Chapter 16
Ever since she had run into Shang Jinyue just now, Shi Xiu had felt that something was not right.
The incandescent lights in the distance were also glaringly bright, making one think of the sun in the sky.
The sun scorched the earth, and also scorched the young girl’s lean, slender back. Sweat slid down along her neck and seeped into her shirt.
For a very long time in the past, Shi Xiu had liked riding her bicycle to find Shang Jinyue.
The way there was uphill all the way, and the way back was downhill all the way.
The long wind blew down the slope the whole way, lifting the stray hairs before the young girl’s forehead, making her feel especially refreshed and making her look forward even more to the next time she would come.
The wind, stained with coldness, lifted Shi Xiu’s long hair, and the black night drew a line between memory and reality.
After stripping away the embellishment and beautification she had once given this past experience, what Shi Xiu had left was only coldness.
Because of this, Shi Xiu discovered that even if Shang Jinyue had suddenly felt like walking the dog on a whim, there was no way she could have walked all the way near Shi Xiu’s house.
This person had approached her with a purpose.
Shi Xiu stared coldly at Shang Jinyue and, as she spoke, let go of the leash that this person was also holding.
Time came to a standstill within the girls’ confronting pupils.
Shang Jinyue saw the coldness Shi Xiu showed her once again.
She tightened her grip on the leash in her hand and began calculating in her mind what excuse she could use to salvage the peace with Shi Xiu that she had finally managed to ease with such difficulty just now…
“I was worried about you.”
The night wind gently brushed across Shi Xiu’s cheek. Her lowered pupils widened slightly, unable to believe what she had heard.
Shi Xiu might not know that this was the first thing she had taught Shang Jinyue: honesty.
When Shang Jinyue had been thinking of excuses over and over, Shi Xiu’s words had suddenly flashed through her mind: “I’m not the worm in your stomach.”
She had just tried to use this sentence to pry open Shi Xiu’s mouth, yet when it was her own turn, she had forgotten.
She had no right to choose.
If she wanted Shi Xiu to stop rejecting her, she should be honest with her.
The autumn night was already somewhat cold. Shang Jinyue was wearing a skirt, and the night wind poured into the hem, the chill burrowing into her bones.
Choosing to say what was truly in her heart did not make Shang Jinyue feel relaxed.
Shang Jinyue felt as if she had taken out her own heart, holding her breath as she offered it before Shi Xiu with the most honest gaze.
From this moment on, the initiative was no longer in Shang Jinyue’s hands.
Shang Jinyue felt an unprecedented nervousness, worried about Shi Xiu’s disdain, worried that she would throw her sincerity onto the ground.
And what Shang Jinyue was feeling at this moment, had it not been exactly what Shi Xiu had experienced all along in the past?
“I’ve met your uncle before. I was worried you’d argue with him.” Shang Jinyue was nervous, using a seemingly relaxed tone to make Shi Xiu accept her. “Classmates can be like this too, right? I don’t think I’ve crossed a line.”
When had Shi Xiu ever seen Shang Jinyue like this?
She had once loved this person so fiercely that analyzing Shang Jinyue’s thoughts had become like a conditioned reflex.
The night wind passed between them, blowing over without any obstruction.
Just like this, Shi Xiu was caught off guard and sensed Shang Jinyue’s sincerity and cautiousness.
She thought that this truly did not count as crossing a line.
But there was also no classmate from anyone’s family who would, out of worry, bring a little dog out late at night to manufacture a chance encounter.
What exactly was Shang Jinyue trying to do?
Was it only because a few days ago in math class, she had said the wrong thing?
So-called boundaries were just like this, sometimes clear, sometimes blurred.
And the right to define those boundaries was in Shi Xiu’s hands.
“My family doesn’t agree to let me go to the studio.”
After hesitating for a while, Shi Xiu responded to Shang Jinyue’s honesty.
She stuffed her hands into her pockets, and her voice was not especially clear.
Whether because she heard Shi Xiu’s response, or because of this answer, Shang Jinyue’s eyes slowly brightened.
“Are you going to give up?” Shang Jinyue asked next.
“No one can make me give up.”
Compared to her earlier low mood, Shi Xiu’s tone at this moment was exceptionally firm.
