How We Used to Be (8)

If not for the thing that happened later, Song Qingchun thought her connection to Su Zhinian would thus be over. It happened on Christmas Day.

She went south to celebrate Christmas with Qin Yinan. She brought along her bravery to finally confess to Qin Yinan. She spent the whole night convincing herself on the train before reaching Qin Yinan's school the next morning.

She wanted to give him a surprise, so she did not call beforehand to inform. She did not know Qin Yinan's room number, so she went about asking the student there for help. When she finally got to the location, she saw Qin Yinan before she even reached his hostel.

Her crush, Brother Yinan was hugging a girl in his arms as they sped away in his car. After that, she gave Qin Yinan a call, but it was not answered. She really did not want to put those unwanted thoughts in her mind, but it could not be helped. Is that Brother Yinan's girlfriend?

She waited for Qin Yinan at his school until the sun set, but he still hadn't returned. The courage she had gathered along the way from Beijing left her body during that long period of waiting. In the end, she did not even have the courage to face Qin Yinan anymore. Therefore, she returned to Beijing without even seeing Qin Yinan.

By the time she returned, all train tickets had been sold so she returned via plane. The Christmas Day where everyone over the world was happy celebrating with friends and family, she spent it alone on the plane.

When she reached Beijing International Airport, it was close to 1 am. At the time, she was only a senior student; she did not have a credit card, and she had depleted the cash on her to purchase the plane ticket.

Song Menghwa had gone travelling to Hong Kong with her mother, and the housekeeper was on holiday leave. It was why she was so brazen to steal away from home.

It was so late in the night that even if she called her classmates, no one would come to fetch her. She stood for a long time in the night breeze, and after a long hesitation, she pulled out her phone to call home.

When she made the call, she was really unsure whether Su Zhinian was home or not because he would normally spend his weekend at the hospital to accompany his mother. At the time, she really only wished to try the call, but to her surprise, it only rang once before it was picked up.

The voice that came through was chilling like usual, but for some reason, that night she found warmth in its familiarity.

Half an hour after she hung up the phone, he appeared. She had not had a bite to eat since early morning, so when they passed a twenty-four-hour fast food joint, she grumbled that she was hungry.

Her voice was so soft that she herself did not realize the words had come out of her mouth. However, Su Zhinian still stopped the car and accompanied her in to buy some food.

When they reached home, it was already three in the morning. The two days and one night of hustle and bustle had tired her greatly, and she fell asleep in the car. It was Su Zhinian who carried her in his arms from the car and up the stairs.

When he placed her on her place, she woke up blurrily from her dreams and as he covered her in her mattress, she mumbled, "Thank you."

At the time, her eyelids were so heavy that she could barely keep them open. Therefore, she was unsure if she dreamed of him replying, "Good night."

It was probably the first time she had heard something gentle came out of his mouth in all the time they had known each other.