When The Snow Falls In Autumn Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The afternoon sunlight slanted in through the tall glass windows on the west side of the library, falling on the side of the long oak table near the aisle, illuminating the fine dust floating in the air.On the desktop, the final draft of the report, scattered references, and printer paper filled with marks were all coated with a layer of fluffy gold.There is a permanent smell of old book paper and wood in the air, and it is so quiet that only the occasional sound of turning pages in the distance and the low hum of the air conditioning system are left.

Ye Qiulan sat in the shadow at the edge of the light strip, his fingers unconsciously twisting the corner of a page of manuscript paper. On that page, there was a paragraph describing the villages in the Guixi River Basin that had been repeatedly revised in red handwriting.The handwriting was a little messy, and there was a sense of frustration that he was hesitant to speak.She raised her eyes and looked across.

Ling Xueqing sat on the side facing direct sunlight. The light was too strong, making her squint slightly, but her back was straight.What was spread out in front of her was not manuscript paper, but a thin and light laptop. The light from the screen reflected on her face, bright and dim.Her fingers slid quickly and steadily on the touchpad, pausing occasionally to hit the keyboard a few times to modify the wording of the last part of the report.From Ye Qiulan’s perspective, he could only see her downturned, focused profile and her straight, bloodless lips.

Ling Xueqing has been like this since she received the “I heard about it” message during lunch.At three o’clock in the afternoon, she appeared at her usual location on time, with the hot breath of the outdoor sun still on her body, and a thin layer of sweat on her forehead.She didn’t say much, she simply asked Ye Qiulan about the progress of his revision, then turned on the computer and started working on the core argument part that she was responsible for.Not a word was said about what she “inquired” from the local history teacher.

Ye Qiulan wanted to ask, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.Ling Xueqing’s body was surrounded by an aura of silence that was even stronger than usual and kept strangers away. That kind of silence was not empty, but like a taut bowstring, filled with unused power.The rhythm of her typing on the keyboard was slightly faster than usual, and the force of her fingertips seemed to be heavier.

They each worked in silence for nearly an hour.Ye Qiulan finally marked all the parts that needed to be blurred, put down the pen, and rubbed his sore eyes.She picked up Ling Xueqing’s thermos cup next to her – it contained the warm water that Ling Xueqing had poured for her when he came, and it was already completely cold – and took a small sip. The cold water slid down her throat, making her sober up.

She looked at Ling Xueqing opposite, who was still immersed in the light of the screen, and finally couldn’t help but called out softly: “Senior Sister Ling.”

Ling Xueqing’s fingers stopped tapping the keyboard.She didn’t raise her head, her eyes still staring at the screen, but her brows moved almost imperceptibly.”Huh?”

“Did you… find out anything at noon?” Ye Qiulan asked cautiously, his voice appearing particularly clear in the quiet reading area.

Ling Xueqing was silent for a few seconds.In this brief silence, there was only the whirring sound of the air conditioner vents.Then, she finally raised her eyes and moved her gaze from the screen to Ye Qiulan.Those eyes looked particularly deep under the computer light. There seemed to be many complicated things rolling inside, but the surface remained calm.

“Zhaojiaba,” she said, her voice low but her words clear, “In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was indeed a medium-sized figure. His name was Zhao Zhenlu. He was a civil servant in the late Wanli years. He served as a prefectural and county magistrate for several terms in the Huguang area. He was nothing special.Such a particularly prominent political achievement, but the family tradition is said to be very strict and the family property is rich.After the Qing army entered the customs, his branch quickly declined, and the family property was divided and sold. The numbers of acres recorded in the local chronicles are the same.”

She spoke in a straightforward manner, as if she were reading a boring introduction to local chronicles.Ye Qiulan listened, and the vague expectations in his heart were disappointed again.This doesn’t sound like anything special.

“Is that all?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Ling Xueqing looked at her, with a very faint, weighing look in his eyes.Her fingers on the touch pad unconsciously rubbed the cold metal surface.

“The teacher also mentioned something,” she lowered her voice and leaned forward slightly, closing the distance.Ye Qiulan could smell the crisp cedar scent on her body, mixed with the slight heat emitted by the computer.”After Zhao Zhenlu resigned from office and returned to his hometown in his later years, in addition to taking care of family property, he seemed obsessed with collecting and organizing local documents, especially the lost poems and essays of literati who lived in Yongzhou during the Tang and Song Dynasties. He also wrote some textual research articles, but most of them were not published, and only the manuscripts were circulated within the family.”

Ye Qiulan’s heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat.Literati of the Tang and Song Dynasties…lost poems and essays…Yongzhou…Liu Zongyuan!

“You mean… he may have collected… clues related to Liu Zongyuan? Or even… ‘Yi Yun Pavilion’?” Her voice trembled slightly with excitement.

