CH 278

Wen Qingyou x Jiang Lingwei (11)

The two of them were living in different worlds, and occasionally they would know each other’s recent updates from the words of their younger siblings, but that was all.

Perhaps what remained of their love for each other was to stop bothering the other.

A few months later, Jiang Lingwei bought a plane ticket to the United States without anyone’s notice, and embarked on the journey alone.

Her destination was not New York, but Miami; the place where she and Wen Qingyou first met.

It was another year in April. From their first meeting, a full year has passed.

Perhaps in an attempt to put a period to this relationship that ended without any trouble in her heart, Jiang Lingwei again visited the city.

She was met by her best friend Zhou Ya, who knew she was coming, and invited her to her home as a guest.

Zhou Ya’s child was already a year old. She was walking, babbling and toddling towards Jiang Lingwei, very cute.

Jiang Lingwei teased the child with a smile, looked around and asked, “When did you change your house?”

“My husband always knew that I wanted a garden, so he worked hard to buy this house for me. Every morning I would play with my baby in the garden, and he would work next to us and accompany us.”

Jiang Linwei lamented, “A year ago when you met me you were still complaining about being tired with the kid.”

Zhou Ya smiled, “But I also told you, there is someone who knows I am warm and cold, and willing to accompany me and help me. It is a very happy thing- ah.”

She looked back at her husband, who was preparing milk for the baby. “At least this year, we are both learning to be parents. He’s been trying very hard to surprise me, and we are both making progress.”

Jiang Lingwei did not say anything and listened in deep thought.

“As for life, we always have to move forward. It’s also a great experience to try different roles, at least so far,” Zhou Ya’s eyes gleamed in satisfaction. “I’m very fortunate to have him and the baby with me.”

Jiang Lingwei nodded and hummed softly. “It’s good that you’re happy.”

“What about you? Are you still planning to stay single?”

Zhou Ya didn’t know about Jiang Lingwei and Wen Qingyou. She, like all her friends, still saw the same free-spirited Miss Jiang over the past year.

Faced with this question, Jiang Lingwei did not answer with such certainty for the first time.

If it were the past, she would have thrown out the words ‘Of course’.

But now, she remained unresponsive for a long time.

Zhou Ya noticed that she seemed to be thinking and asked, “What? Do you have someone you like?”

Jiang Lingwei shook her head, smiled again, and asked her only after a while, “Did you really have no hesitation at all when you married your husband?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I was incredibly sure he was the one I loved. I loved him, and all my intuition told me I wanted to be with him, to have a family with him, and to have a child that looked like me and him.”

Jiang Lingwei paused. “So what if later-”

‘What if you don’t love each other anymore later?’

‘What if the marriage is in a mess; what if there are daily trivial necessities, what if…’

Jiang Lingwei had too many what ifs in mind.

Zhou Ya, however, seemed to know what she was going to ask. She smiled gently and interjected, “How could there be so many things in the future? You’re overthinking it. Why don’t you think of it this way? If tomorrow is the end of the world, you don’t even have the qualification to talk about the future. Won’t you regret that the happiness that should have belonged to you will disappear in your worries about gain and loss?”

“…”

“Even if one day he doesn’t love me anymore, or I don’t love him anymore, and I am a failure in this marriage journey, I have experienced it and don’t regret it.”

At the end of the conversation, Zhou Ya said, “You… you just haven’t met the right one yet.”

–

It was five o’clock in the afternoon when Jiang Lingwei got out of Zhou Ya’s house.

She took a taxi and went straight to the beach where she and her family vacationed a year ago.

The beach was as lively as ever, but it no longer easily caused fluctuations in Jiang Lingwei’s heart.

After all, some things have changed. She used to think that this place’s local conditions and customs were romantic. However, now that she looked at them again, all that was left were the things that were still there, but that man was no longer present.

Jiang Lingwei went to the beach hotel and named the room where she wanted to stay with Wen Qingyou.

But the receptionist told her, “Sorry, that room has already been booked.”

Jiang Lingwei proposed to switch with the guest at double the room rate, or even ten times.

But the receptionist repeatedly shook her head. “Sorry.”

Jiang Lingwei stood lost for a while. She turned around to leave, but still didn’t want to give up, so she turned back to ask, “Can you ask the guest to let me go in and take a look at it?”

Just a glance was enough.

Today was the first anniversary of their acquaintance.

The receptionist was a little embarrassed. Jiang Lingwei tried to add, “That’s where my boyfriend and I fell in love, but we got separated.”

Jiang Lingwei kept pleading, and in the end, the receptionist caved in as if she was touched. She took the intercom and asked room service, then told Jiang Lingwei.

“Perhaps, you can go up and stay for a while. The guest has left.”

Jiang Lingwei thanked her and hurriedly got on the elevator.

By the time she reached the door of the room, the person from the room service department had already received the instruction from the front desk and opened the door for her.

“Madam, ten minutes at most.”

Jiang Lingwei nodded and walked into the room.

The room was very clean, and there was no trace of living there. She opened the glass door of the balcony and had a view of the beach not far away.

That night, they enjoyed the sea breeze here, thinking it was just a good game, but unbeknownst to them, it ended up becoming the deepest imprint in their lives.

The thought about it made her heart burn in pain.

A year had passed, and Jiang Lingwei was not as unrestrained as she thought she was.

She stared at the beach in the distance and many images flashed back into her mind, regrettable but satisfying.

At least there were such memories to prove that she once had it.

‘That’s enough, right?’

With a breezy smile, Jiang Lingwei took a deep breath and prepared to leave.