ISBH - Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Return
Han Tian lowered her head to look at the flower Mo Sheng had pressed into her hand, feeling a little at a loss.
It was the first time anyone had ever given her flowers.
She really wanted to take the flower home with her, yet now she existed only in an intangible state. She could not hold it while walking in public. The feeling left her helpless, just as she could not hold on to that relationship with Mo Sang...
Watching Han Tian's expression, Mo Sheng secretly smiled.
She took a photo of the flower with her newly bought mobile phone, then tore off a few petals and tucked them into a book. Tilting her head, she looked earnestly at Han Tian. "Sister likes this flower. When I get back I'll print the photo in color and work hard to make it into a bookmark, so the color and scent of the flower can be kept forever..."
"Sister, am I amazing..."
Mo Sheng tilting her head that way to ask for praise...
In that instant, Mo Sheng's face overlapped in her memory with a certain woman who, after finishing cooking, would insist that she praise her.
"Flowers blooming and withering is the natural way," Han Tian bit her lower lip to force back her tangled thoughts and looked away. "When it withers, just throw it away. We only need to remember the happiness of this moment..."
"But I want Sister to be happy every day!" Mo Sheng sighed and frowned like a little adult. "I even wanted to use this flower to please Sister..."
Saying this, Mo Sheng obediently tossed the flower into a trash can by the roadside.
"Silly child, Sister doesn't need you to please her." Han Tian was amused by Mo Sheng's rare childish tone and laughed. "Sister thanks you for your kindness, Mo Sheng."
Han Tian did not see the shadowed look in Mo Sheng's lowered eyes.
So it still would not work? Even with liking in her heart, she only wanted to possess a single instant. She had never once thought of staying together for a lifetime...
But even if you do not want it, I will still press it into your hands.
It was born to belong to you!
Mo Sheng curved her lips slightly. It was as if on this festival that belongs to lovers, you could only be together with me.
...
All in all, Mo Sheng and Han Tian both had a wonderful time on the trip.
After returning from the trip, Mo Sheng entered eleventh grade.
Mo Sheng had grown taller, and her bearing looked bright and gracious, growing ever closer to the Mo Sang Han Tian remembered from just after her debut.
Mo Sheng seemed to have put her feelings in order. After that Han Tian no longer saw the familiar small envelopes on Mo Sheng's desk, only seeing her go out to take phone calls from time to time.
Every time she took a call, Mo Sheng's face glowed with a shy and delighted smile. Han Tian guessed it must be Mo Sheng's boyfriend calling.
Such a Mo Sheng looked simple and happy, completely different in character from the later Mo Sang, who was clingy and both lovable and exasperating.
Looking at such a Mo Sheng, Han Tian felt a sour ache in her heart, but she told herself it was only sentimentality.
The time for her to leave was drawing ever closer. It was fortunate that Mo Sheng had a boyfriend. If she left, that boy could still comfort Mo Sheng.
Han Tian did not know what things would be like when she returned to the future.
But Han Tian felt there was a good chance she would not go back to look for Mo Sheng.
She was afraid she would fall in love with Mo Sheng again.
Han Tian's emotional world had always been rather spare. Mo Sang was the sole vivid brightness and surprise in her world, and such an experience left Han Tian feeling strange and flustered.
The feeling of loving someone like this was simply too far out of control.
If she succeeded in changing the past, then the Mo Sang that Han Tian loved would no longer exist...
Han Tian felt she would never again have the energy to love someone. For the rest of her life, she would either keep doing all kinds of research or be a good university professor who taught and guided students. She would return to her monotonous days, and her feelings for Mo Sang would become only the most beautiful memory hidden deep inside...
Having made her decision, Han Tian only wanted to cherish these final days together with Mo Sheng.
In the first semester of eleventh grade, Mo Sheng welcomed her seventeenth birthday.
Mo Sheng's birthday fell during the holidays. When it arrived, Mo Sheng brought Han Tian and a large group of classmates together to celebrate. After eating, they all went to sing at KTV.
At KTV, egged on by a crowd, a boy walked to the front and confessed to Mo Sheng.
"Mo Sheng, I really like you. Your boyfriend has already graduated, but we're still at the same school..."
That boy had come uninvited. He was handsome and dressed in a very stylish way, and he looked like someone quite popular at school.
