After midnight

Su Ziling stood on the curb and talked to his mother on the phone. He learned that his parents were very happy recently, and walked towards the Ocean University of China with peace of mind. When he entered from the southwest gate, no student coming and going noticed him.

He looked at the guard, who glanced from his face to another place. He suppressed his inner anxiety and successfully got in.

Enter the school gate and walk along the road until you reach the basketball court. Next to the basketball court is the tennis court.

At three or four o'clock in the afternoon, there are a lot of people on the basketball court. If you want to hit the ball at this time, the easiest and quickest way is to provoke.

"Hey, buddy, do you dare to fight me one on one?" Su Ziling quickly locked onto his target.

Sure enough, the people playing basketball under the basketball hoop right in front of him stopped and looked at him in unison.

Su Ziling smiled ostentatiously and threw the coat in his hand into the grass behind him. Then he spun the ball flexibly with his fingertips and stared at the group of people with confident eyes.

The man standing in the middle of the group had the best skills. Su Ziling raised his chin towards him. Zhang Yi raised his eyebrows and accepted the challenge.

Zhang Yi walked over, raised his head high, and asked him, "How do you want to fight?"

"Simple, ten balls per person, take turns attacking, whoever scores more points wins, how about that?"

"Okay." Zhang Yi turned around and Su Ziling followed him into the venue.

Su Ziling took the lead in attacking, he leaned down to dribble the ball while observing Zhang Yi's defense. It would be ugly to lose right at the start if he provoked someone, so Su Ziling had to deal with the first ball quickly and accurately.

Su Ziling dribbled the ball between his legs, faked a move, turned around and passed the opponent, and then stepped up to dunk. When the basketball hit the ground, he heard the obvious sighs from the people around him. Seeing Zhang Yi's serious and sharp eyes, Su Ziling knew that there would be an exciting game.

The second ball was Zhang Yi's, but unfortunately Su Ziling also failed to defend it. As the two of them went back and forth, more and more people gathered, and the hot basketball court became even hotter.

When the last ball was over, Su Ziling was so tired that he collapsed to the ground, panting.

"Hey! You're a good kid!" Zhang Yi stretched out his hand towards Su Ziling.

Su Ziling was dragged to his feet, "No, I lost four points."

At this time, someone next to him interrupted and said, "Zhang Yi is a member of the school basketball association. If he says you are good, it proves that you are good."

Zhang Yi smiled and said to him, "My name is Zhang Yi. What's your name? What year are you in? What's your major?"

"Su Zi Ling."

"Su Ziling, right? We'll have a chance to talk later. I have a class at five o'clock, so I'll leave first." Zhang Yi said, picked up his schoolbag and was about to leave, but suddenly remembered something and turned back. They took out their phones and just added WeChat when An Yan's phone rang.

"An Yan, what's wrong?"

"Xiao Su and I are in the coffee shop at the southwest gate of Ocean University. Come over after you finish playing ball." Su Ziling found it a little strange when he heard An Yan's voice on the phone for the first time.

"Then I'll go over now." Su Ziling hung up the phone and put the phone back into his coat. Su Ziling remembered that coffee shop, it was right on the roadside, and there was only one of its kind.

Although the coffee shop is on the roadside, to enter, you have to turn a corner and walk in from a branching path. Moreover, this coffee shop is a separate courtyard. If you don't look carefully, you might think it is an ordinary house. There are some flowers and plants planted in the courtyard. In this season, roses are in full bloom. Su Ziling walked along the gravel road to the door of the store. There are many potted plants that Su Ziling doesn't know about planted at the foot of the wall at the door.

Su Ziling went in from the open side of the sliding door and saw a young girl standing at the counter, with clear eyes and a clean face.

She pointed to the paper booklets hung on the counter. On the first page of the booklet, written in beautiful handwriting, was: "Excuse me, what would you like to drink?"

Su Ziling shook his head at her. "No, I'll find someone."

She smiled kindly and stopped bothering Su Ziling. Su Ziling turned around and saw An Yan and Xiao Su sitting in the last row next to the window. He walked over and the scent of roses and coffee mixed together and rushed towards him.

