When Duan Ye arrived, the old lady's ward was already surrounded by people.
Almost everyone in the Luo family was there, including Luo Qingyuan's maternal grandparents and two uncles. Everyone gathered around the old lady, with Luo Qingyuan sitting at the very back, holding the old lady's hand. Duan Ye had a bad feeling.
The old lady grasped Luo Qingyuan's hand and struggled to speak, "Yuan... Ye..."
Luo Shuyang turned around and called to Duan Ye: "Come here quickly, Duan Ye."
Everyone made way for Duan Ye without hesitation. Everyone knew what was going on, so no one spoke for a moment, and everyone's eyes were red.
Duan Ye didn't have time to think about anything else and quickly walked over.
The old lady reached out her hands and slowly pulled Duan Ye and Luo Qingyuan's hands together.
At this moment, Duan Ye's eyes also turned red uncontrollably.
The old woman was already at her last gasp, but she still forced her eyelids open and looked at Duan Ye: "Yuan... my Yuan..."
Luo Qingyuan's tears fell instantly, and Duan Ye could clearly feel that Luo Qingyuan's hands were trembling.
Duan Ye looked at the old lady earnestly and said sincerely, "Grandma, I will definitely treat Qingyuan well for the rest of my life, I promise."
The old lady smiled slightly, her lips trembling as she said, "Good...good child..."
Luo Qingyuan quickly pulled her hand out of Duan Ye's grasp, tightly holding the old lady's somewhat aged hands, her tone pleading: "Grandma, didn't you always want to live with me? Didn't you want to see your great-grandson born? Qingyuan is pregnant, it'll be soon, it'll be soon, please stay with us a little longer, okay?"
The old lady seemed to want to laugh, but she didn't even have the strength to twitch the corners of her mouth.
Seeing this, Luo Shuyang quickly left from the back to call the doctor, even though the doctor had only left a short time ago.
In the end, the old lady simply reached out her trembling hand and touched Luo Qingyuan's lower abdomen.
Everyone could clearly see that a tear rolled down the corner of the old lady's eye.
Then, the old lady's gaze fell on Luo Kunjing.
Luo Kunjing walked over, lowered his head, and choked out, "Mom..."
The old lady patted his hand: "This family... is now in your hands..."
The sound was very, very faint, so faint that only the three people gathered around the bed could hear it.
Luo Qingyuan wanted to say something, but she saw the old lady slowly pointing in a direction...
Everyone instinctively moved aside; it was towards the window, where there was nothing but emptiness, clearly nothing at all.
The old woman's eyes revealed a look of nostalgia.
He was a young man in a long blue robe. That year, under the paulownia tree, their hearts were pledged to each other. She waited for him for a very, very long time...
Time has passed, and she is now all white-haired, but he remains as young and spirited as she remembers him.
Over the years, she has forgotten far too many things. Without deliberately thinking about them, those dark and desperate days seem to never come.
Everyone held their breath, and they could hear the hurried footsteps outside.
The old woman slowly smiled, her lips parting gently: "Jiancheng, peace has been restored..."
That year, the red flag fluttered in the dazzling sunlight. She published countless advertisements in the Daily Search for Her Husband, again and again, until no more news of her beloved came from afar.
Peace has been restored, why haven't you come home yet? You said we would meet again once peace was restored...
This time, I can't break my promise.
Even Luo Qingyuan, who was standing next to the old lady, didn't hear these five words, but... Duan Ye saw them.
In that instant, Duan Ye ran out.
Luo Shuyang rushed in with doctors and nurses, and Luo Qingyuan cried out in terror to the old lady, "Grandma..."
The old lady could neither hear nor see anything anymore. She only remembered the moment she first met him at Kyoto University, which felt like the Tang Dynasty during the Zhenguan era, a golden age in an instant, a hundred years in the blink of an eye.
Doctors and nurses rushed over, shouting, "Make way! Make way!"
The old woman's hand fell limp at that moment, and the electrocardiogram emitted a piercing long beep.
Luo Qingyuan was helped back by Luo Shuyang, and the doctors immediately took over the old lady's care.
"Quick! Adrenaline!!!"
Despite the surrounding noise, Luo Qingyuan stood there blankly.
Duan Ye brought Duan Jiancheng over as quickly as possible, even pushing a wheelchair. But through the crowd, Duan Jiancheng could only see that unfamiliar yet familiar face, devoid of any life.
Duan Jiancheng felt as if he had been struck a heavy blow, and he just stared blankly as the doctors kept trying to save him.
Although the scene was chaotic, no one disturbed the doctor.
In that instant, Duan Jiancheng's thoughts were pulled back to many, many years ago. In his memory, Miss Zhang was vibrant, composed in the face of enemy coercion, and brave and confident in love. But decades have passed, and all that remains are their aged faces and bodies.
When he decided to leave the capital to join the army, the leaves of the sycamore trees had not yet turned yellow, and it was also the rainy season. At the age of twenty, he always thought there were many more years to come. No one expected that this parting would last for decades.
In that era of war and chaos, even husband and wife could not achieve a unity of faith, but they did. They embarked on their respective journeys for the same belief.
Duan Jiancheng shed tears. No one knew that when he collapsed, there were only eight days left until the liberation of the whole country.
Eight days—it seems so short, yet it separated them by a lifetime.
The doctor's heavy voice rang out: "We did our best..."
"Announce the time of death."
What happened next was unclear to everyone, but Luo Qingyuan suddenly rushed over like a madwoman, crying her heart out, "Save her, save my grandma, she's my only grandma..."
Duan Ye ran over and hugged her, wanting to comfort her, but he didn't know where to begin.
Everyone was choking back tears, and the only sound in the ward was crying, but the old lady's lips were turned up in a smile.
With trembling hands, Duan Jiancheng slowly gave his last salute to his former comrade-in-arms, whom he had been separated from for so long.
When he was all alone, he could only survive by dwelling on her memories. Later, when his consciousness became blurred, his only wish was that God would favor him once more, that the one he loved could forget about him and live a carefree life.
But things in this world rarely go as planned.
I wonder if the sycamore trees of that year still remember their subtle yet grand confession.
In the end, their story came to an imperfect end.
Comrade Shufen, peace has been restored.
Their love died many years ago, before dawn.
In his life, he did not fail his family and country, but he failed Shufen.
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