On a rainy night, the school beauty knocked on my door and asked for shelter

"Silly girl, you haven't wronged anyone." Chen Mo reached out and stroked Su Yuqing, whose face was filled with sorrow.

Just as she is now reaching out to touch the "self" in the story with a look of affection.

The air in the classroom seemed to freeze; the sadness was like a thick, tangible fog, so heavy it was suffocating.

Other students were either shocked, sobbing with their heads down, or bewildered.

Su Yuqing's presence was amplified infinitely in this space, yet it was also manifested in the cruelest way—through her absence.

Although everyone is a classmate, no one wants to be hurt when a classmate gets into trouble, and everyone will be sad, Huang Mao felt that Chen Mo's level of sadness was different from that of ordinary people.

Zhao Yueyue and Su Yuqing are like sisters, so it's understandable that she cried like this.

However, in their daily interactions, Chen Mo and Su Yuqing were not completely unfamiliar with each other, but they were not particularly close either. Their relationship was more like that of a respectful married couple.

They were at most classmates with a decent relationship; it's unlikely that someone would be completely devastated upon learning of another's death.

At this moment, Chen Mo looked as if all his energy and spirit had been drained, and he was in a dazed state, like a walking corpse.

This was the first time Huang Mao had seen Chen Mo in this state.

When the class teacher, He Xiaoyun, entered the classroom, her eyes were red and swollen. It was clear that announcing Su Yuqing's death in public was a very painful thing for her.

However, she still had to announce this unfortunate news to her classmates, and at the same time, she had to further educate them on safety, hoping that other children would not encounter similar incidents in the future.

At this moment, Chen Mo's eyes were devoid of tears; his entire being was empty, utterly hollow.

Su Yuqing would rather he cried on the spot than become the walking corpse he is now.

Seeing Chen Mo in this state made her feel even more heartbroken and sad.

The scene quickly shifted to the solemn mourning hall.

In the black and white portrait, her face, with a faint smile, appears so young and unreal in the cold frame.

Su Yuqing saw her mother, Li Fengzhi, being supported by two people. She was extremely thin, her eyes were unfocused, and she was muttering incoherently. Occasionally, she would suddenly struggle and lunge at her photo, screaming "Qingqing," only to be held down tightly.

Li Gang sat in a wheelchair, his stomach wrapped in bandages, his face ashen. Looking at Li Fengzhi, his eyes were filled with unfathomable pain and despair.

Only he knew the extent of the suffering Li Fengzhi had endured.

She was the one who personally scolded Su Yuqing away that Friday, and she never came back.

This is practically no different from her killing her own daughter.

This is also why Li Fengzhi was so grief-stricken that she went completely mad.

Her madness stemmed not only from excessive grief, but more so from her inability to forgive herself for bearing the inescapable responsibility for her daughter's death.

She couldn't forgive herself, she loathed herself. Under such extreme mental torment, it would be strange if she didn't go insane.

Zhao Yueyue knelt before the coffin, crying so hard she almost fainted, and was supported by her family.

The class teacher, He Xiaoyun, stood to the side, her eyes red and her lips tightly pressed together, but she still glanced worriedly at the silent figure in the corner from time to time.

The figure was none other than "Chen Mo." He was wearing an ill-fitting black suit and stood in the corner furthest from the crowd, his back ramrod straight, yet he looked like a withered branch that might break at any moment.

He didn't cry, his face was expressionless, but his eyes were as empty as two deep wells, staring intently at her portrait, as if trying to etch that image into his very bones.

The deathly stillness and alienation emanating from him caused anyone who tried to approach and comfort him to unconsciously retreat.

Su Yuqing could clearly sense that he had completely shut himself off, isolating himself from everything outside, including the sadness itself, leaving only a desolate, icy plain.

"In a world without me, it turns out he died along with me..."

This realization pierced Su Yuqing's heart. However, there was someone at the funeral who made Su Yuqing frown upon seeing him.

That was Su Chengfeng and Su Yaxi; Lin Shiya didn't even want to come.

Su Yaxi came here purely to gather information.

Check if you've been exposed.

She showed no reverence for Su Yuqing's portrait; instead, she displayed only disgust.

As for her father, Su Chengfeng, Su Yuqing saw him cry, but she herself wasn't sure how much of his crying was genuine emotion.

After the funeral, Chen Mo left without even attending the banquet.

Su Yuqing couldn't even bear to look at his lonely figure any longer.

How she wished she could reach him right now, hug him, and comfort him.

Soon, multiple different scenes began to draw Su Yuqing into them.

Li Fengzhi, dressed in a loose hospital gown, sat by the window, staring blankly out the window, unconsciously clutching a tattered rag doll in her hand, and humming an off-key lullaby indistinctly.

Occasionally, she would suddenly call out "Qingqing" to the air, and then fall into a long silence.

Li Gang visits her every week, bringing her the corn and pork rib soup she used to love, but she drinks it mechanically, her eyes completely unmoved.

The caregiver looking after her sighed softly, "Alas, when the heart dies, a person becomes like this."

Su Yuqing knelt beside her mother, calling "Mom" over and over again, but received no response. She could only watch helplessly as the once shrewd and even somewhat harsh woman turned into a soulless shell.

That feeling of utter helplessness and despair almost consumed her.

Zhao Yueyue seemed like a completely different person.

The once lively and talkative girl has become quiet and withdrawn.

Even when a smile occasionally appears, it always carries a lingering gloom.

She would often go to Su Yuqing's grave and sit there for half a day, silently shedding tears, or rambling on about school to the tombstone, as if Su Yuqing were still listening.

Of course, Su Yuqing was indeed listening, and her persistence paid off.

But... Su Yuqing felt her heart breaking as she watched her try so hard to live her life but carry such a heavy burden of sorrow.

What Su Yuqing was most worried about was Chen Mo.

Since she left, Chen Mo has lived like a shadow.

Attending classes, reading, eating, exercising, sleeping... following the routine meticulously.

He rejected everyone's concern, his eyes no longer held any light, only deep weariness and an unyielding gloom.

He would occasionally go to the alley in the old neighborhood where Su Yuqing had her accident, stand silently for a long time, oblivious to the rain soaking his hair and clothes.

Su Yuqing stood beside him, feeling the chill and loneliness emanating from him that was more piercing than the rain.

Watching him live his life like a prisoner.

This was even more suffocating for Su Yuqing than seeing her own cold corpse.

Chen Mo, who silently witnessed all of this, felt immense heartache for her. She shouldn't have known about this despairing world! (End of Chapter)