74/Together
The Grand Mansion was still the same as before. When Chen Mian left, she was determined never to come back. She packed all her things into a cardboard box, which was piled high with books. When Shen Yu asked about it, Chen Mian used the excuse that she would never touch these things again. She had planned everything. She just didn't expect that the moment of losing contact would be at the teacher appreciation banquet. She didn't even have time to take her things. At that time, she thought that Shen Yu might throw them away.
She always subconsciously thought of Shen Yu as cold-hearted and heartless, just like back in the school bathroom when Chen Yin and Lin Lin mentioned Shen Yu outside while they were trapped in a toilet stall. Shen Yu asked her who he was based on their conversation, and she gave him the evaluation of being a playboy.
As Chen Mian's thoughts wandered aimlessly, she opened the bedroom door and saw that the cardboard box was no longer in the room; the things packed inside had been returned to their proper places.
Her school uniform and pajamas were in the closet, her senior year review papers were on the desk, her draft paper was in the drawer, and there was an unfinished math problem on the top sheet.
In the bathroom, her red toothbrush was placed in a white toothbrush cup, next to which was Shen Yu's blue toothbrush and black toothbrush cup. When they bought it, Shen Yu jokingly said it was a couple's set. Chen Mian didn't respond. In the countless mornings and evenings that followed, Shen Yu squeezed next to her to brush his teeth. In the mirror, he was always behind her, and the two of them held their toothbrushes with the same frequency of their right hand movements, just like the windshield wipers on a car.
Those memories appeared in my mind along with the constantly opening doors.
When they were in the dormitory, Deng Momo once showed a documentary to everyone.
The film, titled "My Dear, Don't Cross That River," is nearly an hour and a half long and tells the story of an elderly Korean couple who, after a lifetime of love and support, are ultimately separated by death.
Deng Momo and the others were crying, and Chen Mian was handing out tissues to them one by one.
Su Wangqiu asked her, sobbing, "Isn't it touching, Mianmian?"
Chen Mian said, "I think they are very happy."
One sentence spoken by the old lady in the story has always left a deep impression on Chen Mian. It roughly means that since she married her grandfather at the age of sixteen, she has never suffered any mistreatment or hardship in her life and has always been happy and content.
This is what Chen Mian considers the best kind of love. Looking back on the first half of her life in her later years, all she can find is love, nothing else.
There is nothing better than this.
Chen Mian finally returned to the sofa, and one by one, the lights in the room were turned off, leaving only the colorful neon lights outside the window shining in.
Just then, a sound came from outside the door.
Fingerprint unlock successful.
Then, with a snap.
The door was opened from the outside.
Chen Mian looked up and saw that the corridor lights were all behind him. He was panting, his eyes fixed on her.
"You said you wanted to see me, but you didn't send me your address. Chen Mian, you're quite good at testing me."
He closed the door, without explaining why he could appear so quickly, nor commenting on her essay. Instead, he opened the shoe cabinet, just like before, returning home a step later than Chen Mian. Then, at dawn, they would go to Suizhong together to attend their senior year of high school.
Chen Mian stared at him with a somewhat dazed look.
She seemed not to understand how he had arrived so quickly.
His voice was somewhat hoarse, as if floating in the clouds, "Sinking Domain."
Two months had passed since I last saw him. Shen Yu had cut his hair short, the short stubble lying close to his scalp. He looked aloof, like a cocky guy.
However, the arrogant guy smiled and walked towards her, stopping in front of her and responding to her call in a gentle tone, "Yes, I'm here."
With the same tone as before, he lowered his head, looked directly into her eyes, and asked, "What do you mean by saying you want to see me?"
Chen Mian stood up, and her phone fell to the ground.
She reached out and hugged his waist.
"Wanting to see you means—"
Time stands still at this moment.
All the probing interspersed in the jokes.
All the ambiguous interactions between you and me.
All the unspoken truths.
Everything was exposed at this moment.
Her fingers gripped the back of his shirt tightly.
The sounds gradually overlapped with the ticking of the clock on the wall.
Then, I gave him the correct answer directly.
"—It means I want to be with you."
Shen Yu's heart pounded like a tidal wave, almost drowning him.
His lips opened and closed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, and finally he said to her with difficulty, "Chen Mian, I don't want your gratitude."
"It's not about being moved."
Chen Mian buried herself in his arms and shook her head. "It's fear."
“Chenyu, when I saw those flowers, when I heard that you had a tubal ligation, even if I went back in time, when I met you in the basketball court, when I left you at Suibei Station, the thought that kept popping up and being suppressed was because I was afraid of losing you completely.”
Shen Yu felt stiff all over, as if his body wasn't his own.
He couldn't even speak, and he kept raising and lowering his hand.
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to break free of my control and leap out of my throat and into her face.
Tell her.
—Look, such a passionate heart, it only loves you.
It's like a poor person suddenly becoming rich, or like a withered tree blossoming in spring.
After a long while, Chen Mian heard Shen Yu's somewhat uncertain voice ask her, "Could you be more direct? Chen Mian, I'm afraid I might misunderstand."
Chen Mian heard his heart pounding and kissed her ear.
The intense heat almost set her ablaze.
Outside the window, a billboard shows a male celebrity holding a diamond ring, with a slogan that reads: "A love that happens only once in a lifetime."
She spoke slowly, each word trembling.
Like a baby learning to walk, it was trembling yet incredibly determined.
—“Sinking Domain”.
--"I like you."
"I want to be with you."
She looked up from his embrace, her eyes reddening, her breath quickening, and asked, "Even like this, there's still a chance of making a mistake—"
The handsome face in front of me suddenly magnified.
Shen Yu could not hear any sound at all. Someone threw a fire into the house, and all his reason was burned away by joy.
It doesn't matter if there's thunder, wind, and hail tomorrow, or if the world collapses at this very moment.
All that remained in my mind was Chen Mian saying she liked his voice.
He lowered his head and interrupted her with a kiss, then gave her his answer.
"Okay, let's be together then."
/
Yes, yes, yes, yes, we talked, we talked, we talked.
What followed was all sweetness (the old mother weeps).
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