There were whispers in the living room, which seemed low and intimate.
Lin Sitao lay on the bed, unable to move.
After an unknown amount of time, he heard footsteps outside, the sound of people packing up things, and finally the sound of a door closing. It was quiet outside. He Xian and Song You had both left.
He Xian and Song You went downstairs one after the other. Song You had lost a lot of weight and was choking from crying. He was staggering as he walked. He Xian said nothing and led him through the parking lot to his car.
He opened the car door and Song You got in obediently.
"He Xian," he said, still choking up, "we can solve this problem together."
He Xian started the car: "Which hotel are you staying in? I'll take you home."
Song You looked out the car window. He knew he was beautiful. He knew he was still beautiful when angry or crying. He also knew which angle he looked most beautiful from. He used this as a weapon, and added some tricks to make him invincible against He Xian.
"I'm hungry!" he said suddenly angrily.
He Xian asked him almost reflexively: "What do you want to eat?"
Song You felt a little relieved.
He could only hope that He Xian still couldn't bear to leave him emotionally. His only confidence now was to play the emotional card. He and He Xian had been together for almost five years, and he knew his character very well - He Xian would not look back on things he had decided rationally; but emotional matters were the most difficult to judge rationally, and it was difficult to just break up.
They stopped at a Cantonese restaurant. It was past eleven in the evening, and the restaurant was almost closing time, so there were few diners. The young waiter was chatting and laughing in the background.
Song You was eating seafood porridge while He Xian went out to make a phone call.
The phone call was just an excuse. He Xian didn't want to sit there facing Song You. The late night snacks in the diner in the past were all warm memories. Thinking about them now was even more unbearable.
He Xian came back a quarter of an hour later. He only took a few bites of Song You's bowl of porridge. He sat there in a daze, looking dazed.
"Don't waste food." He Xian said. When he was with Song You, he often ate Song You's leftovers.
Song You whispered, "Give me another chance, please? Give us another chance."
He Xian was silent for a moment and said, "No."
He glanced at Song You and said, "Didn't you just start working at the TV station?"
Song You blushed and said nothing.
He Xian stared at him, and he whispered, "I've finished the onboarding process, and everything has been settled. Anyway... things have come to this point, so we might as well look forward. I don't want to lose you, and I really can't bear to be without you."
He Xian was completely disappointed in him.
"You can't be so clever about everything. After eating Party A, you eat Party B. You have to do what you promised my mother - we won't meet again in the future."
He Xian was so ruthless and frank, and it was the first time for Song You to experience it.
Previously, He Xian's mother Zhou Qin found Song You and offered him generous conditions to break up with He Xian. Song You stayed in Beijing because he desperately wanted to get a TV station to appear on TV. He missed the opportunity that was delivered to his doorstep, which was really painful for him.
He originally thought that He Xian and his mother did not have a close relationship, and that this matter would only cause a disturbance for a while at most, and he could control it. However, he did not expect that after He Xian knew about it, he directly asked for a breakup with a firm attitude.
It was not until this moment that Song You came to his senses and realized that everything was over. His previous thoughts of "it will be fine" and "He Xian will not really make up his mind to break up with me" were all self-deception.
He finally felt like he had broken up, but he couldn't cry anymore.
After leaving the restaurant, He Xian wanted to drive him. Song You just stood on the side of the road. Since it was impossible to save the situation, he didn't need to beg He Xian humbly anymore. The sooner this drama ended, the better.
"No need to send me off, I'll take a taxi back." He was three steps away from He Xian. It was no longer the distance between lovers.
"Actually, I often wonder, have you really loved me?" He tilted his head and looked at He Xian.
He Xian just looked at him without answering. The night wind blew, and Song You's half-long hair was a little messy, but still beautiful. He Xian had to use a lot of effort to restrain himself from walking over and touching his hair.
"Go back and be with your new love!" The taxi arrived and Song You opened the door. "But she's so small and ugly. When did you fall in love with her?"
He got in the car and slammed the door, leaving He Xian standing alone on the roadside, watching the taxi leave. The night seemed endless.
When Lin Sitao opened his eyes, he realized that he had been keeping this posture all night long and his hands were sore from sleeping.
He got up and found the room was empty, and he was still the only one there. It was still early, just after six o'clock, and the cicadas were already chirping.
When I thought about the fact that I would be able to go home today, what happened last night seemed like a dream, and most of the feeling of loss was gone.
After packing his luggage and tidying up the room, Lin Sitao went downstairs early to wait for Master Zheng.
On the way to the train station, Master Zheng and Lin Sitao chatted all the way.
Master Zheng praised He Xian highly and said that Lin Sitao was very lucky to be taken care of in this way.
Lin Sitao didn't quite understand what he heard. From Wu Jianghai's tone, he knew He Xian came from a good family, but he hadn't looked into it in detail.
"Ha, you don't know?" Master Zheng said, "who his family is."
Lin Sitao said honestly: "I don't know."
Master Zheng said: "He Zhongcheng is his biological grandfather. He is the eldest son and grandson of the He family."
Lin Sitao did not ask who He Zhongcheng was. It would be ridiculous to ask again. He remained silent.
"Are you scared silly?" Master Zheng asked with a smile.
“…” Lin Sitao was overwhelmed with emotions and didn’t know how to describe it. “He is such an amazing person.”
Master Zheng said: "He runs around the company and the construction site just like an ordinary small boss. People like us who know the goods will say it's amazing, but those who don't know the goods will laugh at him for being stupid."
Lin Sitao laughed.
Sitting on the train, he was still thinking about what he had seen and heard about He Xian during this period. Traveling is the best time to daydream.
More than a month later, school started again. Lin Sitao sat in his original seat, quietly facing his textbook, as if his world had never been turned upside down.
A week after school started, his homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhang, told him a good news.
A successful alumnus of the school donated money to set up a scholarship in order to give back to the school, part of which was used to support poor students. Lin Sitao met the requirements very well.
"Yes, Zhou Qin Scholarship..." Xu Dan read the application materials. Lin Sitao was filling out the form very seriously.
"If you hand in the form, you can get money? Is there such a good thing?" Xu Dan didn't quite believe it.
Lin Sitao said: "Maybe there are more adults who want us to read than you think."
Xu Dan sneered: "Don't be ridiculous, my father doesn't want me to go to college."
But Lin Sitao was so serious, it was meaningless for her to just talk about Curly Hair. Besides, it was always good to get money. Lin Sitao asked her to look at the application conditions. She looked at it for a while and said awkwardly: "Why don't I talk to Lao Zhang and try to apply..."
Lin Sitao didn't look up, but smiled.
Xu Dan looked at him suspiciously, "I always feel like something has changed about you. It's really good to go out for a while."
Lin Sitao told her a lot about his time working, but he only mentioned it briefly to He Xian without going into details. This was a secret that belonged only to him.
In September 2005, Lin Sitao boarded the train again and embarked on an even longer journey straight to Beijing.
He walked into the campus alone, carrying his luggage, under the scorching sun.
The enthusiastic senior student helped him quickly complete the admission procedures - "Lin Sitao, welcome to the Department of Civil Engineering."
The future is so bright.