IP Chapter 42.1

Incurable Pain | Chapter 42.1

Before her grandparents returned, Bai Xunyin quietly left the old house with Yu Luoyin.

She tied up her shoulder-length hair with a hairband, creating a bud-like shape. With a slender and delicate neck and thin shoulders, she embodied the typical appearance of a girl from Sichuan and Chongqing, pet.i.te and exquisite.

Yu Luoyin’s gaze followed her figure as she involuntarily led him to the foot of the mountain, and then…

“Bai Xunyin.” 

The boy looked at the towering mountain behind the ancient town and couldn’t help but laugh, “Are you planning to climb the mountain?”

It didn’t matter to him if they climbed the mountain, but Bai Xunyin was wearing a dress…

“We don’t have to climb to the top. There’s a towering ancient tree halfway up the mountain where you can lie down and sleep on the branches.” 

Bai Xunyin’s eyes curved slightly as she tilted her head back. 

“I want to take you there.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Luoyin didn’t hesitate and squatted down in front of her, “Sure, hop on, I’ll carry you.”

His clear eyes lingered on the boy’s broad back for two seconds, and Bai Xunyin muttered, “Why do you have to carry me?”

“Can’t let a girl in a dress climb a mountain.” Yu Luoyin chuckled, his voice carrying a hint of careless playfulness as he patted his shoulder. 

“Come on, can’t I even carry you?”

Tsk, so arrogant.

Bai Xunyin silently pursed her lips and slowly climbed onto his back. Her two white and soft arms wrapped around the boy’s neck.

When Yu Luoyin lifted the girl, he felt almost no weight on his back, light and airy, and couldn’t help but sigh, “You should eat more in the future.”

Bai Xunyin was too thin.

She didn’t say anything, just smiled and rested her chin on Yu Luoyin’s shoulder. The boy’s square shoulders were lean and slightly uncomfortable.

His gentle breath brushed against Yu Luoyin’s ear, making him feel a bit hot, but it might have been because Linlan was already the hottest in July.

The halfway point Bai Xunyin mentioned wasn’t far from the foot of the mountain. They arrived in less than half an hour, during which they were quite quiet, with only her soft guidance like the chirping of birds.

Suddenly, Yu Luoyin selfishly wished this journey was longer, even to the point of climbing the mountain, just so he could carry her.

Except for the last time when they were chased into the Jiguang District building by Liu Yiba and he carried Bai Xunyin on his shoulders, amidst chaos and disorder, this was their most intimate contact.

Before, it was just a fleeting hug, but Yu Luoyin truly cherished the sight of Bai Xunyin’s docile and gentle posture on his back now.

It wasn’t overbearing or ambiguous at all; it was just her pure reliance on him.

So Yu Luoyin thought for a moment and couldn’t help but suggest, “How about I carry you to the mountaintop?”

“No, we’re almost there.” 

Bai Xunyin saw the treetops not far away and shook her head with a smile, “Besides, aren’t you tired? Your knees…”

She thought of the boy’s recently healed knees, which couldn’t handle strenuous activity yet, and patted Yu Luoyin’s shoulder before jumping down from his back.

They were only a few steps away from the big tree. She might as well walk on her own.

Yu Luoyin lingered for a moment with nostalgia for Bai Xunyin’s warmth just now before shaking his head lightly and following her.

But when they reached the edge of the big tree, Yu Luoyin realized he had underestimated Bai Xunyin.

He thought the gentle girl was actually quite agile. Even in a dress, she could climb a tree and pull the hem up to her knees, moving as gracefully as a cat.

Cats are known for their ability to climb trees.

With his hands in his pockets, Yu Luoyin looked up at Bai Xunyin, who was already sitting on the branch. The girl’s slender and fair legs dangled down, swinging gently as she sat on the tree, resembling a woodland elf.

He couldn’t help but take out his phone and take a picture.

“What are you doing?” 

Bai Xunyin lowered her head to look at him, and seeing him taking a sneaky photo, a hint of playfulness flashed across her small, white face. “Come up here.”

Yu Luoyin put away his phone, climbed up obediently, and sat down next to Bai Xunyin.

Indeed, it was a towering ancient tree. Sitting on a branch, neither of them moved, and the light filtering through the leaves fell on them.

“In a while, we’ll be able to see the stars.” 

Bai Xunyin squinted her eyes,”There are so many stars in the ancient town, unlike in Linlan.”

Every time she came back, she liked to sit here and watch. She felt her mood instantly open up.

Listening to her, Yu Luoyin couldn’t help but think that Bai Xunyin was truly ingenious—able to find such a unique environment to watch the stars.

When night fell, the two of them sat on this big tree, a small corner where they were neither touching the ground nor reaching the sky, making it easier to be immersed in the beauty of the starry sky.

And indeed they were.

Bai Xunyin leaned on Yu Luoyin’s shoulder and dozed off. When she opened her eyes again, it was already dark.

