To Andrei

She even learned to play the piano. During her free time, she hardly ever left the house, constantly repeating the code he had written years ago on the black and white keys. Scales and frequencies are the most enchanting secret languages in the world, he once said.

No need, may I borrow your kitchen

Post-war Britain began to slowly rebuild. Andre's old house was demolished, and Ouyang Lili was driven out with a cart full of books. At the strong recommendation of the professors, she stayed on to teach at the university, while also picking up her English literature major once again. However, this time, no one dared to tell her that English literature was the most boring thing in the world.

How are you?

Ouyang Lili looked at his black eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately, as if she were a child who had just learned to speak, she said: "I love you"

Why don't you go out to celebrate the festival

Ouyang Lili collapsed beside the pillar on the platform, watching the steam train that had already departed into the distance

Do you understand Chinese

—— ZRDLQL

Chronicles of Time

Ouyang Lili ate while observing the nobleman across from her. His brown hair appeared somewhat reddish under the warm yellow light. He wore black trousers, and his furry slippers revealed a small section of his fair instep. He sat on the ground without a care, holding a sheet of paper as he calculated mathematical problems.

Then she casually provided him with a few examples

Ouyang Lili did not answer him, but sat down face to face with him at the desk and began to teach him Chinese characters. Andre had a little bit of a foundation in Chinese, able to say words like "I", "you", and "good". Even when he spoke Chinese, it seemed to carry a hint of a British accent, sounding like a child.

At this moment, Andre was already able to recite quite a few poems. Ouyang Lili tried to teach him from the "Book of Songs," "Green green is your collar, my heart is serene."

She decided to go find Andrei

He shrugged: "Unless absolutely necessary, who would wish to initiate a war?"

After class, Ouyang Lili tidied up Andre's kitchen, then prepared the dough, cut the noodles, and cooked a simple bowl of longevity noodles

Ouyang Lili felt somewhat awkward, as she still was not quite accustomed to interacting with foreigners. She asked him, "What are you doing?"

When she recovered, Andre's tenderness had completely vanished, and he angrily asked her if she knew how dangerous it was here

Her tears fell down in large drops, splashing onto the fragile letter paper, blurring his handwriting; that was the last sentence he left in this world

Is China very far away

Indeed, Andrei is a genius, possessing strong memory and imitation skills. His learning speed makes Ouyang Lili very envious. Unfortunately, he is rarely willing to apply his intelligence to areas outside of mathematics

She majored in English Literature at the University of Cambridge and also took several courses in the Mathematics Department. During the third week of the Mathematical Analysis course, the professor, holding the attendance roster, erupted in anger and instructed someone to inform a student named Andrei that if he did not attend class again, he would receive his first zero since the beginning of the semester

Two months later, she received the first letter written by Andrei

He smiled at Ouyang Lili and said, "You are indeed very clever. This is the second type of classical cipher, the Caesar cipher. It is a game of letter shifting"

When did she fall in love? She can no longer remember, but this heavy feeling weighs on her heart, and she can no longer bear it. She is about to embark on her journey back to the East, where the young men are elegant and handsome, their features like paintings, yet none can compare to him

"You are the only one I have ever seen," he attempted to express with the little Chinese he knew, recalling as he spoke. His pronunciation was heavily off, making it sound as if he were performing a comedic skit. He had never been so clumsy before, "the second Chinese person."

He did not look back

Ouyang Lili stood in the bright and clean classroom, with students from all corners of the world seated below. Light streamed in through the grid windows, while sparrows outside flapped their wings and soared high. These students were so young and full of vitality. Civilization and scholarship can only thrive and be passed down in times of peace, yet they will never know how much blood and life have been shed along this tranquil and prosperous path.

Naturally, there was none. Ouyang Lili tore a thread from the hem of her garment, tied it around the cut hair to form a knot. The love knot was too difficult to tie, so she settled for a simple knot. She intended to give it to Andre, but after some thought, she decided to slip it into a book in the study when he was not paying attention.

