translated_Chapter 40

40: I Miss You So Much

Habitually arriving at the high school gate, it happened to be Friday.

Is Jing Yueming still around? Shouldn’t he have finished the college entrance exam and be in university now?

Waiting and waiting, she really saw a youthful young man knock on the car window.

“Ai La, it’s really you! I just received your recent letter yesterday.” Jing Yueming couldn’t hide the joy in his eyes.

Qiu Ci reached her hand out of the window and stroked the boy’s head: “Get in the car, I’ll take you home.”

“Okay.”

Jing Yueming went to open the passenger seat door: “Ai La, I thought you went abroad to study for several years.”

“Where do you live again?” Qiu Ci didn’t answer him.

Jing Yueming wasn’t angry: “The apartment you live in, I rented a place there.”

“I don’t quite remember the way.”

“I’ll look up the navigation for you.”

She accompanied the boy to his home.

Qiu Ci didn’t seem to want to leave, and Jing Yueming urged her to stay, so she ended up having dinner at Jing Yueming’s place.

It wasn’t until nine o’clock that her previous assistant contacted her.

“I’m sorry, Ai La, I didn’t know you returned to the country.”

“It’s okay, do you still have the key to my house?”

“I’ll bring it to you right away.”

“No need, I’ll see you at the company in the morning.”

“Okay.”

After solving the accommodation problem, it was time to solve Jing Yueming.

“Little Jing, I can continue to support you, but… the previous relationship between us… we can’t continue.”

Looking at Jing Yueming’s considerate smile, Qiu Ci couldn’t bring herself to say the word “breakup”.

He was even more sensible than Tsukimi Rin.

Qiu Ci forced a smile: “Alright then, when is the college entrance exam?”

“The joint exam is this winter, and I have the cultural exam tomorrow.”

“Study hard, and let me know if you need anything.”

Jing Yueming’s expression was a little complicated: “Ai La, I actually have something, art students have pre-exam training…”

“That? Just choose wherever you want to go.”

“Okay.”

After Qiu Ci arrived at the company, things were even more strange. Because she was in Japan last year, many decision-making powers had been delegated to the next level.

Now that she had just returned, she couldn’t get those powers back anytime soon.

There were also many shareholders who, although they seemed to coexist peacefully with her on the surface, actually favored her younger brother, Qiu Ci.

Qiu Ci smiled helplessly.

Oh well, who was she doing this for anyway? If Qiu Ci wanted to play, let him play.

After Qiu Ci gave up, she also had a rare break.

Accompanying Jing Yueming to training wasn’t really accompanying him, but just investing in the institution.

She often went to Jing Yueming’s class to inspect.

“Quite interesting.”

As soon as the old professor saw that the patron was interested in these things, he said, “Art itself is very attractive, not to mention our education model, those who love knowledge are not as good as those who enjoy it.”

“Not bad, not bad.” Qiu Ci nodded.

“If you have time, I can take you to learn some.”

“I have plenty of time.”

“Great, Miss Ai La, I have a lot of things in my private art studio, I’ll teach you when you come.”

“Then let’s go now, teacher.”

Winter time.

Tsukimi Rin received a text message.

“Happy birthday.”

It was sent by Qiu Ci.

That day was indeed her birthday.

Qiu Ci always sent her messages from time to time.

And called.

But Tsukimi Rin neither replied to messages nor answered the phone.

“Returned to the country.”

“So free, painting, if it weren’t for work, I would like painting too.”

“The old professor said I have talent.”

“A friend gave me oil paints, the little wooden box is so interesting.”

“It’s snowing, the New Year is coming soon.”

“I miss you so much.”

“I miss you so much.”

“I miss you so much.”

“I miss you so much.”

…

I miss you so much.

But she couldn’t contact her. When she thought about Qiu Ci being in a relationship with herself, getting engaged to a man, and then being in love with another man.

No one could accept it.

In a year, Tsukimi Rin visibly lost weight. She didn’t dare to return to China.

She was afraid of running into Qiu Ci by chance.

She also didn’t want to be in Tokyo, there were too many memories of winter with Qiu Ci here.

Work?

She couldn’t do it anymore.

Not to mention not getting any orders, even if she did, she didn’t think she could do it well.

She coaxed herself to eat one meal a day.

She talked to her parents every month.

Sometimes, Qin Yishan would also care about her recent situation.

In the coldest time in Tokyo, Qin Yishan noticed that her condition was not right: “Miss Yue, I have a psychiatrist friend in Tokyo, you can go see him if you have time.”

Tsukimi Rin was puzzled, was her current state really that bad?

It seemed so.

Every time the phone rang, she would be afraid.

Terrified, could it be Qiu Ci?

She didn’t know how long she could refuse, a week.

A month.

A year and two months.

In the spring of her twenty-eighth year, Qiu Ci made her last call.

She received the last voice message in the winter of the previous year.

“Rin, congratulations, you’re twenty-eight years old, happy birthday. Neither my brother nor I have birthdays, and we don’t celebrate birthdays either. We haven’t seriously celebrated your birthday in over a decade. I miss you so much, I love you so much. You take care of yourself, get married Rin, it’s okay with boys or girls. Would you like me more if I let go like Qiu Ci? I miss you so much, I want to find you, I love you.”

The short voice message made Tsukimi Rin feel uncomfortable for more than a month.

What was even more uncomfortable was the following spring.

On the news: “CW’s female president committed suicide due to depression…”

Tsukimi Rin once thought she was dreaming.

Qiu Ci, who was so nonchalant, would also suffer from depression and commit suicide.

Why?

Why?

Tsukimi Rin always thought that there would be some turning point in the future, after all, Qiu Ci never gave up calling and messaging herself.

From these days on, Tsukimi Rin’s phone would no longer ring for no reason.

Nor would new message boxes pop up.

“Qiu Ci, why don’t you call anymore?”

“Qiu Ci, it’s summer, the fruits are about to ripen.”

“Qiu Ci, when you left in the spring of the year before last, you said you would be back soon.”

Qiu Ci, Qiu Ci, Qiu Ci, if you miss me, why don’t you come see me.

I miss you so much, why don’t I see you in my dreams either.

Several months later, Tsukimi Rin finally clearly realized that Qiu Ci in this world had really disappeared without a trace.

Did she really commit suicide?

The quiet phone, without a ringtone, was still pounding on Tsukimi Rin’s heartstrings.

She couldn’t bear it anymore.

Regardless of Qin Yishan’s dissuasion.

She came to China.

The capital was still bright and beautiful in spring.

Female college students were taking photos under the crabapple trees nearby.

Several old people were talking loudly in Tiananmen Square.

The world was still the same.

Was Qiu Ci also the same?

Tsukimi Rin used what she had learned as a detective over the years to investigate.

Visiting all the places Qiu Ci had been to in the past two years.

The high school gate.

The art studio.

The art professor’s studio.

…

The place she went to the least was the company.

Tsukimi Rin became familiar with a lady who worked at CW.

The two of them would come to the coffee shop for afternoon tea every week.

The lady always complained to her about the boss’s harshness.