Chapter 52 (End of Chapter 52)
In Shen Jinhuai's study, there is a locked sandalwood box.
No one but him knew what was inside.
Even Wen Yu.
On a rainy weekend afternoon, Wen Yu was revising her paintings in the studio, while Shen Jinhuai was tidying up old things in the study.
His gaze inadvertently fell on the sandalwood box. The man was silent for a moment, then took out the key and opened the box.
Several thick sketchbooks were laid out before me.
Shen Jinhuai picked up the top book and opened it.
On the very first page, on the yellowed paper, a girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a light blue dress, stands on tiptoe, raising her hand as if to touch a string of hanging cherry blossoms.
Cherry blossoms fall, and the afternoon sun shines through the leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on the girl's upturned, rosy face.
The girl in the picture has a sweet, innocent smile and clear eyes.
Bottom right corner, note: I visited Madam Wen with my grandmother and met Miss Wen, whose name is Xiaoyu, in the courtyard.
Xiaoyu has a melodious voice and a clear, pleasant smile.
Turn the page again to the second page: In front of the easel, a girl sits cross-legged on a bluestone slab, a sketchbook open on her lap, sketching a clump of freely growing banana trees in the corner.
She frowned, her expression focused, her right index finger and thumb holding the pen, her little finger and the side of her hand covered in black ash, but she was completely unaware, her face beaming with a bright smile.
Note in the bottom right corner: Xiaoyu is sketching.
With keen observation skills and decisive strokes, the lines in the sketches are bold. Although they appear somewhat immature, the compositions possess a remarkable spirit.
Turn the page to the third page: At the entrance to the moon gate in the courtyard, Grandma Wen kindly put her arm around the young girl's shoulder and bid farewell to the departing guests.
The girl's curious gaze drifted over her grandmother's shoulder and landed on the handsome man beside her grandmother, her eyes clear and innocent.
Bottom right corner note: Looking back as we part, I hope we can meet again soon.
I hope Xiaoyu will still remember me when we meet next time.
Shen Jinhuai stroked the girl in the painting, his eyes filled with tenderness.
Back then, Wen Yu was radiant and cheerful; she was the girl he wanted to protect the moment he saw her.
At that time, Shen Jinhuai was full of anticipation for Wen Yu to grow up.
After closing the first book, Shen Jinhuai took out the second book and opened it to the first page.
In the Zhou family banquet hall under the luxurious crystal chandelier, Wen Yu, dressed in an expensive evening gown, stood beside Zhou Yingchen.
She maintained a perfectly measured smile, but her eyes were vacant.
Note in the bottom right corner: Zhou Family Dinner.
I don't know what happened, Xiaoyu doesn't remember me.
Chen Jinhuai's eyes darkened slightly.
Shen Jinhuai put it down and took out the third book.
The first page shows Wen Yu lying in her hospital bed.
Her forehead was wrapped in thick gauze, and her face was very pale as she slept.
Later, it was the first time Wen Yu came to the island after waking up. Looking at the blank canvas, her eyes were confused, and her fingers hovered above the paint, unable to fall for a long time.
Shen Jinhuai stared at the painting before him, his eyes growing increasingly dark, and his grip on the album tightening.
On the next page, Wen Yu is barefoot, walking slowly on the soft sand with the man beside her.
She looked down at her feet, washed by the waves, and at the little crabs emerging from the sand. For the first time, a joy appeared in her eyes, beyond her bewilderment.
That was a happy smile that Shen Jinhuai hadn't seen from Wen Yu in a very, very long time.
Although the smile was very faint.
Then comes each change in Wen Yu as depicted by Shen Jinhuai.
Wen Yu sat under the eaves, watching the torrential rain pour down;
Wen Yu tried to grill the fish, but ended up burning it to a crisp. She was both amused and exasperated by her masterpiece.
Wen Yu mixed a clear and vibrant blue, painted the first satisfying cloud, and showed the first truly relaxed smile since waking up.
For the first time, Wen Yu threw herself into Shen Jinhuai's arms and kissed him.
Wen Yu stood in front of the easel, her eyes sharp and focused, burning with a blazing flame of anticipation for a bright future.
The rain pattered against the glass window of the study.
