Lin Sitian sat down next to Zhou Sheng.

The situation at the dinner table suddenly became very strange. Some perceptive people remained silent, and some boys who didn't understand the situation were about to make a scene. Suddenly, Yang Xuelin stood up and took away the empty bottle in the middle of the table, and shouted, "Oh, it's boring. I don't want to play anymore. Ask the waiter to bring some more wine, Wang Yue."

Wang Yue, who was about to tease Lin Sitian, was called out and frowned, "Why don't you go and call her?"

Yang Xuelin glared at him.

"I understand, I understand. I'll go, miss."

Then everyone started laughing and talking as if nothing had happened.

The boy at the opposite table had already started bragging. Lin Sitian hadn't spoken to Zhou Sheng since she came back. She even turned half of her body towards Yang Xuelin. The two besties talked about the funny instant noodle animation they watched recently. The more they talked, the more excited they became. Lin Sitian almost rolled on the ground laughing so hard.

Zhou Sheng probably also sensed a sense of incongruity, and glanced at her several times. She looked normal, even a little drunk from the wine. Her face was rosy, and her eyes were bright and full, as if dotted with starlight, radiant and dazzling.

She also drank with others.

If the conversation turns out to be funny, we have to drink; if we talk about something bald, we have to drink; if eight groups of people come over, we have to drink with those we know and those we don’t know; in short, there is no reason not to drink.

"Lin Sitian."

He called her from behind. Yes, she was sitting next to him, but her back was completely turned away.

Lin Sitian seemed not to have heard it and was still arguing with Li Hailiang about who could drink more.

"Lin Sitian." Zhou Sheng patted her back gently.

He wanted to persuade her not to drink.

I agreed that I still have something to say to him tonight.

Does this still count if she's drunk?

It seemed that she had drunk too much. She was a little dull and had no reaction at all.

"Lin Sitian." But he persisted.

The chair rubbed against the floor with a "clack" sound, and Lin Sitian stood up suddenly, "I'm going to go out and sober up."

A little worried about her condition, Zhou Sheng was about to stand up, but Lin Sitian turned her head, frowned slightly, and said to him impatiently, "You are so annoying."

The seats were crowded and no one noticed the tense atmosphere between the two.

This was the first harsh word Lin Sitian had said to Zhou Sheng since they became deskmates.

Zhou Sheng looked at her in astonishment. His body, which had already left the chair, froze in place, unable to move forward or backward.

After Lin Sitian finished speaking, she walked away without any intention of explaining anything to him.

There is a mountain road behind the farm restaurant. There are lush trees on both sides of the road. There are no street lights here, and the shape of the road can only be vaguely seen in the moonlight. In the middle of the road, a wooden railing was built. There was an opening in the rock on the other side, and outside was an empty valley. From time to time, a lonely breeze blew slowly from the gap.

Lin Sitian lay on the railing to enjoy the breeze.

There were footsteps behind her and a hand patted her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

It’s Yang Xuelin.

Lin Sitian shook her head, held her cheek with one hand, and smiled faintly, "You drank too much, sober up."

"There's no need to pretend in front of me." Yang Xuelin leaned on the railing beside her, "If you feel uncomfortable, just tell me. We have been good sisters for many years. Don't I understand you, Tiantian?"

Lin Sitian raised her other hand again, and her pretty face was squeezed into two balls by the palms of both hands.

"I'm heartbroken," she said.

Yang Xuelin sighed.

"I'm heartbroken, Xuelin." Tears rolled out of her eyes unexpectedly, "I'm a fool, an incomparable fool."

Yang Xuelin came over, put her arm around her shoulders, and silently touched her forehead, "It's my fault. I was too impatient."

She was too smart for her own good. After seeing Zhou Sheng's reaction to Lin Sitian and his reply that he was willing to date in high school, she thought that they were almost certain to be together, so she wanted to add fuel to the fire. Unexpectedly, she ended up making a mess of things.

"It's not you," Lin Sitian couldn't help shaking her head, trying hard to hold back the tears that were about to fall, "He wants to be in a relationship, he just doesn't like me..."

"But..." Yang Xuelin always felt that it was unreasonable. Zhou Sheng didn't look like he was not interested in Tiantian, but she had already messed up once and didn't dare to make any rash conclusions.

The tip of her nose felt sour, and even her mouth looked ugly and drooped. Lin Sitian wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, "I don't want to fall in love anymore, I don't want to like anyone else anymore..."

My heart hurts so much, it hurts so much.

A whole lemon dripped into her blood vessels, every nerve ending felt sore, and her brain cried out of oxygen deprivation.

When did it start?

She likes Zhou Sheng.

It seemed like he was saying, "It's not difficult, just wait a moment," and he touched her head.

It’s too easy, it’s too easy to fall in love with someone, and this kind of love is too cheap.

When she loves someone, she is not afraid of anything. She becomes better for him, musters up courage for him, tries her best to reach every insignificant possibility, and secretly rejoices in every tiny approach. He accompanies her home, tutors her, and rewards her. They hug, hold hands, and say see you tomorrow.

The result was just one sentence: he wanted to fall in love, but not with her.

Secret love sprouts and grows wildly in the April day when grass is lush and birds are singing.

Someone accidentally knocked over a spark and set a whole prairie on fire.

Those passions are stranded, and the heartbeats have no time to return.

It was nothing more than a heartless and empty joy. "You go back first, I'll go back after a while."

After venting her anger with her good sister for a long time, Lin Sitian finally calmed down. However, the swelling in her eyes had not gone away yet, so she had to send Yang Xuelin away first.

Yang Xuelin helplessly wiped the corners of her eyes with the thumbs of both hands and warned: "Then I'll go back first. Don't stay alone for too long, otherwise they will come. Don't think too much. Boys, our little sweetie is so cute, it's not like no one likes her."