“It’s possible, but there is no evidence.” Ling Xueqing quickly poured cold water on it, and his tone returned to his usual calm tone. “The teacher only heard his mentor mention it in a casual chat. He said that during the Republic of China, scholars visited Yongzhou and seemed to have seen some incomplete manuscripts hidden by the descendants of the Zhao family. There were mentions of words such as ‘Xiting Relics’, but the whereabouts of those incomplete manuscripts were unknown. They may have been destroyed in the war, or they may have been lost. There are no precise records or physical objects left.”

Hope had just risen, but it became dim again.The light in Ye Qiulan’s eyes dimmed.

“So,” Ling Xueqing looked at her and her tone became more serious, “This is just a rumor that cannot be confirmed. It may even be a rumor. Our report must not be based on such mythical rumors. Do you understand?”

Ye Qiulan nodded, but his heart felt like a ball of wet cotton.What if…if Zhao Zhenlu had really collected relevant clues, if those fragments really existed, or even…if the stolen fragments happened to contain some relevant and unnoticed records?Once this idea comes up, it wraps around me like a vine.

“Then…the library thing…” she hesitated, “could it be related to this rumor? Does anyone think…we found something?”

Ling Xueqing’s face darkened.She leaned back in her chair and looked back at the computer screen, but the focus didn’t seem to be there.”I don’t know.” Her answer was short and straightforward, “Guessing without evidence is meaningless. What we have to do now is to ensure that the report itself is impeccable and submit it. The rest,” she paused, “is left to the school.”

She’s right.Ye Qiulan also knew that indulging in unfounded conjectures would only lead to confusion.However, the feeling of being shrouded by an invisible shadow did not disappear because of Ling Xueqing’s rational analysis, but instead became clearer.

Ling Xueqing seemed not to want to continue this topic.She returned her attention to the computer, tapping quickly with her fingers to finish the last paragraph of argument.Then, she turned the computer screen to Ye Qiulan.

“This is the conclusion of the final draft. Take a look at it. If there is no problem, we will check the citations and format and submit it tonight.”

Ye Qiulan leaned over to take a look.On the screen, the text is rigorous and logical, and the argument that “Yiyun Pavilion” is a possible geographical clue for Liu Zongyuan’s lost landscape travel notes is demonstrated clearly and restrainedly, without any out-of-bounds speculation.The blurred place names and family information are also cleverly integrated into the overall geographical and historical background narrative without appearing obtrusive.

Ling Xuequing’s professional ability always makes people feel at ease, even in this disturbing background.

“Very good.” Ye Qiulan said softly.

Ling Xueqing said “hmm”, turned the computer back, and started to call up the reference list for final verification.Ye Qiulan also picked up the densely marked first draft in front of him and prepared to check it with her.

The two worked in silence again.The sunlight moved slowly on the table, sliding from Ling Xueqing’s shoulder to her arm, and finally fell on the edge of the spread manuscript paper.There are gradually more and more people in the reading area, but this corner still maintains a certain secluded silence.

Just when Ye Qiulan was checking the page number of a quote about “Yu Di Ji Sheng”, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure walking out of the bookshelf passage diagonally behind them.The man didn’t walk very fast. He seemed to be here to check some information. He was holding a stack of books and lowered his head.

Ye Qiulan didn’t pay attention at first and continued to look down at the manuscript paper.But when the man walked past their table, his footsteps seemed to pause very slightly, so briefly that it was almost imperceptible.An inexplicable feeling of being watched, like a tiny ice needle, instantly pricked Ye Qiulan.

She raised her head subconsciously.

The man had already walked over, leaving only his back.He was a boy, not tall, wearing an ordinary dark gray short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans. His figure quickly disappeared behind another row of bookshelves.

A very ordinary student.Maybe it’s an illusion.Ye Qiulan shook his head, trying to get rid of the momentary discomfort.Probably because I have been too nervous recently.

“Here,” Ling Xueqing said suddenly, pointing at a spot on the screen, “please confirm the version information of “Yongzhou Prefecture Chronicles”. Is it the edition printed in the 22nd year of Kangxi’s reign, or the revised edition in the 24th year of Kangxi’s reign?”

Ye Qiulan quickly recovered his mind and looked through his notes.”It is the original edition of the 22nd year, but the copy we looked at in the Special Collections Department is a supplementary copy of the bookshop in the late Qing Dynasty. There are some later additions mixed in, and it needs to be noted…”

They threw themselves into the tedious and necessary detail checking.As time passed, the sunlight outside the window gradually took on the color of dusk, changing from blazing white to soft orange.

Finally, the last footnote was checked.Ling Xueqing saved the document, closed the computer, and let out a long, silent sigh of relief.The tight shoulder line seemed to have relaxed slightly.

