[Short Story] Dust Like the Wind

Clearly loving you very much, yet cannot have you.\——————\Shen Lang, often ill, struggling with cold
It was dark, and everything seemed so out of reach.\ Since Shen Yaoming could remember, he had been changing schools frequently. Because of his frequent transfers, no matter where he went, he was always treated as an outsider. This time, for some unknown reason, Shen Yaoming transferred schools once again.\ Shen Yaoming was used to walking alone and to being lonely alone. However, Shen Yaoming did not notice that someone still cared about him.\ Ye Xiaoqing began to pay attention to Shen Yaoming on the third day after he transferred, which was also the day she discovered Shen Yaoming's secret.\ That morning, after class, Ye Xiaoqing hurriedly ran out of the classroom. In her rush, she did not notice the person in front of her. Carelessly, they collided.\ The boy knocked down by Ye Xiaoqing did not get up immediately, but hurriedly picked up the medicine that had fallen to the ground and put it back into his bag. Ye Xiaoqing felt very embarrassed and tried to help him gather it. But before she could, the boy had already put all the medicine away.\ Ye Xiaoqing had no choice but to stand up, and when she met his gaze, she realized that the boy she had bumped into was the recently transferred Shen Yaoming. Because they were unfamiliar with each other, Ye Xiaoqing didn't know what to say.\ Finally, she mustered courage and said to Shen Yaoming: "Sorry, are you okay?"\ Shen Yaoming looked at the flustered Ye Xiaoqing and coldly replied, "I'm fine."\ Feeling at fault, Ye Xiaoqing could only smile apologetically and said, "Hi, you must be the new student, Shen Yaoming, right? I'm Ye Xiaoqing, nice to meet you." She even extended her left hand for a handshake.\ Shen Yaoming turned his head away and didn't look at Ye Xiaoqing at all. He coldly said, "Nice to meet you. I have something to do, so I'll be going now." Saying that, he walked straight away.\ Seeing Shen Yaoming's cold attitude, Ye Xiaoqing felt a pang of sadness. But since it was her fault, she could do nothing. She went home feeling upset.\ Once at home, Ye Xiaoqing noticed that she had a receipt from a pharmacy in her hand, presumably Shen Yaoming's. Bored, she looked at the medicines listed, and what she saw shocked her deeply.\ The medicines on the receipt were either for heart disease or for asthma, and the date on it was today, indicating that Shen Yaoming must have just bought them.If the medicine was bought by Shen Yueming for himself, then the reason Shen Yueming frequently transferred schools must be because of his health condition.\ Ye Xiaoqing decided to go talk to Shen Yueming the next day and set the matter aside for the time being.
In the sound of departing geese, the sky darkens
The next day, Ye Xiaoqing wanted to find Shen Yueming to ask him questions. Unfortunately, Shen Yueming kept burying his head in sleep, so she had no choice but to give up. Ye Xiaoqing thought it over and decided to try to find Shen Yueming after school.\ Finally, school was over, and Ye Xiaoqing hurried to Shen Yueming's seat and called out to him. She tugged at the corner of Shen Yueming's shirt and said, “Shen Yueming, wait, I have something to ask you.”\ Shen Yueming looked at the corner of his shirt being pulled by Ye Xiaoqing and said coldly, “If you want to ask something, find another time. I have to go home now.”\ Shen Yueming's cold tone exceeded Ye Xiaoqing's expectations. No one had ever spoken to her so coldly before. Ye Xiaoqing still wanted to say something when suddenly a young man and woman walked into the classroom.\ The young man and woman approached Shen Yueming, holding hands, looking very close.\ Seeing them approach, Shen Yueming turned his head to look out the window at the scenery, a gesture that Ye Xiaoqing had just witnessed.\ The young man and woman reached Shen Yueming's seat. The man said, “Yueming, shall we walk together?” The woman smiled and said, “Yueming, just agree, we haven't walked together in a long time.”\ Shen Yueming turned to face them and replied coldly, “Xiao Ran, Xiao Ning, sorry, I have a friend here. Let's walk together some other time.” Without waiting for their reply, he took the confused Ye Xiaoqing and walked outside.\ Seeing Shen Yueming leave, the two shook their heads. Xiao Ran sighed and said, “Let's go, Xiao Ning, let's go home.” The woman named Xiao Ning nodded, her eyes red as she said, “Alright, looks like Yueming hasn't moved on yet, let's go.”\ With that, the two left.
Planning to indulge in madness with a single drunken night
Outside the school.\ Confused and flustered, Ye Xiaoqing was dragged by Shen Yueming onto a small road outside the school. She found Shen Yueming acting very strangely. Suddenly stopping, she asked, “Shen Yueming, why did you bring me here? What was that just now with those two people? And is your health not good?”\ Shen Yueming was briefly surprised by Ye Xiaoqing's sudden stop, but it didn't last long.He stopped walking, let go of Ye Xiaoqing's hand, and replied, "I didn't bring you here for any reason; those two earlier were my friends; whether my body is healthy or not has nothing to do with you!"

