His Orange Candy

In Su Jingran's high school daily life, she could not avoid the orange tree in the back alley of the teaching building. She was afraid that she would have to linger in front of the convenience store for ten minutes to buy a bottle of water. However, she would always squat in the shadow of the tree with a sketchbook, and carefully draw the orange candy wrappers that fell on the ground, the corners of clothes blown up by the wind, and the figures running on the playground in the distance into the notebook. He never dared to step into the stadium. At most, he would lie on the railing of the corridor, staring at the sunny open space under the trees in a daze. His fingertips unconsciously caressed the orange candy in his pocket. The sweetness was his only courage to fight against the crowd. This cautious calm was completely broken by Lin Zhiyi of the Cultural and Creative Society. That day, he was squatting behind a tree to draw candy wrappers. An orange petal suddenly fell on the drawing paper. He looked up and saw a pair of eyes as bright as the sun: "The candy wrappers you drew are so amazing! The brushstrokes are so soft that even the graininess of the frosting is revealed!" Lin Zhiyi came over with a scent of oranges, half of the same orange candy wrapper exposed in her pocket, and a recruitment poster from the Cultural and Creative Society in her hand: "The school is going to hold a traditional culture festival art exhibition, do you want to participate? Put these orange candy sketches on it, and add some real orange candy as decoration, I will help you make a three-dimensional candy wrapper, you will definitely win a prize!" A casual invitation immediately turned Su Jingran's world into chaos—— Lin Zhiyi didn't say that she would drag him to stay up late in the art room to rewrite paintings! He didn't say that he wanted to rub the orange candy he drew on the canvas bag, but he also secretly embroidered a small word "Ran"! Not to mention that the art exhibition asked him to go on stage to introduce his creative ideas - he would blush to the root of his neck even when called upon by the teacher to answer a question, speaking in front of all the teachers and students in the school? It's better to let him perform on the spot and disappear on the spot! The week before, Su Jingran's sketchbook contained crumpled scraps of paper filled with intermittent introductions that he repeatedly crossed out. Not only was he forced to become a partner with Lin Zhiyi, but his best friend Song Xiaoyang also secretly applied for the "Best Creative Award" for him. Even Qi Yuan came over and patted his chest: "Don't worry, Xiaoqing and I will hold up a sign for you in the audience and shout 'Ranzi is the best' until we are hoarse!" What made him even more confused was Lin Zhiyi's "feeding offensive" - peeled oranges would be placed in the hole in his desk every morning during self-study, a bottle of lemonade was handed to him after recess, and there were even orange-flavored hard candies next to the palette in the art room. One time, Su Jingran was worried about the three-dimensional candy paper hanging decoration. The glue stuck all over her hands and she couldn't fix it properly. Her eyes were red with anxiety. Lin Zhiyi didn't say anything. She just took his hand and wiped off the glue bit by bit with a wet tissue. There was a warm touch on her fingertips: "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to fix it with hemp rope. It's strong and beautiful." Sunlight fell on their hands through the window of the art room, and orange spots jumped around. Su Jingran's heartbeat was as fast as if she was carrying a rabbit, and she even breathed lightly. Another time, he stayed up late working on a painting and lost track of time, lying on the table and falling asleep. When I woke up, I was covered with an unknown school uniform jacket. The orange candy in my pocket was still warm, and there were a few more light and shadow strokes in the sketchbook. Lin Zhiyi deepened the shadows of the orange candy he had not finished painting, and added a small smiley face next to it. Next to it was written: "Don't be too tired, your painting is already great." "The introduction... I still can't memorize it." Su Jingran held the manuscript, her voice was as thin as a gnat, and the tips of her ears were so red that they were bleeding. Song Xiaoyang handed him the printed simplified version of the manuscript and patted his shoulder: "Just think of it as chatting with me and Qi Yuan, don't be nervous." Lin Zhiyi was labeling the exhibits. Hearing this, she turned to smile at him, her eyes full of tenderness: "Su Jingran, there is quiet sweetness in your paintings, and lively warmth in my hands. Only when we work together can it be complete." He came over and patted his back gently, "I will stand next to you then. If you forget, just look at me and I will give you a message." Su Jingran looked down at the manuscript in her hand, and then at Lin Zhiyi's fingertips stained with orange paint. The orange candies in her pocket seemed to become sweeter. He suddenly felt that this "imposed" art exhibition was not so scary anymore - after all, there was someone who was walking into his closed world little by little with full sunshine, melting all his timidity with the sweetness of orange candies. "From the moment the school uniform was put on you, I never thought about taking back this love." "I came to life when I met you." Purpose: Growth is finding your own direction