On the afternoon of early March, Shen Fu picked up a sketch that had been blown down by the wind on the side of the court. There was an orange cat drawn on the paper, and the brushstrokes were incredibly gentle. He caught up and returned the drawing. The man took the drawing paper and said softly "thank you" without looking at him a second time.
Shen Fu later found out that the man's name was Lin Xuan, a sophomore in high school who always sat by the window and never went downstairs to watch football. But Shen Fu still went - through the playground, through the canteen, through the whole spring, to get close to a person named "Xuan".
They share a rooftop secret and feed a stray cat named Nian Gao. Shen Fu brought ham and Lin Xuan brought cat food. The two chatted with each other through the orange cat. Shen Fu found that Lin Xuan looked good when he smiled, but he rarely smiled. Lin Xuan found that Shen Fu was not as careless as he seemed. He would break up the ham sausage to make the kitten more delicious.
Until Lin Xuan's sketchbook left on the stone bench was opened. The last page is full of pictures of Shen Fu - his back playing ball, his profile drinking water, and his sleeping posture leaning against the wall. Shen Fu didn't reveal the secret, but he knew that everything was different.
The change came very suddenly. Shen's father was seriously ill and hospitalized, so Shen went to find a part-time job and prepared to retire from the competition. Lin Xuan found him in the empty basketball hall and said, "You are responsible for shining on the court, and I am responsible for keeping your future from getting lost." From that day on, there were two more figures sitting side by side in the library at 6:30 in the morning. One person talks about grammar, and another person delivers warm milk.
In the city league final, amid cheers from the audience, Shen Fu ran through the crowd towards Lin Xuan, who was wearing his jersey. A medal hung on Lin Xuan's chest on the rooftop, and Shen Fu asked, "Would you like to wait for me for a year?" A year later, the admission notice was spread out in front of the two of them, with two cups of Yangzhi nectar next to it.
Nian Gao rubbed his feet among them and found a comfortable position to lie down. The sun is leaking from the clouds, and spring is here again.
You are responsible for shining, and I am responsible for not letting you get lost. This is a two-way spring agreement, about how to cross the sea of people and embrace someone who makes you willing to go.
Intention: Love is not about meeting by chance, but that I know you are there, so I run towards you through the whole spring.