You look beautiful when you smile.
After the phrase “Huaixi, for you thousands and thousands of times” was spoken, Lu Zizheng did not look away, quietly maintaining eye contact with Jiang Huaixi for a long time. Jiang Huaixi, however, seemed to be burned by Lu Zizheng’s piercing gaze, her ears slowly turning red, slightly flustered as she hurriedly averted her eyes, pretending to look naturally into the distance.
Lu Zizheng watched Jiang Huaixi’s actions in silence, her eyes dimming slightly. Then, as if she thought of something, she suddenly sighed softly in relief and smiled quietly.
She turned her hand away from where Jiang Huaixi loosely held it, gently grasping Jiang Huaixi’s hand, opening her five fingers, and gradually intertwining them with Jiang Huaixi’s fingers.
At the moment when their fingers intertwined, Jiang Huaixi’s body gently trembled, her fingers stiff and motionless. Eventually, she turned to face Lu Zizheng, her dark eyes heavy with mist, seeming to hold a thousand words, yet wanting to speak but stopped.
However, Lu Zizheng simply smiled understandingly and gently at Jiang Huaixi; her bright eyes and radiant smile were a sight Jiang Huaixi had never seen before, momentarily captivating her, making it impossible for Jiang Huaixi to look away.
In the middle of the night, Lu Zizheng woke up once from a dream about her mother. At that time, Jiang Huaixi was sleeping deeply. She quietly gazed at Jiang Huaixi for a long time in the darkness, gently wrapping her arms around Jiang Huaixi before falling asleep again, though she could no longer sleep soundly. By morning, long before Jiang Huaixi woke up, Lu Zizheng was already somewhat hazily awake. The gentle kiss that Jiang Huaixi placed on the tip of her nose stirred her slowly awake, bringing a mix of surprise and joy. In that moment, Jiang Huaixi’s tender affection smoothed away the wrinkles between her brows and alleviated the worries in her heart.
Huaixi, how can you make me deceive myself into thinking this is just a good friendship again?
Just moments ago, after reaffirming Jiang Huaixi’s determined and gentle gaze, Lu Zizheng finally understood, finally felt certain, and finally found peace. If this isn’t love, then what is there left for her to lament?
This love, how could it be a solo performance on her part? It should be a duet waltz between her and Jiang Huaixi, remarkably in sync yet sorrowful, pushing and pulling. When Jiang Huaixi moved forward, she retreated too far; when she moved forward, Jiang Huaixi unexpectedly chose to turn away. She didn’t know what Jiang Huaixi was hesitant about, or perhaps she had missed the opportunities and fates meant for her grasp. But if this love is destined to be a chase, then she is willing to offer her remaining courage, dedicating her remaining life solely to Jiang Huaixi, keeping pace with her, accompanying her until the very end.
The morning sun has already risen to its zenith, shining with an almost blinding golden light.
Lu Zizheng tightly held Jiang Huaixi’s hand. Under Jiang Huaixi’s gaze, she stood up calmly, slightly bent at the waist, and with a warm smile, asked, “Huaixi, shall we go home? I want to prepare lunch for you; could you teach me?”
Jiang Huaixi’s expression, illuminated by the golden morning sun, appeared somewhat hazy and unclear. Lu Zizheng felt Jiang Huaixi’s burning gaze locked on her face as she turned slightly. Then, she heard Jiang Huaixi softly respond, “Alright.” Their intertwined fingers felt Jiang Huaixi’s grip gradually tighten, warm, comforting, and sweet…
Lu Zizheng’s smile deepened gradually…
When they got home, Lu Zizheng had just entered the kitchen and checked the ingredients in the refrigerator. She was about to ask Jiang Huaixi what she wanted to eat when she heard her phone ring unexpectedly.
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Jiang Huaixi glanced at the caller ID, frowned slightly, and answered the phone, responding with a few simple words: “Uh-huh, okay, please hold on…” before hanging up.
The phone call was from Xu Baihan, who was asking Jiang Huaixi about Jiang Wang’s specific scheduling time, home address, phone number, and her superior’s phone number, among other things.
Jiang Huaixi blinked at Lu Zizheng somewhat apologetically and softly said, “Zizheng, I have a little matter to handle. Can you wait for me for a while?”
Lu Zizheng nodded and smiled, understandingly responding, “No problem, it’s still early; you can take your time.”
Jiang Huaixi then composed herself, smiled faintly, and turned to enter the study.
Lu Zizheng had been busy in the kitchen for a while, but she couldn’t help feeling a bit curious. Lightly stepping in to peek into the study, she saw Jiang Huaixi opening the computer with her head down, her long hair cascading like a waterfall, covering her expression. Lu Zizheng could only see that Jiang Huaixi’s slender, fair fingers were holding a long platinum-colored pen, rapidly gliding across a black notebook.
Lu Zizheng was momentarily stunned; suddenly, for no reason, a desire arose in her, wanting to gently bite Jiang Huaixi’s slender and beautiful fingers…
At the next moment, as she realized her startling thoughts, Lu Zizheng’s ears turned bright red, feeling her cheeks burning, and shyly daring not to look at Jiang Huaixi again; she hurriedly turned to leave.
After a while, Lu Zizheng finally calmed down, unable to help but find her thoughts a bit amusing.
While washing the vegetables, she recalled that Jiang Huaixi had not had a drop of water since breakfast this morning. She stopped her current task, exited the kitchen, and thoughtfully made a cup of honey water to bring it to Jiang Huaixi’s study.
This time, Jiang Huaixi was not in the room; Lu Zizheng raised her eyes to look outside and saw Jiang Huaixi standing on the balcony with her back to her, making a phone call and quietly saying something.
