Chapter 86 Rewind 4: Autumn Night Knows Spring
Lincheng's four-month rainy season begins in late autumn.
Starting from mid-November every year, the cold drizzle continues.
It is useless for people to hold an umbrella when walking on the road, because the raindrops are small and are blown everywhere by the wind, attacking pedestrians from all directions and penetrating every gap.
Luo Qinglin's birthday is in the middle of November, so it rains on his birthday every year.
This year's birthday was no exception. Luo Qinglin had just walked out of the dormitory in the morning when the cold, fine rain, carried by the wind, came towards him and stung his face.
Luo Qinglin rubbed his hands while breathing out, warming the palms and backs of his hands, then he opened his umbrella and walked towards the classroom.
It was only half past six in the morning. The sunrise in Lincheng was late, and it was almost the winter solstice, so the sky was still dark. The school road was sparsely populated, with only a few students carrying books walking towards the teaching building.
Luo Qinglin moved the umbrella forward and walked against the strong wind. His face was shielded by the umbrella and not touched by the rain, but the back of his neck and his pants were wet.
Shrinking his body, Luo Qinglin shivered as he walked a long way before finally reaching the teaching building. There was no one in the classroom. Luo Qinglin turned on the lights in front and behind, then sat down to review.
The sky gradually brightened, and at 7:30, other students arrived one after another, and the classroom became lively.
"Luo Qinglin, your bread." Li Hanlin pulled out a chair and put the bread on Luo Qinglin's table.
The person who came was Luo Qinglin's desk mate for three years. He had wheat-colored skin, a tall build, and was a member of the school swimming team.
Li Hanlin was admitted to a sports school a long time ago and had some free time in his senior year. Seeing that Luo Qinglin got up early every day and came to the classroom before the cafeteria opened, he would bring him breakfast.
"Thank you." Luo Qinglin raised his glasses and said.
Li Hanlin had a strange expression today. Unlike usual, he would fall asleep on the table as soon as he arrived in the classroom. Instead, he supported his right cheek and looked at Luo Qinglin, his eyes scanning up and down, as if he was sizing up a stranger.
Luo Qinglin looked at him and asked, "Is there something on my face?"
"No," Li Hanlin asked with a puzzled look on his face, "Why do some girls like you but not me? My muscles and my handsome face, aren't they attractive?"
"High school students shouldn't fall in love too early." Luo Qinglin glanced at Li Hanlin and continued to review while chewing bread.
"Ha..." Li Hanlin sighed, "High school life without love is a pity!"
After pausing for a moment, Luo Qinglin looked at the notebook with sunflowers printed on it and said, "It's a pity not to have someone you like."
"You kid!" Li Hanlin stood up and smiled gossipyly, "Do you have a girl you like?"
Not a girl.
Luo Qinglin shook his head and didn't answer.
"Forget it," Li Hanlin shrugged and took out a gift box from his bag. "Happy birthday, this is your gift."
In the past two years, Li Hanlin didn’t know his birthday, so why did he suddenly give him a gift this year?
Luo Qinglin thought he was really abnormal, so he didn't accept the gift and asked, "What's wrong with you today? It's very strange."
"What's so strange about wishing you a happy birthday?" Li Hanlin rolled his eyes and threw the box on Luo Qinglin's desk. "It's not from me. Someone asked me to give it to you."
"Who?" Luo Qinglin asked.
"Relax, it's not a little girl who likes you," Li Hanlin said ambiguously, "it was given to you by a boy."
Jiang Yanyu's face flashed in his mind for a moment, and Luo Qinglin quickly shook his head to break the unrealistic fantasy.
"I won't accept it. Give it back to whoever gave it to you." Luo Qinglin pushed the gift back to Li Hanlin's desk.
"Really not accepting it?"
"don't want."
"Okay." Li Hanlin didn't argue and put the gift back into his bag. Before the bell rang, he fell asleep on the desk.
Today is Friday, and the senior high school students should have stayed in school, attended one more day of classes, and returned home on Saturday.
But in order to work part-time outside, Luo Qinglin applied for a weekend off, so he could leave school as soon as the afternoon class was over.
When the bell rang, Li Hanlin, who had been sleeping all day, finally got up. Seeing Luo Qinglin packing his schoolbag, he sighed and said, "If you leave today, whose answers should I copy for tomorrow's test?"
"Just hand in a blank paper," Luo Qinglin put on his bag and left his seat, "I'm leaving. See you next week."
