The hope that he felt at the gate was suddenly submerged by a heavy wave of disappointment. She didn’t return to stay but to take everything she has left in Beijing back with her. Does this mean she’s not coming back to Beijing ever again?

He had thought that there was finally an opportunity to get close again, but the reality was much crueler than he expected. This parting was quite possibly the last that they would have; after that, their lives would go their separate ways.

Qin Yinan’s eyes that look out the window dimmed tremendously.

Afraid that she might do something stupid, Cheng Qingchong focused all of her energy on controlling her emotions. Since he didn’t say anything, she too didn’t offer to fill in the void. The both of them just sat there quietly.

After a very long time, Qin Yinan pulled his gaze back from the window to say, “It’s getting late. I should leave.”

When she heard his voice, Cheng Qingchong’s initially wandering gaze turned into a gentle smile. She stood up and offered kindly, “Let me walk you out.”

Qin Yinan looked at Cheng Qingchong’s smiling face for a few seconds before responding with a soft nod. Then he moved toward the door.

After exiting the room, he turned left, and about fifty meters later, he would reach the staircase. Cheng Qingchong followed closely behind Qin Yinan, maintaining a meter distance between them, until the man reached the staircase. That was where she stopped.

Qin Yinan stood with his back to Cheng Qingchong for a few seconds before slowly turning around. His dark, deep eyes held Cheng Qingchong’s clear gaze for several seconds, and he uttered in a warm and slow tone, “Farewell.”

Cheng Qingchong’s body started to tremble slightly. Her eyes were painful from holding the tears in. She didn’t dare blink lest the tears started to fall. Using every ounce of energy in her body, she smiled at Qin Yinan and replied in a tone as light as his, “Farewell.”

When she bade him goodbye, he stared at her eyes and pressed his lips slightly. He turned without a word and moved down the steps. As he raised his leg to slide down another step, his body froze for like a second before his feet found the landing of the next step. He took one step after another until his figure disappeared around the corner, and he didn’t turn back once to look at her.

Looking at the emptiness before her, listening to Qin Yinan’s dwindling footsteps until they disappeared completely, she stood like a woman who had lost her soul. She stood in the same posture that she had held when Qin Yinan turned to leave. She was afraid to move, afraid that once she did, the scent that he had left in the air would disperse and she would not be able to find it again.

After who knew how long, tears eventually fell from her eyes.

They slid down her cheek into her lips. The saltiness and bitterness demolished the defense that she had erected since her chance encounter with him in just one blow.

Energy escaped from her body, and she collapsed onto the dirty floor. Her tears started to flow like a broken dam.

Yinan, I really didn’t imagine I’d be able to see you again in this lifetime.

Do you know how much I’ve missed you?