Xiaoyue squatted beside him and laughed: "Grandpa, why does your phoenix look like the old hen at Grandma Wang's house next door?"
"Nonsense!" Jiang Yan glared at his granddaughter, carefully protecting the stone slab. "This is Miss Jinli's favorite phoenix! It's more precious than gold!"
Su Heng turned his back, his shoulders hunched slightly. Su Qingyao took out a handkerchief and pressed the corners of her eyes, her voice muffled: "Alright, alright, I know you can draw a phoenix. Come home and have dinner."
Jiang Yan turned a deaf ear to her and just stared at Su Jinli, his eyes becoming focused again: "Miss Jinli, look at this phoenix, I painted it myself. Will you marry me?"
Su Jinli looked at the crooked "phoenix" on the slate, then at the burning anticipation in her husband's eyes. It was as if that wasn't chalk dust, but the glow of sugar painting syrup from fifty years ago. She nodded vigorously, tears falling onto the slate, spreading a small pink and white smudge. "I do."
"Great!" Jiang Yan clapped his hands happily, like a child who had received candy. "Then let's make a pinky promise!"
He extended his withered pinky finger, and Su Jinli trembled and hooked it. The two fingers, covered with age spots and wrinkles, intertwined, forming a fragile yet firm ring in the sunset.
"Grandpa, grandma, it's time to go home for dinner!" Xiaoyue tugged at Jiang Yan's sleeve, "We have your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs tonight!"
"No!" Jiang Yan shook off his granddaughter's hand and stared at Su Jinli stubbornly, "I want to accompany Miss Jinli."
Su Jinli wiped away her tears and took Jiang Yan's hand. The hand that once held the pen to review memorials and grind ink for her was now just a pile of bones. "Let's go home and have dinner. After dinner, I'll watch the stars with you, okay?"
"Look at the stars?" Jiang Yan's eyes lit up, like a lit wick. "Okay!"
On the way home, Jiang Yan held Su Jinli's hand tightly, muttering "Stars...Phoenix..." over and over. Su Heng tried to help her, but he pushed her away fiercely: "Don't touch her! She's my Miss Jinli!"
Su Qingyao sighed and draped a fox fur coat over Su Jinli's shoulders: "You just let him do what he wants."
Su Jinli looked at Jiang Yan's white hair fluttering in the evening breeze, and remembered that fifty years ago, he had ridden his horse to send her home, holding her hand just as stubbornly, saying, "Jinli, I will never let you go." Now, he had forgotten the time and his identity, but he had not forgotten to hold her hand.
During dinner, Jiang Yan was confused again. He stared at the table full of dishes, chopsticks in his hand but didn't know how to use them. Su Jinli picked up the serving chopsticks, picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs, blew on it, and then handed it to his mouth: "Open your mouth, this is your favorite."
Jiang Yan opened his mouth obediently, looking at her with a blank look in his eyes, some sauce on the corner of his mouth. Su Heng watched this scene, suddenly stood up and walked out, his voice choked with sobs: "I'll go see if there's any lotus seed soup in the kitchen..."
Su Qingyao looked at the gardenia on her sister's temples and reached out to remove it for her, but Su Jinli shook her head to stop her. The blackened gardenia swayed slightly in the candlelight, like a faded medal.
Late at night, Su Jinli really accompanied Jiang Yan in the garden to watch the stars. The autumn night sky was exceptionally clear, and the Big Dipper shone faintly in the sky. Jiang Yan pointed at the starry sky, his eyes unusually clear: "Miss Jinli, look, that's the Big Dipper. I told you about it before, right?"
"Yes, I did." Su Jinli leaned on his shoulder and smelled the faint scent of soapberry mixed with the smell of medicine on his body.
"I also said," Jiang Yan turned his head, the moonlight falling on his wrinkled face, his eyes so gentle that they could drip tears, "I will be like the Big Dipper, shining on you forever."
Those words were like a key, unexpectedly opening the floodgates of Su Jinli's memory. Fifty years ago, on a similar autumn night, he had held her, ailing, in his arms, gazing at the starry sky in a dilapidated temple, and said, "Jinli, don't be afraid. I'm here. I'll always be there for you."
"Jiang Yan..." She couldn't hold back any longer and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Jinli," Jiang Yan suddenly held her hand. The hand that had been shaking was now unusually steady. "Am I... confused again?"
Su Jinli looked up in surprise and saw the clear pain and apology in her husband's eyes. It was a long-lost look belonging to the sober Jiang Yan.
"I'm sorry," his voice was hoarse, like it had been sandpapered. "I seem to have... forgotten a lot of things."
"It's okay," Su Jinli shook her head and held his hand. Those hands had once drawn her eyebrows, ground ink for her, and written countless love poems for her. "If you forget, then forget. I just need to remember."
"But..." Jiang Yan looked at her, tears welling up in his eyes, "I even have to ask you over and over again about marrying you."
"Silly girl," Su Jinli smiled, but her tears flowed even harder, "Have you forgotten? You said you would marry me many times."
Jiang Yan was stunned for a moment, then smiled. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes gathered together, and tears sparkled in the moonlight: "Yes, I did."
He reached out and gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips. The movement was so familiar, as if he had practiced it thousands of times, an instinct etched into his bones after fifty years of mutual support. "Jinli, although I have forgotten many things, there is one thing I always remember."
"What's up?"
"I love you." Jiang Yan's voice was soft, but it struck Su Jinli's heart like a hammer. "I've fallen in love with you since the day we snatched the candy painting on the street."
Su Jinli suddenly threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder, just like she had done countless times fifty years ago. Jiang Yan patted her back gently, his movements a little clumsy, but with a familiar tenderness.
"Don't cry," he said with a smile, rubbing his chin against the top of her head. "If you cry any more, it won't look good."
Su Jinli raised her head, the moonlight falling on their faces, illuminating each other's tearful eyes. She looked at the familiar tenderness in her husband's eyes and suddenly felt that even if he forgot the whole world, as long as he was sober at this moment, as long as he still loved her, it would be enough.
"Jiang Yan," she looked at him and said seriously, "I love you too. I've loved you since the day you stuffed the phoenix sugar painting into my hand."
The night breeze blew, bringing the sweet fragrance of distant osmanthus trees. The two smiled at each other, tears glistening in their eyes. It was as if they were back in that afternoon, cicadas chirping in front of a street sugar painting stall, when the young man, blushing, thrust a phoenix sugar painting into the girl's hand and said, "I'll take you. I'll protect you from getting into trouble from now on."
It turns out that some love can really transcend time. Even if the memory fades, the original intention remains the same as when we first met.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
