A few days ago, Wei Yun and Xie Tao went to the station to pick up Fu Miaolan and Fu Hua, bringing them home.
Fu Miaolan could never have imagined that Xie Tao suddenly had a boyfriend.
While sitting there, she couldn’t help but look back again at the transparent floor-to-ceiling window outside, where Wei Yun was sitting in the small garden, drinking tea.
Even though she had been living with these people for a few days, she still seemed a bit incredulous.
Holding a cup of tea in her hand, the spacious and luxurious duplex villa in front of her eyes made Fu Miaolan feel so unreal.
It was like a dream.
When she arrived that day, Fu Miaolan took Xie Tao’s hand and asked, “Tao Tao, how come you suddenly have a boyfriend?”
“How long have you been together?”
“Where is he from? What does his family do?”
Fu Miaolan had asked all these questions as if she were taking a census, making sure she understood everything clearly.
The first time Fu Miaolan saw Xie Tao’s boyfriend at the station, even though she was already in her forties, nearing fifty, she still couldn’t help but be a bit startled upon seeing him.
Not to mention, this young man was exceptionally handsome.
At the time, Xie Tao also briefly explained to Aunt Fu, but she omitted the matter about the two different timelines, not mentioning the fantastical plot that Wei Yun came from another world.
Fu Miaolan hadn’t quite settled in during these few days.
Now, as they sat on the sofa chatting, the jade bracelet on Xie Tao’s wrist, which Fu Hua kept touching, suddenly caught Fu Miaolan’s attention. In her younger, more financially comfortable years, Fu Miaolan had collected some jade jewelry and had some ability to appraise jade. Seeing the bracelet on Xie Tao’s wrist, she reached out to touch it.
This quality, this color, it was clearly very fine jade.
“Did he give this to you?” she asked Xie Tao.
Xie Tao nodded, pursed her lips in a smile, and then said, “It was originally left by his mother.”
Fu Miaolan nodded, as if she wanted to say something but then hesitated.
Noticing Fu Miaolan’s expression, Xie Tao finally spoke up, saying, “He has helped me a lot and has been especially good to me.”
“I’m sorry, Aunt Fu,”
She then scratched the back of her head, “I’m only telling you about this now…”
Aunt Fu shook her head, indicating it was not a big deal, but then she looked back again at the slender figure outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Her expression became complex, and finally, she turned back to Xie Tao, “Did you call me here just to meet him?”
Xie Tao first nodded, then shook her head.
“There’s another thing.”
Xie Tao pursed her lips in a smile, looking a bit embarrassed. She lowered her eyes and after a moment said, “I…we’re planning to get a marriage license.”
She had hesitated for a few days but eventually told Fu Miaolan.
Get a marriage license???
Upon hearing Xie Tao’s words, Fu Miaolan’s eyes widened in an instant, almost thinking she had misheard.
“Tao Tao, you’re only twenty, and you’re getting married?”
Fu Miaolan nearly bounced off the sofa.
Xie Tao chuckled nervously, not daring to say that she was already married to Wei Yun in another timeline.
“Aunt Fu, I’ve really thought about this for a long time. It’s not a rash decision.”
As Xie Tao spoke, she couldn’t help but look up at the person sitting on the swing chair in the small garden.
It seemed as if he suddenly sensed something and turned around, only to find their eyes meeting.
The scattered sunlight fell on his shoulder, and his long, dark hair cascaded down his back. His face, clear and handsome, seemed still without much emotional turmoil, remaining cool as frost, except for his eyes, which seemed to ripple softly.
His naturally aloof peach blossom eyes seemed merciless, but at that moment, simply sitting there, simply looking back at her, his eyes seemed to tenderly express love, deep and serene.
Thus, his mere glance was enough to stir one’s heart.
Xie Tao looked at him and couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile.
At that moment, she said to Fu Miaolan sitting beside her, “Auntie Fu, I really… like him so much.”
Just looking at him, just looking into his eyes, even without words, made her happy.
The joy in her heart was like layers upon layers of honey, sweet and sticky.
