Chapter 42 Part 1

He stood there stiffly again, unmoving, then turned his head, urgently searching for Jiang Du.

The gift he was carrying fell to the ground with a thud. Jiang Du noticed his abnormality, picked up the gift, and asked him, "Are you not feeling well?"

Wei Qingyue grabbed her arm, squeezing so hard that Jiang Du almost frowned, but she endured his sudden strangeness and just called his name very gently, "Wei Qingyue, what's wrong?"

His question was also strange, and he didn't blink. "You're real, right? You won't leave, right?"

So Jiang Du tossed the gift aside, ignoring it. Her fingers naturally found their way to his arm. Under the dim, newly lit streetlights, she told him, "I'm right here, Wei Qingyue. I haven't left, and I won't leave."

Wei Qingyue nodded. He said, "Why does the security guard in your complex look the same as the one from your old complex?"

Jiang Du turned her head to look and seemed to understand the inexplicable fear on his face just now. She smiled, rubbing his arm continuously. "You saw wrong. All the security guards look more or less the same."

"Really?" A flash of vulnerability appeared on Wei Qingyue's face.

Jiang Du looked at him with a hint of sorrow and said, "Really." Her fingers slid down and took his hand. "Wei Qingyue, you're not well right now. How about I take you to see a doctor?"

"Okay." He agreed without a second thought.

The two picked up the gift again and entered the apartment.

The moment the door opened, the light of old days, the scent of old days, the... two elderly people of old days, their faces almost unchanged. Wei Qingyue's breath caught, suffocating him for a long moment.

He concealed his emotions, greeted them, and then turned his gaze back to Jiang Du.

Those eyes, that face. He suddenly realized Jiang Du looked just as she had at sixteen, only with long, curly hair. That was all. She was fair-skinned, her eyes clear, her eyebrows dark. Only her hairstyle had changed, nothing more.

Wei Qingyue couldn't help but clutch the keychain on his car keys—the Tweety Bird.

The keychain dug a deep imprint into his skin. He looked down, and when he looked up again, Jiang Du was an adult, and the elderly couple's temples were frosted with age, their wrinkles deep. Wei Qingyue secretly let out a long sigh of relief. He blinked and finally introduced himself smoothly:

"Hello, grandparents. I'm Wei Qingyue. I don't know if you still remember me."

"We remember, we remember, how could we not?" Grandma said happily, sizing him up. "You've been to our home before. The male classmate who got first place, right?"

The status of first place was something from a long, long time ago, a grand ambition like a dream. The corners of Wei Qingyue's mouth curled into a smile as he nodded. "Yes, you still remember."

"Old man, you remember him too, right?" Grandma nudged Grandpa. Grandpa, with an apron tied around him, laughed as loudly as ever. "How could I not? The kid who was going to study abroad. You're back? Sit, sit. You're in for a treat today, kid. I've made several hearty dishes."

Jiang Du playfully pushed Grandpa toward the kitchen. "We're all hungry. Are you done yet?"

Grandma took the gift, saying, "Just a simple meal, and look, you bought so many things. Don't be so extravagant next time." Wei Qingyue said, "It's nothing much, just a small token." He spoke the pleasantries a little unnaturally, glancing at Jiang Du, who was pursing her lips to hide a smile.

At the dinner table, Grandpa poured a little alcohol and offered it to Wei Qingyue. Wei Qingyue quickly stood up, bent at the waist, and held the cup with both hands to receive the drink. He tilted his head back and drank it all without even a frown.

"I've finished mine. As you please."

Jiang Du was still pursing her lips, watching with a smile.

Wei Qingyue drank cup after cup. Fortunately, the cups were small. Grandma stopped Grandpa. "You old man, you're going to get the kid drunk. What's the point of making him feel sick?"

"What do you old women know? I'm happy today! Come, Xiao Wei. Your surname is Wei... Wei what?" Grandpa waved his hand, his face flushed pink.

"Wei Qingyue. Qing as in clear water, Yue as in to surpass," Wei Qingyue explained patiently.

The conversation was sporadic. Grandpa couldn't hold his liquor well; his face would turn red at the first touch, and he'd get drunk after one drink. He talked a lot.

"You and Jiang Du were high school classmates?"

"Yes."

