Age of Legends

Chapter 247 It's Just You

"That bastard Zhang Chen is too lucky!" Zhang Zhihua said resentfully among the people watching them from downstairs. "I had a feeling something was going on when they put up the bulletin board!"

"Really... I didn't notice." Wang Chen remained unmoved. At the time, he was painting Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and was completely immersed in the role of Van Gogh.

"You'd be a fool to notice!" Another girl, Wang Yue, said coolly. Three years had passed, she'd sat behind him, and this little devil still hadn't realized she liked him. Several hints had gone unanswered, and she knew he planned to apply to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, while she wanted to study pharmacy at Sun Yat-sen University. Their ideals, even before officially filling out their college applications, were completely opposite.

Moreover, she might not be as brave as Shen Nuo and Zhang Chen. "It's true that the brave are the ones who get to enjoy the world first!"

Li Jiajun's eyes bulged with frustration. He had been speculating about the relationship between Zhang Chen and Shen Nuoyi. Initially, when he saw them studying together at the bookstore, he thought, "I must be seeing things." Then, upon hearing that Shen Nuoyi liked Pei Yan, he felt a pang of heartache mixed with relief: "I knew it wasn't Zhang Chen." He knew he couldn't compete with Pei Yan, but if Zhang Chen and Shen Nuoyi got together, he would scream five hundred times at the heavens, "Why isn't it me?"
And then they got together.

I'm so tired, let's just destroy it.

Li Jiajun is now in a state of numbness. The more he sees Shen Nuoyi shining brightly in the final period of his senior year, the more painful it is for him to recall his regrets.

How come the female lead didn't fall for such a pure-hearted man?

"Guess what those two are saying right now?" Zhang Jiaru asked with ill intent.

Xu Rui, who was standing nearby, said, "What else can we say? Judging from Shen Nuoyi's studious demeanor, supervising Zhang Chen's studies every day, they must be talking about studying!"

Everyone looked up at the two people bathed in the rosy light and agreed wholeheartedly.

Actually, the main reason they couldn't really associate those two people with the kind of illicit couples that exist in schools was because Shen Nuoyi was a high and mighty fairy. Even if she had descended to the mortal world, she would still be far superior to ordinary people.

……

In the sunset, Shen Nuo said, "Zhang Chen, even now, it still feels a little unreal. I've never been in a relationship before, and I know I can be a bit boring sometimes. I don't know if you'll get tired of it after a while... If you ever get tired of it, be sure to tell me in advance. I won't pester you."

Zhang Chen was stunned, wondering what Old Shen meant by that.

Judging from her appearance, she probably thinks about these things quite often, and after thinking about them, she probably feels anxious and uncertain, as if it's not real.

Zhang Chen glanced at her and said, "Do you think I'm the kind of person who easily gets bored with the old and craves the new?"

"No... I looked at our zodiac signs. You're a Libra, and I'm a Capricorn. The astrological analysis makes sense. I feel like your personality is sometimes like the wind, but I'm like the earth. Sometimes the earth can't keep up with your pace. Astrology says that you might get bored easily..."

What on earth did I just hear?

What kind of book is this? It's harmful!

Zhang Chen's eyes widened.

You are a genius girl in everyone's eyes. The sunset is blooming right now, and you are admired and watched by countless people here. But you are saddened by what the stars say.
Shen Nuoyi added, "Besides, you get tired of liking someone after a while... Sometimes I even wonder if we started too early. I'm afraid that if the novelty wears off, you'll change one day..."

Zhang Chen was completely dumbfounded.

She realized that she had been deceived by Shen Nuoyi's appearance. She was indeed very good at studying and very composed. She seemed to be more mature than usual, so she overlooked the fact that she was still a girl with a young heart.

In this initial stage, one may be hesitant and uneasy, overthinking and worrying about gains and losses.

Zhang Chen immediately said, "If you like someone for a long time, you'll get tired of them, and the novelty will wear off. That initial passion will probably fade away..."

