Later, Wang Jiexi would always remember the summer of 1998.
Not the summer of Beijing, but the summer in the hutongs, a thick yet translucent season wrapped in the shade of pagoda trees, watermelon stands, bicycle bells, and the endless drone of cicadas.
The adults said that summer had been unusually hot. The asphalt roads were so hot they seemed to sweat oil, popsicles melted into drips the moment they were taken out, and even the dogs in the courtyard houses lay in the doorways with their tongues hanging out.
But six-year-old Wang Jiexi didn't think so.
Because that summer, he met Yu Qingran.
From then on, Beijing's hutongs never had a true summer again. All the heat, restlessness, and long days turned into cool, quiet moments he hoped would never end the instant he met her.
Theme: Childhood sweethearts and the joy of young love
[Crying loudly][Crying loudly] My childhood sweethearts in the courtyard are so good that I can't help but cry.