Mo Sheng held a faint smile at the corner of her mouth as she gazed steadily at the boy. The smile on her lips was like a beautiful mask, and her dark eyes carried not a trace of feeling.
Meeting Mo Sheng's gaze, the light in the boy's eyes dimmed little by little.
"I won't give up." The boy gave Mo Sheng a stubborn look and carried a few bottles of beer to a corner.
A moment of silence fell.
To ease the awkwardness, someone started clamoring for Mo Sheng to sing.
Mo Sheng glanced quietly at Han Tian beside her and did not refuse.
Almost the instant Mo Sheng began to sing, the entire private room fell silent.
Mo Sheng's singing held that kind of magic. As soon as she opened her mouth, she became the focus of the whole room.
Han Tian stood in the corner with a smile on her face, watching Mo Sheng sing.
Her eyes held some sadness, and also some relief.
She did not have much time left together with Mo Sheng. Each chance to watch like this was one fewer.
Lost in her own memories, Han Tian did not notice Mo Sheng glancing several times toward where she was.
Mo Sheng had never made a mistake when singing before, yet this time she set down the microphone halfway through.
"What's wrong?" Li Meng asked quickly from the side.
Mo Sheng curled her lips. "It's nothing. I thought of someone..."
That person was close at hand, yet her heart was not here.
"Oh..." As Mo Sheng's best partner, Li Meng nodded as if suddenly understanding. She picked up the thread and winked at Mo Sheng. "You're thinking of your boyfriend, right? Didn't he send you a gift long ago..."
Mo Sheng was really so clever to think of a way so quickly to make the boy who had just confessed give up hope!
Li Meng was not the only one who thought so. Han Tian also believed Mo Sheng had done it on purpose and subconsciously looked toward that boy.
The boy sat in the corner near the door of KTV, his head lowered as he drank, looking utterly dejected.
Through the open door of KTV, Han Tian saw Wang Zhi outside.
Wang Zhi stood in the doorway smoking, her eyes fixed on Mo Sheng inside, with a light in them that felt familiar to Han Tian.
It was the bright gleam Mo Sheng had seen in the boy's eyes a moment before.
Could Wang Zhi also like Mo Sheng?
...
But in the next instant, Wang Zhi turned and left the place.
Han Tian frowned.
Yet now was not the time to dwell on that. After Mo Sheng sat down, the others swarmed over to toast her.
Han Tian drifted to Mo Sheng's side and shook her head. "Children shouldn't drink."
"I'm seventeen years old!" Mo Sheng lifted her eyes and gave Han Tian a stubborn look, her dark eyes mixed with emotions Han Tian could not read.
Han Tian had not expected Mo Sheng to speak like that in public and was badly startled.
The others suspected nothing. Thinking Mo Sheng was simply too happy on her birthday, they came over one after another to toast her.
Han Tian could not tell whether Mo Sheng was in a good mood or a bad one. Mo Sheng drank her beer in large gulps, refusing no one.
Watching Mo Sheng drink cup after cup, Han Tian could not help feeling anxious, even though the alcohol content was not very high.
Those present were all students with a sense of restraint. No one pressed drinks too hard, and the gathering broke up before long.
A few classmates walked Mo Sheng to a spot not far from her door. Since Mo Sheng declined further company, the others did not go in with her.
This district was almost finished with demolition. Only Mo Sheng's home and the innermost rooms of a few nearby houses remained, and it was estimated they would be cleared within a year or two at most.
Across the wide open ground, the rumbling of machines drowned out most sounds in the night.
Han Tian leaned close in front of Mo Sheng and patted her head with worry. "Mo Sheng, you can't drink like this..."
Mo Sheng looked at Han Tian with aggrieved eyes and said nothing.
She was in no hurry to go home. She found a large rock by the roadside and sat down, gazing at the moon in the sky. She looked a little lonely, as if thinking seriously about something.
Looking at such a Mo Sheng, Han Tian did not know what to say for a moment and could only sit silently beside her.
A huge moon hung in the middle of the sky. Bright lights from the nearby construction site shone over, the night carried a chill, and workers moved back and forth at the construction site.
Now and then a few people walked past.
There were workers buying late night snacks to share with fellow workers, the old lady who used to fight with Mo Sheng over scraps at the garbage dump, and Sixth Uncle, whose wife was rumored to have returned to her family home and never come back...
When Sixth Uncle saw Mo Sheng, he stopped and looked at her as if in disbelief. "Are you... Mo Sheng? How did you grow so big all at once?"
