novelraw Chapter 69
Chapter 69
Chapter 69 “Well, isn’t this the little beauty who dumped our Brother Yu back then?”
As Li Xiang spoke, he walked up with unmasked hostility in his tone and demeanor. He looked at Qin Qing with a mocking smile and said, “So, Miss Qin, a person of your stature, is deigning to come back to Qingcheng?”
The cold and sarcastic words took Qin Qing by surprise, making her momentarily lost in thought because of the past. She quickly regained her composure.
She pulled Zhuo Anke, who was about to retort, to the side. “Long time no see, both of you.” Qin Qing’s gaze swept from Li Xiang to Qiao An, who was standing next to him, before returning to Li Xiang.
Ignoring the provocation from Li Xiang, she calmly said, “I have other matters to attend to today, so I won’t trouble you any longer. See you another day.”
With that, Qin Qing tried to walk past them.
Li Xiang, clearly displeased with the abrupt ending of the encounter, darkened his expression and turned sharply. “Miss Qin, you’re leaving just like that? We are acquainted, and you’re being so ungrateful?”
Before Qin Qing could respond, Li Xiang sneered and continued, “Oh, I almost forgot! Back then, Brother Yu gave you his whole heart, and you still dumped him. It’s no wonder you’d look down on our meager acquaintance. Isn’t that right?”
Despite maintaining her calm, Qin Qing was unable to ignore the painful and probing words. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes darkening.
After two seconds of struggling to compose herself, Qin Qing spoke with a tight grip on her composure, “My matters with him, whether I am right or wrong, are not for outsiders to comment on. …You don’t have that right.”
Li Xiang hadn’t expected the once quiet and gentle girl to now wield such sharp words. He was momentarily stunned.
As he saw her about to leave, he clenched his teeth and said, “All right! I will definitely relay your message in full!”
Qin Qing, who had resolved not to look back no matter what she heard, suddenly froze, her face turning pale.
Reacting faster than her mind, she abruptly turned around, her eyes wide with shock. “Is he back?”
Li Xiang, caught off guard, instinctively avoided her gaze. “No! Besides, whether he comes back or not has nothing to do with you…”
Li Xiang’s hasty excuse only left Qin Qing momentarily dazed.
…Indeed.
What did it matter to her whether he came back or not?
Her fingertips were clenched tightly, causing a sharp pain that felt distant, like it belonged to someone else.
Suppressing her emotions, she turned to leave.
“Miss Qin.”
At that moment, another calm and steady voice called out to her.
Qin Qing looked up, and the flicker of tears in her eyes surprised Qiao An. He smiled innocently and said, “I bear no ill will. I just want to apologize for Li Xiang’s rudeness. His impulsive nature is well-known, and Miss Qin is not meeting him for the first time. Please forgive him.”
Qin Qing, clearly wanting to leave, shook her head and prepared to walk away.
Qiao An, not in a hurry, said, “It’s been a few years since Miss Qin and I last met. I didn’t expect you would still recognize me. It seems like fate. May I have your phone number?”
The request seemed almost abrupt, and Qin Qing was taken aback. After a moment, she looked at him and, seeing the stubbornness in his smile, quickly gave her phone number without further hesitation.
Without waiting to confirm whether Qiao An had noted it down, she quickly pulled Zhuo Anke away.
…
Zhuo Anke and Qin Qing sat in the private room in silence for almost five minutes before the silence was broken.
“You… you dumped him, didn’t you?”
Zhuo Anke was the first to speak.
—
Seeing Qin Qing’s calm expression but clearly distracted eyes, Zhuo Anke didn’t expect an immediate reaction.
Even though Zhuo Anke spoke first, it took Qin Qing a few seconds to regain her composure.
She finally spoke, “I don’t know.”
Zhuo Anke frowned, “You two…”
“Perhaps,” Qin Qing sighed and looked at Zhuo Anke, “You must have heard that although he had excellent grades, he didn’t fill out any applications.”
Upon hearing this, Zhuo Anke’s expression became complicated. She nodded and said, “How could we not have heard? He was just two points behind you in total score, yet he didn’t apply to any schools. I heard Sun Xing almost fainted from anger. …It became more famous than his previous ‘achievements.'”
“Yes. Because that summer, he went directly through the selection for combat sports and joined the special forces.”
“What?!” Zhuo Anke was astonished. “We didn’t know!”
“…” Qin Qing’s lips curled slightly, but there was no trace of a smile in her eyes. “Confidentiality meant it couldn’t be disclosed. I haven’t seen him since then… Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. A week before leaving Qingcheng, I sent him a message to let him know I was leaving.”
Qin Qing’s voice trailed off, as if her throat had dried up. After a pause, she continued in a flat tone, “Then I waited for a week. On the day I left, he messaged me saying he would have a long period of multiple selections and training…”
Zhuo Anke swallowed hard. “How… how long?”
