Paper Lover At Old Town Bookstore Chapter 62

Old town bookstore owner

Song Qiusheng’s funeral was held quietly, just like the three years he spent in a neighboring city.The blue-black tombstone stands on the mountainside, facing the city in the distance, and looks very much like the alley scenery that can be seen from the door of the bookstore.

Song Zhili was wearing a pure black suit, with the cuffs neatly rolled up, but his hair, which he usually took care of meticulously, was a little messy.He stood in front of the tombstone, holding a bouquet of white platycodon in his hand – it was Qiu Sheng’s favorite flower, said to be quieter than roses and longer than roses.

The sound of footsteps came from behind. He turned around and saw Lin Zhiqing, He Ping’an, Xing Qingru, and Zhang Biling standing not far away. Xu Xingruo was holding the child in his arms, with a touch of sadness on his face.

“Zhili.” He Ping’an stepped forward first, patted his shoulder, and said in a low voice, “My condolences.”

Song Zhili nodded, his throat was tight and he couldn’t speak.

Although they have not been in contact often over the years, they all know that Qiu Sheng is living a stable life in a neighboring city, and they also know that he is by Qiu Sheng’s side.

Zhang Biling’s eyes were red, and she held a small bouquet of daisies in her hand and placed it gently next to the tombstone: “Qiu Sheng… he should be happy there. He always said that he likes quiet days.”

Xu Xingruo hugged the child and said softly: “I was still thinking that when the child is older, I would take him to the bookstore to listen to Qiu Sheng telling stories. Unexpectedly…” Her voice choked, “Thank you for taking care of him all these years.”

Song Zhili looked at Qiu Sheng’s name on the tombstone, and his fingertips trembled slightly: “It was him who accompanied me through the most stable three years.”

Lin Zhiqing, who usually loves to make jokes, calmed down at this moment and sighed: “Qiu Sheng is a good person. He saved Ping An and… also smoothed the edges of your body.” He paused, “In the future, if you need any help, just ask.”

Xing Qingru stood next to He Pingan, his eyes fell on the tombstone, and said softly: “He just fell asleep in the rocking chair and did not suffer much.”

Song Zhili hummed, the sadness in his eyes was like a mist that couldn’t be dissolved.In his eyes, Qiu Sheng did just take a nap, but the sleep was so long that he could no longer wait for the moment he woke up.

The wind blows through the mountains, carrying the scent of vegetation.A group of people stood in front of the tombstone, without many words, only silent condolences.They all know that the gentle man guarding the bookstore and basking in the sun in the alley of the neighboring city has remained in time forever.

Song Zhili bent down and gently brushed off a fallen leaf on the tombstone. His voice was as soft as a sigh: “Qiu Sheng, I will guard the bookstore and take good care of the dumplings. Wait for me. I will come to you after I take care of everything.”

The sun shines through the clouds, falling on the tombstone and on Song Zhili’s body.He stood there, like a silent statue, guarding his obsession, guarding the three years he spent with Qiu Sheng, guarding a dream that would never wake up.

When dusk entered the bookstore, Song Zhili came back from the cemetery.Tuanzi was curled up on the rocking chair at the door. Seeing him come in, he just lazily raised his eyes and buried his head in his paws – he probably also knew that the person who always loved to scratch his chin would never come back.

The smell of Qiu Sheng still lingers in the bookstore, the paper is mixed with the scent of tea, and there is also the faint fragrance of his commonly used cedar-flavored hand cream.

Song Zhili did not turn on the light, but took advantage of the dim light outside the window and walked step by step to the bookshelf.

He wanted to organize Qiu Sheng’s books, but he found a hard-shell book in the middle of the innermost bookshelf.

It is a dark brown diary, the cover is worn and shiny, and it has obviously been turned over many times.

He sat down on the bay window and opened the pages with trembling fingertips.The handwriting on the first page is clear and the date is the day Qiu Sheng first arrived in the neighboring city——

“On the third day of my travels, I finally arrived at the neighboring city. Xu Xingruo is still an intern in the company, and there are still three months before the business frame-up. I have to find a way to stop it. This world is a bloody novel, and I am just a passerby without a name, but I don’t want to watch Xu Xingruo make the same mistakes again.”

Song Zhili’s breathing suddenly stopped.Wearing books?The world is a novel?He seemed to have heard Qiu Sheng say that this was like a key, suddenly opening the secret that Qiu Sheng had hidden for many years.

He continued to scroll down, and the handwriting gradually became sloppy, with panic and helplessness——

“Song Zhili is so crazy. He locked me up and installed surveillance cameras. I was scared to death. But I couldn’t escape. Xu Xingruo’s crisis has not been resolved yet. I didn’t expect that a domineering CEO in a novel would be so paranoid.”

“He lost control again today because I said I liked Xu Xingruo. That was a lie, but he believed it. When he bit me, I felt so painful that I wanted to cry, but I saw panic in his eyes. Does this man love me, or does he love his possessiveness?”

“The moment I cut my wrists, I was really tired. After spending three years in the book, I saved Xu Xingruo, but trapped myself like a caged bird. If death can let me go home, it seems good. But when I saw Song Zhili hugging me and crying, I regretted it a little… His tears were too hot.”

“He stayed in the neighboring city as a friend. He has changed and is no longer paranoid. He will make coffee for me, help me organize my bookshelf, and watch the rain with me on rainy days. It seems like a good life. I don’t want to go home at first, and I even wonder, is it okay to spend the rest of my life with him like this?”