She finally understood where the unfathomable black of his eyes came from. In fact, what it represented was a kind of purity

He glanced at Ouyang Lili and said淡淡道: "Request once more"

In November 1918, Germany surrendered, marking the end of World War I and the victory of the Allied Powers

She even began to fantasize about the scene of him sitting at the table dining with her. His chopsticks were poorly handled, crossing in a shape of a cross in his hands. He would surely, while his lips turned red from the spiciness of the chili, seriously tell her: "Your last fence password was not used well at all"

"Because you have talent," he looked into Ouyang Lili's eyes, his eyes seemed to possess magic, he arrogantly said, "Mathematics has chosen you, it is the queen of all sciences"

That was the most wonderful sentence Ouyang Lili had ever heard in her life

Ouyang Lili nodded and told him that she had taken a ship for a full month to arrive here

During their farewell, Andrei said to Ouyang Lili: "Give up the tedious English literature; you should come to the Mathematics Department"

She also mentioned to him the earliest mathematical works in China, "The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" and "The Zhou Bi Suan Jing," but in fact, her understanding was not profound. Ouyang Lili expressed regret, saying: "My country possesses an incredibly brilliant civilization"

He said, "She looked at the scrawled handwriting on the letter, the numbers written in blood, the last words that only she could decipher. She did not know how to translate it, she could only say, 'He loves this country.'"

Andrei was startled to see Ouyang Lili taking out a collection of ancient poems, a brush, flour, and a pile of other items from her backpack

She dreamed of him writing her a letter in the deep of night, the light above her dim and yellow. Suddenly, a bomb fell, and she was briefly blinded. When she regained her senses, all she could see was the naval command center reduced to ruins.

It was only when the other party frowned that Ouyang Lili came to her senses and replied softly, "I have already pleaded."

A thin sheet of paper, filled with incomprehensible numbers, and then a leaf was drawn on it. Others might not understand, but Ouyang Lili instantly realized, LEAF, this is the key he left behind

"May we walk together?" she asked him

The first thing Ouyang Lili saw upon waking was Andre's eyes

Although somewhat late, Ouyang Lili smiled at him amidst a haze of warmth, saying, "Happy Birthday, wishing you peace year after year"

"Literary History Research," Andre looked at Ouyang Lili with slight surprise, "You major in English literature?"

She does not often see Andrei, and he still does not particularly enjoy attending classes. She also does not really want to take the initiative to inform him of this matter

By the time Ouyang Lili rushed breathlessly to the train station, the train had already departed, leaving only the travelers who had not yet left and a woman who was wiping her tear stains with a handkerchief.

In the distance, a flock of white doves, smoke of gunpowder fills the air

Light and shadow fell upon Ouyang Lili's linen dress, and the only sound was the gentle snipping of the scissors in Andre's hand. She wrapped the cut hair in white paper, thought for a moment, and asked Andre, "Do you have any red string here?"

She wore a thick coat and offered him a faint smile

In a standard London accent, a deep male voice, Ouyang Lili was momentarily taken aback and turned around

Ouyang Lili wanted to say something more, but her stomach made a "gurgling" sound first

Ouyang Lili looked into his bright eyes, and the two of them smiled at each other amidst the panicked crowd and the ruins.

Ouyang Lili asked him: "Why do you want to learn Chinese?"

After waiting for a while, her neck felt sore. She lifted her head and discovered Andre, dressed in a white shirt, standing in front of her

Looking back now, it was truly an incredible month. In the old dormitory building of the school, I would braid my hair during the day while writing my graduation thesis under the breeze of an electric fan, and at night, I would stay awake, moving my desk to the hallway to write novels. Surprisingly, what accompanied me during those late nights was a swarm of mosquitoes, and I had to cover myself in cooling oil to relieve the itching and stay alert

Ouyang Lili thought to herself, the arrogant British.

