eradicate

The waves of the sea surged towards my feet, carrying tiny sparkles, and the salty sea breeze ruffled my hair.

After sitting for an unknown amount of time, Shen Tinghe began to walk back.

Their hotel was right by the sea. As they entered the lobby, Shen Tinghe wanted to book another room, but when she checked her pockets, she realized she didn't have her ID; all her belongings were in the room.

Without a word, he turned around and took the elevator back to his room. The room was pitch black, with only faint moonlight coming in from the window.

Shen Tinghe turned on the light and was startled when she saw the person on the balcony. She thought Chen Rancheng hadn't come back.

After pausing for a moment, I started packing my things, mainly taking my identification documents.

What are you doing?

Chen Rancheng stubbed out his cigarette and came out from the balcony. As he approached Shen Tinghe, she smelled the cigarette on him. She took a breath and, without looking at him, continued tidying up. "I'll get a room."

Chen Rancheng snatched the things from her hands. "What's wrong with you?"

How could things have turned out like this?

Shen Tinghe looked at the things that had been taken away, but ignored them and didn't answer, continuing to pack up other things.

She didn't know what was wrong with her.

Seeing that she didn't react, Chen Rancheng's anger, which he had just suppressed, flared up again. He grabbed her arm and made her look at him. "I'm asking you what's wrong?"

What do you take me for?

His tone was cold and hard, and his grip on her arm was so tight it hurt.

"Don't do this." Shen Tinghe shook her arms, struggling against his restraints.

"Shen Tinghe, have I not told you not to think I have no temper?"

Shen Tinghe nodded. "I know you have a temper too, but what are you angry about? Are you angry that I said you weren't my boyfriend? Are you angry that I embarrassed you in front of so many people?"

Shen Tinghe placed her hand on his wrist, which was gripping her arm, and pulled it down forcefully.

“I have never agreed to be your girlfriend, and you have never asked me. You never did, and you never do. What makes you expect me to admit it? I, Shen Tinghe, have never been one to make empty promises.”

Her eyes were slightly red, but her tone remained calm. She didn't want Chen Rancheng to misunderstand that she was deliberately acting crazy because she wanted to be his girlfriend.

They didn't want his charity either.

She thought she could accept Chen Rancheng just like before, but she overestimated herself.

It's true that Chen Rancheng is good to her, but it's also true that he has a sense of detachment from her; she doesn't truly feel a sense of ownership.

The hand gripping her arm slowly loosened. "So what's our relationship?" If we're not boyfriend and girlfriend.

Shen Tinghe rubbed her arm, which had been gripped red. "Friends, I guess." She paused for a moment. "If you're willing."

Chen Ran laughed angrily; he didn't need her as a friend.

"Do you have any conscience, Shen Tinghe?" His tone was full of sarcasm. He abandoned his work to bring her out, and all he got in return was a "friend," and a "yes" no less.

A long silence filled the room.

"Just consider me an ungrateful wretch."

Chen Rancheng felt a lump in his throat and couldn't let it out, so he kicked the coffee table.

With a "thud," the wooden coffee table scratched a mark on the floor, producing a sharp scraping sound.

Shen Tinghe paused for a moment, then quickened her pace.

"You can stay here." With that, Chen Ran took his things and headed out.

The door slammed shut with a loud bang, and a gust of wind swept past my feet.

After a moment of silence, Shen Tinghe put down what she was holding and slumped onto the floor.

The quiet night was suddenly shattered by a loud bang, and fireworks fell from the sky, scattering down in tiny specks that reflected in Shen Tinghe's shimmering eyes.

One after another, different fireworks burst in the sky, accompanied by the lively cheers of the people.

It's midnight, a new year has begun.

The phone rang. Shen Tinghe quietly watched the fireworks outside the window, took out her phone, ignored the congratulatory text messages, and booked the next available flight back to Yucheng.

The flight was at night, so Shen Tinghe packed her things and simply pushed her suitcase away.

The pre-arranged car stopped in front of the hotel. Shen Tinghe put her suitcase in the trunk, opened the back door, and got in.

The New Year's atmosphere was vibrant, and groups of people could be seen setting off fireworks every few meters along the street. Shen Tinghe hadn't seen such a scene in a long time. Fireworks were banned in Yucheng, and she had rarely seen fireworks in recent years.