Su Ziling sat across from the two of them and put the basketball on the ground. "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

"It's okay. Xiao Su wanted to go out for a walk after finishing her studies, so she came here. She wanted to wait for you to go back together."

"I see. It seems that Xiao Su has learned quite well, right?"

Su Ziling praised her, and Xiao Su proudly raised her chin to accept it. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Su Ziling picked up the juice in front of Xiao Su and drank it all.

"Brother Ling!"

"Why are you robbing Xiao Su's? I'll order you another drink."

"Are you thirsty? Xiao Su, please forgive me and let Dad order you another cup, okay?"

"Forget it, I forgive you. Dad, I won't drink anymore."

"Okay then." An Yan took a sip of coffee, "Then let's go back."

"Great! I'm tired and hungry, and I want to take a shower. Let's go back quickly." Su Ziling said.

Before leaving the store, Su Ziling took another special look at the shop. Perhaps because it was located at the entrance of a university, the bookshelves in the coffee shop were filled with literary books, as well as some professional books that looked daunting. In addition, the wooden chairs were lined up together in rows, making it feel like entering a bookstore.

He followed An Yan out, and the girl at the counter smiled at him. He thought she was a little strange, but didn't ask further. When they reached a wider road, he took Xiao Su's other hand and went home.

When Su Ziling got home, he immediately rushed to the bathroom. On the way home, the wind blew and the fine sweat on his body became sticky, making him feel uncomfortable all over. When he came out after taking a shower, An Yan was already busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"Eating so early?"

After hearing this, An Yan rolled his eyes at him helplessly.

Su Ziling immediately changed his tone. "Ah, yes. I'm really hungry. I feel even hungrier after taking a shower."

An Yan ignored him, and Su Ziling went to the living room and turned on the TV. Xiao Su sat next to him. He handed the remote control to Xiao Su and played with his phone out of boredom.

The date on the phone showed that today was Friday, June 6. Su Ziling was silent. However, in just a few days, he seemed to have forgotten the tension. But if he didn't seize the present moment... Su Ziling silently changed the alarm clock to 3:4 in the morning.

"After dinner, I want to continue learning. Dad, you have to continue teaching me." Xiao Su said at the dinner table.

"Okay." An Yan nodded.

"Xiao Su, what are you studying now?"

“It’s a first-grade textbook.”

"An Yan, have you found a cram school for Xiao Su?"

"Yes, it's a class held during the summer vacation. The students are all those who are about to enter elementary school. There are classes every day."

"Of course, even Xiao Suxian can keep up."

Before Su Ziling knew it, An Yan had already taken care of everything, including textbooks and schoolbags. Su Ziling thought about it carefully and realized that it seemed that everything was like this. Before he knew it, An Yan had done everything well, as if he was good at everything.

Su Ziling couldn't help but look at An Yan's face. An Yan's profile had clear contours, and he didn't look like a 17-year-old boy.

Su Ziling grabbed the chopsticks and suddenly recalled some trivial past events. He should have heard of An Yan's name a long time ago. When he was still in school, An Yan's name was always listed high on the red list of the top 100 students in the school after every exam. Su Ziling's grades were not bad but not great either, and he never appeared on the list, but this did not prevent Su Ziling from taking a look when he passed by there.

A warm touch instantly passed through his body like an electric current. Originally, he had known An Yan for a long time. No wonder the whole campus was talking about An Yan's disappearance. Why did he remember it only now?

"Su Ziling, why are you looking at me? Why aren't you eating?"

"No, I'm eating." Su Ziling came back to his senses and ate his rice quickly.

"Brother Ling, it's your turn to wash the dishes today." At the end of the meal, Xiao Su consciously took his bowl to the kitchen.

"Got it." Su Ziling picked up the last piece of meat on the plate and put it into his mouth.

An Yan looked at him, probably knowing that he was just not paying attention when eating, and got up and left the table without saying anything else. After Su Ziling finished his meal, he took the bowl and plate into the kitchen, rinsed them under the faucet, and squeezed out the detergent.

