That Nameless Summer Chapter 40

Reunion

Seven years later, late autumn.

Song Li came to this first-tier city in the south with his team to play in the finals. Traffic was stuck on the main road in the CBD. He opened the car window and looked at the street scene. The sound of his teammates discussing tactics was still ringing in his headphones. His eyes casually scanned the rows of office buildings on the roadside without any disturbance.

In the past seven years, he has grown from a humble boy to a top e-sports anchor. He is still a god with his fingertips, but his temper has become increasingly taciturn. There is a dullness in his eyebrows and eyes, and he is too lazy to delve into everything around him – just like he never thought that the venue for this game would be Ling Qingye’s city.

The car moved slowly, and a glass-walled office building came into view on the right. In the parking space downstairs, a man was leaning next to a black off-road vehicle.

Song Li’s eyes seemed to be attracted by a magnet, his breathing suddenly stopped, and the sound in the earphones disappeared instantly.

The man wears a dark high-end suit, with his cuffs rolled up, revealing the cold watch on his wrist. His profile is sharp and clean, losing the coldness of his youth and adding a bit of calmness polished by the mall.He was talking on the phone with his head lowered, his brows slightly furrowed, and his tone was unclear, but it conveyed undeniable strength.

It’s Ling Qingye.

Seven years.

Song Li’s heart felt as if it was tightly grasped by a hand, and it tightened with pain. His fingertips subconsciously curled up, and his nails dug into his palm.When he fled in a hurry without leaving a word of farewell or changing any contact information, this face appeared repeatedly in his dreams, every line was clear. Now the real person was standing in front of him, but it was so unfamiliar that it made him panic.

At this moment, Ling Qingye hung up the phone and glanced at the traffic.

Eyes facing each other.

Time seemed to stand still for an instant, and the honking and noise around me became a blurry background sound.

Ling Qingye’s pupils suddenly shrank, the fingers holding the phone tightened suddenly, and his knuckles turned white.He stared at Song Li, his eyes turning from initial astonishment to stormy waves, and then he suppressed them forcefully, leaving only the undercurrent churning deep in his eyes, which was too complicated to understand.

Song Li’s Adam’s apple rolled hard and he opened his mouth, but no sound came out.He wanted to look away, but his body seemed to be pinned, and he could only look straight at him, his eyes filled with shock, panic, and a trace of grievance and resentment that even he didn’t want to admit – blame him for not looking for him back then, blame him for not hearing anything from him in the past seven years.

Ling Qingye didn’t move, just leaning on the car, his eyes locked on Song Li solemnly.

Seven years of time went back crazily as the two looked at each other. The empty seats in the ordinary class, the notes in the tree hole, the basketball in the wrong question book, the light used to write questions late at night…these fragments that were dusted by the years instantly pierced through the layers of disguise and made the two of them feel pain in their hearts.

He has changed, but it seems he has not changed.Ling Qingye looked at Song Li’s brows and eyes exposed under his peaked cap. The arrogance of his youth was hidden under the dullness in his eyes. The stubble on his chin added to his desolation, but he was still the person who had made him worry about him for seven years and toss and turn in his midnight dreams.

The two of them were frozen like this, separated by a busy street and seven years of unspeakable blankness, their eyes locked, full of twisting and pulling.

Song Li was defeated first and turned his face away suddenly, a sour taste welling up in his throat, and his eyes instantly became hot.He was afraid that if he looked at it for one more second, the emotions he had held in for seven years would burst. He was afraid that he would lose his temper and rush to ask him how he had been in the past seven years. He was afraid that the answer he would get was not what he wanted.

Ling Qingye looked at his turned side face, his pursed lips tightened even more, and the veins in the hand holding the phone bulged.He subconsciously stepped up to cross the street. As soon as he lifted his foot, he suddenly paused and took it back abruptly.

The seven-year estrangement cannot be erased by saying “Long time no see”.He didn’t know why Song Li came here, he didn’t know what he had experienced over the years, and he didn’t know whether his proximity at this moment was a disturbance or a comfort.

The taxi drove slowly through the intersection, and Song Li’s face disappeared from Ling Qingye’s sight.

Ling Qingye stood there, looking at the direction where the car disappeared. He didn’t move for a long time. The phone screen at his fingertips flickered on and off, and the work phone interface he just hung up was still on it, but all he could think about was Song Li’s red eyes just now.

Song Li leaned on the back seat of the taxi, took off his headphones, his chest heaved violently, raised his hand to wipe his face hard, and felt the cold moisture in his hand.He curled up and buried his face in his knees. The dull pain in his heart came and lingered.

…

As winter gradually enters, the breeze begins to blow.

Backstage at the downtown brand launch event.

Xu Jiangyou had just finished taking off half of her makeup, and her manager was adjusting her skirt. She lowered her eyes and unconsciously rubbed the edge of the dressing table with her fingertips. The spotlight on the stage just now was still floating in her mind.

“Sister Jiang, the investor representative is here to say hello.” The assistant reminded softly.

Xu Jiangyou raised his eyes and met a pair of heavy eyes.

Qin Jiangwen stood at the door, his suit buttoned meticulously, a document held between his fingertips, his expression was his usual indifference, but there was a hint of astonishment hidden in his eyes.He did not expect that this global spokesperson would be Xu Jiangyou.

The air stagnated for half a second.

Xu Jiangyou first withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyelashes again, and said in a calm voice, “Mr. Qin.”

It’s not “Long time no see”, it’s not any personal title, it’s just the most official courtesy.

Qin Jiang heard that his Adam’s apple moved, took two steps forward, and stopped where he was. The distance was not too far or too close, just enough to maintain dignity. “Ms. Xu, happy to cooperate.”

He deliberately emphasized the word “Miss” as if to draw a clear line, but the fingers holding the document had already quietly wrinkled.

The two said nothing more.

The staff backstage were coming and going, the swishing of makeup brushes and whispered conversations were all there, but it made the silence between the two people particularly stinging.Xu Jiangyou stared at his reflection in the mirror, not daring to look at him again; Qin Jiangwen’s gaze fell on the top of her hair, and she clearly had something to ask, but when it came to her mouth, all she could say was stiff politeness.

The cautiousness seven years ago and the deliberate alienation seven years later were twisted into an invisible thread, making both of them breathless.