Chapter 003 Yun Zhi's Independent Side Story - Dual Love (Part 3)
I learned about what happened to that family afterward from their classmates and teachers.
Yu Qingzhou's mother remained silent about the matter, seemingly insisting that it was that boy from that family who had led her son astray.
Yu Qingzhou's deskmate noticed the change in her.
"Why do you seem even more depressed than before? The most important thing in life is to be happy. How about we go out for something to eat? Hmm, that's decided. Let's go get some skewers later. Dad's treating. My son can eat as much as he wants."
Yu Qingzhou didn't even look up: "Finished your homework?"
Upon hearing this, his deskmate shook his head with a bitter face.
Yu Qingzhou then pulled out his exercise book: "Then be quiet, I'll lend it to you when you're done."
Alright~
My deskmate, as if receiving a royal decree, was about to leave when he suddenly noticed a piece of paper falling out of his book. He quickly picked it up and examined it closely. He found it was a piece of paper torn from his notebook, and the thin paper faintly outlined a slender human figure.
"Isn't this it?"
"no."
Yu Qingzhou calmly took the piece of paper and silently put it back into the book.
Seeing this, my deskmate just shrugged, then started humming some sentimental lyrics he'd heard somewhere: "Love arises without knowing its origin, and deepens with each passing moment; affection vanishes without a trace, yet follows like a shadow..."
*
Nothing happens without a reason.
It's like an umbrella that's suddenly lost and found, a meaningful reunion, or someone who's smiling but inexplicably makes you feel a chill in your heart.
For Yu Qingzhou, seeing Yun Yao at the freshman ceremony was definitely an unexpected event.
There were two people, one a representative of the new students and the other a representative of outstanding students.
We sat next to each other, but didn't exchange a single word.
Just as the event was ending, Yun Yao suddenly called out to him.
"Little fool?" The tone was so familiar it was chilling.
Yu Qingzhou suddenly turned around and saw the woman's beautiful face in the sunlight, which was much more mature and beautiful than she remembered.
"I knew it! It really was you."
Yun Yao smiled, walked gracefully to Yu Qingzhou in her high heels, and extended a fair hand: "We've been together for a while, how about we have a meal together?"
That attitude made it seem as if there had never been any gloom between them.
Yu Qingzhou stared at her face for a while, and finally nodded.
He didn't shake her hand, and Yun Yao didn't seem embarrassed at all. She naturally withdrew her hand and put it behind her back, smiling as she looked at him.
Against a backdrop of blue sky and white clouds, it's a beautiful picture of a crisp autumn day.
The news of their relationship soon spread throughout the department, and the general rule was to be wary of senior students.
Some people disagreed, saying that it should clearly be about preventing fire, theft, and female students.
"Everyone says we're together."
In the afternoon sun-drenched art studio, a relaxing drowsiness pervaded the air. Yun Yao crossed her legs, maintaining an elegant posture. Her smiling voice carried a tentative tone.
Yu Qingzhou responded with a calm reply.
“We don’t,” he said, like a monk who had seen through the vanities of the world.
Yun Yao suddenly grabbed Yu Qingzhou's hand as he painted: "You're still as boring as ever."
Yu Qingzhou stopped what she was doing and looked at Yun Yao with a slight frown.
"I really like you, why don't we just get together?"
Yun Yao was still smiling, and as she spoke, she leaned close to Yu Qingzhou's neck, her soft hair brushing against Yu Qingzhou's cheek... Yu Qingzhou buried her head and put away the canvas.
“Don’t joke around,” he said calmly.
"I'm not joking." Yun Yao suddenly stood up and said, word by word, "This is what you owe me, Yu Qingzhou, this is what the two of you owe me."
After speaking, Yun Yao swept up all her long hair in front of Yu Qingzhou, revealing her beautifully curved neck, where a grotesque pinkish-red scar, resembling a centipede, snaked across her ear.
Seeing this, Yu Qingzhou's lips trembled slightly. He lowered his eyes and said nothing more.
A low sob could be heard in the empty studio.
That was the first time Yu Qingzhou had seen Yun Yao cry; her thin, boyish shoulders trembled with sobs.
He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and put his arm around those shoulders.
*
Yu Qingzhou was writing wedding invitations by hand on the sofa.
Yun Yao nestled in his lap, peeling grapes one by one, feeding her boyfriend a grape whenever she remembered.
—They're getting married.
In this soon-to-be-formed new home, the house was chosen by Yun Yao, the furniture was purchased by Yun Yao... Yu Qingzhou only had to nod or shake her head.
There is also a cat named Blue in the house.
"It's the blue of blue."
When Yu Qingzhou first introduced the cat to Yun Yao, this is what she said.
Upon hearing this, Yun Yao simply responded with an "oh," seemingly not caring much.
Yu Qingzhou then realized that her explanation seemed somewhat superfluous.
Fortunately, Yun Yao and Lan got along fairly well after that. Although they weren't particularly close, they at least kept to themselves.
At this moment, Yu Qingzhou was writing the names of the invited guests on the wedding invitations with her head down. After she finished writing, she handed them to Yun Yao for her to review.
Yun Yao looked at each picture one by one, initially casually, but as she looked, the smile in her eyes suddenly faded.
“One is missing,” Yun Yao said abruptly.
"Whose is still missing?" Yu Qingzhou asked casually.
Yun Yao stared into his eyes and said, word by word, "It's not that you wrote less, it's that you gave me one less sheet after you finished writing."
As she spoke, she made a gesture as if to reach into Yu Qingzhou's pocket, but Yu Qingzhou stopped her with her hand.
"Stop fooling around," Yu Qingzhou gently advised.
Yun Yao just stared at him coldly for a long time before letting out a sneer.
"It's him, isn't it?"
"..."
