Utopia's Rainy Season

During the rainy season, after Shangguan Yang used a series of "threats and bribes" to persuade her parents, she finally got her wish and transferred schools. She escaped the private school that had made her miserable and at last arrived in the city she had always longed for, and at Yan'an No. 2 High School, which dominated the province's exam rankings every year.

On her first day, Shangguan Yang stood in the hallway and accidentally met a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes. The owner of those eyes had merely straightened up and gently closed a window. The breeze flowing through the corridor rustled the leaves behind her. Could you believe that anyone had eyes this beautiful? So beautiful that it seemed every story's beginning, every memory of Yan'an No. 2 High School, would start with them. It was just one glance, so ordinary yet so important, but Shangguan Yang remembered it for the rest of her life.

Chen Changji looked at his new deskmate, baffled. Shy, yet competitive and combative? Probably. A student studying design coming to Yan'an No. 2 High School? How ridiculous. She kept running into her deskmate? What a coincidence. One night in senior year, Chen Changji brought a few friends to confront the girl who had accused Shangguan Yang of plagiarizing her design. The girl's gaze was timid, and her feelings for him were painfully obvious. Chen Changji straightened his school uniform jacket and looked at her coolly, with no desire to waste words. Just as he was about to speak, the girl let a few crocodile tears fall first. All the nerve to scheme, but none to follow through. Chen Changji brushed the dust off an unused desk in the old classroom and said, with utter disdain, "Find a way to clear her name. And if you like me, sorry, but remember to make room when you're lining up. Don't crowd my girlfriend."

Rain fell on the wedding day. In the solemn, elegant, semi-open church, Shangguan Yang was taking the last set of solo photos on the lawn when she accidentally spilled red wine on the hem of her white satin wedding dress. The dark red stain was unmistakable, and even she, a designer, struggled to find anything complimentary to say about it.

In her field of vision, a schnauzer wearing a suit came bouncing over from the other side of the lawn. Chen Changji, also dressed in a black suit, followed slowly behind the dog, his eyes fixed on Shangguan Yang's face. He walked toward her with steady determination, like a train on a track that could never veer off course, and like two points finally joined by a line that would be etched in their memories forever. She suddenly thought of military training in her first year of college, when birds and clouds had entwined in the sky, which turned crimson. It was like the stain on her dress today, except that from then on, through every cheer and every exchanged vow, Chen Changji would be the one following her.

That rainy season in her dream was strange. The rain came and went, never stopping, hot and humid. Shangguan Yang had grown up in the north and hated rainy days. The next time a raindrop landed on her, an umbrella was already held over her head. The boy's fresh, clean presence washed over her, sweeping away the heat and bringing cool relief. Like the lychee ice pops that sold out at the corner shop, like an air-conditioned room in the sweltering summer, more like a bottle of sparkling water popping open, giving her heartbeat a name. She heard Chen Changji say, "The rainy season can be a longed-for utopia, too."

Now, at last, the story reaches the words: You are finally mine, and now it's my turn to come to you.

THE END

Theme: Turning every bitterness into sweetness