A god-level beauty system? But I'm already a god-level beauty!

"it is good."

Shen Ye readily agreed.

"I'll go with you. Now?"

"Not now."

Chu Cihan finally managed to look away from the road and glance at him.

"It's still early."

"We'll have to go there later."

...A place that can only be visited at night?

Shen Ye's curiosity was piqued.

What places still have restrictions on business hours?

Could it be a bar? But Chu Cihan wouldn't go to a bar, and it didn't seem like someone was trying to get him drunk.

Don't ask.

You'll know when you get there.

"......OK"

Since they couldn't go back anyway, the two found a coffee shop nearby.

The coffee shop wasn't crowded in the afternoon. There was a row of empty seats by the floor-to-ceiling windows. I chose a corner to sit down, each with a cup of coffee, to kill time.

This time, Chu Cihan handled all the ordering and payment.

She ordered a latte for herself and coffee for Shen Ye, but seemed to whisper something in the ear of the female employee.

When it was brought out, Shen Ye glanced at the dark liquid in the glass but didn't dare to say anything.

He took a small sip, and the bitterness made his face contort in pain.

The waiting time was harder than I had imagined.

Soft, soothing music played in the shop, and people came and went on the street outside the window. Chu Cihan held a cup, his gaze fixed on the view outside the window, lost in thought.

Shen Ye wanted to ask her several times, but she always stopped him with a glare.

............

It was a little after 4 p.m.

The girl, who had been silent all afternoon, finally got up.

"I'm gone."

Chu Cihan glanced at him, picked up her small bag, and walked towards the door.

Shen Ye immediately followed.

The two walked along the street.

At first, it was an unfamiliar commercial area with glass curtain walls and chain stores.

As he walked, Shen Ye gradually realized that something was wrong.

This road...

He looks familiar.

The old houses along the street, the plane trees, and the noodle shop that's been around for many years on the corner—

Something deep in my memory was gradually awakened by these street scenes.

But then, a brand new office building appeared, shattering his nascent judgment once again.

The new and the old intertwined, the familiar and the unfamiliar clashed, and he couldn't be sure, so he could only follow along with his head down.

Until a school appeared by the roadside.

The walls were beige, the gate was made of wrought iron, and a dark plaque hung at the entrance.

"Ring ring—"

The school bell could be heard from a great distance.

Immediately afterwards, the school gates opened wide, and groups of primary school students carrying schoolbags poured out like a tide.

Red scarves, blue and white school uniforms, chattering and chasing each other.

Outside the school gate, a long line of parents waited to pick up their children, some in electric bikes, some in cars, and others with grandparents holding parasols, all eagerly anticipating their arrival.

"Mother!"

"Grandma, I'm here!"

The children cheered and rushed into the arms of their families, were led away, picked up, and stuffed into the back seats of the cars.

A few outgoing little ones, as they passed by, tilted their little faces up and called out in their clear, crisp voices:

Hello, older brother and sister!

Hello.

Shen Ye responded subconsciously.

Then, he froze.

My gaze passed over the group of jubilant elementary school students and landed on the plaque at the school gate.

XX Experimental Primary School.

boom.

The floodgates of memory were smashed open by these words.

He knew where he was—his elementary school.

I attended a private elementary school from first to fifth grade, before I transferred schools.

It was here that he met Chu Cihan when he was a child.

The starting point eleven years ago is right here in this beige building.

Neither Shen Ye nor Chu Cihan spoke.

The two of them simply stood quietly under the shade of a tree diagonally opposite the school gate, watching the elementary school students leave school in waves.

Watching the little boys and girls coming out in groups, arms around each other, sharing snacks, arguing over an eraser...

Shen Ye was momentarily dazed.

It was as if he saw himself as a child, and Chu Cihan as a child.

Two little kids, carrying their schoolbags, came out of this door one after the other, bickering all the way to the alley entrance, then made up, only to start arguing again the next day.

He seemed to know why Chu Cihan had brought him here.

I also know why I had to come at this time.

In mid-June, the college entrance examination ended, but apart from the senior year students, almost all other students were still on holiday.

This school is most active only after school has ended.

The sounds of reading, bells, and noise were all present.

What she wanted to show him was not an empty campus.

This is a scene unfolding on this campus, a memory they can never return to eleven years ago.

Do you remember this place?

The girl beside him suddenly spoke up.

"Of course I remember."

Shen Ye looked away and smiled.

"I did study here for a few years, after all."

"Um."

Chu Cihan smiled slightly.

The smile was faint; it appeared on his face and vanished in an instant.

"Let's go inside after all the kids have left."

"Go in?"

Shen Ye was taken aback.

"How do I get in? The school isn't open to the public, is it? Are you going to say you're an alumnus?"

Chu Cihan chuckled softly.

"Have you forgotten?"

She raised her chin and gestured slightly toward the plaque.

"This is a private elementary school, invested in by my family."

"I want to go in; I do have that much permission."

Shen Ye: "..."

Okay, he forgot about that.

After a long time.

The students at the school gate went from being a huge crowd to just a few scattered groups, and finally only a handful remained, squatting on the steps, anxiously waiting for their parents.

Chu Cihan strode forward and headed straight for the guardhouse.

"Hello......"

A brief exchange.

The security guard looked at the two of them suspiciously for a few moments, then picked up the landline and made a call.

"Hey, Principal Wang, there are two young men at the gate... umm... surnamed Chu... okay, got it."

After hanging up the phone, the old man's attitude visibly warmed up. He raised the barrier and let us pass, even smiling and telling us to "take care."

Seven years later, I stepped into this campus again.

Shen Ye felt an indescribable mix of emotions.

My memories of the school facilities, which had long been blurred, suddenly became clear again when I saw them again.

Of course, there are also some discrepancies.

The cafeteria has been renovated; the exterior walls have been painted from white to beige, and the running track on the playground has also been replaced.

It's been seven years, so renovations are perfectly normal.

We walked and looked around.

The teaching building, the playground, the canteen... every place evokes a memory for Shen Ye.

But Chu Cihan's footsteps never stopped from beginning to end.

These are not her goals.

Shen Ye fell silent and followed quietly behind her.

After walking along the path beside the playground and around the back wall of the cafeteria, the two finally stopped in front of a small open space.

There is a sign at the entrance to the open space.

【Labor Practice Park】

Behind the sign was a small, neatly divided field, row by row, with each class taking up a plot.

In the soil, there were crooked little seedlings, some tall and some short, drooping and listless, clearly the work of an elementary school student.

The setting sun shone down, bathing the entire small farmland in a warm golden light.

The water droplets on the vegetable leaves shimmered.

The girl stood by the edge of the field and watched quietly for a moment.

Then, she turned her head.

The setting sun cast a warm glow on her profile, reflecting light into her usually bright eyes.

"Do you remember this place?"