Everything I bought on online shopping platforms was genuine.

Chapter 229 Skipping the Bill?

No one cried or shouted. Although they were all very upset, they remained calm.

This isn't indifference, but a habit. It's as if, unless it's the passing of a close and beloved person, people's emotions don't fluctuate much. No matter how painful it is inside, they always present a calm face to outsiders.

The process went smoothly. The paper money was burned out, the incense and candles were exhausted, and Jiang Xia's tombstone was piled high with offerings, standing out from the other tombstones. It was clearly a newly added grave.

The group calmly descended the mountain and arrived at the very bottom of the cemetery.

"How did you all get here?" Lin Mo noticed that besides his own car, there was only an older model BYD below. He recognized the car; it belonged to their homeroom teacher.

"Our teacher drove here, Han Xue and I each took a taxi, and Wang Shanshan and Li Yao took one taxi. When we arrived, our teacher was already there. We hadn't walked two steps before we saw your car, and that's when I realized you were here too," Wan Chunlong said with a smile.

Class teacher Qin Wei nodded with a smile: "Last night, four people asked me for the address of Jiang Xia's grave. I thought I would come early and wait for you here. If no one came by the afternoon, I would go up and take a walk by myself. I didn't expect you all to arrive so early, especially Lin Mo, who arrived even earlier than me!"

"That's Jiang Xia's deskmate, everyone knows they're close, so of course we have to come early," Han Xue said with a smile.

The other two girls didn't say anything, but they clearly agreed with this view.

The group seemed to be in much better spirits after coming down from the mountain; at least they were able to crack a few jokes now.

"Alright, get in the car, let's find a place to eat," Lin Mo said.

No one mentioned it yesterday, probably because they weren't in the mood. But today is different. They've already come to pay their respects, and especially since it wasn't him, they feel much more relaxed.

"Get in the car, I'll take you to the city. I won't go to dinner; a classmate contacted me earlier saying they want to come and collect Jiang Xia's belongings, so I have to go home," said Qin Wei, the homeroom teacher, waving his hand.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lao Wan climbed into the passenger seat of Lin Mo's car. The other three girls thought for a moment and then squeezed into the back seat as well. Fortunately, the three girls were relatively thin, otherwise it would have been really difficult for them to sit down.

head teacher:
"Alright, the new car is definitely more appealing, huh? I'm off then."

"Lin Mo's car looks brand new at first glance," the homeroom teacher joked.

"goodbye teacher!"

Goodbye, teacher!

The four people in the car rolled down their windows and waved. Lin Mo smiled helplessly and said, "Alright, teacher, drive carefully. Keep in touch when you have time!"

"You too, drive carefully in the rain," said Qin Wei, the homeroom teacher, waving his hand before getting into his car and driving away first.

Lin Mo got into the car, and as soon as he sat down, Wan Chunlong laughed and said, "I was thinking of asking you yesterday, when did you buy this car?"

"Buy my ass, my mom bought it. I haven't even graduated yet, I'm not making any money," Lin Mo laughed.

He hadn't told anyone about making money except his parents. Even his cousin only found out about it from Liu Ruyan, and even then, the information wasn't complete.

It's not that he's afraid someone might have bad intentions towards him, or that they might ask him for money or something. He simply doesn't want to talk about whether he's doing well or not, whether he's happy or not, whether he has money or not. That's his own business. For example, Chuanmei has been doing very well on social media recently. She received a lot of tips during her live stream that night, but none of his acquaintances asked about the specific amount.

As adults, we need to have a sense of boundaries, both for ourselves and for others; this will save us a lot of trouble.

"I knew it! But this new car is great, isn't it? I'll connect via Bluetooth and play some music," Lao Wan chuckled and quickly fiddled with his phone, soon connecting to the car's Bluetooth.

Lin Mo fastened his seatbelt, started the car, and at the same time, the song "This Farewell is a Long and Arduous Journey" began playing inside.

I was a penniless young man who fell in love with a beautiful and vibrant girl.

The story isn't hard to tell: blushing when we met, tears welling up when we parted; the words I said I'd marry you were just youthful folly.

This parting is long and arduous; goodbye to my youthful girl, not loving you was the only lie I ever told.

What happened to you afterward? Do you still go back to that old place?

Lin Mo kept his eyes on the road as he drove, while the other four, perhaps influenced by the singing, all stared intently toward Jiang Xia's grave.

