Chapter 1: Returning to Campus (2/2)

But later.

Zhao Qingfeng transferred schools in his senior year of high school due to family reasons, and from then on, they went their separate ways.

Afterward, twenty years passed without them seeing each other.

His mind had already blurred the somewhat familiar face, yet he never forgot her two tiger teeth and the sweet, naive smile when she laughed.

Supported by the doctor, Zhao Qingfeng knocked on the Shen family’s door.

He thought he would get an answer.

But what awaited him was shocking news from Shen Lingyao’s mother, like a bolt from the blue.

“Yaoyao passed away the day before yesterday…”

“She didn’t let me tell you…”

“You don’t need to leave any money either…”

“Actually, Yaoyao never married, nor did she have any children…”

“The beautiful life she described in her letters to you was just her years of fantasy about being with you…”

“Little Feng, Aunt Ding wants to speak her heart. You wronged our Yaoyao…”

“If you hadn’t secretly changed your college application after transferring, you two could have grown old together…”

“The reason she passed away so early, besides being heartbroken, was that she resigned from her job without hesitation and went abroad to anonymously donate bone marrow to you, which worsened her health…”

“I didn’t want to forgive you, but Yaoyao always asked me to keep it from you before she died…”

“Even in her dying moments, she didn’t want you to worry. Do you know how heartbroken and desperate she has been all these years?”

“This silly girl, she always fantasized that you would truly marry her…”

Zhao Qingfeng then realized.

The mysterious bone marrow donor from five years ago was her!

The autumn wind was bleak and the words were sorrowful.

He didn’t even know how he ended up in front of Shen Lingyao’s grave.

Fresh flowers were placed in front of the tombstone.

On the tombstone, Shen Lingyao’s youthful photo from high school was the innocent face Zhao Qingfeng had forgotten in the midst of life’s turmoil.

Aunt Ding, crying, handed him Shen Lingyao’s diary.

As if the wind had its own consciousness, it howled and turned the diary to the last page, where the tear-stained, crumpled paper bore a vow that Zhao Qingfeng would never forget.

“Actually, what I miss the most is the time during high school, those were my most naive years. The morning sunlight through the window fell on him, I watched him for two years, loved him for a lifetime.”

“If he were to leave this world before me, dying for love would no longer be an ancient rumor.”

“But my illness is getting worse, I’m sorry, my Brother Qingfeng, I probably can’t hold on, I have to go first.”

“How I wish there is a next life. If there really is a next life, promise me, marry me…”

Putting down the diary.

Zhao Qingfeng was heartbroken to the extreme.

He choked up several times.

Tears fell like broken pearls.

The wind got stronger.

Sheets of letters were suddenly scattered by the wind, floating in the air, turning into countless sharp knives, stabbing Zhao Qingfeng’s heart.

Zhao Qingfeng hated himself.

He hated that he had taken all her goodness for granted because they were childhood sweethearts.

True love had always been there, but he was blinded by his own ignorance.

A missed opportunity.

A lifetime’s regret.

With tears streaming down his face, he used all his remaining strength to shout towards the sky, “Shen Lingyao, if there is a next life, I swear I will never leave you again!”

The strong emotional turmoil made him suddenly cough violently.

Blood spurted from his nostrils, splashing on the floating letters, blending with Shen Lingyao’s past tears.

Gradually.

Zhao Qingfeng saw a beam of light.

There seemed to be a figure within the light, vague and indistinct.

Hot tears fell for the last time.

Zhao Qingfeng finally collapsed in front of the tombstone, slowly closing his eyes.

…………………….

Ding Ding Ding!

After an unknown amount of time, a harsh school bell suddenly invaded Zhao Qingfeng’s ears.

He abruptly opened his eyes, finding himself in a classroom.

Surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

Next to him.

Was a face he was extremely familiar with, yet hated to death, youthful and detestable.

“Liu Ruoxin?”

Zhao Qingfeng was stunned on the spot.