Shen Jinhuai looked through all the paintings one by one.
After an unknown amount of time, Wen Yu and Shen Jinhuai closed the picture album.
He walked to the window and watched the raindrops meander down the glass.
Thankfully, he didn't give up.
Fortunately, Xiaoyu is still his.
The current Wen Yu can cry, laugh, and want to do whatever she wants.
She would playfully pick a jasmine flower and run to her husband with sparkling eyes, and she would snuggle into Chen Jinhuai's arms in the dead of night, seeking the most comforting position.
Everything is wonderful.
At that moment, the faint sound of Wen Yu humming an off-key tune could be heard coming from the studio.
Shen Jinhuai's lips unconsciously softened.
He turned around, walked out of the study, and came to the door of the art studio.
He gently pushed the door open without disturbing Wen Yu.
At this moment, Wen Yu was standing in front of a large canvas with her back to the door.
She wore an old apron stained with paint, her hair casually tied up, revealing her slender, fair neck.
On the canvas, another new work is nearing completion.
The sunflowers stand tall in the wind and rain, their golden petals unfurling freely.
The background, with its somber and oppressive atmosphere, serves as a backdrop to highlight the light and vitality.
In the center of the painting, a beam of light shines through a crack in the clouds, which Wen Yu has miraculously tinted into a warm golden-white. It not only illuminates the sunflowers but also almost overflows the canvas, illuminating the entire room.
Wen Yu was using an extremely fine pen to meticulously sketch the last few details on the sunflower head.
The girl's delicate profile appeared even more gentle and resolute in the bright light of the art studio.
Shen Jinhuai leaned against the door frame, quietly watching the girl in front of him.
At this moment, Wen Yu in front of the canvas and the figure of the girl in the sketchbook, frowning as she sketches a banana tree, magically overlap in time.
The same earnestness, the same light in their eyes.
But now, Wen Yu's writing is no longer about naive curiosity and exploration; instead, it is filled with a powerful vitality that has been tempered by trials and tribulations.
Shen Jinhuai suddenly realized that perhaps the time inside the sandalwood box was neither locked away nor forgotten.
It's just that it flows in a different way in Wen Yu's current writing, settling in her straight back and bright eyes.
At this moment, Wen Yu seemed finally satisfied with the last stroke and let out a long sigh of relief.
She put down her paintbrush and stretched her stiff neck.
Realizing something was amiss, Wen Yu turned her head and met Shen Jinhuai's gaze at the doorway.
Wen Yu still had a small patch of paint on her face, like a playful stamp.
Upon seeing Shen Jinhuai, Wen Yu's face immediately broke into a big smile.
"Jin Huai, come quick, I've finished drawing."
Wen Yu waved excitedly at Shen Jinhuai, her eyes shining like they were filled with stars.
Shen Jinhuai came to Wen Yu's side and carefully looked at the painting on the easel.
A moment later, he put his arm around Wen Yu's shoulder and gently kissed her forehead, which was smeared with paint.
"great."
Shen Jinhuai's voice was full of pride and appreciation: "It seems to have more power than the previous one."
Wen Yu leaned against Shen Jinhuai's chest, pointing contentedly to the beam of light in the center of the painting: "When I was painting this, I was thinking that this beam of light wasn't about salvation, but about responding. The sunflowers chose to chase it themselves; the light was simply there. Just like..."
At this point, Wen Yu looked up at the man in front of her, her eyes clear and gentle: "Just like you. You never tried to shield me from all the storms. What you gave me was the courage to chase the light and stand firm. Jin Huai, thank you. Because of you, there is the Wen Yu of today."
Upon hearing this, Shen Jinhuai tightened his arms and hugged Wen Yu tightly: "No, I was just an accessory, you were the one who was brave."
Wen Yu looked up and met Shen Jinhuai's gaze.
Looking at their reflections in each other's eyes, the two smiled at each other.
"Okay, okay, let's stop flattering each other. In my eyes, you're the best."
Wen Yu tiptoed and kissed Shen Jinhuai on the corner of his mouth.
"Okay, okay, then my Xiaoyu is the best too."
Shen Jinhuai lowered his head and chuckled softly, placing a kiss on Wen Yu's forehead.
The two embraced quietly.
