readsfreenovel Chapter 148 Remember Me
Chapter 148 Remember Me
Song Huan stood downstairs, hands in her pockets, shoulders hunched, but a smile on her face.
That smile was so smug, like he'd stolen something good.
Xiao Yunqing stood in front of him, looking at him like that, and her nose suddenly stung with tears.
She turned her head away, rubbed the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, and when she turned back, her lips were already pouting.
"What do you want?" The voice was stiff, but the last syllable trembled.
Song Huan chuckled, took a step back, and made way for the electric scooter behind him.
He patted the back seat and gestured for it to proceed.
"Princess, please get in the carriage. I'll take you to see the fireworks display."
Xiao Yunqing couldn't help but laugh.
Her lips curled up, her eyes curved down, and her little face was flushed, illuminated by the car headlights.
She glanced at him, her gaze lingering on him.
A black jacket, zipped up, over which he wore only a sweatshirt.
The wind blew in through his collar, making his clothes billow, and he shrank his neck.
"Fool."
She walked over and stood in front of him. "Aren't you cold?"
"It's not cold." He had barely finished speaking when he bit his teeth.
Xiao Yunqing ignored his words, reached out and pinched the zipper of his coat, pulling it up.
The movement was slow, and it got stuck halfway through. She pulled it down a bit, then pulled it up again, until it reached her chin.
She kept her head down, her fingers gripping the zipper pull, her knuckles white from the cold wind.
"You can't even zip up a zipper, you're so clumsy." Her voice was very soft and was blown away by the wind.
Song Huan looked down at her.
Her hair was blown by the wind, and a few strands brushed against his chin, tickling him.
The zipper was zipped up. Without looking up, she pulled a pair of dark blue, knitted gloves from her pocket and crumpled them into a ball.
She shook it open, took his hand, and slipped it onto his finger.
I slipped my left hand on, then my right, and pressed my fingers together. It was a bit long, but warm.
"They're not even wearing gloves."
She continued, her voice muffled, "Where's your scarf? You didn't even wear it?"
She reached around her neck and untied her scarf, a long, light gray one that had been wrapped twice.
She tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck.
On the first lap, her fingers touched the back of his neck; it was cool.
On the second lap, her face was very close, her eyelashes almost brushing against his chin.
After the scarf was wrapped around her neck, she stepped back, looked it over, and nodded.
She leaned closer and pulled the scarf up, covering half of his face.
"Alright." She clapped her hands. "Feeling warm now?"
Song Huan stood there, wrapped in a scarf.
He looked at her without saying a word.
Xiao Yunqing felt uncomfortable under his gaze, turned her head away, and said, "What are you looking at? Let's go."
She turned and walked to the back of the car, sat down, and placed her hands on the edge of the seat.
The car started and lurched forward. She leaned back, let go of the seat, and instinctively grabbed the hem of his clothes.
I grabbed it, then let go.
Her fingers paused for a second on his waist, then gently wrapped around it.
Interlace your fingers and place them on his stomach.
My hands are small, and I can still feel the coldness through my clothes.
Song Huan glanced down at the hands but didn't say anything.
He twisted the accelerator, and the car surged forward, the wind whistling past his ears.
Xiao Yunqing sat behind him, her face pressed against his back.
The fabric of the coat was smooth and cool, but his back was warm.
The streetlights receded one by one, their light passing overhead, flickering between bright and dim.
Her hands slid from his stomach into his pockets, one on the left and one on the right, and she slipped them in, clenching her fists.
The pockets are lined with fleece, so they're warm and cozy.
She closed her eyes.
In the morning, she was sitting on her cousin's electric scooter, deliberately hugging him, wanting to see him get jealous.
Now she's sitting in his car, hugging him, her hands in his pockets.
The wind was strong, the road was long, and fireworks exploded in the distance with a muffled sound, like someone was beating a drum.
But she didn't want to open her eyes; she just wanted to embrace the warmth of this moment.
The seaside promenade was already packed with people.
They're everywhere—along the railings, on the steps, beside the flowerbeds.
Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, heads touching.
The wind blows by, carrying the salty smell of the sea, damp and cool.
Song Huan found a spot high on the steps where she could see a great distance.
He dusted himself off the steps and sat down.
Xiao Yunqing sat next to him, about a fist's distance away.
The sea was dark and gloomy, with the lights of ships in the distance, like stars floating on the water.
The wind blew from the sea, lifting her hair. She reached up and brushed it behind her ear.
The crowd began to stir.
Some people checked their watches, some stood on tiptoe, and some shouted, "It's about to start!"
Xiao Yunqing craned her neck to look at the sea, but could see nothing.
She clenched her fists, her hands tucked into her sleeves, and muttered to herself.
"Hurry, hurry!"
Song Huan stood up, and she stood up too, standing on tiptoe.
A large crowd had gathered in front of them, and someone was shouting a countdown.
"ten!"
Xiao Yunqing grabbed Song Huan's sleeve and said excitedly, "It's starting! It's starting!"
"Nine!"
Her voice rang out in the crowd, sharp and bright.
"Eight! Seven! Six!"
More and more people joined in, their voices overlapping, carrying from the beach to the street, and from the street to the distant rooftops.
"Five! Four! Three!"
Xiao Yunqing gripped his sleeve, her grip tightening.
"two!"
"one!"
zero.
The sea surface brightened.
It wasn't the kind of light that gradually brightens; it explodes.
The first firework rose from the sea, trailing a long tail, "whoosh," "bang!"
It's golden, and when it explodes, it looks like a tree with branches stretching out in all directions, illuminating half the sky.
Then came the second, the third, and the fourth flower.
