Chapter 22 The Bitter Summer: She Lost Him at the End of Summer

The following Saturday, Shen Qingli got up very early. She was going to the hospital to see Xia Lin. Before leaving, she took out the exercise book that was locked in the cabinet, looked at it carefully, and then carefully put it into her schoolbag.

When I arrived at the hospital, it was still early, and the hospital was quiet with hardly anyone around.

As she walked to the door of Xia Lin's ward, she bumped right into Lin Xiaqing, who was opening the door.

Seeing that it was her, Lin Xiaqing was also a little surprised: "You came so early?"

"Oh right." Upon seeing him, Shen Qingli was somewhat taken aback and nodded blankly.

"My mom hasn't woken up yet. You're here so early. Have you eaten?" He asked, oblivious to her unease.

"Hmm...not yet."

After saying that, she immediately lowered her eyes, somewhat afraid to look at him.

"That's perfect. I haven't eaten yet either. If you don't mind, there's a breakfast shop near the hospital entrance. Would you like to go and grab something together? Otherwise, you might feel unwell if you don't eat breakfast."

Hearing Lin Xiaqing's well-intentioned reminder, Shen Qingli nodded and agreed.

So they walked out of the hospital side by side and sat down at the breakfast shop that Lin Xiaqing had mentioned.

At this time, the breakfast shop was packed with people. They walked around the shop before finally finding a seat in a corner.

After sitting down, Shen Qingli watched as the person in front of her skillfully took out the paper and wiped the table. She followed his movements and wiped the table as well.

The shop owner walked over to them with the menu, and when he saw it was Lin Xiaqing, he greeted him: "It's you again. Is it the same as usual this time?"

Upon hearing this, he politely nodded to the owner and pushed the menu in front of Shen Qingli as he spoke: "Take a look and see if there's anything you can't eat or don't like."

"No, just pick what you want." She glanced at the menu briefly and said.

"Okay." He replied, handing the dishes to the owner as he said, "Then please do it the same as before, but this time make two of each, one serving of scallion oil noodles without cilantro, thank you."

"Okay! Just a moment."

Watching the owner hurriedly run back to the kitchen with the menu in hand, she looked away, recalling the words Lin Xiaqing had just spoken.

She has always disliked cilantro, a habit she mentioned briefly when they were having lunch together at Xia Lin's house.

So he still remembers all of this?

After thinking it over, she lowered her head, secretly pleased with herself. She relaxed a little in front of him and started making small talk, saying, "The owner here seems to know you quite well."

"Well, the more times I come here, the more familiar we become."

"Do you often eat here?" Shen Qingli asked, noticing his tone.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaqing's expression became somewhat unnatural. He remained silent for a while before regaining his normal tone and saying lightly, "It's not that often, but there's only one breakfast shop near the hospital. Sometimes when I arrive early and haven't eaten, I'll come here."

"Oh...I see." She responded, but it was unclear whether she believed it or not.

The owner of this breakfast shop served food very quickly. She couldn't help but purse her lips as she looked at the steaming soy milk in front of her.

"What's wrong? Eat." Lin Xiaqing glanced at her, thinking that she was a little uncomfortable because she was there, so she softened her tone and tried to make her words sound gentler.

Upon hearing his familiar tone, Shen Qingli's expression froze for a moment. After several seconds, seeing that the person in front of her still had a calm expression, she softly responded.

She picked up the chopsticks beside her, but had no appetite. She had lied earlier; she had actually eaten breakfast at home long ago. She touched her stomach, which was still a little full.

But she didn't want to disappoint Lin Xiaqing by refusing his suggestion. They hadn't eaten together at the same table in a long time, and besides, she had something to tell him today.

Just as Shen Qingli was hesitating about how to begin, Lin Xiaqing took a few bites of his noodles, put down his chopsticks, and began to speak: "You..."

Before he could say more than a few words, he was interrupted by a cell phone ringing.

Shen Qingli quickly realized it was her phone, and hurriedly took it out of her pocket. After glancing at the caller ID, she gave him an apologetic look: "Sorry, I have to take this call from home first."

"It's alright, you can go ahead," he nodded in response as if he didn't care.

After receiving a response from the other party, Shen Qingli took the phone and ran to the entrance of the breakfast shop.

Lin Xiaqing watched her run away, and remembering the phone she had just taken out, her eyes dimmed as if she had remembered something.

Looking at the thick soy milk in the plastic cup in front of me, I suddenly lost my appetite.

-

A few minutes later, Shen Qingli sat back down in front of him with the phone in hand, looking apologetic. She explained, "It was my sister on the phone. Something came up at home, and she called me to come back since I wasn't home."

Are you going back now?

It was a very simple question, but she didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that there was a hint of reluctance and regret in the words.

But looking at him through those words, and seeing the steam rising from the breakfast in front of him, his expression remained unchanged, calm and showing no emotional fluctuation whatsoever. So Shen Qingli silently berated herself, thinking that she must have misunderstood.

"Yes, that's it for now." After thinking it over, she felt a little helpless. She had been pondering how to bring up the other reason for her visit to Lin Xiaqing, but now there was no time for her to hesitate any longer.

