Chapter 31

Sang rushed to the First People's Hospital of Rongcheng City.

The words "Surgery in progress" were particularly eye-catching in red. She almost collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

Isn't Grandma in Linchuan? When did she come to Rongcheng, and why did she end up in the hospital?

Sang Sui wanted to ask Sang Zhiyuan or Tan Huiyu, but the two were arguing.

Tan Huiyu: "Mom's here, and you're still not behaving properly. She even saw you! Sang Zhiyuan, I've really put up with you for long enough. Didn't you say you'd changed? You said you'd changed!"

Sang Zhiyuan: "Enough! What's the point of saying all this now? Mom's still lying inside!"

Tan Huiyu: "Mom is lying inside. You know in your heart whose fault it is. It's your fault!"

The noise of their argument made Sang Sui's head buzz. She couldn't understand their conversation at all, but as a second-year high school student, she had some vague guesses in her mind.

There are problems in the relationship between my parents.

There might be some other negative reasons as well.

At this moment, Sang Sui had no mind to guess what was going on between her parents. She had only one thought in her mind, which was to hope that her grandmother could be safe and sound.

Her first birthday wish was for Grandma Xu to be healthy.

Grandma will be alright.

Fortunately, it was just a minor surgery, and the operating room door opened after half an hour.

"The surgery is over, and it was very successful," the doctor said.

Sang Sui finally felt relieved.

She took a week off to stay with her grandmother at the hospital.

Grandma's condition stabilized quickly; she just suddenly felt a surge of anger and fainted.

He is now almost fully recovered.

Mo Luying said, "You've been with me long enough. Grandma is fine. You should go back to school and attend classes."

Sang Sui didn't actually want to go back; she just wanted to stay with her grandmother as long as possible.

But in the end, she went back to school. She couldn't really stay in the hospital with her grandmother the whole time, and her grandmother's condition was stable and she was about to be discharged.

Sang returned to school, and Tan Huiyu took her back.

In the car, the two remained silent, neither of them speaking.

As the car approached the school, Tan Huiyu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked, "Sui Sui, if Mom and Dad get divorced, who will you live with?"

Upon hearing these words, Sang Sui's heart skipped a beat.

"What happened between you and Dad?" Sang Sui finally asked.

Tan Huiyu said, "It's nothing." But as soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly broke down and cried.

At the end of this spring.

Sang Sui has shed too many tears.

Tan Huiyu said nothing, but Sang Sui had already guessed some of it.

As spring finally came to an end, new rumors began to circulate at school—Liang Fengshen and Mingying were dating.

Of course, this was just a rumor, and the biggest gossip at school at the end of June.

That day, they walked out of the school gate together and were seen by many people, not just Sang Sui.

Liang Fengshen is a prominent figure at school, and Mingying's family background is controversial, plus she is excessively beautiful. When the two of them are together, it is difficult for them not to be noticed.

The rumors spread like wildfire to every corner of the school.

Even Cheng Xiao, who was oblivious to everything else and only focused on clearing the game in Candy Crush, heard the news immediately.

Cheng Xiao only met Liang Fengshen in his first year of high school. He was with Liang Fengshen almost every day, and he didn't think that Liang Fengshen and Ming Ying had any interaction at school.

Mingying rarely comes to school, and even when she does, she doesn't interact with anyone, including Liang Fengshen.

Cheng Xiao had seen many girls surrounding Liang Fengshen, and the ones who impressed him the most, besides Lin Shuning who pursued Liang Fengshen so passionately, were Sang Sui.

He had no choice but to seek confirmation from Song Shiyue, looking utterly shocked.

Summer was approaching in Fuzhou, and the cicadas were already chirping incessantly. Two boys pushed their bicycles out of the school gate.

Cheng Xiao, with a Zhenwei bar in his mouth, said, "It's fake, right? Who's so bored as to spread gossip like this?"

"What do you mean, real or fake?"

“Liang Fengshen and Mingying, don’t tell me you didn’t hear this gossip.”

Song Shiyue said, "Perhaps."

"But they had absolutely no connection."

"You know too little. They've known each other since junior high."

Cheng Xiao's eyes widened, keenly sensing something amiss: "You weren't even in junior high with them, how do you know that? Do you know something else?"

"Um."

"Tell me quickly, there are things that even I, the 'Know-It-All of the Martial World,' don't know?"

Song Shiyue pursed his lips, looking unwilling to say more: "There are many things you don't know."

"Go ahead and say it."

Song Shiyue flipped over and mounted his bicycle, leaving behind only two words.

“It’s a secret,” he said.

They are young and full of life, and the secrets they possess are nothing more than a few, one of which is the innocent, heart-fluttering feeling of youth.

