The open window in the study allowed the night breeze to drift in. It made the diary pages flutter continuously, creating a collage of Su Zhinian’s handwriting from juvenile to mature and back again.
Amidst the shuffling sound of the pages and her tears, a phrase appeared in her mind. What is Youth without Passion?
This was the sentence that he had told her when he went to fetch her at the northern countryside. During their midnight talk session, when she asked him about Tingting, this was what he had told her.
At the time, she had thought that Tingting was a girl whom he had loved since his youth and that he had not given up on her. It was not until that moment that she realized, the sentence ‘What is Youth without Passion?’ meant more than that. A hidden meaning that had eluded her until then—If there was no Zhinian, would there be a Qingchun?
A simple sentence that consisted of both of their names, it was a phrase that perfectly captured their story.
What is Youth without Passion? 1
If there was no Zhinian, would there be a Qingchun? 2
Indeed… if there was no Su Zhinian in the world, would she, Song Qingchun, exist?
Song Qingchun suddenly climbed up from the floor and rushed downstairs, ignoring the tear stains on her face. When she left home that morning, Song Menghwa had asked Su Zhinian to dinner that night, but Su Zhinian had rejected it, saying he had a dinner meeting at Eldorado. She had to talk to him, immediately, instantly, now…
Song Qingchun pushed open the door and rushed out without even changing in her shoes. She left her jacket upstairs, so when the chilling breeze picked up, she shivered from cold. However, it did not cross her mind to run back into the house to pick up her jacket, and she rushed toward the gate.
It was not easy to run in indoor slippers. When she got to the roadside to hail a cab, she realized that she had lost one of the slippers.
Before the taxi even stopped stably at the entrance of Eldorado, Song Qingchun tossed the driver 100 RMB, shoved the door open, and jumped out. She flew out with the top part of her body leaning forward, and she almost collapsed to the floor. Thankfully, she caught herself at the last second. Without taking a breath to calm herself, she rushed into Eldorado’s lobby.
When Song Qingchun was almost raped at Eldorado, Su Zhinian’s rage had made it so that all the workers at Eldorado could recognize her easily.
Eldorado did not entertain guests that were underdressed, but when the lobby receptionist saw Song Qingchun, she did not dare say anything. In fact, even the hotel manager came out to greet her politely. “Miss Song, do you need any help?”
“Where’s Su Zhinian?” Song Qingchun looked around the lobby.
“You mean, Mr. Su? Mr. Su is in room 1008…”
Before the manager finished, Song Qingchun ran toward the elevator.
It was uncomfortable running with just one slipper, so when she passed a trashcan, Song Qingchun bent over to pull the slipper off her foot. She dropped it into the trashcan and hopped into the elevator.