Perhaps they all knew in their hearts that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, this might be the last time they would ever see her.

Because each of them is a novice in facing life, and they will have to focus on dealing with life from now on, the only thing they can do is come over and take a look, and then remember in their hearts that there was once such a person who briefly appeared in their lives, that's all.

In the city, near the Experimental High School, a group of five people—two men and three women—were having dinner together at a spicy hot pot restaurant, reminiscing about their school days.

Of course, Lin Mo's appearance was also the subject of discussion among the group. The three girls were alright, since this was the first time they had seen him in three years since graduating from high school. Although he had changed a lot, they were only slightly surprised.

But the one who couldn't accept it the most was Wan Chunlong. The two had met during the winter break at the beginning of the year. Back then, they were both just ordinary guys. But after not seeing each other for more than half a year, I'm still just an ordinary guy, while you've become a male god? This is worse than killing him!

"Gold, hiss hiss hiss, you have to treat me to dinner today, hiss hiss hiss~ otherwise I won't be happy about it."

While eating a spicy hot pot with extra numbing and spiciness, Wan Chunlong, sweating profusely from the spiciness, said with a pained expression.

Lin Mo took a sip of soda and waved his hand: "It's nothing, it's just a treat, it's all on me!"

Although he hasn't graduated yet, he already has a net worth of several million. Why would he care about such a small amount of money?

"Then thank you, handsome Lin! Come on, let's toast Lin Mo together!" Han Xue said with a smile, holding up her soda.

The group then clinked glasses, their joy overshadowing Jiang Xia's sudden departure.

"By the way, everyone, what did Jiang Xia leave you? Mine was a letter, a photo of the two of us hugging, a comb, a doll, and some landscape photos she took while traveling," Wang Shanshan said.

The mention of this topic immediately perked them up, and Wan Chunlong chimed in, "Pretty much, mine was a letter, a photo of me hugging, and a pen."

As Han Xue and Li Yao also spoke, everyone discovered that they had each received a handwritten letter from Jiang Xia, a photo of the two embracing, and the rest of the items were different for each person.

In addition to the same letters and photos of them hugging, Han Xue and Li Yao also had Jiang Xia's travel tickets accumulated over the years, her school supplies, snacks, a USB drive containing videos, and other small items.

Everything belongs to Jiang Xia, or is something that holds special meaning for the two of them.

After the four finished speaking, they all looked at Lin Mo, since he had received the most things yesterday, a whole small box.

"Lin Mo, what did Jiang Xia leave you?" Han Xue asked.

Lin Mo thought for a moment and smiled, “It’s just a few books, a box of candy, some photos of her travels, her graduation photos, a school uniform I lost when I was in school, her college entrance exam admission ticket, and some other things she used when she was in school.”

"Wow, so many! Xiaxia is so biased, leaving you so many things. Can you send me a copy of the photos later? I want to see them too," Li Yao sighed. Hearing this, Han Xue waved her hand and said, "Go away, do you need to tell me that Xiaxia is biased towards Lin Mo? All of us who are close to her know that."

“That’s right, we’re deskmates, of course I’d be biased towards you,” Lin Mo laughed.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the three women beside him looked at him with a strange gaze.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Lin Mo asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, the three girls exchanged glances, and finally Han Xue spoke up with a smile: "Everyone says that you boys are carefree, and I've seen it for myself. Although Xiaxia hasn't admitted it, which of us close girls doesn't know that she has feelings for you?"

“Exactly, the way she looks at you is different. I’ve asked her about it a few times in private, but she hasn’t admitted it. She’s just being stubborn. Now she won’t even have a chance to say it,” Wang Shanshan said, shaking her head.

Li Yao nodded in agreement: "She did tell me that it wasn't that she liked him, but she felt that Lin Mo was very special. I think it was a kind of vague feeling of affection."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo, who was holding chopsticks and eating, suddenly stopped and fell silent.

Only Wan Chunlong looked bewildered: "Huh? Is that so? I haven't heard of it. I didn't see it coming."

The three women were speechless for a moment after hearing this, and then they looked at Lin Mo, who was also silent. Well, he wasn't that much stronger.

"Forget it, it's all in the past, why bring it up?" Wang Shanshan quickly said.

Han Xue then realized what was going on: "That's right, it's all just our speculation. Jiang Xia hasn't admitted it either, Lin Mo, don't overthink it!"

The person is gone; talking about this kind of thing now would just be asking for trouble.