Sang Sui had just returned to school when she heard the rumors.

How could she not be sad? Sang Sui couldn't control her sadness.

Alone and dejected, she left the still bustling playground, her steps involuntarily leading her toward the rooftop of the teaching building, a place rarely visited by anyone.

She needed a quiet space, a cool breeze, to clear away the tangled mess in her mind and the sharp, piercing pain that made it almost impossible for her to breathe.

Pushing open the heavy iron door to the rooftop, a cool autumn breeze instantly rushed in, ruffling the fine bangs on her forehead.

She walked to the railing, placed her hands on the cold iron bars, and gazed at the sky in the distance, which was dyed orange-red by the setting sun, trying to let the vast view soothe her chaotic thoughts.

Just then, a suppressed, intermittent sobbing sound drifted into her ears on the wind.

Sang Sui was slightly taken aback. Following the sound, he saw three figures in another secluded corner of the rooftop.

The one surrounded by two other girls, her shoulders heaving violently, was Lin Shuning.

She wasn't wearing her dance costume today, just a regular school uniform jacket, but she looked exceptionally vulnerable.

Sang Sui instinctively wanted to back away, not wanting to disturb others or expose her disheveled state to anyone.

But as soon as she took a step, Lin Shuning's words, choked with sobs and almost broken, drifted over clearly:

“Actually, I knew it a long time ago. I knew he didn’t like me,” her voice choked with sobs, filled with helplessness and despair. “I should have known from the first time I confessed to him and was rejected.”

A girl gently patted her back and whispered words of comfort.

"But, but I just can't help thinking, what if?" Lin Shuning raised her tear-filled face. Her usually confident and proud face was now soaked with tears, filled with sadness. "What if he sees me someday? What if he's moved by me? I've fallen so many times while practicing dancing, but I haven't cried. He's rejected me so many times, but I haven't really given up. I thought that as long as I was good enough, persistent enough..."

She sniffed, her tears falling even harder, her voice filled with self-mockery and bitterness: "He told me before that he had someone he liked, but I didn't believe him. I thought it was just an excuse to reject me. I thought someone like him couldn't possibly fall in love with someone so early, and be so serious about it..."

"Looking back now, I was so stupid..." Lin Shuning's voice lowered, carrying a weariness and heartache after a complete awakening, "He really did have someone he liked, and he really... really liked Mingying."

The name "Mingying" struck Sang Sui's heart heavily.

It turns out that even someone as proud as Lin Shuning once harbored unrealistic "what if" fantasies, and after countless rejections, she still relied on that faint hope to sustain herself.

It turns out that he had already clearly told others that there was someone in his heart.

It turns out that his occasional gentleness and politeness, which she carefully treasured, were really just politeness and had nothing to do with special treatment.

It turns out that the undisguised panic and worry he showed when he ran towards Mingying was the most authentic version of himself when he truly liked someone.

All her guesses, all her uncertainties, all the excitement she felt for him from just a glance or a word, were cruelly confirmed by Lin Shuning's tears and words at this moment.

Sang Sui stood still, the autumn wind stirring up dust on the ground, making her thin body feel slightly cold.

As she watched Lin Shuning's weeping figure in the distance, she seemed to see herself hiding in a corner, secretly watching Liang Fengshen.

Their affections, one passionate and direct, the other quiet and unspoken, both ultimately led to the same hopeless ending.

She didn't listen anymore. Silently, she turned around and quietly, step by step, left the rooftop, closing the iron door behind her and shutting out Lin Shuning's heartbreaking cries.

Sang Sui walked in the empty stairwell, her footsteps echoing in the silence.

Tears rolled down my cheeks without warning, dripping onto the cold cement steps and leaving a small, dark, damp stain.

She didn't make a sound, just let her tears blur her vision.

For Lin Shuning, and for herself.

For this spring that has already quietly come to an end.

This summer arrived enveloped by increasingly scorching sunlight and ever-thickening, humid air.

The ceiling fan in the classroom creaked and spun, stirring up a stuffy wind, but it couldn't dispel the invisible pressure in the hearts of the teenagers who were about to enter their senior year of high school, nor could it dispel the even heavier gloom that permeated certain corners.

That summer, as the second year of high school was drawing to a close, during an ordinary break between classes, a piece of news, like a thunderclap, exploded without warning throughout the grade—Mingying had dropped out of school.

What began as whispers quickly spread like wildfire.

"Have you heard? Mingying from the art class has withdrawn from school!"

"Really? Why? We're almost in our final year of high school!"

"What else could it be? Probably because after what happened last time, he felt too ashamed to stay any longer..."

"Her family situation...sigh, it's pitiful."

"What's so pitiful about her? She's the mistress's daughter..."

"Shh, don't say that!"

