What it was like 20 years ago

Editor's note: Cao Zizi is a teacher of first-year junior high school students in Shanghai.

Iwas born in the 1970s. Very few of my peers dared to write notes or letters to express affection or love when we were in junior high school, although we developed crushes on boys, of course.

I would put my bicycle next to that of the boy I liked, to increase the chances of an encounter. I would watch him playing basketball from a distance, feeling the happiness and sweetness in my heart. I even celebrated when I found that I had achieved the same test score as him. I never told him how I felt, because I wanted to keep everything pure and beautiful.