Chapter Twenty-Four Looks More Like The Beginning Of The End

  And now Mo Xiao Xiao is still stubbornly persisting, but the road ahead will be even harder to walk.

  Because she came to Beijing, a place that belongs to him, a place with countless **.

  Skyscrapers stand tall, cars and horses gallop. Neon lights pierce the eyes, dazzling and bewildering, a mix of reality and fantasy. Bars are bustling with people indulging in reckless abandon, originally ancient streets now flashing with all sorts of advertisements, all showcasing modernization's excesses.

  Year after year, every year today she always has a different kind of loneliness. Every year today she always gets drunk. Every year today she always seems to pass by a certain neighborhood unintentionally, and then tells herself: just passing by, just passing by!

  However, this year's her, seems to have a more indelible loss, because of a phone call, a phone call from someone who has not been in contact for many years.

  That was this afternoon...

  "Quickly! Phone call! Don't be busy!" Roommate Tang Qianni rushed to the venue with Mo Xiao's phone, Mo Xiao was meticulously directing the arrangement of the venue. Tonight's party was planned by Mo Xiaojie herself.

  Mo Xiao, a third-year graduate student at the History Research Institute of a renowned university in Beijing. A girl like her should be easily lost in the vast city of Beijing, but because of her extraordinary experiences, her life is unusually colorful and also unusually sad.

  She never brings her phone to work or study, which can disturb her at any time. For tonight's party, she attaches great importance to it, as it is the last planning in the research institute, so she requires every detail to be perfect.

  But today, today is the worst day.

  "Shixiong (older sister) Moxiao is in a bad mood today." Wenxue, the younger sister in charge of arranging flowers, whispered to Tang Qianni, while also casting a nervous glance at Moxiao's stern face.

  Mo Xiao Xiao had just blown up due to the arrangement of guest seats, and was scolding his younger brother and sister mercilessly without leaving any face. A popular saying in the Research Institute goes: "When Mo Xiao Xiao blows up, the earth will soon be scorched", from which it can be seen that Mo Xiao Xiao is not a person who often loses his temper.

  Wen Xue had been following Mo Xiao Xiao since she entered university, Mo Xiao Xiao was famous for her good temperament, strong ability and a gentle smile that always hung on her face, making people want to get close to her intentionally or unintentionally. She was the senior sister that all the younger students in the entire research institute and even the whole school wanted to follow.

  But Mo Xiao has a bit of an unpredictable personality, it's hard to say when he'll suddenly change from sunny to gloomy, making people unable to grasp him. Although it only happens two or three times a year, those two or three times are enough to make people feel... unacceptable.

  Tang Qian Ni looked at Mo Xiao Xiao, who had her brows furrowed, and then glanced at the phone still in her hand, which was still echoing with the voice from the call: "Trouble you to call out Mo Xiao Xiao for me, I have something very important to tell her right now, sorry."

  Looks like it's very urgent! Tang Qian Ni also couldn't care about the messy stuff, smiled and nodded at Wen Xue, indicating that she understood.

  "Phone, yours." Tang Qian Ni said calmly.

  Her sharp and piercing gaze softened for a moment when looking at Tang Qian Ni, forcing a slight curve of her lips, which was supposed to be a smile. The two had been the best of sisters since entering the research institute three years ago, and their feelings were especially deep. Taking the phone from Tang Qian Ni's hand, she responded with intention or not.

  "Hello, I'm Mo Xiao. What's up?" Looking at the unfamiliar number on her phone, Mo Xiao felt a wave of annoyance and didn't think any further about it.

  "Let me ask you one last time, is there still a chance for us?" A man's voice, worn and sorrowful, with a hint of threat, and even more questioning.

  Mo Xiao was stunned, and we still have a chance? No way, how is that possible! Mo Xiao couldn't help but clench her phone tightly, her fingers turning white. Her originally clear eyes were shrouded in a layer of indescribable disgust, as if there was also a hint of hatred.

  Tang Qian Ni couldn't understand at all, but a hint of worry in her heart was quietly rising, what's wrong with Xiao Xiao? What happened to make her so abnormal?

  "We can't!" came a firm and chilly reply from the mouth of this seemingly gentle girl, without any hesitation.

  "Okay, I'm getting married today." The voice on the other end of the phone was tinged with a hint of bitter smile and a dash of sorrow. Six words, followed by a prolonged dial tone.

  Everything has ended, or perhaps it had already ended long ago. However, the suffering of Mo Xiao Xiao, from beginning to end, is still ongoing, endless, from birth to death.

  Her face was even more unsightly than before, ashen, with vacant eyes, as if her originally elegant soul could not be captured. She silently turned around and gradually disappeared from everyone's sight, stumbling and staggering, walking very difficultly.

  She didn't know how long she had walked, or where she had arrived. All she saw in her eyes was desolation, despite the fact that the city lights were just starting to come on. The beauty of Beijing was undeniable, especially Houhai in the back sea area, a place every Beijinger loved. But for Mo Xiao Xiao, it was a place she only visited on special days.

  For example today, for example every July 2nd, every October 26th.

  These three days are a sarcasm, a scar and an unforgettable memory for her that can never be erased, also an ineradicable nightmare.

  Near Houhai, the road is lined with bars, and the lights are all the way. The bar she likes the most has a classic atmosphere, perhaps because of her major in history, but more importantly, here, she knows that her years of waiting are worthwhile.

  The melancholic music "A Lonely Beijing" drifted from somewhere, and Mo Xiao Xiao smiled wistfully. To outsiders, she had been living alone in Beijing for three years, but in her heart, there was always him, and as long as that flame still burned, it wasn't a lonely Beijing.

  Sitting on the shore, watching pair after pair of lovers hand in hand come to this side to row a boat, Mo Xiao smiled and appreciated it. Perhaps in her eyes, the beauty of Houhai was not as intoxicating as the sweet and plain life of two people who truly loved each other together.

  Beijing has been a place of longing for Mo Xiao for many years, not because there are famous schools here, nor because there are opportunities here, but because there is someone here, someone she can never let go of.

  That person said to her: "I'll wait for you."

  He said to her: "I love you."

  So, Mo Xiao Xiao is waiting for him and loving him, but he has become different from before. Is it that his heart has changed or the world has changed? In short, Mo Xiao Xiao hasn't changed.

  She took out her phone and stared at the familiar number, but Mei Xuan never had the courage to dial again. Perhaps the ringing sound would still be heard from the other end, she knew he was still there, but he didn't want to see her, not ever since five years ago.

  Mo Xiao Xiao smiled bitterly, if one day her phone was lost and she got lost, the only person she could ask for help would be him, because she only remembered this number. But this person was the least likely to appear, no matter whether Mo Xiao Xiao was alive or dead, he wouldn't.

  "I still need to meet a few more of you, in order to forget you..." The familiar ringtone sounded, disrupting Mo Xiao's thoughts, her good friend was calling.

  Summer Strings.