Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 415 Disappeared in Summer

The night is getting darker.

The pitch-black night and the city lights intertwine, with no clear dividing line in between. It's unclear whether the night swallows the light or the light melts away the night.

On the balcony, where light and shadow intertwined, a petite girl hugged her knees and gazed into the distance, her cheeks pale, her hair fluttering wildly in the night breeze, lost in thought.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Zhou Ting, who had just returned to her dormitory to wash up, walked onto the balcony and saw Xiao Xiaoxiao sitting in a chair. She was stunned for a moment, then asked with concern, "Xiaoxiao, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Xiao Xiaoxiao said without turning her head. "I just suddenly wanted to look at the stars."

Looking at the stars...

Zhou Ting looked up at the dark night sky and said with a wry smile, "Where can you even see the stars now?"

"I heard that you can see them at the North and South Poles, and that you can see each one very clearly," Xiao Xiao said.

"That's too far."

Zhou Ting moved a chair and sat down next to her, feeling the cool night breeze. Suddenly, she smiled and said, "But I also really want to go to the North and South Poles. My uncle went there once before and said the aurora was incredibly beautiful. How about we go together after graduation?"

She paused, then tentatively added, "Invite Han Zhou along too."

I've heard from many alumni that for most people, graduation is synonymous with separation. In that summer filled with sweat and tears, even the scorching wind softens a little, temporarily driving away the annoying cicadas from the summer, just to give everyone more time to say goodbye.

During the four years of university life, many people often have two people they can't let go of the most: one is their best friend who is inseparable from them at school, and the other is someone they like but don't dare to confess to until they leave school.

The former represents the passion and emotion of youth, while the latter represents the end and regret of youth.

Zhou Ting had always suspected that Xiao Xiao liked Han Zhou, but she had no evidence, so she planned to take this opportunity to test the other party's feelings.

If Xiaoxiao doesn't like Han Zhou and only considers him a close friend, she would definitely find it strange that he would be mentioned suddenly. But if Xiaoxiao really likes Han Zhou, she would most likely agree to the suggestion and even feel happy about it, or feel embarrassed not to answer.

However, to Zhou Ting's disappointment, Xiao Xiao's reaction was not what she had expected.

"I will not go to the Arctic or the Antarctic."

"Why?" she couldn't help but ask. "Don't you like the North and South Poles?"

"I like it, but I don't want to go." Xiao Xiaoxiao held her face in her hands, looking worried. "Going to such a far place will definitely cost a lot of money."

Zhou Ting smiled and said, "We can talk about money after graduation. Since you like it, you shouldn't leave any regrets in your youth. Just treat it as setting a life goal."

The roommates' joking voices echoed in the dormitory: "By the time we graduate, we'll all be in our twenties, almost thirty. What youth will we have left?"

“Yeah, I’m practically an old maid now,” another roommate sighed.

"You two shut up and stop spreading anxiety," Zhou Ting said with a laugh.

My roommate said with a grin, "If you two can really get Han Zhou to come, I'd be willing to go to the Arctic with you."

“Me too, include me in the party,” another roommate chimed in.

Zhou Ting ignored the two rambling on and instead looked at Xiao Xiaoxiao, who seemed a little absent-minded, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong, Xiaoxiao? Is something on your mind?"

"No." Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head.

“We’re good friends, you don’t need to hide anything from me.” Zhou Ting didn’t back down. Believing that she had nothing on her mind, but not pressing her, she said softly, “Even if you really don’t want to talk about it, let me give you some advice.”

She suspected that Xiaoxiao might be having relationship problems. Today, the fact that Han Zhou was surrounded by a group of beautiful girls had made the school news. These girls were all outstanding, including senior students Zhong Ling and Wang Lengqiu, who were famous at Lin University. Xiaoxiao might be feeling the pressure, which was why she seemed so lonely.

But she guessed wrong again.

Xiao Xiaoxiao remained silent for a long time before hesitantly asking, "If... I mean, if you were going to die soon, what would your wish be?"

The night wind suddenly became violent, the trees outside the balcony rustled, and the shadows on the ground swayed and climbed up the dormitory wall with their claws outstretched.

Zhou Ting froze, the encouraging words "It's okay, you're cute too" stuck in her throat, instantly condensing into a single syllable—

"what?"

