Autumn Rain Part 2

Cheng Shuo was wiping the table when he turned his head and found the man holding the back of the knife with his bare hand, his face lowered. Under the orange-yellow light, he looked like a warm-toned oil painting, frozen in place.

"What are you spacing out for?" He walked over and took the handle of the knife for him. "Are you memorizing the PowerPoint we just saw?"

Cen Zeng turned back, his face still expressionless, merely relaxing his grip in coordination with his force. "Mm..."

Of course he wasn't thinking about that, Cheng Shuo knew very well.

"Stop grinding," he smiled. "My brain is rusty after studying for a few hours. How about playing a couple of rounds of Mario Kart with me?"

"Never played it."

"It's really simple." Cheng Shuo turned on the TV and handed him a Nintendo Switch controller.

Cen Zeng played clumsily and happily secured last place, his record a shining contrast to Cheng Shuo's first place.

Cheng Shuo asked with a smile, "Wanna play again?"

After three more games, Classmate Xiao Cen had improved by five places, a truly gratifying achievement.

However, he looked down at the time and said, "I have to keep studying."

Cheng Shuo pouted and said, "Then let's have a rematch after the midterms."

"Besides..." Cheng Shuo said, "Isn't your birthday coming up?"

Cen Zeng was clearly stunned for a second, then said, "Yes."

"How did you kn—"

"How did I know?" Cheng Shuo interrupted precisely. "I guessed."

Of course it wasn't a guess. Cen Zeng's ID card, along with his video, had been spread millions of times by countless people.

"So when is it?"

Cen Zeng was clearly curious, but he also knew this person would never give him the answer. "You definitely know."

Cheng Shuo smiled. "Me knowing, and you telling me, are two different things."

He stared straight at the person in front of him, and Cen Zeng finally answered, "It should be next Thursday."

"What do you mean, 'should be'?" Cheng Shuo pursed his lips. "So it's November sixth."

Cen Zeng nodded, showing no particular reaction, and looked down at his notes.

He wanted to say that it really wasn't that important. But he had a feeling that if he said that, Cheng Shuo would be unhappy.

After several days of continuous studying, he was finally free. His first reaction after handing in his exam was to message Cen Zeng, asking, "Are you done with your exam?"

"How about going out for dinner tonight?"

Cen Zeng replied quickly, saying, "I'm going to come back and sleep for a bit, I'm a little tired. You'll have to handle dinner yourself."

So he went out to eat with Zhang Yijie.

His childhood friend teased him about his progress with his roommate. Upon learning that they still hadn't broken the final barrier, he found it boring and changed the subject to the latest sports car models.

After getting home, he opened the door and saw a sliver of light spilling out from Cen Zeng's room.

He turned on the living room light, knocked on the door, and upon pushing it open, was met with a room full of damp air. Someone was sitting on the windowsill, holding a glass of water in his hand.

Outside, dark clouds gathered, and a fine rain was falling.

Cheng Shuo held his breath and said, "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, you can't die from jumping from the third floor," Cen Zeng replied. "I wasn't planning on jumping."

"I know, but what are you doing?"

In that moment, he almost recalled the sound of the wind rushing past him as he ran helplessly through the hospital.

"You should take a step back."

He took a breath.

"Don't scare me."

Cen Zeng glanced at him and sighed very faintly. That glance held something that Cheng Shuo could barely discern.

But the next moment, the person leaped down from the windowsill.

Towards him, of course.

He got an armful of the ice beauty, and then the glass that Cen Zeng had casually placed by the window shattered crisply on the floor.

They both let go and didn't move again.

Only the light patter of raindrops against the glass remained.

In the infinite silence, Cheng Shuo asked, "Don't you want to tell me?"

Cen Zeng just narrowed his eyes.

"Then I'll say it..." Cheng Shuo took a breath. "That letter I wrote to you, you can open it now."

【Author's note】

So congratulations to you two, in between your birthdays, you can finally open the letter. It really wasn't easy.