When Peach Blossom Blooms

Chapter 1

I can't feel anything. I'm numb.

The darkness envelopes me like an abyss trying to swallow my whole consciousness. There is no light as the never ending emptiness fill my whole surroundings, my whole being.

Drops of water started to trickle down as the stone pavement becomes slippery. The mud covered streets are staining my white shoes as they clung tightly, never letting me go. The wind blows my hair ruining my look that I painstakingly achieved after arduous effort, but even after so many hours he didn't come, even his shadow were not present at all.

It's been two hours since the appointment of our date, it should be his way of showing sincerity since he is so busy with work to the point that he started to neglect me, to forget about me, but even so, this day should be a big day, a day to amend our shortcomings regarding this relationship, we will watch a blockbuster movie with approximately thousands of sold tickets that portrays undying love and painful sacrifices, afterwards we will have a dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant and walk along the streets with intertwined hands, but because of this rain, I guess our plan will deviate for a bit? Maybe that's also the reason why he is late? Right he is late because of the rain...

The wind blows strongly, my umbrella started to quiver under the pressure but I still hold on, or else my outfit will be a big mess. I started to walk along the pavement as I look for a shelter and let this heavy rain pass, numerous people are running around vying for the still empty spaces on the waiting sheds, forcefully fitting their selves just to avoid the rain.

I cannot find any available sheds or empty spaces so I decided to look for shops that are still not too crowded. After a few minutes of walking, I stumbled upon a simple coffee shop, as I stare through its glass window that stretches from the ceiling towards floor, I cannot clearly see the scene inside due to the rain droplets and the reflection of light. The interior of the shop was full of brown colors, its every corners are adorned with wooden figurines, and potted plants. The tables and chairs are furnished for the sole purpose of giving comfort to every customers.

I opened the door of the coffee shop and entered through it. The heater is on so the humid air comforted my body as well as my heart.

I heard a giggle towards the corner, I didn't immediately turn my head because I am busy choosing what will I order on the menu board. I can feel that those two should be a couple since you can hear the happiness as well as the tenderness in their laughers, but I cannot help but think that one of the voices seems somewhat familiar, maybe its just my hallucination or whatever. Moreover, I can feel that they must love each other very much since only lovers can produce such intimate gesture. Sigh, what a pity. How I wish that my current relationship can be this good.

In the end, I ordered a caramel macchiato and a slice of cheesecake. I turn around and started to look for a table to settle in, but as I look through the crowd I was surprised to see something, no! Maybe the word "surprised" cannot even described what I saw.

"No, Ah'Rui don't tease me like that! You're really mean!" Qingcheng said as she giggled with delight written all over her face.

"Ah'Cheng sorry now ok? Hmm? Will you forgive me?" Ah'Rui said with tenderness as he shortened the distance between each other.

The continued to do their own "affectionate" things as the tray that contains my food tremble in my hands. Tears are threatening to fall on my cheeks as I watch this "beautiful" and "heartfelt" scene happened before my eyes. The expectations and hope that I keep and hold on for, started to crumble as the truth that I know is somewhat different from the cruel reality playing before my own eyes.

He said that "he" will probably arrived later than the scheduled time due to the rain but it seems that the "rain" which he is talking about is having a great time hindering his schedule. Sigh. I don't want to think anything about this but I have to face the truth, the reality.

I search for my phone inside my pouch. I started to dial his number to determine if he still care about me, or maybe even to know if he still remember about me.

It keeps ringing for several times before Ah'Rui answered the phone call. My current position was in their blind spot so they did not notice my presence, moreover, those two are busy living in their own "romantic" world that they did notice my entrance earlier.

"Hello? Ah'Rui? Where are you now?" I observed his expression as he make nonsense excuses.

"Ah I'm sorry but I got stuck here. The rain was very heavy, I guess we need to reschedule our meeting," Well it was obviously a lie. Yeah, maybe he is "stuck" in the rain and is now warming up inside a comfortable coffee shoo together with a gorgeous lady while his official girlfriend was left unattended, waiting for almost two hours and to top it off, I am soaked in the rain to the point that I look like a pitiful chick dripping water wherever I go. So yeah! We should just reschedule this meeting, and maybe reschedule our relationship also.

"Is that so? It's also ok with me since the rain is really heavy, you should not stay out of the house Ah'Rui or you may get cold," I said through a whisper before I end the call.

"Who's that?" I can hear Qingcheng asking him before I started to leave and head off towards the exit.

"Oh nothing just some business partner asking about our meeting," he replied before leaning closer towards Qingcheng and continued their hateful acts. I gritted my teeth before I left with a heavy heart.

Business partners huh? At least, he still regarded as a partner, even though it is only a "business partner".

I can feel my tears started to flow down as I reminisced about my hateful past and his betrayals.

The darkness that swallows me up seems to notice my regret and loneliness as my eyes started to tremble. After a few seconds, blinding lights started to pierce my eyes as I immediately closed my eyelids again. During this moment, my eyes started to adjust and slowly I can now see my surroundings.

The moment I concentrate my vision, I saw a white ceiling, nothing more, nothing less. Wait? Did I die? At this moment I remember many people claiming that the afterworld will be a world surrounded with white color, maybe because it symbolizes purity. However, I also clearly remember that the afterworld is a world full of happiness, but in my state, I can only feel emptiness, not even sadness, just emptiness.

I begin to tilt my head towards the other side of the room. I endure the searing pain as the muscles in my neck contracted. For me this pain should be nothing, compared to those betrayal and hateful things that I endured in the past, this little amount of pain should be nothing, and with that thought, I started to hypnotize myself.

I clearly remember someone saying that humans are very good at comforting their selves. Sometimes they even choose to believe a fancy lie and blindly set aside the harsh truth.

At the bedside table I can see a simple lamp and a whole bundle of medicines ranging from capsule to tablets. Meanwhile, at the couch beside the door I can see someone peacefully sleeping, I am not sure who it is because her long hair are covering her whole face.

This woman wears a blue shirt coupled with a simple jeans. Her sleeping posture seems a little awkward probably because there's only a limited space on the couch.

The woman started to move, her shoulders tremble for a while before she started to stretch her neck probably because it is aching very much.

"Xiao Feng! Gosh! After so many days you're finally awake! Are you ok? Is there any pain?" The woman said with a panic tone.

"M-mom?" I tried to mention her name despite my parched throat.