Chapter 37 The Bet in the Bitter Summer Rain
"Yiqiu, this is your class's mock exam paper for Chinese. Teacher Chen asked me to give it to you so you can distribute it and tell you that we'll be going to go over it in the next class."
At the door, the class monitor of the neighboring liberal arts class 1 called out to Luo Yiqiu and handed her a stack of test papers.
"Okay, thank you so much, thank you for your help." Luo Yiqiu took the test paper, thanked the other person, and returned to the classroom to start distributing the test papers.
It's recess time now, and the classroom is noisy because of the test papers that have been handed out. Some students went out to get water and didn't close the classroom door properly, so a cold wind blew into the classroom. Many students are groaning and calling on the students at the front to close the door.
Amidst the commotion, Shen Qingli stared blankly at the mock exam paper in front of her. Since the beginning of their senior year of high school, their time seemed to have been accelerated, as they buried themselves in a sea of questions day after day. Before they knew it, winter had arrived in Suzhou again.
Luo Yiqiu, standing on the podium, called out the names of her classmates and carefully handed out the test papers. In the past six months, she had visibly changed a lot.
After Zhao Yixiao left, his parents and their family also moved away quickly, leaving Suzhou. Even Luo Yiqiu's parents could no longer contact them.
His departure left a deep knot in each of their hearts. Even though Luo Yiqiu never mentioned him again after that summer, they all knew that not mentioning him didn't mean they had let go.
Shen Qingyun went to university in the city, but she never gave up looking for him or contacting him. She told Shen Qingli that she always regretted that if she had known that it was the last time she met Zhao Yixiao, she would have tried harder to keep him.
At least setting aside all other feelings, they are still friends.
But if someone wants to leave and doesn't want anyone to find them, there's probably no way to do it, and everything she's doing now is in vain.
He left too decisively and too heartlessly.
-
"Qingli, let's go. Didn't we agree to go to the teacher during break to ask questions? By the way, how many points did you get on your Chinese test?" Shen Qingli's deskmate patted her arm and leaned over to ask her.
Upon hearing this, she snapped out of her reverie and remembered that there was a problem in class that the two of them had discussed for a while but still couldn't figure out. So they agreed to go to the teacher's office together after class to ask.
She spread out her test paper for the person next to her to see. Upon seeing her score, Shen Qingli's deskmate exclaimed, "Wow! You did so well this time! Why have you been looking so gloomy since earlier? I thought you were upset because you didn't do well on the test."
"No, I was thinking about something else." She forced a smile, meeting the puzzled look in her eyes. Not wanting to talk about what she was thinking, she changed the subject, saying, "Let's go to the teacher's office."
"...Okay! Let's go, let's go."
-
As the two of them passed several classrooms on the same floor, they reached the office door. Just as Shen Qingli was about to grasp the doorknob, she watched as the office door was opened from the inside.
Upon seeing the person inside the door, her expression froze, and Lin Xiaqing was also somewhat surprised to see her.
Both of them were stunned for a few seconds, then tacitly avoided each other's gaze. Shen Qingli turned to the side without expression, letting the other go first.
Then, she called to the people around her, and together they went into the office and closed the door.
Lin Xiaqing's figure lingered at the stairwell for a few seconds. He looked down at the things in his hands, unconsciously clenching them. Only when he heard the office door close did he finally take a step and walk downstairs.
-
Inside the teachers' office, the teacher that Shen Qingli and her friend were looking for wasn't there. Zhao Yufang saw them and greeted them, "You're here to see Teacher Yu again, right? She just went to the restroom and will probably be back soon. Wait here for her."
"Okay, thank you, Teacher Zhao." Shen Qingli nodded obediently in reply.
"It's nothing, but I've noticed you two have been quite proactive lately, frequently coming to the office to ask Teacher Yu questions."
"That's not being proactive, Teacher Zhao. It's just that we don't know how to do too many questions."
"You little rascals, it makes me so happy that you both came to ask," Zhao Yufang said with a smile, and Shen Qingli's deskmate started chatting like that.
"Oh, by the way, you two are taking the college entrance exam this June. Have you both decided which universities you want to apply to?" Suddenly asked, Shen Qingli was unsure whether to answer. Fortunately, the person next to her spoke up first: "Not yet. I feel like my grades have been fluctuating lately. Teacher Zhao, do you have any suggestions?"
After saying that, Zhao Yufang shook her head with difficulty, but she still gave her this suggestion: "You can't just say anything to a teacher, but I can ask your teacher Yu for advice later. She teaches your class, so she should know more about it."
"Then thank you in advance, Teacher Zhao, you're the best!" Shen Qingli's deskmate nodded with a smile.
Now, the teacher sitting opposite Zhao Yufang, hearing them talking about the school, also joined in.
"Hey, Teacher Zhao, I heard that Lin Xiaqing from your class applied to a university abroad?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingli, who had been standing silently opposite, suddenly looked up in disbelief at Zhao Yufang and the teacher opposite her, without realizing that she had lost her composure.
"Yes, that's what he was talking about when he came over." Zhao Yufang was quickly distracted by what the teacher across from her was saying, and she didn't notice the strange behavior of the student next to her, so she just casually went along with it.
"Are you really going to study abroad?" In this day and age, there are very few people around who can study abroad. When the other teachers heard this strange news, they also came over curiously.
Zhao Yufang nodded and replied, "It's pretty much true. I heard that his family has made almost all the necessary arrangements."
“I’ve never been abroad at my age, but kids these days are something else.”
