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Ye Wenyu could only lower her head, shivering, and said to Cai Wenchuan, "Let's talk about it later. It's too cold. I need to go back to my dorm."
Cai Wenchuan forced a smile and said to her, "I know you're angry with me, but I've been waiting for you from eight o'clock to eleven o'clock, like a dummy telephone pole. Can you give me a chance to speak?"
The two of them stood there dumbfounded, like statues, neither of them carrying an umbrella, like two lampposts, letting the rain soak them for a long time.
The autumn rain fell like cotton wool.
Hearing Cai Wenchuan's words, Ye Wenyu was a little stunned. He waited from eight o'clock to eleven o'clock? That means he came right after she left for the bookstore. Her roommate must have told her that she went out to work, so he was waiting for her here like an idiot.
Is he trying to gain her forgiveness through self-punishment?
Why bother?
Ye Wenyu was shocked, but not moved, because she already knew that he didn't have feelings for her, so there was no need to be moved. Knowing the undeniable truth, she couldn't be touched.
He must have had a purpose in waiting for her like this. No matter how hard or touching a person's actions are, they cannot move a heart that is afraid of being hurt if they are driven by self-interest.
Even if you glue broken pottery back together, there will still be cracks; how much more so a sincere heart.
Therefore, Ye Wenyu raised her head, looked at Cai Wenchuan with a distant and unfamiliar gaze, and said coldly to him, "Then, let's get to the point. I don't want to hear any gossip." As she said this, she deliberately made herself look icy.
Cai Wenchuan felt a sharp pang of sadness; he had hurt her, which was why she had said those things.
He looked at her, then at the drizzle overhead. Under the yellowish streetlights, the raindrops resembled silver needles, twinkling in the darkness. He said to her, "Let's talk as we walk." Ye Wenyu could only nod, because if the two of them continued standing under the camphor tree outside the girls' dormitory, after a while, all the girls in the dormitory would probably know, and they wouldn't be able to sleep, secretly watching them.
Although Cai Wenchuan did something less than honorable to her, his personal charm still ranked first at Q University.
The campus heartthrob professor truly lives up to his reputation.
So the two of them walked and talked along the tree-lined avenue.
The light rain continued to fall, just like Ye Wenyu's mood at that moment. She suddenly realized that every low point in her life seemed to have occurred on a rainy day.
Feeling extremely depressed, I had no choice but to end my conversation with Cai Wenchuan as soon as possible.
A cold wind blew by, and the withered yellow leaves above swirled down, landing on their hair, shoulders, and feet.
Autumn is truly a season that makes people feel down.
Ye Wenyu remained silent, waiting for Cai Wenchuan to speak.
After an unknown amount of time, Cai Wenchuan finally mustered the courage to speak: "Xiaoyu, I'm sorry!" He apologized to her with a very sincere tone.
Ye Wenyu was stunned, then felt a pang of sadness, her eyes welled up with tears, and her eyes reddened. She wanted to cry, but she finally stopped herself. He owed her an apology, and now that the apology had come, she found that she was not as aggrieved or moved as she had imagined, nor had she forgiven him.
It's all too late!
If apologies were effective, what would be the point of having police? In the world of love, apologies are the most terrifying thing, because they often represent infidelity and hurt.
Cai Wenchuan glanced at Ye Wenyu and saw that she was very quiet. The night was deep and she had her head down, so he could not see her expression. He mustered up his courage and said, "I was wrong before. I should be honest with you. In the more than ten years we have been apart, so much has happened to us. We have both changed a lot."
At this point, Cai Wenchuan fell silent, as if gathering courage like a sponge absorbing water. Lost in his memories, he said hoarsely, "I thought she would never appear again, so when you got into Q University, I came to find you. I once wanted to live a good life with you, and I gave you my whole heart—"
Upon hearing this, Ye Wenyu suddenly raised her head.
Cai Wenchuan was startled by her intense expression, and his rambling words, which had been flowing like a loose thread, suddenly stopped.
He stared at her blankly.
A north wind blew by, rustling through the camphor trees. Ye Wenyu watched the yellowing leaves twirl and fall in the night. Camphor trees again! That enormous camphor tree in their Cai family courtyard, like a demon—was it still there? In Cai Wenchuan's world, was the camphor tree his favorite?
Therefore, she looked at him with eyes as cold as ice and gently asked, "Wenchuan, let me ask you, what kind of tree do you love most in this world?"
Cai Wenchuan was stunned, his heart pounding wildly, unsure of the meaning behind her question.
Ye Wenyu's large, dark, and bright eyes, like ink, stared intently at Cai Wenchuan, making him feel flustered and short of breath.
The north wind howled, blowing against people like a steel knife scraping their bones. The rain seemed to intensify, falling like scattered beans onto them, like whips lashing them. The weather was getting colder and colder.
Ye Wenyu's hands were icy cold. She thought to herself with annoyance, "The weather is already this cold. This winter will probably be the coldest winter in history!" Little did she know that all descriptions of scenery are expressions of emotion. Because she had discovered the true reason why Cai Wenchuan had approached her back then, her heart was cold, and she felt particularly chilly towards the outside world.
She ignored Cai Wenchuan getting wet in the rain and went to a newsstand to take shelter from the rain, and Cai Wenchuan followed her.
At this moment, her chest was filled with withered leaves.
Ye Wenyu said to him, "Answer me. Don't lie."
Cai Wenchuan thought for a moment and said seriously, "Camphor tree."
Sure enough! Like a bolt from the blue, Ye Wenyu felt a wave of disappointment wash over her, her heart aching as if being stabbed with a knife. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then reopened them, trying her best to remain calm as she said to Cai Wenchuan, "But my favorite tree is the sycamore! Do you know Nanjing? The entire city of Nanjing is filled with sycamore trees. Chiang Kai-shek planted them for his wife, Soong Mei-ling, because she said sycamore trees were her favorite!"
Cai Wenchuan looked at Ye Wenyu with confusion, not understanding the meaning behind her words. "To love someone is to give up an entire city for them." He had heard this story before.
But what does it mean that Xiaoyu suddenly brought this up?
He stared at her, countless questions swirling in his mind.
Ye Wenyu said to him with great restraint, "I also like sycamore trees. Like Soong Mei-ling, I hope that a man will love me wholeheartedly before I will be with him!"
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