Shang Jinyue had just felt fortunate because Shi Xiu had accepted her honest words.
But in an instant, that fortunate feeling disappeared.
Clearly, compared to when she had been with Shang Jinyue, Shi Xiu now had many more difficulties and an uncertain future. Her family did not support her either.
So why was she still so determined?
Shang Jinyue gripped the leash tightly, but her palm felt empty.
She was feeling Shi Xiu moving farther and farther away from her.
“Can I ask why you absolutely have to study painting?” Shang Jinyue did not understand and wanted even more to know the reason.
Shi Xiu lifted her head and glanced at Shang Jinyue.
She felt that the moon tonight was especially bright, letting her vaguely see the shadow of the twenty-seven-year-old Shang Jinyue on the face of the seventeen-year-old Shang Jinyue.
So it should be fine to tell Shang Jinyue.
After all, this was their future on another timeline.
“Before school started, I had a dream. In the dream, it was the future where I didn’t study painting,” Shi Xiu began.
“Because I gave up painting, I did a lot of things in the dream to replace it, but I could never obtain happiness.”
“A white moonlight is a white moonlight. The ending of settling for a substitute is to sell it at a discount and watch it rot.”
Shi Xiu stood once more at the crossroads of fate. She finally had the courage to face the thing she had been avoiding.
Nothing was better than regaining what had been lost.
The moon quietly watched the world, watching figures come and go beneath the night, watching life bustle.
Someone here regained her future and planned to leave.
Someone’s heart was twisting like a knife, desperately wanting to hold on to something.
Shang Jinyue had never thought Shi Xiu would evaluate the ten years they spent together like this.
The words “watch it rot” were too piercing, like the last ray of light from the broken streetlamp ahead, stabbing straight into Shang Jinyue’s body and splashing a patch of blood speckled with light across the ground.
Zzt, zzt—snap!
After a chaotic burst of electric current, that broken streetlamp went out completely.
After saying these things, Shi Xiu felt as if she had put down something heavy, and she also wanted to go home. “It’s getting late. Go home.”
The night gradually deepened, and there were few figures left on the road.
She looked at Shang Jinyue, no longer holding expectation in her eyes, calm as a pool of dead water.
The atmosphere tonight could not be called especially good, but it also had not been bad to the extreme.
Shang Jinyue’s sudden outward concern did surprise Shi Xiu, but it was not enough to prove that she understood Shi Xiu.
Shi Xiu only acted as the narrator. From the beginning, she had never intended to give Shang Jinyue a chance to discuss it.
“Sister is leaving. Don’t randomly break free from your leash again in the future. You have to live well until twenty.” Shi Xiu crouched down. Her final farewell was for Grape.
Seeing Shi Xiu leave, Grape was aggrieved and anxious, wanting to hurry and follow Shi Xiu’s steps.
But the leash was fastened steadily around its neck, not allowing it to catch up to Shi Xiu at all, nor was it something it could break free from.
The little dog revealed an expression of confusion and looked blankly at its owner.
But Shang Jinyue only shook her head lightly at it and bent down to pick it up from the ground. “Don’t make a sound.”
.
When Shi Xiu returned home, it was already almost midnight.
She did not have any guilt about running away from home. She opened the door openly, and the quiet house echoed with the sound of the lock turning.
Only, when the sensor light in the foyer lit up, another light also fell gray and hazy into Shi Xiu’s vision.
“You’re back.”
In the dining room, the light of a phone illuminated the little girl’s cold face.
It was Cen Anning.
Shi Xiu’s stepsister.
“Mm.” Shi Xiu responded faintly.
Shi Xiu and Cen Anning had only just met before New Year’s. They had no shared experience of growing up together, nor any common topics. Greeting each other when they met might already count as their main daily interaction.
Thinking this, Shi Xiu changed into slippers and prepared to return to her room.
Unexpectedly, Cen Anning called out to her.
“Shi Xiu.”
Shi Xiu was surprised. “Something wrong?”
“Here.” Cen Anning had no intention of getting up. She held a document in her hand, wanting Shi Xiu to come over and take it herself.
“What is it?” Shi Xiu frowned.
