Those things that happened in those years

Chapter 72 Falling in Love

This is the only postcard Hong Liguo has received from a girl so far, and she even wrote a short poem for it, which surprised and delighted Hong Liguo.

Although Hong Liguo was still somewhat childish at the time and clueless about matters of the heart, he seemed to vaguely sense from this poem that Wang Yuxin had a special feeling for him.

However, he was still unsure, afraid that he might have misunderstood her and embarrassed her. Through their subsequent interactions, Hong Liguo proved that his initial judgment was correct.

It is impolite not to reciprocate! After some thought, Hong Liguo decided to send her a postcard in return.

Hong Liguo sat at his desk, picked up his pen, but hesitated. He didn't know what to write to express his feelings without making her feel awkward or uncomfortable.

Hong Liguo wrote five or six postcards, feeling that his wording on each one was not precise or tactful enough. If he wrote too directly, he was afraid he would scare her and make her angry; but if he wrote too subtly, he was afraid she would not understand his true feelings and he would disappoint her.

Finally, having exhausted all other options, Hong Liguo had no choice but to open his brother's frequently read "Three Hundred Tang Poems," hoping to find some inspiration from it.

Hong Liguo carefully flipped through the pages, searching for those beautiful verses and expressions. Then, imitating the style inside, he wrote a poem, intending to politely respond to her.

After several revisions by Hong Liguo, he finally came up with four lines, which he felt echoed Wang Yuxin's four lines. Hong Liguo still remembers the content of that poem to this day: Year after year, the road of learning is long, side by side we chase our dreams, our shadows intertwined. Thinking of you, I am awakened from my dream in the dead of night, I wish to become starlight to accompany you.

To write this poem well, Hong Liguo racked his brains, revised it more than a dozen times, and finally settled on these four lines.

Hong Liguo didn't know if his writing was rhyming or not; he just felt that it was the best way he could think of to express himself.

After finishing writing, Hong Liguo breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling both nervous and expectant, wondering how Wang Yuxin would react to the poem.

Hong Liguo carefully copied the poem onto the back of the postcard, writing each stroke with extra care, afraid of making a single mistake.

Finally, Hong Liguo neatly wrote his name and the date, then made an envelope out of notebook paper and carefully sealed the postcard. On the front of the envelope, Hong Liguo solemnly wrote the words "To Wang Yuxin" in large characters, hoping that she could feel Hong Liguo's sincerity and respect.

The next day, Hong Liguo got up early, washed up, and then went out with the sealed postcard.

Hong Liguo arrived at Fa Zi's house first, just as Fa Zi was coming out. Taking advantage of the others not being around, Hong Liguo quickly handed the postcard to Fa Zi and said, "Fa Zi, could you please give this to Wang Yuxin for me?" Hong Liguo's voice carried a hint of shyness and nervousness.

Fa Zi took the postcard, looked at Hong Liguo, and said with a smile, "You're in the same class, why don't you just give it to her yourself? Why do you need me to pass it on? It's too much trouble."

His eyes revealed a hint of doubt and teasing, as if he was deliberately trying to amuse Hong Liguo and see him embarrassed.

Hong Liguo's face flushed red upon hearing Fa Zi's words. He lowered his head and whispered, "That would be so embarrassing. I'd feel really awkward if other classmates saw us."

Fa Zi looked at Hong Liguo's expression and smiled mysteriously, saying, "I think you're afraid of being seen by Qiao Shuang, aren't you? You said there's nothing between you and Wang Yuxin, but I think you're hiding something."

His words struck a chord with Hong Liguo, who did indeed have this concern. After all, Qiao Shuang and Wang Yuxin were classmates, and if Hong Liguo openly sent a postcard to Wang Yuxin, Qiao Shuang would definitely see it. Hong Liguo hadn't completely given up on Qiao Shuang and didn't want her to misunderstand the relationship between Hong Liguo and Wang Yuxin.

Hong Liguo quickly looked up at Fa Zi and said seriously, "I really have nothing to do with Wang Yuxin. I never expected that she would be the one to send me the postcard. I just felt that it wouldn't be right for me to deliver it to her personally, in case my classmates misunderstood. That's why I asked you to help me pass it on."

"Aren't you afraid my classmates will misunderstand me if you ask me to pass this on?"

