It felt like a long time—I don't know how long, but at least ten minutes had passed.
The sobbing in my arms finally began to quiet.
Looking down at the person with their head buried in my chest, I tentatively called out, "Xiaoyu?"
He didn't look up, but his body subtly trembled.
"Xiaoyu..."
I called again. As if startled, he abruptly pulled out of my hug, quickly turned his head away, and returned to his seat. He sat with his back to me and pulled out tissues to wipe his face.
"I'm so sorry..."
I must have apologized countless times by now, but seeing him like this still filled me with profound guilt. His attitude strangely reminded me of a scene from a romance drama: the hero coaxing the heroine.
I shook my head, wondering what I was thinking.
I stood beside him, watching him anxiously. He remained facing away, but I could hear small, rustling sounds: wiping tears, taking deep breaths, and so on.
I felt guilty and helpless, completely unsure of what to do next.
Finally, he turned his head. His bangs were slightly stuck together, clearly from sweat mixed with tears.
His eyes were very red; one look was enough to tell he had been crying.
"Now do you know why I was crying?"
I was silent for a moment, then nodded, feeling nothing but overwhelming guilt.
I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off: "Stop apologizing. I get it."
I immediately sealed my lips, looking at his red eyes. I felt a strange sense of unreality—I couldn't believe someone had actually cried over me.
Liu Xiaoyu turned away again to fuss over himself, mainly touching his face and rubbing his eyes.
Though I was bewildered by the turn of events, I felt a slight relaxation. Liu Xiaoyu's magnanimity was beyond my expectation.
He turned back to me.
"How do I look now? Can people still tell I've been crying?"
I seriously examined his pale face. The red-rimmed eyes were quite noticeable. I replied apologetically, "Yes."
"What am I going to do then?"
Liu Xiaoyu covered his face, looking helpless.
"If my mom sees me like this when I get back, who knows what she'll think."
The thought made my scalp prickle. I spoke with a strange tone: "I feel like Luo Feiyu and your mom must absolutely hate me."
"Huh?"
He tilted his head, looking at me seriously: "Luo Feiyu?"
"Oh... sorry..." I explained, "I meant Luo Fei, your Uncle Luo."
Liu Xiaoyu covered his mouth and suddenly burst out laughing. Seeing his smile immediately lifted my own spirits.
"You actually gave him that nickname, haha..."
I thought of the very muscular man and felt a little scared. I quickly said, "Please don't tell him! I think he could knock me out with one slap."
Liu Xiaoyu looked at me with wide eyes. "You know my mom and Uncle Luo have an opinion of you?"
My heart sank. I nearly fell back onto my seat.
"Sigh, it's all my fault."
I pouted. I suddenly recalled Liu Xiaoyu's mother. In terms of beauty, she was probably the second most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
The first was a woman I had been trying to forget. She always dressed very conservatively. Even in the summer, she barely showed her arms or ankles, never giving me a chance to look longer. Now, it was hard to even see her at all.
"Don't worry. This isn't your fault. I told Mom I only cried because I was worried about your wound, not because of anything you did."
Liu Xiaoyu said softly, easing most of my concerns.
I looked closely at him, into his sky-blue eyes, which truly resembled beautiful jewels.
I felt that this boy's heart was as pure and clean as his eyes.
"Stop looking at me like that."
He frowned slightly, turning his head away, clearly uncomfortable.
"Relax, I don't like guys," I quipped with a grin, and then he suddenly poked my arm with his finger.
"Ah..." I gasped, sucking in a breath. "That hurts."
"Oh!" Liu Xiaoyu quickly withdrew his hand, looking panicked. "I'm sorry, I forgot that arm was injured."
"It's nothing," I rubbed my arm and pouted.
"When I was hugging your arm earlier, are you okay?"
He remembered the scene where he was clinging to my arm, refusing to let me go, and looked embarrassed.
"That's nothing," I thumped my chest. "Was Big Bro's hug warm?"
He seemed even more shy now, turning his head away and saying in an unfriendly tone, "Who told you to hug me?"
Despite the unfriendly tone, I could sense he was feigning anger. I turned my head to look closely at my desk-mate. The sunlight of the setting sun illuminated his face, casting a faint pink blush over it, making him look especially adorable. Time seemed to stand still in that moment, creating a uniquely beautiful picture.