"I remember you're the same age as my A Qiang." Sixth Uncle looked much older lately as he stared at Mo Sheng. "Have you seen A Qiang..."
"No." Mo Sheng shook her head.
Sixth Uncle's family was famously disliked by everyone near and far. Mo Sheng had no wish to chat further with Sixth Uncle, so she slowly stood up and walked toward home.
Sixth Uncle looked disappointed and trailed behind at a distance, watching Mo Sheng's retreating figure.
Seeing that Mo Sheng seemed in better spirits, Han Tian relaxed a little. She drifted slowly to Mo Sheng's side and softened her voice. "Are you unhappy inside? Is that why you drank like that..."
Mo Sheng pressed her lips together and looked at Han Tian.
"I was only wondering if hard work is really useful." Mo Sheng stared into Han Tian's eyes. "What if I can never reach my goal? What if I can't wait until then?"
So she was missing her boyfriend!
Han Tian breathed a sigh of relief and patted Mo Sheng's head. "He likes you. Since you chose him, you must trust him..."
"My Mo Sheng is so wonderful. No one could bear to hurt you..."
...
Mo Sheng pressed her lips together, lowered her head, and said nothing.
Only when they reached the doorway did Mo Sheng seem to finally think it through. She looked up at Han Tian and smiled.
In the dim light, Han Tian did not see the restrained obsession hidden in Mo Sheng's eyes.
Can I trust you?
This feeling of having to suppress my love at every moment... I am almost out of patience!
...
In the days when Mo Sheng suppressed her love, time flew by.
The first semester of eleventh grade soon passed.
That semester Mo Sheng remained first in the whole school.
When the final exam results came out, Wang Zhi, whom she had not seen for a long time, suddenly sought out Mo Sheng.
"I like you." Wang Zhi gazed longingly at Mo Sheng with tears seeming to shine in her eyes. "I've already broken up with Liang Juan. I only just learned that back then it was she who told the teacher about you going to the internet cafe. I never liked Liang Juan..."
"Mo Sheng, I always liked you. I just didn't realize it before. I'll study hard and get into the same university with you in the future..."
...
"But what does that have to do with me?" Mo Sheng cut Wang Zhi off.
Facing Wang Zhi, Mo Sheng's expression was as cold as ever. "If I were still that ugly and dirty little freak from back then, would you still say these words to me?"
"Wang Zhi, you truly disgust me..."
Wang Zhi's face turned pale in an instant.
She wanted to say that she had liked Mo Sheng a long time ago, that only in front of Mo Sheng could she feel peace, that she wanted Mo Sheng to give her a chance...
Yet seeing the deep loathing in Mo Sheng's eyes, Wang Zhi ultimately said nothing.
...
After that Wang Zhi never bothered Mo Sheng again.
Still, every time the grade rankings for the monthly exams came out, Wang Zhi's place rose steadily, drawing ever closer to Mo Sheng.
The teachers of the elite class often used Wang Zhi as an example to motivate the students in Mo Sheng's class.
Mo Sheng did not take Wang Zhi to heart. Whenever she thought of Wang Zhi, she felt disgust.
Mo Sheng had never forgotten how Wang Zhi bullied her when they were young.
That bullying had branded itself into her bones and blood, and it only made Sister seem all the more precious.
Mo Sheng did not know what kind of feelings she held for Sister. Love and gratitude were tangled together. She felt like a desperate traveler in darkness, and Sister's appearance was the sole light in this dark and sorrowful world.
Even if it meant death, Mo Sheng would clutch this beam of light tightly!
...
At New Year, Mo Sheng and Han Tian watched a movie at the cinema.
When they came out, Mo Sheng saw a couple who had spent New Year together taking photos, and an idea suddenly sprouted in her heart to learn to draw.
She and Sister had lived together for so long, yet the two of them did not have a single photo together.
In this world, no one besides herself could see Sister.
Mo Sheng wanted to draw Sister as she saw her, then ask someone to draw her as well, and combine the two into one portrait.
...
Holding on to this idea, Mo Sheng began to learn to draw.
But wanting to give Sister a surprise, she did not let Han Tian know for the time being that she was learning to draw.
During this time Han Tian also quickened her pace of earning money.
She did not know on which day she would leave this spacetime, so she could only earn as much as possible to make sure Mo Sheng could live free from worry about food and clothing in the future.
