Chapter 10.2

Tang Yi sat on the flower bed by the roadside.

Jiang Qiaosheng inserted the straw into the milk carton and handed it to her: “It’s still hot.”

Tang Yi’s eyelashes trembled lightly as she took it and took a sip.

A 250ml bottle of Mengniu pure milk, Tang Yi finished it in ten minutes, there was a trash can by the side of the road, she got up and walked over.

One step.

It was the first encounter that year when she was seventeen.

Two steps.

It was the stretch of road they walked together on that rainy day.

Three steps.

It was that New Year’s greeting.

Four steps.

It was a summer night in her sophomore year of high school.

Five steps.

It was four years of college, where she deceived herself into forgetting.

Six steps.

It was reuniting with him.

Seven steps.

It was at the wedding when he held her hand and said “not hard”.

Eight steps.

It was when she thought he loved her.

Nine steps.

It was the unspoken “Happy Birthday.”

Ten steps.

He really loved her after all.

But it was all too late.

Tang Yi waited for the rain to stop at seventeen, and waited for someone to fall in love with her at twenty-seven.

She finally got what she wanted, but it was already too late.

Tang Yi threw the milk carton in her hand into the trash can, turned around and looked at the figure standing there, and said in a particularly calm voice, “Jiang Qiaosheng, let’s get a divorce.”

Her short sentence completely destroyed Jiang Qiaosheng.

He closed his eyes in pain, his Adam’s apple moving, “Tang Yi, I disagree.”

Feeling uncomfortable, Tang Yi clenched her fist tightly, making her thoughts a little clearer: “Jiang Qiaosheng, I used to think we had a future.”

She started from the age of seventeen, talking about the unrequited love that no one knew about, and the wish to grow old together with him.

She gradually exposed her feelings to him, a belated honesty, and also a farewell to the past.

“Jiang Qiaosheng, we were all wrong.” Tang Yi, with tears streaming down her face, choked out: “I only found out after you graduated that Wen Jing had just transferred to your class in the second semester of your senior year. I had actually known you before her, but I just wasn’t brave enough.”

“On the night of your class’s farewell dinner, I wanted to come see you, but unfortunately, I happened to see you with Wen Jing.”

“I always felt like fate was playing tricks on me, but then when we met again, I felt like heaven was blessing me, only we both weren’t brave enough.”

“So we missed our chance.” Tang Yi cried inconsolably: “Jiang Qiaosheng, we missed our chance from the very beginning.”

As the discomfort in her body grew stronger, Tang Yi saw Jiang Qiaosheng’s panicked expression before she fainted, just like in her dream.

He was calling out her name.

Tang Yi grabbed his arm and said one last thing before losing consciousness.

“I’m allergic to milk.”

Tang Yi woke up in the hospital, with her mother sitting dazedly by the bedside. Seeing her awake, her mother looked up, and her eyes red.

“Mom.” Tang Yi breathed heavily: “I’m sorry.”

At the time of the marriage, Mother Tang had asked Tang Yi whether she was ready to marry Jiang Qiaosheng. At that time, she was full of confidence, thinking she could manage this hard-won marriage well.

However, just like what is said in “The Story of the Stone”, those who are in love will eventually part ways, and those who live together will eventually reunite.

Tang Yi was unwilling to settle, wanting Jiang Qiaosheng’s love, but she was not brave and honest enough. This marriage was gradually worn down by the trivialities of life and the suspicions in the relationship, erasing the initial beauty, and was destined not to last long.

Mother Tang held her daughter’s hand: “Life is so long, there will always be some twists and turns, but no matter what, life must go on, and maybe the first step you take will lead you to a new surprise.”

Tang Yi responded solemnly, and at the same time, the panic that Jiang Qiaosheng had left her with flashed through her mind.

“Mom.”

“Hmm?”

“Where is Jiang Qiaosheng?”

“He’s sitting outside.” Mother Tang said: “He’s been sitting outside since I came, he hasn’t moved at all, should I call him in?”

Tang Yi fell silent for a moment. “Okay.”

Jiang Qiaosheng was still wearing the white shirt from last night, with a gray smudge on his shoulder from an unknown source, his hair disheveled, and his eyes red and swollen.