Lu Zizheng lightly stepped into the study, gently placed the honey water next to the computer on the desk, and prepared to turn and leave. Lowering her head, she unintentionally caught sight of Jiang Huaixi’s elegant and graceful handwriting on the open black notebook beside the computer, vividly appearing before her eyes. The handwriting was not yet fully dried; at the top of the page, it read: March 25, sunny, main text, with only a thin line:
“You look beautiful when you smile.”
Lu Zizheng’s footsteps slightly paused as she felt a feather softly brush across her heart, making her unable to suppress a soft and pleasant sensation for a moment. She cherishedly traced each stroke of every character with her gaze, then couldn’t help but smile and raise her head to search for Jiang Huaixi’s figure.
Upon raising her head, she found that Jiang Huaixi had hung up the phone without her noticing and was quietly looking at her. After a while, Jiang Huaixi seemed to have just noticed the still-open notebook, slightly furrowed her brow, and coldly remarked in some embarrassment, “Did Confucius not teach you not to look at what you shouldn’t?”
Lu Zizheng, however, remained silent and continued to gaze at her with gentle, watery eyes, smiling knowingly…
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Jiang Huaixi was annoyed and felt that Lu Zizheng seemed to have become like a different person after this morning, making her momentarily feel somewhat overwhelmed. Finally, in this gaze confrontation with Lu Zizheng, she lost the battle, shifted her eyes away, walked into the room, pretended to be calm, closed her diary, and coldly instructed, “Let this time pass, but there won’t be a next time.”
However, Lu Zizheng simply returned her an enjoyable and light smile.
After receiving the information sent by Jiang Huaixi, Xu Baihan carefully looked at the schedules, those strings of numbers, and the photo of Jiang Wang, which Jiang Huaixi had sent her with understanding. In an instant, tears burst forth, falling softly onto the photo of Jiang Wang’s indifferent, expressionless face.
It was her; it really was her…
She couldn’t wait any longer and immediately instructed someone to handle her discharge procedures. She ordered a driver to come to the hospital to pick her up and rushed to Linzhou without having time to inform her family.
Throughout the journey, Xu Baihan imagined in her heart a thousand times, and even ten thousand times, what she would say to Yun Bo when they met. Would Yun Bo respond to her? Would she pretend not to recognize her? Would she push her away? Would she look at her with a hateful gaze?
With each of these thoughts, Xu Baihan felt an increase in the pain within her heart, as if it were being pierced by a thousand arrows over and over again. She nervously pinched her fingertips tightly with her nails and gently bit the joints of her thumb, trying to calm the tumultuous emotions of excitement and overwhelming fear.
When the car stopped at the entrance of the Jiang family’s hospital, she lowered the window and gazed at the cold white building. Xu Baihan told herself, Xu Baihan, aside from her, you don’t want anything else. As long as she is in the whole world, that is enough.
The sky was nearly dark, and Jiang Wang’s off-duty time was approaching. Jiang Huaixi informed Xu Baihan of the location of Jiang Wang’s office, letting her know that Jiang Wang would be on outpatient duty today and would return to the office to change clothes after finishing work. Xu Baihan exited the car, bit her lip, clenched her fists, and mustered her courage as she hurriedly made her way to Jiang Wang’s office.
Xu Baihan looked at the tightly closed white door, hearing her own heartbeat, racing as if it would leap out of her chest. She lifted her hand and clearly saw that her hand was trembling uncontrollably, almost losing strength.
She finally gently knocked on that door, once, twice, three times…
From inside the door came the somewhat familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar cold voice that she had heard several times: “Please come in…”
She had not yet finished work and left; that’s really good… Xu Baihan softly murmured in her heart.
The hand that gripped the doorknob trembled gently before exerting strong force, tightly twisting it. The door opened, and she pushed the wheelchair, making heavy sounds as she appeared in front of Jiang Wang.
Jiang Wang had been turning her white coat against the doorknob to put it in the wardrobe, and upon hearing the sound, she locked the cabinet, carelessly turned her head, thinking it was the nurse coming to find her about something. However, unexpectedly, when she turned her head, what she saw was Xu Baihan’s face, a familiar face that she had engraved in her heart and integrated into her life.
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Xu Baihan’s eyes, filled with tears from the mixed emotions of sorrow and joy at their long-awaited reunion, refused to move even slightly or blink to let the tears fall. She stared intently at Jiang Wang’s face, which was somewhat unfamiliar, yet still stirred her heartbeat with its cold and exquisite features.
When their eyes met, both were momentarily stunned, forgetting to react.
After the initial shock and distraction, Jiang Wang paused, tightly pursed her thin lips, and resumed her usual calm and indifferent demeanor, her eyes faintly observing Xu Baihan, allowing her to freely examine her.
Xu Baihan stepped forward slightly, reached out uncontrollably, and held Jiang Wang’s hand, which hung by her side. She raised her head and choked, asking her, “Yun Bo, Yun Bo, it’s really you, right? I’m really not dreaming, am I?” Feeling Jiang Wang’s real warmth and touch, Xu Baihan felt that the fatigue she had endured for years suddenly found a support point, bringing her peace of mind, making her want to cry yet laugh. What she wanted most was to reach out and tightly hug her, lean in her arms, listen to her real heartbeat, and tell her that the dream she had waited for years had finally come true…
Jiang Wang quietly looked at Xu Baihan, not breaking free from her tight grasp. After a moment of silence, a very faint smile appeared on her lips, though her eyes showed no hint of a smile. She lightly opened her thin lips and faintly replied to Xu Baihan, “Baihan, long time no see.”
LP: Re-translated on September 06, 2024