Red, green, purple, one after another, rose from the sea, exploded in the sky, and turned into countless little stars that fell down.
The blue one was the biggest, and when it exploded, the whole sea turned blue, and a layer of shimmering light covered the surface of the water, like someone had scattered a handful of sapphires.
The white one is the quietest, bursting open only at its highest point, silently, like a giant dandelion scattered by the wind.
The purple one lasted the longest; after it exploded, it didn't go out and hung in the sky, shining for a very, very long time.
Xiao Yunqing tilted her head back, her mouth slightly open, her eyes unblinking.
The light from the fireworks fell on her face—white, red, purple, blue—illuminating her face in varying shades of light and shadow.
The ponytail was blown by the wind, the ends of the hair fluttering and turning golden in the light.
She looked at the fireworks, as if they were scenes she had seen in a dream but had forgotten upon waking.
The fireworks are still going off.
Some people below turned around, not to look at the fireworks, but to look at the people around them.
A boy looked down at the girl next to him. The girl looked up at him, and they looked at each other for a moment. Then the boy leaned in and kissed her tightly.
Another couple next to them were doing the same thing; the girl was standing on tiptoe, and the boy's hand was on her waist.
Another pair, another bunch...
Xiao Yunqing shifted her gaze from the fireworks to the couples.
Her body stiffened for a moment, her fingers gripping her sleeve tightly, then loosening.
Her face turned red, starting from her neck and all the way to the tips of her ears.
She subconsciously turned her head to look at Song Huan.
He stood beside her, head tilted back, still watching the fireworks.
Her profile was illuminated by the light, revealing a straight nose and a clearly defined chin.
The fireworks flashed in his eyes, then went out, then flashed again, then went out once more.
She looked away, lowered her head, and stared at the tips of her shoes.
The shoelaces were tied very well, in a bow, and both sides were the same length.
Song Huan also saw those couples.
His gaze shifted from the fireworks, sweeping over the figures embracing each other, and paused for a moment.
The next second, he turned to look at her.
But she was looking down at her shoes, her face flushed, and the tips of her ears were red too.
A gust of wind blew, scattering stray hairs across her face.
He glanced at her for two seconds, then turned back to continue watching the fireworks.
But the next second, she looked up again, and his profile was still looking at the sky.
Xiao Yunqing felt inexplicably sad.
She looked at his profile for two seconds, then turned back to look at the sky.
The last firework went up.
The largest flower rose very, very high, so high that it was almost invisible.
Then it exploded.
It wasn't just one flower, but many flowers stacked together, red, white, purple, and blue, covering half the sky.
Sunlight streamed down from the sky, illuminating the entire corridor.
Then it went dark.
It got dark very quickly, as if someone had turned off the lights.
The sea turned dark again, but the ship's lights were still on, one by one, just like before the fireworks.
The crowd began to disperse.
Some people walked hand in hand to the side of the street, some walked slowly with their arms around each other's shoulders, and some stood still, looking up at the sky, waiting for the next flower.
But there was no next one.
Xiao Yunqing stood on the steps, looking at the darkening sky, and remained lost in thought for a long time.
The fireworks are over, but the light seems to linger in my eyes, flashing on and off.
"Let's go," Song Huan said.
She snapped out of her daze and turned her head away.
He turned around just then.
Their eyes met.
Very close.
He was so close he could see the glint of light on her eyelashes and smell the faint scent of laundry detergent on his scarf.
The wind stopped.
The crowd walked past them, some talking, some laughing, some stepping on the firecracker debris on the ground with a soft rustling sound.
Those sounds were very far away, as if separated by a layer of water.
"Happy New Year," she said first.
The sound was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.
"Happy New Year," he said.
It's also very light.
She lowered her head, as if the wind at the beach was too strong, and she covered her face with her hand.
But the eyes that were exposed were bright, like the fireworks that hadn't yet faded.
She turned and walked down the steps, her ponytail swinging as it swayed under the streetlight.
Song Huan followed behind, her hands in her pockets.
The shadows of the two people were stretched on the ground by the streetlights, one in front and one behind, very close together.
"Song Huan".
Xiao Yunqing suddenly turned around.
"What's wrong?" Song Huan asked.
Xiao Yunqing's small hands swayed gently behind her back as she skipped forward, her voice soft as if caressed by the sea breeze.
They always say, "Wait a little longer, wait a little longer, and good things will come eventually."
But after finishing school, after achieving true freedom, after entering society, after growing up...
When that day comes, will we still be by each other's side?
She took a soft breath, and a thin layer of moisture welled up in her eyes.
"Adults always teach us to look further ahead, to plan ahead, and to be sensible."
But reality is telling us again and again that we should cherish the present moment.
No one knows what the future holds, and no one can guarantee that tomorrow will be the same as today.
She stopped and said softly:
"The only thing we can hold onto is the present."
Xiao Yunqing suddenly turned around and looked at Song Huan.
The sea breeze tousled her hair and stirred the emotions she couldn't hide in her eyes. She trembled slightly, as if all the things she had suppressed for too long had finally come to the surface at this moment.
Song Huan stood there, completely stunned.
At that moment, he suddenly understood what it meant to fall in love at first sight, and what it meant to have his heart stop.
The sea breeze howled, dispersing the noise, but making her voice exceptionally clear.
Xiao Yunqing looked at him, her eyes slightly red, her voice trembling slightly, yet she called out with utmost seriousness and force:
"Song Huan, today... is the happiest day of my life, without a doubt. Really, I'm exceptionally, exceptionally happy."
"Really! I will remember this day forever! You must remember this day too!"
"Remember tonight's fireworks, and remember me!"