Not everyone can accept a suddenly aged partner without reservations, but she had clearly told him that she accepted it.

It was a bit impulsive, but that’s how young people are; when they love, they can do anything for it.

Two days ago, he received a phone call from a young staff member who told him that they had found his wife. For a moment, Jiang Zhonglin thought he must have misheard. He didn’t understand what the person on the other end was saying; the tea cup he was holding fell to the ground, soaking his shoes. He couldn’t help but ask, “Did you just say…?”

The staff member repeated the information. When Jiang Zhonglin heard the words ‘Your wife Yu Yao has returned,’ he couldn’t make out the rest of the conversation and had to ask again. He had never found a single sentence so difficult to understand. He could hear every word but didn’t grasp the meaning.

He had imagined this moment a thousand times, but it never came true. When he had finally given up, it happened suddenly. Wearing wet slippers, he slowly sat down and listened to the voice on the phone.

“…Alright, then please come to pick up Ms. Yu as soon as possible. We will send you an electronic copy of the necessary paperwork…”

After hanging up, he sat in a daze for a while before realizing how cold and wet his feet were. He got up to change his clothes and, passing by a mirror, couldn’t help but stop and look at himself. Seeing the old man in the mirror, Jiang Zhonglin wondered how Yu Yao could possibly accept this gray-haired old man.

He felt the bittersweetness of the phrase “near home, feelings of timidity,” but quickly set out to pick her up.

Before pushing open the service center doors, he thought, what if Yu Yao couldn’t accept him? But then he thought, if she couldn’t accept him, there was nothing he could do; he was already old, what could he do? In that moment, he had prepared himself to accept any choice or reaction Yu Yao might have.

When he opened the door and saw Yu Yao sitting there, he forgot all these thoughts, took her home, and watched her lie on the couch. Since receiving the phone call, his chaotic heart had finally calmed down.

No matter what, Yu Yao was alive and hadn’t suffered any of the hardships he had imagined, which was good.

He had laid to rest a heavy concern that had been with him for forty years.

His ‘heavy concern’ was now out playing a game, the rhythmic sound effects filling the kitchen, lively and engaging.

Without the weight, the phrase ‘heavy concern’ left only ‘concern,’ still lingering in his heart, not letting go.

Jiang Zhonglin washed his hands and took out an onion to cut.

Yu Yao, with her keen sense of smell, detected the smell of onions in the living room. She jumped up, walked quietly to the kitchen door, and peeked inside. She let out a few soft “picipici” sounds and saw Old Jiang turn his head in response, revealing the goggles he was wearing.

Impressive—wearing goggles to cut onions. Yu Yao secretly crumpled a tissue into a ball in her hand, nonchalantly returned to the living room, and made a perfect shot, tossing the tissue into the trash can.

“Am I still sleeping upstairs?” Yu Yao asked during dinner.

“Yes,” Jiang Zhonglin replied, as if he hadn’t quite understood her question.

“…Do people become stubborn old men as they age?” Yu Yao asked, tossing her slipper towards Jiang Zhonglin from under the table.

Jiang Zhonglin glanced at the slipper that had fallen by his feet. The newly bought plush green slipper had flipped over. Swallowing his mouthful of food, he answered good-naturedly, “Yes.”

Yu Yao scooped a big spoonful of onions for the stubborn old man across from her.