She Lives without Regret in This Life

Xu Qigang and his wife disappeared for a month.

A whole month without a trace, and no one went looking for them. Little brother started to talk about them every day, but later, Uncle Meng Ping took him everywhere to play, and he soon forgot his real parents.

For Sheng Ning, this month was... sigh... hard to explain.

How bold she was before marriage, and now how timid she has become.

Weren’t her old wounds supposed to recur?

Weren’t the three bullets in her body supposed to be taken out?

Sheng Ning felt she must have hired a quack; the diagnosis must be wrong.

For most of this month, he drove her around all the places they visited before marriage— the supply and marketing cooperatives, the roadside grass they went to during a charity performance by the Song and Dance Troupe, the little forest at the Research Institute Rescue Association, um... and backstage at the grand auditorium.

The most exaggerated incident was when he took her back to Shixi Town for the first time. Over the month, they visited many places, each filled with their shared memories.

The last destination was Jingang Pier, where Sheng Ning fell into the sea.

Xu Qigang’s strong arm held her slender waist tightly. Wearing sunglasses, his eyes were not visible, only his tall nose and tightly pursed thin lips. Sheng Ning leaned half her body against him, feeling the slight trembling of his body clearly.

Jingang Pier became even busier due to the breeze of reform and opening up, with many ships coming and going and many added international routes. Among them was a cruise ship flying the Feng Family flag, anchored at the pier.

Sheng Ning squinted her eyes, gazing at the azure water before her. The once-surging waves gradually calmed due to the strong shoulders of the person beside her. All past hardships were worth it because of him.

She never felt like she had sacrificed much for him, and never felt others owed her anything. This life seemed borrowed, and she constantly lived with gratitude.

Facing him, Sheng Ning voluntarily stretched her arms to tightly embrace his waist. Suddenly, she felt a drop of wetness on her forehead. Looking up, she discovered that sometime earlier, the man in sunglasses had been silently shedding tears.

”Qigang.”

Xu Qigang slightly raised his chin, closed his eyes, and after a long time spoke with a hoarse voice: ”Would you like it if we come here once a year from now on?”

”...Okay.” She already knew everything that happened to him after she fell into the sea, and knew he had once attempted suicide in this sea.

The two of them stood by the sea, tightly embracing each other, listening as their heartbeats calmed from frenzy to tranquility, enjoying the beauty of time’s serenity.

Sheng Ning felt that this embrace was something she could never give up, lifetime after lifetime.

”Qigang, let me tell you a secret!”

Xu Qigang raised his hand and gently stroked her back, his voice low: ”If you don’t want to tell, then don’t. It’s okay.” He always knew there was a secret in her heart, one that no one else could approach.

He wanted to unravel the secret in her heart, but he couldn’t bear to see her panic and helplessness due to her lack of security.

”No, I want to say it.” Sheng Ning raised her head, took off his sunglasses, and looked into his reddened eyes, deliberately speaking in a light tone: ”Do you believe people can experience rebirth?”

”Like your pen name?”

”Yes!” Indeed, he knew everything. ”I am a rebirth. Aren’t you curious about what we were like in the past life?”

Xu Qigang urgently placed his hand on her lips, a flicker of pain passing through his eyes, ”Xiao Ning, don’t speak, I beg you not to speak. I don’t want to know about the past life; I’m afraid I can’t bear the me without you.”

The past life’s ending was too tragic, and he wasn’t the only one unable to handle it.

Sheng Ning lowered her eyes, buried her face in his arms, and softly said: ”Alright!”

”I only need you in this life; I just need you now.”

”Yes!” Indeed! The past life was too illusory, the next life too vague; what she wanted was the present.