Chapter 17: A Beautiful Past

  "Si Xia Jun, don't you really like me?" Meizhi asked with a sob, her beautiful eyes shining with tears.

  "If I don't say something, it would be too unmanly, especially when facing a foreign woman. From a broader perspective, it's also related to national dignity," thought Lu Sihao. He slowly opened his mouth and said: "Mei Zhīzi, I'm not a stone or a piece of wood, how could I not know your true feelings? However, I really can't accept this relationship."

  "Why?" Meiko's eyes were blurry with tears, "I understand, you mind me and Mr. Yamada? You've seen those photos, thinking I'm a shameless woman, right?"

  Ruth was speechless.

  Large teardrops rolled down from Yoshiko's eyes.

  I'm helpless! My father had a dream of getting a painting that combines the characteristics of China and Japan. The only one who could meet this standard was the Japanese monk Sesshu, who studied in China at the Tianzhu Temple. In my graduation year, someone sold to my father Sesshu's famous painting "Fuji Clear View Temple Map", which was also my father's lifelong pursuit. At that time, the seller quoted 1 billion yen, and my father couldn't afford it, so he mortgaged all his collections at a low price to the Yamada Bank to buy this painting. Who knew that one month later, the Yamada Corporation auctioned off "Fuji Clear View Temple Map" at the East Auction Company for 1.5 billion yen? My father only then realized he had bought a fake!

  At that time, the Yamada Bank again used 'tightening of silver roots' as an excuse to come and force debt collection. My father went completely bankrupt, a lifetime of carefully collected treasures turned to nothing, and also, because of his mistake in the circle, he became a huge laughing stock. In shame and despair, he jumped off the building with that fake piece! My mother went crazy, and our family still owed the Yamada Bank a large sum of debt. To avoid my mother and I becoming homeless, I had no choice but to go ask him, agreeing to all his demands~~~" Mieko covered her face, crying sorrowfully.

  It's as clear as day that this is a carefully laid trap by the Yamada Corporation. The poor parents of Oshima Michiko are victims of this cruel business competition; Oshima Michiko herself is also a victim of Yamada Jiro, and even more so, she is the target of this conspiracy.

  He slowly walked over and gently wrapped Michiko in his arms.

  Mei Zhīzi leaned against his chest, silently sobbing. Like a wronged daughter telling her father about her troubles. Lǔ Xíjiàng's heart, which had been carefully stored away for a long time, cold and hard as iron, was slowly awakened by Mei Zhīzi's experiences and true feelings, like the sun thawing out of hibernation. It seemed that he felt the beautiful crying helpless woman in front of him was the shadow in his heart. Moreover, her eyebrows and eyes indeed had some resemblance to that shadow.

  "Meizhi, let me tell you a story." Ruxia said slowly, although many years had passed, but thinking of these things, Ruxia's heart was still secretly aching.

  60 years ago, two grand weddings were held in Leijiang Town at the same time. Two prominent families in the town, Lu and Mei, each married one of the two daughters of the Wang family. The two sisters, Ruo Xuan and Ruo Hui, were both beauties in the town. Ruo Xuan was married to the eldest son of the Lu family, while Ruo Hui was married to the second son of the Mei family. A year later, on a snowy winter day, the Mei family had a daughter, who was named "Mei Xia" (also known as "Xia Er") because she was born after a snowfall with a sunny sky and rosy clouds. The Lu family also had a child, a son named "Lu Xue Hua" (also known as "Xue Er"), because he was born during a heavy snowstorm.

  The girl was half a month older than the boy, and the boy called the girl "Xia Jie", while the girl called the boy "Xue Di". The adults of both families laughed and talked about making them childhood sweethearts. With this relationship established, the two children became even closer, "A young man rides a bamboo horse to visit his lover, playing with green plums in the courtyard. Living together in the same compound, the two young ones have no suspicions or guesses". Childhood was happy, but also fleeting, and soon the two children had reached the age of first love, each considering the other an indispensable part of their life, unable to be apart from each other.

