The wind in April was like an unruly postman, blowing the cherry blossoms of Xingheyi College flying all over the sky and also messing up the drawing paper that Song Wanqing had just laid out.
"Ruoxi, hold down the lower right corner for me!" " Song Wanqing held the sketchbook lifted by the wind with one hand and tightly protected the half-finished product tucked inside with the other - it was an unfinished sketch of a bell tower, and the pencil lines looked somewhat disordered in the wind.
Lin Ruoxi hurriedly pressed down on the corner of the paper, watching the pinkish-white petals fall like snowflakes onto her friend's ponytail smeared with charcoal ash. She couldn't help but gasp in astonishment, "This wind is so strange. It just happens to blow when you are painting."
Song Wanqing didn't say a word. She just narrowed her eyes and her gaze passed through the falling rain of flowers, landing under the cherry blossom tree not far away.
There stood a young man.
He was wearing the signature silver-embroidered school uniform of Xinghe Yi, with the cuffs rolled up, revealing a section of his wrist with smooth lines. He didn't hold an umbrella. He let the cherry blossom petals fall to the tips of his hair. In his hand, he held a sheet music with curled edges, facing the direction of the bell tower, lost in thought.
It's Lu Jinnian.
The piano genius who played "Whispers of Spring" at the opening ceremony now looks like a lost traveler, looking up at the flock of pigeons perched on the spire of the bell tower.
What is he doing? Lin Ruoxi followed her gaze and lowered her voice, "Could it be that you're looking for inspiration?" I heard that the music club is going to make a big move at the cultural festival.
Song Wanqing gently bit her lower lip, and her fingertips unconsciously moved across the blank pages of the sketchbook. Just now, she clearly saw that Lu Jinnian had written a strange string of symbols in the blank space of the musical score. It didn't seem like musical notes but rather like some kind of encrypted star map.
A rapid ringtone broke the momentary tranquility.
Lu Jinnian seemed to be awakened. He closed the score and turned to leave. Just then, a sudden gust of wind rose, sweeping up the fallen petals on the ground and tearing off Song Wanqing's unfinished sketch of the bell tower from her notebook.
The paper swirled in the air, like a wounded white dove.
"Oh dear!" Lin Ruoxi exclaimed in surprise.
Song Wanqing instinctively reached out to grab it, but only caught a handful of cold air. That drawing paper was fluttering in the wind and was about to fall into the lotus pond beside it.
At the critical moment, a slender hand emerged out of nowhere and firmly caught the falling piece of paper.
Lu Jinnian had been standing by the pool at some point. With that piece of drawing paper between his fingertips, he faced the light against it, and a small cherry blossom petal was still stuck to his eyelashes.
He glanced down at the drawing paper and then raised his eyes to look at Song Wanqing.
"Yours?" His voice was very faint, like the wind brushing past the strings of a piano.
Song Wanqing walked over quickly, her cheeks slightly flushed: "Thank you..." Thank you."
Lu Jinnian didn't return the painting to her immediately. Instead, his gaze fell on the lower right corner of the paper. There was a wet ink stain there, slightly spreading in the wind, which just formed a peculiar vortex shape.
"The hands of the clock tower," he suddenly spoke, pointing at the details on the painting, "point to 3:17."
Song Wanqing was taken aback: "Yes, yes. That was when I was drawing just now." "
"At this moment," Lu Jinnian's lips curved into a very faint arc, but his eyes were terrifyingly deep. "The shadow of the bell tower will overlap with that of the cherry blossom tree, forming a 'star' character." "
Song Wanqing's heart gave a sudden jolt. She did notice this phenomenon of light and shadow just now, but due to the tight schedule, she only made a casual note on the draft and did not draw it on the paper. How did Lu Jinnian find out?
Just then, Lu Jinnian opened the sheet music in his hand, revealing the title page. There was a yellowed old photo pasted on it. In the photo, the bell tower and the cherry blossom tree were at the same Angle, and the overlapping of the shadows was indeed a clear "star" character.
"This is..." " Song Wanqing's eyes widened.
