The Beginning of Spring

Qin Huairen had always blamed herself.

She had thought that after years alone, she had let everything go and could face Wen Yuzhi calmly.

Unfortunately, through countless days and nights, all the psychological defenses she had built collapsed the moment she saw Wen Yuzhi in the restroom.

Or rather, from the time she returned to Jingzhou and information about Wen Yuzhi flooded her life, the fragile barrier she had painstakingly constructed had already begun to retreat.

She scolded herself for being spineless.

Yet she had no way to control herself.

That night, what she heard from the drunken Wen Yuzhi was not only familiar words, but a pull back to the very beginning of their first meeting.

She had returned from a few days of sick leave, and a fairy had appeared in the class.

So beautiful that Qin Huairen couldn’t stop looking.

How could someone be that pretty?

It was as if she didn’t belong to the same world as everyone else.

Everyone else only dared to admire from afar.

Only Qin Huairen had enthusiastically greeted her.

In return, she received indifference and hostility.

That probably set the tone for their path toward mutual incompatibility.

So much time had passed.

Qin Huairen had never heard Wen Yuzhi mention it.

She assumed Wen Yuzhi didn’t remember, and that only she herself had been petty enough to hold a grudge.

She didn’t deny it.

She was someone who counted every penny.

She even repaid grudges.

So when the past was brought up again, she still felt uncomfortable.

She didn’t know what drunken act Wen Yuzhi was performing now.

She remained silent for a long time, waiting for what came next.

But when Wen Yuzhi didn’t receive her response, there was no continuation.

Instead, she changed the subject, apologizing for disturbing her sleep.

Qin Huairen still said nothing.

Wen Yuzhi talked to herself, saying she hadn’t wanted to go out tonight, but someone’s birthday forced her to.

She couldn’t sleep, so she went out…

At the end, after murmuring to herself for a long time, Wen Yuzhi asked softly, “Are you still there?”

Qin Huairen was speechless.

If she wasn’t there, would she just vanish?

Wen Yuzhi muttered, “Did you fall asleep?”

Then she might as well sleep.

Qin Huairen was too lazy to speak.

Who knew what whim Wen Yuzhi was acting on now?

Wen Yuzhi’s words were blown apart by the wind.

Qin Huairen couldn’t make them out clearly.

She simply turned on speaker and placed the phone beside her.

Lying on her stomach, she soon yawned.

The Wen-style chanting was oddly hypnotic.

Finally, Wen Yuzhi took a deep breath.

Her voice suddenly grew louder, aggrieved and sorrowful.

“A-Ren, is it really impossible?”

Impossible what?

Qin Huairen kept her eyes closed.

“To start over. To give me one chance. Not even once?”

Wen Yuzhi repeated it countless times.

Qin Huairen silently answered in her heart: Fine, fine, stop rambling.

But she didn’t say it aloud.

Wen Yuzhi remained immersed in regret and grief on the other end, muttering fragments.

Half-asleep, Qin Huairen heard her mention their first meeting.

“You don’t know. I had seen you long before. Before you greeted me. It was early spring…”

A red-and-white teaching building stood nestled in a forest garden.

The ice and snow had already melted.

Impatient flowers resisted the lingering chill and began to bloom.

The wind carried the fragrance of spring, sweeping through every corner of the campus.

The dismissal bell rang.

The sunset hung slanted in the sky.

Students rushed out of campus like prisoners escaping a cage.

Wen Yuzhi waited until the campus quieted.

She asked the others to wait outside and entered alone.

At that time, she was on leave from school and hadn’t decided where to resume her studies.

Whenever she had time, she visited high schools around Jingzhou.

Drawn by the scent of peach blossoms in the air, she followed it deep into the grove.

There she saw Qin Huairen.

Back then, Qin Huairen wore a blue-and-white school uniform, her hair in a ponytail.

She sat among the flowers, reciting her lessons in the afterglow of sunset.

She liked to read aloud once, then close her eyes and recite from memory.

Her memory was good.

She might stumble a little the first time, but she wouldn’t get it wrong.

By the second time, she could fluently recite the entire text.

From Chinese to English.

From politics to history.

Anything that required memorization, she completed in the garden.

Her voice was clear.

Her pace was slow and gentle.

Wen Yuzhi stood behind a round-trimmed tree and listened for a long time.

Her restless heart gradually calmed.

As the sky darkened, Qin Huairen rubbed her eyes and packed up her books.

She yawned.

Then she lay down on the stone slab among the flowers.

Soon she was motionless.

Wen Yuzhi approached silently.

The wind lifted the stray strands by Qin Huairen’s ear.

They swayed.

So did Wen Yuzhi’s heart.

Curled up, clutching her schoolbag, Qin Huairen looked as though she had fallen asleep.

She slept soundly.

Yet clearly, she was cold.

She kept hugging herself tightly.

Wen Yuzhi had come to see the school, drawn by the flowers.

But in the end, all she saw was the girl sleeping in the sharp chill of early spring.

After that, Wen Yuzhi added a new item to her daily routine.

Every day after the campus quieted, she would go to Jingzhou Hope High School.

In different spots among the flowerbeds behind the teaching building, she would find Qin Huairen immersed in her world.

Over time, she realized that when the ice melted and spring arrived, it meant Qin Huairen’s “sleeping out” began.

Qin Huairen liked to go deep into the flowerbeds alone.

Studying.

Napping.

Entertaining herself.

In summer, with longer daylight, she stayed outside even later.

Only after night fully fell would she leave alone through the small gate near the trees.

Eventually, Wen Yuzhi couldn’t resist.

She secretly followed Qin Huairen.

