“Tianlong, our friends from down the mountain just called. The landslide section has been cleared this evening, and both lanes are now passable.” She gave her daughter a particularly concerned look.
They looked up, stunned, expressions frozen.
Like a sudden cold water splash, it extinguished their previous excitement, abruptly pulling them from their dream-like joy back to reality.
“Clang, clang—”
The colorful checkers accidentally dropped by Yi An scattered everywhere, the noisy sound helping them regain their ability to speak.
“I understand, boss lady, thank you,” Wei Tianlong forced a smile, immediately crouching to help collect the scattered checkers.
Yi An collected the pieces silently, but for some reason, her hands seemed uncooperative, picking up three and dropping two, unable to complete the task.
Her heart felt suffocated, the love that had filled her heart suddenly deflating, panic rising like hot air rushing to her eyes. She used the act of picking up checkers to take deep breaths, preventing her fragility from spilling over.
“Look at you, always so rash!” Knowing her daughter best, Luo’s mother, sensing her emotional fluctuations, couldn’t help but criticize with underlying meaning, then sighed and walked away.
Yi An pressed her lips together, understanding the subtext of her mother’s words.
Yes, she was impulsive, didn’t consider consequences, her mother had warned her, and she knew he was only staying briefly, yet she insisted on falling in love, inviting heartache…
The landslide route being cleared meant Wei Tianlong would leave soon!
What should she do? Their love had just budded and without careful nurturing, it could easily wither and die.
She liked him… no, she loved him, loving completely and unconditionally. How could she bear to separate?
Finally collecting all the pieces, she placed them on the table, keeping her head down, afraid to let him see her tearful expression.
“I, I… don’t want to play anymore, I’m going to take a shower!” She tried to keep her voice steady, fearing any emotional fluctuation would cause tears to flood.
“Why suddenly…” Wei Tianlong was slightly puzzled, about to call her back, but she had already hurried upstairs.
Watching her seemingly fleeing back, he couldn’t help but sigh quietly, slowly collecting the scattered checkers into the box.
He could completely understand Yi An’s feelings because he was also feeling extremely reluctant!
The news of the road being cleared was like an axe, breaking open the beautiful dream they had built, with realistic pressures and considerations immediately overwhelming them, impossible to ignore…
Yi An hurriedly returned to her room, panic driving her to urgently find something to do. In a daze, she took a shower, and after her mood stabilized slightly, she turned on the TV, sitting blankly in front of the bed, tears flowing uncontrollably from her unblinking eyes.
He was about to leave… was leaving…
She was reluctant, yet couldn’t utter a single word to make him stay, nor did she have the right to do so.
Wei Tianlong was never meant to belong here. He had his own family, life, and work. It was only natural for him to leave. She couldn’t unreasonably ask him to stay for her sake.
Yi An covered her face and wept, worried that their relationship would fall apart due to distance, yet feeling completely helpless. An unprecedented sense of powerlessness filled her chest.
It was all her own fault. Knowing it was impossible, she still pursued it, loving when she shouldn’t have. Now she was suffering the consequences, and could only blame herself.
She had just confirmed the news and was already feeling so miserable, her heart heavy and breathing constricted. She didn’t know how she would bear it when he truly left…
“Knock, knock, knock—”
Yi An, softly sobbing, heard the knocking and suddenly came to her senses. Thinking it was her mother who had called earlier to check on her, she irritably raised her voice. “Mom, I’m really fine. Can you let me be alone for a moment?”
“Yi An, it’s Tianlong. Can you open the door?” Wei Tianlong raised his voice, confirming she wasn’t asleep.
After nearly two hours of settling down, Wei Tianlong had taken calls from his mother and assistant, and gradually calmed the initial shock of the news.
Then he freshened up, deliberately taking his time to allow Yi An to calm her emotions. Seeing the time was right, he could no longer contain the words he wanted to say and came to talk to her.
It was him!
Yi An jumped up, hastily wiping her face with the back of her hand, taking several deep breaths. But seeing her severely swollen eyes in the dressing mirror, she quickly stopped. “Wait a moment!”
Not wanting him to see her unsightly appearance, she rushed to the bathroom to wash her face, using cold water to compress her eyes for quite a while before nervously opening the door.
“Come in!” she said with her head down, though reluctant to part, she didn’t want him to think she was a clingy woman trying to bind him with tears.
Wei Tianlong directly sat by the window, tilting his head to clearly see her face trying to avoid his gaze.
He reached out and held her wrist, his gaze full of tenderness. “Were you just crying?”
She quickly turned away, instinctively shaking her head in denial.
“Not yet? Don’t try to hide it from me. Look at your big eyes, the double eyelids have completely disappeared!” He pulled her close to sit beside him, joking to ease the tension.
“I look ugly, right?” She covered her eyes with her hands, unable to wash away the traces of crying or escape his gaze, so she simply admitted it.
“No, you look like Ultraman.” He teased.
“Hey, isn’t that ugly?” She protested in embarrassment, momentarily forgetting to continue hiding.
“I know you’re crying because you’ll miss me, so how could I find you ugly?” He held her hand comfortingly.
Don’t worry? How could I not worry? They say long-distance relationships are the hardest to maintain, and we’ve spent so little time together. I’m truly afraid that once we’re apart, all our love will evaporate and disappear…” The tears gathering in her eyes blurred her view of his face. Finally, she could no longer hold back, letting one crystal-clear teardrop after another spill out, covering her cheeks.
“Yi’an, don’t cry. How can I leave if you cry like this?” He tenderly wiped away her tears.
It was the first time he had seen her cry, and her tears were like lava dripping into his heart, causing a burning pain.
He thought that feeling of sharing each other’s sorrows and joys must be more than just liking someone – it must be love!
“I know you must go, and I know I can’t keep you, but… I’m really sad…”
She bashfully lowered her head, tears continuing to fall. “Let me be willful just this once, just let me release my emotions.”
“Your cute little face doesn’t suit a crying expression!” He gently lifted her chin, his cool lips landing like a butterfly on her forehead, her eyes, lightly touching her nose and cheeks, kissing away each precious teardrop with heartache.
Feeling Wei Tianlong’s doting care and soft coaxing, her tears not only didn’t stop but fell even more intensely, and she began to sob.
“I don’t want to cry, but when I think about you leaving, my tears won’t stop!”
He asked sincerely and earnestly: “Tell me what I can do to put your mind at ease? To make you believe I won’t forget you?” He had already said everything that needed to be said and promised, but was there something he had missed?
How to be at ease? Yi’an was at a loss.
Honestly, although her heart was uneasy, she herself didn’t know how to calm her anxiety.