Ye Xiaoqing didn't expect Shen Yueming to respond like this and felt a chill in her heart. She walked closer to Shen Yueming and said, "How can you be like this? Is it so difficult to answer my question properly?"

Shen Yueming turned around and continued walking forward, saying, "What about me? I've already answered your question, what more do you want?"

Listening to Shen Yueming's reply, Ye Xiaoqing was furious. Although she was extremely angry, faced with Shen Yueming, who was so cold to others, she could only remain silent.

Ye Xiaoqing looked at Shen Yueming and felt very upset, so she walked straight to the edge of the path along the ridge of the field and sat down on the grass. Just then, Shen Yueming also stopped and sat on another ridge not far from her.

Ye Xiaoqing didn't look at Shen Yueming. She was captivated by the scenery before her, which was understandable since such farmland is hard to see in the city. She wondered how this strange man had even found this place.

Gradually, the sky darkened.

Ye Xiaoqing continued to ignore Shen Yueming and sulked alone.

Shen Yueming watched the sky gradually turning dark and finally stood up. He walked over to Ye Xiaoqing and said, "Hey, I said it's already late; you should go home too."

Ye Xiaoqing didn't turn around and said, "I like sitting here, is that a problem?"

Hearing her answer, Shen Yueming was momentarily stunned. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, finally realizing that this little girl was angry at him. Feeling helpless, Shen Yueming said, "Then you sit alone, I'll go first."

Hearing this, Ye Xiaoqing immediately turned around and said to Shen Yueming, "Hmph, go ahead if you want. Do you think I'm afraid of you?"

"I know you're not afraid, so I'm leaving." "Hey! Wait, why are you going that way? You didn't go there yesterday."

"I never said I was going home."

"Where are you going?"

"To a bar."

"A bar? Isn't your body not well? Why are you going to a bar?"

"My body may not be well, but that's none of your business. Goodbye."

