I Hear You

[Print Edition Progress and Little Perks: @Fu Qi Duo] [This novel has been extensively revised throughout, and pirated copies are incomplete and illogical] The next time Gui Yao heard news of Meng Yuzheng, she was on Jing University’s confession wall, where she saw a girl declare that she was determined to win him over. The photo showed him sitting in a car, dressed in a black coat, his expression cool and stern. One hand rested casually outside the window, the bones of his fingers sharply defined, and a faint smile played at the corner of his lips. He looked laid-back and unruly. Her roommate excitedly recounted the outrageous exploits of the young master Meng, but Gui Yao alone knew that Meng Yuzheng was still a legend at Wangcheng No. 1 High School. Before evening study hall began that year, she had once stood on tiptoe in the crowd just to catch a fleeting glimpse of him. After a basketball game, his friends had suddenly started teasing him as a group, saying, “Brother Zheng’s a sly one. He’s got a thing for that colorful girl from the arts class.” When she heard them, she clenched the hem of her plain, colorless shirt, turned around, and quietly disappeared into the crowd. From that summer, when the trees were lush and green, to the later winters when snow blanketed the capital, she had loved Meng Yuzheng silently and without a trace for three whole years. Unfortunately, the name Meng Yuzheng was etched into the youth of countless girls. Gui Yao was only one of the less conspicuous ones. She was lucky enough, later on, to share a brief and absurd romance with him. But every drama eventually comes to an end. The only surprise was that on the day she asked to break up, Meng Yuzheng waited for her all night. He ground out his cigarette underfoot, but she never came to ask him to stay. Before they parted, he replied without much emotion, “Fine. Let’s leave it at that.” They cut ties completely. So she had never imagined they would meet again years later. They lost control and tangled together in the chaotic back room of a bar. His grip was hard, and his hand around her wrist hurt. “I can’t love anyone else.” The man sighed deeply. As he leaned closer, his eyes glimmered with a faint sheen. “Yao Yao,” he lowered his head and spoke slowly, solemnly. “Meng Yuzheng wants to try again with you.” -- At first, everyone around them said the same thing. This young master Meng, whom everyone scrambled to flatter, was cold and heartless to the core. Getting together with her was just a game the young heir had picked up out of boredom. But no one knew that after they broke up, Gui Yao had stumbled upon a letter tucked among a pile of odds and ends: “I once loved you so sincerely and so tenderly. May God grant that someone else will love you as I did.” Signed: Meng Yuzheng. * Bright and beautiful heroine × roguish romantic hero Psychological counselor × internet mogul * I buried my love in the wind and snow. From then on, the mountains and moon became my offering, as I watched you fall under my spell and play your part for me. Note: The letter’s contents are from Alexander Pushkin’s poem “I Loved You.” Blurb written on 2022/10/31, revised on 2023/7/27 Theme: Those who never forget will eventually be answered