"See you next week."
The icy rain continued all day long.
Luo Qinglin sniffed, opened his umbrella, rushed into the rain, and walked with difficulty against the wind.
The school road was foggy and visibility was low. The sanitation workers hadn't swept the road all afternoon, and the asphalt was littered with sycamore leaves blown away by the wind.
Luo Qinglin grabbed his collar with one hand to block the seal, quickened his pace and ran, swiped his card, left the school gate, and rushed to the coffee shop where he usually worked.
The coffee shop is not far from the school, sandwiched between Lincheng No. 1 Middle School and Lincheng University. Every Friday night and weekend, the flow of people will surge, and most of the customers are college and high school students.
The store was warm, and the hot air from the air conditioner hit Luo Qinglin's glasses, forming a layer of mist on the lenses.
Luo Qinglin folded his umbrella and placed it in the umbrella stand, then walked into the lounge with ease, changed into a shirt and trousers, put on a half-apron, and walked to the door of the store to stand and wait.
Several other part-time students had not arrived yet, and only the boss was busy in the back hall. The soothing heat made Luo Qinglin feel sleepy, and he couldn't help but yawn.
"Qinglin, come here."
Luo Qinglin heard the call, rubbed his eyes, and ran into the back hall.
The owner of the coffee shop was a very thin man with sunken cheeks, pale skin and light-colored lips. He looked frail, but his eyes were black, bright and full of spirit, with a contradictory, morbid beauty.
"What do you want me to do?" Luo Qinglin asked.
The boss smiled kindly, took out a small box from the cabinet, and handed it to Luo Qinglin, "Happy coming of age."
"No..." Luo Qinglin didn't dare to accept it and subconsciously wanted to refuse.
"Take it. It's not a valuable thing. It's just a lucky charm to bring good luck. When I went to the temple to worship, the monks gave me a few of them." said the boss.
Luo Qinglin scratched his head helplessly, then took the Peace and Blessing and tied it around his neck, "Okay, thank you, boss."
The boss rubbed Luo Qinglin's hair and said with a smile: "Okay, go out and get ready. We'll be busy again when the guests come."
At half past five, it began to get dark.
The coffee shop was crowded with people. The door was pushed open by the next customer within seconds after the previous customer entered the shop.
"Hello, senior. Nice to see you again!"
"Senior, what limited coffee do you recommend this week?"
......
Luo Qinglin stood in front of several schoolmates, smiled awkwardly, and whispered, "This week it's raspberry blueberry latte."
After placing the order, Luo Qinglin bent down skillfully, waiting for the schoolgirls to open their phones so that he could take photos with them.
"Thank you, senior." The female students took photos with him, called another part-time college student over, chatted with him, and asked him to help with their homework.
Taking advantage of the empty space, Luo Qinglin stood back by the door to welcome the next wave of customers.
The coffee shop is extremely popular during the weekends, of course not only because the boss is skilled in cooking, but also because the students working part-time in the shop are all well-dressed and handsome.
Luo Qinglin is easily nervous and is young, so he often stands by the door as a mascot, leading customers to their seats and taking their orders, and rarely chats with customers.
"Huh..." Luo Qinglin took a breath and cheered himself up.
jingle!
The wind chimes on the door rang, and Luo Qinglin quickly smiled and greeted, "Welcome...to you."
Halfway through his words, Luo Qinglin was so shocked that he froze in place, staring blankly at the group of people in front of him.
Jiang Yanyu stood in the middle with an expressionless face, his arm on Lin Sangshen's shoulder. Next to him stood several beautiful couples with their arms around each other's shoulders.
Jiang Yanyu's gaze swept across Luo Qinglin coldly, and then he put his arm around Lin Sangshen without saying a word and sat in the nearest seat.
His heart began to beat wildly, with palpitations and dull pain. Luo Qinglin clutched the pen tightly and followed them with his head down.
"Excuse me, what would you like to drink?" Luo Qinglin didn't dare to look at Jiang Yanyu, and only dared to keep his eyes on the notebook.
Jiang Yanyu glanced at the menu and threw it to the others, "I want hot cocoa."
Several people placed their orders in turn. Luo Qinglin said, "Please wait, it will be ready soon," and prepared to flee to the back hall in a hurry, away from Jiang Yanyu and Lin Sangchen.
"Are you Luo Qinglin? Wait a minute!" someone shouted, stopping him.
