Proud senior schoolgirl was tender and sweet, we fell in love

At that moment, Xie Xiao did have some regrets. He was afraid of seeing disappointment and sadness on Luo Yanran's face.

But he had already started speaking. Xie Xiao knew that he probably wouldn't have the courage to speak like this a second time.

If he didn't say it today, the memories of his past life would become an eternal scar in his heart.

So Xie Xiao spoke, "In my last life, I was a real jerk... We... we didn't even have the chance to love each other..."

His voice was hoarse, squeezing out from his throat word by word.

Luo Yanran's gaze was gentle, quietly listening all the while.

Even though Xie Xiao was initially talking about how he followed Zhou Mianmian around in his last life.

Talking about those youth memories that had little to do with Luo Yanran.

Her gaze remained gentle and focused.

Until Xie Xiao mentioned the car accident.

Her body started to stiffen, gripping Xie Xiao's hand tightly, her eyes full of helplessness and tension...

Xie Xiao didn't go into detail about how desperate he felt after the car accident and surgery. His tone was very light, speaking as if it wasn't about himself.

It was not until he mentioned Luo Yanran's arrival that he reached out and held her hand tightly, as if he had grasped something that could save him.

In a soft voice, he said, "That day you walked in through the door... so beautiful, like a light suddenly shining into my dark life..."

Some things might seem pretentious when spelled out bluntly.

Yet, Xie Xiao's tone, filled with exclamation and joy, was infectious, making those words that could have seemed pretentious, instead, the best expression of his feelings.

Luo Yanran's eyes were red. Although Xie Xiao didn't elaborate on what happened after the accident, just knowing that Xie Xiao had suffered because of it made Luo Yanran's heart ache terribly.

She didn't feel that there was anything in her past life for which Xie Xiao needed to apologize for not liking her.

Even as Xie Xiao talked about how he had approached her of his own initiative but received no response.

What pained her was the Xie Xiao of that time, not the fact that she was the one who had been giving all along.

Luo Yanran couldn't imagine Xie Xiao, always so dazzling, becoming dim and lightless.

She didn't dare to imagine how Xie Xiao had survived that time. She knew him too well.

Could such a proud person truly accept such a turn of events?

Impossible. Putting herself in his place, Luo Yanran felt she might not have had the courage to go on herself.

And herself, who was frequently by Xie Xiao's side at that time, she just hoped that she had tried a bit harder to pull Xie Xiao from the depths of despair.

Xie Xiao was lost in those memories, recounting the efforts of Luo Yanran and his parents.

He had kept these words bottled up for too long.

For so long that he almost thought it was all just a dream of his own.

Every twist and turn led to the day they had agreed to meet.

Luo Yanran heard the despair in Xie Xiao's tone.

When she realized it was too late for her to keep their appointment, and that she could never make it at all.

Luo Yanran was stunned, and a tear still slid from the corner of her eye.

She could almost imagine how she must have felt at that time.

That day, she must have dressed up beautifully, leaving the house with an excited heart to meet him.

The image of that girl appeared before Luo Yanran, and then, in the end, turned into a cold, lifeless body.

Xie Xiao choked up and couldn't speak any more as he talked about going to the hospital, his tears making him appear somewhat disheveled.

Luo Yanran pulled out a tissue, her hand trembling slightly, and gently wiped the tears from his face. Even though she herself was in tears, what she said was, "It's okay, it's okay, I love you. I died at the age I loved you the most, when I would never get old, still looking pretty, right?... And you loved me too..."

Xie Xiao took her trembling hand, looking into the beautiful eyes that were full of tears. The regret and heartache in her eyes deeply stung Xie Xiao.

He thought "sorry" was the most useless word in the world.

But it seemed that was all he could do except say it.

Luo Yanran reached out to hold his hand, her voice trembling but her tone firm, "It's okay, husband, it's okay..."

Xie Xiao said, "But am I a bastard? If only I had been earlier, just a bit earlier..."

The despair in his tone was so heavy that even a single sentence could convey the suppressed despair and sorrow.

Luo Yanran felt her heart being violently torn apart. Xie Xiao had always been troubled by these memories, and each of his nightmares made him feel desperate, yet before this, she had known nothing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know anything. I didn't know you were suffering so much..." Luo Yanran's voice was very soft, her tone filled with heartache, all for Xie Xiao, "How painful it must have been for you in your past life, your leg..."

Yet, she still cared about Xie Xiao, not the younger self who had lost her life.

Xie Xiao reached out to hug her, "Ranran, Ranran, don't hate me, I really really like you, I love you..."

Even then, Xie Xiao felt that if Luo Yanran started disliking him from this moment on, he might understand. Why should she like him?

What did he have to offer?

In a relationship where there is love, there seems to always be a feeling of not being worthy of the other person.

What Xie Xiao was thinking about was why should Luo Yanran like him at all?

What was he?

But Luo Yanran kissed him without hesitation.

Both of them cried, their tears salty, and if anyone saw them at that moment, they would think they looked pitiful.

But at that time, they only had eyes for each other.

The kiss started tenderly but grew more intense as if to confirm each other's presence, the force behind it growing stronger.

When they finally parted, both of their lips were somewhat swollen.

Xie Xiao felt a mix of heartache and regret, softly touching her lips, "Does it hurt?"

His voice was hoarse, but he seemed to pull himself out of that painful despair.

Luo Yanran gently shook her head, "I'm not in pain. Are you?"

The uncontrollable heartache in her eyes indicated Xie Xiao knew she was asking about the pain he felt in his past life.

Xie Xiao gently shook his head, "Actually, it's been so long, I don't quite remember how it felt then, but I remember that day..."

He was referring to the day Luo Yanran had her accident, how he felt then.

Even after decades, he would never forget that feeling; the heartache eventually becomes numb.

When despair buries you, even shedding tears becomes a luxury.

At that moment, Luo Yanran covered Xie Xiao's hand, asking him to look into her eyes and softly said, "It's over now, we are good now. The regrets of our past life, if it were up to me, even until the last moment, I would still be happy, because I was on my way to meet the person I liked the most..."

But she probably still had regrets, because she knew she might not make it.

Yet, she would never regret having loved that person.

But there was also frustration, thinking what if she had the accident, what about Xie Xiao?

She wanted to stay with him forever...