Chapter 2
It was very rare for people to visit graves at this time. Xiao Tangqiu"s mind subconsciously flashed to images from the horror games as well as the words of the flower shop owner. He turned his head with a bit of vigilance and was stunned when he saw the person.
It was a middle-aged woman in a white trench coat. She was very beautiful and although she was older, she didn"t lose her style despite the faint sorrow that she gave off.
She went straight to Meng Xinghe"s grave and didn"t seem to see Xiao Tangqiu. This made Xiao Tangqiu"s eyes slightly dim. His lips moved but he couldn"t say anything.
This middle-aged woman was Meng Qingqiu, Meng Xinghe"s mother.
The Meng Qingqiu in Xiao Tangqiu"s memories was a gentle and kind beautiful woman. He and Meng Xinghe had grown up together. Whenever they came back from playing outside and Meng Qingqui was at home, she would smile softly and wipe their hands clean with a handkerchief.
She was like a completely changed person after Meng Xinghe"s death. Not only had her personality changed greatly, her att.i.tude towards Xiao Tangqiu also changed. Every time she saw Xiao Tangqiu in the cemetery, she was very indifferent. It was like she didn"t see him as she not never spoke to him, she directly ignored his existence.
This time, Meng Qingqiu also ignored Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu felt a bit uncomfortable but he could fully understand Meng Qingqiu"s indifference. After all, who could treat the cause of her son"s death with a normal heart?
—Seven years ago, Meng Xinghe died because of him.
It was the night before Meng Xinghe"s 18th birthday. Due to an argument with the family, the two of them decided to run away from home together. After a day of wandering outside, the two people were tired and hungry. It was Meng Xinghe"s birthday so they decided to use their money to buy a birthday cake. However, on the way back to the park after buying the cake, they had a quarrel on the street.
Xiao Tanqiu turned and angrily crossed the road when a car went out of control and headed towards him.
He thought he was dead when Meng Xinghe rushed over to push him away. Xiao Tangqiu was pushed and flew away with the cake.
Meng Xinghe was. .h.i.t by the car and died on the spot. It was too late by the time the ambulance arrived.
It had been seven years since the car accident but Xiao Tangqiu could still clearly remember the scene of that year whenever he closed his eyes. At the time, he lay on the road and watched Meng Xinghe die in front of him. This caused him to suffer a serious mental blow.
He shut himself up at home for two years and didn"t dare go anywhere. He was even afraid to ride in cars. Two years later, he gradually got out of the shadow of the car accident but he still couldn"t take a car. Naturally, it was better not to go out.
He developed a social barrier, refused to go to school and refused to make friends. Then five years ago, he started to indulge in the Internet and made some online friends. He was contacted by H Station and started to act as a live broadcast anchor. His situation gradually improved.
Xiao Tangqiu had slowly emerged from his past but he still couldn"t face Meng Qingqiu. He had never seen Meng Xinghe"s father or any other relatives. Thus, he thought that Meng Xinghe was probably Meng Qingqiu"s only relative in the world. Therefore, his feelings about Meng Qingqiu were deeper.
He was staring at the photo of Meng Xinghe when his phone suddenly rang. The sound was very abrupt in this quiet cemetery.
He reflexively looked at Meng Qingqiu and saw Meng Qingqiu who still treated him as air. He quickly took out his phone from his pocket but took a few steps before answering it.
Xiao Tangqiu"s voice emerged from the other end of the mobile phone. They exchanged a few greetings before she got straight to the point. She set up a blind date for Xiao Tangqiu tomorrow.
Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly and slightly lowered his voice, "Mom, I"m still young. I don"t need a blind date."
His mother didn"t buy it. "You are still young so why haven"t you talked about love over the past few years?"
Xiao Tangqiu was speechless as he heard his mother continue to say, "I have found a master. The master said that you will have a love calamity at the age of 25. If you can"t resolve it then you might lost your life. Therefore, I found a few blind date targets for you. Perhaps you can turn this calamity around and save your life. You must go and see them."
"Mom, that is all feudal superst.i.tion…" Xiao Tangqiu murmured, "That master is probably lying to you for money!"
“What feudal superst.i.tion? It is credible!" His mother sighed. "Have you forgotten about Meng Xinghe. When his was born, his mother found someone and the master said that he was an early death person. He wouldn"t be able to live until his 18th birthday! His mother treated him like a girl and tried to escape from the eyes of G.o.d but look! He didn"t live past his 19th birthday!"
Xiao Tangqiu was suddenly silent.
His mother seemed to realize that her words were too much and softened her tone. "Xiao Qiu, I am anxious for you the past few years. I don"t want you to fall in love and get married right away. Just give it a try."
Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before replying in a heavy tone, "Okay, I will try it but not this week. I have an appointment to see a house."
“Have you saved enough for the down payment? Do you need us to give you some money?" His mother"s tone eased up.
“No, I have enough money of my own…" Xiao Tangqiu said a few more words before hanging up.
He sighed and looked up. He didn"t know when it happened but Meng Qingqiu was staring at him with complicated eyes.
A moment later, Meng Qingqiu suddenly opened her mouth, her voice somewhat hoa.r.s.e, "…You are going on a blind date?"
Xiao Tangqiu was stunned since this was the first time Meng Qingqiu took the initiative to talk to him in seven years. She didn"t wait for him to answer and asked a second question, "Are you going to start a family?"
Xiao Tangqiu hadn"t expected his conversation to be clearly heard despite lowering his voice. He was a bit embarra.s.sed and whispered an apology.
Raising a child, watching the child get married and gaining a daughter-in-law was probably the expectations of every good mother. However, Meng Qingqiu lost her hopes early and could only watch as the child who grew up with her son achieved all of it.
In the half-light and half-darkness of the cemetery, Meng Qingqiu stared straight at Xiao Tangqiu. A long time pa.s.sed before she asked, "Have you already gone out?"
Xiao Tangqiu froze for a while. Meng Qingqiu asked him if he had gone out from the shadow of the car accident seven years ago and he didn"t know how to answer.
“You have already come out…" Meng Qingqiu sighed.
Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly. "No."
In this world, there were probably only two people who still remembered the car accident from seven years ago. If he escaped from it then Meng Qingqiu would be the only one left and it would be too cruel.
Meng Qingqiu stared at Xiao Tangqiu for a long time before asking, "If time could reverse and you went back to seven years ago, would you be willing to save him?"
Xiao Tangqiu replied without hesitation. "I am willing." He had imagined this countless times.
"…Even if the price is your life?" Meng Qingqiu"s voice was a bit ethereal and seemed to come from far away.
Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Meng Qingqiu stared at him deeply and no longer said anything. She turned and continued to look at the photo of Meng Xinghe on the tombstone.
Xiao Tangqiu accompanied Meng Qingqiu for a while before turning away after half an hour.
At this time, it was late at night and the lights in the cemetery were very dim. Despite being an adult man who experienced countless horror games, he still found it intimidating. He didn"t know how a weak woman like Meng Qingqiu dared to walk along in the night to a cemetery.
Halfway back, he couldn"t help turning around to look at it. At this time, he found that Meng Qingqiu, who had just been in front of the tomb… had unexpectedly disappeared.