Chapter Thirty-Three: Waiting for a Reunion

"Three years, give me three years," Ding Wei said, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at Old Master Lu.

In the end, Old Master Lu agreed. When Ding Wei left, he spoke only one sentence to Lu Yuelan: "Wait for me." Nothing else.

At that time, he was convinced he’d make something of himself. One day, he’d prove to Old Master Lu that he could give Yuelan a good life.

Ding Wei spent three years away, and he truly made a name for himself. Though not wealthy, he had confidence he could give Yuelan a happy life.

Three years ago, he left with reluctance and hope. Three years later, returning to this familiar place, his heart brimmed with pride, thinking finally he could be with Yuelan.

He didn’t tell Yuelan he’d come back—he wanted to surprise her.

"How is it, did you hurt yourself when you fell?" As he walked through a narrow alley, Ding Wei suddenly heard Yuelan’s voice—the voice he’d longed for day and night; he could never mistake it.

He straightened his clothes. No matter how much time had passed, whenever he met Lu Yuelan, he felt like that young, reckless boy again.

"Do you want Mommy to blow on it for you? Good baby, don’t cry, alright?"

The sound stopped Ding Wei in his tracks. He leaned against the wall, unsure what emotion made him secretly look over.

Three years had passed, yet she hadn’t changed at all. Lu Yuelan smiled gently at the child, a smile Ding Wei hadn’t seen in years. Since they’d been together, he’d rarely seen her smile like that.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, watching her gently comfort the child as they walked farther and farther away. He didn’t move a step.

At last, he understood why he’d never received a reply to all the letters he’d written over the years.

He was illiterate, but he’d learned to write after work every day just to tell her he was doing well. Each letter, written in his awkward hand, was sent, and when no reply came, he assumed Old Master Lu intercepted them.

Still, stubbornly, he kept writing, hoping perhaps she’d receive just one.

Now, it seemed she hadn’t failed to receive the letters—she simply had a new life. The smile Yuelan had just given pierced him—it was he who’d held her back all this time. Without him, she was happy.

The pain of youth, that feeling of helplessness, swept over him again. No matter how much he’d accomplished, it was all in vain. He didn’t even have the courage to step forward and ask: Why didn’t you wait for me?

He only remembered standing there, alone, for a long, long time. Then he walked away. He never spoke of it again, nor did he return to Lianli Bay.

"Why did it turn out like this? Why didn’t Lu Yuelan wait for him?" Bai Chenxi listened, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You said that old man kept waiting at the guesthouse. There’s more to this, isn’t there?"

She forced herself not to cry, but her eyes spilled over as she looked at Chu Muyun.

Chu Muyun gently patted her head. "Why are you crying?"

"I’m not crying! Tell me, tell me—isn’t the story not over?" Bai Chenxi pressed him to continue.

"Their story is both finished and unfinished."

After Ding Wei left, he dedicated himself to his work, enduring every hardship. He became a shell, using work to numb himself.

He seized opportunities, and the company grew larger. Things should have ended there, but in his fifties, he happened to meet a fellow townsman.

Both were getting old, and talking about the past always brought sorrow.

"Yue... Yuelan, how is she?" Ding Wei hesitated for ages before finally asking. He couldn’t let her go.

"You don’t know?" Hearing Lu Yuelan’s name, the old friend was plainly astonished.

He paused, then said, "Lu Yuelan... she passed away two years ago."

"What?" Ding Wei was stunned, as if his soul had left him. How could that be? Wasn’t she supposed to be happy?

The old friend, seeing Ding Wei’s devastated face, grew angry. "If you never forgot her, why didn’t you look for her? You made her wait her whole life!"

"Her whole life?" Ding Wei grabbed his shoulder. "Didn’t she marry and have a child?"

"That child was adopted. She waited for you her whole life and never married."

Only then did Ding Wei learn what had happened after he’d left. His father had pressured Yuelan to marry, but she quarreled with her family to avoid it. Rumors said she’d eloped before, so this time her family severed ties.

Yuelan didn’t back down. Raised as a pampered young lady, she learned to work as a factory girl, enduring hardship for a small wage.

She even adopted a child she’d found in the snow. Time softened Old Master Lu, who occasionally helped her. But she refused to remarry, opened a guesthouse that later became a homestay, living alone and caring for her adopted child.

Worry wore at her health, and she passed away at fifty-three.

Ding Wei collapsed to the ground, silently weeping.

Later, he returned to Lianli Bay, bought the guesthouse, and met the child Yuelan had adopted.

He honored Yuelan’s legacy; the boy grew up to be outstanding.

Ding Wei took him as a godson and handed over the company. He himself stayed at the guesthouse for over a decade.

Bai Chenxi’s tears flowed without pause. "Why didn’t they end up together? They loved each other so much."

"Did he ever regret not stepping forward?"

Regret? Chu Muyun had asked him that once.

"Do you regret it?" Ding Wei murmured, gazing into the distance for a long time before answering. "It doesn’t matter now. We’ll meet again someday."

In a daze, Ding Wei saw again the bright young girl of the past: "One day I’ll open an inn, welcoming travelers from everywhere. Listening to their stories—how interesting that would be!"

The girl shyly lowered her head. "Would you like to join me?"

Back then, Ding Wei scratched his head, too shy to answer. He boldly took her hand instead, and together they laughed at their own foolishness.

"I would, always." Fifty years later, the girl’s question finally received an answer.

You waited for me all your life. I’ll spend the rest of mine waiting for you—waiting for a reunion.

Listening to the story, Bai Chenxi couldn’t stop crying. Chu Muyun scrambled for tissues and wiped her tears.

Bai Chenxi took the tissues, dabbing her eyes as she sobbed.

"If I ever have a boyfriend, I’ll make sure we never misunderstand each other. I’ll always talk things through face-to-face. I never want something like this to happen—oh, why did it turn out like this?"

Seeing Bai Chenxi cry harder and harder, Chu Muyun remarked, "You talk as if you have a boyfriend."

Bai Chenxi stopped crying and glared at him fiercely. "Can’t you say something nicer?"

Grandma Chu and Grandpa Chu returned from their walk to find Bai Chenxi gazing tearfully at Chu Muyun, as if accusing him of something.