He looked a complete mess.

He sat down beside Tang Yi’s bed, lowered his head and wiped his face, saying, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.

After three years of marriage, apart from the first year, they rarely had the opportunity to sit down and eat together. Tang Yi was in charge of household shopping, he didn’t like milk, and she never bought any, thinking it was because he didn’t like it.

Jiang Qiaosheng grabbed her hand, his forehead against her palm, his voice choked with suppressed sobs, “Can we not divorce?”

Tang Yi didn’t pull her hand away, the hot tears in her palm, felt like they were burning straight into her heart.

Her nose stung, and seeing him in such a disheveled state didn’t soften her: “After all these years, I’m not even sure if what I feel for you is love or just stubbornness.”

“Perhaps by separating, we can see things more clearly.”

In her calm and indifferent tone, he finally realized that she was truly prepared to leave behind everything from the past.

Even though the new future is filled with many unknowns.

Unfortunately, he didn’t even have the right to say a word of retention.

The day they went to the Civil Affairs Bureau was the new year.

Tang Yi and Jiang Qiaosheng came out from the Civil Affairs Bureau into the bright sunlight.

She looked at him and suddenly said, “Jiang Qiaosheng.”

“Yes?”

“It’s a new year.” Tang Yi looked into the distance: “Let’s both look forward.”

He looked in the same direction as her and replied, “Okay.”

Jiang Qiaosheng to Tang Yi was like a river that flowed through life. You may have walked through the river, but it doesn’t mean you own that river.

Their marriage had hidden traps from the very beginning.

One had loved for many years, the other had only just begun to love.

In this marriage, Tang Yi and Jiang Qiaosheng may both have made mistakes, but there is no right or wrong in love, just that they are not mature enough in this subject of love.

The cold of the winter is spreading.

Jiang Qiaosheng walked along the street and unconsciously walked to the entrance of No. 8 High School, he went in under the pretext of visiting a teacher.

The No. 8 High School was renovated a few years ago, and the dilapidated playground was brand new.

Jiang Qiaosheng walked around the track, the winter sun was dazzling, he looked up, and suddenly remembered that autumn afternoon.

The sunshine was as brilliant and dazzling as today.

He walked to a tent in the corner, looked at the girl lying in the tent, smiled and called out, “Classmate.”

The girl was probably startled, she raised her head angrily, but for some reason she suddenly paused.

Jiang Qiaosheng didn’t notice, and asked her to borrow two bottles of water with a smile.

Later, he thought he had returned them.

But it wasn’t.

Originally, he had owed her from the very beginning.

—

Rushing Towards The Flame

By Sui Jian

The end.

The Author has something to say:

The inspiration for this story came from a comment I saw on Netease Cloud Music while listening to “Mt. Fuji”: “You like a person like you like Mt. Fuji. You can see it, but you can’t move it. What method do you have to move a Mt. Fuji? The answer is, you go there yourself. Love is the same, just strolling by is enough.”

When I saw this passage, the outline of Tang Yi’s story began to take shape in my mind –

She liked a person, saw him liking someone else, but married him many years later.

She had always liked him, while he had only just started to like her.

In this marriage, Tang Yi was too timid and not honest enough due to her deep love, while honesty is the most important thing in a marriage.

Both she and Jiang Qiaosheng made mistakes in this aspect, treating their partner in a way they thought was appropriate, without timely communication. The contradictions fell like snowflakes, gradually accumulating into a snow mountain that could crush them both.

Their story began in autumn and ended in winter, without the warmth of spring or the passion of summer.

It seems the ending was already destined, and the loneliness and desolation of autumn and winter was their final destination.

It’s regrettable, but reality is often full of regrets.

Finally, no matter how the story goes, I hope all the women in their future marriages and lives will never be the compromising party, and I wish your love can have a good ending.

The full text ends here, thank you for reading, and I hope you can give a five-star review.

Finally, thank you to all the little friends who have been supporting and nourishing during the serialization period, you don’t need to spend any more money!

Note: “Those who are in love will eventually part, and those who live together will eventually reunite.” From “The Story of the Stone”.