Xue Lingjun sat down beside Li Chenzhou, picked up her cup of tea, and took a small sip, only to set it down again immediately. "The tea has gone cold."
Li Chenzhou glanced at the cups on the table, then said, "Yes, it has."
Xue Lingjun suddenly broke into a lilting laugh. When her laughter subsided, she said meaningfully, "Anything will grow cold if you leave it too long. Wouldn't you agree?"
Li Chenzhou's smile looked strained. He even regretted coming to see her. Indeed, anything would grow cold if left too long, including the feelings between him and Xue Lingjun. Perhaps she was not to blame; he had strangled their love with his own hands. He began weighing how to say goodbye, but before he could speak, Xue Lingjun reached out and laid her hand over his.
Li Chenzhou looked up in surprise. Gazing into Xue Lingjun's eyes, tender as water, he swallowed.
The two gazed silently at each other. Tears glittered in Xue Lingjun's beautiful eyes, and her voice was soft and plaintive. "I tried, but I found I still couldn't forget you..." Tears slowly slipped down her fair face.
A woman's tears were often her best weapon. Those two trails of tears easily softened Li Chenzhou's heart. He lifted Xue Lingjun's slender hand to his lips and kissed it.
Xue Lingjun rose and stood before him, slipping an arm around his neck so that he buried his face against her chest. Li Chenzhou suddenly pulled her delicate body into his arms, holding her so tightly she could scarcely breathe.
Xue Lingjun rested against his shoulder, yet a trace of indescribable sorrow showed in her beautiful eyes.
"Rongxin..." Li Chenzhou murmured, as though talking in his sleep.
That inadvertent slip of the tongue stabbed into Xue Lingjun's heart