At that moment, he was unaware that she was about to return to her country; he simply loosened his grip on the doorknob and nodded slightly

Ouyang Lili checked the address repeatedly. According to the landlady, the other party should be inside the house at this time. Ouyang Lili walked around to the other side of the street, approached the window, and then discovered that the glass window, having not been cleaned for many years, was covered with a thick layer of dust, making it impossible to see inside

Ouyang Lili felt dizzy and handed him the handwritten note from the landlady: "Are you looking for a Chinese teacher?"

Ouyang Lili blushed and nodded her head

He was somewhat curious: "Shall I help you with the haircut?"

Ouyang Lili nodded slightly, her fingers rubbing the already pilled woolen gloves, unsure of what to say. Instead, it was Andrei who remembered: "Is today Christmas?"

Andrei enlisted in the army, and due to his extraordinary mathematical prowess, he was sent to the naval communications office at the front lines, where talent was most scarce during the war. She didn't even have the chance to bid him farewell.

Ouyang Lili encountered Andrei for the second time in the school library. She was walking between the bookshelves, holding a thick stack of professional books, when she accidentally bumped into a table ahead, causing all the books in her hands to scatter with a loud crash

When Cambridge was struck by the first bomb, Ouyang Lili and Andrei were by the fountain in the park. She devised an encrypted question to test Andrei and promised that if he could decipher it within five minutes, she would secretly take the physics exam for him

Ouyang Lili, enlightened as if by a divine revelation, quickly turned around and differentiated the already derived equation once more, taking the limit of the remaining part, ultimately arriving at the final constant. In that moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment

In the summer, Ouyang Lili discovered that her hair had grown very long. She borrowed scissors from Andrei, intending to cut some of it off

When she came in the second week, Ouyang Lili was carrying a very full backpack

The sunlight fell upon the young boy in the back seat, who had deep brown hair, long eyelashes, and features as handsome as a statue, with a typical English complexion. His nose resembled that of a Greek, yet his eyes were black, the deepest color in the world

It was only when Ouyang Lili truly entered Andre's kitchen that she began to regret. The food here was simply monotonous to the point of despair, consisting of potatoes and milk, along with some compressed biscuits. She had originally intended to make him a bowl of longevity noodles, only to realize that this was England.

Ouyang Lili then realized that he had been admitted to Cambridge University with the top rank in the entire school; in mathematics, he was an undeniable genius

Ouyang Lili was dumbfounded: "You are truly... crazy!"

I love you

The Playfair cipher consists of three-character pairs, with the initial key being LISAO. According to your Chinese pinyin chart, the ciphertext is, "As he reminisced, he said, 'OUYANGLILI, 欧ーー阳ーー离ーー离, this is your name.'

It carried her lover to a distant place

Ouyang Lili did not speak; she simply reached out her hand and held him tightly.

She translated them onto paper, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, and pretended not to notice his compliment, handing the draft paper back to him

Ouyang Lili thought for a moment and told him: "In my country, we also have similar ways of conveying secret messages. We write them in poetry, such as acrostic poems or palindromic poems"

02

He smiled, revealing his white and even teeth, and then quickly wrote a line of letters on a piece of draft paper and handed it to Ouyang Lili to see

Andrei shook his head

This was Andre's first time tasting food from the East, and he drank the noodle soup down to the last drop. He generously praised Ouyang Lili's culinary skills and, with a serious expression, asked her if she would be willing to be his chef

Indeed, many mathematicians are quite skilled in music. For instance, Maran Mason, who created the Mersenne primes. He smiled and winked at Ouyang Lili, saying, "Music is a common medium for encoding messages; whether it is scales or frequencies, they can be converted into numbers as plaintext. If one knows the key, the ciphertext can be decrypted.

Andrei immediately apologized to Ouyang Lili, informing her that he had been playing the piano just now and had not heard her knocking. Upon entering the room, she indeed saw a grand piano, but the carpet was covered with white papers. She casually picked up a sheet, which was densely filled with codes.

The snow in Cambridge drifts over the branches, the chimes of Big Ben fall by the banks of the Thames, he ties a black and white checkered scarf, and offers her an apologetic smile.