"What did you study abroad?"

"Computer science."

"Oh, computers. How many people are in your family?" Grandpa had forgotten Jiang Du's instructions and, now, couldn't catch the frequent glances she was shooting him, interrogating with drunken, hazy eyes.

Wei Qingyue smiled. "My parents are divorced. They each have new families."

Grandpa said "Oh," then muttered to himself, "Divorced. It's good that they're divorced."

Annoyed, Grandma rapped him with her chopsticks. "What nonsense are you talking, you silly old man?" She turned and smiled apologetically. "Don't mind him, child. He's just talking nonsense."

Wei Qingyue shook his head. "It's fine. I feel the same way."

Grandma's face was clearly awkward for a few seconds. She quickly urged Wei Qingyue to eat more, constantly putting food on his plate. Jiang Du didn't say anything, but when Grandma went to get more rice and Grandpa was drunk, she reached out and touched Wei Qingyue's hand.

Wei Qingyue smiled at her.

"Actually, I came today not just to see you two, but for another matter. Jiang Du and I aren't young anymore." As soon as Wei Qingyue started speaking, the two women at the table froze. Grandma looked at Jiang Du, Jiang Du looked at Wei Qingyue, her eyes questioning, 'You didn't discuss this with me? Weren't we just coming for dinner?'

"My plan is to pick a date and get married soon." Wei Qingyue continued at his own pace, his gaze shifting between the two elders, avoiding Jiang Du. "I'm sure Jiang Du has told you about my basic situation. If you two agree, we can get engaged first."

Jiang Du's face burned red as a monkey's bottom. She couldn't help but stretch out her leg and stomp on his foot hard. Wei Qingyue was completely oblivious. He quickly cleared his throat. "Do you two have any requirements for the betrothal gift? You can tell me directly. I can be a bit straightforward. If what I just said was too abrupt, please bear with me and forgive my youth and thoughtlessness."

Betrothal gift? How did it suddenly come to a betrothal gift? Jiang Du felt waves of dizziness, as if she were about to float up to the moon. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding as she stared at Wei Qingyue, nervous and anxious.

From beginning to end, he was only speaking to the two elders.

Grandma also showed a bewildered expression, stunned. She looked at the old man who still hadn't grasped the situation, then at Jiang Du, stammering, "It's a matter for you young people, you can make your own decisions. We..." She jabbed the dazed old man hard with her elbow. "Isn't that right, old man? As long as you two are willing, we agree. No objections, no objections."

Grandpa, as if waking from a dream, his face beet red, asked, "You said you want to marry our Jiang Du, is that right?"

His voice was so loud that Jiang Du suspected half the neighborhood could hear. She quickly got up and closed the screen window. A cool draft brushed her face. Jiang Du touched her burning cheeks, took a deep breath, and quickly turned back. Under the light, her eyes met Wei Qingyue's dark pupils.

"Yes, I want to marry Jiang Du, but I must first ask for your consent." Wei Qingyue's heart was beating faster and faster, forcing him to grab his cup and down a few more sips of white liquor.

The world became tipsy, bitter and spicy, yet drenched in sunlight. Golden osmanthus flowers hung on dark green leaves. The rich floral scent spread continuously until it enveloped the entire world like a thick fog.

He was about to succeed this time. Yes, he was about to succeed this time. He would definitely succeed!

A spinning top was whirling at high speed in his mind. He would have no more regrets, he would no longer be lost and desolate. It was he who had been too selfish, too eager to leave for his future to stay and accompany her in her loneliness. He knew everything. He knew of her misfortune, he knew her thoughts. He just didn't understand himself well enough, only realizing it in hindsight.

Forgive him. Forgive me.

With his other hand, Wei Qingyue nearly crushed the Tweety Bird.

His body was trembling slightly.

The old man's voice rang out clearly before him. Grandpa laughed heartily. He said, "That's wonderful! If you don't marry her soon, Jiang Du will be old. This is really wonderful. Even if my old lady and I were to die now, we could close our eyes in peace!"

A sound as crisp as jade rang out, echoing for a long time.

The string that had been taut in Wei Qingyue's heart for twelve years finally snapped at this moment. He felt as if all his strength had been drained.

He stood up, losing his composure, his throat bobbing. "I really don't know how to thank you both..."

