Chapter 49
On the twenty-third day of the fourth lunar month, in early summer in Jincheng, the air carried the distinctly crisp, earthy aroma of a small northern city. Xia Wan changed into a simple black shirt and black pants, her long hair tied back in a simple bun. Zhou Wenjuan also changed into dark clothing. Mother and daughter, carrying their prepared offerings—a few snacks her father had loved, a small bottle of baijiu, and a bouquet of pure white chrysanthemums—they silently left the house and caught the earliest bus to the suburban cemetery.
The cemetery sat on a gentle hillside on the outskirts of the city. Neat rows of blue-gray stone tombstones stood solemnly, casting long shadows in the morning light. The air was filled with the scent of incense, candles, and fresh earth, and the occasional suppressed sobs added to the solemnity and mourning.
Xia Wan's father's grave is located in a relatively open area halfway up the mountain. The black granite tombstone, scrubbed clean, bears a photograph of her father. The man in the photo is gaunt, wearing old-fashioned black-framed glasses. A gentle smile lingers on his lips, his eyes wise and peaceful. He is the image that holds the warmest warmth in Xia Wan's memory.
"Dad, Mom and I are here to see you." Xia Wan placed the offerings one by one in front of the tombstone. Her voice was very soft, with an imperceptible tremor.
Zhou Wenjuan lit the incense and candles, and wisps of smoke rose. She looked at her husband's photo on the tombstone, her lips moving a few times before finally letting out a long sigh. She knelt silently and wiped the already spotless tombstone over and over with a clean cloth.
Xia Wan knelt on the cold bluestone slab, opened the snacks she had brought, and carefully placed them under her father's photo.
"Dad, these are your favorite mung bean cakes and jujube paste cakes. Mom went to the old shop early this morning and lined up to buy them." Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid to disturb her father's sleep. "And there's a little white wine, you can have a couple of sips to warm yourself up."
She poured a small cup of white wine and slowly sprinkled it on the ground in front of the tombstone. The clear aroma of wine mixed with the smell of soil filled the air.
"Dad, I'm fine. My work is... quite challenging, but I can handle it. The project I worked on won an award a while ago, and I didn't bring shame to you." She talked on and on, reporting on her life as usual, her tone calm.
"My mom is pretty good, but she likes to nag me all the time. She complains that I'm too thin and that I don't find a partner..." As she spoke, she tried hard to force a smile.
"Old Xia, look at him, he even came here to complain about me!" Mother Xia stopped what she was doing and sat beside him, muttering. "Old Xia, both of your children have grown up! Your daughter is now a project leader, and Yangyang has been interning all over the country with his master. I guess after graduation, he'll work with his master..."
The chattering of mother and daughter added a bit of vitality to this silent land.
The morning breeze rustled across the hillside, stirring the pines and cypresses with a rustling sound like a low sigh. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the branches, dappling the mother and daughter, and also onto the silent tombstone.
I don’t know how long it took, but the sun’s light and shadow shone on the two of them, making them feel warm.
"Let's go. It's good for your dad to be here, and it's good for us too. It's good." Zhou Wenjuan stood up and touched the cold stone tablet. It actually felt a little warm under the sunlight.
Xia Wan also stood up and said silently in her heart, "Dad, I'm in love. It's the boy I wrote in that locked diary. You could guess the boy by just a glance when I was writing in the diary. Dad, do you remember the bet we made? I won, and you owe me 'something'."
It was a sweltering summer afternoon. The clouds in the sky were thick as if brewing a once-in-a-century downpour. The air was hot and stuffy, and the electric fan in the house was about to blow its blades off, but it couldn't dispel the humid feeling.
Xia Wan was abruptly awakened from her nap by a dream of Jiang Yu holding her hand. The sudden throbbing made her sweat. She sat up and looked out the window, her mind wandering.
She carefully took out the diary from under her pillow, walked barefoot to the desk, opened it, and recorded her rare beautiful dream in it.
Xia Jiang walked in with a small plate of watermelon. Seeing his daughter buried in her desk, she was writing furiously. He felt relieved for a moment, but then he walked in and saw, "I had a rare beautiful dream today. Let's go for a walk by the small lake in Pear Blossom Park, Jiangyu..."
Feeling the gazes behind him, Xia Wan quickly put away the diary. "Dad, why did you sneak in to watch me write in my diary?"