“Look up.” The boy’s clear voice came from beside her.

Bai Xunyin rubbed her eyes and instinctively looked up. The sky was filled with stars, seeming to be very close to them, as if they were about to descend in dense cl.u.s.ters. 

She murmured, “So beautiful.”

“Yeah, beautiful.” 

Yu Luoyin also looked at the stars without distraction for the first time in such a place, couldn’t help but sigh, “Without the obstruction of tall buildings, it feels like the ground and the sky are connected.”

At this moment, he could understand why astronomers were so addicted to this.

“Thank you.” 

Yu Luoyin draped his jacket over Bai Xunyin’s shoulders and whispered softly, “For bringing me here.”

Bai Xunyin smiled and continued to gaze at the sky, silent.

She considered this as the final ‘romance’ between her and Yu Luoyin, and of course, she had to choose the most perfect place to end it.

Before, only she knew about this secret base. In the future… 

Bai Xunyin guessed she wouldn’t think about coming here for a long time.

Now that Yu Luoyin was ‘inappropriately’ named, he naturally couldn’t stay in the ancient town where everyone knew each other for long. The next day, he returned to Linlan, and even coaxed Bai Xunyin to return early.

Bai Xunyin agreed with a smile on the surface, but after Yu Luoyin went back, she didn’t respond to his calls or coaxing, and stayed with her grandparents for a full half month.

She only went back after filling out her college application and receiving her scores.

Back then, it was an era when college applications were blind and she only wrote one application for the Northern Engineering University, leaving no room for herself to retreat.

During their previous phone call discussing college applications, she had told Yu Luoyin that she planned to apply to Lan University.

And she had also lied to Yu Luoyin, insisting that he must apply to Lan University.

After the scores and cutoffs were announced, Bai Xunyin knew she had gotten what she wanted.

Both of them performed normally, and it was without a doubt that they would be admitted to their respective universities, and without a doubt, they would be separated.

“You did great on the exam.” 

On the day the scores came out, Yu Luoyin rode his bike to Ajun Alley to see Bai Xunyin. Looking at her, his eyes were full of undisguised excitement and joy. 

“We’ll both be admitted.”

“Yeah.” Bai Xunyin forced a smile. “Let’s wait for the admission letters.”

She had once thought Yu Luoyin was the cruelest executioner, too adept at shattering someone’s illusions.

But now, Bai Xunyin realized that she was the real executioner, more professional than Yu Luoyin.

The day the admission letters arrived, it was raining in Linlan again.

Bai Xunyin was dragged out by Ah Mo to drink milk tea, and the two of them didn’t bring an umbrella, so they were stuck in the milk tea shop. Ah Mo even ordered two more cups, drinking them one after another in silence.

“Yinyin, Sheng Wen reported to a school in the northern city.” Ah Mo bit her straw, and the moment she said this, her eyes reddened without control, quickly filling up with tears. 

She sniffled and said, her voice m.u.f.fled, “I reported to a school in the neighboring province. We won’t see each other again, will we?”

Graduating from high school, graduating from college, often meant ‘parting ways’. 

For many people, they really would never see each other again, not even an exaggeration.

Maybe ten or eight years later, when everyone had matured, settled down, and fattened up, they would smile and talk about their lost ‘youth’.

That was the ending for most people, where youth was written and then forgotten, but life tempered by reality was the ‘reality’.

“It’s okay.” 

Bai Xunyin gazed at the cup of milk tea in front of her, not sure if she was saying it for Ah Mo to hear or for herself. 

“If we’re meant to meet again, we will.”

After all, they were both people from Linlan.

“Sigh, I envy you and Yu Luoyin.” Ah Mo, unaware of the situation, sighed. 

“Being able to spend every day together in college, just thinking about it feels like happiness.”

Bai Xunyin’s hand holding the straw paused, like a stone.

After a while, she concealed the strangeness in her eyes and calmly said, “Ah Mo, I didn’t apply to Lan University. I applied to a northern engineering university.”

Ah Mo was stunned, so shocked that she dropped the spoon into the cup, making a crisp sound.

“No, when did this happen? Is it true? Didn’t you say you were going to apply to Lan University? Why this sudden change?” Ah Mo bombarded her with questions in succession, her face almost losing color.

Bai Xunyin had hidden this matter too well, never mentioning it to anyone. They all thought she would apply to Lan University…

Ah Mo’s brain froze, subconsciously taking out her phone and going to the school’s official website—after major universities announced their admission lists, Third High School would automatically include them in a spreadsheet formula, making it easy for everyone to see.

It was because of this that Bai Xunyin realized she couldn’t keep it hidden anymore.

The moment the admission letters were sent out was the moment the secret was revealed to the world.

When Ah Mo saw the clear words on the white paper, ‘Bai Xunyin – Northern Engineering University,’ ‘Yu Luoyin – Lan University,’ she couldn’t say anything.