190 The Friendship Started From There
His thoughts drifted, as if he had returned to a few years ago.
That year, Xie Shi’an was only nineteen years old.
He had witnessed the ugliness and complexity of human nature with his own eyes. Furthermore, he had just experienced the death of his loved one. His heart was dead and empty.
On the plane to study abroad, he refused the food and water sent by the flight attendant and only closed his eyes to sleep the entire way.
However, he couldn’t fall asleep at all. His eyes reddened as he recalled the scene of his sister’s tragic death.
Tears silently dripped from the corners of his eyes as he hurriedly wiped them away.
Not wanting the pa.s.sengers around him to notice anything, Xie Shi’an suppressed his emotions and clenched his hands tightly together. However, he still couldn’t help but tremble.
Suddenly, he heard a soft and sweet voice beside him. “h.e.l.lo, my lip balm fell to the ground by accident. I think it rolled under your seat. Can you help me pick it up?”
Xie Shi’an opened his eyes and saw a bright and beautiful face. The girl’s eyes were big, as if they were filled with a pool of clear and lively water, and she was looking at him without blinking.
He didn’t say anything and bent over to help her pick up the lipstick.
The girl thanked him with a sweet smile. She turned around and took out a handful of colorful milk candies from her bag and handed them over.
“When I’m in a bad mood, I especially like to eat this kind of candy. After eating it, even my worst mood will turn sweeter.”
Her eyes were gentle and sincere. “This is for you. I hope you’ll be in a good mood too.”
Xie Shi’an looked at her in silence and did not take it.
“Try one. It’s very sweet. I’m not lying to you.”
The girl peeled one and handed it to him. She gently insisted, “You’ll know when you try it.”
Xie Shi’an didn’t know why, but he still took the candy
Under the girl’s expectant gaze, he put it into his mouth.
A wisp of milky sweetness spread on the bitter and numb tip of his tongue.
She smiled and asked him, “Sweet?”
Xie Shi’an’s lips moved as he said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Sweet.”
That was the first word he had said that day, and that was how they had gotten to know each other.
She placed a handful of candy in his hand and smiled. “Then I’ll give them all to you. I hope they can make your days better.”
The candy didn’t turn his mood sweet. However, it more or less shifted thanks to the girl who gave him the candy.
That was perhaps the most memorable candy in his life, not only because it was really sweet, but also because the girl had inadvertently given him kindness and warmth.
Knowing that they were going to study in a European country and that the school they were going to wasn’t far away, the girl was very surprised. She turned her head slightly. “I’m Sang Qianqian, what’s yours?”
At that moment, a ray of sunlight shone in through the cabin window, and her fair and clear face had a sweet smile, as if it was covered with a layer of holy light.
Xie Shi’an looked at her in a daze for a long time before he said, “I’m Xie Shi’an.”
Before he boarded the plane, he only had disheartened hatred for this world and no expectations. But when he got off the plane, he saw Sang Qianqian waving at him with a smile while saying goodbye.
He suddenly felt that this seemingly ugly world wasn’t completely useless.
Every weekend, he would go to Sang Qianqian’s school to visit her.
She was very busy with her studies. Sometimes, the two of them would sit down for a simple meal and drink a cup of coffee. Sometimes, he only had time to say a few words to her before she hugged her books and left in a hurry.
He didn’t study medicine. He wasn’t interested in anything, so it didn’t matter what he studied.
However, because of Sang Qianqian, he had transferred to the Medical Department in order to have more common topics with her.
When he found out that she wanted to graduate early and return to Yuecheng, he studied hard and successfully graduated with her. Later, they worked in the same hospital.
He knew that Sang Qianqian had rejected many people’s confessions in the past. He knew that she was slow in getting into relationships and didn’t want to fall in love too early.
That was why he had been waiting patiently, using a distance and method that she could accept to stay by her side.
On the night Sang Qianqian finally agreed to be his girlfriend, Xie Shi’an was so excited that he couldn’t sleep the entire night.
He left the house before four in the morning. After looking around, he finally found a florist that had just opened. He bought a bunch of fresh flowers with dew on them. It was only five o’clock when he arrived at the hospital.
However, he wasn’t tired at all. He was full of energy the whole day. The joy of that day, he might not be able to relive it for the rest of his life.
Because there would never be another kind of ecstasy that could surpa.s.s that day.
What Xie Shi’an regretted the most was that he had listened to Ruan Cheng’s arrangements and returned to the capital. Unfortunately, there was no way to fix past regrets in this world.
One wrong step, and things would still be the same. However, the people will change, and it would be hard to turn anything back.
—
Sang Qianqian was silent for a long time, her heart filled with an indescribable feeling.
Back then, she had only felt that the emotions of the young man beside her were a little off, as if he had encountered a major change.
She wanted to talk to him and persuade him, but she didn’t know what to say. She could only pretend that her lipstick had fallen off and ask him to pick it up. She gave him some candy, hoping that it would make him feel better.
However, she didn’t expect that she would get to know Xie Shi’an and become friends with him.
She also didn’ expect that Xie Shi’an would like her and stay by her side for four years because of this.
Sometimes, fate was really an incomprehensible thing.
When she broke up with Xie Shi’an, she had actually been depressed and troubled for a period of time.
At that time, no one would have believed that she had gotten together with Shen Hanyu and even agreed to marry him in less than three months after she went to Ming City.
Fate might have its depth, but it was hard to say what is right or wrong in life. Sometimes, one’s life could only reach its ultimate perfection through endless mistakes and regrets.
It could only be said that for some people, if you missed it, then you missed it.
Sang Qianqian finally lifted her eyes and smiled at Xie Shi’an. “Shi’an, close your eyes. I have something to give you.”
Xie Shi’an looked at her deeply, and his hands that were hanging by his sides clenched tightly.
He closed his eyes. In front of him was complete darkness, and his surroundings were silent.
He heard her taking something out of her bag. “Shi’an, reach out.”
Xie Shi’an reached out and felt her soft and warm fingers on his palm.
They seemed to be beads of things. Were they the candies that she had given him back then?
Xie Shi’an’s throat seemed to be choked by something. “Qianqian…”
He wanted to open his eyes, but the girl’s soft hands covered his eyes. “Shi’an, don’t open your eyes yet. It’ll be over soon.”
Just as Xie Shi’an was about to speak, a sharp pain suddenly came from his wrist. It was like the pain of a needle being inserted into the skin.
After a few seconds, the pain disappeared.
Sang Qianqian’s gentle voice rang in his ears. “Shi’an, I still have a few questions for you. From now on, you’ll answer whatever I ask. Tell me the truth, okay?”
Her voice was like a gentle wind, intoxicating with a little bit of enchantment.
All of Xie Shi’an’s senses seemed to be focused on only her voice. He couldn’t help but follow her and fall into a dream that was neither real nor illusionary.