Chapter Fifty-Four: Fate
I have always believed that every stage of life needs a goal, and with a goal, one will have the motivation to do things, otherwise life is like a walking corpse. For example, in elementary school, teachers would instill in us the idea of "studying hard for the four modernizations", which was also the usual phrase we wrote at the end of our compositions when we were kids. When we entered junior high school, our thinking became more mature and we could no longer be easily deceived, so teachers began to take a more realistic approach, instilling in us the idea that "studying hard is the only way to get into college", an idea that haunted us all the way through university, despite many bloody examples proving that this notion was nonsense. But since the day I rescued Sanpangzi from Harbin Station, attending tomorrow's dance party has become my sole motivation for the past few days, and I have been thinking about it every moment, eagerly awaiting its arrival, and constantly thinking about how to make the most of this opportunity.
Dinner was unenthusiastic without Qin Ke Yi, so he just boiled some noodles and lay on the couch watching the news. Suddenly, he remembered that the clothes he had sent to a laundry shop near school a few days ago were probably ready for pickup, so he lazily headed out to the laundry shop.
"Are you here for laundry or pickup?" a middle-aged woman at the service counter asked as I walked in.
"Take your clothes." I said to her while handing him the receipt, she was listening to a radio program at that time.
"What's being played next is a song from Liu Ruoying, 'Very Love Hate You', dedicated by Xiao Bin, a listener from Harbin Institute of Technology, to Qin Ke Yi, who lives in the same dormitory 233, and also wants to tell Qin Ke Yi that no matter what time it is, I will never give up easily... Although I despise this kind of rustic way of chasing girls, and know that this method has no effect on Qin Ke Yi, but when I heard this silly boy sing a song for Qin Ke Yi and make such an explicit confession, my heart still feels inexplicably annoyed, and for the first time, I realized the pressure that Qin Ke Yi brought to me, standing there stupidly listening to Liu Ruoying's 'Very Love Hate You'..."
"Boss! You took the wrong one! This isn't my clothes." Maybe he was distracted by a boy giving Qin Ke a song, so he didn't take the right clothes. Just as he was about to enter his home, he found that the clothes in the packaging bag weren't his, and he had no choice but to return again.
"Oh! Let me see! It seems I picked the wrong one, this is No. 6, and I gave you No. 9! Sorry about that, just a minute!" The boss said apologetically after checking the label on the packaging bag.
"Boss! This isn't my clothes, this is a boy's clothes!" Suddenly I heard a familiar voice that couldn't be more familiar behind me. So I quickly turned around to confirm, and indeed it was Qin Ke Yi! Qin Ke Yi obviously didn't expect to run into me here either, he stood there staring at me in surprise for several seconds before pretending not to know me and walking up to the counter.
"What a coincidence! He took your clothes and you took hers. You two can just swap with each other." The boss said with a smile.
"Destiny!" I said with a smile to Qin Ke, and handed her the clothes.
"Ah! I think you two are quite a match made in heaven, really quite compatible!" The boss chimed in.
"Haha! Thanks boss!" Qin Ke Yi snatched the clothes from my hands and stuffed them into my arms after I finished speaking.
"Wait for me!" I chased after Qin Ke Yi as he quickly walked out of the laundry shop.
"Qin Keyi! Stop right there!" I caught up with Qin Keyi and grabbed her arm, but she quickly broke free.
"What are you trying to do? Are you going to carry me back?" Qin Ke stood there for a few seconds before turning around and sneering at me.
"Who dares?" I said with a smile.
"Oh! Don't be modest! You've even been to the girls' dorm! What else are you afraid of?"
"For you, I'd dare to climb a mountain of knives and jump into a pot of oil, let alone sneak into a girls' dorm! Haha!" Qin Ke turned pale as soon as she heard me say this, then turned around and walked away.
"Let's have a good talk, okay?" I said as I followed Qin Ke Yi from behind.
"There's nothing for us to talk about!" Qin Ke said coldly.
"Listen and let me explain what happened on which day, it's not too late for you to get angry!"
"In that case, it's all going to make me angry anyway! I'd rather not listen then! It would save me from feeling disgusted!"
"You have to listen to me make myself clear!" I hastened my steps and caught up with Qin Ke Yi, blocking her way, saying agitatedly.
"I remember giving you the chance! It was you who didn't seize it! Now I'm not interested in listening!" Qin Ke said, and then violently pushed me away before continuing to walk forward.
"I don't care if you want to listen or not, I'm going to say it anyway! If we're going to break up, at least let me finish what I have to say!" I grabbed Qin Ke's arm again, getting a bit worked up.
"Break up!? Were we even together?" Qin Ke Yi's words at this moment were like a knife, deeply piercing my heart. I couldn't tell if Qin Ke Yi was just talking out of anger or if it was really what he thought, but what he said seemed to make sense. Although we had been incredibly intimate before, neither of us had ever broken through that thin layer of window paper. In China, a country that emphasizes ideology, sometimes form and verbal commitments become very important, even surpassing reality.
"Towards each other, neither of us has confessed to the other, nor made any promises. We're just friends, just like friends who care about each other, once hugged like friends, once kissed passionately like friends, and fell asleep in my arms like friends, right?"
"...... Alright!" Qin Ke took a deep breath and said to me, his eyes seeming to well up with tears.
"I understand! I...I have nothing more to say! Goodbye!"
"Uh-huh! Alright... Bye..." Qin Ke Yi said softly to me, then slowly turned around and left... On the quiet street, at this moment, only Qin Ke Yi was walking slowly, while I just stood there watching her back gradually moving away from me...
"Take care... Qin Ke Yi!" I softly said to Qin Ke Yi's back, turning around to leave, when a sharp screeching sound of sudden braking came from behind...
