Yang Jun accompanied Yu Yao for a few days before preparing to return. She and her husband had been helping their youngest son with his child, and with them away for these few days, the child had fallen ill, making Yang Jun and her husband anxious. Moreover, Yang Jun had been too excited lately and wasn’t feeling well herself. Her regular doctor wasn’t available here, so Yu Yao insisted that they go back.

Yang Jun, feeling guilty, held Yu Yao’s hand and said, “Once the child is better, we’ll come back to see you and spend more time with you.”

Yu Yao smiled and replied, “No need, you should take care of your health. Don’t overwork yourself. If you miss me, we can video chat. The technology is so advanced that it feels almost like being there. I think that’s good enough.”

Grandma Yang pouted, “Do you dislike me being old?”

Unbelievable, even as a grandmother, she still pouted like a childhood friend Yu Yao once knew. Some say that no matter how old a woman gets, she’s still a child in the eyes of her loved ones, and Yu Yao felt that this applied to close friends as well. Seeing Yang Jun now, she still looked like a spoiled young girl.

Yu Yao didn’t hide her discontent but said, “Of course not. If I don’t dislike Old Jiang, how could I dislike you, Ah Jun?”

Before boarding, Yang Jun reluctantly looked at Yu Yao and said, “If only you could visit my home.”

That wasn’t possible because Yu Yao had a six-month observation period and couldn’t go abroad during that time.

“Okay, once I’m allowed to travel abroad, I’ll come visit you,” Yu Yao said, making Yang Jun a little happier. As she was being ushered away by her husband, she looked back at Yu Yao repeatedly, as if she might never see her again. Yu Yao watched her friend leave and thought that Yang Jun might be remembering the day she disappeared years ago.

Before going out to buy groceries, Yu Yao had received a call from Yang Jun. They had planned to see a newly released movie and go shopping, as they had many times before, but that time she disappeared. During the forty years of her disappearance, besides Jiang Zhonglin, Yang Jun had also endured a lot of pain. Even if she hadn’t thought about Yu Yao all the time, just remembering her would certainly have caused her distress.

It was like a thorn embedded in her heart.

“Wait for me to visit you!” Yu Yao suddenly shouted. She saw Yang Jun jump up and wave vigorously at her, seeming very happy.

For the first time since her crossing, Yu Yao felt a sense of relief. Thankfully, it had only been forty years, and Jiang Zhonglin and Yang Jun were still here. She still had a chance to see them. If the time traveled had been longer, she couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to think that everyone she knew had turned into a pile of regretful soil, never to be seen again.

“We’re going to a place first,” Jiang Zhonglin said as he drove away from the airport.

“Where to?” Yu Yao looked at him suspiciously. He wouldn’t be taking her around to reminisce about their youth like Yang Jun, would he?

As it turned out, Jiang Zhonglin didn’t have such sentimental intentions. He first went to a flower shop and bought white chrysanthemums. Yu Yao understood and fell silent.

He didn’t go to a cemetery but to a monument for martyrs within the city. Since it wasn’t a special day, there weren’t many people around the monument. Yu Yao stood in front of it as Jiang Zhonglin handed her the white chrysanthemums and said, “Your father didn’t have a tombstone; his ashes are buried behind here.”

Yu Yao looked expressionlessly at the large monument, hesitating to place the chrysanthemums.