Lin Nuan, whenever thinking about An Yan, one has to think of her. She left a deep first impression on Su Ziling. She took the key to An Yan's house, packed An Yan's backpack, and knew An Yan's quirk of raising cacti. She knew it as if it was natural.

Su Ziling didn't know whether An Yan liked her or not, but she should like An Yan very much. Su Ziling wiped her hands and walked out of the kitchen. She didn't know what was going on in that world, and what her brother was doing.

At 9:30, Xiao Su finally stopped studying. He was so focused for nearly three hours that not only a child, but even an adult could not do that. Su Ziling saw all this, but as an adult, he could not lose.

The next day, the alarm clock rang on time. He got up quietly, went out secretly, and ran all the way to the place where he stayed yesterday, Lu Xun Park.

He had never studied it systematically, nor did he have any reference materials. He could only think back to what Yin had told him and ponder it over and over again. Physical fitness must be improved, but ability is more important. With this in mind, Su Ziling punched again and again, racking his brains to study it over and over again.

At the reef where the sky was already dimly lit, Su Ziling faced the sea again and again, tirelessly. He repeated the monotonous movements, watching the whistling sea breeze put out the fire again and again.

At this time, on Qidong Road, An Xiaosu was slowly waking up. She walked out of the house with sleepy eyes, saw the door of the next room was wide open, and looked across and at the door. It seemed that Ling Ge had gone out today, and Dad was still at home. She went into the bathroom a little embarrassedly, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and went to the toilet skillfully.

An Xiaosu wiped her face with a towel for the last time, looked at her own small face in the mirror hanging above the washbasin, and smiled. She walked back to her room and spread out her textbook.

An Yan knocked on the door and said, "Xiao Su, you are up so early."

"Yes, Dad. Doesn't Dad have to get up early and go out today?"

"No, then study hard. I'll call you when it's time for dinner." An Xiaosu responded with a big smile. An Yan left with a curled lip. The porridge was still cooking in the kitchen. He went back to his room and changed out of his loose pajamas.

"Xiao Su!" As the aroma of food filled the room, Xiao Su closed her textbook and walked towards the kitchen. When she passed the living room, she keenly heard a click, so she changed direction and walked towards the door.

"Brother Ling, you came back just in time. What did you buy?"

After the door opened, Su Ziling's face was red and he was still gasping for breath.

"Yingzhu, I felt greedy when passing by the morning market." Su Ziling lifted the bag in his hand and Xiao Su took it over.

"Brother Ling, did you run all the way back?"

"Yes." Su Ziling went into the room, put on slippers and went straight to the bathroom. After a while, the sound of running water could be heard. After Su Ziling simply rinsed off, the food was already on the table. An Yan and Xiao Su were sitting at the table waiting for him.

"It smells so good." Xiao Su picked up the chopsticks and smiled secretly when she heard it. An Yan patted her head.

After breakfast, Su Ziling was about to catch up on his sleep when his cell phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and put it to his ear.

"Hey……"

"Su Ziling, what's wrong with you? You haven't seen me for a whole semester and you don't answer my calls." His deskmate Wu Chao at school questioned him.

"It's nothing serious. Why did you want to call me now? Don't you have to go to school so early in the morning?"

"Isn't it the weekend? Hey, where are you now? Should I go to your house to find you?"

"No, I came to the United States with my family. I can't go back for a while." Su Ziling suddenly had an idea.

"Okay, I get it. I'll go to America. Wait... you don't have cancer, do you?"

"roll!"

"Okay, I'm hanging up now. Remember to let me know when you come back. Let's play together."

"No problem." Not long after the other end hung up, the phone rang again. This time, Su Ziling took a look and saw that it was Zhang Yi, the one who played basketball yesterday.

"Hello."

"Hello, this is Su Ziling, right? I'm Zhang Yi. Are you coming out to play basketball this afternoon?"

"Go ahead, it's nothing anyway."

"Okay, I'll bring some guys who play basketball with me to meet you at three this afternoon."

"Okay, see you in the afternoon."

At 2:30 in the afternoon, Su Ziling picked up the basketball and went out again. In the house, An Yan and Xiao Su were still taking a nap, and everything seemed normal.