At the beginning of 2023, winter snow fell.
Shen Nianci was staring at the screen of her mobile phone in a daze. She found that Li Yingze’s QQ status was “It’s hard to describe” and she didn’t know what happened to him.
"Aci, come and wash your hands and eat." His father's call pulled Shen Nianci back from his endless thoughts.
She turned off her phone and agreed, "Coming."
For some reason, Shen Nianci still looks forward to the New Year as he did when he was a child. It seems that after working, the only time he can go home is winter.
After work, Shen Nianci devoted all her energy to her career and had no extra energy to think about Li Yingze. However, as long as she set foot on this familiar land, the long-lost seed in her heart would slowly sprout.
On the day Shen Nianci returned to her hometown, snowflakes were floating in the sky . On the way home, she was always expecting, consciously or unconsciously, that she could take this opportunity to see Li Yingze again. They hadn't seen each other for a long, long time.
Counting it up, it has been almost five years since Li Yingze graduated from the third year of junior high school. It is also strange to say that Li Yingze’s hometown is not far from Shen Nianci, and they even go to the same place to attend the market.
Maybe five years was too long. Shen Nianci didn't have a photo of Li Yingze, nor could he remember his voice. Even his figure had begun to blur. But the only thing Shen Nianci remembered was the throbbing feeling of youth.
When I think of someone, I want to see him and my heart aches.
Five years is neither short nor long, but I have never seen each other once, not even once. Maybe this is reality. There is no movie script, and no unexpected meeting many years later.
After Shen Nianci got home, the snow was falling even heavier. Shen Nianci sat by the window, looking at the falling snowflakes and the white snow in the distance. Unconsciously, the snow had fallen so heavily.
Shen Nianci's eyes fell on a locked box, but she didn't have the courage to open it, because opening it would mean all her memories would emerge in an instant.
Shen Nianci stared at the box for a long time, and finally took out the key from the drawer beside him and opened the lock.
Maybe it's because they haven't been used for a long time, and there is a stale smell to them. Flipping through the letters that haven't been sent, her thoughts are suddenly pulled back to her second year of high school .
"It's snowing!" Someone shouted in the classroom. Shen Nianci subconsciously looked up and saw snowflakes slowly falling from the sky.
Shen Nianci didn't care about her unfinished homework, but rushed to the aisle, stood at the railing, and wanted to reach out to catch it. Seeing a small snowflake falling into her palm, her heart was filled with joy.
Snow is very rare in the south, and it has not snowed for a long time, especially in their small town.
Shen Nianci continued watching the snowflakes, but his eyes moved to the teaching building opposite. Li Yingze was also standing there watching the snowflakes.
Shen Nianci was absorbed in watching, and suddenly a line of poetry appeared in her mind.
"If we can get wet in the snow together one day, we can grow old together in this life."
Shen Nianci suddenly ran back to the classroom, took out his mobile phone, unlocked it skillfully, opened the chat box, typed in the poem, and clicked send.
She remembered that Li Yingze did not reply to her that day.
"Picking vegetables." Shen Nianci's father was concerned about her and saw that she was in a daze.
"Okay." Shen Nianci's thoughts were pulled back. She responded with a smile and picked up a piece of meat from the plate in front of her and put it into the bowl.
At that time, Li Yingze responded to Shen Nianci, but he did not let himself go.
Both irrelevant answers and silence are the answers, but Shen Nianci is too stubborn.
That winter was very cold and passed quickly. When school started the next year, Chen Nianci recognized him in the crowd at a glance. That day, the sun came out, a rare sight in winter. Li Yingze and his friends were walking on the playground, and Shen Nianci followed behind him.
She remembered that day, Li Yingze was dressed very nicely, wearing a red sweatshirt with a black baseball jacket, black pants, and a pair of black sneakers.
This figure appears in Shen Nianci's mind year after year.
Before long, the weather gradually became warmer.
When Shen Nianci took her good friend to the canteen to buy water, she met Li Yingze who was carrying water back to the classroom on the way, and she secretly followed him.
Seeing how Li Yingze was struggling to carry the water, Shen Nianci wanted to rush over and help him.
Li Yingze walked towards her. That was her long-lost courage. She just did that, without dodging or avoiding his gaze. She remembered that Li Yingze smiled at her. When he smiled, the two shallow dimples at the corners of his mouth seemed to glow. Shen Nianci was immediately attracted by them. When she came to her senses, Li Yingze had already walked very far away.
Shen Nianci just watched his back as he walked up the teaching building. Just before the stairs turned a blind corner, Li Yingze put the bottle of water on the ground and lifted it onto his shoulder. He had been holding it in his arms before. That move was really cool.
This action made Shen Nianci feel mixed emotions. She interpreted this action for a long time and many times, and finally she came to realize what the meaning was. Maybe it was just that carrying the burden on her shoulders made her less tired.
Before reaching the blind spot, Li Yingze did one more thing and looked back at Shen Nianci.
Perhaps it was such strange behavior that made the seeds of resentment in Shen Nianci's heart sprout, wither, sprout and wither again.
Shen Nianci's thoughts were pulled back again by the sound of firecrackers. She was startled. After dinner, she lay on her bed. She turned her head and saw the messy letters on the table. She always felt empty in her heart.
Back at the desk, looking at the dates on the letters, they were all from 18 years ago, or even earlier, there was one from 14 years ago, the boy only wrote a few words: "From today on, the girl's heart has a home."
This year marks the 23rd year, and it has been a long time.
Shen Nianci turned her gaze to the window again, looking at the heavy snow. She always felt that it would be great if she could have a little more luck.