"Everyone knows about you and Zhang Jiu'er. Even if your classmates saw it, they wouldn't misunderstand you. Since you asked me to pass this message on for her, you have to pass it back to her."

"You and Wang Yuxin really don't have anything going on?"

"No, really."

Fa Zi looked at Hong Liguo, still with a skeptical expression, and said, "Really nothing? Then what's the meaning of giving you a postcard wrapped up so tightly? It's clearly because there's some secret inside that you don't want me to see. And what's the reason for wrapping the reply so tightly as well?" As he spoke, he waved the postcard in front of Hong Liguo, his eyes full of inquiry.

Hong Liguo hurriedly defended himself, saying, "There's really no secret. It's just a postcard with a few words of blessing written on it, nothing different from what we usually send."

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Hong Liguo's forehead, and he was secretly afraid that Fa Zi would press him for an explanation.

"Wasn't there anything else tucked inside? Like love letters or something?"

Fa Zi pressed on relentlessly, a wicked smile playing on his lips, seemingly enjoying watching Hong Liguo's embarrassment.

Hong Liguo looked embarrassed and quickly said, "Really, there's nothing, just a postcard. Why don't you believe me?"

Fa Zi touched the envelope and felt that there was indeed only a postcard inside, nothing else. Then he smiled and said, "Okay, I told you you couldn't possibly hide something from me!" His expression relaxed, and he patted Hong Liguo on the shoulder, as if he had finally let Hong Liguo off the hook.

"With our relationship, how could I possibly hide anything from you? I've already told you about Qiao Shuang. If I really started dating Wang Yuxin, I would definitely tell you."

Hong Liguo breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little more at ease. He looked at Fa Zi with gratitude, hoping that Fa Zi could help him deliver the postcard to Wang Yuxin as soon as possible.

"No way, I feel like Wang Yuxin also has feelings for you. You see, ever since we came to the village middle school, she's been paying extra attention to you, definitely not just like an ordinary classmate." Fa Zi said, while looking thoughtfully into the distance, as if recalling something.

"Maybe so! I've been focused on Qiao Shuang the whole time, and I haven't really thought about anything between me and Wang Yuxin."

Hong Liguo scratched his head and lowered it somewhat embarrassedly. His feelings for Wang Yuxin were indeed complicated. He had never thought about it carefully before because they were too familiar with each other, so familiar that Hong Liguo dared not have any improper thoughts about her.

"Now we should think about it. Between Qiao Shuang and Wang Yuxin, I prefer Wang Yuxin. She has a gentle personality and is easygoing, unlike Qiao Shuang, who always acts superior. That kind of aloofness is disgusting." Fa Zi's tone was tinged with disdain, clearly indicating that he did not think highly of Qiao Shuang.

"You're just saying it's sour grapes because you can't have them!" Hong Liguo teased Fa Zi with a smile, trying to ease the somewhat serious atmosphere and also not wanting him to say anything bad about Qiao Shuang anymore.

"Why would I eat grapes when I have apples?" Fa Zi replied to Hong Liguo with a smile.

The two of them chatted and laughed as they arrived at the village entrance. They spotted Jun and his group ahead and sped off to catch up.

Upon arriving at school, Fa Zi quickly approached Wang Yuxin when no one was around and handed her Hong Liguo's postcard. His movements were swift and agile; he turned and left before Wang Yuxin could even speak to him.

Although it was already the second year of junior high school, there was still an invisible distance between the boys and girls, and they rarely communicated directly. Even if some people were dating in private, they would still avoid each other in public places like school, for fear of being discovered by teachers and other classmates. Only a very few people didn't care about these things, like Zhang Qiaoyun, who liked Jie, and Zhang Jiu'er, who actively pursued Fa Zi.

Hong Liguo sat in his seat, pretending to be nonchalant as he flipped through a book, but his eyes kept sneaking glances at Wang Yuxin. Unlike Hong Liguo, who would put the postcard away and read it at home first, Wang Yuxin immediately opened the envelope and calmly took it out to examine it carefully.

Hong Liguo was so nervous his heart was practically in his throat. Through the gaps in the book, he saw two faint blushes rise on her cheeks, and a joyful light sparkled in her eyes. Moreover, she stole a glance at Hong Liguo, her eyes seemingly filled with shyness and anticipation.

