Under the moonlight

Huang Meng shook her head to stop thinking about it. She looked at Lin Hanshuang, who had calmed down, got up and sat down next to her. She took out a few tissues and handed them to her. Lin Hanshuang took the tissues and said thank you softly. Then she turned her back slightly, lifted the hair that had been hanging down to the side of her face and tucked it behind her ear, slowly wiping her cheek.

Huang Meng waited for her to tidy herself up, and just watched her quietly without saying a word. The office door was ajar. Apart from Chen Che, who had slipped away, Jiang Ying, Xiao Zhang, and Xu Ao were all outside the door and had not left.

Xu Aoshuang leaned against the corridor wall with his hands in his pockets, head down as if lost in thought. His suit jacket was open and tucked into his wrist, making his tall figure appear even more slender. Xiao Zhang stood by the door. The corridor was dimly lit, and she would occasionally steal a glance inside.

In contrast, Jiang Ying appeared much more confident. She watched as Xu Ao silently walked up to her. Xu Ao saw a shadow on the ground approaching him and looked up at Jiang Ying, saying, "What's wrong?"

Perhaps he was truly exhausted, for his voice was deep and slightly hoarse as he spoke, and his eyes revealed weariness. Jiang Ying looked at him with concern and asked, "Are you tired? Should you go back and rest?"

Xu Ao, seeing her intense and direct gaze, understood her thoughts, but he always had his own principles. He straightened up, pushed up his glasses, his eyes regaining their coolness, cleared his throat, and said calmly, "I'm fine. Let's talk about it after this is over."

Jiang Ying, however, did not notice Xu Ao's emotional change at all. She walked to Xu Ao's side, put her hands behind her back and leaned against the wall. In the dim light, her eyes looked at Xu Ao with a gentle smile that seemed to be able to drip water. She felt the unique aura emanating from him. Even if she didn't say anything, just being quietly by his side was a kind of happiness.

Jiang Ying always felt that she understood him the most. Even though they didn't say anything now, there was an unspoken understanding between them, just like that debate in college.

At the time, they were in a group, and the opposing team was composed of law students. Their group was just there to make up the numbers for the competition, and the other members of the group didn't take the competition seriously, thinking that they would eventually be cannon fodder, so no one prepared seriously.

At that time, she was a freshman, and the other members of the group were all sophomores. She was competitive to begin with, and this time she was selected by the club to compete with the seniors, which she valued highly, so she made full preparations.

On the day of the competition, she engaged in a fierce debate as the second debater for both the affirmative and negative sides. However, the other team members were not nervous at all. In addition, one team member was absent at the last minute, which made their team completely powerless. If she hadn't been holding on, the competition would have ended in less than 5 minutes.

Until Xu Ao appeared, replacing the absent team member. Dressed in a pure white casual suit, he walked over with a lazy gait. He wasn't wearing his glasses that day. Jiang Ying still remembers him sitting down next to her in the first speaker's seat, giving her a slight smile. His clear black and white eyes and the gently upturned corners of his mouth went straight into her heart.

Since it was just a competition organized by the club, his lateness didn't affect the competition. The law students on the other side were just treating the competition as practice and didn't care about Xu Ao's appearance at all. Although they eventually won the competition, everyone remembered the opposing team's player with the most distinctive hairpin. His words were sharp and to the point, and his quick thinking and reactions made them somewhat unable to keep up.

The most surprising person in this match was Jiang Ying. He sat beside her, smelling of fresh shampoo, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Compared to her serious demeanor, he seemed quite relaxed, yet he could accurately find his opponent's weaknesses and counterattack. Jiang Ying was equally impressive, cooperating with him exceptionally well. With just a simple glance, she knew exactly where his counterattack was coming from. After the match, Xu Ao smiled and said, "Not bad, junior. My name is Xu Ao, what's yours?"

"Jiang Ying".

"Okay, junior, see you again sometime."

Jiang Ying was lost in her memories. Xu Ao raised his wrist to check the time; it was nearly midnight. Xiao Zhang kept peeking through the crack in the door.

Huang Meng waited patiently for Lin Hanshuang. Finally, she sighed, turned to Huang Meng, and said, "Miss, what... what do you want to know?"

Huang Meng looked at the bloodshot eyes and asked softly, "I want to know why you stole the food and medicine? I don't think you're the kind of person who would do such a thing. Is there some reason you're having trouble?"

Hearing Huang Meng's words, Lin Han Shuang seemed to have suffered a great injustice. She tried her best to control her emotions, but once the breach in her heart was opened, it surged like a flood bursting its banks, and she couldn't stop it. Her tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes. She hurriedly covered her eyes with the tissue in her hand, but how could the thin tissue cover up her suppressed grievances and helplessness?

Huang Meng handed her several more tissues, and Lin Hanshuang finally stopped sobbing softly. At this moment, she was finally willing to vent her emotions loudly, and her mournful cries echoed in the office.

Jiang Ying's thoughts were pulled back by Lin Hanshuang's sobs. She looked up abruptly, first glancing at Xu Ao, and found him already standing by the door, peering inside. She walked over and softly asked, "What's wrong? Why are you still crying?"

Jiang Ying frowned, trying to find out what was happening inside. Xu Ao straightened up and took two steps back, saying, "Let's wait a little longer. If it doesn't work, we can talk about it tomorrow." He had been watching through the crack in the door. Compared to their anxiety about completing the mission, Huang Meng was more patient. She genuinely cared about Lin Hanshuang's purpose in doing this, not just about completing the mission.

