The Year in a Hurry

No last-minute price hike, no melodramatic ex-boyfriend-crashes-the-wedding scene.

After all the excitement, they picked up the bride without a hitch.

He'd met the bride before. She was ordinary, the sort you could build a life with.

Wang Yan had also seen the bridesmaids during the ceremony. Yeah, they were pretty good.

There was a pattern at school: pretty girls always had less-pretty girls around them.

At any rate, that didn't hold true for Zhang Guang's wife.

The next day, everyone went their separate ways. They were all busy, so managing to stay for three days was already pretty good.

They tacitly agreed not to discuss how much to give as a wedding gift. That was up to each person, and Zhang Guang would understand whatever amount they gave.

Wang Yan gave 6,666 yuan. Zhang Guang didn't make a fuss or refuse it; otherwise, it would've made things awkward. He knew Wang Yan wasn't the kind to show off or throw his weight around. Seeing the money, he could tell Wang Yan was doing pretty well.

Back in Beijing, Wang Yan returned to his old routine.

This month had been lucky for him. He'd sold another apartment and pocketed over a hundred thousand yuan.

That day, the system's notification arrived without warning.

"Fang Hui and Lin Jiamo, from The Year in a Hurry, share the same wish: happiness."

Wang Yan had never watched The Year in a Hurry before. He'd only heard the song.

"If we meet again, but can't greet each other with red eyes, could we still blush?"

Those lyrics really did have a certain feeling to them.

He opened his computer, logged in as a member, searched for The Year in a Hurry, and started watching.

There was a movie and a TV series, so Wang Yan watched both.

The story was simple: Fang Hui and Chen Xun's tangled love affair, with things like abortion and cheating mixed in.

After watching, Wang Yan didn't even know what to say. Honestly, if he could refuse, he'd rather not go.

Never mind the story itself; just look at the way it was filmed. And never mind the opening scene—just look at the lead actress.

Ni Ni was quite pretty, and had everything going for her, yet they'd made her look like that.

The TV series was even more ridiculous. Fang Hui looked as if she were about to die from beginning to end, like she was attending a funeral.

And some young hoodlum was supposed to fall for a girl like that?

In Wang Yan's memories of his own school days, of course there had been abortions and cheating, but those people had obviously never cared about studying.

Still, things like that weren't very common.

Maybe their families had money and they'd never had to worry about it, and their parents let them do whatever they wanted.

Or maybe their families didn't have money, but they were simply rebellious: whatever their parents told them not to do, they did.

There were student athletes, art students, little gang leaders, and little gang queens.

They did things they thought were cool and carefree, things that made them feel young and free of regrets, as if they weren't wasting the best years of their lives.

The well-behaved kids just quietly worked hard and studied.

Maybe they, too, felt the stirrings of adolescence and fell in love. Some took a turn for the worse, while others did better. But overall, they were still pretty sensible.

Wang Yan had never seen a good student spend all day obsessing over love.

He looked up some information afterward, so he could be better prepared.

On Zhihu, Wang Yan came across this line: "The sadness we feel when looking back comes from regret, not from someone else having suffered more than us."

That was about the size of it.

He sighed, took a sip of water, and got up to draw the curtains.

Lying on the bed, Wang Yan brought up the System Panel and put all his attribute points into his mental stat, raising it from 18 to 22.

Once he was done, he chose to travel.

A flash of blue light, and Wang Yan vanished.

When Wang Yan came to again, he was on a tree-lined road.

Information flashed through his mind, and he understood everything.

September 6, 1999. Beijing. Experimental High School.

Wang Yan, male, eighteen years old. His parents had both died when he was young, leaving him an apartment. He'd grown up in an orphanage, and after turning eighteen, he'd asked to leave and live on his own. The old director had asked someone from the local community to arrange his transfer and enroll him here.

Spotting a white-clad figure up ahead, Wang Yan called out, "Hey, you in front! Wait up."

She acted as if she hadn't heard him and kept walking, so Wang Yan called again, "You in the white clothes up ahead! I'm talking to you."

That left her no way to pretend she hadn't heard. She turned back and asked blankly, "What is it?"

Seeing her not-so-beautiful glance back, Wang Yan didn't feel like saying anything. That was a little too awkwardly youthful. He'd have to help her change that eventually.

But he'd let it go for now. It didn't really fit his, Wang's, style. He wasn't interested enough to make a move, so he'd wait.

"I saw your name on the list. You're transferring into Class One, Grade Eleven, right? So am I."

Wang Yan picked up his desk and hurried over to her. "Let me carry yours. It's pretty heavy."

As he spoke, he stacked his desk on top of hers, leaving her no chance to refuse.

"You take the two chairs. They're lighter."

"Thank you, classmate."

"Don't call me 'classmate.' My name's Wang Yan—the Yan from Confucius said. What's yours?"

"Fang Hui."

"Which Hui?"

"The Hui in fennel."

"Got it. I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you'd look good with long hair."

Without waiting to see Fang Hui's reaction, he said, "Let's go."

Wang Yan walked ahead carrying both desks, while Fang Hui followed close behind, dragging the two chairs.

After a while, a group of boys came running toward them along the road nearby.

"Let's take a break. You're sweating." Wang Yan set down the desks.

Fang Hui was tired too, so she obediently put down the chairs.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell across her face. She wiped away her sweat, raised a hand to shield herself from the sun, and tilted her face up to enjoy its warmth.

