Chapter 70 The Lucky Draw: Thirteen Learns to Smoke
Xingmian still had tears clinging to his eyelashes. When he heard him call out to the dignified man in the elevator, Ayu froze on the spot.
The man stepped out of the elevator, his posture upright, his brows radiating an arrogance that made one hesitant to look him in the eye. If it weren't for his loose skin and the wrinkles on his forehead, it would be difficult to tell that he was quite old.
The man's gaze was like a pot of boiling water, scalding Xingmian so much that she abruptly pulled her hands away from her tightly clasped hands; the man's gaze was also like a sharp knife, pressed against Ayu's cheek, emanating a chilling aura, and Boss Xu, who hadn't even straightened his back, lowered his head again.
“You are Xu Zhiyu,” the man said.
He had seen the whole scene of Lin Xingmian hugging her.
"Mmm," Xu Zhiyu replied, her eyes lowered.
His sister was never like this. Xingmian watched as his beloved girl bowed her head and obediently responded to his father, and his heart ached as if it had been struck by a stone.
He pulled his sister back and stood in front of her, his eyes defiant: "It's all my fault. Don't touch her in the slightest. She didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one bothering her from beginning to end. Dad, if you have any questions or want to settle any scores, just come at me."
After speaking to Lin Shukai, he turned and pressed the elevator button, shoved his sister into the elevator, and said to her, "You go back first."
His heart was pounding so fast that he couldn't feel the pain in his stomach. His face was deathly pale. Lin Xingmian was terrified.
I've never been so nervous before. I'm afraid Lin Shukai will speak again and call my sister back.
In this world, no one is willing to bully her, and no one is allowed to make her unhappy—not Shen Siqing, not Lin Shukai, and not Lin Xingmian.
The elevator doors slowly closed. It was the first time Ayu had seen fear in Xingmian's eyes. He pushed her out as if he had lost his soul. She was in a state of confusion and didn't say another word to him or even look at him properly.
If only they had known this would be the last time they could see each other...
Then she would definitely catch Xingmian and hug him tightly when he ran towards her.
She wouldn't care about the luxurious decor on the hospital's rooftop, wouldn't pay attention to the strange looks, and wouldn't be intimidated by the man's deep aura.
She would not only hug him but also kiss him, wipe away his tears, and kiss him until they were both exhausted. Then she would whisper in his ear:
"I won't go, I won't go."
"I'm willing to wait for you, five years, ten years, a hundred years..."
"Because I like you too, I love my little Xingmian."
.
Since their meeting at the hospital, more than half a year has passed, and Xu Zhiyu has never heard from Lin Xingmian again.
He vanished into thin air, never returning to the supermarket or the high school.
Xu Zhiyu couldn't contact him, and none of his friends could either.
But she wasn't worried about him, because Ayu knew that Xingmian was no longer in Mushui City. He had left, and he must have gone back to the mountaintop.
This time, she has completely returned to a normal life.
But... her thoughts could no longer remain calm.
Her drowsiness seemed to follow Xingmian's every move; Xu Zhiyu couldn't sleep at night and woke up very early in the morning.
My no-longer-happy mind was filled with only one thing from beginning to end.
I think of him when I eat breakfast, when I'm stocking shelves, when I'm at the cashier, when I'm spacing out, when I'm watching TV, when I'm playing mahjong, when I'm playing video games, when I'm sleeping, and even when I'm not sleeping.
I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him...
So the end result is that she can't get anything done.
Aside from dreaming.
He's in her dreams every day. So now Ayu is addicted to dreaming, and her biggest wish is to be able to hug Xingmian again in her dreams.
Xu Zhiyu repeatedly recalled her memories with Xingmian, savoring them in her mind a hundred, two hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times!
Every time she reminisced about it, she would slap her forehead in frustration and mutter to herself:
“I’m such an idiot! A coward! Xingmian walked nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps for me, and I didn’t even dare to take a single step toward him! He was so good to me, he sacrificed so much for me... It turns out that he had secretly liked me a long time ago, but I kept hurting him! I even told him that I liked Shen Siqing? It wasn’t until he was gone, that I realized that I had always liked him.”
She didn't just stare blankly; she also cried. In the dead of night, she would sit alone on the second floor, in what must have been Xingmian's favorite spot for breakfast, and bury her head in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
Ms. Xu, who used to come every day, seems like a completely different person this time; she is no longer happy.
Excessive longing caused her to visibly lose weight.
It wasn't just Mr. Xu's body that lost weight, but also the daily customer traffic at the supermarket.
Since the scandal of the cheating husband had subsided, the daily foot traffic at the supermarket had been declining, which was no longer enough to support the expenses of the three employees. So, Mr. Xu first fired a male employee, then a female employee, and finally even fired the baker on the second floor.
