Chapter 174 They're watching us from heaven. "I swear, I will..."

At the end of the month, the two men came to the high-speed rail station to take Auntie back home. Although Lin Cuiqin said that she didn't need two people to take her, she couldn't resist their stubbornness and still took her to the high-speed rail station.

She didn't take much with her when she left this time. She thought that she and Jiang Yueming had come back to say a proper goodbye, to pack up their belongings, and that she wouldn't be coming back again. But to be honest, it felt like something was pulling and tugging at her heart, something she couldn't bear to break free from. In the more than ten years she had lived in Shengping, she had long regarded it as her second home.

Now that Jiang Yueming is guarding their home, Lin Cuiqin still feels that there is still a place for her to belong here. She can leave with peace of mind.

"Alright, no need to see me off. It'll only take up your time." Lin Cuiqin waved her hand at them, indicating that they didn't need to see her off.

“Auntie, take good care of yourself over there. Don’t overwork yourself, and don’t worry about us, okay?” Jiang Yueming said.

“Okay—” Lin Cuiqin smiled, a few fine lines appearing at the corners of her eyes. “Oh, you’re so sensible.”

She sized up the two tall boys in front of her. How much taller were they now than her? They had grown so much in a short time. She had to stand on tiptoe to reach out and touch Jiang Yueming's hair.

"Leshan, you and Yueming are both doing well. I've been asking you to take care of Yueming a lot." Lin Cuiqin patted Li Leshan's hand. "He can be stubborn sometimes, but he'll listen if you talk to him nicely. You're much more reliable than him, so please be more understanding."

Seeing Li Leshan nod, she felt a surge of comfort. Then, a little embarrassed, she looked up at him, her voice tinged with apology, "You know, all these years, your aunt hasn't visited you, Leshan. Don't overthink it, it was really..."

"Oh," Jiang Yueming said quickly when she saw Li Leshan's troubled expression, "Auntie, don't say that. We don't need to be like this. If you think like this, Lele will feel very sorry."

"Okay, okay..." Lin Cuiqin stopped talking. She held their hands and gave them some more instructions before reluctantly letting go.

She was still particularly moved, looking at Jiang Yueming now, she realized how much she had changed compared to when she was a child. More than ten years had passed in the blink of an eye, and a sense of satisfaction welled up in her heart.

Perhaps it was because she was getting older and becoming more sentimental, but Lin Cuiqin quietly wiped away her tears again. She looked at Jiang Yueming, her voice choked with emotion, "Yueming, your aunt can finally give an account to your mother... and finally give an account to my sister."

She raised Jiang Yueming and Tiantian all by herself, putting in a lot of time and energy... Over the years, there has been a lot of hardship and helplessness. When Tiantian was still little, she had to take care of Tiantian almost every day, and often felt that she owed Jiang Yueming something. But Jiang Yueming was so obedient and sensible, and never caused her any worry.

After Lin Cuilan left, many people tried to persuade her, saying that she was pregnant herself and had no time to take care of another child; they said she was still young and should think about herself. From then on, many people tried to advise her on her daily life, saying all sorts of things, suggesting she should abandon her responsibilities or that she didn't need to take care of the child herself. Lin Cuilan didn't listen to a single word of these suggestions.

She was determined to bring Jiang Yueming with her, so she resolutely left home to live in Shengping. She had been raised by her older sister since childhood; her sister always saved the best food and drink for her, never eating any herself. She loved her sister, so she wanted to love Jiang Yueming even more.

She had long ago sworn that she would treat Jiang Yueming even better, take good care of him, and ensure he lived a happy and fulfilling life. Lin Cuiqin knew her sister was watching over her from heaven.

Jiang Yueming felt a lump in his throat, and tears welled up in his eyes. He opened his mouth, and for the first time in a long time, he thought of his mother, just as Lin Cuiqin was missing her sister at this moment.

“She must be so happy,” Jiang Yueming said in a low voice, his voice slightly hoarse, “because you took such good care of me…”

“Yes,” Lin Cuiqin said, wiping away her tears with a smile on her face, “She was really happy because my aunt dreamed about her a while ago. She was still so young, wearing that light red shirt, do you remember? She was standing under the osmanthus tree in our hometown, smiling at me. She came to see me in my dream.”

She reached out and touched Jiang Yueming's face one last time, then looked at Li Leshan, tears welling in her eyes, "Take care, okay?"

The announcement came over the loudspeaker, signaling the time for parting. Lin Cuiqin, tears welling in her eyes, waved to the two of them. Watching her slowly disappear into the distance, Jiang Yueming's vision blurred again.

He thought of his mother, though his memory was already hazy, only a few fragmented pieces remaining: a warm embrace, the lullabies she sang, and her always gentle smile. After his mother left, it was his aunt who took his hand. From a small town in the Jiangnan water region, they came to this northern county. The journey was bumpy and arduous.

He thought back on all those years of wandering, the days of living without a fixed abode, braving wind and rain, and realized how he hadn't realized that his aunt was his eternal harbor. How he hadn't realized that someone was always waiting for him to come home.

Li Leshan reached out and put his arm around his shoulder, patting it gently.

After standing there for a long time, until the ticket check for that bus stopped, Jiang Yueming said softly, "Let's go."

