"Yes. My family left me some gold coins, but they're all gone now. I figured there was no point in keeping them, so I used them to do something," the shopkeeper said casually.

"If you have gold coins at home, why did you come to work as a shop assistant before?" Her question slipped out, and she immediately realized that it was inappropriate to ask such a question, so she said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your affairs."

“It’s alright, you’ll find out later.” The shopkeeper smiled and said, “Actually, they didn’t have many gold coins. They earned them with their lives. My family isn’t poor, but we’re not rich either. I just didn’t want to stay in one place for too long, and when I was young and immature, I argued with my family and ran away. As soon as I came out, I started working at your shop, and then they all got into trouble.”

"I see. No wonder when you came, I thought you looked tall and strong, but you seemed like you'd never done any work! I thought you'd encountered some kind of misfortune if you'd never worked before. I never imagined it was like this!" She nodded knowingly.

"After this experience, I learned a lesson," the waiter said to her earnestly, "Cherish the people in front of you."

She was stunned for a moment, and then her heart began to pound uncontrollably again.

She hoped that's what he meant, but she also hoped that wasn't.

If yes, she would feel that she is too old to have children and is not good enough for him; if no, she would be sad and upset.

"I want to be with you and accompany you for the rest of your life." The guy said everything that was on his mind.

"I..." She was so frightened that she took two steps back and couldn't speak.

"After I came back, I learned what had happened to your ex-husband. I knew you must be very sad and upset, and I wanted to go find you and comfort you. Then, you appeared next door. You don't know how happy I was. But, given what happened to you, I couldn't show my happiness in front of you. So, I told myself to give you time, and to give myself time. I'll work hard to earn money and provide you with a safe haven that will never fail. You can slowly process the pain you've suffered." The man poured out his heart. "I can't say I can give you the best life, but I can say I can give you the best I can. I know you can't have children. If you like, we can adopt one from a poor family with many children. If you don't like it, then we won't have one. Just the two of us, living together."

Hearing these words, her eyes reddened again, but she had cried too much last night and couldn't cry anymore.

"Don't rush, don't panic, and don't be afraid. Think it over slowly, I'll wait for you." Seeing that she was flustered, the waiter got up, walked over to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and said softly.

“But I’m older than you,” she said, looking up at the waiter after calming herself down.

"That means I'll definitely outlive you. That's for the best, because if I don't live as long as you, you'll be all alone, and I won't be able to die in peace," the waiter said with a smile.

She instinctively raised her hand to cover the waiter's mouth: "Don't talk nonsense. You're still young."

The waiter smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, there's still a long way to go. I'll be waiting for you."