Fu Miaolan stared at Xie Tao before her, momentarily lost in thought.
The bright, sparkling light in the girl’s eyes was like clusters of stars, like a wildfire, like the light of neon.
Fu Miaolan had been young once, so looking at Xie Tao like this, she knew that Xie Tao really liked the man sitting in the garden.
But at Xie Tao’s age, falling for someone was easy, yet young love often fails to withstand the test of time.
So, Fu Miaolan was unwilling for Xie Tao, at just twenty, to so easily entrust her life to another person.
Perhaps because of her own failed marriage, Fu Miaolan, since her divorce, had never considered remarrying. The impulsive fervor of her youth had faded, and marriage for her was like a dim, unclear dream.
Not a nightmare, but certainly not a good dream either.
Xie Tao was young, and Fu Miaolan did not want her to rush into marriage or to get hurt.
This child had always lived a hard life.
“Tao Tao, marriage is not so simple. Are you sure you really understand him? Are you sure he will always be good to you?” Fu Miaolan pondered for a long while before finally speaking.
“Auntie Fu, he…”
“Auntie Fu.”
Before Xie Tao could say more, she suddenly heard Wei Yun’s voice.
She and Fu Miaolan both turned to look.
Wei Yun had, at some unknown time, appeared in the living room.
He wore a snow-white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and the hem tucked into his dark trousers. His legs were straight and slender, his long hair draped loosely, his skin cold and pale, almost impossibly captivating.
“I understand your concerns,” Wei Yun said, walking over, politely nodding to Fu Miaolan, then sitting down on a single-seat sofa nearby, hands on his knees, back straight, a posture of earnest seriousness. “Life is unpredictable, and the future cannot be guessed.”
He paused, then continued, “Therefore, any promises I make now might seem like empty words to you.”
“But I can at least assure you,” he suddenly looked at Xie Tao sitting beside Fu Miaolan, his Adam’s apple moving slightly as if he had something to say, his ears slightly warm, yet his expression unchanged and without hesitation, “that I love her now.”
Hearing Wei Yun say this, Xie Tao was stunned.
This was the first time Xie Tao had heard Wei Yun speak so directly of his love.
Usually, he never easily uttered even “like,” perhaps because he was shy, or perhaps because he was not good with words.
But at this moment, she heard him clearly say, he loved her very much.
She was still dazed, yet her heart inside her chest was beating faster and faster in an instant.
“And,”
Wei Yun caught a glimpse of Xie Tao’s silly look, tugged at the corner of his lips, and said to Fu Miaolan, “I really want to marry her, to spend the rest of my life with her.”
“Such a feeling is always urgent.”
This was probably the only time in Wei Yun’s life that he so truly exposed the longing in his heart for all to hear.
Fu Miaolan is a respected elder of Xie Tao and also the benefactor who helped her through tough times. Wei Yun is also grateful to her. Thus, saying these words to Fu Miaolan was his way of showing respect to her as Xie Tao’s benefactor and elder, hoping to receive her approval.
After speaking, Wei Yun took out a box from under the coffee table where he had placed it the day before and laid everything inside it out in front of Fu Miaolan.
Inside were a bank card, a property deed, and some documents filled with dense text that Fu Miaolan couldn’t understand at a glance.
Even Xie Tao didn’t understand what Wei Yun was doing.
“All of this belongs to Xie Tao.”
Wei Yun continued, “I’m giving her all my wealth. If, as you worry, I fail her in the future, at least her livelihood is assured.”
“But such a thing will never happen.”
Money is not so important in Wei Yun’s eyes, but he knows that many people in the world consider it very important, after all, it is indeed essential for maintaining a livelihood.
However, Wei Yun was giving all his wealth to Xie Tao not for this reason, but simply because he wanted to give her everything he had.
At this moment, Fu Miaolan suddenly saw the young man sitting across from her stand up:
“I, Wei Yun, am determined in this life that it will only be her.”
Perhaps the only thing his father left him was a seed of absolute devotion.
