Chapter 55 Moonfall Moonfall Likes to Extinguish…

Chapter 55: The Moon Falls

"You don't have to come with me," Yu Kui said. "I'm already returning to school quite late. You should learn to relax too and not bury yourself in work all the time. You're still a vibrant young college student, after all."

Xie Xingzhi: "I'd rather not go alone."

"Aren’t you staying at a classmate’s place?" Yu Kui suggested. "You could go with them."

Xie Xingzhi looked out at the night. He wasn’t staying at a classmate’s place but renting a cheap room in a nearby town where even delivery services didn't reach. But he wouldn’t tell Yu Kui any of this—with her personality, she'd just worry.

"I don’t want to go out with them," Xie Xingzhi said. "I’ll wait for you to come back."

Yu Kui was quiet for a moment before suddenly asking, "I’ve noticed you only want to go out with me. Why is that?"

Xie Xingzhi also went quiet. After a pause, he said, "I hang out with other people too; you just haven’t seen it. Don’t make me sound so pathetic."

"Is that so?" Yu Kui sounded thoughtful.

"What did you think?" Xie Xingzhi teased. "Since when did you become so conceited?"

Yu Kui: "......"

"I’m not conceited," she refused to admit she’d overthought it, letting out a soft huff. "Let’s end the conversation here for today. I’m almost home."

"Alright, good night."

After hanging up, Xie Xingzhi stared blankly at his screen for a long moment before burying himself back in his work.

After entering the residential complex, Yu Kui went to the supermarket to buy the fruits Mother Yu wanted and walked slowly home.

Before she reached the building entrance, she heard someone call her name from behind. Yu Kui instinctively turned around and was surprised to see Qin You walking toward her under the streetlight.

"Were you calling me?"

"Yeah." Qin You walked over to her, trying to act casual. "Do you have time now? There’s something I want to talk to you about."

His voice was low, and his gaze rested quietly on Yu Kui.

Yu Kui hadn’t expected him to initiate a conversation—something that would have once thrilled her.

Her feelings were indescribably complicated. Softly, she said, "It’s already very late today. I need to rest. Can we talk tomorrow?"

Seeing that she was still as gentle with him as before, his expression shifted slightly. "Tomorrow, let’s go to the cat cafe. You’ve wanted to go since school—"

"No need," Yu Kui rejected his suggestion. "We can talk downstairs."

Qin You paused, looking at her calm face, and pursed his lips without responding.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll head upstairs first." Yu Kui had no intention of standing in the cold with him and turned to enter the building.

Qin You stood where he was, watching her back as she walked away, his eyes gradually dimming.

The next day, Yu Kui told Mother Yu she was going downstairs for a bit.

"What for?" Mother Yu grabbed her hand. "It’s freezing outside, and it’s snowing again."

"Just taking care of a small matter. I’ll bring you something tasty when I come back."

"Don’t take too long," Mother Yu said, studying her daughter’s increasingly striking features. "You’re going back to school soon. I’ll take you for a haircut tomorrow."

"Okay."

After going downstairs, Yu Kui saw Qin You waiting on the first floor. Though the snow wasn’t heavy, the weather was bitterly cold.

"Have you been waiting long?" Yu Kui walked over.

"No." Qin You looked up at her. She was bundled up in a puffy coat, stepping closer to him.

"Let’s talk here," Yu Kui said. "We can go home soon after."

"How about the cafe at the entrance of the complex?" Qin You hesitated briefly. "People occasionally pass through the hallway."

After a moment’s thought, Yu Kui didn’t refuse.

They walked through the wind and snow to the cafe. Yu Kui ordered a cup of hot milk, while Qin You ordered coffee.

The cafe had few customers. They sat facing each other by the window, watching the traffic outside.

Yu Kui couldn’t remember the last time they had sat together so quietly like this—it felt like a lifetime ago.

"Have you... been doing well lately?" Qin You spoke first.

"I'm fine," Yu Kui replied flatly, not asking about him in return.

"That’s good," Qin You said, looking at her still-clear eyes. "I’ve been wanting to ask how you’ve been at university, but I didn’t have your contact information, so I didn’t want to disturb you."

"Yeah," Yu Kui said. "I’ve been doing well at university too. I’ve made a few friends, and every day is fulfilling."

Noting that she didn’t mention the "contact information," Qin You’s voice grew subdued. "It’s a shame I didn’t get into the same university as you."

Thinking of the school he attended, Yu Kui didn’t respond.

"Actually, I..." Qin You took a deep breath and finally looked Yu Kui in the eye. "I really regret what I did before. If none of that had happened, I could have gone to B City with you. We’d still be like when we were kids—each other’s best friend."

