Chapter 151 The Final Stop

In early December, the weather in Shanghai finally turned cold, with a chilly wind sweeping through the streets and the Christmas spirit filling the air. Even the street where Lin Yu's company was located was adorned with colorful lights and wreaths.

As the year draws to a close, Jiang Chuan is becoming increasingly busy, essentially becoming a frequent flyer. His law firm has been doing very well these past two years, and just last month he rented an entire floor of an office building, with plans to open a branch office now on the agenda.

Lin Yu's project is also progressing smoothly, with his collaboration with Lü Feng going well. According to plan, once the prototype testing is completed, the first project will begin trial operation early next year.

Lin Jianguo also came to Shanghai last month and officially joined her team, specifically responsible for refining the plans for two projects. He treats the company like home every day, working tirelessly and relieving a lot of her pressure.

Their lives were also quietly changing. Lin Yu gave up her previous one-bedroom apartment and rented a comfortable house for her father near the company, while she moved in with Jiang Chuan.

Now she has completely figured it out and no longer dwells on the issue of maintaining independence before marriage. Rather than being fixated on formal independence, she should focus on improving herself and nurturing their relationship.

Lin Yu's company has hired two more engineers, and the finance and human resources departments are gradually being fully staffed.

Two former colleagues who had been helping out part-time have now become full-time members and are the backbone of the team.

She was planning to formally propose them as partners after the New Year. This would be both a recognition of their abilities and a way of repaying them for their strong support along the way.

Jiang Chuan promised to come back for Christmas to celebrate with her. Lin Yu didn't have any particular attachment to Western holidays, but seeing the Christmas decorations on the street, she couldn't help but be infected by the festive atmosphere.

On Christmas Eve, she simply gave her staff the day off early, hoping to take the opportunity to have dinner with her family. However, Lin Jianguo said that he still had work to finish and couldn't get away.

She wanted to visit Qi Sheng, who had fractured his leg in an accident and was recuperating at home, but he said there were people at home and it wasn't convenient, telling her to go somewhere cool and stay away from home. She then went to find Cheng Shi, but was told that she had to stay home to take care of the children and couldn't go out.

For a moment, Lin Yu looked out the window at the bustling crowd and suddenly felt that the city's liveliness had nothing to do with him.

After thinking about it for a long time, I decided to just waste the night and go home to rest early.

These past few days, her car has been in the paint shop, and she's been commuting to work by bus. Before Jiang Chuan went on his business trip, he wanted to leave his car for her to drive, but his car was too long, and Lin Yu really couldn't get used to driving it, so she figured it would be fine to make do for a few days.

She actually quite liked the buses at night, carrying her aimless thoughts through the darkness, like a wandering, untamed soul. Under the cover of night, she felt an indescribable sense of freedom.

The wind on Christmas Eve carried fine snowflakes that felt like countless tiny needles on my face, piercingly cold.

Lin Yu wrapped his coat tighter around himself and stood at the bus stop, scrolling through his WeChat Moments while waiting for the bus.

Seeing the photos Yao Fangfang posted of herself and her sister eating hot pot in Beijing, with Zhang Yunzhou, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, Lin Yu's brother-in-law, and several unfamiliar faces sitting at the table, the atmosphere was lively and warm.

Although the couple spent little time together during this period, Zhang Yunzhou would rush to Beijing to spend a few days with Yao Fangfang whenever he had a spare moment. The distance actually strengthened their bond even more than when they were together every day.

Lin Yu was genuinely pleased for them, smiled at the screen, and gave it a thumbs up.

The bus slowly pulled into the station. Lin Yu scanned the code to board the bus. Looking at the empty carriage, he went straight to the last row and chose a corner seat by the window.

The carriage was warm, and she gently rested her head against the window frame, her breath creating a thin layer of white mist on the glass. She stretched out her fingertip and drew a crooked Christmas tree on the dissipating steam.

The phone suddenly vibrated at that moment. Lin Yu saw the Alipay notification on the screen and thought it was some kind of service notification. He casually clicked on it, but when he saw the unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar profile picture on the interface, he was stunned.

It turned out to be the throne that hadn't been in contact for many years.

The message was short, but it was enough to make Lin Yu lose his composure. "Happy holidays, I'm sorry."

She stared at the screen for half a minute before slowly recalling her past with this person.

The two didn't get together because of love, and their breakup was particularly messy and embarrassing. Lin Yu had long since deleted almost all of his contact information and hadn't thought about him much since graduation.

Thinking back to when Chen Guang punched him for his sake, he thought Chen Guang would hold a grudge against them forever. But he never expected that ten years later, on Christmas Eve, Chen Guang would send an apology through Alipay, a rather clumsy method.

In the message, Wang Wei frankly admitted that his slander against Lin Yu in the cafeteria back then was mostly due to his vanity and cowardice during his adolescence.

He wanted to assert his dominance in the relationship by belittling her, yet he lacked the courage to take on the responsibilities that come with a long-term commitment.

Looking back years later, this past event has become an indelible, ugly mark on his self-awareness. He finally realized how despicable his actions were back then, so he sincerely apologized to Lin Yu.

But he also understood that a simple apology couldn't erase his past selfishness and harshness. So he didn't dare to ask for Lin Yu's forgiveness, only hoping that she could move on from the hurt she had suffered.

