Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One — A Lifetime Vow

Life carves each person's scarred and weathered face with a sharp, keen blade.

Following the secluded path, one can never quite find which withered branch of a dead tree holds the resting place of time. Having lingered too long in the shadows, it becomes impossible to adjust suddenly to the dazzling light of dawn.

Yi Shu looked at Yi Hui with infinite sorrow. The days gone cannot be reclaimed.

They each have their own lives, each destined to walk separate paths.

Yan Lu emerged from inside, asking, “Did you just let them go like that?”

“I have no right to stop him from living the life he wants,” Yi Shu said, all her strength drained away. “As long as he’s well, I have no reason to interfere.”

“And what about Li Nanzhi?” Yan Lu glanced at Lu Xugao. She knew his thoughts but held back from speaking openly out of courtesy.

Yi Shu sighed softly, saying, “There is no perfect way to have both. Since Li Nanzhi has already let go, we need not cling to it.”

Lu Xugao stood beside Yan Lu, hearing Yi Shu’s words, and ceased to argue.

“Why haven’t you left yet?” Yan Lu shifted her focus to Tang Chao.

“Why should I leave?” Tang Chao said indifferently, with disdain.

“Do you have any shame at all?” Yan Lu was angered. “Yi Shu has a boyfriend, and you’re just loitering in her home—what do you think you’re doing?”

“I do have shame. You can have it,” Tang Chao smiled slyly. “As a token of gratitude, I give you my shame.”

Yan Lu snorted coldly. “Your shame? I don’t want it!”

“Well, well, it’s clearly you who’s shameless, not me,” Tang Chao laughed triumphantly.

Gritting her teeth, Yan Lu, usually sharp-tongued, found herself bested by this brash youth today. “I’m too lazy to bother with you.”

“Then you are quite lazy indeed,” Tang Chao pressed on. “From top to bottom, left to right, inside and out, I see no sign of your diligence.”

Yan Lu’s eyes flashed fiercely, unable to bear it any longer. She was about to charge at him when Lu Xugao quickly held her back. A fight could be serious or trivial, but one must endure when in someone else’s home.

“Watch your words,” Lu Xugao said casually.

“What about you...” Tang Chao, rarely meeting a worthy opponent in verbal sparring, was unwilling to give up easily.

“Enough,” Yi Shu interrupted, distressed by the noise.

When Tang Chao fell silent, Yan Lu launched a full offensive. “I never thought you siblings would be so skilled not only at meddling in others’ relationships but also with your words.”

“What did you say?” Tang Chao was enraged.

“Am I wrong?” Yan Lu’s tone was sharply accusatory.

“Yan Lu, stop,” Yi Shu walked over, grasped her arm, and shook her gently. “Tang Dai has already returned to Shanghai. I don’t think she’ll come back to Yun City. Let’s just consider this a passing episode. When the song ends, let the fading melody close the chapter.”

Yan Lu pondered and ceased the quarrel. But with Tang Chao still lingering, she was helpless. In the end, she temporarily set aside Lu Xugao and led Yi Shu into the bedroom to discuss the wedding arrangements.

It seemed utterly inappropriate to be talking about marriage at such a moment.

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While some suffer heartbreak, others endure unrequited love, and some pine silently, two people quietly ended their passionate romance, moving directly to the culmination of love.

It was abrupt. Sorrow could not be overshadowed by joy.

Yi Shu sat by the bed; Yan Lu sat across from her.

Similar scenes, similar feelings. Two identical souls, yet different stories.

Over half a year ago, Yi Shu, just like now, sat in Yan Lu’s bedroom in Blue Ocean City, comforting her through the pain of being pressured into blind dates by Yan’s mother.

Now, she was sharing the joy of her own wedding.

She should have been happy for her, but because of Yi Hui’s affair, the happiness was greatly diminished.

The melodies that once echoed separately now sang the same poignant refrain.

They were like musical notes, playing a captivating song of lofty mountains and flowing water on a stringed instrument.

