Chapter 10.3 - Final Destination: Next Stop Happiness (3)
Guangxi didn’t go home for three whole days after he requested for a divorce. He only got a carrier service to send over two sets of divorce papers which he had already signed.
No one had any idea where he was. He switched off his hand-phone and he didn’t report to work at his office. It was as if he had disappeared from the surface of Earth.
Even though Mucheng told herself that she had to be strong after she received the divorce papers, she still couldn’t take the blow after all. She became sick right after that.
Xiaole saw his mother lying on the bed and running a temperature. He heard her calling out for his father and he was very worried. He wanted to contact his father but no matter how he called his number, no one picked it up. Then, he suddenly thought of the signal-sending device that his father gave to him.
He found the wristband but he didn’t know how to use it. He meddled with it and accidentally broke the wristband instead.
Oh no! Did he spoil the signal-sending device?
He was on the verge of tears and he held tightly onto the broken wristband. He started to call for his father in the courtyard. “Daddy, Daddy, do you hear me? Xiaole is calling for you. Please come back now! Mummy has fallen sick…”
Perhaps the signal-sending device really worked. Or perhaps it was because the kind Heaven heard and sympathized with Xiaole. But whatever it was, Guangxi really returned home after Xiaole did that.
“Daddy…! You’re back!” Xiaole ran into his father’s arms happily. “My signaling really worked. Mummy didn’t lie to me.”
“Xiaole.” Having wandering around for 3 days had taken the toil on Guangxi’s mental and physical health. He was suddenly energized after seeing his son. “Daddy missed you badly.”
“I missed you too, Daddy! Why didn’t you come home for so many days?”
That was because he was afraid to face the separation if he came home. He couldn’t bear to take the terrible pain of losing both his wife and son at the same time.
Guangxi puckered his lips as he stroked his son’s head. “How have you been then, Xiaole?”
“Not good.” Xiaole shook his head fiercely. He lifted his head and showed his face which was full of tears. “Mummy has fallen sick.”
“Mucheng has fallen sick?” Guangxi was shocked.
“Mummy is running a high temperature.” Xiaole replied,
How did this happen? Guangxi was very worried. He immediately rushed upstairs and back into their bedroom. True enough, he saw his wife sleeping on their bed. She was as pale as a sheet.
“Guangxi, don’t… Please don’t leave me…” She muttered while she was dreaming away. Tears could be seen in Mucheng’s eyes.
“Mummy kept calling for you. She really wanted to see you.” Xiaole’s eyes turned red too
Really? Did she really want to see him? He thought that she would have ran into her lover’s arms happily after receiving the divorce papers from him…
Guangxi was lost. He walked up to the bedside. Mucheng seemed to feel his presence and she stretched out her hand, which he grabbed onto hesitantly.
“Daddy, Mummy will get better, right?” Xiaole asked worriedly.
“Of course she will.” Guangxi used his other hand to hold onto his son’s hand. “Daddy promises you that it’s true.”
“That’s great.” Xiaole was relieved. He then snuggled into his father’s arms. It was then he realised that he was still holding on to the spoilt wristband. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I have something that I want to tell you and I hope that you will forgive me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This.” Xiaole said as he unveiled the wristband that was broken into two. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I spoilt the signal sending device that you gave to me.”
“I see.” Guangxi smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll get you another one.”
“Nope! This is the first gift that I got from you, Daddy. We can’t just let the matter rest like this.” Xiaole was troubled.
“Alright then. Let me see if I can repair it.” In order to stop his son from crying, Guangxi took the wristband from him to check if he could repair it. But he found a memory card unexpectedly in the wristband. “What is this?”
He took out the memory card and the secret from 6 years ago unveiled…
Mucheng saw a cosy and warm sight when she woke up. The man she loved was hugging onto their son who she adored dearly and the two of them feel asleep by her side.
Both the father and son wore smiles on their faces. It seemed like they were having a happy dream.
She gazed at the two of them and she suddenly felt a surge of emotions in her. She didn’t want to cry but her eyes just brimmed with tears.
Guangxi was suddenly jolted out of sleep and he placed his hand on Mucheng’s forehead after seeing that she was awake. “Your temperature has gone down.”
She felt warmth from his expression and that shook her to the core.
“Hold on for a moment.” He smiled and carried Xiaole back to his room. He was holding onto a piece of document when he was back.
It was the divorce papers!
Mucheng was shocked and she felt cold. “Do you still insist that… we get a divorce?”
“Don’t you want that?” He answered her question with another question
She gazed at him, lost and confused. After struggling for some time, she finally decided it was time for him to know her true feelings. “Yes, I don’t want that, Guangxi. I don’t want… to divorce you.”
“Why not?”
“That’s because you’re the one… I love.” Mucheng clutched on tightly onto her blanket and tried to hide her sorrowful expression from him. “Even if you hate and want me to leave, I still want to tell you that… you’re the one I love no matter if it was then or now.” She was choked with emotions and was struggling to confess to him. “It was my fault 6 years ago. I thought that my decision was the best for you. I really want you to be happy but I didn’t know that things would turn out to be like this. I’ve hurt you deeply, right? I’m really sorry, Guangxi, I really am. Please don’t hate me, okay?”
She kept apologizing to him. He knew that she was really upset.
