As soon as Tong Jia walked out of the supermarket, it began to rain heavily. She couldn’t help but rejoice because she was fortunate to bring an umbrella with her. The supermarket was just outside the community, so it would be absolutely unrealistic for her to take a taxi since the distance was only a few minutes away.
Tong Jia opened her umbrella and walked towards her house.
Shortly after she had returned to China, she had asked her friends to find her a house.
Upon realizing that there were still many things she needed to buy for her home, Tong Jia pondered about what she needed to buy along the way, and without even noticing, she had already arrived home.
Thunderstorms in summer were like heavy rain in rainy seasons. Even with an umbrella, most of her clothes still got wet.
As soon as she got home, she couldn’t bother herself with the hunger she was feeling. Instead, she rushed to the bathroom. After taking a good bath, her exhaustion was washed away. She sat cross-legged on the sofa and took out two bottles of beer and some snacks from the shopping bag. She opened the beer and put one bottle on the coffee table.
She whispered, “Zhou Yanchen, farewell.”
Then she lifted her head up and drank half a bottle of beer.
Tong Jia wasn’t good at handling her liquor. When she had been in a foreign country, her blonde roommate had asked her to go to a bar. At that time, she had been curious about everything there. She had pridefully drunk a big glass of beer and gotten drunk. Although Zhou Yanchen hadn’t been her friend, he had still been, after all, a classmate she had known, so she felt really sad today. He had left so suddenly that even she felt sad about it.
She rested her head on the pillow of the sofa even though her hair was still not dry. Right now, she was already feeling a little dizzy. She closed her eyes and fell asleep shallowly. She felt a pair of hands touching her hair in her dream, which was very comfortable. Other than that, a sigh could also be heard.
She didn’t wake up until it was two o’clock in the afternoon. When she moved her body, her arms still seemed a little cold. Then, she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t turned off the air conditioner before going to bed last night. Sleeping in an air-conditioned room with wet hair and no blanket, it wouldn’t be strange for her to catch a cold. She got up, only to find out that it wasn’t as cold as she thought. She went in front of the air conditioner and found out that it was set to only 26 degrees instead of what she had originally set it to, 18 degrees. But she hadn’t adjusted the temperature.
Tong Jia, seeing that the air conditioner had the ability to also adjust the temperature automatically, thought that it was a really superb model for an air conditioner.
Zhou Yanchen’s departure had undoubtedly been the end of the world for his parents and been such heartbreaking news for Zhou Heng and his friends. Tong Jia returned to her normal life after several days of melancholy. She had just returned to China and worked as a junior high school English teacher in a school that was one of the best in A city including good wages.
It was less than four o’clock in the afternoon when an old teacher said that someone was looking for her outside. She quickly put down her work and headed for the reception room.
What greeted her was actually Zhou Yanchen’s parents!
Tong Jia saw the two old people had almost fainted due to crying that day. She recognized them, but why had they come here? Is there something wrong?
When Tong Jia was about to pour tea for the two old figures, Mother Zhou suddenly rushed over, grabbed her arm, and choked out words uncontrollably.
“You are Miss Tong, right? Miss Tong, have you seen our Yanchen? Have you seen him?”
“Uh…”
Tong Jia didn’t know how to answer. She looked at Mother Zhou in a stupefied way.
Father Zhou, who still had a weary face, said helplessly, “His mother insisted that Yanchen was still here and that she could still feel his presence… Miss Tong, please forgive me.”
“Oh, uh, I understand.”
She looked at the older couple. They didn’t use very standard Mandarin and hints of their local accent could still be heard. Tong Jia helped Mother Zhou sit down and softly said, “Auntie, would you like some tea?”
“Yanchen is still here…”
Mother Zhou looked at her with empty eyes, which seemed to have gotten older overnight. She could only hang her arms feebly. As Xiaomi had said, this kind of scene could really make people lose control of their emotions. Looking at Mother Zhou’s hopeless and despondent gaze, Tong Jia’s eyes became red.
What puzzled Tong Jia was how the Zhou parents had found her. Before she could ask, a phone call from Zhou Heng came.
“Tong Jia, did Aunt and Uncle Zhou go to you?”
Zhou Heng’s tone was very restless.
Tong Jia quickly replied, “Yes, what happened? Do you need any help?”
She made an appointment with Zhou Heng. After Tong Jia asked for leave from the principal, she took the Zhou parents to a nearby coffee shop.
When she sat down, Mother Zhou eagerly asked her, “Miss Tong, can you feel that Yanchen is actually around us? He hasn’t left at all!”
Seeing Mother Zhou’s grey temples*, Tong Jia felt a bit down. She held her hand and whispered, “Auntie, restrain your grief, he certainly wouldn’t want to see you like this.” [TL Note: greying temples describes old age or overwork]
The most painful thing in the world was when a white-haired had to send a black-haired first*. [TL Note: the older relative has to bury the younger one]
Fatigue was evident in Father Zhou as he said, “Miss Tong, forgive me, his mother misses Yanchen too much…”
This blow was enough to crush both of the Zhou parents.
Tong Jia tentatively asked, “What can I do for you? As long as I can do it, I will do it.”