  The boy and girl were both very talented, from the county's Lei Jiang Academy to the provincial Liu Yu Middle School, they both had outstanding grades and were always the pride of their teachers. They had been classmates for ten years. During the university entrance exams, the boy was admitted to the Western Literature Department of Central University, while the girl was admitted to the Art Department of Jinling Women's University, both in Nanjing, the capital of the National Government, so they could still see each other frequently. Due to the organization of the university student rescue drama club, many of the girl's female classmates also became close friends, including even the boy's deskmate. Therefore, the secret of the boy and girl's "childhood engagement" was a beautiful topic among their classmates, originally it should have been a match made in heaven, but...

  July 7, 1937. The Anti-Japanese War broke out.

  The Japanese flag was stained with the blood of Chinese people, from Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Zhenjiang, along China's most prosperous Jiangnan region, all the way to the city gate of Nanjing. After the fall of the ancient capital, the brutal Japanese devils went on a rampage, committing the shocking "Nanjing Massacre" that stunned the world. Three hundred thousand Chinese soldiers and civilians became victims of the Japanese sword in just a few days. The ancient stone city suffered its greatest disaster in history.

  Fortunately, the boy and girl returned home ahead of time and narrowly escaped the devil's clutches.

  At this time, the master of the Mei family passed away, and the mistress took charge. The two sisters discussed and prepared to marry off their children.

  However, the heavens have unpredictable winds and clouds. The rich and prosperous land of Jiangnan also failed to satisfy the greedy desires of the devils, and they continued to move upstream along the Yangtze River, relying on their powerful ships and cannons and the brutality of the Bushido code, in an attempt to destroy China and wipe out its people. To block the enemy's westward advance and protect the safety of Wuhan, the Chinese military and civilians specially established the "Yangtze River Blockade Committee", which built a dam-like blockade line in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, known as the famous "Sinking of the Ma'an".

  At that time, many British and American engineers were employed, urgently needing translation. The boy selflessly devoted himself to the country, postponing his marriage.

  The day before the boy left his hometown, his "Mei Jie" (sister-in-law), wearing a wedding dress made by his mother - a white cheongsam with red plum blossoms, secretly met him in the shared backyard of their two families. Under the plum tree, they passionately hugged each other, young lovers who had been separated for many years, like wildfire and dry wood, tightly embracing each other. The girl closed her eyes, breathing softly. The boy gently undid the girl's wedding dress, revealing skin as smooth as condensed milk, with a faint fragrance, like the cold plum blossoms of winter. The boy greedily kissed every inch of the girl's skin, and finally, they were tightly joined together, a moment of pain, a streak of blood red, witnessing their commitment to each other. When the boy left the dock the next day, still carrying the soft warmth and fragrance of the girl, as she waved goodbye with reluctance, who would have thought that this was a farewell forever?

  Two months later, the hometown fell, and all news was cut off. Two years later, the boy's long-awaited family letter brought shocking news: his beloved aunt and his most beloved Mei sister had sacrificed themselves to save the townspeople, entering the devils' military camp and being brutally killed by the devils! The letter described it as "a terrible sight, too painful to detail", and warned that "Xia'er died for the hometown's ancestors, Xue'er should mourn Xia'er, Xia'er suffered greatly but remained a chaste and virtuous woman of the Lu family, no matter how Xue'er marries in the future, the Lu family's ancestors will only recognize Xia'er as their eldest daughter-in-law!" From then on, the boy changed his name to "Si Xia", and has not married to this day, remaining faithful to the goddess in his heart.

  After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the boy returned to his hometown, with thoughts of his loved one, every year planting plum blossoms, and every day painting plum blossoms on rice paper. The blooming plum blossoms inside and outside the house, the plum blossoms in the paintings, are all the traces of his longing for his loved one. He believes that his beautiful "Xia Jie" is smiling at all this from heaven!

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Ruth's eyes were brimming with tears, her eyes like a pool of autumn water, filled with melancholy and infatuation. Oshima Michiko was also deeply moved by this poignant and heart-wrenching love story.