Amid such days, Mo Sheng entered twelfth grade.
Life in twelfth grade was much busier than before. Although Mo Sheng had always been outstanding, twelfth grade was a crucial year, and Mo Sheng sank into heavy studying.
In October, Han Tian welcomed Mo Sheng's eighteenth birthday.
By now Mo Sheng looked almost exactly like the Mo Sang Han Tian had seen when she returned to the country that year.
At this time the demolition notice for Mo Sheng's house also came down. It said Mo Sheng would have to move by the end of the following year at the latest.
According to the original course of events, Mo Sheng would make her debut in September of the following year.
Yet the current Mo Sheng focused on her studies and showed no sign of an upcoming debut.
Everything was indeed different.
Looking at such a Mo Sheng, Han Tian felt relieved.
On the day of Mo Sheng's eighteenth birthday, Han Tian told Mo Sheng the password to her email account.
"In the drafts folder are the articles I finished during this time." Han Tian looked at the ever more exquisite and beautiful Mo Sheng and fought to hold back her tears. "This is your coming of age gift."
"When you need money, just pick one and send it out. I've worked with these magazines for many years, so they shouldn't need revisions..."
Even though after demolition Mo Sheng would receive a sizable sum of demolition compensation and resettlement housing, no one ever complained about having too much money, and Han Tian always wanted Mo Sheng to live a little better.
"Sister, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly saying this?"
Mo Sheng frowned at Han Tian's manner, an inexplicable unease rising in her heart.
Why did Sister's words sound so much like a farewell...
"It's nothing." Han Tian had thought of her excuse long ago. "I was afraid you'd go abroad to find your boyfriend, so I earned the plane ticket money for you in advance."
"Next semester brings the College Entrance Exam. You must do well..."
Looking at such a Han Tian, Mo Sheng felt something strange, but she pressed down the unease in her heart for now. After all, there was something more important to do at the moment.
During this time Mo Sheng had been trying to make Han Tian realize she had grown up and to make Han Tian fall for her, yet the result left Mo Sheng deeply frustrated. Han Tian seemed to have built a wall in her heart. Once Mo Sheng drew even a little closer and crossed the 'sisters' boundary Han Tian had drawn, Han Tian would choose to pull away...
Only now did Mo Sheng discover that she was not as patient as she had imagined.
Thinking of her goal, Mo Sheng took a deep breath and put on a harmless smile as she looked at Han Tian. "Sister, I'm an adult today! After the College Entrance Exam, will you promise me one wish?"
Watched so intently by those eyes, Han Tian found she had almost no power to resist. Only with effort did she look away.
"What wish?" Han Tian asked with difficulty.
Han Tian did not know whether she would still be here when Mo Sheng finished the College Entrance Exam. She dared not promise lightly and could only answer vaguely. "It depends on your performance in the College Entrance Exam!"
"I'll definitely do very well in the College Entrance Exam." Mo Sheng looked earnestly at Han Tian, curling her lips and narrowing her eyes with a smile like a pretty little fox. "Then Sister must not go back on her word..."
Mo Sheng did not want to wait any longer.
After the College Entrance Exam ended, Mo Sheng had decided to confess to Sister and never again give Sister a chance to avoid her!
Han Tian pressed her lips together and said nothing, and Mo Sheng took that as silent agreement!
Mo Sheng ate cake with a grin and made the same wish she had kept unchanged since she was fourteen...
Everything unfolded just as Mo Sheng had expected.
Yet at night when it was time to sleep, Mo Sheng found herself inexplicably unable to fall asleep. She kept feeling that Sister's reaction had been strange...
As if driven by some force, Mo Sheng got up and sneaked to the second floor. She opened the box her father had left behind and took out the sculpture inside.
Mo Sheng had not missed Han Tian's reaction on the day she turned fourteen.
Mo Sheng knew Sister's arrival was connected to this sculpture. Because of this sudden unease in her heart, Mo Sheng decided to hide the sculpture well. That way Sister could only stay by her side and would find no way to leave her...
Just as Mo Sheng expected, Han Tian later began to search for that sculpture. But she did not know where Mo Sheng had put it, and she never found it.
She would return when it was time to return, so Han Tian was not anxious.
After Mo Sheng turned eighteen, Han Tian did not know when she would leave, so she spent each day with Mo Sheng as if it were the last. Without realizing it, she revealed some of her feelings for Mo Sheng...
