His grip was so strong, his fingers digging deeply into her wrist, pulling her body. She trembled, the books falling to the ground again, hitting her foot’s back with a heavy pain. He noticed immediately, crouching down to pick up the scattered books one by one, while his other hand still tightly gripped her.
Qianzi looked at his figure crouching at her feet, blurring again in her pupils…
“Xing Tuo…” After a long time, her voice drifted into his ears again, intermittently: “Go back and live your life well, don’t come looking for me again… After so many years, I’m happy to see you again… For no reason…” Her voice choked up: “Just because you’re still alive…”
He stared at her intently: “Why say, just for me, still alive?”
She wanted to laugh but found her throat blocked, coughing to cover it up: “It’s late. Let’s go. Goodbye.”
He blocked her path, staring her down: “Why won’t you answer my question? Or… weren’t we more than just classmates ten years ago?”
“I…”
“If what you say is true, that we were just classmates ten years ago…” His deep phoenix eyes held a determined look: “Then from this moment, I will try to change…”
Qian Qi stared blankly at his retreating back, stunned by his unfinished words.
In the gradually descending night, he took her book and opened the car door: “Come, I’ll take you home.”
Xia Qian Qi stood up and gathered the scattered papers on her desk. She looked at her watch – it was nearly seven in the evening.
Leaving the school, the twilight was thick. The bus stop near the school gate was shrouded in dim streetlights, with no pedestrians on the road. She checked her watch – the time was exactly seven, and the last bus was at 6:40.
She sighed softly, walking along the main road. The night air began to feel cool, and distant neon lights flickered.
Crossing a long slope led to a bustling street. Seeing the bus approach, she suddenly didn’t want to take it. She wove through the hurried crowd, walking leisurely, head down, watching her shadow cast chaotically by bright neon lights.
How nice to be a shadow, she thought. Never lonely, always accompanied. No matter what happens, someone always stands in front of it. Just quietly existing.
