Chapter 429: Goodbye, Little Qingqing

"Is it delicious?"

"Delicious."

"How does it compare to before?"

"Both are delicious."

"You really know how to talk..."

Chen Shu revealed a smile and said to her: "After we finish eating, I'll take you out for a stroll. Where do you want to go?"

"I... whatever..." Ning Qing said, pausing, but then added, "Chang'an Gate."

"Alright, let's go to Chang'an Gate."

Chen Shu glanced over at Xiaoxiao beside them.

He saw the little girl with hollow eyes, her expression dull and numb. One hand held a bowl while the other held chopsticks, maintaining a posture of bowing her head with her mouth close to the rim of the bowl, mechanically shoving sour soup noodles into her mouth, not knowing what she was thinking about.

"Does Xiaoxiao have class this afternoon?"

"..."

"Xiaoxiao?"

"Oh, oh!" The little girl snapped out of it as if waking from a dream and looked at her brother-in-law, "What's wrong?"

"Do you have class this afternoon?"

"Are we going out to play? If we are, then no."

"I'm planning to take your sister to Chang'an Gate."

"No."

"Then come along."

"Okay..."

The little girl continued to lower her head, numbly eating her noodles—

Being bullied by her sister was a normal thing. Her sister was her sister, and she was older than her, so there was a reason she couldn't win against her. Or rather, even if being bullied by her sister wasn't normal, she had long since gotten used to it.

But being bullied by a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child undoubtedly gave her a great sense of frustration.

Could it be that I can't even win against a child?

Unbelieving, ashamed, and even feeling a bit self-abandoned, a variety of emotions surged up at once...

The little girl's heart was so tired.

One hour later, the three of them and the cat arrived at Chang'an Gate.

Ning Qing held half a skewer of Strawberry Sugar-coated Haws, stood before the bare Chang'an Gate, and looked at the trees by the roadside:

"There are no flowers."

"It's winter now, after all."

"It's not cold..."

"That's because you're at the Seventh Stage."

"Oh."

"We've taken two photos here before. One was taken when we were sixteen; at that time, we had graduated from Qingxue and came to Yujing for a trip, and we also brought Xiaoxiao and the cat you raised. The other one was taken after we started university, the one you saw on the desk."

Chen Shu handed his Mobile Phone to her to look at.

Ning Qing took it and looked very carefully: "The poses are all the same..."

"On purpose."

Chen Shu couldn't help but smile again: "Counting it up, it's been almost four years since the last photo. It's perfect; today we'll take another one. In your current state, it's quite commemorative."

"Okay..."

A few minutes later.

Chen Shu once again used a skewer of Sugar-coated Haws to lure a pretty, stylish young lady; when there is no photographer, finding this kind of young lady is never wrong. Immediately, the three of them and the cat stood with their backs to Chang'an Gate again, making the same poses as they did four years ago and eight years ago.

Chen Shu put his arm around Qingqing's shoulder.

This action made her body stiffen, feeling somewhat strange, but it soon softened.

"Click, click..."

They took several photos in a row.

The young lady who received a skewer of Sugar-coated Haws was in a great mood and took the photos with extra care. She brought them over for them to see, and seeing they were satisfied, she left with a smile.

"Let's go."

Chen Shu put away his Mobile Phone, put his arm around Qingqing again, and walked forward along the palace wall: "I'll take you for a walk nearby... It's a pity the timing isn't good now. In the spring, this place is full of flowers, when it gets colder it snows, in the summer it's lush and green, and in the autumn it's all yellow leaves. It's just this moment that isn't good, it's all bare."

Ning Qing hunched her shoulders and followed him forward.

At her age, Chen Shu would sometimes put his arm around her. This person was always laughing and joking, never serious, and would do anything. At that time, she would often push his hand away with a cold face, and sometimes even hit him. But that was clearly different from now.

For instance, she wouldn't push him away now.

Step by step, measuring the perimeter of the Imperial Palace.

In her ear, Chen Shu told her about their emotional experiences over these past few years, the probability of being 23 and 25, the accounts they kept, the Seven Emotions and Six Desires she had realized through her cultivation, and the day they decided to date. She listened very carefully.

The little girl held Taozi and trailed far behind, feeling hopeless after being bullied by her thirteen or fourteen-year-old sister, not even bothering to activate her Wind-Following Ear.

Today's world was gray.

Until they circled back to Chang'an Gate and had a meal.

"Let's go back."

Chen Shu used his Mobile Phone to call a car and said: "We need to go back to the subway station to catch a ride."

After saying this, he discovered that Qingqing had been secretly watching him the whole time, and couldn't help but smile: "What's wrong? Is there something else you want to do?"

Ning Qing looked away and asked in a low voice:

"What time is it?"

"Three in the afternoon..."

"Mm."

"Don't be afraid."

"Have I... ever let you carry me on your back?"

"Of course, many times."

"Did you... carry me?"

"What are you talking about?" Chen Shu smiled brightly, "What do you think?"

"Then carry me again."

"Alright, come on."

Chen Shu turned his back to her.

Ning Qing's gaze flickered, and after glancing back at her twenty-year-old sister, she still jumped on.

A moment later, the three of them and the cat had arrived at Chang'an Gate subway station. Ning Qing lay on Chen Shu's back, holding a newly bought Strawberry Sugar-Coated Haws in her hand; she felt a slight swaying sensation as Chen Shu walked, and eating the sugar-coated haws made her not want to leave this day.

An unmanned vehicle was waiting for them at the pick-up port.

As soon as Chen Shu tapped confirm, it drove up.

"Get in."

The little girl consciously took Taozi and sat in the front row, while Ning Qing and Chen Shu sat in the back; she had eaten half of the sugar-coated haws in her hand and fed one to Chen Shu.

