I Woke Up And My Girlfriend Was Gone - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The bustling downtown area receded rapidly behind the car windows, the towering skyscrapers gradually replaced by trees laden with golden leaves.

Shen Qingzi drove toward the outskirts of the city with Zuo Yin in the passenger seat.

After several winding turns, a mountain emerged under the azure sky. Although late autumn had arrived, the mountain slopes still shimmered with hints of green. As the car drew closer, a dam connected to the mountain came into view, its water rippling with reflected light. At the foot of the mountain lay a vast, continuous stretch of gold.

“Where are we?” Zuo Yin asked.

“A reservoir in the eastern suburbs. It’s currently a national Grade-I water resource protection base. Because it has never been developed, very few people know about it,” Shen Qingzi replied.

“Are we allowed to go in?” Zuo Yin asked, a bit worried.

“Of course not,” Shen Qingzi answered, flashing a smile at Zuo Yin. “But there is one place we can go.”

With that, Shen Qingzi turned the steering wheel and drove straight toward the intersection of the dam and the deep woods.

The road was sparsely populated; low-slung rural courtyards occasionally poked out from the tall cypress forests. A small bus passed them, and Zuo Yin could clearly see that the interior was empty except for the driver. It was a public welfare bus meant to ferry workers back from the city center.

Gradually, the desolate scenery turned silent. Zuo Yin no longer saw any farmhouses; instead, they were surrounded by thick greenery that felt much cooler than the city center. That glimpse of golden forest she had seen from afar finally reappeared around a corner.

A small lake was surrounded on three sides by mountains. The large black car felt a bit clumsy maneuvering through the narrow winding path. The golden patches transformed into ginkgo trees encircling the mountain stream. With mountains, water, and a renovated small log cabin, it was as quiet as a hidden paradise.

“Almost nobody knows about this place,” Shen Qingzi said as she parked the car on a flat patch of ground. “When I was little, the regulations weren’t as strict. My father found this place while fishing, and he contacted the village committee. Since water source areas are strictly forbidden from development, the village felt it was a waste to leave the land idle, so they leased this spot to my father to use as a studio.”

Shen Qingzi led Zuo Yin into the cabin. The style was Japanese-inspired; the front hall was transparent and led directly to the backyard, where opening the door revealed the mountain and water. Her gaze swept over various corners, each hiding warm memories of her playing with Shen Yue.

Zuo Yin looked at the painting area on the left. The pigments and oils were arranged neatly on the shelves without a speck of dust. “Does someone come to clean regularly?”

“Yes.” Shen Qingzi tucked away her memories and nodded, walking to an easel to feel the paper resting on it. She hadn’t been here in a long time, but the paper was still perfectly preserved.

Bamboo window frames encased the picturesque view outside. Shen Qingzi suggested to Zuo Yin, “Want to give it a try?”

Zuo Yin had been eager to draw the scenery the moment she stepped out of the car. Since Shen Qingzi invited her, she didn’t decline and nodded decisively. “Okay.”

The easel was set up outside the cabin. Zuo Yin took a perfectly sharpened pencil and made the first stroke on the pure white paper. The rustling sound followed the breeze into Shen Qingzi’s ears. She sat on a rock not far away, admiring every stroke the young girl made.

Zuo Yin painted just like her personality in Shen Qingzi’s mind: every stroke was crisp and decisive, and her lines were exceptionally steady. However…

Shen Qingzi frowned as she looked at the curve of the shoreline Zuo Yin was sketching. In some places, the girl handled the transitions a bit too bluntly.

“Here, it would be better like this.”

Shen Qingzi’s voice rose unexpectedly behind Zuo Yin. Immediately after, the hand Zuo Yin used to hold the pencil was covered by another, jade-white hand. Shen Qingzi stood behind her, holding her hand in a semi-embrace. Every breath she took brushed unintentionally against Zuo Yin’s neck.

It was as if Shen Qingzi was manipulating the pencil in Zuo Yin’s hand to leave a ripple on the lake, softly and lightly triggering a shiver of excitement.

“See? Handling it this way makes the atmosphere of the painting much softer.”

Shen Qingzi was focused on the teaching, but Zuo Yin’s vision was filled entirely by the side of her face—they were so close their cheeks were nearly touching. It was too close. So close that Zuo Yin could see every fine pore on Shen Qingzi’s delicate skin; those thick, inseparable lashes were now distinct, and her brown-black pupils clearly reflected the sketch of the mountain stream.

The streams, lakes, and ginkgo forests couldn’t compare to the person before her.

“Do you see it now?” Shen Qingzi asked, turning her head toward her distracted student.

Zuo Yin’s gaze met Shen Qingzi’s for only a second before she hurriedly looked down at the drawing Shen Qingzi had adjusted. Without even discerning what exactly had been changed, Zuo Yin nodded. “Yes.”

Shen Qingzi noticed Zuo Yin’s flustered state but didn’t understand the reason behind it. Just as she opened her mouth to ask, the phone in her pocket rang. Shen Qingzi looked down at the caller ID, and Zuo Yin caught a glimpse too.

