Back Then, I Adored You

After a while, she started to write, but she laid the pen on the desk after only a few words and closed the textbook.

The second day, Qin Zhi’ai came home tired after a full day of classes. She took a shower and went to bed.

In the middle of the night, she woke up to thunder. She went to the bathroom, and on her way back to bed she checked her phone for the time. It was 3:00 a.m., not much time left before his flight to Shanghai.

Suddenly, Qin Zhi’ai was not sleepy anymore.

After sitting on the bed for a while, she randomly picked out some clothes to put on and quietly left the bedroom. She walked through the living room toward the balcony and opened the windows. A cool night breeze blew in. She stared at the night view in deep thought.

As the sun rose, Qin Zhi’ai realized how cold her hands and feet had become. Even though it was spring in Beijing, the nights were still chilly.

She went back to the bedroom, crawled under the blanket, and tossed and turned for a long time before warming up a little. She closed her eyes to force herself to sleep but only managed a state of being half asleep and half awake. She thought she heard Xu Wennuan waking up. Without knowing how long she had been in bed, she got up and checked the time on her phone—almost noon.

She had classes in the afternoon, so she decided to text a classmate and tell her she was taking the day off. She then took a shower, put on clothes, and got a taxi to the airport.

Even though Qin Zhi’ai had been waiting at the entrance of the airport for more than an hour, she did not really expect to see Gu Yusheng’s car but suddenly it appeared, with Lu Bancheng driving. He turned into parking lot T2.

Qin Zhi’ai walked to the waiting room in T2 and hid behind a column near the security checkpoint for first-class passengers. Within ten minutes she saw Gu Yusheng walking toward the checkpoint with his ticket in hand. Wu Hao, Lu Bancheng, and Xiaowang were following him.

Gu Yusheng stood outside the first-class security area. After checking in his bags, he chatted with those who were sending him off. He patted Lu Bancheng and Wu Hao on the shoulders and took a laptop bag from Xiaowang before getting into the security line.

Lu Bancheng, Wu Hao, and Xiaowang stood outside the security entrance for about five minutes, until they assumed Gu Yusheng had passed through security.

Only when she was sure they had left the airport did Qin Zhi’ai come out from behind the column. She saw Gu Yusheng’s back outside the first-class security entrance.

One hand was in his pant pocket while the other was holding his bag. He walked casually and gradually into the distance. She blinked to recover her composure, when all she could see were strangers.

Gu Yusheng, goodbye.

You would never believe there was also a girl seeing you off on the day you departed Beijing.

Qin Zhi’ai looked down, turned around, and walked away.

Gu Yusheng’s heart skipped a beat at that moment in the airport VIP waiting room. His hand shook and hot coffee spilled all over it. It burned all the way to his heart. He immediately stood up and went back to his seat while everyone watched.

Eight months later.

Qin Zhi’ai woke up when she received a call from Professor Zhu. “Xiao’ai, there’s an important guest speaker coming this afternoon. Can you pick him up at 3:00?”