Chapter 29: All Along the Way with You

  On the last day of the exam, Ji Xin'an checked again and handed in his paper. As soon as he walked out of the examination room, he saw Zou Ze standing at the door with a book in his arms, squatting down and lowering his head, seemingly thinking about something.

  Ji Xin'an suddenly found his pose very funny, stretched out her hand from her pocket and took out a one-yuan coin, threw it in front of him, the third edition of the banknote gently floated to his face.

  Zou Ze saw the money in front of him, suddenly lifted his head, and saw Ji Xin'an laughing so hard that she couldn't straighten her waist. His angry eyes also softened, and he bent down to pick up the money on the ground. "What are you doing?"

  "Who made you look so pitiful, squatting there like that? When I saw you like that, I just couldn't help it." As she spoke, Ji Xin'an burst out laughing again.

  "It's about time you came out, I've been waiting for half a day. You're still smiling, if you keep smiling, I'll leave." Zou Ze was at his wit's end and could only force a smile.

  "Alright, I won't laugh. What's the matter that you're looking for me so urgently? Can't it wait till tomorrow?" Ji Xin'an put away his joking thoughts.

  "It's like this, we several class cadres plan to borrow the summer vacation opportunity to organize everyone to come out and gather together, notify separately, today take advantage of still being able to find people to confirm who can go, see how many people there are." Zou Ze walked with her towards the outside, explaining while turning his head back to her.

  "Where are we gathering?" Ji Xin'an thought carefully for a moment, and in her previous life, there shouldn't have been such an event. Now that it's happening, it should be because Zou Ze organized it since they're about to leave, after all, being classmates for a year also creates emotions.

  "Haven't thought about it yet! Let's see how many people are there. How about I write your name down?" Zou Ze saw that she was interested and happily offered to fill in her name.

  "Write it down! We won't be together next year, so let's leave a memento before we part ways." Ji Xin'an said calmly, not expecting that their three-year classmates would now only have one year of fate left.

  "Are you so sure?" Zou Ze took out a pen and paper, writing "Ji Xin'an" after several names.

  "Of course." Jing Xin An replied firmly to him.

  "You're confident, but I'm still not sure!" Zou Ze's face suddenly turned gloomy, although he thought the exam went well, but didn't know what kind of scores second-year junior high students usually got, so he never dared to confirm.

  "How can you be so quick to organize a party when we don't even have a place?" Ji Xin'an stopped and turned around to ask him, not expecting that he would start making preparations under uncertain circumstances.

  "This is me making two preparations, if the exam goes well, it's like saying goodbye to them, if not, I'll just go back and deepen my feelings." Zou Ze smiled, pleased with his own little plan.

  "Then our gathering must be before getting the report card?" Ji Xin'an nodded and said with a knowing tone.

  "Of course, at this time, there would be more people. If the transcript is taken after that, it's not certain where everyone will go, and who will have the mood to gather together. And Anan, before the results come out, you mustn't tell others about this matter, or else if you don't get in, it'll be too embarrassing." It seems that Zou Ze is really worried.

  "Alright, I won't leak any messages." Ji Xin'an chuckled lightly, unexpectedly turning a simple gathering into something with so much implication.

  "That's right! When the time comes, I'll make a shocking debut and soar to great heights!" Zou Ze said excitedly, his hands gesturing wildly.

  Ji Xin'an didn't say anything else, hooked up the corner of her mouth, and smiled all the way to the bottom of her eyes. Many years later, on one of her most unbearable days, she thought back to this spirited young man and his heroic spirit at that time, which brought a warmth to Ji Xin'an's cold heart.

  She had always thought that Zou Ze's handling ability was still good, and indeed, after only two days, Ji Xin'an received his phone call. He should not have just informed her alone, speaking as if she had just read the three elements of a narrative essay: time, place, and people, simple and clear, then hung up the phone.

  The next day, Ji Xin'an carried a backpack full of miscellaneous items and set off on his bike. This time their activity was simple - a picnic.

  Everyone gathered at the school at 6 o'clock in the morning, then rode their bikes together to a riverbank in the suburbs. On the outskirts of this city, there is a lake that is not too big but not too small either, connected to a small river. And where they were going was exactly that small river with good and shallow water, and the riverbank was all clean grassland, most suitable for these proletarians.

  Ji Xin'an arrived at school to find that there were not as many people as she had imagined, only about twenty, less than half. When she asked, she found out that some people had already left for vacation without waiting for the grades to come out, while another group couldn't make it due to family matters, so only these people were left. Even Chen Zhaoji didn't show up because she had to go to a relative's house.

  Zou Ze took the list and called out the names, after confirming that everyone was present, the group set off towards their destination in a majestic manner. Although the goal was to have a picnic, the journey itself was an enjoyable experience. For safety reasons, they kept some distance between each other, but there were also a few people who rode together, admiring the scenery and chatting while pedaling, without feeling any fatigue.