After a winding and bumpy journey, she saw where Qin Huairen lived.

Perhaps it could hardly be called a house.

No wonder she rested in the garden.

It was like her other home.

A home she couldn’t stay overnight in.

What should a home be like?

How was a home created?

Wen Yuzhi had never truly felt it growing up.

But the first time she saw Qin Huairen sleeping among the flowers, a longing arose in her heart.

The idea of home began to take shape.

From that moment, a strange thought sprouted within her.

She wanted a house that belonged only to herself.

Surrounded by colorful flowers.

Paths winding through grass in the middle.

No matter which way you walked, you could return directly to a warm room.

A south-facing bedroom.

A comfortable large bed.

A blue-and-white porcelain vase on the bedside table with freshly trimmed flowers inside.

And she…

Wen Yuzhi bent slightly, tilting her head as she looked at the peacefully sleeping girl.

She could sleep on that bed.

She wouldn’t have to sleep on a cold stone slab.

She wouldn’t need to curl up cautiously.

She wouldn’t need to hug her schoolbag for warmth.

If there were such a place, would she be willing to come?

If possible, could that place be called home?

Home should first be a place of freedom.

A person should be able to do anything they want there, without worrying about disturbing anyone.

Reciting loudly.

Laughing freely.

More than that, home should be a place where, as long as I am willing, I can stay forever.

But Qin Huairen seemed to have no real home in Jingzhou.

And Wen Yuzhi, though living in a villa and chauffeured in luxury cars, admired and envied by passersby, knew clearly—she had no home either.

Nothing in the Wen family truly belonged to her.

Wen Yuzhi found a goal.

She worked desperately toward it, getting closer and closer.

Yet contrary to her wishes, she and Qin Huairen drifted further apart.

Eventually walking in opposite directions.

When Qin Huairen graduated and suddenly disappeared, it was a result she could not accept, did not want to accept, yet had to.

A bleakness grew in Wen Yuzhi’s heart.

All her efforts seemed wasted.

Until she suddenly learned Qin Huairen had returned to Jingzhou to attend the school anniversary.

Everything reignited from ashes.

Wen Yuzhi was unwilling.

She didn’t want to give up.

Sobbing softly on the phone, she pleaded, “Give me one more chance, okay?”

With no response, the pain nearly swallowed her whole.

She became almost hysterical.

“Why? Why not?”

Qin Huairen was startled awake.

She opened her mouth to curse.

But instead heard a choked plea.

“Just once. I’m begging you, A-Ren.”

Having finally fallen asleep only to be woken, Qin Huairen buried her head in the pillow and ground her teeth.

“If you keep making noise, I’ll eat you alive. Believe it or not.”

Wen Yuzhi let out a confused “Ah.”

A few seconds later she processed it and said softly, “As long as it’s you, I’m willing.”

Qin Huairen was speechless.

Provoking her, she said, “If I want your life, would you give it?”

“Yes.”

Yes?

A spark flashed in Qin Huairen’s mind.

“Since you say that, I actually do have something. It’s about the violin. Could you talk properly with Xu Jianing? Consider her situation. She can’t come up with that much money. I don’t have much to lend her either.”

Though asking while someone was drunk was somewhat immoral, at least it might buy Xu Jianing some breathing room.

After a long pause, Wen Yuzhi said, “Xu Jianing?”

“Yes.”

“You…”

Wen Yuzhi hesitated for a long time, then huffed in dissatisfaction.

“Then I’ll ask you one last question. You must answer honestly.”

“Go ahead.”

Qin Huairen took a sip of water and glanced at the time.

It was already 3 a.m.

“Have you been outside the entire time since calling?”

Wen Yuzhi hummed in confirmation.

Qin Huairen frowned.

“You drank so much alone. No one stopped you?”

“No one can control me.”

She sounded childish.

“Stop huffing and go home. Look at the time.”

Hearing no reply, Qin Huairen raised her voice.

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard.”

Wen Yuzhi sounded reluctant.

“Then let me ask you first. Okay?”

Qin Huairen hummed.

Wen Yuzhi cleared her throat.

Whether hesitant or shy, she took a long time before asking, “If Xu Jianing and I were in danger at the same time, who would you save first?”

Who would have thought she’d face a death-question before marriage?

The answer was obvious.

She had to say Wen Yuzhi.

And she did.

“I’d save you first.”

“But what if you didn’t?”

Qin Huairen reminded her calmly, “You said that was the last question.”

Wen Yuzhi fell silent for a few seconds.

Her voice was hoarse, yet she smiled happily.

“Still, thank you, A-Ren.”

“For what?”

Qin Huairen suspected she was drunk silly.

It was only a question.

She hadn’t really saved her.

Wen Yuzhi laughed.

“You hate me, but you’d still save me. You’re so good.”

“….”

Qin Huairen felt a strange discomfort.

So even drunk, Wen Yuzhi knew their relationship was hostile.

Yet she still called, lowered her pride, and humbly begged her?

“Wen Yuzhi.”

“Yes?”

“You might be mistaken.”

Qin Huairen paused and spoke honestly.

“We’re at odds, but I don’t hate you. So…”

“So, have you ever…”

Wen Yuzhi picked up her words.

“Since the first day we met, have you ever…”

She stumbled, as if the words were difficult to say, yet impossible to suppress.

Qin Huairen patiently said, “Wen Yuzhi, you might as well be direct.”

Those were Wen Yuzhi’s own words once.

Wen Yuzhi hummed softly.

In a very low, very gentle voice, she asked,

“Have you ever liked me?”

Qin Huairen froze.

On the other end, Wen Yuzhi asked in a barely audible whisper,

“Have you? Even a tiny bit counts.”