Hearing this, Yu Kui also looked into his eyes, trying to discern whether this was his genuine feeling or a poor lie.

"Yu Kui, these past six months have been really tough for me. The university I’m attending isn’t what I wanted. Every day, I’m filled with self-loathing, constantly asking myself: if I’d focused on studying before the college entrance exams, if I’d tried a little harder, would things have turned out differently? Every time I ask myself that, I’m filled with regret."

Qin You’s eyes turned slightly red as he continued slowly, "These are questions I never considered before the exams, but now they trouble me every day at university."

He didn’t understand—he had always been a top student, praised by teachers and classmates. How had he ended up like this?

Neither here nor there.

Even classmates who used to be worse than him now openly mocked him.

He couldn’t accept such a drop in status.

Yu Kui listened in silence without interrupting.

"There were many things I never really figured out in high school. When I finally understood, it was too late. If I could go back in time, I would never make the same choices again."

But time never rewinds itself.

And Qin You would never get another chance.

Lost time can't be reclaimed just because he's having a hard time.

He complained to her because he felt that, aside from her, there was no one left who would truly listen to his negative emotions—not even his mother.

Yu Kui gazed at the warm milk in front of her, quietly waiting for him to calm down.

"Sorry, I shouldn’t have said all this to you," Qin You gradually came back to his senses, seeing that she showed no curiosity about his situation. "I wasn’t like this before. Maybe these things have been weighing on me for too long, making me a bit emotional."

"Is this all you wanted to tell me today?" Yu Kui spoke up at the right moment. "Just to talk about your recent circumstances?"

Qin You stiffened, took a deep breath, and said, "Those things are secondary. What I really wanted to do most was apologize to you."

Qin You seemed to gather all his courage: "I’m sorry, Yu Kui. My thoughts back then were too childish and hurt you deeply. I know I was wrong now. Can you forgive me? Can we go back to being friends, just like before?"

His voice dropped to a whisper by the end.

"Like before, following behind you, doing whatever you said?" A slight smile played on Yu Kui’s face, but it was hard to tell what she really thought.

Qin You quickly rephrased: "You don’t have to follow me anymore. We can grow together."

"Qin You, you just said you’ve grown up and are no longer as childish as before. So, do you really think you can grow with me?" Yu Kui said calmly, "I’m in City B, and you’re here."

"I won’t stay here forever. I can go to City B for graduate school."

"That’s not what I meant."

Yu Kui smiled. "I’m talking about me being at Yanning University."

Qin You slowly looked up. The expression on Yu Kui’s face was not the familiar trust he knew but a calmness that made him feel cold all over.

"Qin You, you’ve grown up, and so have I. We're not children anymore."

Yu Kui’s tone remained steady. "If we could still communicate in high school, and I followed you like I was chasing the moon, now that moon has fallen, and I’m no longer the little girl chasing it. I’ve become my own moon."

Yu Kui looked quietly at the boy she had liked for so long. "I liked the moon because it glowed brilliantly, always hanging high in the sky."

Now that the moon had fallen, her affection had died out.

"I can go to Yanning University too!" Qin You said urgently. "I can apply for graduate school at your university, I can—"

"Qin You," Yu Kui interrupted him, "you know I liked you before, right? Not as a friend, but as a lover. You knew, didn’t you?"

Qin You slowly averted his gaze, his excitement instantly deflated.

"Even if you won’t admit it, I know you were aware," Yu Kui said. "You knew my feelings for you very early on, but you never took them seriously. Instead, you made a joke of my feelings."

"I didn’t—"

"There’s no need to deny it in a hurry," Yu Kui smiled. "I’m not blaming you. I just want to clarify some things. That’s also why I met with you today."

Qin You fell silent.

"In high school, I used to dream every day that we would graduate, I would confess to you, and then we’d go to the same university. After working, we’d get married and be together forever."

"That was my greatest hope for the future back then. I wanted you to be in every moment of my life, just like we promised as children—to always be the most important person to each other."

"Back then, whenever I was about to lose control, I would desperately warn myself not to be impulsive, not to affect your grades. We still had so many years ahead."

"But I never realized that one's entrance in someone's life matters so much. Even if I came into your life over ten years earlier, it still couldn’t compare to the day Tao Jiang appeared."

Hearing Tao Jiang’s name, Qin You’s body stiffened even more. He looked pleadingly at Yu Kui, hoping she wouldn’t continue.

But Yu Kui seemed oblivious to his pain. "How much I liked Tao Jiang back then—I considered her and you my best friends. I always tried to understand her, even ran in her place in the long-distance race. Even when I caught a cold and got sick afterward, I didn't truly resent it. But what about you two?"

Yu Kui looked up. "What did you two take me for?"