Those things that happened in those years

Chapter 63 The Mystery of the Love Letter

Back home, Hong Liguo hastily finished his homework and lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. He finally managed to drift off to sleep just before dawn.

In his dream, he saw Qiao Shuang walking towards him with a big smile, taking his hand generously, and running with him across the vast fields.

The scene quickly shifts to her own home, which is packed with people, decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the scene is just as luxurious as described in novels. It turns out that she and Qiao Shuang are having their wedding.

After all the ceremonies were completed, he couldn't wait to go to the bridal chamber. Looking at the bride sitting on the bed with a bright red wedding quilt, he was overjoyed. He quickly picked up the scale bar that had been prepared in advance and tied with a bright red silk ribbon. He went to the bed and, with trembling hands, used the scale bar to lift the bright red veil embroidered with flowers.

The moment Hong Liguo lifted the red veil, he was so frightened by the face beneath it that he took more than ten steps back. Underneath the veil was not the Qiao Shuang he loved, but a fierce-looking leopard-headed man grinning at him with a mocking and sarcastic smile.

Just as Hong Liguo was angrily about to hit the wretched leopard with the steelyard in his hand, he suddenly woke up from the dream.

Just then, I heard my brother's voice: "What kind of dream are you having? This kid is waving his arms and legs around, and keeps yelling 'I'll hit you, I'll hit you!' Who are you trying to hit this time? Are you dreaming about practicing the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?"

It was already bright outside, and her older siblings were eating. She glanced at the time and realized that if she didn't get up quickly to eat and go to school, she might be late.

Hong Liguo quickly got up, washed his face hastily, ate a mouthful of food, and went to the village entrance with dark circles under his eyes. Fa Zi, Jun Ge, and the others were already gathered and waiting for him.

"Why are you taking so long today?" Fa Zi noticed him immediately. "I felt something was off about you yesterday, and you're still acting strange today. What's wrong?"

Jun and the others chimed in, "Yeah, Xiao Guo, what are you hiding?"

Hong Liguo quickly made up an excuse: "What could be wrong? I just don't want to go to school. School is too annoying, I really don't want to study anymore." He was afraid of being questioned again, so he deliberately steered the topic away from the subject.

Yanbin actually believed him and patted him on the shoulder: "Just hang in there for another month or so and we'll be on vacation. Let's go, or we'll be late if we dawdle any longer."

Hongbo sighed, "Who wants to go to school! If my parents hadn't forced me, I would have dropped out long ago. It's so much more comfortable at home."

"Exactly!" Brother Jun chimed in.

Hong Liguo didn't say anything more and rode his bicycle at the back of the group. The bicycle seemed particularly heavy today, and every pedal stroke felt like it required all his strength. Even the dirt road that he had traveled countless times seemed to have grown longer, and he could never reach the end of it.

As he approached the school, his heart began to race again—he wanted to get there quickly to see Qiao Shuang's reaction, but he was also afraid of the outcome, and his legs even felt weak.

When he entered the school gate, he looked like a criminal waiting for sentencing, not daring to raise his head, feeling that everyone around him was mocking him.

He even considered: should he go home first and come back after finding out the results? But Fa Zi called out to him from the front: "Xiao Guo, hurry up!" He could no longer hide, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk into the classroom.

As soon as Hong Liguo entered the classroom, he saw Qiao Shuang sitting in her seat. His heart tightened instantly, as if he had seen a monstrous beast, and he stopped in his tracks. His face began to burn, and his heart pounded wildly, as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

Hearing the door close, Qiao Shuang turned around and glanced towards the doorway. Hong Liguo met her gaze and felt as if those eyes were two sharp swords that could pierce through him.

He quickly lowered his head, not daring to look again—but when he came to his senses, he realized that Qiao Shuang had only glanced back at him normally before turning back to her book, just like usual. He had been overthinking things.

Just then, the teacher walked in and saw Hong Liguo standing at the door. He frowned and said, "What are you still standing there for? Class is starting, hurry back to your seat."