"I knocked on the door, but maybe the fan was too loud and you didn't hear me..." Xia Jiang smiled and handed over a plate of watermelon. "Eat watermelon, eat watermelon!"
Xia Wan picked up a piece of watermelon angrily.
"Girl, you like the one called 'Jiang Yu'..."
"Oh, Dad, stop it!" Xia Wan blushed. "Don't tell Mom either. Last time, I said my classmate was a good student and took good notes, and she said I was in a premature relationship. Don't tell her!"
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about it. Our Wanwan has grown up..." Xia Jiang patted his daughter's shoulder, "But for now, you still have to focus on your studies. We can talk about this after you get into university."
Seeing Xia Wan nod, Xia Jiang smiled. His daughter was always well-behaved and never a problem with her studies. She was also very pleased to see her rank in the upper middle class of the best high school in Jincheng.
"Wanwan, Dad wants to make a bet with you." Xia Jiang raised his eyebrows.
"Well, what do you want to bet on?"
"Let's make a bet about this boy named 'Jiang Yu'. If you two really end up together, Dad will unconditionally promise you one thing. If you don't end up together, then you have to unconditionally promise me one thing, too. How about that?"
"Deal!" The sound of two hands clapping together echoed in the space, as if it had passed through the long years and could still be heard clearly today.
"Dad, I want you to do something now. I hope you can bless our family to be safe and prosperous."
This belated wish finally made Xia Wan's youth complete.
Just as she was about to follow her mother, the corner of her eye inadvertently swept across the entrance to the trail below the hillside.
Her movements suddenly froze.
A tall and straight figure stood there quietly.
He wore a long, dark grey trench coat, the hem lifted slightly by the morning breeze, making his figure appear even thinner. His face still bore the paleness of a freshly healed wound, but his deep eyes, piercing through the thin morning mist, through the rows of silent tombstones, through the lingering smoke of incense and candles, gazed straight at her, calmly, intently, with a power that penetrated the soul.
It’s Jiangyu.
He stood there, like a silent mountain. The sun fell on his shoulders, casting a faint golden hue around him. His posture was not relaxed; the outline of protective gear could be seen on his right arm, and his left hand was casually tucked into the pocket of his windbreaker. He looked dusty, obviously having traveled a long way.
He said nothing, simply staring at her. There was no surprise, no questioning in his eyes, only a deep, ocean-like acceptance and understanding. It was as if all her fragility, all her tears, all the worries she'd accumulated over the past decade and her current confusion had already been silently accepted by him, submerged beneath the calm surface of the ocean.
Xia Wan just looked at him quietly, her eyes full of unreality. The person who was immersed in the "bet" the moment before suddenly appeared in front of her.
Separated by a distance of dozens of meters, the boundary between life and death, ten years of long time and countless thoughts and dust.
Zhou Wenjuan also noticed her daughter's strangeness and the sudden silence. She followed Xia Wan's gaze and, upon seeing the dusty, elegant, yet obviously ill young man, she gasped and subconsciously clutched her daughter's arm.
"Wanwan...he..." Zhou Wenjuan's voice was filled with suspicion and a hint of instinctive wariness. Although her daughter had mentioned it last night, the sudden sight of this "unsuitable" Jiang Yu at her late husband's grave was still a huge shock.
Jiang Yu moved.
He said nothing, simply taking one step at a time, step by step, along the bluestone path, heading towards them. His pace wasn't fast, even seeming a bit slow and heavy due to his physical condition, but each step was remarkably steady. The morning sunlight fell on his pale face, outlining a clear and stern outline, illuminating the unmistakable focus and... a solemnity bordering on piety in his eyes.
He walked a few steps away from the mother and daughter and stopped. His eyes first fell on the black and white photo on the tombstone, which showed a gentle smile. He lingered for a few seconds, his eyes calm and solemn. Then, he turned his gaze to Xia Wan and looked at her deeply, deeply.
That glance seemed to have traveled through ten years of time, penetrating all her embarrassment and fragility at the moment.
"Auntie," Jiang Yu's voice was low and clear, slightly hoarse from the long journey, yet unusually calm and polite. He bowed slightly and greeted Zhou Wenjuan, "Excuse me for disturbing you. I'm Jiang Yu." His attitude was very humble, not at all arrogant as one might imagine.
Zhou Wenjuan was somewhat bewildered by his aura and the sudden courtesy. She subconsciously let go of her daughter and stood up awkwardly. "Hello... Hello. I'm Wanwan's mother."
