Back Then, I Adored You

“I first met Wu Hao in this field. His basketball had hit my head and, when he came over to get it, he confessed his feelings to me: He said that the basketball had hit my head, but I had crashed into his heart.

“He confessed that to me right here. It was dark out, and I was on my way home after school, and he suddenly jumped out in front of me. Before he could say anything, I was already crying in shock. Xiao’ai, do you know what he did afterward? He pulled me into his arms and wiped away my tears. He even told me that he liked me. At that moment, I thought I’d just met a hooligan, so I slapped him and ran away.

“We held hands for the first time over there. At that point in time, I had yet to agree to be his girlfriend. It was during the winter, and he insisted on warming my hands for me. That was pretty shameless, wasn’t it, Xiao’ai?

“We had our first kiss here. I’d initiated it and then officially agreed to be his girlfriend. Do you know how annoying he was afterward? Right after I agreed, he immediately started calling me his wife.

“And that’s where Wu Hao and I were caught by the discipline master hugging each other. I ran away and he covered for me. He ended up having to clean the toilet for a full month.”

“Last year during Chinese New Year, he proposed to me here. It was just after it had snowed in Beijing. The entire school was covered in a layer of white, and he knelt in the snow. After he took out a ring, he had asked me to marry him.”

By this time, Xu Wennuan had worked herself up again to uncontrollable sobbing.

Looking up and staring into the gray, gloomy sky, she inhaled a deep breath before turning her head over to Qin Zhi’ai. A radiant smile formed on her tear-stained face, and she said, “Xiao’ai, go sit at that cafe opposite the school. It’ll be warmer there. I want to stay here by myself for a while.”

As if she was afraid that Qin Zhi’ai would refuse to leave, she added, “Xiao’ai, don’t worry. Nothing will happen to me. I’ll come find you in a bit when I feel better.”

Eventually, Qin Zhi’ai obeyed her wishes and left.

As she was pregnant, she didn’t want to stay outside for too long so she wouldn’t catch a cold. Hiding in a dark corner across the street, she spied on Xu Wennuan for some time. After confirming that she would be okay, Qin Zhi’ai headed for the school gates.

Out of habit, she instinctively stopped by the security guard post when she walked past it and began flipping through the stacks of letters.

Halfway through, she suddenly recalled that she had yet to write a reply to Mr. S, so there might not be a letter from him in the pile. Just then, she saw a familiar envelope.

Qin Zhi’ai ordered a cup of honey water when she got to the cafe. Sitting at a table by the window, she opened the envelope and read the letter.

So, Mr. S stood me up because he was deployed…

To avoid boredom while waiting for Xu Wennuan, Qin Zhi’ai bought a pen and a package of envelopes from the store next door and then returned to the cafe and began writing back to him.

“Mr. S, although I turned up for our appointment that day and waited in vain for you for a long time, it’s alright.”

After she had politely written some generic news, she went straight to the main topic and began to answer his questions.

“At the start, it was pure coincidence that I met the man I loved. He had visited my school to give a talk, and I had been assigned to receive him.”