TSTFTR Chapter 17

Yu Qiu’s not fully healed scars were once again reopened, revealing the bloody and flesh.

He started writing that article when he was twenty years old.

At first, he just wanted to write a world that was independent of the mundane world. But the more he wrote, the more he realized that this world was impossible to exist.

The existence of Eden attracted a crowd, but in the end, it was discovered that the people inside were just puppets who had lost the ability to feel pain and were enslaved by pleasure.

“I originally wanted to write this story,” Yu Qiu slowly rubbed his hair, his slender fingers weaving through it, a very comfortable sensation. Xuan Yun half-opened her eyes and said, “But the story you put out is not like this.”

“Yes,” Yu Qiu said, “After I finish writing, I have a habit of completely overturning it and then revising it again, but I will save the original draft on a USB flash drive in case the revision fails.”

USB flash drive.

Xuan Yun said, “USB flash drive…”

“My USB drive is lost,” Yu Qiusheng’s voice was calm, showing no signs of anger or joy, “I can’t find it.”

“…”

“I don’t go to many places normally, but it could have been lost in the café I usually go to or on the way home,” Yu Qiu’s voice had no fluctuations. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten how he felt at that time.

Xuan Yun suddenly grasped his hand, his fingertips slipping through the gaps between Yu Qiu fingers, and they interlocked together.

This is a gesture that gives a strong sense of security. Unless the other party voluntarily lets go, it is difficult to separate. With fingers intertwined, it is equivalent to saying, “I have entrusted my heart to you, do as you please.”

Yu Qiu looked at him with a smile that was neither a smile nor a frown and asked, “Do you feel sorry for me?”

“I know that my brother doesn’t need me to care too much, as he has a strong ability to heal himself,” Xuan Yun sighed and said, “It’s not that I feel sorry for you, it’s that I feel uncomfortable myself.”

Yu Qiu: “If it makes you uncomfortable, then it’s not called a bedtime story. Alright, that’s the end of today’s bedtime story. Go to sleep, no more talking.”

“You continue speaking, I want to listen!”

Xuan Yun was about to sit up when Yu Qiu was startled by his sudden increase in volume and said, “Alright, go to sleep. Goodnight.”

Xuan Yun saw that Yu Qiu really had no intention of continuing the metaphor, so he had no choice but to lie down and go to sleep obediently.

Yu Qiu turned off the bedside lamp and released the intertwined fingers. In that moment of release, Xuan Yun’s heart skipped a beat. But soon, he felt the warmth around his waist as Yu Qiu’s hand wrapped around it. Facing him, Xuan Yun could clearly smell the scent of shower gel on Yu Qiu’s body.

“In a happy dream, we’ll meet again.”

That sentence seemed like a spell, and surprisingly, Xuan Yun quickly felt the gentle embrace of sleepiness.

He held Yu Qiu tightly, and the night passed peacefully without any dreams.

With his eyes closed, Yu Qiu pondered things.

It had been a long time since he had been in a relationship.

He has been in many relationships, starting from junior high school when he began receiving confessions. Initially, they were all from girls, but later in the third year of junior high, boys also started confessing to him.

He counted and realized that before graduating from high school, he had been in a total of four relationships.

Yu Qiu didn’t consider himself as someone who easily falls in love; on the contrary, he was quite devoted. He was naturally sensitive and could understand his partner’s psychological state, knowing how to comfort them and provide a sense of security.

But it seemed that in the end, they all separated due to occasional ideological differences.

His last romantic interest was from the same company he was contracted to.

The other person was a contracted writer, and his words were very touching. The first time Yu Qiu read his work, he found it romantic. They had many common topics, and eventually, the man wrote a love poem for him, blushing as he recited it in front of many people.

Yu Qiu patiently waited for him to finish reciting the poem and then kissed him.

In the poem, there was a passage that went like this:

“I want to

Secretly love you in spring

Butterflies will be our wedding dress

The spring breeze will be the bouquet

When summer comes

I’ll take you with me

And elope to the universe

Then, while looking at the countless stars

Tell you

Which one I like the most”

 

But later on, the man cheated, and they still broke up.

Until now, it was probably been almost two years without any romantic involvement.

Until he met Xuan Yun.

At first sight, he felt that palpitation in his heart.

Yu Qiu suddenly remembered a sentence his teacher once said.

“Love at first sight is the ‘instant eruption of accumulated aesthetics.’ I have seen many beautiful things, and in my mind, I’ve constructed an imaginary figure. When I saw you, that figure materialized, and my heart raced.”