extra
one
The wheel of time rolls forward, crushing the heavy past into increasingly blurred memories.
That evening, Shi Meijuan was humming a little tune on her way home from work as usual. As she passed a street corner park, a haggard figure huddled on a bench suddenly caught her attention.
The figure looked dirty and messy, his hair like a clump of dead grass, and the coat he wore, its original color long gone, emitting a sour, foul smell. He seemed to hear footsteps and slowly raised his head, revealing a face eroded beyond recognition by time and a life of hardship.
Shi Meijuan's footsteps suddenly stopped.
It’s □□.
Less than a year had passed, and the man who once dominated the family had become a complete homeless man. Having lost his exploitative family, and with no one willing to hire him due to his gambling addiction and violent temper, his life plummeted to the bottom in a free fall.
He obviously recognized the well-dressed woman before him as the "wife of poverty and hardship" he had abandoned. A flash of shock flashed across his eyes, and then the greed that had long been etched in his bones immediately took over.
He staggered to his feet from the bench and rushed towards Shi Meijuan, trying to grab her hand, begging incoherently: "Meijuan...it's me...you...you are living a good life now, you can't ignore me...after all...after all, we are husband and wife..."
Facing this man who had frightened her for half her life, Shi Meijuan's heart no longer felt the slightest ripple.
There was no fear, no anger, and even... even the hatred had become very faint.
She took a step back to avoid his dirty hand, then took out two hundred-dollar bills from her wallet and placed them on the bench next to her.
"This is the last time. From now on, we owe each other nothing."
After saying this, she turned around and started walking. Her steps were firm and steady, and she walked towards the brightly lit residential area not far away.
Behind me, I heard □□'s angry and vicious curses.
But the park was bustling with people, and no one paid any attention to the crazy homeless man. His voice was soon swallowed up by the hustle and bustle of the city. He turned into an insignificant speck of dust.
They will be scattered when the wind blows.
From then on, the mountains are high and the waters are long, and we will never meet again.
two
After "Yuguang Technology" got back on track, Lu Yu and Shi Guang finally had a weekend to take a break.
That afternoon, the sun was shining brightly. Lu Yu had been dragged away by some of his college classmates to play basketball, leaving only Shi Guang and his mother, Shi Meijuan, at home.
Shi Meijuan was on the balcony, tending to her precious flowers and plants. After several years of nursing, her complexion was rosy and her spirits were vigorous. Her every move exuded the calmness and tranquility that comes from having been treated well by life.
Shi Guang brought a cup of brewed scented tea and walked over to hand it to his mother.
The mother and son leaned on the balcony railing, basking in the warm afternoon sun and watching the children laughing and playing in the garden downstairs.
After a long silence, Shi Guang finally seemed to muster up the courage to ask the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.
"Mom," he said softly, looking into the distance, "When did you find out about me and Lu Yu?"
Shi Meijuan paused slightly while watering the flowers.
She put down the kettle, took the teacup from her son's hand and took a sip, letting the warm tea flow down her throat and warm her heart.
She turned her head and looked at her son who had already grown into an adult, with a gentle smile of understanding in her eyes.
"When was it..." She stretched out her tone, as if recalling something very long ago. "Probably, it was in Anhe County, on that most chaotic night."
"That day," Shi Meijuan said softly, as if recounting someone else's story, "the police arrived, the bad guys left, and the house was a mess. I was completely stunned and scared out of my wits. I sat on the ground, my mind blank. I didn't know what to do next, how I would live after dawn."
"Then, Xiaoyu brought a cup of hot water and squatted in front of me."
"When he handed me the cup of water, I saw his hands. They were clean and steady, without a trembling motion. But when his eyes turned to you..."
Shi Meijuan smiled, and there was a hint of mischief in her smile from someone who had experienced it.
"The look in that child's eyes changed completely. There was heartache, anxiety, and also... a feeling that even if the whole world collapsed, I would still hold you in my arms... that kind of energy."
"I haven't read much in my life, and I don't understand any profound principles. But the look in one person's eyes can't be deceived."
"From that time on, I knew it." She reached out and gently patted the back of her son's hand, without a trace of blame or confusion in her tone.
"At the time, I was thinking, 'I'm a useless mother, I couldn't protect my son, and he's suffered so much.' Now, God has sent such a wonderful child to love and protect him on my behalf. What could I not be satisfied with, or grateful for?"
She looked at her son's eyes, which were slightly widened with shock, and smiled even more gently.
"Silly child, Mom doesn't ask for anything. As long as you two can be well and happy, that's better than anything else."
In the sunshine, the eyes of time quietly turned red.
It turned out that the huge secret that he thought he had hidden well was never a secret in his mother's experienced but all-seeing eyes.
three
On the night when "Yuguang Technology" received tens of millions of dollars in financing for the first time, all employees of the company held a grand celebration banquet.
As the two founders of the company, Lu Yu and Shi Guang naturally became the focus of the audience and were toasted one after another.
