When The Snow Falls In Autumn Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The fourth long oak table by the window on the west side of the library is the tacit stronghold of Ling Xueqing and Ye Qiulan.The afternoon light shines through the gaps in the centuries-old camphor trees, casting swaying, water-like shadows on the pages of ancient books.Old paper, ink, and the vaguely sweet smell of the old locust tree outside the window floated in the air.

Ling Xueqing’s eyes lifted from a line of difficult comments and landed on the opposite side.

Ye Qiulan fell asleep.His forehead rested on his folded arms, his side face curved slightly, and his breathing was so light that it was almost inaudible.A strand of forehead hair slipped down and hung beside the trembling eyelashes.She also held a thin repair pen loosely in her hand. There was a tiny bit of paste on the tip of the pen, which was still wet.Ling Xueqing’s eyes lingered on her slightly frowned eyebrows for a moment. Even in her sleep, there seemed to be a thin layer of tiredness that would not go away.

She put down her pen, moving gently and making no sound.Then he took out a neatly folded thin cardigan from the canvas bag he carried.Light gray, wool blend, soft to the touch.She stood up, and she kept the sound of the chair legs rubbing against the ground to a minimum – it was almost silent.She walked around to Ye Qiulan’s side, leaned forward slightly, unfolded the cardigan, and draped it on Ye Qiulan’s thin shoulders.

The movements were completed quietly and appropriately, like completing a ritual that had been practiced thousands of times.

Ye Qiulan moved.It’s not a startling awakening, just some kind of instinctive response when you fall into the soft warmth.She unconsciously rubbed her cheek against the source of warmth, letting out a vague, animal-like growl from her throat.Ling Xueqing froze and maintained her bent posture. The distance was so close that she could clearly see the very fine hairs on Ye Qiulan’s face and the auricles that were almost transparent in the light.The cedar pheromone, crisp and restrained, was the aura that she had tightly controlled all year round. But at this moment, because of the excessively close distance, a trace of it leaked out. It was very light, like the first snow melting on the tips of pine needles.

The sleeping person seemed to smell the cold fragrance that was familiar to his bones, and his brows relaxed a little.

Ling Xueqing straightened up very slowly and sat back in her seat.My heart beat belatedly twice in my chest, not heavy, but dull.She picked up the pen again and returned her gaze to the page, but the complicated variant characters were blurred for a moment.The tip of the pen hung above the paper for a long time and could not fall down.

They are so familiar.Being familiar with Ye Qiulan’s breathing rate, Ling Xueqing can tell whether she is in light sleep or deep sleep; being familiar with the subtle changes in Ling Xueqing’s eyes, Ye Qiulan can interpret whether she is irritable or worried.This familiarity is rooted in twenty years of living next to each other, in the dangerously close distance between the balconies of the two houses that can deliver candies, and in the same dull, lingering smell of potions and sighs in the two houses – Ye Qiulan’s father has been bedridden for a long time, and Ling Xueqing’s mother has been in a trance for many years.Two children who grew up in a dark background naturally became the only living light source in each other’s world.

However, light and light also have boundaries that cannot truly be touched.She is Alpha, and Qiu Lan is Beta.The difference between the second gender is like a transparent glass wall, seemingly non-existent, but actually standing there.Ling Xueqing could smell Qiu Lan’s clean scent, mixed with lime soap and old book pages. It was the mild, neutral, non-aggressive pheromone of Beta, but to her, it was more attractive and more frightening than the sweet scent of any Omega.She must use double the restraint to suppress her instincts, and use tighter self-discipline to lock in the unmistakable desire for possession and aggression that belongs to Alpha.The protection she gives must be wrapped in the cloak of “childhood sweetheart” and safe and harmless.

“Well…”

A vague nasal sound came from the other side.Ling Xueqing immediately restrained all overflowing emotions and looked up.

Ye Qiulan woke up.She straightened up in a daze, and the cardigan on her shoulders slipped a little.She blankly grabbed the piece of clothing that obviously didn’t belong to her, and blinked. Her eyes were still covered with a layer of moisture from waking up, making her look even softer and dazed.Then, she looked at Ling Xueqing, and the corners of her mouth curved up little by little, giving her an unguarded and dependent smile.

“Xueqing?” The voice was a little hoarse and waxy, “I fell asleep again… and you covered me with clothes, thank you.”

“Yeah.” Ling Xueqing lowered her eyes and unconsciously rubbed the cold pen body with her fingertips, “The air conditioner is a bit cold.”

The reason is short and reasonable.Many things between them don’t need too much explanation.

Ye Qiulan pulled up his cardigan, wrapped it up, took a deep breath, and twitched his nose.”It smells like you.” She said softly, as if talking to herself, or just stating a fact. No special emotion could be heard. “It’s reassuring.”

Ling Xueqing’s knuckles holding the pen turned slightly white.Peace of mind.The word fell heavier on her heart than any intimate words.What she wants may be more than Qiu Lan’s peace of mind.But she didn’t dare to think deeply about what “more than” was, let alone reveal it.

Ye Qiulan had already picked up the repair pen, looked at the half-dried paste on the tip of the pen, and said “Ah” slightly, feeling a little annoyed.”It’s a waste.” She said, habitually reaching for the slurry mixed in the small porcelain dish next to her to re-wet the pen tip.Her movements were natural and smooth, the result of years of taking care of her sick father and handling various trivial matters.