Lin Sitian smiled with tears in her eyes and pushed her, "Go away."

"Remember to come back soon, there are a lot of bugs in the mountains."

"I know."

The mountain path soon returned to calm. Lin Sitian leaned back on the railing and looked out at the valley at night.

Not long after, there was another sound of footsteps behind her. Lin Sitian pursed her lips without even turning her head, "I told you I'll be back soon."

"Well."

Hearing a boy's voice, Lin Sitian turned around quickly, while Meng Qiaoyu stood there awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry, I thought it was Sherlin."

"It's okay, I'm just passing by."

“Passing by?”

"We finished the wine, and when we called the boss's wife, she couldn't spare her hands. She said if we were in a hurry, we could go to the back and get it ourselves. There is a warehouse in front, and her father-in-law is watching."

Lin Sitian stood up and stretched her body pretending to be tired, "I'll go with you."

"I can get it."

"I'm bored too." Mainly because she was embarrassed to just stand there and stare blankly.

Meng Qiaoyu didn't bother to be polite, "Come on then."

The two of them were walking on a mountain path at night. Lin Sitian suddenly remembered something and said, "I'm sorry, my classmate made fun of you."

"What's the big deal?" Meng Qiaoyu shrugged. "I don't keep this as a secret."

"I'm going to tell you this, can't you just hide it?"

"Why do you want to hide it?" Meng Qiaoyu asked openly, walking briskly with his hands in his jeans pockets.

"Being known..."

"Is it embarrassing?"

...Isn’t it embarrassing?

"I like you, and you don't like me, that's all." Seeing a low branch in front of him, Meng Qiaoyu jumped forward in two or three steps to reach the leaves on the branch. "You are not wrong, and neither am I. How can I be embarrassed?"

He actually managed to reach it and pulled off two leaves.

Lin Sitian was stunned because he seemed absent-minded when he said this.

He made a shooting gesture and threw the leaves in his hand out.

The sneakers rustled on the weeds and dead leaves on the trail. "Besides, am I not good enough? I think I'm pretty good. I have all the qualities you want."

"Why are you so narcissistic..."

"What can I do if you insist on liking Zhou Sheng?" Meng Qiaoyu said suddenly.

Lin Sitian stopped and looked up in surprise.

Meng Qiaoyu stared at her dull reaction, and a burst of uncontrollable laughter came from his chest, "Why are you looking at me like that? Isn't your performance obvious?"

He grinned, "I couldn't make a conclusion at first, but you already jumped the wolf in the truth or dare game just now."

"That's Truth or Dare, not Werewolf!" Lin Sitian was a little furious when her secret love was easily exposed.

"Metaphorically." Meng Qiaoyu didn't care much.

The two men had already arrived at the door of the warehouse. A dim incandescent light was hanging under the eaves. Not long after, an old man came out from the inner room, explained his purpose, and helped them get two baskets of beer.

The return trip with the beer basket was only a few minutes away.

"I thought I concealed it well," Lin Sitian said, staring at the moonlit path, "I didn't expect that except for that idiot, even an outsider could see it."

No. Her thoughts suddenly paused - had Zhou Sheng also seen through it a long time ago? That was why he rejected her in this way?

"I feel sad when you say that. What do you mean by 'outsider'?" Meng Qiaoyu put his hand on his chest, "We are all on the same path now."

Lin Sitian glanced at him.

"We were both dumped. I was dumped, and you were dumped too. Aren't we the same kind of people?"

"You're so annoying, Meng Qiaoyu!" Lin Sitian kicked him unwillingly.

"I just don't understand, what's so good about that guy?"

What's good about it? Yes, what's good about Zhou Sheng?

Zhou Sheng is not good. He can do nothing except studying.

It was a quiet spring night. As we walked, the wine bottles in the basket clattered against each other, making crisp clinking sounds.

She suddenly stopped.

……Yeah?

No way?

He will treat her equally when everyone else has given up on her.

He would reach out to her when she had given up on herself.

He would hand her tissues when she was sad and would praise her when she worked hard.

His world was simple, but he was willing to let her in and create a habitat for her, a stranger.

Even if it makes his world more complicated.

Her Zhou Sheng is good in everything, except for one thing——

He was not "hers".

It wasn’t like that before, and it certainly won’t be like that in the future.

She couldn't like him anymore.

But in just two sentences, she was dragged back to the topic of heartbreak. The seventeen-year-old's mind was sensitive and delicate, like a string that was always taut, and a slight pluck would produce a continuous tremolo. Lin Sitian pursed her lips, and the sour feeling that she had finally ignored swept into her nose again, so sour that tears welled up in her eyes again.

"...What's wrong with you?" Realizing that she didn't follow him, Meng Qiaoyu quickly turned around, "Lin Sitian?"

She lowered her head and tried to grit her teeth to stop herself from crying out loud, but it was no use. There were too many tears accumulated and they suddenly slid down like a dam breaking. She couldn't help but start sobbing.

Meng Qiaoyu suddenly panicked, leaned down and hurriedly wiped her tears, "I said the wrong thing, don't cry."

When you start crying, the words "don't cry" mean nothing.

Clumsy fingertips were wiping the corners of her eyes.

"Lin Sitian, if you really feel so bad, can you please look at me?"

Meng Qiaoyu stood in front of her, the mountain breeze rustling and stirring his passionate heart.

"You come and like me...Lin Sitian."

"I will never let you cry."

…

…

...Maybe it's time to give up.

She thought.

"Lin Sitian——"

At the end of the mountain path, Zhou Sheng was outlined by the night into a moonlight silhouette.