“Forget it, I’ll go back and see,” Fang Yuzhe couldn’t stand her fuss and took the initiative to break up the gathering.
Everyone felt relieved. This wasn’t entertainment; it was like being on trial.
Fang Yuzhe returned home, preparing to confront Xia Yuoluo.
“Xia Yuoluo, why are you being such a killjoy? What’s wrong with me spending more time with friends!”
Xia Yuoluo lay in bed, head covered by the blanket. Fang Yuzhe knew she was crying.
“Forget it, if you don’t want to come home, you’re acting like a shrew!” Fang Yuzhe turned to leave.
“I already knew,” Xia Yuoluo stopped crying, speaking with a trembling voice.
Fang Yuzhe’s hand paused on the doorknob, “What do you know?”
“I know—we might not have much time together, and that accident happened to the person I love most!”
“When did you know?” He turned around, leaning weakly against the door, okay, finally no need to act anymore.
“I want to marry you.”
Fang Yuzhe sat next to Xia Yuoluo, now able to apologize for the cruelty of these days.
Xia Yuoluo smiled through her tears, gently hitting him, then hugging him tightly.
“I won’t cry anymore, I’ll stay with you and laugh every day, and live every minute to the fullest.”
“Don’t be silly,” Fang Yuzhe pushed her away. “A person’s happiness and pain in life are equal. If you rush through all your happiness, how will you get through the days of suffering?”
“I’ll live through memories. You know I’m that kind of uninteresting person who can be happy for a long time with just one memory, so don’t worry about me—”
“Yu Luoyu! If I had a little more time, I’d be willing to stay with you longer, but I really don’t have time! Now I have symptoms of blindness every day, sometimes two or three times a day. I don’t know which time I won’t recover! My life has started counting down. When I leave, I really hope there’s not a single relative around, that you’re all living your own lives, just as if you never knew me, so I can leave without pain!”
Summer Yu Luoyu had seen Fang Yuzhe with red-rimmed eyes before, but this time she saw him cry, crystal tears falling down his perfect face, and she let them drop into her palm.
“Are you scared?” Yu Luoyu asked softly.
Fang Yuzhe nodded, “Yes, scared to the point of wanting to commit suicide! I don’t know who to cry out to about how unfair this is. I have so many things I want to do, but I won’t have time for any of them.”
“Are any of those things related to me?”
“Of course. I planned to marry you after you graduate from college. Didn’t you always say you dreamed of having your own family?”
“Since time is short, can’t we wait? Are you willing to marry me now?”
Fang Yuzhe stared at her blankly, “No, do you want to become a widow right after becoming a bride?”
“Anyway, if I don’t marry you, I won’t be anyone else’s wife. Why be so petty? Let me wear a wedding dress once!”
“Don’t say such ridiculous things. You’re only eighteen, you have twenty-eight, thirty-eight, and can live until old age. You won’t be sad about me for too long. I’m already grateful. If you hadn’t appeared, I would never have known what love feels like!”
“But I just want to be your bride. Our age isn’t legally allowed for marriage. I just want a ceremony, a memory. Please agree!”
The hospital quickly provided analysis data, with the most optimistic prognosis being six months. After Father Fang told Yu Luo this news, the two sat face to face in silence for over half an hour.
This news was still kept from Fang Yuzhe, who was already panicking and couldn’t bear such a direct blow.
After completely losing his sight, Fang Yuzhe’s emotions became very unstable. He would easily become hysterical, and sometimes eerily quiet, calm like an eighty-year-old who could face life and death with composure.
He began to psychologically depend on Yu Luo, always needing to hold her hand or embrace her, even when he didn’t need her to take him anywhere.
Yu Luo accompanied Fang Yuzhe back home to live with his father. Fang Tiansheng, a tough businessman, became more fragile than a young girl when facing his son’s life and death. Yu Luo had now become the pillar of the Fang family. She had to comfort his father, encourage her boyfriend, and during the most stressful times, could only hide in the bathroom at night, muffling her cries with a towel, and then try to ensure Fang Yuzhe had a bright mood the next day.
That year’s Spring Festival, Father Fang intentionally wanted to make the home lively. He bought many fireworks and even brought Fang Yuzhe’s grandfather back from the United States.
Fang Yuzhe didn’t like crowds and preferred to spend most of his time with Yu Luo. However, on New Year’s Eve, he was quite happy, hugging Yu Luo from behind while setting off fireworks, listening to her describe the colors – “This one is red, yellow, purple…”
“Yu Luo, would you do something for me?” Fang Yuzhe suddenly asked.
Yu Luo, her head resting on his chest, looked up at him – “Sure, what?”
Fang Yuzhe lowered his head following her voice, kissed her ear, and softly said: “Would you be willing to have a child for me, to leave with my father?”
Xia Yu Luo was silent.
“Maybe our child would be pitiful, growing up without a father, but his grandfather really needs him, and he’ll understand someday—”
“I’m already trying. I was going to surprise you, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Fang Yuzhe was a bit surprised.
Yu Luo turned and hugged him tightly, “The baby won’t be pitiful at all, it’s his mother who would be. I promise to have the child, but you must promise to stay with me as long as possible, the longer the better.
Perhaps people truly have a premonition about their own lives. Fang Yuzhe spoke these words, and the next day he suddenly collapsed in the living room.
Summer Yuluo was scared. Fortunately, Fang Tiancheng was at home and quickly drove him to the hospital.
“These are the final stage symptoms. Please prepare yourselves. It’s very likely he won’t wake up this time,” the doctor said to Yuluo and Tiancheng in Yuzhe’s hospital room.
“How can you say such things in front of the patient? He’ll be heartbroken!” Summer Yuluo questioned the doctor.
“Miss, he’s in a coma—”
“He can hear! He can hear what you’re saying, and what I’m saying!” Yuluo walked to Yuzhe’s bedside, holding his hand: “Little Zhe, don’t you want to hear your child’s cry before leaving us? If you can’t wait that long, just wait a few more days, and the ultrasound will show the baby’s shape. Don’t you want to see him before you go?”
She was right. Fang Yuzhe could indeed hear her words, or perhaps it was a coincidence.
His finger moved in Yuluo’s grasp, and after struggling for a while, he finally opened his eyes.
“See! See, he can hear!” Yuluo shouted triumphantly at the doctor.
The doctor looked slightly embarrassed, saying, “Don’t let the patient get too excited,” and then left the room.
“What happened to me? Why does it smell like a hospital?” Fang Yuzhe asked, lying in bed.
“You just fainted,” Fang’s father said, holding his son’s hand.
“Dad, am I about to end?”
Yuluo’s smile froze again. Seeing Yuzhe’s defeated expression, her rationality was gradually crumbling.
“What of it?” Xia Yuluo said fiercely, “Do you think I would give birth to him? Impossible! A child without a mother’s or father’s love would be miserable, just like me! I won’t leave him alone in this world!”
“You promised me!” Fang Yuzhe exclaimed.
“Can’t I go back on my word? You also promised to never leave me! You also promised to travel the world with me! You can’t do any of those things, so why should I keep my promise?”
“Is it that I don’t want to do those things?”
