"If the brave seventeen-year-old can persist for ten more years——"
When Xu Xingchen was sorting out old things, he came across a yellowed school magazine.
That page published the news that shocked the whole school that year: "High school senior Cheng Ye reported real-name sexual harassment by a physical education teacher, and the school responded: it will be dealt with seriously."
In the photo, the boy is standing in the sun, with the cuffs of his school uniform rolled up to his elbows, revealing his strong forearms. His eyes were bright, and there was a stubborn curve in the corner of his mouth, as if he would never bow to the world.
She gently touched the photo and suddenly found a line of faded small words on the back:
"Xu Xingchen, if you still remember me in ten years, come to the old place to find me."
——And today happens to be the tenth year.
---
"Do you believe in miracles?"
Cheng Ye sat in a wheelchair and looked at Xu Xingchen who was panting and pushing open the rooftop door.
His right leg is equipped with a mechanical prosthesis, and he has gray hair on his temples, but when he smiles, the dimple on his left cheek is still as deep as when he was seventeen.
"Ten minutes late." He shook the pocket watch in his hand, "I almost thought you weren't coming."
Xu Xingchen's tears fell on the old school magazine.
"Cheng Ye," she asked with a choked voice, "are you not..."
"Dead?" He turned his wheelchair, revealing the wall of news reports behind him——
"Former physical education teacher Wang Cheng was sentenced to life imprisonment in the final trial"
"The main culprit in the Education Bureau corruption case was arrested"
"Revision of the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Disabled Persons Passed"
The signed reporter for every piece of news is Xu Xingchen.
"Look," he said softly, "you lived the best life for me."
---
And that lie about "death"——
This is just the last test question left by the boy to the girl:
"If I am gone, do you dare to fight the world alone?"
She handed in a hundred percent answer sheet.
(A bell sounded in the distance, Cheng Ye reached out to wipe away her tears)
"Welcome home, my little sun."
---
Purpose: In the gap between crime and punishment, the judicial process of rebuilding the soul