Su Li’s gaze did not linger on Chi Qingya as she stood up and left with Sister Bai.
Only after the footsteps gradually faded into the distance and Su Li had departed from her side did Chi Qingya slowly lift her head to look in the direction she had gone.
Su Li’s shoes stepped over the congealed red oil stains on the stairs.
As her soles separated from the floor tiles, they made a soft “tap” sound, a noise that felt like a fine needle piercing her temple.
Chi Qingya instinctively leaned half a step forward, but the split in her peeling canvas shoes stuck to the step.
The overhead corridor light cast a fuzzy golden glow around the tips of Su Li’s hair. That touch of warmth gradually dimmed as she moved down the stairs.
‘Should I call out to her?’
The thought was extinguished in her throat the moment it surfaced.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t found Su Li.
She had found her.
However, even though she had found her, there was nothing she could do.
She had no way of pulling Su Li back to her side.
And she had no way of returning to the past.
Chi Qingya’s fingers brushed against the seams of her pants, making a rustling sound.
The red oil stains from the malatang spread across the light-colored fabric like an ugly rust flower.
She suddenly remembered the spicy rice noodles she had spilled on her book one week ago.
At that time, the oil stains had slowly soaked through an entire complex problem in the same way.
In the past, she used to spend time eating with Su Li.
But later, she abandoned Su Li, leaving her to eat alone.
Just as she had evicted Su Li from her home.
It seemed she was always the one to abandon Su Li first, leaving her all by herself.
The muffled thud of the building’s entrance door closing echoed from downstairs, and the neighbors who had gathered to watch the excitement gradually dispersed.
Chi Qingya suddenly lunged toward the railing, trying to catch one last glimpse of Su Li through the gaps between the bars.
Her hands were covered in rust, but she didn’t care at all. Her hands were already very dirty anyway.
Her clothes were filthy along with them.
She craned her neck to look down, only to see Su Li’s shadow, elongated by the light, slipping away through the crack in the door.
That shadow had once gently covered her own figure while she pulled all-nighters to study.
Now, it disappeared without a backward glance into the heatwaves rising from the asphalt road.
She knew that Su Li hadn’t looked at her once before leaving.
Or rather, her gaze had only briefly lingered on her while they were speaking.
It was the way Su Li looked at strangers. Having lived with Su Li, Chi Qingya knew it all too well.
That was exactly how Su Li looked at strangers who had nothing to do with her.
In Su Li’s heart, she was no different from a stranger now.
Only after Su Li’s silhouette had completely vanished from her sight did Chi Qingya take out her phone.
She didn’t go to discuss the matter with the sisterhood.
She simply took out her phone and let her gaze rest on the chat interface with Su Li.
Even though the messages she sent were marked with a red exclamation mark, looking at their chat history made it feel as if Su Li hadn’t deleted her yet.
It felt as if Su Li were still by her side.
The chat with Su Li was still stuck on a time when she had gone out to eat with the sisterhood, and Su Li had asked if she was coming back.
How she wished her phone had a feature where clicking on old chat records could turn back time.
Unfortunately, it didn’t.
Even if she clicked the screen frantically and listened to “Reverse Clock” 1,000 times, time still wouldn’t go backward.
Su Li still wouldn’t return to her side.
Feeling something drip onto her phone, Chi Qingya touched the corner of her eye.
She realized that, at some point, tears had begun to stream down her face.
…
“Do you really not have any emotional reaction after seeing an old friend, little Su Li?”
Sister Bai’s gaze swept over Su Li with curiosity. Today’s drama had been extremely interesting.
At the very least, Chi Qingya, the protagonist, had played her part perfectly. As an audience member, Sister Bai found it quite satisfying.
The reason she hadn’t evicted Chi Qingya was that the girl was like a lead actor on a stage, occasionally providing her with some entertainment.
Although she didn’t like people who weren’t clean, Chi Qingya being dirty didn’t affect her.
She had many houses.
It was like playing a real-life game.
The other characters would regularly report their rental status and submit their rent.
Chi Qingya was different from those cookie-cutter tenants.
She was uniquely filthy.
Moreover, she had a connection with her little pet, Su Li.
Even if her little pet didn’t care about the girl, Sister Bai didn’t mind witnessing Chi Qingya’s unrequited longing and her deep regret.
“She’s someone who has nothing to do with me anymore, Sister Bai.”
“When you first met me, you should have known that Chi Qingya and I were even. I even paid her back for the rent.”
“I don’t owe her anything, so why should I stay in touch with her?”
Su Li’s tone was calm. She sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through her phone.
10 minutes ago, Cat had sent her several more voice messages, but she hadn’t had the time to listen to them.
Since it wasn’t convenient right now, Su Li converted Cat’s voice messages into text.
[Voice Message] 14 seconds: “Su Li, Su Li, do you have time now? I have something I want to tell you!”
[Voice Message] 17 seconds: “Just now, I saw the two characters for ‘Su’ and ‘Li,’ so I thought of you. I just don’t know which two characters make up your name?”
[Voice Message] 10 seconds: “I want to know how Su Li’s name is written. Is that okay?”
The image of Cat’s nervous expression as she held the phone to send the voice messages appeared in Su Li’s mind.
She suddenly imagined a cat lying in front of a phone, fiddling with it.
She and Cat really complemented each other.
Cat converted her text messages into sound to listen to them.
She converted Cat’s voice messages into text to read them.
Whenever Cat used the phone, Su Li always thought of how she used it when she was a cat.
Cat didn’t seem to be at work, because not long after Su Li sent her a reply, a new voice message arrived.
[Voice Message] 14 seconds: “I see! Your name is so hard to write, Su Li. But I’ll work hard to learn it!”
[Voice Message] 15 seconds: “Can I show you the characters I’ve learned? Will it be a waste of your time?”
Looking at Cat’s voice message, Su Li could almost see her nervous expression as she held the phone, wanting to share her progress.
‘Of course you can.’
As Su Li typed, she began to teach Cat how to use the handwriting input method.
With handwriting input, Cat could practice writing directly on the phone.
She had only just remembered it. Recalling that there was no paper at Cat’s home, Su Li thought it would have been better if she had remembered this feature sooner.
[Voice Message] 17 seconds: “Su Li, Su Li, the new phone is so fast! I received your message almost immediately. It’s like you’re standing right next to me, talking!”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.