“‘How long’…” Qin Qing chuckled lightly and then abruptly stopped, “I don’t know.”
—
“Because a year later, when I was almost diagnosed with leukemia, I still couldn’t reach him.”
“…”
Zhuo Anke’s expression changed.
She could almost predict what followed.
Qin Qing’s gaze seemed to wander off, as if recalling her most desperate days.
“Actually, for that year, I tried not to think about him. I thought, as he said, maybe I’d wait ten years accidentally… I’d be 27, and it wouldn’t matter if I got to know him again.”
At this point, Qin Qing smiled bitterly. “Then I realized I was wrong… In the last week before the final diagnosis, I thought about him every day, every hour, every minute, as if all the anticipation and countless disappointments of the year were returned to me in those few days.
…That’s when I made up my mind.”
“Made up your mind?”
“Yes, I sent him a text message. …I guess it was a breakup. Saying I dumped him might not be wrong.”
Qin Qing smiled, her brows slightly curved. “But then again, we were never actually together.”
“…”
Despite the bright and beautiful smile of the person opposite her, Zhuo Anke couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart.
—
As an outsider, hearing the story made her feel this way. How much more despair must the person involved have felt back then?
At this moment, Zhuo Anke suddenly remembered a question. “Did you mention the reason for sending that message?”
“No,” Qin Qing answered calmly.
“…From a certain perspective, it really seems like you ‘heartlessly’ dumped him,” Zhuo Anke said awkwardly.
But the term “heartlessly” reminded her of something.
Zhuo Anke looked up in confusion. “Was that message sent before or after the diagnosis?”
Qin Qing blinked, her smile gentle but silent.
Zhuo Anke’s heart ached.
She already knew the answer.
—
If the message was sent before the diagnosis, it might have been an attempt to end things in case of false alarm; if it was true…
If it was true, it was like saying, “Before I die, let me give you a path to live.”
“Why are you so harsh on yourself,” Zhuo Anke said, standing up and walking out to suppress the burning sensation in her eyes. “…Fool.”
At the door, Zhuo Anke composed herself, opened it, and told the waiting waiter, “Bring in the food and uncork the red wine.”
After giving instructions, Zhuo Anke turned and met Qin Qing’s confused gaze.
—
“Red wine?”
Zhuo Anke was surprised and smiled. “You haven’t had wine yet?”
“…” Qin Qing honestly shook her head.
During college, she avoided participating in any student organization gatherings to prevent setting a precedent. After starting graduate school, she devoted herself entirely to the library.
— Alcohol was definitely a blind spot for her.
Once Zhuo Anke realized this, she didn’t mind. “Just right, while I’m here, you can test your tolerance. Even if you get drunk, I can take you home.”
“Then I’ll give it a try, but I’ll stop in moderation. Don’t try to get me drunk.”
“All right, all right, I’ll make sure you don’t get too drunk.”
Though she said this, Zhuo Anke thought that it might be better if Qin Qing got drunk. Otherwise, keeping everything bottled up might cause internal damage.
…
More than half an hour later, Zhuo Anke was stunned.
The dishes hadn’t been touched much, and the person across from her was already sprawled over the table.
—
She had anticipated Qin Qing’s poor alcohol tolerance but didn’t expect such a quick collapse.
Zhuo Anke was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. She called a female server to help her carry the person downstairs and arranged for a chauffeur.
After finally returning to the dormitory, Zhuo Anke walked in and saw Qin Qing, who had collapsed on the bed.
“Rest well.” Zhuo Anke said softly and tucked the covers around her.
Before turning to leave, she couldn’t resist a second glance. Then, thinking about Qin Qing’s story, Zhuo Anke sighed.
Despite Qin Qing’s seemingly calm appearance, the heartache she suffered was beyond comprehension.
After closing the door, Zhuo Anke left quietly and went to the dining room, where she opened the bottle of red wine and slowly poured herself a glass.
—
The aromatic scent wafted through the room, filling the air with a trace of warmth.
Zhuo Anke took a sip and felt a slight warmth spreading from her throat to her stomach. It was smooth and slightly sweet, with a hint of bitterness.
The taste reminded her of another kind of warmth. She frowned, not really in the mood for the wine, and stared absentmindedly at the bottle of wine on the table.
The color seemed to take on a deep, dark red, much like how Qin Qing’s story seemed to darken in her mind.
“Forget it. Let’s just enjoy it for now.”
Zhuo Anke sighed and took another sip. She wanted to briefly forget all the things that had happened in the past and enjoy the present moment.
—
After finishing her glass of wine, she decided to leave the bottle for tomorrow.
In the meantime, she would let Qin Qing rest in peace, and she hoped that, eventually, things would get better for her.