1211 Lu Huaiyu, This is the Tenth Year I’ve Loved You

Lu Huaiyu’s fair, slender hand held the note so tightly that his knuckles had turned slightly white.

He had once asked her with a smile,”Shen Tangtang, what wish did you make that you couldn’t even tell me about it and hid it so well?”

So this was her wish.

It turned out that this was all she had hoped for.

“My grandmother bought this candy jar for me when I was young.”

The bright afternoon sun reflected off the transparent glass, turning it a gorgeous color.

“At that time, she said that my parents would come back when I finished eating the candy.”

However, they had not.

So from then on, she had never liked to eat candy again.

That glass sugar jar had been left empty for many years.

That was until one day, she had met someone.

He had given her candy and told her, “Little kid, don’t you know pain?”

From then on, the candy jar had been filled with the candy that he gave her.

“It used to contain all of my dreams. Eventually, you became that dream.”

She said softly.

“Lu Huaiyu, it’s true that I only met you twice in my dreams, but… fortunately, I already knew your name was Lu Huaiyu at that time.”

She sat down on the sofa and kicked her feet lightly.

“You’re the second son of the Lu family in the Capital. You attended high school at Capital First High and you went to university at Xijing University.

“You’ve participated in an international equestrian competition in Leland, and you were definitely the champion.

“You spent a year at Fino Laboratory in Bai City.

“You spent more than a year recuperating in Yunzhou and you have a good relationship with Cheng Xiyue.

“Both you and Gu Tinglan got into a car accident on Linchuan Road which caused you to place yourself in seclusion to recuperate for a long time.

“In an interview, you said that you liked the setting sun after the rain the most.”

…

She lowered her head and looked at her toes.

“So I went to Capital First High by myself and saw you at the age of sixteen in the alumni column. I also saw a video of you playing basketball on the school’s official website.

“That’s why I’ve watched the video of the horse-riding competition many times.

“So I changed my first choice of university to Xijing University. Before I was locked up in the sanatorium by Ye Ci, I was still preparing to apply for a place at the Fino Laboratory.

“That’s why when I saw you in Yunzhou and you invited me to the Cheng family’s home to attend Old Master Cheng’s birthday banquet, I agreed so easily.

“That’s why I stopped my data observation that day and headed straight for Linchuan Road after leaving the National Planetarium. It was not until my uncle answered the phone that I headed to his clinic instead.

“So, during the few years when I was still free, I secretly returned to Leland many times. It’s rainy in summer at Leland, and I’ve been caught in the rain many times. It was just like the day I gave you the umbrella and went home in the rain. But you’re right, the setting sun in Leland is indeed beautiful after a heavy rain.”

The air in the room seemed to have frozen, and it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

The corners of her lips curled into a faint smile.

“Fortunately, you’re very famous, whether it was at Capital First High school, Xijing University, Fino Laboratory, or even at the Lu Corporation. Even though you keep a low profile, it’s still possible to see some of the relevant content about you.”

“It was for this reason that I often felt quite lucky. Although I liked a star that was so far away, I could always see it whenever I looked up.”

No one knew that she had relied on that star to survive on those days when just the action of chewing and swallowing would turn her chest into a bloody mess.

Even if she knew it was far away.

“Other than this, you told me the rest of… the information. After you brought me back here, you told me a lot.”

In fact, she had been in a daze most of the time, but she still tried to remember what he had said.

“You said you like Japanese food but that you didn’t like pufferfish sashimi. You said that you liked black coffee the most, but that Mandheling was not bad either. Ilgassi is a little acidic, but it tastes sweet. You said that you hate onions, and you’re very picky when drinking soup.”

This was extremely personal and private content. Of course, it was not something that could be discovered just by looking at an interview or a photo.

The only one who understood Lu Huai’s preferences the most was himself.

“You like to take me to watch movies, but sometimes we would watch a documentary. You said that the remote control was in the left drawer under the small table.

“I stayed in the master bedroom for the longest time. I spent most of my time there. You said that the night light at the head of the bed was very nice.

“However, you were always smoking at that time. Even though you didn’t smoke in front of me, I could still smell it.”

She paused and smiled again.

“Did you know that your beard really hurt me?”

But at that time, she had been unable to open her mouth to say anything, so she was only able to let him do as he wished.

When she said this, she sat up straight and pushed the painting on the coffee table towards him.

“This painting… I actually finished it a long time ago. I didn’t intend to show it to you, but now… It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Lu Huaiyu placed the ball of paper back into the candy jar and took the wrapping off the painting.

The moment he saw the painting, he understood why she said she had not wanted to show it to him.

This was because this was an abstract painting in the style of Ronai, and more importantly… because he was in the painting.

No, to be precise, he could be seen somewhere up there.

It was just a blurry figure sitting by the window. The outline was vaguely visible, but the face was slightly tilted, so the face could not be seen.

Outside the window, the rain was falling and the sky was dark, but there was a star hanging in the night sky.

It was not coffee on the table in front of him, but a cup of fruit juice with a mixture of colors. There was even a dark circle of water at the base of the cup.

There was a mirror on the wall, and the mirror reflected a clock that was moving backward.

His suit pocket seemed to be full, with half a piece of candy sticking out.

…

He looked at the painting for a long time.

It seemed as if all the images had become blurred and all the sounds had been annihilated.

All that was left was a blinding bright light that almost made his eyes ache.

His thin lips moved slightly, and his voice was slightly hoarse.

“So, you already knew that I loved you.”

Long before they met, long before that dream.

“Lu Huaiyu, you’re not the end of my dream.”

He heard her voice. It was so light, yet so heavy. Every word clearly fell on his heart.

“You were everything in that dream.”

It was as if something was pressing down on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.

He finally looked up.

It seemed like a long time had passed, and the sky outside the window was dyed a large warm orange, overlapping with the deepest part of his memory.

It was on an evening like this that he could not break free from his demons and had fallen off the cliff.

It was also on such an evening that he had wandered between life and death, leaving a person’s shadow in his heart.

And now, it was an evening just like that, but she was here.

“If I really lived through that life…

She spoke softly, the light in her eyes flickering before it finally settled.

“Lu Huaiyu.

“This would be the tenth year that I’ve loved you.”