The Complete Collection of Qiongyao 1 -- Outside the Window

Author: Qiong Yao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Excerpt from the book:
On an autumn morning. The weather was clear and fresh, with the sun slanting across the streets. Dewdrops still clung to the branches by the roadside, as a gentle, cool breeze swept by. The sky was a deep, transparent blue, truly beautiful. On New Life South Road, Jiang Yanrong was walking alone. She was a slender, petite girl dressed in the school uniform of XX High School: a white shirt, black skirt, white shoes, and white socks. She carried a backpack that seemed too large for her. Her short hair was neatly combed back, revealing her small face entirely. Two clear eyebrows, a pair of dreamlike, misty eyes, a small, thin nose that looked pitifully thin, and thin lips tightly closed, hinting at a touch of premature melancholy. From her appearance, she seemed only fifteen or sixteen, but the student ID embroidered on her uniform showed she was already a senior. She walked steadily, clearly not in a hurry. Her arms, exposed under the short-sleeved white shirt, were pale and thin, looking quite pitiful. But her eyes were hazy yet adorable, thoughtful, gently glancing over everything by the roadside. She was lost in thought, walking slowly and absentmindedly. Clearly, she was immersed in her own world, a world unknown to others.
A bus sped past her, and a male student cycling nearby left a sharp whistle in her ear, but she remained oblivious, lost in her own thoughts, as if the world had nothing to do with her.
Reaching the end of New Life South Road, she turned right, crossed the bridge over the drainage ditch, and passed the gate of the Industrial Vocational College. The street began to bustle, lined with two-story buildings on both sides. Barefoot children chased and ran about, and most shops were already open. Jiang Yanrong continued to walk slowly, lifting her head to gaze at the windows of the buildings. She gave herself a quiet smile.
"Where there are houses, there are windows," she thought with a smile. "Where there are windows, there are people. People live inside the windows, but the world outside the windows is more beautiful." She looked up at the sky, a spark of liveliness flashing in her eyes. Pulling the strap of her backpack, she walked forward lazily, her face still wearing that quiet smile.
Passing by a bicycle repair shop, she saw a classmate pumping up a bike. The classmate called out to her, "Hey, Jiang Yanrong, you're really early!" Jiang Yanrong smiled and replied, "You are too." After finishing pumping, the classmate leaned against the bike, gave Jiang Yanrong a mysterious smile, and announced the big news, "I have some good news to tell you. Yesterday, when I went to school, I found out that our class teacher for this semester has already been decided—it's Kang Nan!"
"Really?" Jiang Yanrong asked casually, not feeling the news was anything special at all. The classmate nodded proudly and rode off on the bike.
Jiang Yanrong continued on her way, secretly wondering why her classmates cared so much about teachers and books. She was tired of all this. Who the teacher was—what did it matter to her? Discarding the question, she returned to her interrupted meditation. She thought deeply, her brows slightly furrowed, until a voice called out from behind her, "Hey, Jiang Yanrong!"
She stopped and turned around. A tall, broad-shouldered classmate was walking toward her, a happy smile on her face. "I thought no one would arrive at school earlier than me," the classmate said with a smile. "But you arrived even earlier!"
"Which way did you come from? Zhou Yalan? I didn't see you on New Life South Road," Jiang Yanrong asked, a look of surprise on her face.
"I came by bus. Why didn't you take the bus?" Zhou Yalan walked up, linking her arm with Jiang Yanrong. She was almost half a head taller than Jiang Yanrong, her dark skin contrasting sharply with Jiang Yanrong's pale complexion.
"Anyway, it's early, what's the point of taking the bus? Take your time and stroll around. Walk, think, breathe some fresh air—it's nice, isn't it?" Jiang Yanrong said, leaning closer to Zhou Yalan and smiling. "Don't think just because we arrived early, there are people who got here even earlier!"