It was Shen Lai.

“Keep painting, I need to take this call,” Shen Qingzi said as she answered.

Zuo Yin nodded obediently. Holding her pencil, she stared blankly at the drawing Shen Qingzi had just touched. She didn’t follow the instructions to keep painting, nor did she analyze the brilliance of the edits. Zuo Yin had never been a “good kid”; why would she start listening now?

She raised her right hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, concentrating fully on eavesdropping. She felt that a call from Shen Lai couldn’t be anything good. Shen Qingzi’s voice wasn’t loud, so Zuo Yin worked hard to piece together the fragmented conversation from the keywords she caught.

“…Teacher Chen was a bit excessive with the Wu family this time…” “Yes, it was for Xiao Yin… she is just…” “Father… I don’t think I was wrong in this matter… Xiao Yue…”

Zuo Yin realized Shen Qingzi was explaining today’s events at the exhibition to Shen Lai, and that she was having a slight argument with her father. Yet, even so, Shen Qingzi was still protecting her to the very end.

The wind in the mountains picked up, wrinkling the peaceful surface of the lake. The golden leaves of the ginkgo trees fell in a rustling shower, and Shen Qingzi stood right in the middle of that golden rain. Her black hair billowed in the wind, her white-jade-like figure standing slender and graceful.

Zuo Yin stared blankly at this beautiful sight. Shen Qingzi finished her call at that moment and turned around, catching Zuo Yin looking her way.

“Eavesdropping?” Shen Qingzi smiled, no anger on her face.

Zuo Yin neither denied nor admitted it. She simply asked, “Did I cause trouble for you?”

“Eavesdropping is one thing, but why admit to it so directly?” Shen Qingzi teased. She didn’t intend to explain the details to Zuo Yin and tried to brush it off.

“Did I?” Zuo Yin refused to let it go.

A moment ago, Shen Qingzi had been wondering if it was worth offending someone for this young girl. But now, she had no hesitation. She saw a familiar stubbornness in the girl’s eyes—the same stubbornness she herself had shown when she ignored Shen Lai’s advice and decided to pull her painting from the exhibition.

Shen Qingzi’s eyes curved slightly as usual as she shook her head. “No.”

“Don’t hide it from me, I heard everything.”

She hadn’t. This was just Zuo Yin using a bit of reverse psychology to get her to tell the truth. Zuo Yin was afraid Shen Qingzi was using a stalling tactic to keep her in the dark. She didn’t like being a burden to others, and she especially didn’t want that person to be Shen Qingzi.

“Oh? Using tricks like that to bait me?” Shen Qingzi saw right through the inexperienced girl. She reined in her smile and asked, “What would I have to hide from you? Does Xiao Yin not trust her teacher?”

Zuo Yin scrambled to shake her head in defense. “No, it’s not that. I’m just afraid…”

“What is there to be afraid of?” Shen Qingzi cut her off directly. She took a light breath and raised her hand. Her fan-boned hand opened slightly, hovering over the girl’s head before settling into the soft black hair with a gentle breeze.

Shen Qingzi looked up slightly at the girl, who was a bit taller than her. Her expression carried a touch of seriousness as she said, “Xiao Yin, I told you. As long as I am here, you don’t need to fear anyone.”

The afterglow of the setting sun hung on the horizon, drawing a golden halo behind Shen Qingzi. In an instant, Zuo Yin’s heart—which had been falling anxiously from a great height—was caught by a soft, tender cloud. She had thought it was just a casual promise, but Shen Qingzi was truly carrying it out.

…

At night, Zuo Yin tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Perhaps it was the silence of the night that allowed her tensed nerves to relax, causing her feelings for the woman who had protected her to grow wildly, like grass after a rain. The intimacy of Shen Qingzi holding her hand from behind in the sunset merged into a vivid, imaginative picture.

Shen Qingzi—the woman she had admired and looked up to for over four years—had made a promise to her that no one else ever would.

Suddenly, the phone on Zuo Yin’s nightstand vibrated. The empty nightstand had an excellent echoing effect; the sound was exceptionally loud, like a sudden interruption of her shameful thoughts. Zuo Yin couldn’t help but be startled.

She grabbed the phone. The caller ID read: “Crazy Woman.”

As those two words pulsed in the darkness, Zuo Yin felt an ill omen. Her heart began to beat even more violently than before.

…

A few seconds later, the door to Zuo Yin’s bedroom was thrown open from the inside. The light spilling from the guest room disturbed Shen Qingzi, who was smoking on the balcony. It was late, but she was preoccupied with her own thoughts and couldn’t sleep.

Shen Qingzi looked at the panicked figure in the darkness. “Xiao Yin, what’s wrong?”

Zuo Yin answered the phone coldly, but the voice on the other end didn’t belong to Zuo Lan. It was the voice of the neighbor, Butcher Zhang’s wife.

“My mom… she was sent to the hospital for emergency resuscitation.”

With a mental snap, the string in Zuo Yin’s mind broke.