Andrei pondered the question seriously for a moment before responding: "Because you have history"

That was Britain in 1910, and even though Germany began to rise after the Second Industrial Revolution, it remained the empire on which the sun never set, compelling the world to bow down before it

Do you live alone? What about your parents

Ouyang Lili opened her eyes in a realm of darkness, light streaming in. She moved her body and sensed someone beside her. In the final moment, Andrei shielded her beneath him

Andrei was very puzzled: "Why beat around the bush? Whether to love or not to love, why can't it be stated directly and clearly?"

Andrei and Ouyang Lili agreed to have lessons once a week, with a rather high hourly rate offered by him. After some thought, Ouyang Lili said, "How about this: I teach you Chinese, and you teach me cryptography and piano?"

The mode of interaction between the two individuals was thus established. Ouyang Lili taught Andrei to read and prepared a dinner for him, and she would also assist him in deciphering some codes. He had suggested several times that he would teach Ouyang Lili to play the piano, but she always declined. In fact, she did not wish to learn the piano, as it is still considered a luxury in China, one that she could not afford. However, she wanted to hear him play the piano. In fact, she did not wish to learn the piano, as it is still considered a luxury in China, one that she could not afford. However, she wanted to hear him play the piano

Ouyang Lili suddenly had a feeling; she felt that he would never look back in his lifetime

To her surprise, he was serious. Ouyang Lili asked in confusion, "Why?"

She trembled as she picked it up

He smiled: "He is a street performer in London. He plays a very special instrument with only two strings, and the sound of the instrument is quite mournful"

A few days later, the professor assigned a problem on n-th order differentiation on the blackboard. The classroom was filled with a rustling sound as everyone began to rack their brains. The mathematical proficiency of the Chinese has always been admired worldwide, and Ouyang Lili was also quite good at mathematics during her high school years, so she picked up a pen to give it a try.

After class, he passed by Ouyang Lili, stopped, and asked her if she would like to have coffee with him. Ouyang Lili had Latin composition as her next class and declined his invitation

That was the subject that Andre despised the most; like mathematicians and physicists who are out of sync, he believed that physics was merely a stone overshadowed by the brilliance of mathematics

She began to prepare noodles, cured meat, and pickles, all of which were his favorite foods

Ouyang Lili began to plan to work during her spare time, but it was quite difficult to find a part-time job. After learning about her troubles, the landlady of Ouyang Lili's homestay informed her that she knew someone who was looking for a Chinese teacher, and if she was willing, she could help make the connection

Regarding Andrei, he dedicated himself to his beloved country willingly. The only regret is probably that he did not have the chance to tell her in person that he loved her

The last four words were spoken by her in Chinese, and he did not understand them

Ouyang Lili smiled and said, "That is called the Erhu. Only my homeland has such an instrument"

She no longer wishes to tidy up Andre's room, where books and draft papers are scattered all over the floor in disarray; the only thing she cleans daily is the dust on the piano

Once, Ouyang Lili recited to him the famous numerical poem attributed to Zhuo Wenjun: "After one farewell, two places are separated, only saying it is three or four months, yet who knows it has been five or six years, the seven-stringed zither plays without heart, the eight lines of writing cannot be transmitted, the nine linked rings are broken in between, the ten-mile long pavilion is gazed at with longing, a hundred thoughts, a thousand concerns, ten thousand helplessness in lamenting for the beloved..."

He sat by the window, his brow furrowed, his eyes bloodshot, outside was the blood-red sunset, and the sound of explosions echoed from afar

She had just written a few steps when a voice suddenly came from behind: "Take the derivative"

In an era of raging warfare, this phrase sounds particularly heavy

He smiled helplessly and said, "I would also like to know why you are sleeping at my doorstep."

She woke up crying from her dream, looking at herself in the mirror; she had lost a lot of weight, and the turmoil of war had aged her instantly

Glancing at the piles of draft papers and books scattered throughout the room, as well as the notes plastered all over the walls, Ouyang Lili recalled the words of the landlady and couldn't help but laugh

Ouyang Lili was taken aback: "The 25th of this month? Isn't that Christmas?"