The girl with almond-shaped eyes came over, holding a gift bag, and handed it to Luo Qinglin, "Luo Qinglin, right? My best friend likes you, and she asked me to tell you 'Happy Birthday'."
Luo Qinglin took a step back and said, "I'm sorry, I don't accept gifts."
The girl didn't let it go and put the gift bag on the ground. "She just wants you to accept the gift. She won't use this to bother you. Don't worry."
Seeing him hesitate, the girl said again: "If you return the gift, she will cry."
"Qinglin, what happened?" The boss walked to the front hall and saw the two of them standing there. He thought that Luo Qinglin had a conflict with the customer.
"nothing!"
Luo Qinglin had no choice but to put away the gift, temporarily put it on the counter, said "thank you" and hurried away.
Luo Qinglin was nervous the whole night. He wanted to secretly look at Jiang Yanyu, but looked away before his eyes reached her.
Jiang Yanyu didn't talk much. Most of the time, it was the girl with the almond-shaped eyes who was chatting and laughing with Lin Sangshen. Usually, others would chat for dozens of sentences before Jiang Yanyu would just reply with a cold “hmm”.
Although his eyes were not on Jiang Yanyu, Luo Qinglin seemed to have superb hearing. He could hear and remember everything Jiang Yanyu said.
Ever since Jiang Yanyu walked into the store, everyone else seemed to be blocked out. Luo Qinglin couldn't remember what he said to others, and the words "I want hot cocoa" kept repeating in his mind.
After ten o'clock in the evening, there were fewer customers in the store.
When it was time to get off work, Luo Qinglin took the gift to the lounge and opened the gift bag, only to find that it contained the gift box that Li Hanlin had given him during the day.
Is this a gift from a girl or a boy? Luo Qinglin opened the package and found a white scarf inside.
The scarf is soft and made of thick cashmere, and it looks warm at first glance.
Luo Qinglin hesitated for a moment, then thought of the cold rain and wind outside, and finally put the scarf around his neck.
There were only two or three people left in the front hall. By the time Luo Qinglin changed his clothes, Jiang Yanyu's table was empty, with only a few empty cups left.
Luo Qinglin couldn't explain the strange feeling in his heart, it seemed like he was lost, but also like he was relieved. After putting the cup in the back hall and saying goodbye to the boss, Luo Qinglin opened his umbrella, pushed open the door, and prepared to go to school.
The street lights outside were dim, the sky was dark, and no stars could be seen.
There was a figure lurking in the dark at the door. As soon as Luo Qinglin pushed open the door, he was frightened by the shadow.
Hearing the noise, Jiang Yanyu turned around coldly and glanced at Luo Qinglin with his eyes lowered.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yanyu was still there. Luo Qinglin immediately panicked and didn't know what to do. He didn't know whether to leave or stop.
"Your birthday present?" Jiang Yanyu asked, staring at the scarf.
Luo Qinglin didn't dare to speak and nodded nervously.
"It looks great, happy birthday."
After he finished speaking, Jiang Yanyu raised his feet, put on his hoodie, and left in the night, leaving only a blurry figure.
This was not the first time Luo Qinglin heard "Happy Birthday" today, but this time, Luo Qinglin was put under a spell by Jiang Yanyu's voice. He stood there in a daze, unable to move.
It was not until Jiang Yanyu's figure disappeared in the rain that he came to his senses and walked towards the school in a daze.
"Happy birthday."
“It’s pretty nice.”
"You look good."
"nice."
......
Throughout the night, these two sentences repeated in Luo Qinglin's bizarre dreams like a succubus's spell.
He dreamed that he was a fish, falling from the clouds into the deep sea, and then flipping from the sea surface into the scorching sun. His body temperature was sometimes hot and sometimes cold, and his consciousness was sometimes clear and sometimes scattered.
The panting sound in his ears was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, like Jiang Yanyu's, but also like his own.
The next morning, when Luo Qinglin woke up, his whole body was covered with sweat, his pants were sticky, and he was hot. He was startled for a moment, then calmed himself down skillfully and climbed down from the bed in the dormitory.
The roommate was awakened by the sound of splashing water. He squinted his eyes and looked towards the balcony, and asked, "Luo Qinglin, why do you always wash your pants in the morning recently? It's so noisy!"
Luo Qinglin held up his glasses, licked his dry lips, smiled and apologized, "I'm sorry..."
The author has something to say:
Jiang Yanyu: You don’t want to accept my gift? I'll give it to you! (angry)
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