Twenty-seven

  "I was born in Wucheng and lived a peaceful and affluent life. Like you, I was a well-loved child of my father and mother."

  "When I was seventeen, many things happened that changed my life." He paused as if he wasn't used to telling this story either. She didn't ask any questions and just listened: "The first thing you know about is that my uncle immigrated to Canada. Not long after my uncle left, one day when I came home, my parents were sitting at the table calmly telling me they had divorced. There was no sign beforehand, nor did they discuss it with me, they simply informed me that they had already divorced."

  She sat up with a pang in her heart and gazed at his despondent face. He also looked at her, truly happy that it was she who was listening to him now.

  "They said they had wanted to separate for a long time, but everyone had an agreement to wait until I was admitted to university before bringing it up. So in that year, they parted ways peacefully. Mom didn't ask for anything and quickly married a German and went to Germany. Dad stayed behind and lived with me and grandma in Mianyang. Until the day he passed away, he never remarried."

  She was shocked again: "Your father he..."

  He said calmly, "Yes, the car accident. Until he passed away, I still hated him and my mom for their selfish decision to not care about my feelings and future, only thinking of their own relief. Who didn't consider me? What was I supposed to do?"

  She held him in her arms, stroking his head with a pained heart. After a while, he lifted his head and smiled brightly: "But the best thing that happened that year was meeting you. It seems that heaven is fair, taking away something will bring back something else."

  She just stared at him, speechless. "The four years in college were a waste, I learned to smoke and drink, rarely went to class, if not for being slightly clever, I almost couldn't get my graduation certificate. Except for writing songs and singing, I have no interest in anything else."

  "Does that include dating girls?" she asked softly, biting her lip. He smiled: "Rong Yu, you finally asked. But if I said a talented and handsome guy like me has never dated a girl before, would you believe it?" Of course not, she thought he seemed quite skilled when kissing her, unlike her own clumsy and confused self.

  "That includes Xiaotang." She asked him very seriously. What he feared most was this question. Xiaotang was his first woman, although he had always treated Xiaotang as a good partner, although it was a drunken mistake, and although everyone said it was nothing after waking up, but it was done, it was done, there would be many more times after the first time.

  His silence chilled her. She said: "You go back to your room first, I'm going to sleep, and I still have work tomorrow."

  He hugged her and said, "You're different from her, you're different from everyone else. I originally just thought of her as a buddy, but I didn't expect to lose control." After saying these words, he regretted it. Sure enough, her face turned sorrowful and indignant: "You're wrong, Ye Cang Ran. I'm the same as everyone else. I'm not at all broad-minded. I care about the pain you've suffered, those wounds you've endured are now etched on my heart. I mind your past, I hope you'll be like me, keeping your heart and body for me for seven years, waiting for me instead of indulging in self-destructive behavior to take revenge. Do you know that this will cause me heartache?"

  She finished saying all these words and her tears flowed down. He was stunned, she struggled to suppress the sobs and said: "Even if one day I'm really not by your side, I want you to be good and move forward instead of falling." He held her hand and said helplessly: "It's impossible, I won't let you leave me, I won't let you wither away, I can't live without you." He kissed the tears on her face, feeling her smooth skin.

  She said: "I don't want you to mention those girls who treated you with sincerity in such a casual way, because I'm afraid that one day I'll become just another person in your mouth." He fell silent. She waited for him to defend himself but didn't get any response, so she weakly and tiredly said: "You go back to the room first, I'm exhausted, I want to sleep."

  He could only let go of her, for in her delicate body there was a power he couldn't resist, and she herself didn't know it. He remained silent, still unable to defend himself, slowly walking out of the room, turning off the light for her, and closing the door behind him.

  She sat in the darkness for a long time, and her reunion with him dried up all the tears of her life. Because she cared, it was painful to think: Why didn't he come back to hold me and kiss me again? Actually, I don't mind anything as long as he is by my side.