He did not understand, so she explained to him: "From one to ten thousand, there is no 'hundred million', 'hundred million' sounds like 'memory', and 'memory' in Chinese represents longing."

She nodded again, and only then did the other party realize and say "Oh" with a smile, "I was born on Christmas."

As she was leaving, Ouyang Lili suddenly remembered that today was Christmas

This parting may perhaps lead to an indefinite separation from any future meeting

Andrei forcibly sent Ouyang Lili away the next day. The car started, and dust flew up in clouds. She shouted his name loudly out of the window: "Andrei, Andrei—"

Once again, she embraced him from behind, her tears soaking through the military uniform on his back. Just as in her dreams, he wore a khaki military uniform, having transformed from a proud and arrogant youth into a mature and reserved man

Ouyang Lili began to handle the procedures for transferring departments, as Cambridge University allows for departmental transfers, especially since she has an impressive mathematics report card

In September 1939, the Second World War broke out, and Ouyang Lili volunteered to join the fight. Cryptography played a pivotal role in turning the tide of this war

Winter has fully arrived in the UK, and the plants on the streets of Cambridge are beginning to wither.

In the first in-class test for mathematical analysis, Ouyang Lili was one of the only three students in the class to receive an A. Moreover, due to the overwhelming writing assignments in her major courses, she struggled to speak English fluently, let alone the disorganized classical English.

The postal route is intermittent, making it very difficult to deliver this letter to her. On that day, Ouyang Lili went to the church. Many believers had given up praying, only the priest remained unwilling to leave. Sunlight streamed through the colored glass, casting mottled patterns in the hall. The face of Jesus was calm. Ouyang Lili knelt before the Lord she had never worshipped, praying for his safe return.

This is a much easier job than washing dishes, Ouyang Lili quickly thanked her.

Andrea didn't know that Ouyang Lili had not left. In his letter, he was just talking to himself, "Fox had a rainy day and ate a piece of bad white bread," and so on.

She spread out the out-of-print "Classical Cipher" that she took from the bookshelf and projected it onto the students in front of the projector. Flipping to the next page, she saw a strand of green hair sandwiched between the pages, tied with a red thread, and there was also a yellowed note next to it.

Caesar cipher shifted by three digits, this is perhaps the simplest code ever written in Andre's life.

Helpless, in the end, I baked a potato and ate it with cheese.

He frowned, as if he thought it was a very complicated issue, and then finally managed to organize his thoughts and replied, "I escaped from home. My parents didn't allow me to study mathematics. They hoped I could inherit the family title."

This story was written in the summer of 2014, on the eve of my college graduation.

Five lakes and four seas, the whole world cheers for it, returning warriors and their distressed and wandering relatives weep in the streets.

Even though my heart is inclined towards goodness, I would not regret it even if I were to die nine times.

She wrote him a letter, deceitfully telling him that the waterway had been cut off and that she had to stay behind. It was a long letter, encoded using a fence cipher, with each word divided into two lines, ultimately combined into one. Decoding it was quite simple, involving repeatedly cutting and inserting the sentences. At the end of the letter, she stated that the war would come to an end

As the next winter approached, the fog in London began to slowly dissipate. The post-war University of Cambridge reopened, gathering elites from all over the world to continue creating myths. Ouyang Lili talked to her students about the origin of codes, the initial Caesar cipher, and a few years ago, a handsome young man who handed her a note with the words "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" written on it with a smile.

She worked part-time while studying and obtained her second bachelor's degree from the University of Cambridge three years later

She looked at Andre awkwardly and heard him say, "I'll go to the kitchen and see if there's anything to eat. Maybe I can bake a potato for you."

After the war ended, Ouyang Lili unexpectedly received the last letter sent by Andre. When she opened the letter, Ouyang Lili was attending his memorial service. The ceremony was held at the University of Cambridge, and most of the attendees were professors who had infuriated Andre during their university days.

