Summer Written on a Note

Senior-year transfer student Xia Zhi bears the burden of her mother’s hospitalization alone, marking down the medical bills one square at a time on a sheet of scrap paper. Each square represents a thousand yuan. The paper accidentally falls into the hands of Lu Yan, the top student in their grade. On the back, a little sun quietly appears. The boy is not good with words. He keeps his feelings tucked away in error logs, class notes, and quiet companionship. But when the note is accidentally dropped, rumors sweep through the entire senior class. A thirty-centimeter gap opens between their desks. Misunderstandings, other people’s stares, and the pressure of the college entrance exams stand between them. They study on the rooftop, their names side by side on the banner for the hundred-day countdown ceremony, and in the exam hall he tells her, “Sit here. I’ll keep an eye on you.” As they make their way toward the exams, they also catch each other through life’s most embarrassing and fragile moments. Only after the exams does Xia Zhi see the words on the back of the little sun note: The little sun is for you. So am I. That sweltering summer of senior year, one note and two hearts warmed by each other carry them through hardship, as they promise to meet by the sea.