His fingertip made a small dent in the baby’s cheek, and the steward laughed happily. His laughter grew softer and soon stopped. Yue Linze, watching the baby, froze for a moment, then bit his lip hard, his face turning purple as he held back tears.
They never told Niannian about the steward’s passing. After her confinement, she found out and wept bitterly at the steward’s grave, but life had to go on. The immense sadness could only be lessened with time.
But time doesn’t always heal; one morning, Yue Linze saw a strand of white hair at his temple in the bronze mirror and suddenly felt that the wish to grow old together wasn’t so good after all.
Tao Yu was also worried. Niannian had grown up, and Niannian’s child would grow up too, but she still looked the same, standing out in the crowd. If others saw her as a monster, it would surely cause trouble.
For this reason, Yue Linze decided they should move away.
After a long time, Tao Yu said: “I seem… unable to grow old with you.”
Yue Linze’s smile suddenly froze: “What do you mean by that?”
“…I just, just remembered today that I won’t age,” Tao Yu said more smoothly after this sentence, “Do you understand? I’m not bound by time, I won’t age, I won’t grow white hair like normal people, so I can’t grow old together…”
She stopped halfway through her sentence, staring blankly at Yue Linze. After a long silence, Yue Linze suddenly laughed: “So you mean, my wife will always stay young and beautiful, always so vibrant by my side?”
“…I guess so.” Tao Yu was somewhat uneasy, unsure if he could accept this.
Yue Linze couldn’t help but hug her waist, pulling her into his arms: “How wonderful, how wonderful, you won’t age, won’t have to suffer the decline, I’m so grateful… But you won’t despise me, right? If one day I grow old and ugly, will you leave me?”
“Of course not,” Tao Yu broke free from his embrace, declaring firmly, “I love you, willing to love you for a lifetime, whether you’re ugly or old, you’re still you, and I will love you together.”
Yue Linze listened to her with a smile, not feeling sad in his heart, only thinking that if she could be spared from illness, it would be a good thing.They discussed it and went to the neighboring town, where they lived for over ten years. Whenever others were about to become suspicious, they would move to the next town.
After decades of wandering, Yue Linze’s hair had completely turned white, and his once upright body was now hunched. The wrinkles on his face had completely covered his originally handsome features. To be able to stay in one place longer, they began to hide their marital relationship, telling others they were grandfather and granddaughter, and later great-grandfather and great-granddaughter.
Occasionally, when someone took a fancy to Tao Yu and came to propose marriage, Yue Linze would smile and look at Tao Yu, while Tao Yu was responsible for driving them away.
“Are you resentful of me? Resentful that I’ve wasted so much of your time?” Yue Linze would often ask.
At this point, Tao Yu would give him a white eye: “Try not being wasted by you, and I’ll beat you to death.”
Only then would Yue Linze feel at ease.
Gradually, he began to enjoy basking in the sun like a housekeeper, sitting at the doorway talking about the past, mostly apologizing to Tao Yu for shooting her back then. Whenever this happened, Tao Yu would touch his face and tell him it was okay.
One day after lunch, Yue Linze tried to stand up from his chair but suddenly realized he had no sensation in his lower body. He stared blankly at Tao Yu, unable to speak for a long time.
Yue Linze was paralyzed, and given his age, recovery was virtually impossible.
He heard this news on a winter night when heavy snow was falling outside. After Tao Yu saw the doctor out, he calmly retrieved something he had kept for decades from under the bed, and by the time Tao Yu returned, it was already hidden in his embrace.
“Don’t be afraid, you’ll definitely get better. Even if not, I’ll take care of you,” Tao Yu said with a smile, her eyes still pure with the love of a young girl, as if no matter what he went through, she would love him as she did at first.
Yue Linze stared at her for a long moment before slowly saying, “I want to go out and see the snow.”
“Okay, I’ll take you,” Tao Yu replied. She was afraid he would feel sad, so she was willing to comply with any request. She lifted Yue Linze onto the wheelchair, something she could never have done before, but now did easily.
After covering him with a thick cotton blanket, she pushed him out.
Large snowflakes were falling outside, and the street was empty. Tao Yu pushed Yue Linze around the courtyard, telling jokes to cheer him up.
Yue Linze listened silently for a long time before hoarsely saying, “Stop.”
Tao Yu immediately stopped, and when she saw Yue Linze reaching out to her, she quickly grabbed his hand and brought it to the front, crouching down and looking up: “What’s wrong?”
“Do you… do you remember the two things I most wanted, from many years ago?” Yue Linze asked with a light laugh, his wrinkles moving with his expression.
Tao Yu also laughed: “I remember. One was for us to grow old together, and the other you never told me about.”
“Now, we’ve grown old together, haven’t we?” Yue Linze touched her snow-covered hair, his eyes filled with the deepest tenderness.
Tao Yu was stunned for a moment, then lowered her eyes and smiled: “Yes, we’ve grown old together. So can you tell me what your second wish was?”
“Actually, the second one, I wanted it when I first shot you. At the time, I had too many concerns. When I realized those concerns were unfounded, you had already returned. So I temporarily put this wish in my heart, wanting to fulfill the first one before doing this,” Yue Linze recalled the past, smiling like an ordinary old man.
Tao Yu brushed the snow off his shoulder and asked, “What wish is so mysterious?”
“…Before telling you the wish, I want to tell you a secret,” Yue Linze looked at her sheepishly.
Tao Yu, rarely seeing him look so youthful, raised an eyebrow: “What secret?”
“Actually, the day I tried to hang myself, I calculated that you would soften and do so, otherwise, how could a rope appear out of thin air?” Yue Linze winked at her.
Tao Yu was stunned, then laughed after a while: “Should I praise you for being clever?”
“Don’t scold me is good enough. I have no face to be praised. I’ve already wronged you, and now I’m scheming against you, it’s just…” Yue Linze spoke more and more dejectedly, his thin, wrinkled face full of guilt.
Tao Yu patted his head: “Alright, that’s all in the past. Now tell me your wish. What is your second wish?”
Yue Linze was silent for a moment, then laughed: “First make me a snowball, and I’ll tell you. Make it from an untouched area where the snow is clean.”
“You’re quite picky,” Tao Yu rolled her eyes but still went to make a snowball as he said.
The snow was icy cold. Tao Yu shivered when she touched it, then began to gather and knead it. After kneading for a moment, she heard a mechanical sound behind her. She froze and instinctively turned back, seeing Yue Linze pointing a gun at his own temple, his hand trembling.
“What are you doing!” Tao Yu jumped up, wanting to rush forward but was stopped by him. Afraid he might shoot, she didn’t move.
Yue Linze smiled: “I decided many years ago to avenge you, but I couldn’t bear to say goodbye to you. I kept dragging it out, wanting to wait until we grew old before taking action. As I got older, my love for you never diminished. I kept procrastinating until now. If I don’t act soon, I’ll owe you even more.”
“Put the gun down! I’ve already forgiven you. What are you doing?!” Tao Yu said with a trembling voice, her eyes full of pleading.