"Silly child, what's there to thank us for? Sit down, sit down." Grandma's dry, stiff hand rested on the back of his hand. It was so real, the touch of a distant, kind old woman's skin.

He was allowed to stay the night.

Wei Qingyue's steps were unsteady. He had drunk too much, reeked of alcohol, and his eyes grew hazy and sentimental. He saw a bouquet of chrysanthemums on the living room table, white as snow, but they were half-wilted, with some petals fallen. They needed to be replaced. Wei Qingyue walked unsteadily to the chrysanthemums. He thought in a daze, 'He hadn't asked Jiang Du yet. Right, he hadn't asked Jiang Du yet.'

But the whole world was violently turbulent. He was calling her name. Amid the turbulence, the clock on the wall never moved.

"Why is the clock in your house broken?" Wei Qingyue pointed to the wall. "The day Huang Yingshi interviewed me, the clock in the room was broken. Tell me, I'm not dreaming."

Jiang Du glanced at the wall, nearly brought to tears. She said, "The clock is working. You've had too much to drink."

"What about the flowers?" Wei Qingyue pointed to the white chrysanthemums, feeling sick to his stomach. "Why do you have white chrysanthemums in your house? And they're almost withered. Jiang Du, don't you think your home is very strange?"

Jiang Du steadied him and said, "Grandma bought these. I just need to put them in water, and they'll last a while longer."

She helped him into her small bedroom. Wei Qingyue saw it. His soul left his body, hovering in mid-air, gazing infatuatedly for a long, long time at everything happening in the bedroom.

He had become two parts.

Jiang Du held his waist, Wei Qingyue's full weight pressing down on her. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. Jiang Du could barely support him, stumbling backward until she leaned against the desk for some strength.

"Marry me," he murmured in a low voice.

"Marry you. I'll marry you." Jiang Du gently stroked his back, as if coaxing a child.

"I'm sorry. I know I let you down." He started to cry, the world blurring rapidly. "I wrote you letters. Didn't you see them? Why didn't you read the letters I wrote you? I said I would come back, come back to find you."

Jiang Du's voice grew gentler. She hugged him and said with a smile, "But aren't you back now?"

"But why did you ignore me? We met twice later. Why did you ignore me?" Wei Qingyue asked, confused and aggrieved, like a child.

Jiang Du wasn't surprised at all. Her eyes were still curved in a smile. "Silly, I'm about to marry you. Forget about the past. You will have a good life."

You will have a good life.

Those words were exactly the same as what she'd said on that rainy day twelve years ago when he had briefly confided in her. That rain had actually been falling for twelve years. Wei Qingyue thought this, and so he told her, "Jiang Du, it's been raining for the past twelve years, did you know? It rains every day."

Jiang Du pushed him away to look at his face, smiling brightly. She widened her eyes. "Is that so? How magical, for it to rain for twelve years straight? What place is so magical? I only know it rains in Macondo."

"Right. You forgot, I'm full of useless but interesting knowledge. Should I tell you what's going on?" He pulled her, and they fell onto the bed.

Jiang Du's face was red and bright, her eyes as if filled with the clearest water. She watched him fall toward her.

Wei Qingyue couldn't help but touch her face. The light was warm.

He didn't explain. Instead, he became stubborn again:

"I saw you twice, in '09 and in '15. Why did you ignore me?"

Jiang Du gently corrected him, "Wei Qingyue, you're sick. I know everything. You dreamed of me. You're confusing dreams with reality. I'll take you to a doctor. You must listen to me and see a doctor. If you don't, I'll die of a broken heart."

She reached out and also caressed his face, her fingers drifting as lightly as a cloud.

"I'm not," Wei Qingyue wouldn't listen, even getting a little angry. "I'm not confused. Why don't you believe me? I saw you twice. I really saw you."

In '09, he chose to come back during summer break and went to Mei Zhong.

It was the day after the Gaokao ended in China.

He knew everyone would be tearing up their books, that books, exam papers, and materials would fall like heavy snow.

Jiang Du was leaning against the railing. The school building was brightly lit, so very bright.

He stood on the first floor, looking up, and saw her in the crowd with a single glance. Snowflakes of paper fluttered down; youth was coming to an end.