Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Qinglan also smiled, playfully asking, "Why is it different?" Her eyes sparkled like stars.
Xu Wen couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to pat Qinglan's head. "Silly girl, what I bought for you is my love for you, and what you bought for yourself is your own care."
Qinglan's heart trembled.
This was the first time Xu Wen had used such an intimate gesture and spoken to her with such closeness.
Moreover, the word "love" slipped naturally from her lips without any prelude or atmosphere of embellishment.
Yet it still made Qinglan's heart quiver.
"Let's go back! You should rest in your dorm early; you need to get up early tomorrow morning. I really wanted to walk with you around campus, but I can't bear to let you tire yourself out. Let me take you back to rest," he said, switching to a light and teasing tone, dispelling the lingering ambiguity from earlier.
"Okay!" Qinglan's mood brightened as well.
"Tomorrow morning, I'll wait for you downstairs and take you to the train station." At the dormitory entrance, he added in an unrefusable tone.
Qinglan turned back with a smile and dashed upstairs. She only stopped when she reached her fifth-floor dormitory, gently pressing her hand against her chest as her heart raced.
Why did her heart not race as fast when he said the word "love," but when he insisted on taking her to the train station tomorrow, it felt as if he had taken her heart away? Her heart was pounding, yet it felt like it wasn't even hers anymore.
When she returned to the dormitory, everyone was gone. Qinglan picked up a mirror from her desk and looked at herself. Her face was flushed in the reflection. She put down the mirror and cupped her face with both hands, smiling at herself.
It turned out that letting go could bring so much happiness!
She imagined tomorrow, tomorrow morning, without An Shaojie. She would no longer stand by the roadside with a heavy bag, waiting alone for Jian Ming and the others.
It wasn't until she returned home for the summer vacation that Qinglan learned Bai Cuifen had already been taken to Shenzhen by An Shaomin. An Shaojie did not come home but went directly from school to Shenzhen to be with Shaw Min and his mother, Bai Cuifen.
"Did I guess wrong? Isn't he going home with that girl named Lin Xi? Was it just a coincidence that he left school at the same time for the break?"
After thinking for a few days, Qinglan couldn't come up with an answer, so she decided to stop thinking about it.
Once she got home, she also lost the mood to think about An Shaojie because the matters at home were already enough to trouble her.
First, there was no news about Qing Shusheng and Liu Jiawei. After going to Shenzhen, he hadn't sent any word back home, and many rumors began circulating in the village.
One rumor suggested that Qing Shusheng would never return; after all, he wasn't originally from Liu Family Village. He had roamed far and wide in his youth; someone like him could never settle down anywhere.
Another rumor claimed that Qing Shusheng could easily be with Bai Cuifen in Shenzhen.
Regarding the gossip about Qing Shusheng, Liu Xiuzhen chose to remain indifferent. Since Qing Shusheng left, her family's status in Liu Family Village had plummeted. No one greeted her warmly anymore when she entered or exited the village. Her large figure seemed very lonely, and her eyes no longer held the proud sparkle they once did; even if she had been reckless before, it had at least been vibrant. Her eyelids drooped constantly as she kept her head down. She began to work like other women in Liu Family Village, even like the men, carrying a hoe and laboring in the fields.
However, she found it harder than others because she had never done such work before. When she worked with her robust physique, she would pant heavily. Yet it seemed like she was determined to prove herself; she worked desperately. Tasks that others finished in two hours took her three or four hours. For every drop of sweat others shed, she shed two. Additionally, with Qinglan's help and assistance from her two aunts who married nearby, Er Xiu and Xiu, she managed to keep up with household chores and farming tasks during busy seasons like planting and harvesting.
Qinglan's status in Liu Family Village also seemed to decline along with her family's standing. When she went out, fewer people greeted her enthusiastically or asked about school matters. Most of the time, she stayed at home and was reluctant to move around the village.
Another thing that added to Liu Xiuzhen's family's gloom was Liu Dezhou's prolonged absence after saying he wouldn't come over last year. It dragged on until mid-year. Now entering summer, it felt as if their oil lamps were running dry; upstairs, there was no sound at all as they lay quietly.
This matter was what worried Liu Xiuzhen the most, but she could no longer express her anxiety and frustration on her face and through her actions as she used to. She had learned to remain calm and to conceal her emotions.
Grandma appeared more silent than ever, her frail and hunched figure looking increasingly thin and small.
In mid-July, it was the busiest time in the fields, yet Liu Dezhou's health had deteriorated to a critical state.
Grandma said nothing and never complained about Qing Shusheng, even when kind-hearted villagers brought up the situation in front of her, saying that Qing Shusheng was heartless for abandoning them during their most difficult times. They remarked that they had never realized he was such an ungrateful person.
Grandma kept her lips tightly sealed, lowering her head and remaining silent, which made her seem very strong.
Liu Xiuzhen, who usually loved to complain, also stopped voicing her grievances. It was as if overnight she had transformed from a child into a mature adult.
Sometimes, Grandma would stand on the stone bridge at the door and gaze out. She always believed that Qing Shusheng would return. So whenever villagers spoke ill of him, she would glare with narrowed eyes at the speaker, saying coldly, "Qing Shusheng is still part of our family; it’s not your place to speak about him. Besides, even if Qing Shusheng really doesn’t come back, it’s none of your business. He has done so much for our family and even for the entire Liu Family Village; he owes us nothing."
When Grandma spoke these words, each one was like a pearl dropped on the ground—clear and powerful—leaving those who had just criticized Qing Shusheng feeling ashamed and unable to respond.
Liu Xiuzhen listened nearby and seemed to gain some insight. Oh! So this is how one should speak to truly instill fear in others.
Although Qinglan felt somewhat depressed as well, she did not show the heaviness that Grandma and her mother did because she firmly believed that her father would return.
"Grandma, what are you talking about? Father promised he would be back around July, and he’s coming back with Brother," Qinglan said confidently and cheerfully in front of the villagers. Liu Xiuzhen and Grandma exchanged doubtful and uncertain glances at her, as if asking, "How do you know? Are you sure?" "Father called me after he arrived in Shenzhen; he told me," Qinglan interpreted their skepticism and asserted even more confidently.
Comment 0 Comment Count