It was December 20th of the second year. Xu Nancheng knew that this day had finally arrived. While it was still dimly lit outside, he had already been hiding under the covers, crying for a long time.
This year, he truly wished he could just leave like this, so they wouldn't have to face life anymore. But he was selfless; he wanted to find a reason not to leave the girl, not wanting to make her sad. Yet he was also selfish; he loved her and didn't want to just abandon her.
As he cried, a message came through: "Nancheng, how about we meet at Happy Valley today for some fun?"
He heard the notification sound, wiped his tears, and opened Han Bao's message. He typed back, "Sure! I'm listening, Lin Menghan!"
The day after they met at university was when Xu Nancheng had asked her to call him that.
"You call me Nancheng, and I'll call you Lin Menghan, how does that sound?"
Lin Menghan's cheeks flushed slightly as she lowered her head, too shy to look at him. "But you said we are friends?"
"Can friends not call each other like this?"
"Okay then! Nancheng."
Xu Nancheng smiled; Lin Menghan was truly adorable.
He composed himself and crawled out from under the covers, only to meet Chen Yi's gaze. "Nancheng, are you going on another date with Lin Menghan?"
Xu Nancheng felt a pang in his heart. They used to call her "little sister," but now...
He did his best to suppress his emotions and tidied up his things before heading out the door.
Another message came through: "Alright, I'll come out a bit later! Nancheng, wait for me at Happy Valley, okay? Lin Menghan needs to do her makeup; after all, it's a date with her boyfriend! She has to look beautiful."
"Okay!" He quickly typed back another message: "Love you, Lin Menghan!"
Once outside the school gate, he hopped into a taxi. "Driver, to Happy Valley."
"Sure thing! Hold on tight!" The driver pressed the accelerator, and the car sped off.
"Are you going on a date with your girlfriend?" the driver asked.
"Yeah."
As he gazed out at the scenery passing by, he wished more than anything that he could walk alongside Lin Menghan like this forever. He had already lost her once; perhaps this time if he were careful enough, they could be together forever.
Before long, another message arrived from Xu Dong: "Nancheng, I heard someone is spreading rumors about Lin Menghan. They mentioned their names."
Xu Nancheng was filled with conflicting emotions, but in the end, he managed to find out the locations of a few people. He exhaled deeply and decided to head to Mingguang Road first.
Arriving at a small alley on Mingguang Road, he took out his phone and sent a message to Xu Dong. "If you don't hear from me by noon, tell Lin Menghan that I'm sorry."
Before Xu Dong could reply, Xu Nancheng had already started walking toward the mouth of the alley. He observed the group of people and, as expected, their negotiations had fallen apart. It was time to take action!
The others were not holding back; they swung steel pipes they had picked up from the alley. Xu Nancheng was cautious; he absolutely could not fall here! He still wanted to be with Lin Menghan!
He dodged again and again, but just when he thought he could escape this disaster, a steel pipe struck the back of his head. He collapsed, filled with regret, repeatedly murmuring apologies to Lin Menghan.
His vision blurred, and he lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, he felt no pain. Confused, he looked around and noticed a girl shivering in a corner.
Unsure if this was a dream, he slapped himself hard across the face. The pain was real!
This time, he smiled! He had found her again!
Just like before, he walked toward the girl. But unlike last time, she wasn’t standing still; she was crying and running toward him.
When she reached him, Xu Nancheng didn’t know how to speak. However, Lin Menghan couldn’t hold back any longer and threw herself into his arms. "Nancheng! I finally see you again!"
Xu Nancheng caught her tightly in his embrace, overwhelmed with emotion as he heard her words.
After what felt like an eternity, Xu Nancheng finally spoke. "Lin Menghan, I really missed you! Can you promise not to leave me again?"
"I won’t leave you! I won’t leave you! I’ll never leave you! Please don’t leave me either!" The girl shouted desperately, completely oblivious to the gazes of those around them.
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