Life is too long and too short.
Therefore, he only has enough to love one person.
Fu Miaolan was stunned there, unable to speak for a long time.
From the words and even the expressions of the young man in front of her, she could hardly find any fault.
It seemed like he had considered many aspects.
And she could see that the young man, who appeared cold and indifferent, had shown genuine care for Xie Tao over the past few days.
Fu Miaolan glanced at Xie Tao and couldn’t say what she felt in her heart. After a long silence, she finally sighed, “This is your own matter, and you have to decide for yourselves.”
“Since Tao Tao has already made up her mind, then follow your hearts.”
Human hearts are perhaps the most fickle thing in the world, as Wei Yun said, no one can predict what the future will hold.
But Fu Miaolan also knew that she couldn’t stop Xie Tao from moving forward just because she was afraid of a possible outcome, could she?
After all, it is Xie Tao’s own life.
Whether it is sweet or bitter, it is also her own choice.
“Auntie Fu…” Xie Tao threw herself into her arms, snuggling up to her.
Fu Miaolan’s face finally showed a bit more of a smile, as she ruffled her hair, “You, not at all like a twenty-year-old, still like a child.”
She seemed somewhat sighing.
Back then, the little girl who wandered back and forth on the cold, long street, as if unable to find her way home, seemed to still linger in the memories of yesterday.
“Thank you,” Wei Yun said to Fu Miaolan, bowing his head and speaking earnestly.
“I hope you can really do what you said these past few days.”
Fu Miaolan looked at him and finally said.
The next morning, Wei Yun pushed open Xie Tao’s bedroom door, waking her from her sleep.
Because Fu Miaolan and Fu Hua were still here, Xie Tao and Wei Yun did not sleep in the same room. After all, in Fu Miaolan’s eyes, they were not yet truly husband and wife.
Wei Yun always adhered to propriety and naturally would not behave improperly in front of elders.
Xie Tao had been thinking all about what Wei Yun said during the day, “I love her very much now,” hiding under the covers and giggling for a long time without falling asleep. Now sleepy, she was dug out from under the covers by Wei Yun, and she opened her eyes reluctantly, “What are you doing…”
“It’s time to go out.” Wei Yun held her, and while bowing his head, patiently brushed away the light hair obstructing her view.
“Where to?”
Xie Tao yawned, leaning in his embrace, still a bit groggy.
“The Civil Affairs Bureau.”
His cool voice fell in her ear.
???
Upon hearing “Civil Affairs Bureau,” Xie Tao suddenly became much more awake. She opened her big almond eyes wide, looking at him, almost blurting out, “Are you in such a hurry?”
Wei Yun’s arms around her seemed to stiffen for a moment, but unexpectedly, he lowered his eyelids, moved his Adam’s apple, and softly replied, “Mhm.”
His ears seemed a bit red.
As if a bit embarrassed.
Xie Tao blinked, then hugged his waist tightly, her eyes curving up as she smiled.
Hearing her laughter, the temperature of Wei Yun’s ears became even hotter. Lowering his eyes, he saw her fair and clean face, and couldn’t help pinching her chin and kissing her lips.
In the moment their breaths intertwined, Xie Tao’s mind was ablaze, her half-open eyes could barely see the faintly red marks at the corners of his eyes, carrying a fatal charm.
Somehow, the two ended up on the bed.
Wei Yun’s cheek was pressed against hers, his warm breath right by her ear.
He suddenly kissed her earlobe, his voice a bit husky when he spoke, “Shall we go?”
He seemed a bit too stubborn about this.
“Let’s go…” Xie Tao said softly, her face red.
Finally, Wei Yun got the answer he wanted. He curved his lips, but as his gaze fell on her red, slightly swollen lips, he leaned in to kiss her again.
No matter the time and space, he wanted her to become his lawful wife sooner.
He couldn’t wait a moment longer.
Xie Tao’s mind was already muddled by his kisses.
Suddenly, she heard his slightly husky voice, revealing a hint of desire, “How about we go in the afternoon?”