Just then, Li Yao suddenly slapped her forehead and said, "I remember now. Once Xiaxia asked me what flowers boys liked, and I said roses. On the last day of school, I saw her take your Chinese textbook when you went out after class, and she hid in the water room and wrote in your book for a long time. If you haven't seen it, go look for it!"

Hearing this, Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stood up: "You guys eat first, I'm going back for a bit, let's get together again sometime."

After saying that, Lin Mo grabbed his car keys and rushed into the rain. The three women exchanged glances and then smiled.

Only Wan Chunlong was stunned for a moment: "No, why did he run away? He hasn't paid the bill yet, did he skip out on the bill?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that all three women were staring straight at him.

Wan Chunlong: "Jinzi skipped out on the bill, and you're just going to ignore it? Wait, you guys are probably thinking of... fucking him~~"

Lin Mo didn't think too much about it. He drove home at breakneck speed. Fortunately, because of the rain, there weren't many cars on the road, and he got home smoothly.

He ran upstairs breathlessly, rushed into his bedroom under his mother's astonished gaze, opened his closet and began rummaging through drawers and cupboards.

Fortunately, he hadn't lost any of his books from childhood to adulthood, nor did he, like many of his classmates, sell them as scrap on the last day.

"Hey? Son, what are you looking for?" Zhou Min, Zhou's mother, asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo didn't even look up and asked directly, "Mom, do you still remember where you put your old high school books?"

“I tidied up the cabinet on the far right for you once. The box you were looking at is from junior high,” Zhou Min, Zhou’s mother, reminded her.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo quickly opened the rightmost cabinet, laboriously dragged out a large cardboard box, and began searching through the books one by one.

Finally, he found the answer Li Yao had mentioned in the middle volume of his high school Chinese textbook. As he turned the book with his thumb, it suddenly stopped on a page. As the textbook opened, a pile of faded rose petals appeared before his eyes.

The book was on the page with the poem "Jinse," covered with his dense annotations, and a sticky note was tucked in the middle.

You once said that if it weren't for the need to rush, Chinese language might be the most beautiful subject.

I don't know what you like, but I think boys probably like flowers too.

You said you've never received flowers before, so I'll be the first.

I especially love rainy days. If I'm not here on a rainy day, then every rainy day means I'm coming to see you. If you want to know if I'm here, you can snap your fingers at the sky. If lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, that's my response.

Happy graduation, my deskmate Jiang Xia!

Holding the textbook, Lin Mo sat on the bed, staring blankly at it, a mixture of astonishment and delight.

People say that most men only receive flowers on the day they die. He thought he would be the same, but he didn't expect that someone had already given him flowers.

Although the rose petals had faded, he couldn't help but feel joy. He took out his phone and quickly snapped a picture, his legs shaking uncontrollably.

Thinking of this, he looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but reach out and snap his fingers lightly.

The next second, a bolt of lightning flashed, followed by a series of thunderclaps three seconds later.

At this moment, Comrade Lin heard the noise and came out. Seeing his wife standing at the door of his son's bedroom, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong, wife?"

"I don't know what's wrong with your son; he started ransacking the house as soon as he got home."

Upon hearing this, Old Lin stepped forward and stood beside his wife at the doorway of Lin Mo's bedroom, asking, "Are you alright, son? Do you need any help?"

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in through the window, scattering flower petals from the book around him. Lin Mo turned around and smiled, "It's alright, Dad, no need."

He didn't cry when he learned of Jiang Xia's sudden death, nor when he went to collect her belongings, nor when he read the letters and watched the videos. He thought he was indifferent by nature, but at this moment, his eyes had unknowingly filled with tears.

The scene seemed to freeze at that moment: petals fluttering everywhere, textbooks scattered by the breeze, and a boy with tears welling up in his eyes.

At that moment, he seemed to be truly relieved. It turned out that the girl who had asked him for flowers had secretly given them to him all along.

Perhaps the girl with the two dimples was afraid that he would regret not receiving the flowers, and even more afraid that he would be sad after she left, so she took advantage of today's weather to respond to him with lightning and thunder.

Although Lin Mo knew it was a coincidence, at this moment he preferred to believe that this was her response, that she had really returned, and that the scattered petals were as if she were saying her final goodbye to him before she left.

By sending him flowers, I made him accept that a friend had completely left his life that day.

It seemed like the will of Heaven.

(End of this chapter)