Chapter 6: After All, Every Year…

Zhoushan Park is a 5A-level scenic area, a key tourism project in S City, and a popular holiday destination for summer vacations.

The Zhoushan swimming pool has clear water, with scheduled water changes and thorough cleaning, making it very safe. During the summer vacation, it attracts many local and outside visitors.

The floor is a bright light blue, and the pool water is tinted a deep blue.

The water’s surface sparkles, like an immortal sapphire turning into powder and dissolving in the water.

The swimsuit and pool colors match cleverly, with the mint mambo color scheme accentuating the girl’s fair skin, making her look even more delicate.

Under the reflection of the pool water, Fang Fuyi swam freely, blending with the blue of the pool, feeling as though her body was enveloped by the water. It was the first time she truly felt alive.

She had been a bit listless on land, but in the water, she felt rejuvenated, her mood better than ever. Like a free fish, Fang Fuyi hugged a swim ring, swimming from one side to the other, circling around, and taking a big sip of coconut water, feeling incredibly joyful.

She cupped a small amount of water in her palm, lifted it with a big smile on her face, and, when Sheng Sui wasn’t paying attention, splashed it at him.

Caught off guard, he didn’t have time to block it.

Water splashed everywhere.

Crystal-clear droplets slid from his chin down to his Adam’s apple, leaving watermarks all the way down his neck.

Even though his face was splashed with water, Sheng Sui didn’t mind at all. He simply leaned closer and lightly flicked her head with his fingers, laughing, “Are you this happy?”

Some things don’t feel significant when you’re alone, but when you’re with someone, it feels completely different.

With Sheng Sui, it felt like she was willing to try anything.

“Of course!”

She gently tapped his forehead, but it felt like she was on fire.

When Sheng Sui’s fingertips touched her forehead, Fang Fuyi instinctively moved away.

She couldn’t control her actions, her heart racing and her thoughts in disarray. Her heart felt like it was trapped in a rabbit’s body, pounding furiously. They had been much closer before, but why did such a small touch now leave her feeling so confused?

Could it be that she was really sick?

She looked up at the vast blue sky, then, feeling tired from playing, leaned against the pool’s edge to rest.

The sounds of children playing around her drowned out the words she almost said. After taking a moment to calm down and maintaining a proper distance, her intense heartbeat gradually slowed.

Fang Fuyi held the coconut water, her restless hand skimming the water’s surface, sending up a splash of crystal-clear water.

She bit the straw, then couldn’t resist talking to Sheng Sui, “To be honest, before my mom got involved, I actually really liked the piano.”

“I like the violin too.” After thinking for a moment, she nodded as if confirming, “I like many instruments.”

“When we lived in the previous house, my mom was entirely focused on my dad and how to make him divorce Aunt Lin, so she never had time for me.”

“I don’t remember any kids wanting to come over to our house, and my mom never let me go out to play. The aunt at home noticed I was often gloomy, so she would find ways to cheer me up every day.”

Before working at Fang Fuyi’s house, the aunt had been a music teacher. She had also worked in a circus troupe for a period of time, so she could play many different instruments like the saxophone, suona, erhu, and more.

No matter how diverse, the essence remained the same, and she was able to integrate and understand them all.

Fang Fuyi was influenced by her, learning a little more along the way.

“Sometimes she’d bring a microphone and sing ‘Two Butterflies’ with me, other times she’d take out an erhu and play ‘The Moon Reflected on the Second Spring’ under the sun. Sometimes, she’d do little music experiments with me at home.”

“She’d tap the edge of a cup with a stick and play music with the water in it. Just changing the water level would completely change the tone.”

When she said this, Fang Fuyi’s eyes lit up, and her excitement was just as intense as when she first jumped into the water, “Isn’t it amazing?”

“All the different objects in the world can make different sounds when they collide.”

As if to prove her point, she slapped her palm against the water twice.

The sound of water rippling echoed.

At that moment, the first thing Sheng Sui saw was Fang Fuyi. He glanced over, and the two splashes in the water coincided with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Of course, he knew that this summer, Fang Fuyi had been admitted to a well-known local music academy, but it was the first time he learned that she had such a past.

She always acted indifferent to everything, as if losing something didn’t matter, as though she had no attachments to anything. But in reality, she knew exactly what she wanted—calm and determined, always pursuing her set goals.

Sheng Sui thought, “It really is amazing.”

That’s how it is when you love something.

“Love is just love. It’s simple. It brings newness to my life and stirs up the stagnant waters of daily life. I’m obsessed because of it.”

“That’s what love is,” Fang Fuyi said. “Not like my mom, who made me practice instruments for impure reasons, with ulterior motives, thinking everything was to climb up to others, to marry better.”

She had tried to go against her mom’s intentions and make changes, but the result was obvious.

Now, Fang Fuyi had no financial independence, and she didn’t have the ability to change her deeply ingrained thoughts. All she had was a kind of contradictory mindset. Even if she tried to resist, she gained nothing and only seemed to be doing pointless work in the eyes of her parents.

So, to some extent, she envied Sheng Sui.

At this age, when youth is at its peak, it was inevitable to dream of the future.

Fang Fuyi leaned back, her forearm propped against her neck, her hand resting against the bare skin on the back of her head.