The afternoon sun slanted down, casting long shadows of the few half-dead locust trees in front of the station. Several red three-wheeled motorcycles—locals call them "sanbengzi"—were lazily parked by the roadside, the drivers squatting in the shade, fanning themselves with newspapers or flyers, chatting idly.

“My aunt just said she dreamed about my mom,” Jiang Yueming said softly. “I haven’t dreamed about her in a long time. Sometimes I’m afraid to dream about her, afraid that she will see me… that I haven’t grown up to be the way she expected me to be, that I will disappoint her. Sometimes I’m afraid not to dream about her, afraid that she has really forgotten me, or… or that I have already forgotten her.”

He used to be afraid, but now he's not so afraid. Because he's realized that "love is love," and it's unconditional, no matter what kind of life he leads.

Li Leshan's Adam's apple bobbed, and his heart was filled with turmoil, unable to calm down for a long time. He turned his head to look at Jiang Yueming and raised his hand seriously, "She will be proud of you when she sees you."

Jiang Yueming froze for a moment, his eyes instantly reddening. He turned his face away, looked at the surrounding street scene, and blinked hard to suppress the sudden surge of emotion.

That night, Li Leshan didn't sleep until very late.

Jiang Yueming suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. He'd never slept soundly in years, waking at the slightest noise. He instinctively reached for his side, only to find it empty. A sudden panic gripped him. He got out of bed and saw a faint light in the living room. But it was still too dark; he could only see Li Leshan sitting on the sofa, holding something and looking down at it.

The figure appeared exceptionally lonely in the quiet of the night.

Jiang Yueming walked over, his footsteps very light. But Li Leshan still keenly caught his footsteps, looked up, and his sign language was a little unclear in the darkness, "Did I disturb you?"

"No, no." Jiang Yueming sat down next to him and finally saw what Li Leshan was holding—a photo of his grandmother. The old woman in the photo still smiled, her gaze gentle, as if she could see through the paper and time, still watching over her most beloved grandson.

He knew Li Leshan missed his grandmother. It turned out that over the years, he had often thought of her and missed her. Jiang Yueming wondered how many times he had sat here alone like this, and the thought made her feel a pang of sadness.

"Lele," Jiang Yueming's voice rang out in the night, softly, "What are you thinking about? Tell me."

Li Leshan remained silent for a long time, the dim light casting a small shadow on his lowered eyelashes. "I'm thinking about what I should tell Grandma."

"If she were still alive, would she be at peace seeing me like this?"

Jiang Yueming's heart felt like it was being soaked in acidic water, both bitter and painful. He reached out a slightly trembling hand and put it around Li Leshan's shoulder, whispering, "She'll be at ease. She can see how good you are, how capable you are, how... she can see it all..."

Li Leshan looked up at Jiang Yueming, his eyes already completely red, but he stubbornly refused to let the tears fall. Jiang Yueming knew, in truth, that his tears had all gone into his heart, accumulating into a deep pool.

Feeling Li Leshan trembling in his arms, Jiang Yueming felt a pang of pain in his heart. He stood up, took Li Leshan's hand, and led him to a table against the wall.

In the very center and most prominent position, a photo frame containing Grandma's picture stands quietly on the table.

Jiang Yueming stood up straight, facing the old man in the photo. The dim light illuminated his earnest profile and the eternal smile in the frame.

“Grandma,” his voice was especially clear in the empty room, “it’s me, Yueming.”

Li Leshan's hand trembled slightly in his palm.

"Do you still remember me? I'm Yueming." Jiang Yueming's voice was soft yet firm. He hadn't been back for a long time, but he had never forgotten, never forgotten how good his grandmother had been to him.

"Don't worry, I swear, I will be good to Lele for the rest of my life, I will take care of him for the rest of my life, and I will definitely make him happy."

After saying that, he bowed deeply to the photo frame and remained there for a long time.

Li Leshan stood there, looking at Jiang Yueming's bent back, at his grandmother's eternal smile on the altar. His throat felt constricted, a painful lump forming in his throat. His vision blurred completely, and warm tears finally broke through his defenses, streaming down his cheeks. Large, scalding tears fell, hitting the ground, hitting the softest part of his heart.

He raised his hand, trying to say something in sign language, but his fingers trembled so badly that he couldn't utter a complete sentence. In the end, he simply gripped Jiang Yueming's hand tightly, his knuckles turning white. The sobs that had been suppressed for so many years, trapped in his chest, finally broke free like a caged beast.

The moonlight streamed quietly in through the window, washing over the figures of the two embracing, over the smiling photo of Grandma on the table, and over this place filled with the past and the future.

Jiang Yueming straightened up and turned to face him. He reached out and cupped Li Leshan's cheeks in his palm, his thumb wiping away the hot tear stains again and again.

"Lele," Jiang Yueming called his name, her voice a little hoarse. He smiled, tears welling in his eyes. "Lele, don't cry. Let's not cry anymore. Grandma, she's watching over us from heaven."

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Author's Note: My darlings, the next chapter will be the final chapter (tonight at 9 PM). Just letting you all know in advance~~ Hope it didn't feel too abrupt! [Let me see]