The Nightmare Experience of a Useless Person

As spring warms and greenery returns, the lush bamboo leaves sway in the breeze, casting a cool shade in the warmth. In summer, it would be quite pleasant to place a swing or rocking chair on the east side of the courtyard.

But they have no memories of summer between them.

Perhaps, he would make a bamboo mat by hand, and when the insects chirped on summer nights, even if Qingjun squirmed and complained of the heat, Jiang Zhiyang would stubbornly hold her and then gently fan her with a palm leaf fan to drive away the heat;

Perhaps he will change into lighter clothes, and when washing clothes, he will roll up his sleeves to show off his nice forearms;

Perhaps, on a beautiful evening when the sunset glows, he would hurry home in his carriage to bring Qingjun a fresh ice cream, and the two of them would swing on a swing and chat aimlessly.

A million possibilities were hidden in summer, but alas, summer is gone...

The courtyard was quiet. Jiang Zhiyang was in the house. Qingjun only needed to push open the door to see the person she had been longing for, and then she could openly admit to him that she had fallen in love with him. But at this moment, a sense of fear arose in Qingjun's heart.

One more time, and then never again.

Just as Qingjun hesitated, the person inside the room seemed to have heard the noise and made an urgent sound.

"Qingjun, Qingjun, is that you? Have you returned?"

Qingjun wanted to speak, but her throat was choked by a sour taste. She wanted to step forward, but instead took a few steps back.

The man staggered and burst through the door. Behind the fluttering red curtain, Jiang Zhiyang's hazy figure appeared even thinner.

He wanted to take a step forward, but Qingjun stopped him.

No feeling at parting, only to find the longing overflowing upon seeing each other again. Therefore, this distance is just right, separated by a layer of red cloth, blurring the vision, just like their relationship—unclear and ambiguous, for the best…

For a moment, both of them were speechless.

Jiang Zhiyang should have spoken first. He wanted to pour out the frustration and bitterness of their separation, to express the joy and excitement of their reunion, to whine about his illness in a coquettish way, and then naturally rely on the other person.

But the temporary estrangement left him speechless.

The rustling bamboo leaves startled Qingjun awake. She had no time to wait, and could only stammer, "I'm home. Guess what? A celestial being came to my house and left behind a magical fruit that can cure all diseases."

She's really bad at making up nonsense.

"Once I recover—no, tomorrow, first thing tomorrow morning—I'll go to your residence to propose marriage, okay?" Jiang Zhiyang's voice was choked with sobs. He tried hard to control himself, but it was all in vain. "If Uncle despises my humble origins, then I'll beg him, I'll beg him to let me marry into your family, okay?"

Fool.

Qingjun smiled bitterly, wishing that the only thing standing between them was this insignificant difference in social status.

If they had never met, Qingjun thought, would this fool not be shedding tears today? But if they had never met, would this poor child have died long ago... long ago?

How could we not meet?

"My father has arranged a marriage for me..." Qingjun closed her eyes, refusing to look at his face.

"That young master is a newly appointed scholar, handsome and imposing, not only physically strong but also skilled in both literature and martial arts. Most importantly, he and I are childhood sweethearts, inseparable since we were little. Tomorrow is our wedding day. After we have our wedding ceremony tomorrow, I will accompany him north to take up his post."

She came from a better family than him, was more beautiful than him, was deeply devoted to him, and had everything arranged perfectly. It seemed that in Qingjun's description, she had already lived a fulfilling life.

If Jiang Zhiyang had never appeared...

If, if he had listened to his father and studied hard, Jiang Zhiyang thought, perhaps he could have had a happy family, achieved fame and success, and even be qualified to compete with that young master.

But... why didn't you study properly! Why didn't you study properly! Those scars buried in the past started hurting again, so painful that Jiang Zhiyang couldn't stop crying.

What else could he say? Let him say whatever he wanted, all those carefully prepared, pitiful, and begging lines—let him say them in a despicable way.

Jiang Zhiyang opened his mouth, but was speechless, only letting out a few sobs. He couldn't do it...

These ugly rhetoric are nothing compared to the mud beneath the feet of that upright and honorable young man...

"If you eat this magical fruit, you will surely be cured."

Qingjun offered him an apple, but Jiang Zhiyang didn't take it. He saw the person behind the red cloth slowly approaching, the hazy figure gradually becoming clearer, revealing a pair of familiar eyebrows and eyes.

"Can you grant me my last wish?" Jiang Zhiyang forced himself to stay upright. A gust of wind made his feverish body shiver, and the emotional turmoil made him even weaker.

Qingjun no longer has time to fulfill his last wish, but it's okay, he will get better, he will have another wish, and another wish, and many, many more wishes.

"Please...please," Jiang Zhiyang pleaded.

The person behind the red curtain remained unmoved, simply tossing the apple over without even reaching out.

An apple thrown into the air will fall quickly and spoil if it hits the ground!

Jiang Zhiyang used both hands and feet, but he was dizzy and his whole body fell over. Fortunately, his wrists were flexible and he managed to catch the plump fruit in his palm.

With that sudden thud, the red cloth tugged at the bamboo frame, and the frame collided with another frame, causing the red cloth to fall to the ground in the courtyard in an instant.

"Qingjun! Did you hit Qingjun?" Jiang Zhiyang scrambled to his feet to look for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Has she left? Has she really left so heartlessly?

"Qingjun! Yu Qingjun!" he shouted, "Your name, what's your name! Please tell me, what's your name!"

Knowing her name was Jiang Zhiyang's last wish. He knew that only that name could represent the whole of her, the real her, so that one day in the future, Jiang Zhiyang could still find her by that name.

I didn't mean to bother you, I just wanted to see how she was doing...

"Yu Qingjun!" After a short shout, a sharp pain, like coughing up blood, welled up in his throat. Soon, his voice was drowned out by coughing. But no one answered him. In this lonely mountain, there were only a few hurried bird calls.

She's gone, truly gone, completely vanished from Jiang Zhiyang's world, without even leaving her name...

"Qingjun! Yu Qingjun!" he kept shouting, tears streaming down his face like a torrential downpour, until his eyes stung and he was plunged into a dizzying darkness.

Jiang Zhiyang collapsed completely, letting the red cloth cover his cold body—this was supposed to be his wedding attire…

The red of the wedding dress is the red of celebration, the red of fireworks, and the heat of his illness, burning together, he could no longer see it, as if he had fallen into a sea of ​​fire, and no matter how cold the rain from the sky was, it could not extinguish it.

In a daze, he seemed to hear a sound. Yes, when Qingjun left just now, she seemed to say something. What did she say? Jiang Zhiyang racked his brains to remember.

May you, the most radiant being, live a long and healthy life in this life, and have your wishes fulfilled in the next.

Jiang Zhiyang was so confused that he couldn't hear anything.