  "Ah, how's it going? Isn't it much better to come out and take a walk than being cooped up at home reading books?" Zou Ze caught up from behind and walked alongside Ji Xin'an.

  "It's great, isn't it? They say that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. What we're doing now is even more meaningful." Ji Xin'an smiled, her mood as bright and sunny as the weather.

  Shirley, who was following closely behind, subconsciously retorted, "So according to you, if we play a few more times, can we get into college?"

  Ji Xin'an still had a smile on his face, and he turned his head to the side. "You're wrong, because there's another phrase that says 'a belly full of poetry and books, naturally fragrant', roads are meant to be walked, but books are also meant to be read."

  The people around her were stunned by her words, but after careful consideration, they felt that it made a lot of sense and couldn't help but admire her quick wit. Yu Yao finally couldn't bear to ask, "Then which one do you think is more important?"

  Ji Xinan thought for a moment and smiled, saying: "Heh, this question isn't that absolute. It depends on who or what stage you're referring to. Just like us now, we need to accumulate knowledge, so we should use books to enrich ourselves as much as possible. This is also preparation for our future journey. We must both read extensively and travel the world; only then will life not be lived in vain."

  "Alright, alright, you few talented ladies, we're out to have fun, not discuss philosophy. Spare me!" Zou Ze exaggeratedly threw up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

  "It's also a good idea. Since we're out here to have fun, let's do something relaxing. Zou Ze, why don't you sing us a song?" Ji Xin'an suggested with a smile.

  Everyone heard and started shouting good, so Zou Ze didn't hesitate either, "Then I'll sing a song for everyone?"

  "Sing!" The people around cheered happily.

  "Do you know loving you is not easy"

  Still need a lot of courage

  It's fate, I guess. There are too many things that can't be said.

  I'm just afraid you can't afford it

  Do you believe in this life encountering you?

  It was I who owed you in the previous life

  It's fate that made me fall in love with you

  Having you by my side makes the bitter journey worthwhile

  Even if it's just for separation and meeting with me

  Having you by my side makes the pain worthwhile

  Even if this life is destined to be separated from you

  Having you by my side makes the bitter journey worthwhile

  Even if it's just for separation, I met you

  Having you by my side makes the pain worthwhile

  Even if this life is destined to be separated from you

  Having you by my side makes the bitter journey worthwhile

  Even if it's just for separation and meeting with me

  Having you by my side makes the pain worthwhile

  Even if it's just embracing you in a dream

  A song by Jacky Cheung "Having You Along the Way" was quite fitting, after finishing the song everyone kept shouting for an encore, but Zou Ze refused to sing again.

  Ji Xin'an stepped forward to help him out, "Everyone is tired or not? If you're tired, let's take a break and rest for a while." She herself was not tired at all, but seeing the other girls slowing down as they rode, she suggested stopping.

  "Let's all stop and sit down by the side of the road for a while." Zou Ze also looked around and found that most people were already unable to ride anymore, and it just happened to avoid the topic they had just discussed.

  When Zou Ze spoke, everyone stopped and threw down their tools, no longer caring whether they were clean or not. They all sat down on the ground at once, looking like they were extremely tired.

  Ji Xin'an parked the car, fetched water and then sat down with them. Looking back, she saw that Shi Lin and Yu Yao didn't seem tired at all, apparently their training over this period of time hadn't been in vain.

  Zou Ze also noticed this and was more surprised than Ji Xin'an, "Wow, you two are not bad, can still ride?"

  Shirley's face immediately showed a triumphant expression, "Of course, this is absolutely no big deal for me and Yao Yao, right Yao Yao?"

  "Stop bragging, soon the whole sky will be full of cows. What's with this attitude? I still don't know what you two are up to. If you're tired, just say so, no need to be polite. Besides, we're not in a hurry." Zhou Ze's words were clearly meant to show concern, but they came out sounding sarcastic instead.

  Xilin was about to put on a straight face when Yu Yao quickly pulled her and said, "We're really fine, we don't feel very tired."

  "That's good, just now before you went out, your mom was holding me back and repeatedly telling me to take care of you well. If I exhaust you, she won't let my old man skin me alive." Zou Ze said with a smile, jokingly.

  "I said you two came out so slowly, it turned out that you were dawdling at Yaoyao's house." Shilin heard this and immediately laughed, also giving Ji Xin'an a warning look.

  Ji Xin'an smiled and shook her head, ignoring her. "You all drink some water, there's still a long way to go!"

  Zou Ze listened, stood up and proactively went to the side of the car to help several girls carry their school bags over so they could get water themselves. Several people thanked him, and Yu Yao even looked at him with a shy smile.

  After resting for a while, Zou Ze saw that everyone was almost ready, so he stood up. "Let's get up, we'll continue on our way and try to reach our destination before it gets hot."

  After hearing his words, they all stood up and started on their way with smiles and laughter.