STT – Chapter 78

The End of the Main Text

Through three winters, river snow proudly blooms like plum blossoms, a lifetime’s gamble cast on tenderness.

In the evening, Mother Jiang learned everything from Jiang Huaichuan, feeling both moved and heartbroken. She hurriedly prepared dinner and rushed to the hospital, eager to see Lu Zizheng.

However, when she hastily arrived at the hospital and pushed open the door, she found that neither Lu Zizheng nor Jiang Huaixi were in the ward. After a moment’s thought, she put down the food and walked to the window to look down. Sure enough, she immediately recognized Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng coming out of the hospital’s small garden, strolling back.

Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng were walking side by side along the flower beds, with Lu Zizheng on the outer side, slightly tilting her head up and smiling at Jiang Huaixi. She carefully held Jiang Huaixi’s drainage bottle with one hand, while the other hand was gesturing animatedly in the air, as if demonstrating something to Jiang Huaixi.

Mother Jiang saw that Jiang Huaixi’s hand was constantly holding Lu Zizheng’s arm. Jiang Huaixi slightly tilted her head to listen to Lu Zizheng’s words, with a joyful expression in her eyes and brows that Mother Jiang hadn’t seen in nearly a month. As Mother Jiang watched, her eyes welled up with tears, and her lips curved into a smile.

Soon, Mother Jiang heard Jiang Huaixi’s familiar cool voice outside the door, saying calmly to Lu Zizheng, “Based on your performance today, I wouldn’t dare let you walk on the outer side to protect me the next time we go out.”

As the two were walking in the garden, somehow Lu Zizheng brought up something she had seen before about what boyfriends do when dating that makes people feel touched. One of the items was always walking on the outer side when crossing the road. Lu Zizheng looked at Jiang Huaixi, who habitually walked on the outer side, with bright eyes and said with a smile, “I’ve noticed that when we’re together, you also always walk on my outer side.”

Jiang Huaixi looked at her, slightly stunned, with a faint smile appearing at the corners of her lips, and asked, “So?”

Lu Zizheng blinked and smiled, “There’s no ‘so’, I just suddenly thought of it. Oh, how about this, from now on, let’s switch positions, and I’ll protect you.” As she said this, she eagerly wanted to switch positions with Jiang Huaixi. Jiang Huaixi found her sudden idea somewhat amusing but still indulgently went along with it.

However, unexpectedly, on the hundred-meter journey back to the inpatient department, Lu Zizheng encountered many issues. The early evening was the peak time for food deliveries, and there were many small electric bicycles shuttling back and forth. Lu Zizheng, holding Jiang Huaixi’s drainage bottle, directed Jiang Huaixi’s movements. When a vehicle went left, Lu Zizheng pulled Jiang Huaixi to the left; when a vehicle went right, Lu Zizheng always managed to pull Jiang Huaixi to the right. Finally, Jiang Huaixi, both amused and helpless, had to reach out and hold Lu Zizheng’s arm, leading her along.

Hearing Jiang Huaixi’s dissatisfaction, Lu Zizheng, while pushing open the door to the hospital room, sheepishly smiled and said, “Today was an accident. Who knew they would all be so in sync with me? It’s not entirely my fault…”

Jiang Huaixi, helpless, was about to refute her when Lu Zizheng spoke first, calling out, “Auntie…”

Only then did Jiang Huaixi realize that Mother Jiang was waiting for them in the hospital room.

Mother Jiang stepped forward, taking Lu Zizheng’s hand with one hand and gently stroking Lu Zizheng’s head with the other, saying tenderly and lovingly, “Good child, it’s alright, it’s alright. Next time, you mustn’t be so impulsive.” She had heard about the morning’s events from Jiang Huaichuan and had been terrified. She had immediately scolded Jiang Huaichuan harshly for his ineffective intervention.

Lu Zizheng nodded sheepishly and obediently said, “Auntie, I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Mother Jiang shook her head and sighed, “Not at all. It’s Auntie who should apologize to you for making you suffer. Zizheng, on behalf of our entire family, I want to say sorry to you…”

Lu Zizheng quickly said, “Auntie, you’re being too serious. It’s all in the past now, everything’s fine.” After saying this, her sharp eyes suddenly noticed the food containers on the table, and she hastily changed the subject, jokingly asking, “Auntie, is there a portion for me in the dinner? I’m a bit hungry…”

Mother Jiang, seeing her looking as if she was genuinely starving and craving food, couldn’t help but smile with her eyes, leading Lu Zizheng to the table. While opening the food containers for Lu Zizheng, she repeatedly responded with affection, “Yes, yes, of course there is. I even prepared some dessert for you. See if you like it…”

Jiang Huaixi stood to the side, listening to Mother Jiang’s apology. She lowered her eyes, her expression darkening slightly, lost in thought.

