Chapter 86 Year After Year (Side Story 5)

A person's life is clearly so long, but when it is transformed into plain language, it is so short.

That year, there was a long period of rain. The ship was sailing very slowly at sea. Someone whispered that they seemed to have lost their way, and if things continued like this, they might all die there.

The young man standing on the deck smoked a cigarette. He watched quietly as the sea, which concealed turbulent waves, maintained a false calm in the drizzling rain, but he was not as panicked as the others.

He is different from others. He has no family to worry about, nor any relatives or friends to hold him back. He has survived to this day entirely on his own. So if he can't go back, there's no need to worry that anyone will be sad for him.

The only thing that might make him feel regretful is that he hasn't spent all the money he's saved over the years; it's all been for nothing.

It was on that rainy day that he met a girl on the boat.

He Sui asked with a smile, "So you two fell in love at first sight?"

The old man chuckled. "Perhaps so. Actually, I don't understand either. She was dressed so well. At first glance, I could tell she was a young lady from a wealthy family, maybe even studied abroad. Compared to her, I'm just a down-on-his-luck guy. I never thought she would walk towards me."

A person who has been through the ups and downs of society knows very well that there are some people he cannot possibly have his way with, and he has always been self-aware.

The moment the sky cleared, that overly beautiful girl appeared here; she was dazzling.

He didn't even dare to look at it for more than a second before turning his gaze away.

But she came over.

It was like a beautiful, bewitching dream. He began to feel anxious and vulnerable because there was a woman by his side, and he was now bound by her. He no longer dared to go out on the ship with the mindset of just living one day at a time.

He wanted to live a peaceful life with her.

The old man recalled the past and chuckled, "It's embarrassing to admit, but even the idea of ​​marriage was proposed by her."

He Sui listened with even greater interest, exclaiming "Wow!" and saying, "Your wife is a very courageous person."

He nodded. "Yes, she's braver than me. In front of her, I'm just a coward."

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about marrying her; in fact, from the first moment he saw her, he thought about marrying her every day, but he didn't dare.

Even though she had nowhere to go, he took her back to his home. Even though he was worried that she wouldn't be comfortable, he took out the little money he had saved over the years to have furniture made so that she could live more comfortably. Even though he started to quit smoking and drinking... He did so many things, and every single one of them showed that this girl held an extraordinary place in his heart. Maybe all they needed to do was to break through this barrier so that they could be together legitimately.

But he didn't dare to speak.

It was evening when he returned home carrying fresh meat. As he pushed open the gate, he saw a girl sitting on the steps.

No one knew what she was thinking, but when she saw him return, bathed in the warm sunset, she suddenly smiled and said, "Let's get married."

The meat he had just bought fell on the ground, covering it with dust.

He Sui cupped her face in her hands, looking very interested, "So you two got married?"

The old man looked at the young girl, his eyes crinkling slightly, and said with a smile, "Yes, we are married."

Looking back now, that period of his life still feels like a dream.

He was able to marry a girl he loved and have a lovely son. He was all alone and suddenly had a warm home. The feeling was so wonderful that it felt unreal.

However, he was still keenly aware that the moment he had his own family, all the hardships of his first half of life had become meaningful.

His dreams were no longer filled with the smell of garbage dumps, nor did they feature dilapidated, dark houses where rats roamed freely. He began to dream of the future, of his son growing into a strong and upright man, and of him and his wife sitting in wicker chairs in front of the yard, watching the sunset, their hair white as they walked.

Perhaps it was fate that mocked his arrogance, so his beautiful dreams about the future were shattered one day.

He Sui asked anxiously, "Has she been arrested?"

The old man lowered his gaze and said slowly, "It was my fault for not protecting her."

When she was arrested, he was away on a job and traveling to another city. By the time he received the news and rushed back, it was too late.

He met the young lady from the Wang family.

Wang Mingyue said, "I have already asked my father to have someone protect her as much as possible. As long as it takes some time, my father will be able to get her out through his connections. You have worked under my father for so many years, you must know my father's capabilities."

“However…” Wang Mingyue glanced at the man, then lowered her head shyly, “I have one condition.”

He went home, found his young child in the closet, and amidst the child's hateful gaze, he brought back another woman. He even naively believed that if he compromised, he could keep her alive.

But how could that be?

Compromise only emboldens others, and even the heavens laugh at his foolishness. He traveled everywhere seeking clues and humbled himself before others, finally getting the chance to see her.

It was a cold corpse.

She died at the prime of her life; the so-called "growing old together" was nothing but a joke to him.

He Sui had thought it would be a romantic love story, but she never imagined it would end like this. Her mood plummeted, and she looked at the serene old man, wanting to comfort him but not knowing how to begin.

The old man said lightly, "I'm sorry, I made the atmosphere too somber."

New Year's greeting: "If your wife knew that you had thought of her all these years, she would surely be pleased."

He shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh, “I’m not a good person. She shouldn’t feel gratified. Not long after she died, I got together with another woman. I had a child with this woman, and we lived a wealthy and stable life together for so many years, growing old together.”

He gazed into the girl's eyes and said softly, "You see, I'm not a good man to entrust my life to, am I?"

He Sui opened her mouth, but no sound came out; she didn't know how to respond.

In a couple where one spouse passes away first, it seems perfectly reasonable for the surviving spouse to find another partner. After all, most men and women in this world are like that. The idea of ​​someone being devoted to one person for a lifetime is so rare that it has become nothing more than a legend.