Looking at the distant, deep blue sky and the pure white floating clouds overhead, her clear voice broke the silence, asking, “Sheng Sui, have you ever thought about what the future will be like?”

“Later?” The word “later” sounded so distant.

He imitated Fang Fuyi, leaning back the same way, his head bumping against the hard white tiles as he imagined in his mind.

He wasn’t sure how to express it best yet, but Fang Fuyi spoke first: “In the future, I want to be carefree, with no worries or troubles, and do whatever I want!”

He didn’t know if his future would turn out like she imagined, but one thing was certain: it wouldn’t be the life his mom had planned for him in advance.

Folding her hands together, eyes closed, she earnestly prayed: “Dear heavens, please let me live a little better, please, please!” She shook her head and rubbed her hands together, and her cuteness was overwhelming.

The dreams of the future and the courage to dare to dream are the most precious gifts the heavens give to young boys and girls.

The future is called the future because it is uncertain and elusive.

At noon, the sun was at its peak.

Her hands and feet had been in the pool for so long they were all wrinkled, and she only left when her stomach started growling.

But as soon as she stepped out of the water, Fang Fuyi felt like a fish thrown onto dry land. Her head was dizzy, her chest felt tight, her nose, eyes, and throat burned, and even the floor under her feet seemed to be swaying. She nearly couldn’t stand.

It was noon, and many people were leaving the pool. The area became crowded, people moving in every direction. Someone accidentally bumped into her, and Fang Fuyi slipped. She felt everything go dark and the blue-and-white tiles getting closer.

“Are you okay?”

Instead of crashing down as she had imagined, she was effortlessly lifted up. A large, warm hand gently covered her waist, and Fang Fuyi fell into a broad, secure embrace.

The warm, damp skin, the deep, wide eyelids, and the hot, humid air mixed together. Her heartbeat quickened, and she was so close that she could almost see the pores on his skin. Her ears felt hot.

The buzzing in her ears, her heart being tightly squeezed, and even her breath felt scorching. The panic and confusion were overwhelming again.

For a moment, the world spun.

Under the sunlight, the world was a blur.

“38.5°C.”

The smell of disinfectant stung her nose as Fang Fuyi woke up, hearing the doctor speaking to Sheng Sui, “After the IV drip, make sure to get the medication.”

What was casually said turned out to be true, and she finally realized that she really had a fever.

“Then, if I get an IV, how will we go to the aquarium this afternoon?”

“You still want to go out? You need to rest when you have a fever. You can’t just rely on being young and neglect your health.” The doctor handed the medical form to Sheng Sui and gave him a meaningful look. “How are you being a boyfriend? You should be telling her to rest properly.”

“Hey, doctor, he’s not my boyfriend…”

The plan was forced to be canceled.

The entire afternoon, Fang Fuyi stayed in the hospital for an IV drip. The fluid went through the needle, and she felt sleepy. Her mood inexplicably dropped, but she couldn’t pinpoint the source of her sadness.

Water droplets “dripped” steadily, while her heart maintained a steady rhythm.

This was in stark contrast to the previous trembling heart and absent gaze. Her fingers curled up, and she suddenly realized—was her earlier reaction towards Sheng Sui also due to the fever?

The sun slowly sank.

Fang Fuyi, feeling confused and frustrated, stretched out her tone: “I really want to go to the aquarium.”

“Next time, okay?”

The clouds bloomed across the sky, with rose-colored clouds and the distant glow of the sunset blending together.

In the soft purple sunset, Sheng Sui comforted her: “There will always be a chance.”

It was an ordinary afternoon, but also a day of ups and downs in their long lives.

At that time, it seemed like just another ordinary day.

They didn’t feel anything special in the moment, convinced that next time would indeed be next time, after all, they would always have an ample and enjoyable summer each year.

Now, as the scene overlaps, even the dizziness she felt at the time feels eerily similar.

It was clearly Fang Fuyi who was sick, but Sheng Sui always seemed more anxious than her. After she washed up, he had her sit at the dining table and rummaged through drawers to find an old-fashioned mercury thermometer. He shook it a few times in the air and then handed it to her.

“Clamp it in place, take it out after five minutes.”

She felt the cool sensation under her armpit.

Fang Fuyi flinched at the cold touch of the mercury thermometer, but was too afraid to move, worried it might slip out. She held the thermometer tightly with her right arm, her hair messy from sleep, with a few strands stubbornly sticking up, making her look like a quail with ruffled feathers.

On the dining table were fried dough sticks, soy milk, eight-treasure porridge, and scallion pancakes—she hadn’t even thought about whether she could finish all this food, but everything she mentioned wanting to eat the night before had been bought.

“Eat something first, can you eat now?” Sheng Sui handed her the porridge.

The bowl of eight-treasure porridge with a thick straw was placed in her left hand, the one not holding the thermometer. Yesterday, she had wanted to eat everything, but today, with her appetite gone from the sickness, she only drank a few sips before putting it down.

Fang Fuyi rarely refused, but now she said, “I really don’t have any appetite.”

Lack of appetite had its reasons.

“38.5°C.”

Five minutes later, Sheng Sui took the thermometer from her hand and turned it toward the sunlight, watching as the temperature slowly appeared. He carefully confirmed the reading while routinely asking, trying to reach a conclusion.

“Do you want to get an IV, or do you prefer an injection?”