In the late autumn of 2018, cultural protection engineer Shen Ying returned to the old city for surveying and mapping. When she opened the wooden door of the boy's old residence, there was a line of faded writing on the wall: "Shen Ying, I'm waiting for you in Beijing." As she stood there, she suddenly heard the sound of cicadas in 1999.
In the third year of high school, Shen Ying, who was number one in grade, and Jiang Yubai, who was number two in ten thousand years, were assigned to sit at the same table by their class teacher. Shen Ying always gets full marks for her rolls, but Jiang Yubai always gets points deducted for solving problems outside the outline. When exchanging homework comments, she wrote "full of flaws" and he replied "soulless". The comments became longer and longer, ranging from tit-for-tat to secretly amazed. When BP machines first became popular, love letters were written on the back of physical worksheets, using lemon juice as invisible ink. On the last day of 1999, as the countdown ended on the rooftop of the teaching building, Jiang Yubai folded a paper cicada and said, "After the college entrance examination, I will fold a hundred cicadas and give them to you. One represents one year." Shen Ying said, "Ten years is enough."
On the eve of the college entrance examination, he revealed his ambition, and all five schools were in Beijing. She lowered her head and wrote: First choice, Peking University.
In the summer of 2000, Jiang Yubai was ranked number one in the city, while Shen Ying missed out on Peking University by three points. By the time the admission notice arrived, he had become a vacant figure - his father went bankrupt and his family moved to a small southern town. Eighteen years apart.
Turning around now, there are one hundred paper cicadas from 1999 to 2018 hanging on the door frame. Jiang Yubai hung up the last one, his eyes were frosty, and his smile was still that of a boy: "Summer is over, but we start from the beginning."
In the summer when the cicadas stopped chirping, they finally stood under the same sky.
