Winter Without You

That summer, the chirping of cicadas made the air hot, and two unfamiliar crews gathered together to film a short play in an old teaching building. The 17-year-old translator Jiang is wearing a white shirt that has been washed white. When he leans on the stairwell to recite his lines, his eyelashes will cast a light shadow on the bridge of his nose. The first time Zhang Jiayu met him, she was pushed by the aunt from the props team to borrow some tape. When the boy turned her head, she heard her own heartbeat overshadowing the director's shouting in the distance. In the background at the other end, 19-year-old Chen Rui was quarreling with Wen Jing. "I told you I won't act shy!" He scratched the back of his head, his army green T-shirt stained with sweat. Wen Jing stood on tiptoe and pressed an ice pack on his forehead: "Idiot, wouldn't it be nice to think about how I looked when you watched me play on the playground in my sophomore year of high school?" They were childhood sweethearts who had never been apart since they wore school uniforms, but they became red-faced when filming opposite each other. Chen Rui always forgot his lyrics, and would hide behind Wen Jing when he was nervous, and was laughed at by the director as "like a puppy guarding its food." Wen Jing would secretly hide his favorite orange soda in the prop box, and watch the way his eyes light up when he discovered it, and secretly draw a little sun on the back of the script. The scenes between Jiang Yi and Zhang Jiayu are always in the library. He plays the silent transfer student, and she is the girl who always reads by the window. Off camera, Zhang Jiayu would hand excerpted sentences to Jiang Yi and watch him write annotations with a pen; Jiang Yi would silently hand over anti-itching cream to her when she was bitten by mosquitoes. When his fingertips touched her skin, both of them felt like being hit by summer electricity. At night after work, four young people would crowd in front of the convenience store to eat oden. Chen Rui snatched the fish balls from Wen Jing's bowl, and she tapped the back of her hand with a bamboo skewer; Jiang Yi put the kelp knots that Zhang Jiayu didn't like into his bowl, and listened to her talk about interesting things in school. Occasionally, when he raised his head, his eyes would stay in her smile for two seconds. No one said anything about the future at that time. Chen Rui waved a soda can and shouted, "I want to be the coolest soldier in the future." Wen Jing kicked him, "Then I will be a big star and let you watch me on TV." Jiang Yi lowered his head and wiped his glasses and said softly, "Maybe I will try acting." Zhang Jiayu immediately answered, "Then I will be the president of the fan support club for you." The summer wind carries the smell of film, blowing away the promises between boys and girls. They thought that after filming the short drama, they were just returning to their respective tracks, but they did not realize that the foreshadowing laid that summer had already quietly tied the rest of each other's lives. Later, some people became movie stars in the spotlight, some put on military uniforms, and some shined in front of the camera. But whenever I think of that summer, my memory will always be the sweetness of the ice-cold soda, the light and shadow in the old classroom, and the smile in the young man's eyes that is warmer than the sun - that's how all stories begin, like a piece of candy in your mouth, so sweet that you can't bear to swallow it. Purpose: redemption