So she took a deep breath, took the things out of her schoolbag in one go, moved them in front of him, and said, "I came here today not only to visit Aunt Xia, but also to return this to you."

Following her words, Lin Xiaqing subconsciously lowered her head and saw the two words "Xiaqing" written on the familiar workbook in front of her. Her pupils trembled violently a few times.

The next second, he looked up and his gaze met that of the somewhat uneasy Shen Qingli, who gave an awkward smile.

Seeing that he didn't react, Shen Qingli bit her lip and mustered up her courage to ask, "What's wrong...?"

She mistook Lin Xiaqing's reaction for his having forgotten about it, and although somewhat disappointed, she still explained, "This workbook is yours, you, do you remember? I promised you I would return it..."

"No."

But before she could finish speaking, Lin Xiaqing suddenly interrupted her.

Shen Qingli didn't understand his meaning for a moment, and asked uncertainly, "Wh-what?"

"This thing is no longer of any use to me. If you don't want it, just throw it away."

His voice was very soft, so soft that it seemed devoid of any warmth. After saying this, he resumed eating, keeping his head down and refusing to look at her again.

But she was almost overwhelmed by his words; a part of her defenses was crumbling. She had never expected him to say such things to her.

Even though she had considered countless possibilities before coming, she still couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness when she faced Lin Xiaqing, who was sitting in front of her without any reaction.

Shen Qingli blinked repeatedly, trying to suppress the stinging in her eyes and suppress the sadness in her heart, still unwilling to give up: "Are you bothered by the fact that I didn't come back back then? I can explain..."

She still wanted to explain what happened back then, but Lin Xiaqing refused to listen. He frowned and interrupted her again, saying, "No, it has nothing to do with any of that."

"What happened back then is in the past, it's not important anymore, let's not bring it up again, okay?"

His cold tone lingered in her ears, easily shattering all the explanations Shen Qingli had prepared. Although it sounded like a question, she knew Lin Xiaqing was unhappy because she had brought up the past.

Thinking of this, she choked up involuntarily, and everything that had happened in the past month kept replaying in her mind.

Once upon a time, their past had become a memory that Lin Xiaqing was unwilling and did not want to mention again.

"So... that summer vacation really meant nothing to you, right?" She seemed at a loss, as if she had a fishbone stuck in her throat, yet she still seemed unwilling to give up and wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Hearing her noticeably hoarse voice, Lin Xiaqing's eyes paused for a moment. He subtly clenched his left hand, which was resting on his palm, as if he couldn't bear to do anything about it.

But he kept his head down, and Shen Qingli couldn't see the expression on his face. She only knew that he refused to look up into her eyes.

She viewed his behavior as a sign of indifference and disregard for her.

The atmosphere froze for a moment. After a long, long time, just as she thought she would not get an answer and angrily got up to leave.

The person behind her finally spoke, calling her name with unprecedented indifference: "Shen Qingli, what happened back then is in the past, and summer is over."

Then, he moved his lips and said a few more words. Upon hearing this, Shen Qingli turned her back, picked up her schoolbag, and left the noisy breakfast shop in a huff and a huff.

The exercise book that should have been returned to its rightful owner was left in front of Lin Xiaqing. He stood up, watching her receding figure, concealing the fleeting struggle in his eyes, and pursed his lips without making a move.

He looked down and saw the name on the workbook. He reached out to pick it up, but stopped halfway through.

This belongs to Xia Qing and has nothing to do with Lin Xia Qing anymore.

From this day forward, it will always be so.

He can no longer possess anything that belongs to Xia Qing.

Thinking of this, he withdrew his hand, silently paid the bill, and left the breakfast shop empty-handed.

The bowl of noodles without cilantro grew colder in the chilly weather, and none of them ate much of the other food on the table.

-

Shen Qingli ran outside the shop. The temperature difference between the outside and inside was huge. The chilly wind made her shiver and also made her suddenly wake up.

She finally realized that Lin Xiaqing was right; it was no longer summer.

She carefully preserved everything that belonged to their summer memories, only to discover in this late autumn that the other owner of those memories had already quietly gone far away.

That summer was just another ordinary summer vacation for him, just like any other.

But she was like a fool, naively believing that as long as all the misunderstandings were cleared up, they could restore their relationship to normal.

In reality, Lin Xiaqing didn't care about the past at all.

The wind rustled past my ears, and the words that person uttered before leaving were colder than the wind itself.

"There's no need to bring up the past; it's pointless."

"And... my name is now Lin Xiaqing."

He spoke his last sentence very slowly, and she heard it clearly, word for word.

The other person's words were like a cruel reminder to her that no wonder he pretended not to know her and no wonder he didn't want his original things.

Xia Qing, a boy from a small town, is naturally no match for Lin Xiaqing, who is now upright and virtuous. It seems reasonable for him to erase all knowledge about his past.

In everyone's eyes, Lin Xiaqing, who is surrounded by all the spotlight and attention, should not have had the experience of living in the countryside.

This was the only reason she could think of. Even though she had considered this possibility a long time ago, now that everything had been confirmed, she was more heartbroken than anyone else.

Summer had passed, and Shen Qingli hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to Xia Qing before she lost him at the end of summer.

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Author's note: Summer is over TT