The rain outside the window had stopped sometime ago, and a sparse ray of sunlight struggled to penetrate the clouds, shining obliquely into the studio and landing right on the painting on the canvas.
In an instant, the golden light in the painting merged with the real sunlight, bringing the entire painting to life.
However, the next moment, Wen Yu's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Shen Jinhuai immediately noticed: "What's wrong?"
Wen Yu frowned slightly, raised her hand to rub her temples, and said with a hint of confusion in her voice, "It's nothing, it's just that some sounds flashed through my mind just now, it seemed to be... I don't know what they were, I didn't hear them clearly."
Wen Yu shook her head, trying to dispel the discomfort that swept over her, and put on a smile again: "Never mind, I'm hungry, Mr. Shen. How about a big meal to reward Mrs. Shen for her hard work today?"
Shen Jinhuai's eyes darkened slightly, but he didn't show it on his face. He simply smiled and echoed Wen Yu's words, "Of course there is, a seafood feast. The ingredients were prepared long ago. However..."
Shen Jinhuai raised his hand and gently wiped away the paint from Wen Yu's cheek with the pad of his thumb: "Mrs. Shen may need to wash her face first."
Wen Yu then looked in the mirror next to her and realized that her face was covered in paint.
She stuck out her tongue, tiptoed and kissed Shen Jinhuai again before turning and running towards the studio's restroom.
Shen Jinhuai remained where he was, raised his hand to lightly touch the lips that Wen Yu had kissed, and looked at the drawing board again.
For some unknown reason, Shen Jinhuai turned his head and looked at the sunlight outside the window.
Wen Yu just said she heard a sound in her head, but she couldn't hear it clearly.
For some reason, Shen Jinhuai felt a vague unease in his heart.
·
Recently, Wen Yu has been troubled by some bizarre and fantastical dreams.
Her dreams were no longer filled with the tranquility of her being with Shen Jinhuai; instead, they were punctuated by more shrill sounds.
There are cold, rainy nights, suffocatingly luxurious rooms, sweaty, passionate lovemaking, and deafening engine roars. Most frighteningly, there are two pairs of obsessive, terrifying eyes.
These fragments of memory, like ghosts rising from the deep sea, quietly entangled Wen Yu's nerves and gradually affected her daytime life.
During a painting session, those terrifying images flashed through Wen Yu's mind again.
She panicked, threw down her pen, took a step back, and her heart pounded.
When Shen Jinhuai heard the commotion and entered the studio, he saw that Wen Yu's face was pale.
However, a very discordant scratch has appeared on her latest painting.
"Jin Huai, I...I messed up the drawing."
Wen Yu's hands trembled slightly, her voice filled with frustration and a hint of indescribable panic.
Seeing this, Shen Jinhuai hugged Wen Yu and held her trembling hand in his warm palm, his voice low and deep: "It's okay."
"Let's stop drawing for now, okay?"
Wen Yu was successfully calmed down.
Her cheek was pressed against the man's chest, and she could hear Shen Jinhuai's familiar heartbeat in her ear. The unease deep in her heart gradually faded away.
But gradually, one image after another appeared in her mind: in the luxurious yet oppressive study of the Zhou family's old house, the sound of cold rain came from outside the window, and a hot chest approached from behind and hugged Wen Yu tightly, full of pressure.
Then came chaotic breathing, scalding tears, and a humiliating plea: "It belongs to you..."
Then came the deafening roar of racing car engines, the sharp sound of shattering glass, the excruciating pain of breaking bones, and a fragile voice pleading, "Please..."
Finally, there was only endless darkness.
"ah--"
Wen Yu clutched her head in anguish, curling up in Shen Jinhuai's arms, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
“Xiao Yu? Look at me, it’s me, it’s Shen Jinhuai. Xiao Yu…”
A gentle, anxious voice approached from afar, breaking through the darkness and reaching Wen Yu's ears.
Wen Yu raised her tear-blurred face, the past and the present overlapping at this moment.
She remembered, she remembered everything.
Zhou Shiye's insane possessiveness, and Zhou Yingchen's predatory protection hidden beneath a calm mask.
And that car accident?
Did Shen Jinhuai take her away?
"I... I need to calm down."
