Chapter 78 The two of them shine together, shining brighter than the stars at night
The Jeep raced across the endless desert. There was no car in sight, either in front or behind. The tranquil desert was so beautiful. They headed north, unwaveringly moving forward.
To save time, Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan took turns eating dry food for lunch. Among the food Aimu brought her were two simply packaged mooncakes. They then remembered that today was Mid-Autumn Festival.
Tong Zhongyuan called his aunt and told her he was out of town and couldn't go. Qin Tian then realized he also had relatives in Shanghai. He had originally been able to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with them, but now he was traveling with her.
Qin Tian also sent a message to Qin Yunjie. These past few years, it was just her and her father, and the sense of festival ceremony was weak.
After Qin Tian finished sending the message, he looked up at Tong Zhongyuan. He was holding the steering wheel, driving intently. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but she always felt indebted to him. She felt indebted when she saw him from behind, when she heard him talking on the phone with relatives, and when she saw him spend Mid-Autumn Festival with her on the desert highway after the call as if nothing had happened.
"sorry……"
"What?" He asked casually, looking ahead.
"You said you would celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with your relatives."
"Oh, I didn't want to go in the first place. This is perfect, it's justified now." He said without thinking.
Qin Tian smiled. Regardless of whether what he said was true or not, it did comfort her.
"There probably isn't much good food in Lunnan Town. I'll treat you to a Mid-Autumn Festival feast when we get back to Shanghai."
"How do I make up for it?"
She choked. It was just a way of saying it, treating him to a nice meal. But since he asked, she thought about it and said sincerely, "Dinner, moon watching, lantern festival, performance, whatever. I'll treat you."
Aren't these just dates, he thought silently. He hadn't had an easy time these past few days. On the day of the sandstorm, he was walking alone in the desert. In that moment, he thought, he must find Qin Tian. If anything happened to her, there was no point in returning. What was the point of going back? His life was over, ended in the Taklamakan Desert, the Sea of Death.
The moment he saw her, he was saved. Her existence saved his life. If it weren't for the violent wind and yellow sand, if it weren't for the goggles and mask, he would have definitely acted like an insane person.
As long as she was still in this world, he would agree to anything she asked of him. Whether to return to England or settle for second best, compared to her existence in this world, his previous insistence and entanglement were meaningless. He thought so then, but only then. There was always a voice of reason within him, a voice that told him in his most impulsive moments that it was just an impulse.
During the few days he spent waiting for the sandstorm to subside in the hotel, he didn't want to analyze himself, let alone think about her. He never made judgments under unusual circumstances. He would wait until everything calmed down, until they emerged from this sea of sand, until they returned to the crowds, until they were all well.
"Well, please wait until I go back."
She was stunned for a moment and nodded.
"good."
The 500-kilometer journey from Niya to Lunnan took longer than the navigation system indicated. Although the road conditions were good, they were wary and slowed down when the wind and sand kicked up.
The desert sunset was approaching them, a crimson sun gradually sinking over the endless sand dunes, painting everything in sight the color of roses. Its final display before fading was a breathtaking spectacle that left one speechless. Meanwhile, a faint, enormous full moon rose, the sun and moon mingling in their radiance.
The scenery before them was like the desert's answer to their journey, telling them that all the suffering they had endured was worth it.
With only a hundred kilometers left, night had already fallen. The sand dunes glowed white under the Mid-Autumn Moon. He Wu called Tong Zhongyuan, asking where he was and why he hadn't gone to his aunt's house.
He lied calmly, saying that Beibo had asked him to help look after a piece of porcelain a few days ago, but he was on a business trip and didn't have time to return.
He Wu was a little sad, saying that he had thought it would be nice to go to his mother's house for the festival, but he didn't expect to be alone in a foreign city. Tong Zhongyuan heard her lonely words and didn't want to make her sad during the Mid-Autumn Festival. He could only say, "He's not alone. A colleague is here too."
Qin Tian pulled the car over, opened the door, and got out, allowing Tong Zhongyuan to talk to his mother freely.
"Aren't my colleagues going home for Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Um."
"How could that be? Why wouldn't you rush back when you have family?"
She folded her arms and walked on the silver sand dunes, looking up at the full moon, and the night wind blew her long hair.
"Her family isn't around." His eyes followed her.
"Also abroad?"
He didn't answer. She was walking away, alone.
"Joong Won? Are you still there?"
"I'm going to hang up. I'm going to stay with her."
He followed her. When she climbed the hill, he also climbed the hill; when she stepped into the valley, he also stepped into the valley. They were one in front and one behind, not far away, not close, walking step by step.
What is she thinking? Is her mother the one she remembers at this moment? Where is she going? Is he the one in the distant place she is about to go?
"Yiyi, I'm sorry."
Qin Yizhang looked at his mother lying on the hospital bed. Her once plump cheeks had sunken in, her cheekbones prominent. She clenched her hands, saying nothing, and leaned against the wall.
Why should she apologize? She didn't want to hear her apology, let alone know why she was sorry.
She looked at her quietly, not blaming her for not coming over. She smiled and said, "Yiyi, do you remember the games we played together when we were little? Mom sang and you played chess. Do you want to sing it again?"
She looked at her blankly, as if she didn't know such a mother.
She waited for a moment, and relief seemed to appear in her eyes.
"It's okay, just forget it."
My father came in. Relatives also arrived. They asked her to come forward, but she seemed to have forgotten how to walk and remained standing in the corner. My second uncle tried to pull her over to my mother's side, but she stubbornly refused. My mother asked him to let her go. A smile still clung to her lips, but tears welled in her gentle eyes. They asked my mother if she had anything else to say. She said, "Be strong, don't worry about me. Everything will be fine." But she still said nothing.
Mom was gone. She had fulfilled all her instructions. All these years, she had been strong, she hadn't missed her. Everything about her, on the morning she left, was sealed deep in her memory. Between strength and longing, she had only one choice, and she chose strength.
She thought her last apology had been lost in the cracks of time. That night, the memory of her mother shone brightly in the moonlight of the desert. She was apologizing for not being able to accompany her any longer. The day she left was Mid-Autumn Festival, and she never saw the moon.
The full moon, the sand dunes, her solitary figure, like a poem, a painting. He couldn't, couldn't simply stand outside the frame. From then on, each of his steps would be a little bigger, a little faster, until they walked side by side, under the same bright moon, bathed in the starlight of 800 million years ago.
Qin Tian turned his head and looked at the man beside him. His eyes were filled with the vast sky, and the wind was blowing his black hair.
There she was, with tears in her eyes.
He said nothing and accompanied her over mountains and across rivers.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"astronaut."
"Why?"
“Because I want to explore the unknown.”
At the moment closest to the universe, she remembered his childhood dream. What was he thinking? Did he still remember his childhood dream? Where would he go? Does he still want to explore the unknown now?
He and she strolled through the Taklamakan Desert at dusk. So close yet so far apart. He was right beside her, yet she couldn't stop dreaming about him. Was this the answer? On the night when the Earth and the Moon were closest, everything she tried to hide, cover up, and control was revealed under the bright moonlight. She had fallen in love with someone. Someone she was destined to leave.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com