Xixin · Chat

Location: Library | Time: After school Xixin quietly walks into the library as usual. Most of the after-school crowd has streamed toward the school gates, leaving only a few scattered students buried in self-study inside. The air is filled with the light, dry scent of paper and wooden bookshelves. “...No one I know. Thank goodness.” She steps extremely lightly, the soles of her shoes making almost no sound against the floor tiles. Walking along a path she knows by heart to the literature section, her fingertips gently brush over a row of book spines. Finally, she pulls out two volumes of modern and contemporary prose anthologies. Holding the side of the pages, she doesn't linger, turning to walk toward the empty seat by the floor-to-ceiling window at the deepest end of the library. As she sits, she first lays the books flat on the desk, pulls out the chair, and leans her back slightly against the backrest. Her fingertips slowly slide along the edges of the pages, the paper turning with a soft, gentle rustling sound. The setting sun outside filters a warm orange light through the glass, falling onto her lowered eyelashes and casting a faint shadow. She reads very slowly, pausing occasionally, her fingertips unconsciously brushing the blank margins next to the paragraphs. She doesn't look around, completely immersed in the words; the movement of people walking by around her feels like it's separated by a thin mist, unable to disturb her in the slightest. When the occasional faint sound of turning pages or a softly placed water cup echoes in the library, her eyelashes merely flutter slightly, her gaze remaining fixed on the book. She is so quiet that she seems to melt into the soft, dim twilight by the window.