Chapter 154: Season of Parting

The gentle summer night breeze blew softly.

Jiang Yao sat on a swing in the park, swaying gently as she watched a group of children running and playing, laughing all around.

Unbeknownst when, another person appeared on the adjacent swing, swaying gently beside her.

Jiang Yao turned her head to look at him.

He Yunqing met her gaze and smiled tenderly.

"I am leaving," the man said simply.

Jiang Yao lowered her gaze, continuing to swing in silence. Everything was within her expectations, though it had come a little sooner than she had imagined.

"She is recovering very well," He Yunqing said, gazing into the distance. "There is a new prosthetic technology overseas. They say that with proper adaptation, it can have almost no impact on daily life, though it is best for the person to go in person. I need to accompany her away for a while."

"Mm." Jiang Yao reacted as if she were hearing about a matter entirely unrelated to her. "Then I wish you a safe journey, and I wish her a smooth recovery."

He Yunqing stopped swinging. "Did you go to see Uncle Jin?"

Jiang Yao raised her small chin, feigning an air of absolute indifference. "That's right. Did he tell you everything? You really ought to thank me properly."

He Yunqing nodded. "I am accompanying her abroad in the capacity of her fiancé."

Jiang Yao's hands tightened involuntarily around the ropes of the swing.

She forced a grin. "Ah, of course. As you should."

He Yunqing stared intently at her delicate face, as if trying to read something he desired from her expression.

Yet he found nothing.

She smiled as softly as the evening breeze of this summer night.

The man's gaze darkened slightly. "While I am away, you must take good care of yourself."

Jiang Yao began to sway back and forth once more. "Don't you worry, Cheng Yanchi will take good care of me."

As she swung, she looked like a butterfly on the verge of fluttering away, her light yellow dress fluttering gently in the evening breeze. "We've discussed it. We'll find a suitable date to get married. He Yunqing, don't come back too late, or you'll miss my wedding."

*He Yunqing, don't come back too late.*

She seamlessly wove the words she most wanted to say into a string of seemingly carefree and unburdened remarks, speaking them softly to him.

He Yunqing looked at her in a daze.

He desperately wanted to tell her: *A-Yao, do not marry him.*

Yet now, he no longer possessed the qualification to utter those words.

At least, he thought, everyone was still alive.

His A-Yao would live happily, and it would be enough for him to quietly watch over her happiness from afar.

The man stood up, turned his back to Jiang Yao, leaving her with a dashing silhouette, and tossed out two light words: "Goodbye."

Jiang Yao stopped swinging.

She watched his receding figure in silence, slowly tightening her fists.

If he turned back now, she was terrified she would lose all control and rush into his arms.

But he did not turn.

Jiang Yao lowered her head desolately, biting her lip hard, yet her tears stubbornly fell anyway.

"A-Yao, do not cry; this is a good thing. You know very well that you cannot stay by his side for much longer."

She said this silently to herself.

He Yunqing, having walked some distance away, turned his head and saw Jiang Yao from afar, sitting alone on the swing, her body trembling slightly from crying.

The man stood there quietly, as though he might turn into a statue.

Beside him, a group of playing children ran past.

He called out to the little girl running at the very back.

"Could you do uncle a favor?"

The little girl blinked her innocent, large eyes at him. "What favor?"

He Yunqing drew two candies from his pocket. "One is for you, and the other you can give to the big sister sitting over there, alright?"

The little girl happily agreed, skipping and bounding toward Jiang Yao.

Only then did He Yunqing turn and stride away without looking back.

*A-Yao, life is bitter. May I offer you one last trace of sweetness.*

Jiang Yao did not eat the candy; she clutched it tightly in her palm as she walked home.

Ye Yiyi was already waiting anxiously at the doorway. "Didn't you just say you were going for a walk? Why were you gone for so long? If you hadn't come back soon, I was going to go looking for you."

Jiang Yao waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, goodness, I'm such a grown-up. Do you always have to treat me like a child who can't take care of herself?"

Ye Yiyi pouted.

Jiang Yao's illness was growing steadily worse. She worried constantly that Jiang Yao would suffer a sudden attack while outside with no one to care for her.

When the attacks struck, Jiang Yao's head would ache with excruciating intensity—so agonizing that she would lie in bed tossing and turning, stifling her groans.

Ye Yiyi knew all of this.

Whenever those moments came, she could only hide in solitude and cry, watching the friend she had grown up with suffer such torment while remaining utterly helpless.

She had turned down numerous job offers; right now, the only thing she wanted to do was stay by Jiang Yao's side and protect her.

"A-Yao, let's go on a trip together," Ye Yiyi suggested. "We promised each other when we were little, but we never had the chance all these years."

Jiang Yao understood Ye Yiyi's intentions.

It wasn't that they hadn't had the chance all these years; Ye Yiyi was simply afraid that if they didn't go now, there might never be another chance.

"Alright," Jiang Yao agreed with a smile.

The two of them temporarily set aside all their work and recklessly traveled wherever their hearts desired.

By the time they returned, half a month had passed.

Cheng Yanchi was waiting right outside Jiang Yao's door.

Ye Yiyi glanced at the two of them, then reached out and gave Cheng Yanchi's shoulder a pat. "You two talk first. I'll take the bags inside, and then we can all go out for dinner together."

Having lived through the upheaval in his family, Cheng Yanchi had matured considerably.

He offered Jiang Yao a gentle smile. "Did you have a good trip?"

"I did," Jiang Yao said, reading the expression on Cheng Yanchi's face and knowing he had something to say. "You came here specifically to see me. What is it you want to tell me?"

Cheng Yanchi hesitated for a moment. "An e-sports club overseas is currently looking for a coach, and they recently contacted me."

"Well, that's wonderful news! Why do you look so glum?" Jiang Yao patted Cheng Yanchi's shoulder.

With the bankruptcy of the Cheng family and his mother's frail health, the heavy economic burden of the household had fallen entirely upon Cheng Yanchi's shoulders.

He desperately needed this job—especially since it was intimately tied to the thing he loved most.

"What did I tell you?" Jiang Yao smiled, linking her arm through Cheng Yanchi's. "This is called clearing the clouds to see the moon; everything happens for the best."

"I've been hesitating over whether to accept."

"Of course you should accept! Why wouldn't you?"

Cheng Yanchi opened his mouth as if to speak, but stopped.

Jiang Yao thought for a moment, and realization dawned on her regarding his concerns. "An overseas club—does that mean you have to work abroad?"

Cheng Yanchi nodded. "A two-year contract. It will take at least two years before I can return. I'll be taking my mother with me, but A-Yao... would you be willing to come with..."

"No," Jiang Yao shook her head repeatedly. "I wouldn't be able to get used to life abroad."

*Two years... in two years, I wonder if I will even still be alive...*