Yu Yi looked at him suspiciously: “Chun Yan and Yue Tao will be here soon. What does Master Meng want to say?”
Meng Qing just looked at her, murmuring, “I don’t know what to say.”
I have so many things I want to say, but no time.”
He lowered his eyes and laughed self-deprecatingly: “It was so foolish of me to come here. You don’t know me at all right now. What could I possibly say?” The young girl in the pavilion was so naive and innocent, practically still a child. He had originally wanted to pour out his feelings while he still remembered her, but facing this fourteen-year-old girl full of wariness and hostility, he couldn’t utter a single word.
For some reason, Yu Yi didn’t mention the strange man she had seen earlier, and just instructed Chun Yan and the others to spread out the painting supplies on the table. Her mind was in turmoil, and whenever she tried to paint, she kept thinking about that person. She lost all motivation to practice and ruined several sheets of paper before putting down her brush: “Forget it, I won’t practice today.”
The maids packed up the painting supplies and followed Yu Yi out of the pavilion. Yue Tao, with sharp eyes, pointed to the ground and asked, “Oh, what’s this?” She picked up the jade dragonfly and handed it to Yu Yi, saying, “I wonder who dropped this. I haven’t seen any young masters or ladies wearing this jade piece. This jade is quite fine.
Yu Yi, who had been wary of the stranger earlier and wondering about his origins, had forgotten about the jade dragonfly he left behind. She took the jade dragonfly and said casually, “I’ll ask my elder brother about it tonight.”
Meng Qing found himself in a strange ancient garden, with the sound of a young girl’s voice coming from the distance. Through the bushes, he saw a beautiful girl of fourteen or fifteen in the pavilion. Her clothing was luxurious yet not ostentatious, and she moved with elegance and composure, appearing to be a well-bred young lady. He wasn’t sure if she had been painting or practicing calligraphy, but now she had put down her brush and was talking to her maidservants. Soon, they packed up their papers and writing tools and left the pavilion.
Meng Qing, afraid of being discovered, quickly hid behind the trees until they were far away. Then he softly called, “Lin Bai.”
“What is it?”
“Where am I now?”
Lin Bai was silent for a moment before asking, “…How much did you drink?”
“I haven’t been drinking. I’m completely sober. It’s just that I’ve never been to this place before, and I don’t even remember how I got here.”
“Are you sure you’re not drunk? Let me see. How did you end up in ancient times? We don’t have any missions in this time period right now.”
“Lin Bai, it seems you should send me back to the medical department. I’m experiencing memory loss.”
Before leaving, Meng Qing looked back at the empty pavilion, feeling an inexplicable sense of nostalgia.
—
Back in her room, Yu Yi sat at the table and played with the jade dragonfly for a while. Suddenly, a voice came from inside the jade dragonfly. Startled, Yu Yi dropped it on the table and stepped back.
After a moment, she hesitated and approached it slowly. Hearing no further sounds, she bravely reached out and touched it a few times. It remained motionless and silent.
Yu Yi tried to recall where she had touched it earlier when it made a sound. When her finger touched the first wing on its left side, it made a slight noise. She quickly withdrew her hand, and it fell silent again.
Trying again with her fingertip, it spoke: “It’s me, Meng Qing.”
Yue Tao, hearing the noise from inside the room, asked, “Does the young mistress have any orders?”
Yu Yi thought for a moment and said, “It’s nothing. Yue Tao, you and Chun Tao don’t need to serve me here. Go play in the courtyard.”
Here is the edited article with irrelevant content removed:
” After the maids left, she closed the door between the inner and outer rooms, returning to the table with excitement and nervousness, and gently touched the left wing of the jade dragonfly.
But it only repeated: “It’s me, Meng Qing.”
Yu Yi was disappointed that the jade dragonfly could only say this one phrase, but it still seemed fascinating. She had never seen an object that could produce human speech.
Yu Yi picked up the jade dragonfly and examined it, then suddenly remembered something and reached to touch its second left wing.
Again, it was the voice of the man who called himself Meng Qing, but with different content: “My lady is indeed clever and deserves praise. I’ll teach you how to use it now. Press and hold the first right wing to record, press and hold the second right wing to play back the previously recorded message. Also, this jade dragonfly, like me, only recognizes you as its master. Others won’t be able to use it.”
Yu Yi couldn’t help but laugh. It was the first time she had heard such direct words of affection. Even though she was alone in the room, she felt her face growing warm. She pressed the tip of the first right wing and thought for a moment before saying, “Who are you exactly?”
Then she pressed the second right wing and heard her own voice asking, “Who are you exactly?” She found it extremely interesting and was about to release the right wing to record a few more sentences when she heard Meng Qing’s voice again.
“I don’t know how much time I have left. I’m afraid I won’t be able to see you and I’ll forget about you. But I promised not to forget you, so I’m recording these words. If I truly forget, at least this can still remember some of our time together.
The first time we worked together was during the Republican era. After that separation, I often thought of you. After doing many missions, you should understand that our line of work is very lonely. Spending years playing different roles, with no one who truly understands you, feels especially warm and relaxing.
I think my attachment to you is just a longing for this sense of belonging among peers. I’ve had similar feelings after collaborating with others before.
The second collaboration was the calculation with Tu Long. When I saw you again, I was surprised, but also felt a bit lucky, although I never mentioned it…”
He chuckled softly, “But I discovered you didn’t have any special feelings for me. When you were replacing the battery for my bulletproof system, I actually wanted to kiss you, but you immediately dodged, so I had to say I didn’t mean it. After that parting, I kept thinking about you. It was no longer just missing or longing.
I thought, okay, even if you seem to have no feelings for me, I still want to try to find you. If there’s really no hope, I’ll let myself give up completely.
You indeed rejected me without hesitation.
But I couldn’t just give up. Because although you rejected me, it wasn’t because you didn’t like me, but because you hadn’t figured out what you truly wanted.
So I decided to stay by your side, or rather, shamelessly stick around, waiting for you to understand what you really want. If by then you still reject me, I’ll truly give up.
“But people really do want more…” he sighed softly, “Unknowingly, I wanted to hear you say you liked me. That rejection at the Longyun Club was really hard to bear, but I still wanted to try again. Forgive me for lying that I was leaving, but the disappointment and sadness you showed when you believed me made me happy.
Those days on the island were unforgettable for me. You agreed to marry me, you gave me your everything.
I told you I want to marry you in every time and space, and I’m not joking. I truly mean it. No matter which time and space, I only want to be with you until we’re old.
But it seems I’ve never been that lucky. The people I value most, I can never stay with them for long.
In the end, you still chose to sacrifice for your family. I understand, so I didn’t stop you.