The pose caught the attention of two of the boys running over.

The scene was etched deeply into their hearts, never to fade for the rest of their lives.

But when they saw the man standing beside her, Chen Xun and Qiao Ran both furrowed their brows. Perhaps they thought that having the kid stand beside the white-clad figure bathed in sunlight was an insult to beauty.

After resting for a while, Wang Yan picked up the desks again. "Let's go. We're almost there."

The two of them found the Grade Eleven, Class One classroom and separated the desks and chairs.

Wang Yan, without hesitation, moved to the back corner by the window. He couldn't help it; he was used to sitting there.

More than anything, the desks and chairs in the classroom, the timetable on the blackboard, the flag on the wall above it, and the big red slogans on either side brought back memories of his own innocent school days. He used to sit in the back by the window, while his two good buddies sat beside the teacher's desk, one on each side, guarding their teacher.

Wang Yan smiled and shook his head, then tidied up a little.

Fang Hui hadn't found a seat yet, so she left her things beside the podium for the time being.

"Let's go ask the teacher for our textbooks."

Fang Hui nodded without thinking. There was something she couldn't quite describe about this ordinary-looking classmate with deep-set eyes.

It was, well, that he seemed special. She just couldn't say what made him special.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in. You look unfamiliar. New here?" said the male teacher sitting by the door with a smile.

After teaching for so many years, the teachers had gotten used to it. They recognized most of their students.

"Thank you. We just transferred here, to Grade Eleven, Class One," Wang Yan replied politely.

A female teacher working nearby noticed the commotion. When she heard "Grade Eleven, Class One," she said, "You two, come over here. I'm your homeroom teacher."

They walked over, and Wang Yan said, "Hello, teacher. What should we call you?"

Fang Hui was startled by Wang Yan's question. She'd never seen a student ask a teacher what her name was right away.

The female teacher was taken aback too. She'd never seen such a mature student. But then she thought of Wang Yan's file and understood. An orphan—well, it made sense that he was a little more mature.

"My name is Hou Cuiping. You can call me Teacher Hou."

Teacher Hou continued, "I know about your situations. Have you already picked up your desks and chairs?"

They both nodded.

"Good. Now go to the supply office on the first floor and find Teacher Zhang. He'll give you this semester's textbooks."

"Okay, Teacher Hou. We'll go over there."

After saying goodbye to Teacher Hou, Wang Yan led Fang Hui away.

Watching Wang Yan stride off with his back straight, while the quiet Fang Hui followed close behind, Teacher Hou shook her head. "They're both poor kids."

Wang Yan and Fang Hui barely spoke at all. A man who was forty on the inside didn't have much to talk about with a kid who was eighteen in body and mind. He'd have to get to know her first. He needed some time to adjust, too, and get back in touch with his old youthful self.

They picked up their books and returned to the classroom just in time for Teacher Hou's lesson.

Wang Yan called out, "May we come in?"

Teacher Hou gestured for them to enter.

Chen Xun, Qiao Ran, and Zhao Ye were fooling around. When they saw Wang Yan and Fang Hui come in, they all froze for a moment.

Chen Xun and Qiao Ran thought of the beauty they'd seen earlier, while Zhao Ye was simply curious.

Seeing Wang Yan and Fang Hui come in after calling out, Teacher Hou said, "Put your books at your seats first. Fang Hui, you can sit there."

As he spoke, he pointed to the aisle seat in the second row by the window. He'd already rearranged the seats earlier.

Fang Hui carried her books over.

Then Teacher Hou said to Wang Yan, "Is it all right for you to sit in the back?"

Wang Yan smiled indifferently. "It's fine. I'm tall, and I'm used to it."

Teacher Hou shook his head. "Go put your books away."

Once the two of them had put away their books, Teacher Hou called them to the front of the classroom and said, "Come on, let's have our two new classmates introduce themselves. Give them a welcome."

The students clapped halfheartedly.

"Which of you wants to go first?"

Fang Hui looked at Wang Yan.

Wang Yan made a welcoming gesture.

Fang Hui was a little nervous. She hesitated, then said, "Hello, everyone. My name is Fang Hui. Thank you."

Not a sound came from the class.

Teacher Hou said, "Come on, clap for her. Fang Hui is a little shy, so let's all help her out from now on."

After the sparse applause died down, Wang Yan spoke in a strong, clear voice. "Wang Yan."

Everyone waited for him to say more, but after a while, Wang Yan still had nothing else to add.

Teacher Hou cleared his throat. "Come on, let's welcome Wang Yan."

Once the perfunctory applause was over, Teacher Hou said, "You two can go back to your seats. Let's begin class."

"Last lesson, we covered..."

This might be a little cheeky, but I still want to say something.

Writing The Year in a Hurry inevitably made me think back to my own glory days.

Today, I saw that quite a few of my readers were under seventeen.

I don't know if that's because of the age they used when they registered, or if those are their actual ages.

While you're growing up, countless people tell you to study hard. I'm sure you're all tired of hearing it.

But I still want to advise you: try not to read too many novels.

You'd be much better off using that time to read some serious books.

If you really can't stand reading, write something yourself instead. Historical fiction is best—look up plenty of sources and all that. It's way better than reading novels.

That's all I have to say.

And female readers read my books, too? I really don't understand.

It's amazing that the people who read my novels, written in my less-than-standard Mandarin, are mostly the big brothers from Guangdong.