Chapter 170: Drifting Across Your Shoulder

Chapter 170: Drifting Across Your Shoulder

This night was destined to be unusual, one that would be difficult to fall asleep.

Fu Yanjing knew that he had already done many things that were out of control and difficult to control.

This dejected and dispirited state is so unlike him.

No one would have imagined that the aloof Fu Yanjing would one day be troubled by love. Fu Yanjing himself never expected that he would go so far as to stand in the stairwell of a residential building at nine o'clock at night, begging a woman to open the door one more time.

But they are separated by only one door.

The outdoor corridor lights made him appear all alone.

The room was completely silent.

No one responded.

He did not knock on Wen Jinye's door.

But the elevator door at the corner of the corridor rang.

Grandma Wang walked out with her dog and immediately saw Fu Yanjing, a tall and lonely figure standing outside the door.

"You've come looking for Jin Ye?"

He had been standing there for a long time. Fu Yanjing turned around slowly and nodded.

Grandma Wang has watched many short dramas and has already imagined the drama of the two people's deep and torturous love, constantly missing each other.

She sighed with a sense of regret, "Alas, you're too late. They've already moved out."

Fu Yanjing was somewhat dazed. "They moved away?"

Speaking of this, Grandma Wang still felt a bit scared and sighed, "The internet is full of right and wrong. I was wrongly accused of being a mistress back then, and some extreme people came to my door to threaten me. Fortunately, I wasn't home today."

Grandma Wang pointed to the wall near the door, which was noticeably whiter than the rest of the room. "That's not it. The latex paint and everything else were applied later. This address was exposed. Although the matter was later clarified, it was still unsafe for a young girl living alone to have her address exposed. She had no choice but to move away."

Grandma Wang wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "I'm really reluctant to part with Jinye."

Fu Yanjing stared blankly at the walls on both sides of the door frame, which looked brand new and had been freshly painted.

I remember when the assistant came to deliver the house in Qiushui Bay to Wen Jinye last time, I told him:

"The man standing next to her seems to be reporter Wen's boyfriend. The two of them decorated reporter Wen's home together and even repainted the exterior walls."

Fu Yanjing gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Therefore, she endured such great injustice and suffering at that time.

When she was most helpless, the person standing by Wen Jinye's side was not him.

And what was he doing?

Thinking she had truly stepped into her next spring, and still feigning nonchalance, I decided to block all news about her.

That's true.

madness.

He brought it upon himself.

*

Fu Yanjing was about to call his assistant to investigate the matter when Grandma Wang's slow words interrupted his thoughts again.

"Although I don't know why you two broke up back then, there's one thing I'm sure of: that girl Jin really liked you back then."

Fu Yanjing was somewhat stunned, his heart filled with bitterness.

"I didn't cherish it."

Unlike other men who kneel down and slap themselves repeatedly when they make a mistake, he doesn't do that.

Fu Yanjing simply lowered his eyelids, letting his eyelashes cast a small shadow over his eye sockets, making it impossible to see the emotions in his eyes.

A soft, slow sentence, tinged with self-mockery and an indescribable sense of bewilderment.

Love is a matter of fate, and the grudges and entanglements of young people are beyond the control of an old woman over fifty.

Whether it's offering comfort or persuasion, the key is to see what the person involved chooses.

Grandma Wang remembered the box full of things related to Fu Yanjing.

"Xiao Fu, come in with me for a moment, I need to get you something."

An ordinary cardboard box appeared before Fu Yanjing's eyes.

As Grandma Wang cut open the transparent tape with scissors, she said, "The night you stood downstairs at Jinye's house, Jinye was also packing her things. Perhaps she wanted to make a complete break with the past, so this box of things appeared at her door. I'm old, and I have no resistance to these cardboard boxes. When I took it home, I found that it was heavy inside, full of memories related to you."

“I thought young people might decide to give up on a relationship on a whim, so I kept it. I didn’t expect it to actually come in handy.”

Grandma Wang pushed the box towards Fu Yanjing, leaving a blank space like in a movie, "The rest, you can see for yourself."

Perhaps he had realized something, which is why his arm holding the box was trembling.

The sealed box was opened, revealing its contents.

The first thing that catches the eye is a certificate of merit. The creases are still there, and the writing has faded, but it has been well protected and is not damaged.

Only one crease, formed after the water dried, happened to appear on his name.

That area, neither too big nor too small, was exactly the mark left by a single tear.

The excruciating pain spread from my limbs to my entire body.

Beneath the exam paper was more information about him.

His essay, which was published in the school newspaper, had its most insightful point highlighted with a horizontal line at the end.

[A long-awaited reunion is a beautiful phrase, like the long-awaited sunshine in a city dampened by months of drizzle. What's rare is the preciousness of losing something and then regaining it. May we possess what we have now, face loss with equanimity, and find light at the end of the tunnel.]

That's why she wrote "Wishing to meet again" on the back of that one-inch photo.

The sentences he casually wrote down, which he never looked back on, were still remembered by some.

There was also a fallen leaf that was wrapped in plastic and labeled with a sticker:

I am like this fallen leaf, drifting down onto your shoulder.

All the carefully treasured objects, and the delicate brushstrokes left on them, every word and phrase, are the old and sincere thoughts of a young girl.

So, when did that "fallen leaf" drift down in front of him and beside him?

These were all things that Wen Jin was too choked up to say—

Things he didn't know.

There are even more.

At the very bottom of the box was his high school nameplate.

Fu Yanjing's return to Hong Kong was sudden; he did not take the college entrance examination in Jiangbei City, and there was no time to pack many things.

That was the stage when he gradually became indifferent and apathetic towards the outside world. In his eyes, there was no need to keep many things, and he threw away everything that could be thrown away.

Whether it's the one-inch photo Wen Jin left behind in Hong Kong or the nameplate now in his palm, neither of them are things Fu Yanjing has.

He didn't have it, but Wen Jin has carefully preserved it to this day.

She cherished those precious three years of high school even more than I did.

The pin behind the nameplate had come undone at some point, and Fu Yanjing gripped it tightly, the sharp needle piercing the tender flesh of his palm.

The distinct stinging sensation allowed him to barely control his emotions, which were surging like a floodgate opening.

And it all started with that yellowed photograph.

He carried it with him as he searched his way here.

It's like holding an old train ticket and frantically searching for a high-speed train you've already missed.

If an opportunity presents itself, seize it. If you miss it due to hesitation or lack of discernment, then focus on the next opportunity.

Instead of worrying unnecessarily and wallowing in self-pity, clinging to outdated ideas.

He clearly never thought much of people like that.

You only know the pain when the knife pierces your own skin.

Fu Yanjing felt a pain in his heart. Perhaps Wen Jinye's name was like an unhealed scar on his heart, becoming a lifelong heartache.

He was consumed by his obsession with loss.

He was unable to recover for a long time.

———————

See you tomorrow, my wives!