They wouldn’t come to her for no reason. Tong Jia thought that whatever they asked for, as long as she could do it, she would help them unconditionally.
“Actually…” Father Zhou felt awkward, but he was really helpless. He had to tell the truth.
“When we sorted out Yanchen’s belongings, we found a picture album, all of which were sketches, along with some photos… the person in all of them was all Miss Tong…”
Tong Jia blanked out. She looked at Father Zhou with disbelief. Mother Zhou was still sobbing. At the moment, she could only stare blankly. Her lips moved but she couldn’t say anything. Father Zhou took out a picture album from his bag and handed it to Tong Jia with a conflicted look.
Her fingers trembled. She opened the picture album with great determination.
There was a girl sleeping on a table.
There was the girl standing on a stage.
There was a girl drinking water.
Of course she knew who these people were; even the mole on her elbow had been drawn. Tong Jia couldn’t believe it at all. Finally, there were some photos. She held those photos, and they felt like a thousand pounds to her. These had probably all been developed. She remembered that most of them were photos from her Weibo, and he had developed them…?
Turning the page, a tear fell on the photo, which was a funny selfie from when she had eaten hamburgers last month.
When Zhou Heng arrived, Tong Jia had calmed down, but her eyes were red. His heart thumped and he immediately understood that it would be ridiculous to say anything when he was already full of explanations.
After Zhou Heng got the two old people in the car, he got off the car, walked up to Tong Jia, and asked in a low voice, “Don’t you have anything to ask me?”
Tong Jia smiled and shook her head slightly.
There was nothing to ask. She just wanted to have a good sleep to digest the secret that Zhou Yanchen had failed to take with him.
She never thought that Zhou Yanchen would have liked her.
How is this possible?
Zhou Heng glanced at the old people sitting in the car and lowered his voice.
“I wasn’t going to tell you about this… he must’ve had his own reasons for not saying it, but Tong Jia, you were the only person that Yanchen had liked in his life—although you might not be aware of it. Yanchen didn’t talk much, but he always looked very happy when he talked about you. No matter what happens to you in the future, you can come to me. I’ll do whatever I can.”
After Zhou Heng left, Tong Jia could no longer hold onto the album.
This album carried all the feelings of Zhou Yanchen, who had passed. She couldn’t just be indifferent about it.
Tong Jia arrived home muddle-headed. She lay on the sofa, looking at the ceiling absentmindedly. She opened the picture album and stroked it unconsciously with her index finger as if she could imagine the gentle brushstrokes of that person.
Were some feelings more precious if they were never spoken? Tong Jia had never liked Zhou Yanchen, but with his death, these feelings he left behind had left an unerasable mark.
“What do I do, I don’t even know why you like me… It’s really annoying, and I hate it when others leave me in suspense.”
Tong Jia also had many suitors. She’d been born beautiful and had been very popular when she was a student. After going abroad, those eager foreign boys had once pursued her enthusiastically, but until now, Tong Jia felt that Zhou Yanchen’s feelings had touched her the most.
Why not say it? Why not tell her?
Tong Jia remembered one thing. She took out her mobile phone and dialed Zhou Heng’s number. It was almost ten o’clock at night, but the call was picked up eventually.
Zhou Heng had just coaxed Mother Zhou to sleep, and now he was very tired, but he knew that when Tong Jia recovered, she would definitely have a lot of things to ask him.
Zhou Heng gathered all his energy to say, “Tong Jia, you have something to ask me, right?”
“En.” Tong Jia was silent for a moment. “I thought of something, Xiaomi told me that day, Zhou Yanchen originally said that he couldn’t come over, right? But later on…”
She couldn’t go on. As long as she opened her mouth, she could feel her throat constrict and her nose turn runny.
Zhou Heng hadn’t expected Tong Jia to ask this question. He paused for a while and went to a quiet place.
The tears started falling again. It is said that a man shed no tears unless he was deeply hurt, but Zhou Heng felt that all his sadness over the years was not even a tenth compared to how he felt now.
Zhou Yanchen had been his best friend, and because of this, there was no way to avoid guilt and stay out of it.
“Yes, he had to work overtime for official reasons that day. He already said that he couldn’t come, but when I saw you coming, I thought… well, I called him and told him about it. He immediately hung up. After the phone call, he called again and said he would come over.”
Zhou Heng talked very slowly, although it was calm, it could move the hearts of the people for no apparent reason.
Tong Jia hung up the phone after listening.
She thought it was inconceivable. How was that possible?! Why!!
Perhaps the impact of what she had found out today was too great for her. Tong Jia tossed and turned until dawn.
This secret, which Zhou Yanchen had left, surpassed all previous confessions in Tong Jia’s life up until now.
After she fell asleep, it rained heavily outside, and several drenched footprints scattered at the bedroom door.
It was as if someone was pacing near the door, but was always afraid to enter.
The author has something to say:
Ah, ha, ha, ha, there is no ghost, okay.
Not a human-ghost story, but a human-human story.
It’s not a paranormal romance because this author is afraid of ghosts to death _ (:з “∠) _, so I do not dare to write.
This will be a relationship that transcends a life and death situation.【Serious face】
Continue leaving the comments mua~