Ouyang Lili smiled helplessly: "It is I who am inquiring of you"

"Have you given any thought to what we discussed last time?" he asked her

He opened his mouth, but remained motionless. He said, "You can go back, I won't write you any more letters."

The crooked numbers and letters were written in haste, and he didn't even have time to include the key in the letter. However, she still accurately guessed his final key, ENGLAND, which is the name of his homeland

In this sentence, Ouyang Lili did not encrypt.

Ouyang Lili was momentarily stunned, and when she came to her senses, she found herself sitting by the window. The young man behind her picked up a pair of scissors and gently helped her trim the excess hair.

Andrei once again picked her up by the roadside. She had a high fever and was delirious. He rushed to the medical office with her, giving her injections and medication, feeling helpless like a child.

Andrei said with a smile: "Indeed, the Chinese have a refined taste."

What?'' Andre blinked in confusion. ''Is today a holiday?''

Andrei did what he said. After that, he never wrote another letter to Ouyang Lili. She still insisted on writing to him. People whispered that the war was about to end. She began to clean up the spider webs and cockroaches in her house.

Ouyang Lili returned to the school gate, and the personnel had already arrived one after another. She told them wearily, "I'm sorry, I have decided to stay."

During the final stage of the war, the German army developed the Zyklon-Stark R heavy bomber to carry out a final retaliation against England and France. The Germans went all out and launched a bombing campaign that later became known as the "Zyklon Disaster," a tragic event shared by both Germany and England.

Ouyang Lili still remembers the evening of her first day arriving in Cambridge. She carried a heavy suitcase and stepped off the steamship. The dazzling golden light made it difficult for her to open her eyes. Seagulls circled and flew high in the distance. The sea breeze blew, causing her hat and long skirt to flutter in the rosy light.

Ouyang Lili thought of the dean's evaluation of Andrei. He said, "Among ten thousand people, there may be one genius, and among ten thousand geniuses, there may be one Andrei."

As winter has just begun, the school has started to suspend classes, and her trip back home has been hastily finalized. Ouyang Lili sits alone by the window, witnessing for the first time in four years the transition of this city from night to dawn.

Ouyang Lili met Andre by the River Cam in Cambridge. He was lying under a tree, with a copy of "Functional Analysis" covering his face. Ouyang Lili wasn't quite sure if it was Andre. She stood by him for a while, then walked to the other side of the willow tree and started reading her book.

He turned his back to her, striving to calm himself, taking a few deep breaths, and finally said with a tremor: "Go back!"

She rushed to the eaves, and he gave her a weary smile, saying: "I am back"

Andrei asked her in return: "Is this acceptable?"

He smiled at Ouyang Lili, reached out his hand, and pulled her up

Andrei frowned, displaying a look of disgust: "The ball, an endless ball."

What did he say?" the person next to her asked Ouyang Lili

The black eyes seemed to take her back to her hometown. She reached out to touch his cheek, and her tears flowed down.

After traversing a thousand miles, through smoke and flames of war, she arrives in a weary state, having risked her life, all just to catch a glimpse of him and to know that he is safe and sound

As time flows by, it feels as if we have returned to many years ago, to the scene of our first acquaintance. A young man in a white shirt raised his eyebrows and asked her if she would like to have a cup of coffee with him

She began to repeatedly have the same dream, dreaming of a snowy London, where Andre, dressed in a thick military coat and wearing a military cap with black fur trim, wearily knocked on the door of her home

04

The people around her burst into laughter, speaking rapidly in English. Ouyang Lili guessed roughly what they were saying, probably teasing that even Andre could be rejected by a girl, which was unbefitting of the title of "Mathematics Prince".

This sentence seems to be asking correctly. Ouyang Lili noticed that Andre's eyes quickly lit up. He walked to the edge of the table and pointed to a large pile of messy drafts to show her: "Cryptography, have you heard of it? This is the simplest Bacon cipher, using 'a' and 'b' to replace binary in mathematics." After a pause, he frowned and asked Ouyang Lili, "Do you know binary?"

