Back Then, I Adored You

When Lin Tiantian called for the waiter to get a third cup of coffee, Su Qing finally lifted her head and said softly into Lin Tiantian’s ear, “Tiantian, I’m going to use the restroom.”

Lin Tiantian, engaged in her animated conversation with Qin Jiayan, mindlessly nodded her head without otherwise acknowledging Su Qing, who stood up and nodded back at Qin Jiayan before taking her cell phone and leaving.

After closing the stall door in the restroom, Su Qing leaned against it as though she was drained of energy.

She had thought that she would never meet Qin Jiayan again in her life, particularly since she had married an accomplished, smart, and capable man many years ago. Of course, that didn’t mean she had never secretly imagined what it would have been like if they had met.

Perhaps we would exchange a look and brush past each other as though we were complete strangers.

Perhaps we would exchange brief words of hello and goodbye at a street corner.

But now that we’ve met in reality, he’s crueler than what I could have imagined. He’s chosen to pretend as if we’ve never met…

Even though so many years have passed, my heart still aches over Qin Jiayan.

Su Qing did not know how long she had been in the stall, and she only returned to her senses when Tiantian called her on the phone to urge her to come back, as they were getting ready to go. It was then that she quickly used the toilet, pulled open the door, and hurried out.

She stood in front of the sink, washed her hands, and pulled out a towel. As she was drying her hands, the door of the male stall opened, and the dignified Qin Jiayan walked out. She briefly paused her actions and clearly observed that Qin Jiayan saw her but pretended not to even as he casually walked over to the sink next to her. He turned on the faucet and gracefully washed his hands before pulling two towels and slowly drying his hands. After he threw the towels into the trash can, he turned to leave.

Su Qing finally recovered from her daze after he walked two steps away, and she stared at his gradually diminishing silhouette, but before she could contain herself, she called out, “Jiayan.”

Qin Jiayan slowed down for a moment, walking two more steps, before he finally stopped, but he seemed to have no intention of turning around.

Su Qing quickly finished drying her hands and tossed the towel into the trash can before she lifted her foot and jogged over to him, stopped three feet away from him, and stared at his back before she said softly, “Jiayan, how have you been all these years?”

Qin Jiayan still showed no sign of turning around to look at Su Qing, who was biting the corner of her lip trying to think of something more to say. Recalling that his mother had been gravely ill for a few years after she had left him, she asked, “Jiayan, how’s your mom? Is she well?”

Jiayan…Jiayan…Jiayan… Just as in the past and in my dreams, whenever I speak to him, I always say his name over and over again.

Qin Jiayan’s lips tightened instantly.

In the past, I loved how she spoke to me, but right now I inexplicably hate her…

When he still hadn’t responded, Su Qing opened her mouth again and called out his name. “Jiayan…”

Qin Jiayan, whose back still faced toward her, suddenly turned around and coolly gazed at her. “Mrs. Lin, whether or not my mother and I are well doesn’t really have much to do with you, does it?”