In the evening, after dinner, Lu Zizheng wanted to see Jiang Huaixi’s attending physician to understand Jiang Huaixi’s condition, so Mother Jiang took Lu Zizheng to meet the doctor.

The doctor honestly explained Jiang Huaixi’s condition to Lu Zizheng, frankly stating that because Jiang Huaixi’s condition was discovered relatively early, there were no infected lesions on her lungs, so there wasn’t the contagiousness that Jiang Huaixi had once been extremely worried about. However, her biggest problem now was that the pneumothorax in her chest cavity wasn’t subsiding, forming a residual cavity. If this residual cavity could be eliminated, everything would be resolved.

Lu Zizheng anxiously asked the doctor if there were any good methods to help the pneumothorax disappear. The doctor sighed and said, “With the current treatment plan, we can only wait and observe. Well, you can encourage her to do more chest expansion exercises and deep breathing in her daily life, as well as blow up balloons more often.”

That evening after returning, Lu Zizheng had someone move a bed from next door into Jiang Huaixi’s hospital room, placing it beside Jiang Huaixi’s bed. Jiang Huaixi frowned and insisted that Lu Zizheng shouldn’t stay with her at night in the hospital. Lu Zizheng then put on a tearful expression and reproachfully questioned her: “What about the promise you made to me? As soon as you turn around, you want to drive me away?”

Jiang Huaixi looked at Lu Zizheng’s dramatic face, narrowed her eyes coldly, and said coolly, “Speak properly, we’re still friends.”

Lu Zizheng was slightly stunned, then immediately dropped her previous dejected act. She laughed heartily, plopped down on the bed, and said with raised eyebrows, “Then I’ll speak to you properly. Anyway, the bed has already been moved in. Whether you allow me to sleep here or not, I’m going to sleep here. What can you do about it?” Her words were full of smug satisfaction.

Jiang Huaixi let out a light snort, thinking, “Getting bolder?” However, after watching Lu Zizheng’s smug little expression for a while, she finally pressed her lips together, smiled slightly, and silently indulged her.

At around 8 PM, Lu Zizheng produced a large bunch of balloons from somewhere, grabbed more than half of them and placed them on Jiang Huaixi’s bed, telling Jiang Huaixi to blow up twenty balloons, saying, “The doctor said blowing balloons is beneficial for recovery.”

Jiang Huaixi, however, just gave a cold glance and refused, saying, “I won’t blow them.”

Lu Zizheng asked dissatisfied, “Why not?”

Jiang Huaixi faced her with a cold expression and furrowed brows: “It’s too stupid.”

Hearing this, Lu Zizheng looked at Jiang Huaixi’s aloof face, then imagined the scene of her sitting cross-legged on the bed, puffing out her cheeks and staring wide-eyed while blowing up balloons. She couldn’t help but find it amusing and burst out laughing.

Jiang Huaixi’s expression darkened and cooled even more amidst Lu Zizheng’s laughter. Consequently, no matter how Lu Zizheng tried to persuade her, Jiang Huaixi refused to agree. Finally, Lu Zizheng couldn’t help but plead, “Your Majesty the Queen, what will it take for you to blow the balloons?”

Jiang Huaixi looked at Lu Zizheng’s troubled expression and barely managed to suppress her urge to laugh. She had initially intended to joke with Lu Zizheng and tease her a bit, but before she could even start blowing the balloons, Lu Zizheng had begun openly mocking her. So, she decided to tease her a little longer. She raised her eyebrows, pondered for a moment, then calmly proposed her condition: “If you want me to blow them, fine. For each balloon I blow, I get to be on top for one night, and you can’t resist. Two balloons mean two nights. And so on. How about that?”

Lu Zizheng was stunned, completely unprepared for such a condition from Jiang Huaixi. She couldn’t help but let out a soft, surprised “Ah.”

Jiang Huaixi raised her beautiful eyebrows slightly and said, “You don’t agree?”

Lu Zizheng stared at Jiang Huaixi with a pitiful expression. After a long moment, she painfully nodded, agreeing to this tyrannical condition.

Jiang Huaixi’s eyes and eyebrows immediately curved in a smile, the joy at the corners of her eyes and her radiant smile instantly captivating Lu Zizheng. She watched as Jiang Huaixi took the balloons and began to blow them up one by one with seriousness, her lips curled in a smile, and she couldn’t help but smile too.

After all, whether one is the aggressor or the receiver, on top or bottom, the truth will be revealed in actual practice. Letting her have her way verbally was no big deal. Lu Zizheng watched indulgently as Jiang Huaixi, with puffed cheeks, seriously blew up the balloons, looking rarely cute and childish. She secretly calculated in her heart, silently praising herself for her cleverness.

