Chapter 13: The Final Confession

The plum rain season had arrived in Migu, and the continuous gloomy, drizzling days only made an already broken heart feel even more suffocated.

Ever since losing contact with Xiu Jie, Sheng Han had completely fallen apart. She kept avoiding student council activities with all sorts of excuses. During classes, she would always sit alone in the most secluded corner of the last row, hiding her face in her arms, quietly crying. If not for the school’s strict policy of roll call every period, perhaps Sheng Han wouldn’t even be seen in the classroom at all. She rarely went to the cafeteria either. Other than going to class, she spent the rest of her time curled up alone in the dorm room, silently crying in a daze.

More than once, Sheng Han used a small knife to viciously cut her arms, carving words into her skin. Blood would drip from the sharp blade, and once the wounds scabbed over, she would reopen them again. Maybe when her body hurt, her heart wouldn’t hurt as much.

Ling Fei, Tian Yu, and Hui Qian noticed her low spirits but didn’t dare provoke her, allowing Sheng Han to nurse her wounds alone.

In the first few days of being unable to reach Xiu Jie, Sheng Han had called Xin Yao and Jing Qi, who were both far away in other cities, crying as she told them she had accidentally lost Xiu Jie. Neither of them asked for too many details, afraid of bringing up even more sorrowful memories. They just kept comforting her, urging her to stay strong now that she was all alone outside.

Jing Qi told her:
“Every one of us has an angel silently watching over us. She’s always there, never leaving, never giving up on us. So no matter when, no matter where, we’re never truly alone. That angel will carry all our pain to God, and once God knows, He won’t have the heart to let us suffer more.”

Xin Yao added with heartfelt concern:
“Han Han, we can’t fly to your side right now, but you have to be strong on your own, okay? You have to take care of yourself. Now—go on, use your right hand and pat your head for me. We’re always here for you.”

It had been a long time since anyone from the student council had seen Sheng Han. Tian You was worried. He called her countless times, but she never picked up.

After learning that Sheng Han had broken up with her boyfriend, Hao Yu rushed into her classroom to find her—only to be met with her cold rejection:
“Hao Yu, I’m begging you. Please… let me go.”

Love is like drinking a glass of water. At first, you drink it to quench your thirst. But once it’s inside you, it seeps into your bloodstream, flows through your bones, and before you know it—it becomes something you can’t live without.

It was yet another drizzly, gray day. All across campus, students hurried along under umbrellas. Among the crowd, one girl walked aimlessly in the rain without one, as if hoping the downpour could wash away all her memories and pain.

It was Sheng Han.

The campus radio station was playing Zhou Chuanxiong’s latest song, “I’m Sad”:

“What breaks my heart is giving up on you, giving up on love—
Watching our dream shatter while holding back the grief.
I thought I was letting you go for your own good,
But you said you only felt worse.
What breaks my heart is forgetting you, forgetting love—
Trying so hard to erase the truth that we once truly loved.
And I forgot to tell you,
What’s lost… can never be regained…”

On a rainy day like this, with lyrics and melody like that, Sheng Han felt every cell in her body ache. Even breathing… hurt.

From a distance, Tian You finally found her. These past few days, he’d been asking around, deeply worried after hearing about her breakup. He immediately rushed toward her, wrapped his jacket around her, and held an umbrella over her head.

Looking at Tian You, Sheng Han could no longer hold back. She broke down completely, crying her heart out.

Tian You stood silently by her side, shielding her from the rain, quietly staying with her.

This rain… was bone-chillingly cold.

Time suddenly slowed down.

That day, Sheng Han sat alone in the dormitory, blankly holding a piece of cross-stitch in her hands.

At the time, cross-stitch had suddenly become a national trend. Girls would pick out patterns and styles with great care, then embroider them to give as gifts to the boys they loved.

The cross-stitch in front of her had been bought a long time ago, when she and Tian Yu had gone shopping together. She had been drawn to a pillow embroidered with two adorable dolls dressed in traditional wedding attire.

How she wished that couple could be her and Xiu Jie.

The more she looked at it, the more she liked it. Back then, she had decisively bought the kit, planning to complete it and give it to Xiu Jie as a gift when they reunited after a long separation.

But now, as she looked at the cross-stitch again, all the sweetness in the pattern had vanished.
All that was left was a pain so deep it tore through her heart.

Suddenly, a thought struck her.
She opened her phone’s calendar—one week. There was exactly one week left until National Day.

She was going to finish this pillow and send it to Xiu Jie.

Because Xiu Jie was the only one worth giving this pillow to. Sheng Han didn’t want to give up just like that.

Even more than that, she was afraid she might never have another chance to give him this gift.

The fastest shipping would take three days. That meant she had only four days to finish the embroidery.

From that day on, Sheng Han worked without rest, day and night. When the dorm lights went out, she plugged in a small night lamp and continued stitching.

Because she was in such a rush, her ten fingers were pricked countless times by the fine needle.

Even when they bled, she didn’t bother wiping it away.
Her entire focus was on the cross-stitch before her.

Finally, she finished it.

In the lower corner, she embroidered the completion date in her favorite color, and added the words:
“For Xiu Jie Only.”

Afraid that Xiu Jie wouldn’t like it, she specially went out to buy the softest, highest-quality pillow insert. After stuffing and sealing it, she carefully wrapped it in multiple layers.

Then, Sheng Han wrote a long, thick letter—page after page filled with regret.
She wasn’t sure whether Xiu Jie would even read it.

But she decided to take the gamble.

Knowing that Xiu Jie loved to eat nuts, she also bought a variety of different kinds to send along with it.

Since she didn’t know his current mailing address, she went around asking and finally contacted a close high school classmate of Xiu Jie’s who was also in Yongshu, asking them to pass it along.

Once everything was ready, Sheng Han brought it all to the package dispatch room near campus.

“Sir, hello, how much would it cost to send these to Yongshu? It’s urgent!”

The logistics worker looked through everything and weighed the package before replying:
“Shipping will be around 200 yuan.”

Sheng Han hesitated.

Her parents sent her 1,000 yuan for living expenses every month. She had already spent quite a bit buying things for Xiu Jie. Tomorrow, her class also needed to pay 300 yuan for textbooks.
And now, with the end of the month approaching, her budget was stretched thin.

If she paid the 200 yuan shipping, she’d have only 50 yuan left—barely enough to survive the week before her next allowance came in.

But after a brief moment of thought, Sheng Han made up her mind.
“It’s okay, I’ll send it. Sir, please make it express.”

After leaving the delivery room, Sheng Han headed straight to the supermarket.

With that 50 yuan, she bought different flavors of instant noodles.
That should be enough to last until her next allowance, right?

Three or four days later, she received a call from the classmate in Yongshu, saying the package had been delivered to Xiu Jie.
He didn’t say a word. He just took the box and left.

Just like that, all of Sheng Han’s efforts disappeared like a stone sinking into the ocean, not even stirring up a ripple in Xiu Jie’s heart.

Everything she had done, in the end, had only touched herself.

Xiu Jie’s cold indifference left her chilled to the bone.

It seemed—her story with Xiu Jie had truly come to an end.

When someone’s heart hardens, even the gentlest touch can no longer reach them.
Even the most dazzling fireworks, once extinguished, leave behind nothing but cold, lifeless ashes.