The landlady shrugged helplessly: "He is a strange person. Perhaps he has never celebrated Christmas!"

On the morning of the second day, Andre pushed open the door and once again saw Ouyang Lili sitting on the steps

She moved into Andre's house, and on the weekend, she went to the hospital to help with some miscellaneous tasks

On Christmas Day, she followed the address to find her way. Cambridge had already begun to snow, with a thick layer of snow covering the roadside and the eaves. Her face was frozen red, and she stomped her nearly numb feet before knocking on the door. No one responded, so she knocked a few more times with more force, yet still received no answer

In September 1945, the Second World War came to an end, and Britain emerged victorious once again. However, this time, the empire on which the sun never sets began its gradual descent into twilight.

The ink has begun to fade, yet the letters can still be discerned; this is a trace of his presence in this world

I understand

He was awarded for his meritorious service, and the grass in front of his grave in the martyrs' cemetery continues to grow and be trimmed. Only she remains to remember his brilliant yet brief life, as well as his bright eyes

She stopped and said, "I want to go back"

At that moment, Ouyang Lili felt her heart become very soft

Even though my heart is inclined towards goodness, I would not regret it even if I were to face death nine times.

Andrei replied nonchalantly, like a child, "You are not the first person to say that."

Ouyang Lili nodded slightly, noncommittally flipping through the thick English literature, then pouting and tossing it aside

She entrusted a fellow traveler to bring a letter back to her home country, which she wrote to her parents: Forgive your unfilial daughter

In August 1914, the outbreak of World War I caused widespread anxiety. Ouyang Lili received a telegram from the East, urging her to return home. Chinese students in Cambridge gathered together to discuss matters regarding their return to their homeland

The passage of time and the scars of war have left mature marks on his face, and she threw herself into his embrace, crying heartily.

He let out a sigh of relief and smiled, saying, "So it was you"

At that time, I was full of energy every day, as if I could go without sleep. Looking back now, it was partly because I was young and vibrant, and partly because I had already built one dream after another for myself

Ouyang Lili turned around, and before she had the chance to speak, the other party nodded at her first: "Quite clever."

She heard someone calling his name, Andre. Ouyang Lili suddenly realized that he was indeed Andrei

She covered her face and finally could not help but burst into tears

ZRDLQL

Ouyang Lili, however, did not wait for Andrei's return

It was the winter of 1913, a time of turmoil in the world, and the prices in London began to rise quietly. Andre became engrossed in calculating Fermat's Last Theorem. During his idle moments, Ouyang Lili would go to look at the books on his shelf. Many years later, when Ouyang Lili reflected on the achievements of her life, she realized that most of them were attributed to Andre's study.

When she was awakened by someone, she looked up and saw that it was Andre. He was wearing a dark plaid sweater, looking like a harmless moose, although she herself did not understand the connection between a plaid sweater and a moose

BRXDVHEHDXWLIXO

Ouyang Lili began her journey to Fox, disguising herself as a man to blend in with the crowd. She had a slender figure, and others merely regarded her as a delicate-looking young Eastern boy. By the time she arrived in Fox, she was nearly dehydrated and collapsed at the entrance of the military camp.

He held her in his arms, the collapsed building burying their lower bodies in the rubble. His shoulder was injured by a fallen plank, blood seeping through his white shirt, and his brown hair was in disarray. She lifted her head and saw his black eyes, as vibrant as ever, radiating a lively sparkle.

03

The day after, the landlady informed Ouyang Lili that she hoped she could meet with the other party first, with the meeting scheduled for the twenty-fifth of this month

Ouyang Lili merely took this statement as a compliment to herself, smiled, and did not respond

Even though my heart is inclined towards goodness, I would not regret it even if I were to face death nine times.

