[Campus Youth/Two-way Redemption/Reunion]
Born towards the sun, Su Niantang VS silent, blazing flames
The chirping of the cicadas in Wutong Lane is always in tune in midsummer, just like Su Niantang's thoughts hidden in her homework book - she and Shen Zhuo grew up in the mottled light and shadow of the Wutong trees, shared the last bite of the melted red bean popsicle, and fought until they broke up on thunderstorm nights.
When Shen Zhuo dropped out of school because of his father's alcoholism, and when the boy turned around with the crumpled banknotes in his hands, the inscription "Always a good friend" on the tree trunk was soaked by the rain and turned into a blur of pain.
Seven years later, his mother became seriously ill and Niantang returned to his hometown.
Shen Zhuo from the car repair shop has grown into a silent young man, but he still remembers her habit of not eating mung beans. During the demolition of the old street, the two of them ran to protect Grandma Wang's grocery store. When they were hiding from the rain under the eaves, the old scars exposed on his sleeves dazzled her.
It turns out that what he had to bear back then was not only the burden of the family, but also the unspoken words "I'm not worthy".
Shen Zhuo finally handed the silver ring hidden in the growth rings of the sycamore tree to her when the new leaves sprouted.
Su Niantang touched the thin callus on his palm and realized that the "burning pain" and "missing" of those years had already made the sycamore trees grow into each other's shelter.
The cicadas still chirped, and when they walked side by side through the alley amid the college entrance examination bells, summer was no longer a regretful footnote, but an eternal poem filled with "thoughts".
Purpose: Use Wutong Lane as a time container to write a story about childhood sweethearts' two-way redemption in the pain of growing up, and how youthful regrets can be transformed into healing power.
