Chapter 61: Quicksand
“To Qingchuan University? Alright… get in.”
The high-speed train station was a sea of people. Chaotic figures flashed past her eyes, and she couldn’t catch a single familiar face. He Mu Qing shook her head. The monotonous train ride of several hours had made her a little listless. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, and it was making her head dizzy.
She ducked into the car. The cool air from the air conditioner barely saved her life. She didn’t know how much she had to say to persuade her parents to let her come to Qingchuan alone. She, who had never been too far from home, was now crossing thousands of kilometers alone to a strange and familiar city for the first time.
He Mu Qing turned her head and looked out the window. The taxi had been wandering around the subway station for a while before it plunged into the crowded traffic. This exquisite and modern city was filled with tall buildings, just as the boy had told her. The pedestrians on the street were in a hurry, full of life, yet strangely, it made one feel an indescribable coldness.
“A freshman? You’re here to see the school so early?”
The driver stopped at a red light and tilted his head to chat with the girl in the back seat.
“Hmm?”
He Mu Qing suddenly came back to her senses. She realized that the ticket she had forgotten to throw away was crumpled in her palm, soaked with sticky sweat. She smiled a little hastily and replied, “Ah… no. I’m here to see a friend.”
“Oh… I see.”
The driver took a few more glances at He Mu Qing. He could tell that the girl was probably a little introverted, and he was suddenly a little worried. She had come all this way by high-speed train. It was probably not just an ordinary friend. He had picked up customers who were in a hurry to meet online friends before. “Don’t blame me for being nosy, girl. If it’s an online friend, you should be more careful. Something happened a while ago. It was because of an online meeting.”
“Thank you, uncle. It’s okay. He and I… have a very good relationship.”
He Mu Qing seemed to have suddenly remembered something, and the corners of her lips slightly upturned. The boy had once complained to her that he had met a talkative driver when he first came to Qingchuan, who had been asking him questions all the way.
The two of them chatted on and off. The taxi completely passed through the city center, and the speed began to slow down again. The number of young and beautiful figures on the bustling commercial street gradually increased. He Mu Qing looked down at the map on her phone and asked softly, “Sir, are we almost there?”
“We’ll be there after we turn a corner on this street. It’s summer vacation, and a lot of students from this university town have gone home. There aren’t many people on the street now.”
The driver said as he turned the car to the left and pointed forward with his hand. “See? The four big words ‘Qingchuan University’ are right there.”
He Mu Qing looked in the direction he was pointing. The words, which were carved on a huge stone at the school gate, were in a vigorous and powerful cursive script.
Qingchuan University’s history was not very long. The green pines and cypresses in front of the school gate, and the stone bridge over the river, were almost the same as what she had heard from the boy. They had appeared countless times in her dreams on the nights after she had failed her exams, and they had built up a fantasy that was born from her love. Everything was so familiar, as if she had really been here before.
He Mu Qing got out of the car, and her feet landed firmly on the stone brick road. The crisp sound of the car door closing gradually faded away. She squinted her eyes in the scorching summer sun. The beautiful stone bridge stood tall over the river. The stone bridge was very new, and there was not much moss on the bridge.
She walked onto the bridge, and her gaze extended to the end of the small river under the bridge. The just-right sunlight was sprinkled on the surface of the river, and it was a thin layer of golden powder. It was strung into a light belt and was slowly flowing with the sparkling river.
She couldn’t help but fantasize whether the other party had also walked into the university gate with a happy heart, dragging his suitcase. And how many times had he passed this stone bridge with his friends?
But she was sure that the boy must have stopped here and looked at the scenery at this moment, just like her. He had taken a picture of this beautiful moment with his phone. The photo he had sent her was still in her phone, and it would appear in her dreams on a certain night when her longing and love could not be suppressed.
She looked for a long time, as if she wanted to deeply engrave this scenery, which she had only seen in photos, in her eyes.
Pedestrians brushed past her intermittently. She subconsciously turned her head and saw a gentle-looking young man with gold-rimmed glasses bending down and speaking to a middle-aged man who looked like a teacher in a respectful tone.
“I’ll have to trouble you this time, teacher. My sister’s mental state is really not very good. I’ll take her back and let her rest at home for a while.”
“Yeah, young people. It’s normal to be a little emotional. Go back and have a good talk with her. Who would have thought that something like this would happen? It’s really a big blow. By the way, An Lin, after you graduated, in the company…”
“I’m fine. I’ve been learning from my father. Thank you for your concern, teacher.”
…
In the end, she still couldn’t completely walk into the main entrance of the campus. She suddenly stopped at the entrance with the drooping railing. Everything behind the main entrance gradually became strange in her memory. The time was really too short. The boy hadn’t had time to tell her too much. The various things that should have happened in the future had come to an abrupt end and had lost their due meaning.
A dense pain inexplicably arose in her heart. Perhaps she should have walked out earlier, instead of being immersed in some distant and unattainable fantasies.
He Mu Qing cut off her thoughts and looked up at the shop name, which was made of wooden strips, above her head. The phone in her palm was subconsciously held tightly. The screen was lit up, and it was the message that the boy had sent her on Christmas Day, saying that he had found a pretty good milk tea shop near the school.
Because she was not familiar with the nearby layout, and the location was not in a bustling and eye-catching commercial street, she had to rely on the navigation and had been looking for a while before she finally found this intersection with various coffee shops and dessert shops at the end of an unknown alley.
She counted the shops on the left and finally found the milk tea shop mentioned in the message. It should also be a private shop. The unique design was reflected in every detail. Compared to the formulaic franchise stores that could be seen everywhere, it always made people feel comfortable.
She stood at the entrance and took a deep breath. She gently parted the sky-blue gauze curtain in front of her. The wind chime on the door was swaying gently, and a tinkling sound was made. It was as if it had shaken the thoughts that had been accumulated in her heart, and a rustling of dust fell.
“Welcome. What can I get for you?”
“I…”, He Mu Qing was stunned and looked at the young woman behind the counter, and the man who had just emerged from under the counter. Her gaze swept over the black writing board on the counter. On it, the new summer products and today’s discounted products were written in different colored chalk.
Her lips parted, and she subconsciously said the dessert she usually ordered. “I want a mango pudding, no ice.”
“Okay.” The woman smiled, and a very faint wrinkle appeared at the corners of her eyes. She turned her head and patted the man behind her. “Honey, the ingredients from this morning are not fresh anymore. Go and get some more from the back.”
He Mu Qing stared blankly at the interaction between the man and the woman in front of her, and the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curl up. She lowered her head and smiled. Her gaze followed the thin light that was shining through the gauze curtain and fell on the few wooden boards that were pasted on the wall in the small shop. On them, there were colorful small paper slips, and one could vaguely see words of various colors.
She subconsciously walked to the wooden board, as if she were holding a handful of quicksand. The memories of the past were like fine and fragmented yellow sand, seeping through the gaps between her fingers and scattering sparsely.
“Are you interested in these, little girl? Our shop also has a memory capsule activity. If you’re interested…”
The quicksand slowly fell, leaving a few crystal-clear pearls, which were shining with a brilliant and colorful light in her light eyes.
He Mu Qing turned her head and looked at the woman, her eyes curved, and a sweet smile on her lips.
She gently shook her head.
“Thank you. No need.”