For Lin Yu, this past event was long gone. Upon seeing the news of the throne, she felt neither resentment nor any extra emotions.

She wasn't sure if the king had truly realized his mistake or was simply trying to erase a stain from his life and make his future more respectable.

But none of that matters. Now, she already possesses a happiness and stability that many people can only dream of.

She has loving family, sincere friends, a career worth devoting herself to, and a lover who will always walk alongside her.

Facing this long-forgotten figure, Lin Yu didn't mind extending a small token of goodwill. She hoped the king could let go of this insignificant guilt and start afresh.

After a moment of silence, she gently typed in the message box, "It's okay."

She used to be like a grain of sand buried in the soil, used to hiding all her negative emotions.

But now, she is more like a pool of water, no longer afraid of pain, but allowing all emotions to flow naturally in her heart and slowly dissipate.

She finally understood that what you accept will disappear, and what you resist will exist.

Lin Yu put his phone back in his pocket, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. The warmth from the heater made him drowsy.

The car sped along the elevated highway, like a beam of light, carrying her through the deep night to those uncertain yet infinitely possible tomorrows.

She drifted off to sleep, and in her daze, she became the little girl she had been years ago, sitting side by side with her mother on a swaying bus.

"Banban, let Mommy take you away, okay?" In the dream, Lin Min held her hand, her eyes red as she looked at herself.

But young Lin Yu didn't understand that vulnerability. He just clutched his mother's clothes and asked with innocent eyes, "Where are we going?"

A warm tear fell onto the back of Lin Yu's hand, spreading out a small, broken water stain.

In her dream, she seemed to detach herself from another adult self, standing quietly to the side, watching her six-year-old self innocently looking up at her mother.

At that time, she couldn't understand Lin Min's hidden helplessness, but in this dream more than 20 years later, she finally fully understood all the struggle and despair in that tear.

She suddenly realized that Lin Min had also once been a young woman in her early twenties, full of passionate, unrealistic fantasies about life.

What changed her? What shaped Lin Min into who she is today? It was herself.

Her arrival became the softest yet heaviest burden in her mother's life. It caused her to compromise and retreat time and time again when she wanted to completely sever ties with her father and move on to a new life, swallowing all her resentment in silence.

It turns out that I was so sinful and shameful as a child. With my innocent ignorance, I trapped my mother who wanted to break free. And through my mother's forbearance and sacrifice, I gradually shaped who I am today.

She was like a plant that grew by absorbing nutrients, growing new branches slowly by stepping on her mother's grievances, concessions, and untold pain.

"Girl, we've arrived at the final stop, wake up."

The driver's voice woke Lin Yu from her dream. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, but her consciousness was still immersed in the extremely vivid dream.

The snow outside was falling even harder, with fine snowflakes dancing in the air—a sight rarely seen in Shanghai.

Lin Yu thanked the driver, picked up his bag, and stood up.

The moment the train door opened, Jiang Chuan, who was supposed to be on a business trip out of town, was standing quietly in the halo of light below the platform, carrying a cake box.

He was wearing a black overcoat and a gray scarf given to him by Lin Yu around his neck. Snowflakes fell on his shoulders, but they did not affect the smile in his eyes at all.

"I'm freezing to death."

Jiang Chuan quickly walked to her side, took Lin Yu's bag, handed the cake box to her, and pitifully grasped her fingers.

"If we wait any longer, both the cake and I will turn into popsicles."

Lin Yu held his icy fingers and gently breathed on them to warm them. Seeing the cake in his hand, she suddenly remembered that winter two years ago.

At that time, they weren't together yet. Lin Yu was staying at Jiang Chuan's house temporarily because the water in his rented apartment was cut off. He also brought back cakes from the same store.

Memories flooded back, her voice was a little hoarse, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Isn't it tomorrow?"

"I wanted to give you a surprise." Jiang Chuan smiled and gently hooked her nose with his finger. "I was originally planning to wait for you at home, but then I remembered that you take the bus to and from work these days, so I came to the terminal station to try my luck."

She leaned against Jiang Chuan's chest, the familiar scent of white pine lingering around her nose, and the scene from her dream resurfaced once again.

When her mother said she was going to take her away, she was filled with anxiety and unease, because at that time she had no idea where she could go after leaving this home.

So I was trapped in my parents' endless arguments, trapped in that shaky bus that I was six years old in, a bus that seemed to never reach its destination.

But things are different now. Her mother met Liu Wenbin, and Jiang Chuan has also appeared in her life.

Just like now, he specially came back early, standing in the wind and snow at the terminal station, holding her favorite cake in his hand, and in his arms is the warmth that can dispel all the cold.

It was as if Jiang Chuan, at thirty-three, had pierced through the cracks of time and taken the hand of Lin Yu, who was six years old and lost. He had pulled her out of the bus of her childhood from which she could never escape and brought her back to their own little home.

The snow was still falling, a few flakes landing on Jiang Chuan's shoulder. Lin Yu reached out to brush them away, smiling as she said, "It's really cold, let's go home."

Jiang Chuan nodded in agreement, took off the scarf from his neck, and tied it around Lin Yu's neck. Then he took her hand and walked step by step towards home.

The streetlights cast long shadows of them. Lin Yu looked up at Jiang Chuan's profile. The past that had once troubled her and made her restless seemed to have been completely blown away by the wind the moment he appeared.