of you?

I am also sixteen. Have you graduated from junior high school?

Yes!... Just graduated last week

Are you in high school?

Ah?

Are you still studying? Are you in a secondary school or a high school?

I'm in high school, I'm going to go to

Oh, where is it?

In Shanghai Ah

Do you live in Shanghai?

Ah, Yes

Oh... She touched her face with her fingers, raised her head and thought for a moment

My eyes were always on her face, and I couldn't move it away. I saw a mole under the corner of her left eye. Then, I found that there was a mole under the corner of her right eye.

She suddenly stared at me and asked: What university are you planning to take?

I smiled and asked her: Are you a policeman?

Hahaha, she laughed, her laughter was as crisp as a wind chime, I'm sorry

The wind is still blowing, blowing her hair up, they dance lightly, each of which is glowing

Why do you ask me about this?

Alas, I wanted to ask you last year

Are you talking about filling out your high school application? I suddenly said it, it was like a synesthesia. I was also worried about it a few months ago.

Well! How do you know? She nodded vigorously, but you left very early last year

Why ask me?

I have been here since I was a child and haven't been out much. I don't understand Ah I know you are a child who went out and only comes back every summer vacation. I think you must be better than me, and our classmates understand it.

oh

But I didn't ask you last year, so...

how?

So I'm still going to high school here this year

I nodded and finally figured out that she wanted to continue to study in this lonely empty city, an empty school for three years... an empty school, this is something I have never experienced in my life.

But the teacher said it was the same. You can study hard wherever you want. The key is to work hard.

Well, I nodded, but thought to myself, children who have seen the world know that there is a big difference between good schools and bad schools

In fact, our school is not bad... She seems to be a little unwilling

I blurted out: If you only look at the size of the building, it is indeed not bad

Hearing me say this, she laughed again: We are all ghost towns here

I nodded. This empty city was the product of the construction of the first three lines in half a century. After the reform and opening up, state-owned factories went bankrupt or moved, and population outflows, leaving an incredibly huge empty city.

It is hidden between cliffs and hills by the Yangtze River. The fortress towns that once existed to defend against nuclear war are now covered with moss

My thoughts flew, and I couldn't help but think of the old stories my father told me.

Sorry, I asked you so much in a confused way, I just...

I understand

You know?

Your scores are enough for you to go to a school outside, right?

Yes, she nodded, please trouble you, and she took a step back as she said that

Is that all? I thought to myself, I will never have a chance to talk to her again, right? I suddenly felt reluctant to leave

Then, she shook her hand at me. I'm so sorry, goodbye,

I felt so panicked when I heard her say goodbye

An emotion cannot explode on its own, and I suddenly said: Can I play with you tomorrow?

I regretted it for half a second

What does it mean to play with you

?

Are you a fool?

Are you a primary school student?

Is there anyone who talks to girls like this?

Is there anyone who exposes your needs like this?

I'm going to play with you? Idiots can hear that you are interested in others. You must have scared them. They will definitely find a reason to reject you!

Very Ah! She said and smiled at me. Her eyelashes were long and her eyes were like gems.

My heart beat wildly, and her purity and truth seemed to be something that I couldn't understand when I grew up in Shanghai.

Come find me tomorrow

She turned around and ran back to the small building, and I remembered that I didn't even know her name

Hey! What's your name?

She turned around and said, "My name is Hu Shuang'er, where are you?"

My name is Yao Jinzi

Yao Jinzi is the girl's name

No, no, that azusa is a wood, a xin

Oh... bye bye wavy

bye...Foreigners don't say bye, only children will say that

Oh! Tell me again tomorrow!

As she said that, she hurried back to the house, leaving me standing by the roadside, staring at the balcony full of platycodon flowers, wanting to see her