Hong Liguo was also secretly glancing at her at the time. When their eyes met by chance, Hong Liguo felt his cheeks burning red and his heart pounding nervously, as if it was about to jump out of his throat.

Hong Liguo quickly lowered his head, pretending to read a book, but the book in his hand trembled slightly with nervousness.

Hong Liguo noticed that Wang Yuxin also had a rosy complexion. Their eyes met briefly before she quickly lowered her head, no longer looking at Hong Liguo. She clutched the postcard tightly in her hands, as if holding a precious treasure. Although she was trying to calm herself down, her heart felt like it was pounding with a lively little rabbit, and she just couldn't calm down.

Zhang Yulan, who sat at the table in front of him, saw all of this. She turned around and gave Hong Liguo a strange smile, a smile that seemed to hide many deep meanings, as if to say, "I saw everything you did."

Hong Liguo's face turned even redder, and she secretly groaned in her heart, fearing that she would spread the news everywhere, which would make her extremely embarrassed.

Hong Liguo was terrified, fearing that she would talk about it in front of the other classmates.

Hong Liguo was on tenterhooks all day, and was somewhat absent-minded in class, glancing at Zhang Yulan and Wang Yuxin from time to time to observe their every move.

In fact, Zhang Yulan wasn't the type to stir up trouble. A whole day passed, and she didn't mention the incident to any of her classmates, which relieved Hong Liguo slightly.

A few days later, Hong Liguo received another envelope from Fa Zi. Hong Liguo eagerly opened it and found that this time it didn't contain a postcard, but a letter.

With a mix of excitement and nervousness, Hong Liguo unfolded the letter. The handwriting was neat and beautiful, and the gist of the message was that she had received the letter and liked it very much, especially the poem. She also said that she hadn't expected Hong Liguo to be such a poetry genius.

Hong Liguo blushed with embarrassment after reading it. He knew in his heart that it was not written by his own ability, but was copied and modified from line by line in "Three Hundred Tang Poems". It was by no means a work of genius.

However, after feeling embarrassed by the praise from his female classmate, Hong Liguo couldn't help but feel a little smug. So, he decided to write another poem in return, hoping to make her even happier.

That evening, Hong Liguo sat at his desk and opened the book "Three Hundred Tang Poems" again, carefully reading through it, hoping to find inspiration.

However, no matter how hard he searched, copied, and revised, he still couldn't write a coherent poem.

Looking at the crooked and messy verses he had written, Hong Liguo felt embarrassed. How could he give such poems to Wang Yuxin? Wouldn't that be embarrassing himself?

At that moment, Hong Liguo suddenly remembered the works of Xue Gang, a free verse poet who was very popular at the time, which he had read in a magazine a few days earlier. His poems had a unique style, concise and infectious language, and were easy to read aloud.

Hong Liguo had a sudden inspiration. He thought that writing regulated verse was too difficult for him and he couldn't come up with anything. He thought it would be better to imitate his free verse and write a poem for her.

Hong Liguo quickly found the poetry journal and carefully read through Xue Gang's works several times, studying his writing style and techniques. Finally, after much contemplation, Hong Liguo wrote his first free verse poem: "Thinking of You."

Quietly

Watching over a crescent moon

---Miss you

May this bright moonlight

Transformed into countless threads of affection

Carrying my longing

Drifting into your dreams

silently

Gazing at a stream

---Miss you

May every swirling of this flowing water...

All of these have turned into the whispers of my longing.

Carrying my heartfelt blessings

Flow into your heart

foolish

Standing by the window

---Miss you

look up

twinkling stars and moon

Bow your head

A patch of water

Looking at his free verse poem, Hong Liguo felt a mix of trepidation and anticipation. He didn't know how Wang Yuxin would evaluate it, but Hong Liguo knew he had done his best and couldn't write anything better.

Hong Liguo carefully copied the poem onto a clean sheet of paper, folded it, and put it into a homemade envelope, intending to have Fa Zi deliver it to Wang Yuxin the next day.

That night, Hong Liguo lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, his mind filled with thoughts of Wang Yuxin and that poem.

Hong Liguo didn't know how this delicate feeling between them would develop, but he knew that ever since he received that postcard, his heart had no longer been as calm as before, and his longing for Qiao Shuang was slowly being replaced by Wang Yuxin...