第五章

Lin Qinghe had just said "I'll wait" when the doorbell rang.

A woman walked quickly into the coffee shop. Shiyu saw her and called out, "Ms. Gao Qingzhu."

Gao Qingzhu nodded and walked toward a table near the door.

A man was sitting there, reading a travel magazine. His name was Fang Mu. He was already there when Lin Qinghe entered the shop.

"Fang Mu," Gao Qingzhu called him softly.

Fang Mu only looked up after a while.

"Gao Qingzhu?" he said.

Gao Qingzhu sat down across from him and spoke to him gently. The coffee shop was small; even though Lin Qinghe didn't want to listen, she still overheard their conversation.

"You've been coming here often lately," Gao Qingzhu said.

Fang Mu nodded.

"Do you like it here?"

Fang Mu looked toward a seat. A woman in a white dress was sitting there.

"I'm waiting for that seat to become free," he said.

Lin Qinghe's heart tightened.

She wasn't the only one waiting.

If Fang Mu also wanted to go back to the past, he had probably arrived earlier than her. Maybe she should let him take that seat first.

But the woman in white only left once a day. If today's chance went to Fang Mu, she didn't know how much longer she would have to wait.

Lin Qinghe grew more and more anxious.

Gao Qingzhu asked, "What do you want to do after you go back to the past?"

Fang Mu thought for a moment and smiled.

"That's a secret."

Gao Qingzhu didn't ask further. She looked at the woman in white and said, "But today, she probably won't leave her seat again."

Lin Qinghe nearly cried out.

Won't leave again? Had the woman in white already left once today?

She looked at Shiyu. Shiyu didn't speak.

Lin Qinghe became even more uneasy.

At that moment, Gao Qingzhu said to Fang Mu, "How about going home first today?"

Lin Qinghe immediately quieted down.

Fang Mu thought for a moment and said, "Okay."

Lin Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief.

Fang Mu slowly packed up his things. Gao Qingzhu stood nearby waiting for him. After a while, the two left the coffee shop.

The doorbell rang twice. The shop quieted down again.

Now, besides the woman in white, only Lin Qinghe and Shiyu remained.

Lin Qinghe stared at that special seat.

She told herself that as soon as the woman in white left, she could sit there.

But waiting was hard.

The coffee shop had no windows. The old clock on the wall didn't show the right time either. Lin Qinghe didn't know how long she had waited.

She went over the rules in her mind again.

Gu Yuanzhou had been to this shop, so she could see him.

Going back to the past could not change reality.

She had to sit in that special seat.

After going back to the past, she could not leave the seat.

There was also a time limit, but she still didn't know exactly what it was.

Lin Qinghe thought and thought, growing sleepier. She just wanted to rest her head for a while, and then she fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, the woman in white closed her book.

She picked up a white handkerchief, slowly stood up, and left her seat.

Lin Qinghe was still asleep.

Shiyu walked over to her and called her softly.

"Miss."

Lin Qinghe didn't respond.

"Miss."

Lin Qinghe woke up and sat up straight. She looked around and saw that the woman in white was gone.

Her heart began to race.

"The seat is free," Shiyu said. "Would you like to sit?"

"Of course!"

Lin Qinghe immediately stood up and walked to that seat.

It was just an ordinary chair. But she knew this was what she had been waiting for.

She took a deep breath and sat down.

She had finally sat here.

Lin Qinghe looked at Shiyu, her voice trembling a little.

"Okay. Please let me go back to one week ago."