One evening, Ashan was alone at home. He set up a lounge chair in the yard, turned on the radio, and listened to a radio drama, feeling quite comfortable. At that moment, Xiao-Hui called out to Ashan from beyond the bamboo fence and brought a large bowl of homemade ai-yu jelly ice. Xiao-Hui scooped a cup for Ashan, who sat up to take it. "Mmm, it's really delicious!"
With no one else at home, Xiao-Hui sat down too, joining Ashan in listening to the radio drama. They sat together on the lounge chair, the radio drama's sound becoming increasingly unclear, while Xiao-Hui's breathing seemed oddly clear. It turned out Xiao-Hui had leaned in close to Ashan's ear. Unable to resist, Ashan kissed Xiao-Hui, causing both to blush. Thankfully, it was dark outside, and no one could see them.
Apart from their tutoring sessions, Ashan and Xiao-Hui also met secretly. They watched the sunset by the Keelung River, took walks in the fields, and enjoyed ice cream at a local shop, becoming each other's first close friend of the opposite sex.
Both Ashan and Xiao-Hui faced pressure to excel academically. They often met at the Confucian temple to study together. Xiao-Hui even dragged Ashan to bow before Confucius's shrine, praying to get into a good school.
Occasionally, Xiao-Hui accompanied Ashan to a school for the blind and mute to play basketball. Ah-Mei (aka Wang Jingmei) noticed that Ashan and Xiao-Hui seemed like a couple and teased Ashan about it, jokingly comparing their intertwined thumbs, though she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. To remind Ashan to study hard for the college entrance exam, Ah-Mei flexed her arm and opened her palms in front of her face, encouraging Ashan to study hard.
Parents on both sides noticed Ashan and Xiao-Hui spending more time together than necessary for tutoring. Ashan's mother quickly advised him to focus, as the college entrance exam was approaching. She emphasized that if Ashan could get into college, he would be the family's first university student.
In fact, Ashan's academic performance in high school was no longer as good as it had been in junior high. He didn't dare to mention the school's challenges to his parents. From then on, Ashan reduced his time with Xiao-Hui, focusing seriously on last-minute cramming, hoping to achieve good results in the entrance exam.
有個晚上，阿三一人在家。在院子裏擺了張躺椅，打開收音機，聽著廣播劇，好不愜意。這時小蕙在竹籬笆外叫著阿三，送來一大碗家裏做的愛玉冰。小蕙為阿三盛了一杯，阿三坐了起來接過手。嗯，真是好喝！
家中無人，小蕙也就坐了下來，一起陪阿三聽廣播劇。兩人坐在一張躺椅上，廣播劇的聲音越聽越不清楚，小蕙呼吸的氣息反倒聽的很清楚。原來小蕙把臉貼近了阿三的耳朵，阿三忍不住親了小蕙一下，兩人都紅了臉。好在天色很黑，誰也看不見。
阿三與小蕙除了補習以外，也偷偷相約見面了。基隆河邊看夕陽，田野間散步，小店裏吃冰，雙方都成了對方第一位異性的好朋友。
事實上阿三與小蕙都面臨升學的壓力，兩人也記得該溫習功課，所以常相約到孔廟去唸書。小蕙還拉著阿三，站在大成殿對著孔子神位拜拜，祈禱可以考上個好學校。
偶而小蕙也陪阿三一夥兒到盲啞學校打籃球。阿美也注意到，阿三好像與小蕙已成了一對，還打趣用兩個大姆指比在一起，戲弄阿三，不過心裏還是難免有點醋意。為了提醒阿三要好好用功考大學，阿美也彎起手臂再打開雙掌，放在臉前，鼓勵阿三要努力讀書。
雙方的家長也發覺到阿三與小蕙的來往，好像超過補課的需要。阿三媽趕緊勸告阿三要好好收心，因為大專聯考快到了，如果阿三考上了大學，那可是家裏的第一位大學生呢！
事實上，阿三在高中的功課，已經比不上初中那麼好了。學校裏不如意的事，阿三也不敢向父母提起。不過阿三從此就減少了跟小蕙見面的時間，開始認真的「臨時抱佛腳」，希望能夠在聯考中爭取好的成績。
A still from the movie 《A Brighter Summer Day》
電影《牯嶺街少年殺人事件》劇照