04.

Hello Principal, my dad often mentions you! I handed the documents to the principal and said with a smile.

Entered the principal's office, the principal had just finished a phone call. When he saw me coming in, he smiled and stood up, saying, "You must be Yunque, your father used to be my student! It's amazing how quickly the children of my students grow up. I still remember your father as the smartest student I ever taught. I heard he went all the way to a doctor's degree and is now working in scientific research abroad. I am truly delighted!"

Well, yes, with your grades, the national college entrance examination is a piece of cake. The principal took out a paper bag from the cabinet and handed it to me, "But I still want to give this to you. This is the school uniform for girls. If you are interested, you can come to attend classes anytime. In these last few days, the teachers don't have much to teach, mainly helping everyone review important knowledge points. If you don't like it, you don't have to come."

That... is not necessary," I said, "I can review at home to avoid disturbing other classmates."

Moreover, when it comes to me and Shu Haining, ever since the day I found him, I have been constantly pestering him to talk, hoping to be friends with him. Upon careful recollection, his responses to me were not many.

I am nervous yet excited.

Shu Haining? I instinctively pronounced the name.

He can chat and laugh with anyone, but I can't. I can't learn his way of socializing.

How can he not recognize me after I recognized him?

I should not say that I have never thought about it, but I never expected such a situation to happen when he walked over from the opposite side without recognizing me.

Yunque, are you angry? Tang Ruize pulled me and I looked up at him, with a mist of water vapor in my eyes.

They walked towards me, and for some reason, my heart suddenly tightened, and I felt a little nervous.

Will that guy recognize me?

I wanted to return the paper bag, but Tang Ruize, who was standing beside me, took it for me.

Actually, I have thought about what it would be like to meet my only friend again many times. I have imagined the scene repeatedly, even considering what expression I should wear on my face, what the setting might be like, and what the weather would be on that day.

I was stunned for a moment.

I instinctively slowed down my pace.

I was walking against the crowd with Tang Ruizhe. It was only halfway through that I realized they were probably going to the cafeteria to eat.

Where are you? Tang Ruizhe asked, "Have you seen him?"

When I left ten years ago, Shu Haining was only eight years old. Now, after ten years, I have no idea what eighteen-year-old Shu Haining looks like.

It was me who found him at the seaside.

I suddenly came to my senses: "No, I just saw someone who looked a bit like him, probably not. Let's go."

Thank you, principal," Tang Ruizhe said with a smile to the principal. "I am her brother, so I will take care of her school uniform."

I can't describe what kind of feeling it is, just feel like the originally suspended heart suddenly fell to the ground, with a feeling of being completely drained of strength.

So this is what it feels like to be lost! I've never understood this kind of emotion.

At this moment, a group of people walked past me. When I looked again, those two individuals had already walked behind me.

In the office building, he was just a side profile. I didn't even see his iconic blue eyes, but I recognized him by intuition.

Coming out of the principal's office, all the students had already finished class, and the once quiet campus suddenly became lively. Many people's eyes fell on me and Tang Ruizhe because among a group of students wearing school uniforms, we stood out in our everyday clothes.

It was my first time making friends with him, and also his only friend at that time.

Ten years have passed, it's normal not to recognize me!

Why do you feel that he is Shu Haining?

A decade can change a person's height, appearance, voice, and even temperament.

The unfamiliar and bewildering emotions, it turns out, are actually feelings of loss.

Before this, I believed that such emotions did not exist in this world.

I quickly wiped it with the back of my hand and shrugged, saying, "It seems like he's a little angry. How could he not recognize me? But after all, we haven't seen each other in ten years. That's just how it is between people, no emotions can withstand the passage of time."

It was I who gave him the current name!

Actually, most of the time it's Tang Ruize who is speaking. He is indeed a very responsible older brother, in a certain sense, he is much more flexible than me.

"Haha, is that so?" The principal took the documents and placed them on the desk. "With only one week left until the college entrance examination, would you like to come and experience the atmosphere of our school?"

At that time, I was very fragile inside, always longing for something, such as friends and companions.

Thinking back now, if I hadn't been so eager to get that thing at that time, I wouldn't have ended up fleeing so embarrassedly later on.

Tang Ruizhe chuckled softly and said, "Skylark, sometimes you don't have to be so frank."

My gaze wandered aimlessly through the crowd, and suddenly a figure unexpectedly caught my attention.

That was a young boy with a pair of blue eyes, and he was accompanied by a chattering girl who never stopped talking.

I couldn't quite understand what Tang Ruize was saying. I turned around and glanced, only to find that the figures of Shu Haining and that girl had long disappeared into the crowd.

Why? I don't understand. "Shouldn't we speak out what we're thinking in our hearts? Is that not right?"

Next is the long-awaited conversation between Tang Ruizhe and the principal.

I was thinking this way, but I felt inexplicably angry in my heart.

On this busy main road of the campus, he walked towards me and I recognized him from afar. He kept approaching me step by step until we passed each other, but even at such a close distance, he didn't recognize me.

It was completely unexpected for me to pass by the young man who was different from ten years ago, going against the crowd, just like now.

No matter how close two people used to be, once they separate, once a certain amount of time has passed, then no matter how strong the bond was, it will disappear.

Feeling lost? Tang Ruizhe asked me softly, "That young man is Shu Haining, right!"

"It's not that it's wrong," Tang Ruize explained, "it's just that very few people would admit it so frankly. Most of the time, people tend to hide their thoughts and not let others see. But you, this is what makes you special. Sparrow, just keep being like this. Sometimes, it takes courage to be frank."

At that time, I actually wanted many friends and companions. What a naive idea! As someone who has been like a "monster" since childhood, how could I possibly have such a thing?

Lost? In an instant, this suspended heart falls down, along with all the strength in the body being exhausted, as if wanting to grasp something, but the feeling of reaching out and not being able to hold onto anything, is this what it means to be lost?