“I went to see the sunrise over the sea of clouds with him today. He said he didn’t want to be just friends anymore. I agreed. In fact, I didn’t tell him. I was attracted to him from the moment he guarded me in the hospital and silently dealt with all risks. Song Zhili, it would have been better if you had been so gentle earlier.”

“It’s been three years. The bookstore is very good, Tuanzi is very well-behaved, and he is very good. I seem to really regard this place as my home. But sometimes in my dreams, I still dream about the original rental house, about the old air conditioner and the smell of instant noodles. I don’t know if such happiness is stolen. What will he do if I suddenly disappear one day?”

The date on the last page was the day before he fell asleep.The handwriting is gentle and relieved——

“The sunshine is so nice, I want to sleep in the rocking chair. Song Zhili, thank you for accompanying me these three years. If I really can’t go back, it won’t be too bad to meet you. If I go back, you should take good care of yourself, run the bookstore well, and stop being paranoid. I love you, a very complicated kind of love.”

The diary ends abruptly here.

Song Zhili’s hands clenched the notebook tightly, his knuckles turned white, and his tears fell on the page, blurring the ink.It turns out that Qiu Sheng is really not from this world. It turns out that his cautiousness, his struggle and obedience, and his occasional confusion are all traceable.

It turns out that when he said “go home”, he really meant leaving this world.

It turns out that his feelings for her were not docile at the beginning, but evolved from fear and resistance, to slowly being moved, to the last words “I love you.”

He thought of Qiu Sheng sleeping in the rocking chair, with a smile on her lips, so peaceful.It turned out that he was not asleep, but that he had returned to his own world.It turns out that in his eyes, “never waking up again” was Qiu Sheng finally getting what he wanted.

But he would rather Qiu Sheng had not gone back.I would rather he still be the person who blames himself for being “glib”, reads books by the bay window, and makes fun of dumplings, even if he hides such a secret in his heart, even if he occasionally thinks of the original world.

Song Zhili held the diary in his arms, his shoulders shaking violently.He finally understood that all Qiu Sheng’s struggles and tenderness stemmed from this unspeakable secret.And his paranoia back then actually made him so scared.

“I’m sorry…” he choked, his voice broken in the empty bookstore, “Qiu Sheng, I’m sorry…”

Tuanzi came over, rubbed his head on his knees, and let out a low whimper.The night outside the window is getting darker and darker, and the lights in the bookstore are finally lit. Under the warm yellow light, the handwriting on the diary is clearly visible, recording the secret of a book traveler and a complex and deep love that spans two worlds.

Song Zhili gently rubbed the writing on the page, as if he was touching Qiu Sheng’s warmth.The wall-climbing tigers at the entrance of the alley withered and flourished, the roses bloomed and withered, and time carved shallow traces on the bluestone road.Song Zhili would move out the rocking chair in the afternoon every day and place it where Qiu Sheng often lay, holding the round dumplings in his arms, as if reliving the past.

The sun was still warm, falling on him and on Tuanzi’s soft fur.He would raise his hand and gently scratch Tuanzi’s chin, just like Qiu Sheng did back then. The movements of his fingertips were incredibly gentle.

Occasionally, the wind blew by, causing the pages of the book to rustle. In a daze, he always felt that there was still that person sitting next to him, who would laugh and tease him, “The Song family’s great cause is gone”, his voice was clear and smooth, with a faint smile.

He still takes care of the bookstore every day, replacing withered flowers, tidying up the messy bookshelves, and letting the sun shine on the cushions in the bay windows.

Just don’t make two cups of coffee, just make one cup and put it where Qiu Sheng usually sits, even if it gets cold in the end.He would open the diary left by Qiu Sheng and read the handwriting over and over again. From the initial panic and helplessness to the later gentle relief, every word was like Qiu Sheng whispering in his ear.

The number of customers coming and going has changed one after another. Some people are curious about why Boss Song always hugs his cat to bask in the sun. Some people have heard the story of this bookstore. When passing by, a bouquet of white platycodon will be placed at the door.

Song Zhili never took the initiative to talk about it, but occasionally someone would ask, “Boss, where is your lover?” He would look up into the distance, with a faint smile in his eyes, and say softly: “He is home, waiting for me.”

Tuanzi is getting older and doesn’t like to move anymore. He spends most of his time curled up in Song Zhili’s arms, basking in the sun with him and listening to him read his diary.

One day, Tuanzi died in his arms. Song Zhili buried it under the rose bushes at the door of the bookstore, with a white platycodon next to it.

He didn’t bask in the sun that day. He just sat in the rocking chair, holding the diary, and sat there all night.

As the days passed, Song Zhili’s hair turned white and his back became hunched, but he still moved out of the rocking chair and sat at the door every day.

But without Tuanzi in his arms, he held Qiu Sheng’s old coat, which still had a faint smell of cedar, as if Qiu Sheng had never left.

The old people at the alley have left one after another. Only this bookstore, the rocking chair and the old man at the door have become the unchanging scenery of the old city.

Some people say that Boss Song is waiting for someone who will never come back; others say that he and that person have reunited in time.

It was another sunny afternoon. Song Zhili was leaning on the rocking chair, with his eyes closed and a gentle smile on his lips, holding the diary tightly in his hand.The wind blew gently, lifting the pages of the diary, and stopped at the last page – “I love you, a very complicated kind of love.”

He seemed to hear a familiar voice whispering in his ear: “Song Zhili, the sunshine is so beautiful today.”

Song Zhili slowly opened his eyes. There was no sadness in his eyes, only complete relief.He responded softly: “Well, that’s great.”

The sun shone on his face, warm and peaceful.This time, it seemed that he had really waited for the person he had been waiting for all his life to meet again at the end of time, under the warm sunshine.