Ling Xueqing took the first step and pushed the warm white porcelain cup in her hand with no stain on the rim.”Use this.” She said, her voice steady, “I just adjusted it, the consistency should be just right.”

Ye Qiulan’s hand paused in the air, and then he took it calmly.”Yeah.”

Dipping the tip of his pen into pulp water, Ye Qiulan leaned over again and approached the local chronicle of the Qing Dynasty that was in urgent need of restoration.The damage is at the edge of a page, which is badly infested with insects and needs to be filled in and spliced ​​little by little.Her expression instantly became extremely focused, and her long eyelashes were drooped, casting shallow fan-shaped shadows under her eyes.Breathing lighter, as if afraid of disturbing the sleeping history on the paper.He held the repair pen with his fingertips and dropped it steadily and lightly, bit by bit, to gather the extremely thin pieces of paper back to where they should have been.That kind of meticulousness and patience is completely different from the ignorant and cute look she occasionally shows due to lack of sleep.

Ling Xueqing stopped reading her book.She looked at Ye Qiulan quietly.Look at her pursed, light-colored lips, her graceful jaw that is slightly tensed due to concentration, and her hands that can always miraculously soothe all restlessness and anxiety.The sun moved slowly in the air between them, and dust danced in the light beam, like a quiet, unknown celebration.

“Here,” Ye Qiulan suddenly spoke, his voice was very low, for fear of disturbing the tranquility of the library and breaking the delicate atmosphere at this moment, “is this place name the same as the one next to the abandoned railway when we were children…”

She pointed with her finger very lightly at a certain handwriting that had been repaired.

Ling Xueqing looked along her fingertips.That ancient place name had long been lost in modern city maps, but it unexpectedly appeared in this pile of old papers.Memories came flooding back unexpectedly.Abandoned railway tracks and rusty sleepers are covered with weeds. The wind at dusk carries the vague smell of smoke from the distant industrial area.Two skinny girls, carrying overly heavy schoolbags, sat side by side on the rust-red railway track, sharing a warm bag of cheap milk candies.No one mentioned the suffocating silence and pain waiting at home. They just shook their legs and looked at the orange-red clouds on the horizon.

“It seems so.” Ling Xueqing heard that her own voice was drier than she expected.

Ye Qiulan didn’t raise his head, still staring at the word, and his fingertips lightly brushed the edge that had just been mended.”At that time, I felt that the railway track was so long, and it seemed that it would never end.” She paused, and her voice became softer, “But now that I think about it, it is actually quite short. So short that… in the blink of an eye, only the two of us still remember it.”

Two of us.

Ling Xueqing’s heart seemed to be pinched gently by these four words, and the sour juice slowly seeped out.Yes, they are the only ones left.Shared memory is an island that no one can set foot on, and it is the strongest and most fragile bond between them.

“Qiu Lan.” Ling Xueqing suddenly called her.

“Huh?” Ye Qiulan finally raised his eyes, his eyes clear and a little questioning.

Ling Xueqing’s Adam’s apple moved slightly.She wants to ask, what if this railway track, which only we remember, eventually disappears into the weeds?She wanted to ask, what if one day, even the premise of “the two of us” had to be changed?Those deep-buried anxieties that belong to Alpha, those responsibilities that belong to the daughter of the Ling family, and her complex emotions of greed and fear for this relationship, almost blurt out.

But in the end, she just raised her hand and rubbed the side of Ye Qiulan’s cheek very lightly and quickly with the back of her fingers – at some point, there was a little bit of almost invisible paper fiber stained there.

“It’s stained with something.” She said with a calm tone, as if the throbbing and turbulence just now had never happened.

The skin on the back of the fingers feels warm and slightly cool, like fine mutton-fat jade.Just one touch.

Ye Qiulan was obviously stunned.She stared blankly at Ling Xueqing, a layer of very light powder slowly spreading on her cheeks at a speed visible to the naked eye.Not because of the teasing of Alpha pheromones (Beta is not sensitive to this), but because of this extraordinary, slightly intimate touch.In their twenty years together, they had hugged and snuggled together when they were cold or scared, but such subtle movements with clear touching meaning were almost rare.

“Yes…really?” She subconsciously raised her hand to touch her face, and her fingertips touched the place where Ling Xueqing had just touched. There seemed to be a trace of strange temperature remaining on the skin there.She lowered her eyes, the blush spreading quietly to her ears, and her voice was so low that it was almost inaudible, “Thank you…”

The pendulum of the huge wall clock in the library made a heavy, regular “click”.Time is passing, and the sun has shifted another inch.The shadow of the camphor tree climbed up the back of Ye Qiulan’s hand, shaking like a gentle kiss.

Ling Xueqing picked up the pen again and looked back at the difficult words.The sour warmth in his chest did not recede, but instead became more entangled with the cold restraint.She knows that there are some things that cannot be said, and there are some boundaries that cannot be crossed.But at this moment, in this single still time and space filled with sunshine, old books, and each other’s breath, at least they still have the same desk, the same memory, and the same unexplained attachment in silence.

Ye Qiulan also lowered his head again and tightened his grip on the repair pen.The pen tip is full of water, like a heart that suddenly becomes heavy.The repair work continued, but her fingertips did not move for a long time, allowing the drop of pulp to slowly, slowly condense into a transparent amber that was about to fall off at the tip of the pen.