"Ding-a-ling..."
The sound of a phone ringing shattered the beautiful moment.
It was Liu Xiaoyu's. The sudden sound seemed to startle him. He quickly pulled out his phone and looked at it.
"I... I have to go home... Uncle Luo is rushing me..."
He quickly stood up, pushing my shoulder. "Move."
His voice sounded strangely cute, so I deliberately teased him.
"No. What are you going to do about it?"
"Hurry up and move, or be careful..." He evaded my gaze and stammered.
"Or what?" I asked curiously.
"Or I'll ask Uncle Luo to come up and beat you up!" he whispered threateningly, clenching his fist.
"Oh..." I stood up and moved away, feigning fear. "Don't do that. My wounds aren't fully healed yet. I can't handle it."
"Hmph... You deserve it for sneaking out of the hospital..." He turned to look at me one last time.
"I'm going home first. Message me if you need anything."
Then he left.
I watched him go, feeling confused. He seemed to be running away in a panic, as if he had done something wrong.
My eyes unintentionally landed on the desk. I shouted, "Xiaoyu, you forgot something!"
He turned around, but didn't look at me, keeping his eyes down, as if afraid to make eye contact. His frantic manner baffled me. He even almost tripped because he wasn't watching where he was going. I quickly reached out to steady him.
"Don't touch me..." Liu Xiaoyu didn't appreciate the help at all. He spoke fiercely, snatched the bag from my hand, and bolted away quickly.
"Slow down... Watch where you're going..."
I called out a reminder as I watched him run like a little deer. He only ran faster. In the setting sun, I thought his face looked like an apple.
"How strange..."
I rubbed my chin, puzzled. Was he shy?
"Holy crap, could this kid actually be gay?"
The thought suddenly popped into my head. I shrugged. I didn't feel much aversion towards him, though. Gay guys should like tall, handsome types. I was tall and handsome, but surely not attractive enough to draw in a gay guy, right?
The surroundings were very quiet. I finally realized that I was the only one left in the classroom.
I put on my backpack, walked out of the classroom, and closed the door, making sure the windows were also locked.
It was custom for the last student to leave the classroom to close the doors and windows.
I happened to bump into Bai Manwen, who was coming to check if the classroom was secured. The moment she saw me, she instantly spun around and headed back the way she came.
Looking at her somewhat panicked retreat, a sense of pleasure rose in my heart. The notorious Mistress Extinction was showing such a flustered side. I felt a cat-and-mouse thrill, and a sense of mischief.
I intentionally sped up my steps to scare her, but to my surprise, Bai Manwen glanced back and actually started to run.
I admired her; she could run so fast in high heels.
I smiled, feeling helpless. "Am I that scary?"
I shook my head and headed down the stairs.
The scenery along the way in the sunset was nice, but I had walked this path too many times. I didn't pause and headed straight home.
Xiao Xue saw me, wagged its tail, and walked out from the balcony.
I reached out and stroked its head, looking at its fur. It looked a bit dirty, so I considered giving it a bath.
But my arm wasn't fully recovered. I decided against it; the dog was too playful, and bathing it wouldn't be easy.
I sat on the sofa. Xiao Xue circled my legs and settled down, leaning affectionately against me.
The last rays of the sun still hadn't faded, casting a golden cloth of light onto my sofa.
Looking at the sunset's gift on the sofa, I involuntarily drifted into thought.
Long ago, my mother used to sit quietly on the sofa. The setting sun shone upon her, bathing her in a golden glow, emanating a soft, loving radiance. Her legs were crossed, and she held knitting needles, weaving a new sweater for me.
I would stand by, watching the perpetually spinning ball of yarn. Those threads of love were woven into sweaters by my mother's hands, worn on my body, bringing me warmth even in the coldest winter.
But all of that had changed.
When did it start?
My mother's love only seemed to exist in my memories now, leaving a blurry trace that occasionally reminded me of that lingering warmth—so blurry that I sometimes doubted if it had ever truly existed, or if it was just a dream.
After that, there was only a bone-chilling coldness. The sunset shone into the empty room, but I felt no warmth. I could never go back to the way things were.
My gaze unconsciously drifted to the wall, where a photo entered my vision.