After saying that, Shen Yueming left. Ye Xiaoqing watched his departing figure, feeling a bit melancholy.In the end, she still didn't go back; she quietly returned home alone.\A wisp of longing spans across the creek and mountains\within the Ye family.\Ye Xiaoqing was staring blankly at the invoice in her hand, not knowing what she was thinking, like a sculpture. Only, she still had thoughts.\By ten o'clock in the evening, Ye Xiaoqing still couldn't fall asleep, so she simply got up and left home.\Ye Xiaoqing wandered aimlessly on the road, accompanied by the faint moonlight, her shadow stretched long.\While Ye Xiaoqing was still wandering, two familiar figures appeared in her sight: the man and the woman she had seen during the day, Xiao Ran and Xie Xiaoning.\Ye Xiaoqing had always been outgoing, and upon seeing acquaintances, she walked over to greet them: “Hello! Do you remember me? My name is Ye Xiaoqing, I'm classmate with Shen Yueming.”\Xie Xiaoning and Xiao Ran had not noticed Ye Xiaoqing's sudden appearance and were a bit surprised. Still, Xie Xiaoning politely replied: “Hello, I'm Xie Xiaoning, and this is Xiao Ran. I remember you. Where's Yueming? Isn't he with you?”\“Shen Yueming isn't with me. We haven't been together since the sun went down. By the way, he said he was going to a bar or something. What? He hasn't come home yet?”\“Home? If he had gone home, why would Xiaoning and I be out looking for him? That guy really…”\“Alright, Xiao Ran, why don't we just go to the bar to find him? Yueming surely didn't do it on purpose. Let's go. Xiaoqing, are you going with us?”\“Me? Sure, I'll go with you. I still haven't clarified what happened during the day.”\“Then let's go.”\“Okay.”\The three of them walked together, with Xie Xiaoning and Ye Xiaoqing chatting nonstop. Through Xie Xiaoning, Ye Xiaoqing learned a lot of things related to Shen Yueming.\Shen Yueming, Xiao Ran, and Xie Xiaoning were all children from the orphanage; their parents had ruthlessly abandoned them when they were very young. The orphanage director raised them and provided for their education. All three were very outstanding. The only shortcomings were that Shen Yueming was not in good health, and both Shen Yueming and Xiao Ran liked Xie Xiaoning. In Ye Xiaoqing's mind, it seemed like Xie Xiaoning only liked Xiao Ran.\Shen Yueming seemed to go to bars often, so Xiao Ran and Xie Xiaoning found him without much trouble. When they found him, he was already drunk.Xiao Ran walked up to the drunk Shen Yueming and carried him on his back. Xie Xiaoning went to the counter to pay the bill for him. Ye Xiaoqing, like a puppet, stared blankly at them, only walking alongside them.\ Xiao Ran carried Shen Yueming without saying a word. At this moment, the drunk Shen Yueming murmured, 'Xiaoning, I like you. I like you…'
Night is cold, the sky sheds tears for others
Shen Yueming's voice was soft, but all three of them could hear it. The atmosphere became awkward, Xiao Ran frowned and remained silent.\ Ye Xiaoqing recalled chatting with Xie Xiaoning earlier, who had told her that Shen Yueming liked her. Ye Xiaoqing finally couldn't hold back and asked Xie Xiaoning, 'Xie Xiaoning, Shen Yueming loves you so much, don't you know?'\ 'I know he loves me. His love for me even surpasses Xiao Ran's. But I can't be with him, his health is poor, and I can't let him be sad.'\ 'But aren't you hurting his heart now too?'\ 'In this way, at least he won't be heartbroken.'\ Hearing Xie Xiaoning's reply, Ye Xiaoqing remained silent. In fact, she didn't know what she could say either.\ At this moment, the long-silent Xiao Ran spoke.\ 'Xiaoning, perhaps you are right. But haven't you thought about how hurt Yueming feels? I have seen Yueming staring at your photo more than once. Honestly, his love surpasses mine by far. As a brother, I don't want him to be sad. But facing you, I don't want to lose you either. I have been very confused; I don't know if choosing to be with you at the beginning was right or wrong; I also don't know how to face life ahead, how to face Yueming…'\ Hearing Xiao Ran's words, Xiaoning fell into deep thought, silently. Ye Xiaoqing also didn't speak, and just like that, the few of them arrived at the orphanage.
In dreams, in the night.
Shen Yueming woke up in a daze and saw the girl in front of him: Xie Xiaoning. He didn't dare to think if this was a dream, and could only hope that it was reality. The girl, seeing him awake, felt very happy.\ Just as the girl was about to speak, Shen Yueming suddenly hugged her. Shen Yueming held her tightly, so tightly that she could barely breathe. Finally, the girl said, 'Yueming, can you let me go? You're holding me too tightly.'\ Hearing the girl's words, Shen Yueming unconsciously loosened his strength. However, he did not let go.He said, 'Xiaoning, let me hold you, don't leave me…'\ 'Alright. Then just hold me. I won't leave you. You've had so much to drink, you need to rest well. Don't worry about whether I will leave; I'm right here beside you, I won't go.'\ 'Really? Xiaoning, you said that. You can't leave me, you can't…'\ 'Mm, I said it. I won't go, I won't leave you.'\ 'Xiaoning, your voice sounds strange?'\ 'Huh? Really? Maybe you've had too much to drink. Go to sleep.'\ 'Maybe I really drank too much. Okay, I'm going to sleep. Xiaoning, don't just sit there! Rest early.'\ 'Idiot, go to sleep! I'm fine sitting here. Besides, only by sitting can I stay with you…'\ The girl didn't know that Shen Yueming didn't hear the last sentence, that most important sentence.\The next day.\ When Shen Yueming woke up, in front of him were Xiao Ran and Xie Xiaoning. Ye Xiaoqing had already left, and no one knew whether Shen Yueming was aware that Ye Xiaoqing had come, but since he didn't say anything, the two also didn't dare to comment.\ And so, life continued. Ye Xiaoqing many times<