A Book Dedicated to Our Youth - Volume 2 - Chapter Pr

Prologue 2: The past that was buried silently.

Luo Qi Qi glanced at her watch, it was already seven.

The middle school department was filled entirely of commuting students. They didn’t need to go to night self revision classes so all the students had left for the day.

She stood up and walked past the boulevard to the table tennis tables. The concrete table tennis tables were well cared for and there were no traces of their old age, to Luo Qi Qi, they looked exactly the same as they did in her memories.

She smiled then walked past the table tennis tables and entered the school building. On the left should be the classroom and on the right, the teachers’ offices.

She walked to the right and could see immediately saw the English classroom sign. Luo Qi Qi stood at the window and leaned forward, looking inside. She didn’t know if Treasure Bowl was still teaching. The curtains were pulled and everything was dark, she couldn’t see anything clearly. She gave up and walked straight past the offices to the classrooms.

The insides of the classrooms could be seen clearly but everything had completely changed.

She remembered that in the past, the classrooms had blue curtains but now they had been changed to blinds; in the past, there were no electric fans but now, there were two big ceiling fans; on the side of the platform was a big television, probably used as a media tool; the tables had also changed, she remembered that in the past, the front of the tables were open and you  could put your bag inside but now, the top of the tables could be opened. The number of students probably lessened as the tables were all separated, there were no tables that were put tightly next to each other.

Luo Qi Qi smiled and sighed, without a desk mate, you lots a lot of entertainment.

She turned and walked out the gate in front of Room (1). In the past, there was a Chinese traditional style garden with a little pond and pavilion. However, now, they were gone and the area was changed into a circular flower garden.

Luo Qi QI looked around, she could no longer tell where she stood to chat with Lin Lan, Li Shen and Luo Qing Qing back in the day. However, because the position of the building entrance did not change, she could still tell where she met Xiao Fei again.

She closed her eyes and seemingly, could see a girl with a ponytail, wearing glasses, walk past a beautiful girl whose hair spread across her shoulders. When they walked past each other, their eyes also met and their steps slowed down. In that second, their faces burst into the brightest smiles.

They were so happy, so joyful, but they did not know at all what kind of fate awaited them,

Luo Qi Qi suddenly opened her eyes and shed off the memory of the past. She went to another gate and walked back into the school building. This time, she walked right up to the third floor.

The sounds of talking and laughter spread through the corridor. Luo Qi Qi was surprised and walked over to the sound. The back door to Room (4) was open. Through the window, she could see three or four students inside making the blackboard newspaper.

Staring at their youthful appearance, warmth spread through her heart,

A student realised that she was there and repeatedly turned back to look at them, causing the other students to also look back. Luo Qi Qi walked inside and in a soft voice, asked, “Can I watch you guys make the blackboard newspaper for a while?”

“Are you a teacher?”

“No.”

The students were very curious and shared glances at each other. A boy loudly said, “Then have a look!”

She stood next to the window at the back door, half leaning on the window, watching the,.

There were too much sentiments attached to her vision and too much warmth. The students probably thought that she was quite weird so as they worked, they checked back at her from time to time.

Luo Qi Qi watched them for quite a while before she read the blackboard newspaper they were producing. However, her spot was too close to the blackboard and the angle was too slant so she couldn’t see clearly the newspaper on the blackboard at the back, only the people who stood in front of the blackboard, producing it.

She tried pushing the table forward but still could not see clearly. The classroom back them was very crammed and she wouldn’t have been able push it forwards. She lightly walked a few steps to the middle and discovered that the best spot to read the blackboard news was to the middle.

Luo Qi Qi then lightly walked back to the spot she had stood before and her back slowly leaned back to the window. From this angle, the only thing she could see clearly was the boy and girl busy producing the newspaper. She watched them and tears slowly formed in her eyes, it turns out…it turns out that it was actually like this.

She didn’t dare watch any longer and hurriedly left, “Thank you. Change the colour of the chalk on the picture and see the result. Right now it’s  the evening but the teacher judges it in the day when the sunlight is at its brightest.”

The boy and girl quickly looked at their blackboard newspaper and the skinny tall boy wearing glasses hit the table, “It makes sense, we were too busy making it look good right now, thank you…” When they looked over, that special lady had already disappeared,

They looked at each other in astonishment then quickly put this little interlude to the back of their heads and started laughing around while producing it again.

Luo Qi QI quietly stood in front of Room (1) for a while then walked down the steps from the staircase next to Room (8).

When she walked out the school gates, the guard warmly greeted her, “You’re leaving this late?”

Luo Qi Qi smiled, “I was busy for the last two days and didn’t have the time to mark papers. I have to distribute the papers tomorrow so I have to quickly mark it now.”

As she talked, she walked out the gates.

She waved for a taxi. The driver asked, “Where to?”

She thought for a bit, “Driver, I want to eat lamb skewers but I’m not familiar to this area. Do you know where I can find lamb skewers? Not in a restaurant but those small stalls.”

The driver smiled in agreement and took her to find lamb skewers.

Luo Qi Qi ordered a bottle of beer and thirty lamb skewers. Within the thirty, she wanted fifteen with added spice, the more spice the better!

As soon as she bit into a skewer with added spice, the spiciness choked her. However, she continued, eating a bite of lamb skewer and drinking a gulp of beer at a time, the tears pouring slowly down her face.

The stall owner laughed and handed her a tissue. Qi QI wiped her tears while saying, “It’s too spicy, the spiciness is bringing my tears out!”

After finishing the lamb skewers, she went back to her hotel to rest.

However, she didn’t sleep well that night. Her thoughts were still in the past, the laughter and tears from those years rang at her ears continuously, making her sigh again and again, even in her sleep.

The next morning, she got up at ten and after washing and eating breakfast, she got onto a taxi.

The taxi driver asked, “Where to?”

She said, “No 1 school.”

Twenty minutes later, she stood below the building to No.1’s high school department.