On a Stormy Night, the Campus Belle Knocked on My Door Seeking Shelter
Chapter 28: That Moment Then, Is Just Like This Moment Now

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: That Moment Then, Is Just Like This Moment Now

Besides the meaning Chen Mo had mentioned, MM could also stand for "my man."

In other words, the four letters Chen Mo had the clerk engrave could mean "Chen Mo, My Master," or "Chen Mo, My Man."

The thought of that latter meaning naturally sent Su Yuqing’s heart racing.

Love brings with it inferiority and fear.

Although Chen Mo had already shown great affection for Su Yuqing, deep down, she always felt a sense of inferiority, as if she didn’t deserve him.

This inferiority complex troubled her and shackled her ability to express her own feelings.

She was afraid, deeply afraid that if she dared to hope for their relationship to take one small step forward, she might instead end up pushing them a giant leap apart.

So she didn’t dare to act, yet her heart was filled with anticipation.

This was why whenever she picked up on a signal that Chen Mo might like her, her heart would pound wildly, as if she were overwhelmed by the unexpected attention.

The reason for this was purely a result of her upbringing, which had led to these personality issues.

A fragrant scent wafted past as Su Yuqing caught up to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her face was flushed red. He figured she must have thought of the other meaning.

Chen Mo smiled but didn’t say anything more.

Soon, the two of them had ambled their way to the bus station.

Getting to the Old District would require at least two or three transfers.

The ride alone would take over an hour.

This was also why they hadn’t seen each other again after parting ways as children. After all, it was far too difficult for a child to travel alone from the New District to the Old District.

On the bus, they sat side by side. Chen Mo took out his phone and asked with a smile, "Want to listen to some music?"

"Sure," Su Yuqing replied with a sweet smile.

"What kind of music do you like?"

"I don’t usually listen to much music, but there is one song I quite like," Su Yuqing said after a moment of thought.

"What’s it called?" Chen Mo asked, surprised.

"Zheng Zhihua’s ’Don’t Cry, My Dearest Love,’" Su Yuqing said softly...

In that instant, a flood of memories flashed through Chen Mo’s mind: the image of Su Yuqing’s tragic death, his own grief-stricken and remorseful face in the mirror.

Even in the previous timeline, when he hadn’t known about their childhood connection, Chen Mo had still been very fond of Su Yuqing.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have proposed escorting her home in the rain, a plan that was incredibly inconvenient for him.

He could have just lent her a raincoat or an umbrella and let her go home on her own.

Now, hearing this song title so suddenly, the song’s lyrics immediately flashed through Chen Mo’s mind.

The lyrics could be a farewell from a terminally ill person to their lover. They could also be a goodbye to the world from someone who had lost all hope. They could even serve as a comforting final message from the dying to those they cherished.

In his past life, he had often listened to this song when he was all alone, seeking some small measure of comfort.

He never expected that Su Yuqing would also cherish this song.

Taking an individually wrapped alcohol wipe from a small box, he gently cleaned the earbuds. After the alcohol had evaporated, Chen Mo placed one earbud in his own ear and the other in Su Yuqing’s.

Chen Mo preferred a cover version by a female singer named Lei Ting. After all, the person he was bidding farewell to in his heart was Su Yuqing.

He started the song, and as the introductory notes—a piano accompanied by what sounded like a violin—began to play, an ethereal, sorrowful feeling immediately crept into both their hearts.

"Don’t cry, my dearest love~ Tonight I will bloom like a desert flower~

Fading away in my most beautiful moment~ Your tears cannot stop me from withering away..."

As the lyrics slowly drifted into their ears, their minds began to wander...

Scene after scene from their memories flashed through their minds.

Without realizing it, tears had already begun to slide from the corners of Su Yuqing’s eyes.

Once, Su Yuqing had stood on the edge of a rooftop, listening to this very song.

That time, it had been after coming from her mother’s house, and then her father’s. Feeling that in the entire vast world there was no place for her, she had listened to this song to bid her final farewell as she slowly walked to the rooftop’s edge.

But in that very instant, the image of the Little Boy she had met in her childhood suddenly appeared before her mind’s eye, stopping her.

In that moment, Su Yuqing stopped.

’It turned out there was a place for me in this world after all. If we’re truly destined to meet, then maybe we’ll see each other again in this lifetime.’

As someone who enjoyed reading books about destiny, she had a bit of a belief in fate.

’Since fate allowed me to meet him as a child and be saved by his words,’ she thought, ’then it should allow us to meet again in the future.’

Holding on to this belief all the way to high school, the boy who haunted her dreams finally appeared, just as she had hoped.

But when he appeared, he had already forgotten her.

In that moment, she could almost hear the sound of her own heart breaking.

’It seemed my last refuge has shattered as well.’

But as she interacted with and observed him over the following days, she discovered that he was still as gentle and considerate as he had been when they were young.

’He hadn’t changed, so why had his heart changed? Why had he forgotten me?’

Su Yuqing desperately wanted an answer. Driven by this quest, her days suddenly found new energy and purpose.

Until this morning. After learning the whole truth, Su Yuqing finally walked out of the gloom completely, stepping into a place where the sun could shine on her.

The morning sun seemed exceptionally bright to her, and the air felt especially fresh.

The entire world suddenly seemed beautiful.

Now, hearing this song again, the tears Su Yuqing shed were merely a farewell to her former self.

’From today onward, I won’t be gloomy anymore,’ she vowed, ’as long as he’s by my side.’

Wiping away her tears, Su Yuqing looked up at Chen Mo, who was lost in a daze beside her. Suddenly, an inexplicable, heart-wrenching ache seized her.

Because she could see that behind the seemingly calm expression on his face, beneath his dim, vacant eyes, there was an unspeakable sorrow!

’It seemed some incredibly painful experience was constantly haunting him.’

As if guided by an unseen hand, her own hand gently caressed the young man’s cheek.

The young man looked at the girl beside him in surprise.

The girl’s fingers brushed lightly against his face, and then, just as she had done when they were children, she gently pulled him into her embrace.

Instantly, Chen Mo’s memories surged, taking him back to that park in the Old District...

The image of the little girl who had, in the middle of their conversation, inexplicably pulled him into an embrace and made him feel shy for the very first time, now overlapped perfectly with the Su Yuqing before him.

The warmth of her palm as she gently patted his back... that moment then felt exactly like this moment now.

But this time, the young man didn’t pull away out of shyness. He just stayed still, as if time itself had stopped in that very moment—

His selves from different times and spaces continuously overlapped and shifted before his eyes...

Neither of them spoke. The girl simply held the boy, who remained silent, his eyes vacant, his thoughts drifting to places unknown.

They stayed that way until the song ended.

As she let go, the morning sun streamed through the window, warm and comforting...

In both of their minds, the versions of themselves who had once listened to this song while trapped in disjointed timelines and sunk in despair were now bathed in that same warm sunlight, the gloom completely dispelled.

The shadows in their hearts had mostly dissipated, and their souls, subtly and imperceptibly, drew a little closer...

The music changed. The next song was "Rice Fragrance." As if nothing had happened, they simply leaned against each other on the swaying bus.

This time, as the melody began, they both listened together, purely in a state of appreciation.

It was also a song full of strength, allowing their hearts, where the ice had just begun to melt, to warm and relax even further.