Tears instantly started flowing again. I rushed over, took the photo frame down, and with a feeling of catharsis, raised it high and smashed it onto the floor.
"Snap!"
The crisp sound echoed through the entire room. I felt my heart break along with it.
Meanwhile, in a prime location of the city, where every inch of land was extremely valuable, anyone who owned property here was undoubtedly wealthy.
In a massive office building in this central area, a mature woman in a suit had just finished a meeting and was finally getting a short break. She was sitting in her private office, drinking coffee to relieve her inner fatigue.
Sitting in this tall, private office, one could overlook the entire city. The location's superiority was self-evident.
Having only taken one day off, her tasks had piled up like a mountain, making her feel immense pressure. Since returning, she had been relentlessly busy, even squeezing her lunch time into ten minutes. But she was currently in the company's assessment period. If she passed this test, her future would be bright.
The setting sun shone through the huge window onto the beautiful woman, draping her in a golden silk cloth. Her already exquisite beauty looked almost ethereal, radiating a clear luminescence. In this moment, she was even more stunning than the sunset.
Holding her coffee, she gracefully walked over to the large floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the view outside. This sophisticated executive was lost in thought for a rare moment. A few memories momentarily slipped in, awakening certain past events in her heart. She couldn't help but think of someone.
She checked her phone. Her last call with him was a long time ago.
Was I too cold now?
She hesitated briefly, glanced at the time for her next meeting, and then clicked the dial button.
The line quickly responded.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is not in service."
The beautiful woman frowned slightly and then opened WeChat.
She tried to send a message, but it stopped at the "sending" animation. A glaring exclamation mark appeared in her sight, causing her eyebrows to furrow tightly like distant mountains.
"What is this child doing...?"
A slight sense of unease appeared in her heart. She put down the coffee, returned to her seat, and was about to open the computer to check a video feed when a knock sounded at the door.
The woman's voice instantly returned to the unique authority of a superior speaking to a subordinate: "What is it?"
A gentle female voice came through: "Ms. Ning, the next meeting is about to start."
"Hoo..." The woman took a few deep breaths, then closed her computer, stopping the video she was about to watch.
"Alright, I'm coming."
Just as Lin Nan didn't know his mother was about to become the company's true boss, Ning Yao didn't know that her son was about to change completely.
I stared blankly at the shattered photo frame on the floor, feeling oddly ashamed of my sudden emotional outburst.
But those truly beautiful memories made me feel genuine love, and compared to the current emptiness, my heart ached even more. This pain sparked a violent impulse, making me want to destroy the physical representation of that memory.
My body trembling slightly, I slowly walked to the balcony, gazing into the distance.
Only the broken photo frame remained on the floor.
Underneath the shattered frame lay a photo: a young girl in her prime, wearing a graduation cap, holding up a baby of about three years old. It was one of the few genuinely happy moments of her life. In the photo, she was smiling widely, looking into the eyes of the child in her hands. Her eyes sparkled like ten thousand stars, filled with genuine love, as if the child in her palm was her entire life.
I had once heard that woman say this was her most cherished photograph.
But now, in my heart, it was the most vicious lie in the world. It instantly shattered all the psychological defenses I had built up recently, and tears of weakness flowed out again...
Just then, a beautiful, melodious tune drifted from the community speakers.
It was Jin Sha's Star Moon Myth. I had heard it many times, but this time, it carried a different meaning.
If we had bravely stayed together,
Would the ending be different?
Do you also have a thousand words,
Buried in the silent dream?
I sighed in my heart.
It wasn't just in the silent dream. It was in the damp pillow, in the unconscious cries, in many habits, and in many places.
My tears dried up as the music ended.
I once read a story about a figure in ancient mythology who possessed divine power but felt immeasurable sorrow.
My sister does not consider me a brother, my mother does not consider me a son. There is no place for me to rest in this world.
This was about Yang Jian.
But I am not Yang Jian. I do not have his divine power.
All I have is this heart.
I smiled, as if finally letting go, and raised my phone to take a picture of the setting sun.
I sent it to Liu Xiaoyu, adding a caption:
Tell me, will a "fat guy" like me ever have a day of comeback?
A message quickly returned.
"An upward vitality is far more lethal than mere appearance."
I smiled, satisfied. Gazing at the setting sun, I knew it would rise again tomorrow.\