The pungent smell of hospital disinfectant stung the nose. Lin Zhixia lay in her hospital bed, gazing out at the gray, overcast sky, clutching a yellowed photograph tightly in her hand. In the photo, she and Xiao Songyuan were standing beneath the cherry blossom trees, smiling so brightly. Yet now, those very smiles had become the sharpest of blades, carving into her heart over and over again.
In the early autumn of seven years ago, Lin Zhixia had just stepped onto the university campus, harboring dreams and expectations for the future. Introverted by nature, she loved immersing herself in her own world, and the library became her most frequented sanctuary. That day, sunlight filtered through the library's glass windows, casting patches of golden light. Lin Zhixia was browsing the bookshelves for a book she fancied, just like she always did, when suddenly, the very book she reached for was grasped simultaneously by another hand.
She looked up and met Xiao Songyuan’s deep, fathomless eyes. He was wearing a simple white shirt, a warm smile lingering at the corners of his lips. "Are you looking to read this book, classmate?" Lin Zhixia panicked slightly, her face instantly turning red. "Um... I've been looking for it for a long time." Without a hesitation, Xiao Songyuan handed the book straight to her. "Then take it, I'll go look for something else." Just like that, a chance encounter connected two people whose lives previously had no intersection.
Chapter 162