“That’s it,” she said, with a hint of exhaustion in her voice after completing an important task.

Ye Qiulan also put down his pen and rubbed his stiff neck.After the report was completed, I should have felt relieved, but the stone in my heart seemed to have not fallen to the ground, but was just hanging in a different way.

Ling Xueqing began to pack her things, putting her computer, power cord, and notebook into a dark shoulder bag.Her movements were methodical, but slower than usual.Ye Qiulan also silently organized his manuscript papers and reference books and put them into the canvas bag.

Just when Ling Xueqing zipped up her backpack and was about to stand up, her movements suddenly stopped.Her eyes fell on the photocopy of “Yongzhou Prefecture” that Ye Qiulan had placed on the corner of the table, which she had brought over in the afternoon for final verification.

“This book,” Ling Xueqing stretched out her hand, took the photocopy over, and turned to the pages about the Guixi River Basin that they quoted most. Her fingertips lightly scratched the rough photocopy paper. “When you checked it just now, did you feel that… the photocopy effect of these pages seemed… blurrier than when we looked at it before?”

Ye Qiulan was stunned and leaned over to take a look.Those pages were a common list of land titles in local chronicles. The handwriting was originally small and dense, and the photocopying quality was always low, full of ink spots and water stains.She looked carefully and shook her head: “It seems… almost? It’s always been so blurry.”

Ling Xueqing didn’t speak, but carefully touched the edge of the page and the binding line with her fingers, frowning slightly.Her fingertips stopped at a corner of one of the pages near the binding. There was an irregular, small ink stain with a strange shape.

“This stain,” Ling Xueqing’s voice was very low, almost a whisper, “in my impression, it didn’t seem so big before, nor was it so…’new’.”

Ye Qiulan’s heart lifted.She also moved closer, almost head to head with Ling Xueching, and looked carefully at the ink stain.Indeed, the edge of the ink stain seemed a little “moisturizer” than other old stains, and the color seemed a little darker, as if… it had been accidentally dripped or rubbed on not long ago.

“Could it be…that we accidentally got it while we were looking through it?” Ye Qiulan guessed, but he didn’t know for sure.They are always very careful when reading.

Ling Xueqing didn’t answer.She raised her eyes and glanced around sharply.Everything was normal in the reading area. The students were immersed in reading and the administrator was organizing the bookshelves in the distance. There was nothing unusual.

She lowered her head and examined the pages carefully again, even holding the pages up to the light to see if the light transmission of the paper was even and if there were any traces of being soaked by extra liquid.Her expression was extremely serious, and her lips were pursed white.

Ye Qiulan held his breath and looked at her.A cold feeling slowly crawled up his spine.If…if they weren’t careless, who would it be?When?This photocopy was kept on the table in the afternoon, and they all left to go to the bathroom…

Ling Xueqing checked it for nearly a minute before slowly closing the photocopy.Her face looked a little pale in the dusk light.

“Maybe I remembered it wrong.” She finally said, her voice regaining her composure, but the heaviness deep in her eyes did not dissipate.She handed the photocopy to Ye Qiulan, “Put it away. We should go.”

Ye Qiulan took the book, his fingers felt a little cold.She knew that Ling Xueqing didn’t tell the truth, or didn’t tell the whole truth.She must have seen something wrong with that ink stain.

Ling Xueqing had already put her bag on her back and stood up.The golden-red light of the setting sun poured in from the huge glass window behind her, outlining her entire body extremely clearly, but also shrouded her expression in the shadow of the backlight, making it difficult to see clearly.

“I will submit the report.” She said, her eyes falling on Ye Qiulan’s face, and she paused for a second, “You…” She seemed to want to say something, but in the end she just said, “Go back and have a good rest. Don’t think too much.”

After saying that, she turned around and walked towards the exit.The pace is still steady, but the back figure in the gorgeous sunset reveals an indescribable loneliness and tension.

Ye Qiulan held the canvas bag and the photocopy that suddenly became suspicious, and stood there, watching her merge into the flow of people leaving the library until she could no longer be seen.The lights in the reading area were turned on one after another, dispelling the warm colors of dusk and replacing them with cold white light.

She lowered her head and looked at the rough dark blue cover of the photocopy in her arms.That small, unusual ink stain, like a malicious eye, was quietly embedded in the corner of the pile of old papers, reminding her that some things did not end with the completion of the report.

In the sky outside the window, the sunset was burning, so gorgeous that it was almost tragic.In the library, the lights are bright, but they cannot illuminate something that is quietly growing and entrenched in the shadows.She hugged the things in her arms tightly and walked step by step in the opposite direction to Ling Xueqing, toward the gradually falling warm night, but her heart felt like she was holding a piece of ice, falling heavily.