The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

Chapter 118 Unexpected

The shop owner placed the unsold vegetables from the day on the shelves by the door and put up a sign that read "Clearance Sale".

Turning around, I saw Wang Jie at the door, sitting on the back of a bicycle, engrossed in a book.

She had a good impression of this fair-skinned young man. He frequented the convenience store and was very polite. Sometimes, when he saw her carrying goods alone, he would offer to help.

"Hey, what are you doing sitting here, young man?"

"Auntie, I'm waiting to make the call, it's not time yet."

"Call your girlfriend, is she the pretty girl you brought over to buy soda last time?"

"Hehehe, yes, Auntie still remembers."

"How could I not remember? Such a pretty little girl, as white as a porcelain doll." The proprietress walked into the house and said, "I'm putting the phone in the drawer so that someone won't call and hogging the line later."

"Thank you, Auntie. No need to put it away. It's almost time anyway. I'll go wait by the phone."

The proprietress smiled to herself, thinking to herself, "It's so good to be young. Even making a phone call while dating requires careful timing."

Wang Jie stood by the telephone, his eyes fixed on the time on the pager. As the minutes ticked by, he finally counted to four o'clock.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number Zhou Yanruo had given him. As soon as the call connected, the other party answered: "Wang Jie, is that you?"

You could tell from her voice that Zhou Yanruo was in a good mood.

"Ruoruo, it's me."

"did you miss me?"

"Ah."

"Don't just say 'hmm,' I want you to say it: 'You miss me.'"

Wang Jie turned his back, avoiding the gaze of the shopkeeper, covered the microphone with his hand, and said, "I miss you so much."

"Hehehe." Zhou Yanruo laughed on the phone, "I miss you too."

"Such a good mood, have classes already started? Having new classmates must have improved your mood."

"Classes have started today, it's the first day. I texted you before school ended to tell you some good news."

"It seems like the new class is good. Let's work hard for another year and try to get into a good school next year."

"Why are you starting to lecture me now? You really think you're a teacher?" Zhou Yanruo's voice was crisp. "Guess what school I went to? What class did I have today?"

"You sound very excited. That's rare. It's rare to see you so happy during class. I bet it's a great school. Was it math class today?"

"Ugh, you always have to bring up the one thing I hate most, even though you know I hate math class the most."

Wang Jie imagined Zhou Yanruo pouting and couldn't help but laugh.

"You're still laughing? Don't think I can't punish you just because we're on the phone."

"Hehe, how should we punish them?"

“Wang Jie, you’ve gone astray. You’re not as honest as you were when I first met you,” Zhou Yanruo said. “Fine, I won’t tease you anymore. I’ll tell you now. Today I had an acting class. Professor Huang, who was invited from the Beijing Film Academy, was the teacher of Liu Weiwei, who played Little Swallow.”

Wang Jie asked in surprise, "You said you're taking acting classes, so aren't you going to repeat a year to prepare for next year's college entrance exam?"

Zhou Yanruo paused for a moment, then continued, "It turns out I misunderstood Mom and Dad."

Wang Jie said, "What's wrong? Tell me slowly."

"The night I returned to Beijing, my parents had a very serious talk with me. They said that if I wanted to become an actor, I needed to go through formal professional training and that I had to be serious about everything I did. They also asked me if I had made up my mind. Of course, I told them firmly that I had, and that this was my dream. Finally, my mother agreed to let me study acting."

"That's great, I'm happy for you too."

Zhou Yanruo added, "It turns out they've already made arrangements for me. The Beijing Dance Academy and the Beijing Arts Theatre have jointly organized a training course to select actors for the large-scale historical drama 'Dream Back to the Dawn.' If I'm selected, I'll also have the opportunity to be recommended to the adult education program at the Beijing Film Academy, where I can receive a college diploma after systematic study."

Last month, something like that happened—two young lives, Cheng Zhi and Xue Jiang, classmates who had spent every day together, suddenly ended before their eyes. Zhou Yanruo had no choice but to give up her dreams and let her parents make arrangements for her. Compared to life, dreams are utterly insignificant.

Now, Zhou Yanruo finally gained her parents' understanding and support, and they had arranged everything for her. The gloomy clouds and gloom were instantly blown away.

Then the road ahead will certainly be bright.

Wang Jie was happy for Zhou Yanruo and said, "That sounds really good. Your persistence has finally paid off."

"Don't get too excited yet, there's still a selection process to go through."

"You'll definitely be fine. You have a good foundation, and your previous training wasn't in vain. Your professional performance has always been excellent. If it weren't for that incident, you might already be in Hancheng by now."

As soon as Wang Jie finished speaking, he regretted it, thinking to himself, why did I bring that up at such a happy moment?

Zhou Yanruo's mood was not affected. She was still immersed in the joy of finally being recognized by her family and continued, "My mother asked one of her students' parents to help me get a spot."

She spoke with some emotion, her voice trembling, "My mother is such a proud person, yet she still had to ask others for help for me. It's all my fault for being such a disappointing daughter, always letting them down."

"Don't say that. You are very outstanding. Being outstanding is not just about getting good grades or getting into a good university."

Zhou Yanruo's voice regained its vitality, "Really? Never mind me, when are you coming to Beijing to apply for a visa? Have you set a date?"

“I’ve already emailed the embassy’s visa section to schedule an interview time,” Wang Jie said. “I’ll send you a message as soon as I get a reply.”

Zhou Yanruo suddenly said gently, "Wang Jie, I miss you so much, please come quickly."

Wang Jie looked around and saw that the lady at the counter had gone inside to organize the shelves. There was no one around, so he gripped the microphone tightly and replied affectionately, "Ruo Ruo, I miss you too. I expect to hear back next week. Once the visa interview date is confirmed, I'll buy a train ticket. Wait for me."

"Wang Jie?"

"Well, what happened?"

"I'm hanging up now," Zhou Yanruo said with a hint of reluctance.

"Okay, I'll text you as soon as I get the train tickets."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Jie stared at the phone for two seconds, thinking helplessly that he didn't know how many more times he could see Ruoruo. He was already starting to feel reluctant to leave.

He stood up and called out to the proprietress inside, "Auntie, I've finished my call."

The proprietress was tidying up the shelves in the back room when she said, "Give me 8 cents. Just put it in the coin jar on the counter."

Wang Jie took out a 1 yuan note and put it into the coin bottle, saying, "It's all put away, Auntie."

The shopkeeper auntie, without even looking up, said, "Alright."

Just as he turned and stepped out of the convenience store, Wang Jie's pager went off. Fearing that Zhou Yanruo hadn't finished speaking, he stood still and turned on the pager to check.

Unexpectedly, the message came from Zhang Qian: "At school? Jian Zheng and I are there. Let's get together."

Wang Jie got on his bicycle, turned around, and headed towards the school. Today was all good news; he had finally shaken off the bad mood that had been bothering him for over a month. It was time to get together with his buddies and ask Jian Zheng how things were going with the trip to Hong Kong Island.

I hadn't gone far from the school, and walking back, I was in a good mood, so I pedaled hard and got back on campus in less than ten minutes.

He headed straight to Zhang Qian's dormitory in the school's staff living area to meet up with Jian Zheng and Zhang Qian. Today was a good day, worth going out for beer and skewers. 100 lamb skewers, 100 tendon skewers, as well as lamb kidneys and grilled chicken wings. He was treating, and there would be plenty of Tsingtao beer.