Qin Yinan stood at the roadside for some time before moving to his car. He just took two steps when the phone in his pocket rang. It was a Whatsapp message alert. Who would message me so late at night?
Qin Yinan pulled out his phone to look at it. It was a message from Song Qingchun. “Tang Nuan died, an hour ago, car accident.”
Qin Yinan staggered and almost tripped. He found his footing eventually and fumbled a few steps forward to lean against his car. Staring at the words on his phone, his face blanched as he read it again and again.
…
The second day of Qin Yinan’s wedding coincided with the day Song Qingchun and Su Zhinian were supposed to leave for Shanghai, which then coincided with Tang Nuan’s cremation.
That day, everyone who knew Tang Nuan, including her high schools friends, came to pay their respects. Those who argued with her, those who considered her a friend, those who had just heard of her… Of course, Qin Yinan, whom she had loved and hated, was also there. Even Song Qingchun, whom was once her nemesis and best friend, was there. Alongside Song Qingchun was Su Zhinian, whom she had loved throughout her youth.
Before death, all the love and hatred became insignificant. Everyone was remembering the good side of Tang Nuan.
The moment Tang Nuan’s body was moved into the crematorium, quite a number of people shed tears, and even Qin Yinan’s eyes were red. Other people dropped stalks of orchids before Tang Nuan’s grave, but only he who left her with a red rose.
Some of the nosier guests started whispering among themselves, “Wasn’t Qin Yinan a married man? Does this mean he actually still loves Tang Nuan?”
Qin Yinan overheard this and pursed his lips, staring at the cold gravestone.
Did he still love her? Was that question really important? The woman was already dead, and in her last moment, she called him, but he didn’t answer. He didn’t dwell on the significance of that fact because he knew this represented that she still had a place for him inside her heart.
However, he believed that she also understood that he had never loved her; he loved the girl who she had pretended to be, and that rose was for the girl whom he had mistaken throughout his youth.
Song Qingchun was the last to pay her respects. She didn’t say anything before her tears started to fall. Be it the Tang Nuan whom she met when she was 16 or the Tang Nuan who died when she was 26, at that moment, the person lying in the grave was her high school best friend, Tang Nuan.
Even Su Zhinian, who had always hated Tang Nuan, bowed respectfully at her grave and left her a yellow orchid.
…
That afternoon, the people who had gathered due to Tang Nuan started to return to their lives.
Due to Qin Yinan’s wedding and Tang Nuan’s funeral, Song Qingchun didn’t even have time to worry about the loss of Little Sesame tomorrow.
However, at that moment, after the dust had settled on the cemetery, she merely allowed herself to be saddened for a moment before she changed out of her black mourning clothes to swap for a more cheerful outfit to attend Song Empire’s annual anniversary.
However, no one could have foreseen the momentous event that would happen at the anniversary, an event that was as exciting as riding the roller-coaster.