She immediately tensed up and said in a panic, "Xiaoxiao, you..."

"Don't think nonsense, it doesn't mean I'm about to die."

Xiao Xiaoxiao interrupted her with a smile, casually saying, "I was just thinking, if someone is about to die, should they bid a solemn farewell to everyone and sternly warn everyone not to forget them, or should they leave quietly and erase everyone's memory of them?"

She spoke casually, even stretching lazily as she spoke, as if she had simply suddenly thought of such an interesting question. "You scared me to death, I thought... ugh."

Zhou Ting patted her chest. For a moment just now, she almost thought Xiao Xiao was talking about her. Only now did she breathe a sigh of relief, think seriously for a moment, and answer, "If it were me... I would probably leave quietly."

"Why?" Xiao Xiaoxiao looked at her.

Zhou Ting smiled a little shyly: "Because I don't have many friends to begin with, and everyone is very important to me, but actually... I'm not really sure if I'm that important to them. Rather than having an awkward farewell, I'd rather leave alone."

She paused, then continued, “But I will not erase people’s memories of me, because many people throughout history have only become more vivid after they die. If I could hear someone say, ‘What a pity, Zhou Ting was such a good person. I wish I could have seen her one last time,’ I would be moved to tears even if I died.”

"Pfft!"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was amused and laughed out loud. She rubbed the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "But when people die, they can't hear everyone's voices anymore. Even if someone really said that, you wouldn't know."

"Who said that? You've never died. What if a person becomes a ghost after they die?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, shook her head, and still smiled: "Dead is dead, there's nothing left."

Zhou Ting sighed: "And what about you? If you were in that situation, what would you choose? Would you rather be remembered or forgotten?"

"this problem……"

Xiao Xiaoxiao rested her chin in her hands, gazed at the distant night sky, and said softly, "I haven't decided yet."

"It's too early for us to think about that now."

Zhou Ting tightened her coat to ward off the increasingly fierce wind. "You seemed to have asked another question just now, what would my wish be if I were about to die, right?"

"Hmm, this question is too early for you."

"That's rather late."

Zhou Ting didn't notice anything wrong with Xiao Xiaoxiao's words and said with a smile, "My last wish is to do all the things I wanted to do but didn't have the courage to do before. Life is about not having any regrets. If you don't dare to do them before you die, it will be too late."

"Things you want to do but are too afraid to do?"

"There are many things, like finding the people who bullied me in the past and finding a way to get revenge, or contacting friends I parted ways with over a small matter and properly expressing my apologies from back then, loudly saying no when someone cuts in line, riding a roller coaster, going bungee jumping, playing pranks on the staff dressed as ghosts in a haunted house, mustering up the courage to confess to the person I like, and then covering my ears and running away before they can answer..."

Zhou Ting counted on her fingers, listing the things she wanted to accomplish before she died.

"Why did you run away without waiting for an answer?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked curiously.

Zhou Ting laughed: "Because I'm about to die, no matter what kind of answer the other person gives, I won't have a chance to respond anymore, so I might as well not listen at all. Confessing is just to express my feelings and not leave myself with any regrets."

"Isn't that too selfish..." Xiao Xiaoxiao hesitated.

Zhou Ting paused, thought for a moment, and hesitated before saying, "I'm about to die, so it's okay to be a little selfish, right?"

The two looked at each other and suddenly burst out laughing at the same time.

Zhou Ting seemed very interested in the topic of hypothetical death, and asked with a smile, "Speaking of which, Xiaoxiao, if you were about to die, in which season would you like to die?"

"summer."

Zhou Ting was stunned. The other person answered too quickly, as if they hadn't thought about it at all, or perhaps... she had thought about this question a long time ago.

"what happened?"

"N-nothing...it's just that it's summer."

Xiao Xiaoxiao smiled and replied without hesitation, "Because the temperature is high in summer, tears will evaporate as soon as they fall to the ground, so even if you cry, no one will look sad on your face."

Zhou Ting opened her mouth, seemingly completely surprised that the other party had chosen Xia Tian for this reason, and tentatively asked, "Does this 'everyone' include you?"

"Of course not."

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head firmly, "I will not cry."

After a few seconds of silence, she added in a low voice, a voice only she could hear—

"Besides... I can't die in the summer."

(End of this chapter)