But gradually, she felt a bit sleepy.

Ning Qing slid down a little to make it easier to lean her whole body against Chen Shu's shoulder, as if she had no bones, resting the weight of her upper body there, struggling to keep her eyes open to fight against this sudden drowsiness.

Chen Shu's voice came to her ears:

"What's wrong? Are you sleepy?"

"A little."

"Sleep."

"I don't want to."

"It's okay."

His voice was so gentle, so gentle.

It lulled one to sleep.

Ning Qing's voice was very, very small as she asked, "When I fall asleep, will things return to normal?"

"They will."

"Then where will I go?"

"..."

Chen Shu pursed his lips before saying, "You'll just go back to when you were thirteen or fourteen."

"Then when I'm thirteen or fourteen, will I remember having come here once? Will the grown-up me remember having come here once when I was thirteen or fourteen? Or will I only remember that when I was twenty-four, I dreamed that I turned back into a thirteen or fourteen-year-old? Or is it the same as dying?" Ning Qing's voice grew smaller and smaller; in truth, she already had the answer in her heart, but this answer made her feel a bit cruel today.

Chen Shu was quite right; she was different from others. When her memory returned to the past, her memory and reason were not confused at all. She was very clear-headed and rational, to the point that it was as if she had traveled from thirteen or fourteen to the present.

To the twenty-four-year-old her, today was a problematic day, but to the her of today, today was a one-day time-travel experience.

Yet she could not go back.

She could not take the memories of this day back to more than a decade ago to continue living.

"I am not a very good person"—this was something Ning Qing had known for a long time. Besides being cold and dull, she was also very selfish, even to a degree that she herself could barely accept.

Chen Shu could only hold her tighter, looking down at her eyes as they were about to close, while she also threaded her arms through his and hugged him with intermittent force.

"Chen Shu~"

"What is it?"

"Do you know my biggest secret?"

"What secret?"

"Don't ask her; she won't tell you. If you can meet me again next time, ask me then."

"Alright."

Chen Shu promised readily.

But in his heart, he knew roughly that the probability of meeting her at this age again was very low. Even if he did meet her, she would not have today's memories, and she would be a brand-new thirteen or fourteen-year-old version of her.

Therefore, he would not be able to meet her.

The unmanned vehicle moved forward steadily.

The little girl stared blankly ahead through the windshield at the gray sky, the gray asphalt road, the gray greenery, and the gray flowers...

Another twenty minutes passed.

Chen Shu and Ning Qing sat on the swing in the courtyard; the swing swayed, and Ning Qing was still leaning on his shoulder. She finally could not help it and closed her eyes.

Six in the afternoon.

Ning Qing opened her eyes again from the bed, sat leaning against the headboard, and fell into deep thought.

The memories of today slowly surfaced; compared to them, whether it was feeling the changes after her promotion, sorting out the gains from the promotion process, or exploring how her Seventh Stage cultivation helped the Secret Sect Method, all became secondary.

Ning Qing quietly reminisced.

If one were to compile memories into a line just like a Predicted Timeline, the position of this memory from today would be today, not some day when she was thirteen or fourteen.

She was right—

This memory did not belong to her; she could not take this memory back with her. To her, the experience of today was a dream that would not be remembered. If one only regarded the her of today as a life, then after today, she withered; her life only existed within this short half-day.

Extremely beautiful flowers always bloom briefly.

However, the twenty-four-year-old she is not the thirteen or fourteen-year-old she; today, this thirteen or fourteen-year-old she is a part of the twenty-four-year-old she. The thirteen or fourteen-year-old she could not preserve the beauty of this day, because this was not the dream of her thirteen or fourteen-year-old self, but the dream of her current self.

Ning Qing savored it silently, the aftertaste endless.

The beauty within is hard to put into words.

……

The little girl sat by the stone table with hollow eyes, a Green Ladybug flying back and forth on her hand; at this moment, her mind was filled with the unacceptable fact: "I can't even beat my thirteen or fourteen-year-old sister, how can I fight my twenty-something-year-old sister?"

Suddenly, a head grew out over the courtyard wall.

"Xiaoxiao! I'm off work!"

"……"

"Xiaoxiao?"

"……"

"Xiaoxiao!?"

"……"

The little girl turned her head mechanically and looked at her.

Zhang Suannai grinned; to her, the little roommate was often like this, so she didn't mind, only asking: "What are you doing? Where is Qingqing?"

The little girl silently reached out and pointed upstairs.

"Upstairs? What is she doing upstairs?"

"Sleeping."

"Oh my! Your voice sounds so strange!"

"……"

"How is she still sleeping when it's already six o'clock?"

"……"

The little girl was silent for a moment, her eyeballs rolling: "Sister advanced to the Seventh Stage yesterday, woke up this morning, was silly for a while, and then fell asleep again."

"What??"

Zhang Suannai suddenly widened her eyes: "She advanced today? And was silly for a while? How come I didn't know?"

"Yes."

The little girl glanced at her, her expression gradually becoming lively, and the world, centered on the shocked and annoyed Sister Suannai, gradually regained a bit of color: "Today, Brother-in-law and I took the silly sister to Chang'an Gate; sister only had the intelligence of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old, it was so much fun."

"!"

The head on the wall retracted.

To be precise, it fell down.

Only a dull thud was heard from next door, a very solid impact.

Zhang Suannai gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, her features crinkled, beating her chest and stamping her feet; regret surged in her heart, and the sound of "oh my, oh my" came through the wall, startling Taozi, who was eating a Fatty Sausage, into turning her head and looking over here.

The little girl felt much better.

……

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