Once Lin Hanshuang had completely stopped crying, she removed the tissue she had been covering her face. She looked up at Huang Meng, sighed softly, and said, "Girl, I hope you can understand what I've told you."

Huang Meng looked at her reddened eyes and nodded, saying, "Yes, I will."

“I didn’t actually come here to visit relatives; I came to find someone. He’s from S country. We met on a trip. I’m actually married; my child just started university this year. My husband and I were classmates in university, and we were very much in love before we got married.” Lin Hanshuang sighed heavily as she said this.

"But as the mundane daily life of married life went on for a long time, the love between us completely disappeared. We stayed together entirely because of our love for our children and our responsibility to our family. He was no longer as romantic or good at making me happy as he was before we got married. Instead, I was the one who had to take care of his feelings and emotions. When he was busy and tired from work, it was me who had to comfort and understand him. He gradually got used to my indifference and my care and concern for him."

Huang Meng listened quietly to her story. Lin Hanshuang wiped her nose, fiddled with the tissue in her hand, and continued with her head down: "Actually, I don't need much. Romance is something every woman longs for, but I also know that you can't always think about romance when you're living together. So I've been suppressing my emotions and not thinking about those things. I've also comforted myself by saying that all married couples go through this."

"I just kept comforting myself and living like that until one day, he told me that his friend was going to celebrate his wife's birthday at a restaurant and asked if I wanted to go with him. I didn't think much of it and agreed to go with him. If I hadn't attended that birthday party, I wouldn't have known that not every couple is like us. The other couple were our college classmates, and I even teased the man for being so romantic even after being married for so long. Do you know what he said?"

Lin Hanshuang stopped and looked at Huang Meng, who smiled and shook her head.

Lin Hanshuang's eyes were filled with despair as she said through tears, "He said my husband is the most romantic one among them. Before, in order to surprise his ex-girlfriend, he ate only steamed buns for a month to save money for a gift, and then secretly went to find her to give her a romantic surprise." Lin Hanshuang smiled self-deprecatingly, but tears welled up in her eyes the moment she lowered her head.

"I smiled and didn't say anything at the time, but my heart was aching like it was being pricked by needles. Thinking back carefully, since we got together, he didn't seem to have done anything particularly romantic that moved me. It was nothing more than going on trips together, shopping together, and eating together. Humph, even the proposal was something I had to ask him to do." As she said this, Lin Hanshuang's voice trembled uncontrollably. She lowered her head and gently covered her eyes with a tissue. Huang Meng looked at her slightly trembling lips and didn't say anything.

"Sigh, later I kept thinking about it every day, recalling all the details of our time together, and one day a sentence suddenly popped into my head: He doesn't love me, or rather, he doesn't love me as much as I thought, it's just ordinary love."

“I’m not the kind of person who can ignite his passion and make him do anything for me. He’s rational about me and our relationship. He’ll consider whether it’s more practical to send me a bouquet of flowers or take me out for a meal. He’ll tell me when I want a surprise or romance. He doesn’t know what I like and is afraid of buying the wrong thing. It seems like the reason he’s not romantic is because of me.”

"Of course I know a bouquet of flowers isn't as meaningful as a meal, and I know he definitely wouldn't have bought the gift I wanted. I used to comfort myself by telling myself I couldn't blame him, but that day, at that birthday party, when I saw him help his friend take out the gift he had prepared beforehand and present it to his friend's wife, saying, 'This is a surprise gift he prepared for you, no matter what it looks like, you'll definitely like it!'"

"Sure enough, after his friend let go of his wife's eyes, the woman looked at the bag in front of her. To be honest, the bag was a bit old-fashioned, but she still excitedly shouted and turned around to hug her husband. My husband, on the other hand, was helping to record other people's romantic moment, constantly taking pictures with his phone, grinning as if he were the main character. I stood aside at the time, smiling and watching him. Later, thinking back on this scene, I realized that how could he not understand romance? He just didn't want to be romantic. Once I understood, I stopped worrying about it. Every day after that, I was the same as before. He didn't notice any change in my thoughts. As long as I didn't say anything, he wouldn't actively try to find out my emotions. Even if I did, it was just a meaningless word of comfort. Every day after that, I lived like I was completing a task, until one day, a friend wanted to organize a group trip and found me. I thought it would be good to get away and relax, so I came to S country with them." At this point, Lin Hanshuang's emotions gradually calmed down.

"I met him on this trip. We didn't hire a tour guide so we could explore on our own. We found a local translator for us, and he was the translator." A hint of girlish shyness appeared in Lin Hanshuang's eyes.

“He’s the same age as me. When we first met, there wasn’t any of those typical love-at-first-sight scenarios; it was just a normal relationship. But then my friend had to go back to China urgently. I originally wanted to go back with her, but she persuaded me to stay and explore. I wavered at that point; I hadn’t had any time to myself in a long time, so I stayed. He then took me to various tourist attractions and even took me surfing. I hadn’t been that happy in a long time. I had even forgotten how to laugh heartily. For those few days, I kept asking him to take pictures of me like a little girl, and he would even help me pose.”

Lin Hanshuang seemed to have thought of something and chuckled unconsciously. She continued, "We also went to a bar. I was swaying my body on the dance floor with the crowd. I felt incredibly relaxed. It was on that day that he suddenly kissed me. I snapped back to reality. He was holding me, and when I looked up into his eyes, I saw a tenderness that could melt me. He seemed to have startled me and wanted to let go of me. But at that moment, the string that had been holding me back snapped completely. I grabbed his collar and kissed him without any hesitation. We kissed for a long time."