Lin Jingyan retired a year later than Su He, but Su He couldn't stay idle. After retiring, he felt bored and accepted a re-employment.

He knew she loved her job, so seeing that she was still full of passion for her work even though she was not young, he didn't say anything, but instead supported her.

But Su He is getting old, and over time she sometimes finds herself unable to keep up.

Seeing her husband alone at home all day, she felt sorry for him, so she promised him that she would retire when she turned sixty-five and then travel the world with him.

Lin Jingyan was overjoyed when he found out and had been waiting for that day ever since.

But in the end, he didn't get to see it.

He and Su He had actually discussed before who would go first in the future.

He said he wanted Su He to go first, because he could take care of her funeral arrangements and let her pass away peacefully.

Su He agreed at the time, adding that if she left first, she would probably make a mess of his funeral arrangements.

I just never expected that her wish would come true, but she left us too soon.

She's still so healthy, hasn't given up on her age, and hasn't fulfilled her promise to take him traveling.

Lin Jingyan sometimes wondered if he was dreaming.

Otherwise, why would someone you saw the day before disappear the next day?

He thought Su He must be joking with her.

Because her death was so gruesome, the children didn't let him see the body, fearing it would upset him.

Therefore, Lin Jingyan never truly believed that she was dead.

And so, in a daze, Su He's funeral arrangements were completed.

Lin Jingyan suddenly realized that Su He was not dead, because he remembered that Su He had promised him that she would be with him for a lifetime. It was a lifetime! Su He was a person who valued promises the most. How could she break her promise?

So she must be busy with something. After all, she often does this before, sometimes not coming home for days at a time. This matter must be very important, which is why she's been away for a while. He'll just wait for her at home.

Anyway, we'll get to it someday.

Lin Jingyan didn't know how long he had been waiting. In fact, he felt it hadn't been long at all; it felt like Su He had only left a few days ago. But the children had changed quite a bit.

I always feel that the children have aged a lot every time I see them.

He thought they were working too hard, so he would sometimes remind them to rest more, otherwise they would look older than him, and Su He would feel sorry for them when she came back.

The children were both happy and sad every time they heard him say that.

Lin Jingyan couldn't stand it anymore; they were all grown up, so why were they still acting so childish?

If Su He found out, she would definitely laugh at them.

However, Lin Jingyan still noticed something was wrong, because his grandchildren were growing up too fast. In just a few days, they went from young men to middle-aged men with weathered faces, and later they even had children, giving him great-grandchildren.

But Su He still didn't come back.

He stubbornly refused to think about the reasons, insisting on waiting, believing that Su He would not break her promise.

Fortunately, he still had Xiao Hei with him, but Xiao Hei was getting old and couldn't walk anymore, so he had to carry him.

But Su He still didn't come back.

Until one day, Xiao Hei died.

Lin Jingyan was at a loss. He thought Su He would be sad when she found out, and might even scold him for not taking good care of Xiao Hei.

He stood at the door all day, but Little Black didn't appear, and of course, Su He didn't return either...

...

On this day, Lin Jingyan suddenly regained consciousness.

He remembered everything, flipped through the calendar and diary, and calculated how long Su He had been gone. He thought it hadn't been long, but upon closer inspection, he realized it had been 12 years.

It turns out he had been living alone for 12 years and had been waiting for 12 years!

But Su He still didn't arrive.

Then let him go find her. It's been so long, Xiao He must be getting impatient, and he's getting impatient too...

Lin Jingyan felt that he had no regrets in his life, except that he had spent too little time with Su He. The two of them had dedicated their lives to their careers and had spent too little time with each other.

He thought that in his next life, he would definitely spend more time with Su He.

Before he closed his eyes, he seemed to see Su He, her younger self, so warm and resolute, reaching out her hand to him. She had finally come to take him away. He thought, "That's wonderful, I've finally waited for you."

He wanted to say: Xiao He, I miss you so much...

--over--

A note from the author:

The extra chapter ends here. To be honest, the author wrote the last chapter while crying. After finishing it, I cried my eyes out and couldn't come back to my senses for a long time.

Some readers might ask, if that's the case, why not give the protagonist a perfect ending?

But there's no such thing as perfection in the world. It's precisely because of these imperfections that our lives become more perfect.

Lin Jingyan and Su He are the same. In their stories, the first half of their lives was too perfect, which is why imperfections occurred. That's life.

I took a break to write the beginning of this book because my grandmother passed away. So I added many of her stories to the book. She also waited alone for more than 30 years after my grandfather passed away.

In her later years, I asked her what impression she had of her grandfather and if she still remembered him. Grandma said she remembered him; he was very handsome.

I think Grandpa lived in his best years, so Grandma was very happy. And now, they should be reunited in another time and space.

Sorry, I've gone off on a tangent.

I'm so glad to have spent so much time with you all. It's been a wonderful experience, and I've been able to witness Su He and Lin Jingyan's lives together.

Although their story ends here, the stories of others are far from over. Stay tuned, and we'll see you in the next book.

Of course, because this book took a lot of effort to prepare and update, the next book may not be able to be serialized. The author wants to take a break during the Chinese New Year.

The next book will probably be updated after the New Year. If nothing unexpected happens, it will still be a historical novel, but it will be a completely different story.

I hope to see you all in my next book! And of course, just in case you can't find me then, please remember to follow the author!

Finally, thank you again for sticking with us this far. Wishing all the children eternal happiness, and see you in the next book!

—Respectfully submitted by Jingru Yang