Hong Liguo quickly ran to his seat, and after sitting down, he didn't even dare to turn his head towards Qiao Shuang.

The morning passed by in a tense atmosphere.

During lunch break, some students slept on their desks, some went to the playground to play soccer, and some went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy snacks. Only Hong Liguo hid under the old elm tree in a corner of the campus, repeatedly pondering Qiao Shuang's reaction—why was she so calm? Even if she didn't want to date him, shouldn't there be some change? Did she not like him and threw away the love letter without wanting to embarrass him? Or was she also thinking about it and looking for an opportunity to reply to him?

He considered countless possibilities, but he still couldn't figure out Qiao Shuang's thoughts.

The school bell rang, and Hong Liguo nervously walked into the classroom again, stealing a glance at Qiao Shuang—she was still flipping through her textbooks as usual, without the slightest sign of anything unusual.

Hong Liguo thought to himself: This girl is too calm. She can still be so composed in the face of such a big thing.

Another afternoon passed peacefully, and Hong Liguo received no response until school was over. He could only console himself: maybe Qiao Shuang was still considering it and would let him know when she had made up her mind.

But day after day, a week passed in the blink of an eye, and Qiao Shuang was still the same as always, going to and from school, attending classes, and doing homework, without any difference.

Hong Liguo felt even more conflicted: What exactly did she mean? Even if she didn't like him, she could at least give him a straight answer. Her silence was really baffling.

Another week passed, and the love letter he had painstakingly written remained unanswered, like a stone sinking into the sea.

Qiao Shuang remained aloof—he used to like her aloofness, finding it different from other girls; but now, he disliked it. He felt it was like ice, freezing his self-respect, and even if no one knew about it, he still felt incredibly ashamed.

He secretly vowed to himself: he would never think about Qiao Shuang again, not even to look at her twice. That affection slowly turned into a bitter resentment.

For many years afterward, Hong Liguo believed that Qiao Shuang's silence back then was because she didn't like him and didn't openly reject him, simply because she didn't want to embarrass him. This matter became a knot in his heart, a knot he couldn't untie no matter what.

Many, many years later, Hong Liguo ran into his old classmate Sun Changlin in the city and finally understood what had happened back then.

That day, Hong Liguo and Sun Changlin bumped into each other in the city. Because they hadn't seen each other for many years, Sun Changlin was particularly enthusiastic and insisted on taking Hong Liguo to a restaurant for a meal. Unable to refuse his hospitality, Hong Liguo went with him.

After a few rounds of drinks, the two talked about their time at the rural middle school and the classmates they hadn't seen in a long time. Only then did Sun Changlin reveal the truth of what happened back then.

It turned out that Sun Changlin had seen Hong Liguo secretly slip the love letter into Qiao Shuang's schoolbag that day.

That day, Sun Changlin didn't want to move things, so he secretly hid in the small coal bin at the back of the classroom when no one was looking.

After all the students had left the classroom, he was about to come out when he heard someone running back, so he quickly hid back inside. Through the crack in the broken wooden door of the coal bunker, he clearly saw Hong Liguo stuff the love letter into Qiao Shuang's schoolbag.

After Hong Liguo left, Sun Changlin secretly slipped out and took the love letter with him.

Upon hearing this, Hong Liguo was stunned, and then anger flared up inside him—no wonder Qiao Shuang had been so calm, as if nothing had happened; it turned out she hadn't received the love letter at all!

Hong Liguo wished he could stand up on the spot and punch Sun Changlin to vent all the grievances he had kept hidden back then.

孙长林看着他愤怒的样子，赶紧摆着手说：「小果，你先别生气，当年是我不对，不该偷拿你的情书。可事儿都过去这幺多年了，你也成家了，乔爽也嫁人了，生气也没用了。你听我把当年的事儿说清楚，要是觉得我错了，你就揍我一顿，我绝不还手。」

Hong Liguo paused, his anger subsiding slightly. He looked at Sun Changlin, waiting for him to finish recounting what happened back then—it turned out that behind that undelivered love letter lay another story unknown to anyone else.