If You Could Hear My Heart

“Dabai, I really like you, even if you don’t like me. It’s so annoying. Every time I talk to you, you’re so indifferent. How can you be just like your owner?”

After saying that, Xu Chaomu rubbed Dabai’s head.

Dabai howled even more mournfully, growing increasingly restless.

“Oh, never mind, eat more. Don’t worry about saving him money, he’s got plenty of it. Dabai, this is the last time I’ll see you. I didn’t expect to get this final glimpse.”

Xu Chaomu sighed deeply, she really couldn’t bear to leave it.

How many years can a dog live? She didn’t dare to imagine the day when Dabai would grow old…

Well, it’s better this way, she wouldn’t have to see that day. She was truly afraid that she would wail uncontrollably when it came.

Gradually, Xu Chaomu stood up, looked at Dabai, and started walking backwards, away from him.

She waved at it and smiled, “Dabai, you have to take good care of yourself, don’t be picky with food. You should get plump and healthy, you have to be obedient. I’ll miss you.”

Dabai tugged on its chain, wanting to run forward, but the chain held it back, it couldn’t run at all.

After a few steps, it would be yanked back by the chain, and it could only howl with heart-wrenching pain.

“Woof woof woof…”

Xu Chaomu was getting farther and farther away from it, and several times, she wanted to run back and embrace it because she couldn’t bear to leave.

But she knew that no matter how hard it was, she had to leave.

Remembering all the moments she’d shared with Dabai, Xu Chaomu’s eyes welled up with tears.

After retreating many steps, she finally turned her head, not looking back at Dabai anymore.

Behind her, Dabai “woofed” continuously, the sound mournful and desolate…

The barking echoed clearly in the doghouse.

Xu Chaomu heartlessly refrained from looking back, slowly shouldering her bag and walking out of the doghouse. Eight years, neither long nor short, she had loved Shen Chi, and she loved Dabai.

She loved everything here, even the imperfections, even the tears, it was all good.

Because, here, she had her most beautiful youth.

In that youth, she met him, not a moment too soon or too late, at the best age.

“Butler Ling, I’m off to climb the mountain, I’m about to be late!” she called out to Butler Ling, who was watering the garden at the entrance of the Shen Family’s home.

“Miss Xu, have you had your breakfast? It’s very hot today, don’t get sunburnt!” Butler Ling called back across the garden.

“I have, I have, ate a bit too much, just perfect for mountain climbing. My friends are waiting for me!”

“Be careful when climbing mountains, okay, make sure to stay safe. Will you come back for lunch?”

“No, I’ll eat on the mountain at noon. We’ll have a dinner after coming down the mountain, and tomorrow I’ll go straight to school.”

“Why not stay home a few more days?”

“It’s fun to play with classmates at school, there’s no one to play with at the Shen’s.” Xu Chaomu thought, she had reached the pinnacle of lying.

Without blinking an eye, she concocted a lie.

“Butler, I’m off now, take good care of the flowers in the garden.”

“Be careful on your way!”

Butler Ling was full of reminders, Xu Chaomu acknowledged casually and started down the road, leaving the Shen Family behind.

Xu Chaomu pretended to be very happy about going mountain climbing, but in truth, she really wanted to say goodbye to Butler Ling.

She had known Butler Ling for eight years, and although Butler Ling was nice to everyone, he always sided with her at the Shen’s.

After she left, the Shen Family would remain the same, the people of the Shen Family would still be their usual selves, and nothing would change too much.

What about her, then? Would she change?

Xu Chaomu continued walking down the road until a taxi came by halfway through.

She got into the car and turned to look at everything behind her…

The deep shade of green trees, scattered blooming flowers. The scent of late spring was growing stronger, and soon, it would be summer…

The mansions in Tianqi Square remained as luxurious and grand as when she first laid eyes on them.

Only, it had been winter at that time, with white mist drifting everywhere. The temperature was especially low, as though one could freeze just by exhaling.

She vividly remembered that day, with the perfect sun, as she lay on a hay stack, meeting Shen Chi.

Sitting in a car of the Shen Family, she followed them all the way to Tianqi Square.

At the time, she gazed at the mansions with wide eyes, “What ‘Tianqi’ Square?”

“Tianqi Square,” he told her.

The road she had come by was this one, and the road she left by, was still the same.

Yet after eight years, the road had become wider, and there were more trees and flowers along its edges.

Xu Chaomu lay in the back seat of the taxi, watching the mansions grow smaller and smaller until they were just a dot.

“Goodbye…” she murmured softly.

All of it was like a dream, and after waking, eight years had passed…

“Miss, where are you going?” the driver asked three times.

Xu Chaomu finally snapped back to reality, turned her head, and stopped looking at what was behind her.

She touched her forehead and blinked, “To the airport, please.”

“Alright.”

The driver turned the steering wheel and steered towards C City Airport.

“Wait, go to Tianqi Square,” Xu Chaomu suddenly changed her mind.

“Alright, that’s fine,” the driver replied.

Xu Chaomu didn’t rule out the possibility that Shen Chi’s people were watching her. So, she first decided to go to a crowded square near the airport, then she would find a chance to blend into the crowd, slip away secretly, and board the plane unnoticed. Perfect.

With that thought, she dared not go back to the dormitory. With such a big target as luggage, it was bound to be discovered.

Soon, the taxi drove out of the residential area, and when Xu Chaomu looked back, even the tallest building in the area was out of sight.

Xu Chaomu suddenly remembered a line from a text in her language book, “Waving my sleeves I leave behind, with the whinnying horses retreating into the distance.”

As if I had never been here…

The sky of C City was vast and blue, Xu Chaomu leaned against the window, looked at the sky, then at the clouds…

She wrote a name on the car window with her finger: Shen Chi.

That winter when she met him, he had written her name; this spring, as she was leaving him, she wrote his name. Henceforth, years would pass with no further connection.

The ride from the residential area to the airport was quite long, it took the taxi more than an hour to reach Tianqi Square near the airport. The square was bustling, lively with people coming and going.

Xu Chaomu jumped out of the taxi and ran into the crowd with her backpack.

Looking around furtively, she didn’t notice anyone watching her and confidently merged with the throng.

Xu Chaomu cut through the amusement park in the square, mingling with a group of children and parents, and swiftly made her way to the deepest part of the square.

She went to a nearby ATM and inserted Shen Chi’s bank card.

She first tried Shen Chi’s own birthday, but the password was incorrect. Next, she tried Bai Man’s birthday, which was also wrong.

One more try left, Xu Chaomu was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

In a state of distress in front of the ATM, she pondered over what the password could be. The chances of guessing it seemed slim…

She remembered the last time in the mall, he had casually given her a bank card, and the password was her own birthday.

Could it be the same this time?

Xu Chaomu was uneasy. If it was her birthday, it seemed to make no sense.