Ouyang Lili thought for a moment and replied to him: "We call this euphemism; there are some things that need not be said"

She actually wanted to tell him that in her country, a woman's long hair symbolizes many things, but he probably wouldn't understand

She also said: "Do you know? We have the Four Great Inventions. We use gunpowder to make fireworks, while you Westerners use it for warfare"

05

She still remembers what he said: "Did you not say that I am the second Chinese person you have ever met? Then who is the first one?"

Ouyang Lili felt both exhausted and cold, as the snow continued to fall heavily, accumulating into a thick layer beneath the streetlamp. She knocked on the door once more, yet there was still no response. Dejected, she sat down on the steps, deciding to wait a little longer

He smiled and said, "If there is an opportunity, I must visit."

What is this

Ouyang Lili realized that she originally wanted to say "Happy birthday" to Andrei, but seeing Andrei's expression, he seemed not to care much about his birthday. Instead, Ouyang Lili was very curious: "How do you British people celebrate birthdays?"

One night, she saw him in her dreams. She dreamed of him in military uniform, the khaki outfit cinched at the waist with a belt, giving him a tall and slender appearance. He wore a military wide-brimmed hat that obscured his bright eyes.

Ouyang Lili also taught him to write with a brush pen. With a fine wolf hair brush, he lifted his wrist and put pen to paper. The first Chinese character he learned to write was her name "Li", followed by her surname "Ouyang". To her surprise, his calligraphy was quite good. Ouyang Lili thought that it was probably because he was calm; a young man in his twenties, yet his heart was as tranquil as the bright moon in the sky.

The military doctor smiled and reassured him: "She is not injured; she is just overly fatigued"

"Perhaps it is because you have yet to find a partner," Ouyang Lili replied to him

This is the first line of "Li Sao" that she taught him, and it is also the origin of her name

Ouyang Lili was taken aback; she realized that her heart was stirred. ... Whether it was regarding Andre's proposal, or ... . ... Andre himself.

Later, she unexpectedly fell asleep in a daze

01

The naval unit to which Andrei belonged was destroyed under such a frenzied bombardment

She was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, telling him that this is the simplest food in China

Ouyang Lili stared blankly at these letters for a long time, suddenly recalling the game of guessing codes she played in her childhood. She took out a pen from her backpack and shifted all the letters uniformly, moving them three positions forward, and suddenly arrived at the correct meaning

I just wanted to see you once," she said

"Will you go back?" he asked her

A letter every two months, at most six letters a year. In this era of war and chaos, Ouyang Lili remains alone in London, relying solely on these six letters that only she can understand, as she watches this city crumble day by day.

Fortunately, the two were only lightly injured, and they struggled to lift the stones that were pressing down on them. The moment their bodies emerged from the rubble, Andre suddenly burst into laughter

Oh," he nodded, "safe travels.

There were not many people on the street, and most shops were closed. The United Kingdom began large-scale conscription. They walked along the Thames, their feet crunching on the ice, and Ouyang Lili felt somewhat nervous, her fingers unconsciously rubbing against her gloves, while a faint sound of explosions could be heard in the distance

He still cannot understand

On such days, I completed my graduation thesis in one month, finished my first novel "The Years Have Slipped Away" in half a month, and wrote two short stories, one of which is this piece "To Andrei"

On the morning of the second day, Ouyang Lili packed her luggage and arrived at the school gate well ahead of time, which was the designated meeting place for the international students. Just then, she happened to run into the dean, and after greeting him, he asked in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

The bomb fell just over ten meters behind them, with a loud bang, as the surrounding trees and buildings were all blown away, and people screamed in panic. Ouyang Lili and Andrei had no time to react at all, as they were struck by the tremendous impact, crushed by the falling chairs and trees, and found themselves trapped under a pile of rubble

She was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

She said this sentence in Chinese, and Andre was momentarily taken aback before he realized what she meant

Ouyang Lili lowered her head and saw a pair of brown Oxford shoes. Someone had picked up the book before her and placed it on the round table beside her. Thus, she once again caught sight of his dark black eyes

"Can you play the piano?" she asked him