On the first day of the second year of high school, a new seatmate came to the empty seat next to Lu Jihan.
Wen Yanhuan, gentle, quiet, with the smell of sun-baked cloth. There are only two short sentences to introduce myself, and the handwriting is one stroke at a time. When he smiles, there is a very shallow dimple on his left cheek, as if he has not smiled for a long time and is practicing how to smile seriously.
Lu Jihan wrote on the sticky note: Hello, my name is Lu Jihan. Do you want to make a friend, my new deskmate?
Wen Yanhuan smiled crookedly.
That's where the story begins.
Ginkgo leaves change from green to yellow. From September to December, a lot of things can happen in the whole autumn. It was enough for Zhang Yingcheng to make Wen Yanhuan laugh with his nonsense, enough for Wang Yunhuai to teach him how to play badminton, enough for Yan Zhiying to help him turn over the collar of his school uniform, and enough for Zhang Yu to explain a hundred math problems to him. It was enough for Lu Jihan to slowly discover that Wen Yan was afraid of owing others, afraid of disappointing others, and afraid that he was not good enough.
New Year's Eve, fireworks display on the bridge. Lu Jihan kissed Wen Yanhuan.
Then it was photographed, posted on the school forum, and passed into Wen Fu's eyes.
Wen Fu is Wen Yanhuan's mother, the secretary of No. 4 Middle School, a Chinese-style parent who talks about "for your own good" and regards control as her first priority. When she saw the photo, she only said two words: "Disgusting."
Wen Yanhuan was taken away.
The day they lost contact was the fifty-second day since they got together.
See you again at university. Lu Jihan returned to Linyuan City. While walking in the old city, he looked up and saw a figure standing on the edge of the roof. He recognized the man.
Warm banquet and joy.
From the age of seventeen to the age of twenty-one, there was a gap of nearly three years. Three years is enough for a person to become another person, enough for scars to become scabbed and torn open, and enough for a person who has practiced how to laugh seriously to stand on the roof of a building.
Lu Jihan didn't shout "Don't jump". He walked over step by step and said, "Wen Yanhuan, I'm back."
Later, Lu Jihan was granted a deferment of schooling to accompany Wen Yanhuan to treat his illness. It's not the kind of disease that requires medicine and injections, but the kind of disease that lives in the heart and is hard to describe. It takes time, it takes patience, it takes someone beside you to say, "I'm here," "It's okay," "Take your time."
It is necessary to pick up the time that was broken after fifty-two days, bit by bit.
Ginkgo leaves fall and grow again. Another autumn, Wen Yanhuan stood under the tree and caught the orange soda Lu Jihan threw to him.
"It's cold," he said.
"You don't like the cold." Lu Jihan said.
"Yeah." Wen Yanhuan lowered his head, turned the jar twice in his hand, and then curled the corners of his mouth, "I like it."
The dimple is still there.
Concept: Not all injuries can be healed by love. But some can.