Looking back at the world
She once only wanted to accomplish a great cause, and was willing to lose everything for it, but what is a great cause?
Perhaps, beyond the fact that women control their own destiny, every girl can genuinely smile from the bottom of her heart.
She suddenly wanted to see more of the beauty in the world, to see the people around her, and to smile without any burdens before everything ended.
She went to the women's army barracks, no longer to inspect, but to sit idly. Bai Wusheng and Bai Wushou held hands, their eyes sparkling as they planned for the days after the war: "Sister Chu, we want to go to Jiangnan first. I heard that the crab roe cake there is so delicious it'll make your eyebrows fall off! Then we'll go to the capital to see that singing windmill wall. I wonder how beautiful it will be when the wind blows! We also want to go to the beach and collect a bag of the prettiest seashells to give to Ping An! Let's go together!"
They then presented a meticulously sewn new dress. "General, try it on! It's your birthday present!" Lu Yunchu touched the fine stitches, put on the simple yet fiery red dress, and involuntarily twirled in front of the mirror.
Just then, the little girl arrived safely, accompanied by her friends, both girls and boys, all children from the Women's Alliance. The children all received the same teachings; the girls would learn more about weapon making, complex martial arts, and military strategy to prevent themselves from falling back into the same situation as the women of yesterday due to differences in strength.
She played games with the children, cared for the newborn birds, and Dr. Qi'an was also there. After feeding the birds, she rolled up her sleeves and helped care for the rescued pregnant women in the makeshift medical tent. Watching their pain from nurturing life, Qi'an said softly, "I've been thinking about how to alleviate the pain of childbirth, how to relieve the menstrual cramps that plague women every month, and how to improve women's strength..."
Lu Yunchu once thought childbirth was terrifying and asked Qi An how she defined voluntary childbirth. Qi An thought for a long time and smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "I don't know... but perhaps only when women can make their own choices without being influenced by habit and pure nature can we talk about whether it is voluntary. Perhaps people will end because of the happiness of this generation, or perhaps they will want to pass on this happiness. I think in that world, whatever choice is the best."
Qi An took her up the mountain to collect herbs and identify their medicinal properties. On a shady hillside, Qi An pointed to a clump of seemingly ordinary grass and said, "General, look, this is star grass. It glows at night, like stars scattered on the ground."
Lu Yunchu was stunned.
She suddenly remembered that when he was still alive, she hadn't had a chance to ask him what star grass was. She had waited ten years for that answer.
She remembered his warm smile, the wooden plaques fluttering in the wind in the temple... There is so much beauty in the world, she longed to see it all, to see the joys and sorrows that, once the dust settles, will eventually turn into a smile.
For the first time, she proactively said to Qi An, "Let me help you find your son." To prevent internal strife, she deliberately left the core members of the women's alliance with weaknesses and prevented them from contacting men, fearing they would be entangled in emotions. But at this moment, she felt she should trust the girls' wisdom and resolve; they would make their own choices.
She went along the way to learn military strategy from Qian Yuan. After explaining, this usually taciturn strategist suddenly looked at the sand table and said softly, "General, tactics are just a process. I hope that the final result we get will be simple and clear..." She looked at Lu Yun Chu and smiled so gently, "Your name is very nice, Yun Chu, meaning to keep your original intention. General, what is your original intention?"
Lu Yunchu remained silent for a long time before finally shaking her head: "I...I don't know..."
Qian Yuan smiled slightly, his gaze seemingly able to pierce through time: "It's alright, one day you will know."
After finishing her official duties, Qian Yuan would always visit the nursing home that housed destitute elderly people, listening to them recount their ordinary or arduous lives in trembling voices, and the dreams they once had in their youth. She and the young women wrote biographies for each of the elderly, to be passed down to future generations.
"Every life deserves to be remembered, and every life awaits a reunion in our memories..."
She looked up at the sky, a smile appearing on her face.
Leaving Qianyuan behind, Lu Yunchu climbed a mountain alone. This time, she wasn't there to survey the terrain; she simply stood there, closed her eyes, and felt the wind caress her face. She no longer tried to look down upon the landscape, but instead allowed herself to merge with it.
Mo Sheng appeared behind her without her noticing, quietly keeping her company. When she turned around, Mo Sheng took her hand, and together they went to the bustling Shazhou Night Market.
The night market was bustling with people, filled with stalls selling hot food, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares and laughing filled the air. Mo Sheng bought her a sweet, sticky sugar figurine, which she licked, finding it so sweet it stuck to her teeth. He then took her to see a traveling performer's acrobatics, and the two of them tried to throw arrows into a game of pitch-pot, but they couldn't hit the target no matter how hard they tried.
Standing in the crowd, gazing at the everyday life unfolding before her, her eyes welled up with tears. More important than destruction is rebirth.
Zai Yu and Jiang Liu, wearing scary ghost masks, suddenly jumped out from the crowd, startling her. The four of them burst into laughter, chasing each other and running all the way to the end of Shazhou.
At the edge of Shazhou, a bonfire burned, and women from different tribes held hands, singing and dancing around the blazing fire. She was shy, but a stranger pulled her to join in, waving her hands and dancing clumsily.
Just as the atmosphere of the party was at its most enthusiastic, everyone suddenly stopped and shouted in unison with laughter, "Happy 30th birthday to Sister Achu!"
Thirty is the prime of a woman's life, a time of limitless possibilities.
Amidst the blessings, Lu Yunchu smiled, but tears welled in her eyes. She remembered that Chu Chengchao had been gone for ten years. She stood here now in the Western Regions, a place he would never return to.
In the dead of night, she secretly avoided everyone and came alone to that quiet hillside. She sat down in front of a tomb where there were no bones, only his clothes and hat. She picked a star grass that glowed at night, placed it in front of the tomb, and watched it burn faintly in the night, turning into a brief starlight.
She still dared not mention that past to anyone, including her closest friend Mo Sheng—those personal regrets unrelated to the grand cause. She couldn't explain, and was afraid of being ridiculed, so she could only wander alone in front of the grave.
She ran forward her whole life, but sometimes she wanted to look back, to see the road she had traveled, and to see the naive version of herself back then.
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