The net of the badminton court was once the closest distance between Chu Xiachu and Xu Xingqian.
He is the young man sweating on the court, and the water droplets on his hair are shining when he jumps and smashes; she is the figure handing water to wipe sweat on the sidelines, with smiling eyes, and the voice of cheering is clearer than the vibration of the ball string. The inadvertent touch of their fingertips when picking up the ball, the tacit understanding of eye contact during doubles, the sharing of the same bottle of ice-cold soda on the field dyed red by the setting sun, and even the muffled sound of the rackets colliding were like the sweetest beats of youth. Chu Xiachu always said that what Xu Xing owed was a lifetime of sparring time to her.
But the ball will hit the ground and people will leave the field.
When winning and losing begin to overwhelm the meaning of being side by side, when silence replaces the cheers on the sidelines, the net gradually becomes an insurmountable barrier. His racket was still accurate, but he could no longer catch the water she handed him; her eyes were still chasing his figure, but she could only see his back getting further and further away.
When she picked up the racket for the last time, Chu Xiachu looked at the empty court and realized that Xu Xing owed her. It was destined from the beginning that he was the brightest star she had ever counted, but he would eventually owe her an unfinished promise at the final whistle of youth.
This campus excitement related to badminton finally ended completely with a crisp sound of falling shots...
Some names have their endings written from the beginning - Xu Xing owes something, Xu is a star, and he will eventually owe something...
Intention: Sweet and sad