No one comes to the supermarket every day to eat desserts and drink beverages anymore. School students just rush in and, as before, buy some convenient items.
Fortunately, Ms. Xu has parents who love her more than anyone else in the world. Seeing their daughter so unhappy every day, her parents decided to use their savings to buy her a new house and a car.
Xu Zhiyu told her parents that she would wait for Lin Xingmian and would not marry anyone else until Xingmian returned.
Mr. Xu's parents had no objection to this. Their daughter was grown up, and whether she got married or not, as long as she was happy and content, that was all that mattered.
Buying a new house and a new car for the daughter is not a common thing in a small city like Mushui City.
Mr. and Mrs. Xu doted on their daughter. This was a well-known fact in Huainan Lane.
Seeing their beloved child suffer heartbreak after heartbreak, the two family members felt deeply pained but didn't know how to comfort her.
After all, Ah Yu had never experienced any setbacks since she was a child. The two of them only knew how to pamper Ah Yu, but they didn't know how to soothe the wounds that the world had inflicted on her.
Thankfully, she had time as her assistant. Buying a new house and a new car were joyous occasions, and she was surrounded by congratulatory messages. Her parents' deep love, coupled with the treatment over time, made her much better than when Xingmian had just left.
About a month after the Lunar New Year, at exactly midnight.
It's March 15th now.
Today is Xingmian's 18th birthday.
This is an important day. Ayu logged onto QQ and wrote a long essay for Xingmian, and also baked pancakes by hand, chose a gift, and bought a small cake.
She pointed her phone camera at herself, placed all the desserts on the table, lit an 18th birthday candle on the cake, sang a birthday song for the camera, and said her blessings.
She was clearly not doing well, but she told the camera that she was doing well and was happy;
She clearly missed him, but she told the camera that she didn't miss him and hoped that he could live a happy life on his mountaintop and not always think about her sister.
Ayu said her biggest regret was telling Xingmian at 2 a.m. that she liked Chensiqing.
She said:
Happy 18th birthday to my Xingmian!
May my youth last forever.
On this chat interface, the top is full of messages that Xu Zhiyu sent to Lin Xingmian. You can scroll up for several minutes without getting to the bottom, but there has never been a reply.
At first, she also hoped that one day a surprise would happen, that Xingmian would see her message and reply. However, as the days went by, this expectation gradually became numb. She knew perfectly well that Xingmian would not reply.
After the loading button spun for a while, the birthday greeting video was sent.
But a miracle happened!
......
The other side...replied?
Mr. Xu stared blankly at the seven words that had been sent to him on the screen.
In all the messages he sent to Lin Xingmian, not one said, "I miss you."
It's all just everyday sharing. Like what interesting things happened today, what clothes she wore, what kind of dessert she ate, where she went, what show she watched, how much she won or lost at mahjong...
But the other party replied:
I miss you so much, sister.
Just that one sentence was enough to make Ah Yu burst into tears, which dripped onto her phone.
Without thinking, she immediately pressed the call button, but the thought of that terrifying-looking middle-aged man made Ah Yu panic and hang up. Her fingers flew across the phone, typing:
【where have you been? 】
Is it convenient for you to take a call?
Why aren't you coming to school? Did you transfer schools? Are you coming back?
Are you feeling better? Are you happy every day? Are you eating and studying well?
...
On the other end of the phone, Lin Xingmian looked at the messages popping up on the screen, her nose tingling with tears.
To be honest, he thought that given his sister's optimistic personality, she would forget about him soon after he disappeared without a trace, and then continue to live the carefree life that Mr. Xu had before.
However, I never expected that the moment I got the phone and logged into QQ, I would see 99+ unread messages on my contacts list, all of which were from her.
He opened the chat window and carefully read through each of his sister's daily posts.
Lin Xingmian sensed her sister's deep longing from each message. Her first reaction was happiness, but this happiness was followed by endless heartache.
He wove a dreamlike memory for his beloved girl, intending to give her the most love in the world. Now, he is forced to leave against his will, leaving her trapped in the memories.
He took off his headphones in the internet cafe, clenched his fist and put it to his mouth, his body trembling violently, crying silently and unable to breathe.
The Lin family's young master's 18th birthday ceremony was held in a European-style castle, but at midnight, the young master could not be found.
He's been hanging on by a thread for so long, barely surviving, and finally he got a chance to escape today!
Master Lin's face darkened, and the castle staff frantically searched for him, while Young Master Lin hid in an inconspicuous internet cafe—
On the day they turn 18, the first thing a self-disciplined teenager learns is to smoke.
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