Seeing that she was carrying a suitcase and her destination was the airport, the driver asked, "Young lady, are you going home for the Chinese New Year?"

Shen Tinghe withdrew her gaze, paused for a moment, nodded, then looked away again, unwilling to say more.

As she was leaving, the driver, perhaps noticing her low spirits, said to her, "Happy New Year."

Shen Tinghe paused as she closed the car door, a slight tremor in her eyes, before a smile curved her lips. "Happy New Year to you too."

The next morning, Chen Ran stood in front of the door and knocked, but no one came to open it after waiting for a long time.

He had dark circles under his eyes; he had thought a lot yesterday, and he didn't realize he had caused her so much trouble.

When no one came, Chen Ran went to ask for a room key from the day before yesterday, only to be told that the person in the room had handed the key to the front desk and left. He was then asked if he needed to check out of the room.

"When did you leave?" Her fingers, which had been playing the piano on the marble countertop, froze in mid-air, her voice filled with panic.

"It was around two or three in the morning," the receptionist recalled.

"Okay, thank you." He then walked out.

The receptionist called out to him, "Sir! Are you checking out of your room?" But he had already disappeared from sight.

He pulled out his phone and realized he didn't have Shen Tinghe's contact information at all; a sense of helplessness washed over him in that instant.

Her words still echoed in my ears last night. She said, "Chen Rancheng, sometimes I feel that you are very good to me, so good that I can't believe that there is anyone else in this world who would treat me so well besides my parents."

But sometimes I feel like you're so far away from me. This distance can't be bridged by intimacy. You might think I'm being dramatic or pretentious, but your status makes me feel fear and unease.

She could ignore this when she was studying abroad because she was still a student, and there were many uncertainties in a foreign country, but she has to consider it now.

Instead of living in constant fear and waiting for bad consequences to emerge, it's better to nip them in the bud.

Before meeting Chen Rancheng, Shen Tinghe thought she would never fall in love with anyone.

She loves her parents because they are her family members who have lived with her for decades. They gave her life and raised her.

Love concrete people, not abstract ones.

Shen Tinghe felt that he would never be able to do it in his lifetime.

She liked that ethereal feeling, those indescribable yet mesmerizing moments.

A dense, delicate, and utterly illogical feeling.

It was an indescribable quirk.

She didn't think it was bad. She also knew that the abstract person didn't actually exist; he only existed in self-consciousness.

The person in question is ruthless, violent, even disgusting and repulsive. Accepting him is something you could never do in your life, just as true love requires effort and sacrifice.

In one of my classes, the teacher mentioned a quote from the Ukrainian educator Sukhomlinsky: "It is easy to love all mankind, but difficult to love one person."

Those words were like an arrow, piercing her deeply.

Early in the morning, with the first rays of the new year's sun, Shen Tinghe arrived in Yucheng, took a nap, and went straight home at noon.

Old Lin and Old Chen didn't know she was coming back today. She told them yesterday that she was going out with her classmates on New Year's Day. The sound of the door opening startled them. When they saw it was Shen Tinghe, they scolded, "That child, she didn't even say a word before coming back!"

Shen Tinghe smiled guiltily, leaning against the shoe cabinet as she changed into slippers, "I just wanted to give you a surprise!"

"Didn't you say you weren't coming back? You're going out with your classmates?"

"Oh yes, I haven't been able to book a plane ticket yet," Shen Tinghe laughed it off.

Lin Xueling picked up the down jacket she had thrown on the sofa and hung it on the hanger. "You wanted to go out and didn't know you should book your plane tickets in advance."

Shen Tinghe stuck out her tongue.

"But it's okay, we'll go home. Mom will cook you something delicious, just as good as what you get at restaurants."

The intensely suppressed emotions suddenly collapsed, and Shen Tinghe got up and walked towards the bathroom, squeezing out a sound from her throat as she went, "Mmm."

Shen Tinghe closed the bathroom door and let out a long sigh of relief. Outside, she heard Lin's mother muttering, "Judging by the time your daughter came back, I wonder if she's had lunch yet."

A deep, resonant voice pierced through the doorway, "Daughter, have you had lunch? I'll cook you a bowl of noodles."

Shen Tinghe cleared her throat and replied, "I ate."

My eyes were a little red. I washed my face in front of the mirror, pressed my fingertips against the corners of my eyes, and waited until I calmed down before going out.