"Hey, don't you even look at their family background? They're not ordinary people. I guess they're studying abroad so they can better manage their household when they come back."
"Tsk tsk tsk, that's true."
...
They were chatting idly in the office, and the conversation was still going on. But Shen Qingli seemed frozen in place. Her heart skipped a beat, and her ears were ringing. She couldn't hear anything clearly.
She stood there, stunned, not even noticing when Teacher Yu returned to the office.
The news that Lin Xiaqing was going abroad to study at university hit her like a ton of bricks, leaving her completely paralyzed.
Only after the teacher finished explaining the problem did she get pulled out of the warm office by her deskmate. The temperature difference between indoors and outdoors was huge, and a cold wind blew in from the corridor. In the depths of January, the cold wind pierced her face like sharp needles.
Shen Qingli returned to the classroom blankly, as if she had lost her soul, and did not say a word for the entire afternoon.
She doesn't remember how she got home that day; she only remembers that the winter of 2015 was incredibly cold.
And her winters are always filled with things that make her sad and annoyed.
-
In the lead-up to the Spring Festival in 2015, the senior high school students of Suzhou No.1 High School finally started their winter vacation.
This was also Shen Qingli's last winter at Suzhou No. 1 High School.
The next morning, with temperatures nearing zero, before the rest of the family had gotten up, Shen Qingli had already washed up, dressed, and left the house.
She took the earliest bus from the station and got off at the terminal station, stepping off the bus into the frosty air.
Returning to the countryside where she had lived for over a decade, she immediately felt a sense of unfamiliarity. Her days at the high school had been monotonous and exhausting, and she hadn't been back for a long time due to the heavy workload.
Staring at the bare trees around her and the still rugged, muddy path in front of her, Shen Qingli never imagined that she would one day feel so alienated from this place.
For some reason, she recalled Lin Xiaqing's words back then: having abandoned everything in the past, would he have the same emotions as her if he returned to this old place?
Following the road in front of her, she arrived at the entrance of the small shop where they had first met, as agreed, and sat down on the chair placed at the door.
Looking at the boundless sky outside, the weather was completely different from when she last came. The weather forecast said that it might rain in Su City, but Shen Qingli did not choose to bring an umbrella before leaving home.
She was betting on whether it would rain today, and also betting on a possibility, a possibility that the other person would say it to her.
-
She hadn't been sitting in her seat for long when it was completely light outside. The sun had just risen above the horizon when she saw the figure walking towards her from not far away.
He was wearing a white down jacket, much like when she first met him at No. 1 High School. As she watched him walk towards her, Shen Qingli silently counted the steps in her mind.
The third time.
This was the third time she had gone to see him. She had stubbornly told herself that things shouldn't happen more than three times, and today was the last time.
Looking at the boy who had already walked up to her, Shen Qingli knew in her heart that there probably wouldn't be a next time.
So she looked up at him and said calmly, "You've come."
"Okay." Lin Xiaqing nodded and sat down in a seat opposite her.
Shen Qingli watched his movements and saw the black umbrella in his hand. Suddenly, four words popped into her mind: "to see things through to the end."
Everything started with this umbrella, and everything should end with this umbrella.
The rain that was about to fall was different from the bet she made with Lin Xiaqing, just like their life paths, she and he never chose the same path.
In a sudden daze, she recalled that summer night's heavy rain again. Perhaps they were never on the same path from the beginning, but that heavy rain made a mistake, mismatching their lives that should never have been connected.
"Why did you choose this place? I thought you would never want to come back." She asked him in a very calm voice as she looked at the few pedestrians appearing outside.
It seems that only by returning here can Shen Qingli finally be herself again, without having to pretend that she doesn't know Lin Xiaqing, and without having to worry about others finding out about their past. But just as she thought, some habits are hard to change once they are formed. For example, right now, she is still worried that someone she knows might appear and find that she is sitting with Lin Xiaqing, so that someone will know about their relationship.
Fortunately, this wasn't Suzhou No. 1 High School, and no one would notice the two of them.
While waiting for the other party's reply, she felt saddened by her ridiculous habit.
Lin Xiaqing, however, did not answer her question directly. He followed her gaze, his expression showing a dazed look. "The first time I saw you was right here."
"What?" Hearing his incomprehensible words, Shen Qingli finally turned her head. She frowned, not understanding what he meant by "first meeting".
"It's nothing..." When she asked him that, the emotion in his eyes dimmed for a moment, but he quickly recovered.
He looked up into her eyes, a fleeting pain flashing across them, as if he didn't want to speak, but could only ask, "You came to me... what did you want to say?"
His sudden change of topic made her frown even deeper, and his next question sounded like both a question and a statement.
Finally, the final question has arrived. Shen Qingli thought to herself, but on the surface, she wanted to laugh at herself.
She never imagined that one day, she would have to pretend to be confused and ask about that solemn promise when both of them knew the answer.
Even if you don't want to say it, you have to.
This farce is finally coming to an end, but she can't tell whether she feels more relieved that everything is finally going to have a result, or more upset and nervous.
She bit her lip tightly, hesitated for a moment, and with a choked voice, finally asked, "Are you going to study abroad?"
-----------------------
Author's note: There should be two or three chapters left before high school ends TT, and suddenly I feel a little reluctant to leave.
A side note: I've run out of drafts. I have work to do during the National Day holiday and will be traveling. I'll be updating every other day for the next few days. If I don't update after 6 PM, please don't wait. I'm not sure how many drafts I can save before I leave. I'm working hard to finish them.
If we can save up more for the National Day holiday, we'll see if we can add an extra chapter for everyone on that day!
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