"My grandpa's notes." Lu Jinnian closed the sheet music and handed the drawing paper back to her. His fingertips casually brushed against her palm, carrying a slightly cool touch. "He said that the cherry blossoms in Xinghe Town hide the secret of Xinghe."
Song Wanqing held the lost and regained drawing paper, her fingertips trembling slightly. She wanted to ask more, but Lu Jinnian had already turned and left, leaving only a sentence that drifted away with the wind:
See you at the top of the bell tower at ten o 'clock tonight. If you want to see the real "star River reversal".
The wind has stopped.
The cherry blossoms all over the ground were silent, but Song Wanqing felt her heart pounding deafeningly.
She lowered her head to look at the drawing paper in her hand. At this moment, the still-wet ink stain vortex looked exactly like an eye that was opening.
"Xiao Qing, are you okay?" " Lin Ruoxi leaned over and watched Lu Jinnian's departing figure, her face full of gossip. "Oh my god, was he just asking you out?" Top of the clock tower? That's a forbidden area!"
Song Wanqing didn't say a word. She just carefully put the drawing paper into the waterproof bag. She looked up at the towering clock tower, and the afterglow of the setting sun had gilded its outline with a golden hue.
"Ruoxi," she suddenly spoke up, her voice soft but with a hint of determination, "I might not be able to attend tonight's club activity."
"Hey!" You can't really be going, can you? That guy is notorious for being a weirdo, and it's said that the top of the clock tower is haunted at night...
Song Wanqing smiled, packed up her painting tools and shouldered her drawing board: "If I don't go, I'm afraid I'll regret it for the rest of my life." "
As night fell, Xinghe Yi College was plunged into a state of silence.
Song Wanqing avoided the patrolling security guards and, by the moonlight, came to the small door behind the bell tower. The door was ajar, as if waiting for her arrival.
She took a deep breath and pushed the door open to enter.
Her rapid heartbeat echoed in the stairwell. With each floor she climbed, the air grew colder. When she finally pushed open the iron gate on the rooftop, a night breeze mixed with the fragrance of cherry blossoms wafted towards her.
Lu Jinnian is already there.
He stood at the edge of the clock tower, with his back to her, holding the sheet music in his hand. The moonlight fell upon him, stretching his shadow very long.
"Here you come." He didn't turn back but just said softly.
"Is this what you call 'star river backflow'?" " Song Wanqing walked up to him, holding onto the railing and looking down. The campus was pitch-dark, with only the street lamps emitting a dim yellow light. Nothing particularly remarkable was seen.
Lu Jinnian turned around, holding a small device in his hand, which looked like a mini projector.
The true starry river lies in the sky. He pressed the switch.
In an instant, countless light spots flew out of the device and suspended in the night sky around them. Those light spots began to move with the flow of the wind, gradually weaving a brilliant star map on the sky.
Orion, the Big Dipper, Sirius... All the stars awoke at this moment.
"This..." Song Wanqing covered her mouth in surprise.
My grandfather is an astronomer and one of the founders of this school. Lu Jinnian gazed at the starry sky, his eyes becoming gentle. "He said that the reason why the cherry blossoms in Xinghe Town are special is that the geomagnetic field here can attract fragments of the stars." Every April, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the geomagnetic field reaches its peak, the reflections of the stars will fall on the cherry blossoms, creating a spectacular scene of "star river flowing backward".
He paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at Song Wanqing, his eyes shining with starlight: "And tonight is that day."
Just then, the drawing paper in Song Wanqing's pocket suddenly became hot. She took it out and saw that the ink stain vortex was faintly glowing, resonating strangely with the light of a certain star in the sky.
"It seems," Lu Jinnian looked at the drawing paper in her hand, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepening, "Our fate has long been written into the star trail." "
In the distance, the hands of the clock tower slowly pointed to ten o 'clock.
Cherry blossoms are like snow, and stars are like waterfalls.
On the top of this ancient clock tower, witnessed by the starry river and cherry blossoms, a poem about eternity quietly turns its first page.