Sang Sui's hand, which was writing English words from memory, suddenly stopped, and the pen tip drew a long, abrupt mark on the paper.

Mingying... dropped out of school? Is she just going to disappear from Rongcheng No. 1 High School so suddenly and completely?

Her first reaction was not relief or reassurance, but a strange and immense emptiness, followed by a sharp worry—what about Liang Fengshen? What would happen if he found out?

She could almost picture his reaction when he heard the news. The image of him running away recklessly on the high jump field, the focused and gentle gaze he gave Mingying as they walked side by side at the school gate.

Mingying was clearly of great significance to him.

Sang Sui dropped his pen and abruptly stood up from his seat.

She had to go see him, even if it was just a glimpse from afar, to make sure he was alright.

She wanted to know how he was doing, hoping she could offer him a word of comfort, even if he didn't need it.

She practically ran out of the classroom, heading towards Class 26 of the senior year.

The corridor was bustling with people, still noisy, but she felt that all the sounds were separated by a membrane, blurry and unreal.

As soon as she ran to the vicinity of the back door of Class 16, she saw that familiar figure—Song Shiyue.

He was standing there, his brows slightly furrowed.

Seeing Sang Sui rushing over, Song Shiyue immediately went to meet her and gently stopped her with his hand.

“Sang Sui.” His voice was still gentle, but it carried an undeniable firmness.

“Song Shiyue, I…” Sang Sui gasped for breath, eager to explain his purpose.

“I know.” Song Shiyue interrupted her, his eyes filled with understanding and a hint of barely perceptible pity. He shook his head and lowered his voice, “Don’t go over there. Right now… don’t bother him.”

Sang Sui's heart sank suddenly.

Following the direction of Song Shiyue's gaze, she looked into the classroom through the glass back door of Class 6.

The seat at the back of the classroom, by the window.

Unlike other students, Liang Fengshen did not take breaks, chat, or catch up on sleep during class.

He sat motionless in his seat, with his back to the door.

The afternoon sun shone brightly through the window, but it seemed unable to penetrate the invisible, heavy gloom surrounding him.

He was slightly hunched over, his head bowed, one elbow resting on the table, his fingers digging deep into his thick black hair, gripping the roots tightly.

That figure, which was always as straight as a poplar tree, was now filled with indescribable dejection and despair.

Sang Sui had never seen Liang Fengshen like this before.

In her memory, he was always aloof and composed, a leader who stood in the light and led the oath-taking ceremony, a shining boy on stage holding a guitar and singing softly, a stubborn boy who could insist on completing the performance even when he was sick, and a clean boy with a down-to-earth charm who would quietly eat soy milk and fried dough sticks in the early morning.

He should be full of vigor, surrounded by people, and forever maintain that aloof yet determined youthful spirit.

But at this moment, that figure huddled in the sunlight has lost all its luster, leaving only helplessness and vulnerability.

Sang Sui's breath caught in his throat, and his heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by an icy hand, trembling with pain.

All her thoughts of going forward to comfort him seemed so pale, so untimely, so ridiculous the moment she saw his back.

What right did she have to comfort him? As someone who secretly admired him? He might never have even truly cared about her existence.

Her comfort was perhaps nothing more than a gentle breeze to him, who was immersed in his immense grief at that moment.

All she could do was stand far away with Song Shiyue, like an outsider, watching helplessly as the boy she had cherished in her heart for so long was swallowed up by invisible pain, without even the right to take a step closer.

What a spirited young man!

How did it become like this?

Was it because Mingying left?

She never truly understood their story, and would never have the chance to know it again. It was like a gust of wind that swept through her youth, leaving a deep mark, but never truly belonging to her.

In the classroom, the sharp sound of the school bell shattered the frozen, heartbreaking silence.

Liang Fengshen remained in that position, motionless, as if isolated from his surroundings.

Only after the teacher entered the classroom and the students returned to their seats did he slowly, as if using all his strength, straighten up slightly, but without raising his head.

Sang Sui took one last look at him; his silhouette was etched into her eyes, burning and painful.

She silently turned around and followed Song Shiyue out of the back door of Class Six.

The two remained silent the entire way.

On her way back to her classroom, Sang Sui looked up at the sky outside the corridor window, glared at by the scorching sun. The camphor tree leaves drooped listlessly, and cicadas chirped their hearts out, as if using their last breath to protest the cruelty of summer.

She licked her slightly chapped lips and tasted an indescribable bitterness.

This summer, the handwriting on the exam paper was blurred by sweat, the fan stirred up the sweltering wind, the secret in her heart went moldy, her home became crumbling, and the boy who had amazed her throughout her youth shattered into a silent mess in a corner she couldn't see.

Summer has arrived quietly.

But why is this summer so bitter?