A Young Woman's Heart

"Hmm, Gin-Gin is sleeping in the band room."

"Ruoruo was also in the picture."

There are over a thousand photos, and I'm only skimming through them now because there seem to be just too many.

But when we look back later, we might feel that these thousand-plus photos are so few, completely insufficient to capture all the memories we shared during our high school years.

……

(four)

Mr. Xue curiously opened the cassette case, which contained a total of sixteen cassette tapes.

He casually picked up a large cassette player that everyone used to listen to music and practice on the windowsill, and snapped it into the cassette player.

After the tape had been spinning slowly for a while, it finally produced some sound.

It sounds like the end of a piece of music.

Then you can hear other people talking.

"Let's take a break."

"Have some tea!"

Then came a burst of loud noise.

Mo Xueyao's languid voice rang out: "Qingming Festival is just around the corner..." (Note: Volume 6, Chapter 25)

"Hmm, is there someone you miss?" Mr. Xue's voice carried a faint smile.

"It's nothing, right..."

"...Phew, time for tea! What a pity, April Fool's Day was yesterday. Why is April Fool's Day on Sunday? It's not, it should be a school day!" Hua Yinyin complained.

"Hey, little Yaoyao, you smell so good~"

"What's gotten into him all of a sudden...?"

"...I agree! Xiaoxue should wear a girls' school uniform!" (Note: Volume 6, Chapter 82)

“I said, more important than the clothing are the symbols, the patterns that represent the band.”

How about combining half a snowflake and half a note?

……

(Fives)

Only after the A side of the cassette tape was read, and after a long silence, the tape drive clicked and automatically pressed the start button, and everyone seemed to return to the reality called the present.

"When...when were these recorded?"

"Some of them were secretly recorded by Teacher Qiu..."

"Ugh, when?! Damn it, this guy was eavesdropping on our conversation!" Hua Yinyin suddenly turned around and looked out the window, as if Qiu Yi was hiding by the door right now.

However, all she could see were Mo Xiaoxiao and Li Wanyan chatting against the glass of the corridor.

"Could these tapes all be...?"

"Um... everyone's... everyday chats, these are all compiled by Teacher Qiu this month..."

"what……"

"And, there's also a CD, it's... a video from the performance." Yu Shu swallowed hard, trying her best to finish introducing the last souvenir, as if the moment she finished introducing it would be the time for everyone to part ways.

"Hmm! We can watch it slowly using DVDs!"

"Huh, there are only two?"

"This shows that we still don't have enough performance time."

"There will be more in the future!" Mo Zhuyou said, beaming with pride.

……

(six)

The atmosphere suddenly fell into an inexplicable silence.

Everyone anticipated that the time for farewell had come, and even if they were to meet again in the future, there would be a long wait of a year.

As for Mr. Xue, he was admitted to Zhejiang University, so he will see everyone even less often...

Yu Shu silently picked up the keyboard synthesizer on the chair. She kept her head down and said in a broken voice, "I...I...I wrote song after song for everyone."

"..."

"Great!" Mo Xueyao clapped enthusiastically amidst the silence. "What's your name?"

“My…sky.” Yu Shu took a deep breath, tears welling up in her eyes, and tried to lift her head. “I will sing for everyone.”

"Um……"

The crowd couldn't help but exchange glances, then all turned to look at Yu Shu.

Everyone else was sitting, but she was standing, like someone on a stage, performing for the audience.

She, who has never dared to go on stage alone and always tries to hide in the back with everyone else, will be performing alone this time.

"La la la... um hum hum..." She hummed the intro softly, and the synthesizer, tuned to an organ, emitted melodious music as she pressed the keys.

-

Scattered picks

Discarded paper scraps

Drumsticks of different colors

"A picture book filled with musical notes"

"on the windowsill"

A drop of water

"Reflecting my sky"

"Blue"

"Gray"

"Red"

"Colorless"

The noisy voices faded away

Only the wind still accompanies me.

"The distant sky"

"clumps of clouds"

"Without their appearance"

Time has come to an end—

"I started to feel reluctant to leave."

"Stay by my side a little longer, just a little longer..."

She choked back tears, struggling to hold them back, and sang the last line of the lyrics she had written—

"Don't go, don't go, without you there is no way forward in this world..."

……

(seven)

When Yu Shu lowered her head, she found that everyone had picked up their instruments at some point, and even Mo Zhuyou was sitting in front of the drum set that had been set up.

"Thump, thump-thump-crack!"

The rhythm of the drum kit infused the soft, melancholic song with uplifting energy.

The melody of this song, which originally ended in melancholy, was slowly raised.

The epilogue became a new prelude.

Then everyone softly and in unison sang a line—

"But don't be afraid, we're waiting for you up ahead!"

Wang Jiale tilted her head and smiled at her.

Hua Yinyin winked playfully.

Mr. Xue blinked, but a single tear still fell onto the bamboo flute and slowly slid down.

Mo Xueyao pressed the piano keys hard, one after another.

Taking advantage of a break, Mo Zhuyou raised her drumstick high and waved it like a cheering stick.

"This brief period of darkness will not last long—"

Yu Shu swallowed her tears and saliva, wiped her cheeks hard, and returned to the melody played by the six-person band.

She regained control and softly began to sing impromptu lyrics: "Scattered picks, discarded scraps of paper, memories left behind, we must all say goodbye..."

The other five swayed as they sang in a haphazard voice: "But seeing each other again doesn't mean never seeing each other again—"

Hua Yinyin: "We'll meet again someday."

Mr. Xue: "Don't—worry—"

Wang Jiale: "Keep moving forward!"

Mo Zhuyou: "It's at the end of the road!"

Mo Xueyao: "We're waiting to hold your hand—"

Despite her tears streaming down her face, Hua Yinyin still smiled and said, "Don't be afraid~"

Mo Xueyao followed suit, singing without tears, but her voice trembled slightly, choked with sobs: "Let's move forward..."

"We will always wait for you, waiting for you to move forward together!"