Yu Qingzhou did not deny it.
"I fucking knew it! You're still thinking about him, aren't you?! You're facing me, talking to me, smiling at me, but all you can think about is that bastard! Yu, put your hand on your heart and tell me, what have I, Yun Yao, ever done to wrong you? Why do you have to disgust me at a time like this for the sake of such a slut?!"
Emotions are like firecrackers that have been lit.
Perhaps there were signs all along, but we were just waiting for the day when it was on the verge of collapse.
Yun Yao became more and more agitated as she spoke, even pointing her finger directly at Yu Qingzhou's nose and shouting, "Let me tell you, Yu Qingzhou, you'll never see him again in this lifetime. He's dead, damn it, his bones have been burned to ashes!"
From beginning to end, Yu Qingzhou simply watched the outspoken Yun Yao without saying a word, her expression calm, but her eyes were like those of someone looking at a madwoman.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, saying, "He is still alive."
There was neither argument nor anger, but rather more confusion, as if they couldn't understand why Yun Yao would say such unrealistic nonsense.
Even the concern and worry for Yun Yao in his eyes were genuine.
Yun Yao finally couldn't take it anymore, jumped off the sofa, and rushed to the door in her slippers.
"You bastard!" she cursed viciously before slamming the door shut with a bang.
The scattered red wedding invitations were left behind, along with a bewildered Yu Qingzhou.
He bent down and picked up the wedding invitations from the ground one by one.
These were the fruits of his afternoon's labor, and seeing them lying coldly on the tiles now was truly heartbreaking.
After cleaning up the mess, he belatedly remembered to check on Yun Yao's safety, so he hurriedly called her relatives and friends.
While ensuring Yun Yao's safety, they also received various earnest words of advice.
In situations like this, it's important to be considerate of the bride's feelings.
"Oh, Xiaoyu, don't think I'm being nosy. I know you're a good child, otherwise I wouldn't have entrusted Ayao to you. But Ayao has been pampered since she was little; we treat her like the apple of our eye, so naturally we hope you can continue to take good care of her for us. You have no idea how heartbroken she was just crying—"
The background noise was somewhat chaotic, seemingly mixed with Yun Yao's quiet interruptions.
Because she couldn't hear very clearly, Yu Qingzhou wasn't sure if it was just her imagination.
He simply apologized as sincerely as possible and promised that nothing like it would ever happen again.
After ending the call, Yu Qingzhou suddenly felt tired and a little cold. He then realized that he had unknowingly leaned against the edge of the sofa and sat directly on the floor.
After staring blankly for a while, he took out a wedding invitation in the same bright red color from his pocket. Because it had been kept close to his body, it still had some warmth from his body.
The names of the new couples were left blank, with only the words "Yun Zhi" written in the inviter column.
He watched for a while, then slowly got up from the ground, went to the kitchen, and turned on the gas. The dark blue flame flickered, engulfing the red cardboard, gradually igniting into an orange glow.
The firelight illuminated the young man's eyes like a beam of light in the darkness, so intense yet fleeting.
*
The wedding still took place as scheduled.
When the two families gathered together, they naturally talked about the past, and the conversation naturally turned to Yunzhi.
"How is that child now? Why haven't we seen him?"
The bride's parents exchanged glances, and it was the mother-in-law who spoke first: "Oh, him? He went to another city right after graduation, and he's been moving around a lot. We, as his parents, don't really know anything about it."
"This is really—"
Just as Yu Rou was about to say something, the car to pick up the bride arrived.
As soon as the car door opened, the bride, draped in a red veil, was escorted out of the house.
Yu Rou was somewhat surprised upon seeing this: "Is it still fashionable to wear a red veil these days?"
Upon hearing this, the mother-in-law gave a helpless yet indulgent smile: "Oh dear, my daughter Yao has always loved red since she was little. She wants everything to be red, because she says white is unlucky."
The car door opened, and the bride got in.
The guests got up and headed to the venue.
Yu Qingzhou did not start the car immediately, but turned to look at the bride in the passenger seat, who was covered by a red veil.
Still angry?
Yu Qingzhou sighed and said seriously, "I won't mention him, and please don't make me angry with those nonsense words anymore. You said we both owe you, so I'll give you my whole life as compensation, that's... paying him back too, okay?"
These words, once spoken, were followed by the bride slowly lifting her red veil to reveal an unadorned face.
Her indifferent eyes were more profound than before, and her features were still beautiful, but she had a more pronounced sharpness and heroic spirit than a true woman.
Yu Qingzhou was stunned into place by that sharp gaze.
"Ha, that sounds nice. Help me pay it back? Who are you to me? What gives you the right to make decisions for me?" the man said, his tone calm, but every word he uttered carried weight.
"I--"
Seeing that Yu Qingzhou was at a loss for words, the other person pressed on, their beautiful eyes gradually closing in: "You owe me, and how are you going to repay me?"
The moment her head hit the seat, Yu Qingzhou suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly asked, "Yun Yao... what did you do to Yun Yao?"
Upon hearing this, Yun Zhi chuckled and said, "That's great. She keeps calling me a bastard and a son of a bitch, and she's even cursing her ancestors for eight generations. I set up a voice call for her, so Mom has to go pick her up at the appointed time."
Yu Qingzhou immediately grasped the key point in the words: "Without a bride, the wedding can't even take place. What's with all this 'us' nonsense? Who are we trying to curry favor with?"
The young man tried to furrow his brow, but the subtle lightness in his tone betrayed his true thoughts.
"There's one right here."
Yun Zhi smiled faintly and squinted her eyes, pretending to sized up Yu Qingzhou, until the groom turned his head away. Yun Zhi then moved even closer, her breath brushing against his cheek and tickling his ear.
"You said it, for a lifetime, you can't go back on your word."
-fin-
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