Shi Guang's drinking capacity has always been a mystery. Since he usually doesn't drink at all, no one knows how much he drinks. Lu Yu, on the other hand, is famous for being able to drink a thousand glasses without getting drunk.
In the second half of the celebration banquet, the atmosphere suddenly changed.
He was usually calm and reserved, but after a few drinks, he actually... looked... A light blush spread across his fair cheeks, and his eyes, which were always as calm as water, became moist, like obsidian covered in a layer of water vapor.
But he didn't act crazy or talk nonsense.
He just became unusually... clingy.
Like a koala, he would silently hug Lu Yu's waist from behind while he was chatting and laughing with investors, then bury his face in his back without saying a word.
When Lu Yu went to the bathroom, he would follow her closely and then stand guard at the door obediently, like a puppy waiting for his owner to come home.
When everyone was urging him to say a few words, he would pick up the microphone, scan the entire audience, and finally fix his gaze precisely on Lu Yu, and say clearly:
"Lu Yu, I'm thirsty."
The whole audience burst into laughter.
Amidst the good-natured laughter, Lu Yu walked over helplessly yet dotingly, took the microphone from him, and then half-carried and half-supported this clingy big baby back to his seat.
"Okay, okay, drink some water." He unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Shi Guang's mouth like coaxing a child.
Shi Guang took his hand and drank a few sips obediently. Then, under the unexpected gaze of everyone, she raised her head, leaned over, and kissed Lu Yu on the cheek.
The next day, the headline gossip in the company tea room was no longer about the tens of millions in financing, but rather—
"Do you know? Director Time got drunk, and this is what happened!"
"Oh my god! So cute! So cute! She's completely different from usual!"
"The most important thing is, did you see Mr. Lu's expression? That wasn't helplessness at all! It was clearly...secret joy!"
From then on, Yuguang Technology had an unwritten rule:
No one, under any circumstances, may force Director Shi Guang to drink for any reason.
Because the dog food from my boss is really... too filling.
Four
In the fifth year of their official relationship, Lu Yu decided to propose.
He had been planning this for a long time, and had done it in absolute secrecy. He even hid it from Sun Rui and Jiang Xiaopang, the two "dog-headed military advisors."
He spent a month designing a pair of rings by himself.
They were a pair of platinum rings, extremely simple in design, without any fancy diamonds or decorations. However, on the inner wall of the ring, half of the star map was engraved with the most delicate craftsmanship.
When the two rings are placed side by side, the two star maps can be combined to form a complete winter sky map of the northern hemisphere. And in the center of that brilliant starry sky, there are two stars, specially inlaid with two diamonds smaller than dust, so that they will flicker with a faint but eternal light under the light.
One is Sirius, the brightest star in the winter night sky.
The other one is beside it, guarding quietly.
Lu Yu chose western Sichuan as the place to propose.
In the name of a project revisit, they returned to the place where it all began - Qingwa Town.
Five years later, with the support of their digital solutions, the ancient town has been better protected and developed. Tourists flock to it, but it still retains its simplicity and tranquility.
That night, there was no moon and the starry sky was exceptionally clear.
Lu Yu, with time, climbed up the mountain behind them where they had watched the sunrise together that year. On the top of the mountain, the evening breeze was cool, insects were humming softly, and the lights of the ancient town in the distance were like stars scattered across the ground.
"Do you remember this place?" Lu Yu gently hugged Shi Guang from behind. "Five years ago, it was here that I first had the urge to catch a star."
Shi Guang leaned in his arms, feeling the steady heartbeat in his chest, and hummed softly.
"What now?" he asked.
Lu Yu did not answer.
He loosened his arms and turned to stand in front of Shi Guang. Under the other's somewhat puzzled gaze, he took a deep breath and then knelt on one knee.
He took out a small velvet box from his pocket and slowly opened it under the witness of the starry sky.
The two plain rings glowed gently and firmly under the starlight.
"Time," Lu Yu raised his head, his eyes, which always smiled, now filled with solemn and scorching affection. "Five years ago, I met you here. In the past five years, we have gone through wind and rain together, and also seen rainbows."
"I used to think that you were the star that was out of my reach. Later, I discovered that you were also the one who was willing to fall from the starry sky and walk into my mortal world just for me."
"So, now, I want to ask you,"
His voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"Mr. Time, are you willing to form a galaxy with this planet beside you, one that will never be separated? Whether the future holds light or darkness, we will follow the same orbit, circling, protecting, and illuminating each other until the end of the universe?"
There was silence on the top of the mountain. Only the wind blew past them.
Time just stood there quietly, he lowered his head and looked at the man kneeling on one knee in front of him, looked at the sea of stars in his eyes, and looked at the ring sparkling in the starlight.
After a long time, it was so long that Lu Yu's heart almost jumped out of his throat.
He slowly stretched out his left hand.
He replied with a single word with a nasal smile:
"good."
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