At that moment, Zhang Chen saw a face of Shen Nuoyi that was deeply etched in his memory, a face that left him in a daze.

So her words seemed a little flustered: "So, is that how it is?"

The color had faded from his face.

"I think that's what the book says, right?"

"Ah..." Shen Nuoyi brushed a stray hair behind her ear to hide her embarrassment, "I read all sorts of books, and I can't remember them very well..."

Zhang Chen said, "But I think that if you really fall in love with someone, this feeling will only grow deeper and deeper. You just want to quietly stay by their side. Novelty is just one of the many feelings that two people experience. When the novelty fades, that's when the relationship truly deepens." "Liking someone is just a passing breeze; it will eventually dissipate. But true love is like mountains, rivers, stars, and a gentle, flowing stream—it's always there."

"It is the meaning that you would be willing to spend the rest of your life pursuing if you had seen all the things in the world and traveled through time."

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, Shen Nuo stood there, seemingly processing everything he had said.

The worry on her face had faded, replaced by a serene smile, as if the storm had passed.

"Zhang Chen, let's enjoy this kind of scenery together from now on."

"Okay."

What do you want for Christmas?

Zhang Chen looked at her and said, "Who asks a question like that directly?"

"What else? How about we be straightforward?"

"I want the stars in the sky, can you pluck them for me?" Zhang Chen asked.

Shen Nuo narrowed her eyes, "You're being naughty again... I'm serious."

“There’s no need for all this formality. We used to exchange greeting cards, so let’s continue with greeting cards,” Zhang Chen said. “I like reading the handwriting you give me.”

"Well... okay. What you said makes a lot of sense." For some reason, Zhang Chen's simple words felt like a piece of candy slowly melting in her heart.

Finally, seeing that Zhang Chen was still staring at her, Shen Nuo touched her face and asked, "Is there food on my face?"

His eyes were completely blank when he said that. Zhang Chen said, "And you? You only ask me questions, don't you have any requests?"

"You just said, let's have a greeting card."

Shen Nuo smiled and said, "I also want to see the words you wrote for me."

……

In this year's Fuzhou, Christmas is still celebrated quite wildly by taking advantage of this Western holiday. Groups of students from various schools and universities flock to the city center to fight each other with inflatable hammers, resulting in police cars being dispatched every year to deal with countless fights and brawls, as well as various stampede accidents.

The school leadership at Yude School has issued a special warning: students should not participate in such activities in crowded places unless absolutely necessary, and should prioritize safety. Furthermore, homeroom teachers will be calling each student's home to ensure they are not wandering around aimlessly.

After all, Christmas Eve is a Sunday.

Zhang Chen and Shen Nuoyi naturally didn't participate in such a festival, and Wang Shuowei wasn't interested either. It was lively outside, but the senior high school students remained calm and collected. Even if someone organized to join in the fun, they'd just to hell with school rules and regulations.

They exchanged greeting cards on Saturday. Zhang Chen thought and thought, but couldn't come up with any good words, so he copied half a poem onto the greeting card and gave it to Shen Nuoyi.

"I'm too lazy to look back at the flowers, half for cultivating the Tao, half for you."

The poem means: I hurriedly walked through the flowerbed, too lazy to look back. The reason for this is partly due to the asceticism of a Taoist practitioner, and partly due to the memory of you I once possessed.

The first half of the poem that Zhang Chen didn't write down is the famous line: "Having seen the vast ocean, other waters are nothing; having beheld the clouds of Wushan, other clouds are nothing."

Zhang Chen received a purple greeting card from Shen Nuoyi. It had a slightly complicated design, indicating that Shen Nuoyi had chosen it.

Upon opening it, her handwriting was much better than Zhang Chen's.

His handwriting reflects his personality, sharp yet with a touch of gentleness.

The greeting card, with its sweet fragrance, reads: "I have so much to say to one person. Not just the you in front of me, but also the you of the past, and every moment of you from now on. Just you."

(End of this chapter)