At nine o’clock, Lu Zizheng heated milk for Jiang Huaixi. Thirty minutes later, Lu Zizheng turned off the lights and supervised Jiang Huaixi going to sleep.

Because Jiang Huaixi had a drainage tube in her back, she couldn’t lie flat to sleep, so she slept on her side. Lu Zizheng, in order to watch Jiang Huaixi, also lay on her side. Since it was a bit early, neither of them could fall asleep, so they both opened their eyes simultaneously, quietly gazing at each other in the darkness.

After staring at each other for a long time, Lu Zizheng finally couldn’t help but laugh softly. She stretched out her arm and crooked her little finger towards Jiang Huaixi.

Jiang Huaixi lightly mocked her: “Childish.” After speaking, however, her hand obediently stretched out, and across the distance of a bedside table, she gently hooked her little finger with Lu Zizheng’s.

The night was so quiet it was reassuring.

After a long while, Lu Zizheng suddenly heard Jiang Huaixi say to her in a soft but solemn voice: “Zizheng, I’m sorry.”

This apology had been weighing on her for a very long time, so long that she had almost been overwhelmed by guilt. She had long known that all the reasons for concealing things from Lu Zizheng were, at their root, due to her own selfishness and cowardice. But she had been too afraid to face it. Just because Lu Zizheng didn’t blame her didn’t mean she wasn’t at fault or didn’t owe her.

Lu Zizheng gently swayed her little finger hooked with Jiang Huaixi’s and responded softly: “Huaixi, I don’t blame you.” After a pause, she added: “If you really feel sorry and can’t get past it in your heart, then compensate me by spending every day of the rest of your life with me. Promise me, try to stay with me for a long time, even longer, okay…”

Lu Zizheng felt Jiang Huaixi’s little finger, hooked with hers, tighten slightly. After a long while, she heard Jiang Huaixi’s cool voice rise in the darkness, firm yet gentle: “I will not fail your heart…”

Lu Zizheng and Jiang Huaixi gazed at each other for a long time. Seeing her gentle eyes shining like stars, Lu Zizheng’s lips involuntarily curved into waves of sweet smiles…

A week later, chest X-rays showed that Jiang Huaixi’s pneumothorax had decreased, and her condition had improved. Considering that the drainage tube had been in place for quite some time, after consultation with surgical experts, the doctor decided to remove Jiang Huaixi’s drainage tube and let her return home to recuperate. She was to come back for a follow-up in a month. If the residual cavity still remained, they would consider surgery.

Fortunately, the CT scan a month later showed that the pneumothorax in Jiang Huaixi’s chest cavity had completely disappeared, leaving only the issue of pleural adhesions. Surgery was no longer necessary. Grandmother Jiang, Father Jiang, and Mother Jiang had witnessed Lu Zizheng’s attentive care and earnest supervision of Jiang Huaixi over the past month. They were immensely grateful to Lu Zizheng and truly loved her as a granddaughter and daughter from the bottom of their hearts, their doting on her far exceeding that for Jiang Huaichuan and Qiao Xin. During this month of living together, Lu Zizheng had also eliminated the sense of unfamiliarity and estrangement with the Jiang family, truly becoming part of the family.

Xu Baihan and Jiang Wang came to visit Jiang Huaixi after she was discharged from the hospital. A month later, when Jiang Huaixi’s follow-up examination showed good recovery, Jiang Wang and Xu Baihan were finally at ease. Three days later, Jiang Wang took Xu Baihan to the United States for leg treatment, with no set return date. Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng went together to see them off at the airport.

One year later, Jiang Huaixi fully recovered and proposed to Lu Zizheng on her birthday. A month later, on New Year’s Day, they held a grand wedding in China, then went to the United States for their honeymoon and registered their marriage. This event made headlines in financial and entertainment news, causing quite a stir for a while. However, the couple and the Jiang family simply smiled and disregarded the public’s opinions.

Two years later, on her 31st birthday, Lu Zizheng received the biggest gift of her life from Jiang Huaixi: their daughter, Lu Xinmian, was born. Xinmian’s appearance strongly resembled Lu Zizheng, but her calm and aloof personality was very much like Jiang Huaixi’s.

In the same year, Lian Xuan’s grandfather fell seriously ill, and there was internal strife within the Fengshang Group. Lian Xuan, who had been wandering abroad for a long time, was urgently called back by the old man. After her grandfather’s death, Lian Xuan inherited the old man’s dying wish and took over the company, which was already in disarray. Two months later, she registered her marriage with Zhou Zhong’an, with whom she had previously broken off an engagement, acquiring 10% of his shares. With the support of the Zhou family, she drove out her ambitious father and brother, gradually established a firm foothold in the company, and began to vigorously reorganize it.

The following year, Xu Baihan’s leg was healed, and she returned to the country together with Jiang Wang, who had completed her studies. With Xu Baihan’s strong support, Jiang Wang did not join the Xu family company but instead became an attending physician at the Xu family’s hospital.