Wen Yu pushed Shen Jinhuai away, turned and ran out of the art studio, rushed into the bedroom and closed the door.
Shen Jinhuai stood at the bedroom door, his brows furrowed.
In the following days, Wen Yu remained unusually silent.
She needs time to process the overwhelming memories on her own.
Wen Yu also went to the island alone, where she sat on the rooftop terrace of her familiar villa and watched the tides rise and fall.
On a ship not far from the island, Shen Jinhuai was looking at Wen Yu through binoculars.
A few days later, one night, Wen Yu fell asleep sitting on the beach.
The sea breeze was cool. Shen Jinhuai quietly approached and covered Wen Yu with a blanket.
Just as he was about to leave, Shen Jinhuai's hand was grasped.
The girl, who had been asleep on the recliner, slowly opened her eyes, looked directly into Shen Jinhuai's deep gaze, and said in a low voice:
"Jin Huai, I remember everything now."
"I remembered everything about my time in the Zhou family, and I also remembered the car accident."
What Wen Yu didn't mention was that she also recalled the first time she met Shen Jinhuai.
It turns out that she had liked Shen Jinhuai for a long time.
But later she lost her memory and forgot Shen Jinhuai.
Upon hearing Wen Yu's words, Shen Jinhuai's pupils constricted slightly, and his body instantly stiffened.
"Those memories are heavy, like shackles."
Wen Yu grabbed Shen Jinhuai's hand and pulled him to sit beside her, her voice growing softer and softer: "But because of them, I understand more clearly what you mean to me."
"Jin Huai, you did use an extreme method, but you gave me a chance to be reborn. Now I am Wen Yu with all my memories. The good and the bad are all part of me."
"Staying by your side is the most sensible choice I've made after experiencing everything."
Shen Jinhuai stared at the girl in front of him, his eyes churning with complex emotions.
A moment later, the man pulled Wen Yu into his arms tightly.
"I'm sorry for taking you away that way."
Shen Jinhuai whispered in Wen Yu's ear, "But I never regret it. You were too vulnerable back then, and I didn't dare leave you with the Zhou brothers. I'm sorry."
Wen Yu gently shook her head in Shen Jinhuai's arms: "Don't say sorry, I should be thanking you. Thank you for giving me a chance to start over. Thank you for making me stronger little by little, strong enough to make my own choices."
"Besides, no matter what the past memories are like, they can't change the fact that I love my current life and I love you now. Jin Huai, let's... have a child? I want a child, a child that belongs to you and me."
Before she could finish speaking, Wen Yu wrapped her arms around Shen Jinhuai's neck and kissed the man's lips.
This kiss was unlike any other.
It was less a kiss and more the courage that broke through all the fog, instantly igniting all the suppressed emotions in Shen Jinhuai's chest.
The man tightened his arms around Wen Yu, and with his other hand he supported the back of her neck, deepening and prolonging the kiss that she had initiated.
As their lips and tongues intertwined, their heartbeats resonated.
Under the night sky, the tide surged onto the beach, gently washing over their intertwined ankles before slowly receding, in an endless cycle.
The kiss grew more and more tender, while in the east, where the sea and sky met, a red sun quietly spread its light.
It starts as a small arc, then quickly expands into a full semicircle.
Finally, it leaped completely out of the sea.
In an instant, a burst of golden light shot out, dispelling the last vestiges of night, dyeing the clouds red, and enveloping the entire beach, along with the two embracing figures, in a light full of new life.
"You see,"
Wen Yu leaned against Shen Jinhuai's chest, her voice filled with contentment: "It's dawn."
Shen Jinhuai pulled Wen Yu into a tighter embrace, his chin gently brushing against the top of her head, his gaze fixed on the rising sun.
"Um,"
The man replied, "It's a new beginning."
The sunlight grew brighter, casting long shadows of the two people leaning against each other on the beach.
Seagulls in the distance began to cry out, their calls cutting through the sky, full of vitality.
Wen Yu leaned against Shen Jinhuai's chest, watching the sun rise higher and higher, feeling the solid and reliable heartbeat and body temperature of the man behind her, her heart was clear and peaceful.
The sunrise was beautiful.
Their new life, in this radiant world, has only just begun.
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