Jiang Yu's gaze returned to Xia Wan again.
"You...why are you here?" Xia Wan's voice was a little tense.
"I came to see you." Jiang Yu spoke briefly, his eyes sweeping over her slightly red eyes and pale face, and his brows frowned almost imperceptibly. "I talked to your dean on the phone and heard that you returned to Jincheng. I thought... maybe you needed someone to accompany you." He did not mention "tomb sweeping" or any words he might have heard, but just gave a seemingly plain but weighty reason.
"Look at me?" Xia Wan was stunned for a moment, "I'll stay for a week..."
"I'll be back tomorrow," Jiang Yu interrupted her, his tone natural. "I just wanted to come see you." His gaze lingered on her, filled with undeniable concern. That concern was so direct, so unashamed, that Xia Wan was momentarily unsure how to respond.
Zhou Wenjuan stood aside, observing the complex, silent atmosphere between the two men, then glancing at her husband's gentle smile on the tombstone, a chorus of emotions welling up within her. She quietly tugged at her daughter's sleeve and whispered, "Wanwan, since Mr. Jiang...Mr. Jiang is here, then...then you two can talk. I'm going over there...to check on the tombstones next to your father's. It's been a while..." She found an excuse, leaving the two young men alone, and staggered toward another row of tombstones not far away. Her back revealed an indescribable sense of desolation and complexity.
Only Xia Wan and Jiang Yu were left on the steps, along with the silent tombstone.
The air once again fell into a subtle silence, and the morning breeze seemed to have calmed down as well.
"I..." Xia Wan opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. Thousands of words were stuck in her throat, and in the end, she only said a dry, "Thank you for coming."
Jiang Yu didn't respond to the polite thanks. His gaze once again fell on the smiling photo on the tombstone, his eyes becoming extremely focused and... solemn.
He took two steps forward, arriving right in front of the tombstone. Then, under Xia Wan's astonished gaze, he slowly and laboriously bent down—the injury to his right arm clearly made this movement extremely difficult—and with his left hand, solemnly and meticulously brushed away the tiny, almost invisible speck of dust that had stained the edge of the tombstone photo.
His movements were slow, with a reverent, almost ritualistic quality. After completing all this, he stood up, enduring the pain from the wound, took a deep breath, and then bowed deeply, almost at a ninety-degree angle, toward the photo of Xia's father on the tombstone.
Time seemed to stand still.
Xia Wan stared at him, his back straightened. The morning light outlined his thin yet upright figure, and also illuminated the unreserved respect and solemnity in his eyes.
"Uncle Xia," Jiang Yu's voice was low but remarkably clear, each word weighing heavily like jade falling on a slate. "I'm Jiang Yu. I'm sorry that this is the way we first meet."
He paused, then turned his gaze to Xia Wan, who was standing beside him. His eyes were deep and firm, carrying an unquestionable promise: "Please rest assured. I will take good care of Xia Wan. For the rest of my life."
These words weren't sweet nothings, nor were they vows of eternal love. They were more like a solemn oath made before the spirit of the deceased. They were the deepest comfort to a father, and the most resolute promise to the girl beside him.
Xia Wan's tears silently rolled down her cheeks! Not out of sadness or grievance, but out of a huge, cherished trust and a surge of peace of mind! She looked at Jiang Yu's silhouette standing solemnly in front of her father's grave, at his pale but extremely serious face, and the corner of her heart, frozen by ten years of humbleness and the gap in social status, seemed to be thrown into the corner by a scorching star, instantly melting, and the warmth spread to every limb.
Unable to hold back any longer, she took a step forward, stretched out her hand, and tightly grasped Jiang Yu's left hand, which was hanging at his side. His hand was cold, weak from the injury, but it was tightly wrapped in her hot palm.
Jiang Yu's body stiffened slightly, then he gripped her back even harder. Their fingertips intertwined, conveying silent strength and warmth. He tilted his head to look at her tear-stained face, a gentle warmth radiating from his deep eyes.
"Let's go," he whispered, his voice barely audible, "Don't keep Auntie waiting too long. And... let Uncle rest in peace."
Xia Wan nodded vigorously. Tears blurred her vision, but she saw herself in his eyes very clearly - no longer humble, no longer confused, but the real self who was firmly supported.
"Dad, this is Jiang Yu."
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