In the same year, Lian Xuan gave birth to fraternal twins. The daughter was named Lian Xiao, with the nickname Nian Nian, and the son was named Zhou Yao, with the nickname Zheng Zheng.

One year later, Xu Baihan gave birth to a daughter for Jiang Wang.

Five years later, Lian Xuan and Zhou Zhong’an divorced amicably, with Lian Xuan gaining inheritance rights for their daughter. Thereafter, she never remarried, dedicating herself to the company and her daughter’s education.

Fifteen years later, Lu Zizheng, wearing a black armband, sat alone in the empty bedroom with reddened eyes, opening the diary that Jiang Huaixi had kept for many years.

She saw that on the day of their first night together in Ji’an, Jiang Huaixi had written, “Zizheng, I’m sorry. I love you.”

She saw that in the following days, Jiang Huaixi had repeatedly written, “Zizheng, I’m sorry.” She recalled that until the last day of her life, Jiang Huaixi had been apologizing to her. At that time, Jiang Huaixi had leaned weakly in her arms, saying softly, “Zizheng, I’m sorry, I’ve broken my promise after all. But you must promise me that you’ll see enough of the next thirty years’ scenery for me before you come to find me. Otherwise, I won’t see you.”

Lu Zizheng’s tears gradually filled her eyes once again.

She saw that on the day when Jiang Huaixi, against her objections, insisted on giving birth to Xinmian herself, and they had their first major argument, Jiang Huaixi wrote in her diary: “Zizheng, I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m still loving you in my own presumptuous way. But, silly, it’s because I love you. I just hope that there can be one more person in this world who loves you unconditionally, like I do. I hope that one day, even if I’m gone, you’ll still have someone to rely on and to cherish in this world.”

Lu Zizheng’s tears finally overflowed, crystalline droplets falling steadily, wetting Jiang Huaixi’s handsome handwriting.

At that time, she was worried about Jiang Huaixi’s health and had a real argument with her, giving each other the cold shoulder for a long time before reluctantly compromising and agreeing. However, when she first saw Jiang Huaixi take Xinmian from her arms, holding her while complaining about how ugly the newborn looked, yet unable to resist lovingly kissing Xinmian and smiling at her, Lu Zizheng completely surrendered. At that moment, Lu Zizheng felt that her life was complete.

On the day Xinmian was born, Jiang Huaixi said, “Zizheng, there’s now one more person in this world who loves you along with me. You should believe that you will never be alone.”

Lu Zizheng finally couldn’t hold back her sobs, covering her mouth and collapsing weakly onto the table.

20-year-old Lu Xinmian, like Jiang Huaixi, was tall with long hair, clear and cool features, and an otherworldly demeanor. She wore all black, her eyes red-rimmed, holding a few sheets of paper in her hand. As she walked in, she spoke in a steady voice, slightly hoarse from crying: “Mom, this is the eulogy Aunt Xu wrote. She asked me to let you review it…” Her voice trailed off as she saw Lu Zizheng weeping. She quickly stepped forward, placed the papers on the table, and gently embraced the grieving Lu Zizheng, offering her silent comfort.

Lu Zizheng held back her sobs, wiped away her tears, and forced a smile in front of her daughter. While saying “I’m fine,” she picked up the eulogy Xu Baihan had written for Jiang Huaixi to review.

Lu Xinmian followed Lu Zizheng’s gaze and saw that the last line of Xu Baihan’s eulogy for Jiang Huaixi was an elegiac couplet:

“Through three winters, river snow proudly blooms like plum blossoms,
A lifetime’s gamble cast on tenderness.”

Thinking of her mothers’ deep love, she couldn’t help but tear up as well. She bit her lower lip tightly and hugged Lu Zizheng closer. After a long while, she spoke in a hoarse, low voice: “Mom, don’t cry. She must be watching us and would be sad. She’s surely still by our side, just continuing to love us in a different form.”

Lu Zizheng’s heart quivered, and tears fell uncontrollably again. She hugged Xinmian back, leaning into her embrace. Her voice choked, tears in the corners of her eyes, but with a smile on her lips, she responded gently yet firmly: “Yes, I know. She’s with us, always and forever…”

Many years ago, she had asked Jiang Huaixi: if they couldn’t be together forever, why bother having ever been together at all? A brief possession would only leave lasting regret.

Many years later, she understood because of Jiang Huaixi:

One chance encounter in the golden wind and jade dew surpasses countless worldly experiences. To have one person love you so wholeheartedly in a lifetime is already enough to leave no regrets. Even if the rest of her life could only be spent with memories, she would find it as sweet as honey.

LP: The next chapter would be the last one 🙂

Re-translated on October 22, 2024