“The acknowledgment form,” Cen Anning said. “My mom signed it.”
Hearing this, Shi Xiu froze for a moment.
She noticed that the acknowledgment form in Cen Anning’s hand was neat and clean, with fresh ink. At a glance, it clearly was not the two copies she had given Shi Wendong.
Considering Cen Yuan’s attitude just now, Shi Xiu did not think she would do this kind of thing.
It was Cen Anning.
In her previous life, Shi Xiu had stuck beside Shang Jinyue and had not paid much attention to this stepsister of hers.
Her impression of Cen Anning had always been that of a rebellious, cool girl who did whatever she wanted.
Cen Anning had gone abroad for university. Cen Yuan had originally wanted to use this to gild her reputation and catch a rich husband. Who knew that Cen Anning would focus entirely on her career? Not only did she refuse to cooperate, she even made up some story about an unattainable white moonlight she loved but could never have and spread it everywhere, to the point that it even reached Shang Jinyue’s ears, angering Cen Yuan badly.
Shi Xiu did not think there was anything wrong with that. If she were also forced into blind dates, she would do the same.
Cen Anning was someone with her own opinions. Shi Xiu thought she did not need to distance herself from her because of her mother.
“Thanks. I’ll treat you to a meal when you’re free.”
Cen Anning was not in a hurry to accept the invitation. “You should check whether there’s any problem with the acknowledgment form first.”
With a click, the dining room, which had just been dim, lit up. The small pendant lamp cast a warm tone through the silent night.
Cen Anning had turned on the light for Shi Xiu.
Shi Xiu was surprised by her stepsister’s thoughtfulness and said, “Thank you.”
Cen Anning smiled gently and sat back in her original place, quietly looking toward the hand Shi Xiu used to hold the acknowledgment form.
This person’s hands had been beautiful since she was little. Ten long, slender fingers, bones distinct, wrapped in a layer of delicate, fair flesh, like the Creator’s proud work.
And how could Shi Xiu only have a pair of hands that were the Creator’s proud work?
Cen Anning’s gaze followed Shi Xiu’s fingers, greedily looking upward.
First the forearm, then the shoulder, the collarbone.
She watched Shi Xiu’s loose strands of hair sweep across her neck, the lean lines shifting with her breathing…
“No problem.” After reading the acknowledgment form, Shi Xiu nodded at Cen Anning in approval.
Cen Anning quietly withdrew her gaze, and the topic returned to Shi Xiu’s thanks. “Treat me to a meal when you’re free.”
“Whatever you want to eat, I’ll treat you.”
Cen Anning’s action had undoubtedly saved Shi Xiu a lot of trouble, so Shi Xiu agreed especially readily.
“All right.” Cen Anning smiled as she watched the young girl before her, her pupils filled with an immeasurable depth.
As she spoke, she rose from the chair. When she walked closer to Shi Xiu, she patted her shoulder with both distance and intimacy. “Sleep early.”
“You too.” Shi Xiu replied politely and did not feel anything was wrong.
.
The night was silent, and the wind lifted a withered leaf along the street.
The light in the second-floor bedroom of the villa had gone out. The dim yellow glass now darkly reflected the night.
No one noticed that there was still a figure stopped outside the window.
The little dog’s wagging tail drooped. Shang Jinyue quietly stood by the roadside, looking up at Shi Xiu’s room.
Tree shadows crossed and wove together, piercing and wrapping around Shang Jinyue’s shadow.
She remembered that after they got married, Shi Xiu had told her that back then, when Shi Xiu sent her home, she would not leave until she saw the light in Shang Jinyue’s bedroom turn on.
Back then, Shang Jinyue had thought this kind of thing was completely meaningless, wasting time and wasting energy.
But now, she too had become such a “meaningless” person.
It was what she deserved.
After staring at that darkened window for a long while, Shang Jinyue finally agreed to withdraw her gaze.
Yet as if possessed by ghosts and gods, she looked toward another window not far away.
That window was also pitch-black.
But when Shang Jinyue looked over, it was as if behind that window, there was also a pair of eyes meeting hers.
She remembered.
That was the room of Shi Xiu’s stepsister, Cen Anning.
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