Yet, whether it was heart-rending or sublime harmony, in the present moment, all they could do was wallow in self-pity.

Their conversation revolved entirely around the wedding.

Yan Lu had many dreams and fantasies—wanting to marry in Sanya or Xiamen, turning it into a destination wedding. But time and money forbade such imagination.

The venue was fixed at the only five-star hotel in Yun City’s center. Lu Xugao had compared five or six four-star hotels in size and price. Overall, the five-star’s cost was just thirty to forty thousand yuan more. While it wasn't much larger, the prestige of the five-star label justified the price.

The discussion lasted a full hour. When they finally noticed the time had slipped away, the dim sky outside was lit by countless neon lights.

In the living room, only Lu Xugao sat alone on the sofa.

Fifty minutes earlier, Tang Chao had left Fuyuan and Yun City. His university coursework had fallen far behind; his counselor and class advisor had been calling, urging him.

He asked Lu Xugao to tell Yi Shu that they would meet again.

Originally, he had come just to bid farewell, but, encountering matters related to Yi Shu, he couldn’t help but intervene.

In an instant, everyone found their place to belong.

Then, they paired off.

Thus, some stories could only be written and lived by those two involved. Outsiders might not even have the right to watch.

Yan Lu and Lu Xugao waited in vain for Xu Shixi to finish work. After exchanging a few words of reluctant farewell, they left Fuyuan.

Yi Shu saw them off at the gate of the complex, watching their dust-covered van disappear into the distance. Yan Lu leaned out the window, reluctant to part.

From now on, chances to meet would grow fewer and fewer. In fact, even a phone call or a message seemed impossible to start, as if words themselves were lost.

She was stepping into his life, and she too was heading toward another man’s existence.

The gentle breeze dispersed the gathering clouds, yet the stars that should belong to the sky remained unseen.

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Yi Shu pursed her dry lips, her eyes lowered.

“It’s so late—why are you still standing here?” Xu Shixi pulled the car to the curb and rolled down the window. “Were you waiting for me?”

“Waiting for you, incidentally,” she brushed aside the wind-tousled hair on both sides.

“Incidentally?” Xu Shixi frowned. “Then who were you originally waiting for?”

Yi Shu circled to the passenger side and sat down. “Yan Lu and the others came by. They’re planning to marry after the New Year.”

Xu Shixi took her hand, transmitting an energy that spoke of love.

Time slowed.

Like a breeze from a fingertip, the warmth passed from his hand to hers.

Camphor leaves occasionally drifted down onto the car’s hood.

Could fading also be a form of beauty?

“Yi Shu, come back to Beijing with me for the New Year,” Xu Shixi said, tightening his grip. “I told my parents—they want to meet you, and they hope we’ll marry soon.”

Yi Shu’s heart trembled, the sensation flowing into her hand. He felt it too.

“I’ve already chosen you,” he said, turning his head away. “If you’re not ready yet, I can wait. Don’t feel pressured.”

“No,” she withdrew her hand but took his again. What she wanted to say next was held back by a shy hesitation, yet the silence spoke louder than words.

If fate decrees a lifetime together, an early promise is far happier than a late assurance.

Momentarily, Yi Shu thought of Yi Hui again. Would he and Cheng Shuguang find this kind of happiness? She recalled how he had often, intentionally or not, spoken about love.

That so-called love was without boundaries of gender or age. Though a correct notion, if society refused to acknowledge it, it could only remain buried underground—a dead-end.

Ideas born in innocence and naivety are forcibly divided by the world, with no room for refusal.

A sprout that grows in darkness has a fleeting life.

Perhaps for the lovers themselves, love is above all.

Yet the pain often falls on those outside of love.

Yi Shu did not oppose Yi Hui; she only feared whether he would have the courage to continue, and whether Cheng Shuguang would stand resolutely by his side.

The resolute opposition of his parents was an insurmountable barrier and chasm.

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