These signs gave Mo Sheng great confidence.
Sister really does like me!
She would become better. She would make Sister completely give up that 'star' of hers and stay with her from now on.
In June, as the hottest season of the year approached, the College Entrance Exam Mo Sheng had long awaited finally ended!
Mo Sheng felt she had performed exceptionally well.
While everyone else was busy tearing up books after the College Entrance Exam, Mo Sheng shouldered her backpack and hurried home impatiently. "Sister, will you go somewhere with me?"
She had already prepared the place and finished the portrait of Sister. Her heart was full of plans to give Sister a surprise and then confess to Sister.
Mo Sheng changed into her prettiest dress, revealing slender arms and fair calves. Once Han Tian had regained a little solid form, Mo Sheng took Han Tian's hand.
Han Tian felt something strange about the way Mo Sheng looked and wanted to refuse on instinct, yet Mo Sheng cleverly cut off her retreat. She had found that sculpture and put it in her backpack, so even if Han Tian refused it would be useless. Han Tian could only drift behind Mo Sheng...
This whole area was under demolition. Because it was close to the school and this day was important for the College Entrance Exam, the construction site had stopped work for a day to avoid noise.
Not a soul was on the road.
Disturbed by Mo Sheng's unusually earnest manner, Han Tian did not notice the dark figure that suddenly rushed out from the corner.
By the time Han Tian reacted, Mo Sheng had already been gagged by the dark figure and dragged into the corner...
In the struggle, the things inside Mo Sheng's backpack fell out and scattered across the ground.
Han Tian stared at the scene before her, her eyes nearly bursting with rage!
Barely controlling her trembling hands, she bit her lower lip, picked up the mobile phone, pressed the shortcut key, and called the police...
That dark figure had already pounced on Mo Sheng!
"Sixth Uncle, why are you doing this?" Mo Sheng struggled desperately, but Sixth Uncle slapped her hard across the face.
"Why?" The old man smiled with extreme ferocity. "Didn't you see the people I killed when you were little..."
The slap left Mo Sheng seeing stars. From the corner of her eye she saw Han Tian straining to pick up a large rock from the ground. Afraid the man would notice, she could only stall for time. "Does Sixth Aunt know what you did?"
"She knows!" The man brought his foul smelling mouth close to Mo Sheng's cheek with a vicious grin. "Since she dared to steal a man, I sent her to join those little girls I killed before..."
"Speaking of that, I should thank you! If you hadn't reported me back then, I'd never have found out she was unfaithful..." The man tore at Mo Sheng's clothes and lowered his head. "Be good, and today I'll let you die easy..."
With a thud, before the man finished speaking, the rock came down and he toppled to the side!
He was not knocked unconscious, yet watching rocks hanging in midair smash wildly down on him, he was frightened nearly out of his mind!
Had the little girls he killed come back for revenge?
So ghosts really did exist in this world...
Han Tian could no longer feel the pain in her body!
Because she had acted against an outsider and let herself be noticed, just as she had been punished by the Spacetime Rules back when she tried to write letters to help Mo Sheng, the Spacetime Rules now punished Han Tian doubly.
Endless pain swept over her. Han Tian felt every bone in her body being crushed by the Spacetime Rules, so painful she wanted to faint...
Yet the young girl was still waiting for her to save her...
Han Tian clenched her lower lip. She did not know where the strength came from, but she smashed down on the man like mad...
The strength in her body drained away little by little.
After an unknown stretch of time, the man finally stopped moving.
In the distance came what seemed the sound of police cars...
"Sister, Sister, don't go..." Mo Sheng crawled toward Han Tian with her face covered in tears...
Han Tian had seen Mo Sheng in many states, yet she had never seen her look so wretched and broken...
The pain in her body grew sharper, as if it would tear her in two...
Han Tian did not know that her body had already begun to turn transparent.
She tried hard to ignore the tearing pain in her body. She fell to the ground and forced a smile for Mo Sheng. "Don't be afraid..."
...
In the next instant, meeting Mo Sheng's wide and terrified eyes, a strange light burst forth!
Han Tian lowered her head with difficulty and only then realized that after falling she had touched that sculpture...
She could touch this sculpture again?
"No! Sister..."
Before losing consciousness, Han Tian heard only a heart-rending cry.
In the next instant came a familiar spinning of heaven and earth...
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