“That’s enough.” He stopped her gently. He then sat down on the side of the bed and used his thumb to wipe away the tears on her face. “Do you know where I’ve been to these few days?”
“Where did you go then?”
“I went to Shengde University. I also visited the places that we’ve been to together. I even went to Huatian Village to take a look at those flowers that you took pains to grow.” He paused and gazed at her. “Mucheng, the truth is; I can’t bear for you to leave me too.”
Mucheng was stunned for a moment. “Then why…”
“I thought that you don’t love me at all.” Guangxi smiled bitterly as he explained to Mucheng. “Do you know that I was waiting outside of our room on the night we got married? I was hoping that you’d come out to look for me but you didn’t. I was very angry and I felt that you didn’t care for me at all.”
Was he hoping for her to care for him? Mucheng gazed at her husband and looked deep into his eyes. Then, slowly, she saw his feelings for her there. She then realised that she must have hurt him badly that night.
“It really hurts here.” Guangxi pointed to his chest. “That was why I was always home late and my attitude to you was always cold.”
Mucheng’s heart ached. “I’m sorry.” Why did she always have to hurt him?
“This is how I have always been. You should know very clearly too. The more I cared for something, the more indifferent I will pretend to be.” He mocked. “It’s exactly the same as it was 6 years ago.”
6 years ago? Mucheng blinked her eyes in uncertainty.
Guangxi was a little embarrassed and he stood up with his back facing her. “6 years ago, I pushed you away. But it wasn’t because of Yiqian; it was because I knew that I was suffering from brain cancer and I heard that the chances of survival aren’t high. I didn’t want to trouble you then.”
Mucheng was shocked. She stood up too and said, “But Mum said that you dated Yiqian for the sake of Shengde Hall.”
“I knew that she’d say that to you.” Guangxi turned around and sighed. “I’ve never considered about dating Yiqian. All I know is you’re all I want.”
That means that she had misunderstood him. She thought that he was having a difficult time then because of Shengde Hall. But the real truth was; he had to let go of her because of brain cancer. “You left then because you felt that it would be good for me, right?” Guangxi asked obscurely.
Mucheng was stunned for a moment and she felt a surge of emotions. She stretched her hand out and covered her mouth so as to stop her urge to cry.
Her assumption actually caused them to be separated. She wasn’t by his side when he really needed her to be there.
“I’m sorry, Guangxi. I’m really… very sorry.” Tears flowed as Mucheng apologised.
Guangxi raised his hand and used his fingers to wipe away her tears. “I was at fault too. I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark about my condition then.”
She was even more depressed when she saw that he was so gentle to her. She cried while lying in his arms.
“Were you serious just now when you said that you love me?” Guangxi lifted Mucheng’s face and asked her hoarsely.
“Yes.” She replied honestly.
“Me too.” He smiled softly at her. His smile was full of emotions. “I fell in love with you again before I regained my memory.”
“Really?” She couldn’t believe it.
“Yes! I’ve really been tortured badly by you during this period of time. You actually thought that I married you so that I can take revenge on you. I was so mad when I knew about that.” Guangxi said as he pinched the tip of her nose slightly.
She smiled with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s all because I’ve been too petty about things.”
“Promise me something then since you know that you’re at fault.”
“What is it?”
“Go on a date with me tomorrow.”
***
The first thing they did for their date was actually to take a bus ride.
Mucheng was shocked. She hesitated before boarding the bus. Both of them sat in the last row of seats.
“Why are we doing this?”
“Why are you still asking me that question?” He smiled as he looked at her. “Isn’t this your wish?”
“What?” She was stunned for a moment.
He took a memory card out from his pocket. He then started to wave it in front of her. “It seems like there’s a certain woman who has made used of this to confess her feelings for me.”
“What? You found out about it?” She blushed and wanted to snatch the memory card from his hands.
He allowed for her to snatch it from his hands. He then took out his hand-phone. “It’s okay. I’ve already saved everything that’s important here.”
“What?” Mucheng’s face turned redder. She was thinking if she should snatch his hand-phone from him too.
“It seems like a certain someone is really in love with me. She took so many photos of me secretly.” Guangxi teased as he raised his hand-phone and chose a photo. “Look, she even took a photo of me when I was sleeping. I bet she looked at me for a long time and was definitely drooling away while she took this photo.”
“What are you talking about?” Mucheng protested. “I didn’t drool.”
“Are you admitting now that you did look at me for a long time then?” He chided.
“I…” She was stumped.
“That’s no surprise at all.” Guangxi pretended to fling his hair. “I’m so handsome and charismatic. It’s hard for women not to fall for me.”
“You…” She was angry at his comment. “You’re really thick-skinned.”
“Thick-skinned, you say? Do you want me to say things that are more embarrassing than this for the pleasure of all the passengers on the bus?” Guangxi continued to tease her.
She breathed deeply when she heard that. She knew that by hook or by crook, she’d have to snatch his hand-phone from him. “Give that to me! Don’t you dare create a mess, okay?”
He chuckled and they started to fight with each other like children. They were so rowdy that the other passengers couldn’t stand the noise and gave them stares.
In the end, Mucheng was tired. She had no choice but to admit defeat. She closed her eyes so that she’d not have to look at the complacent smile on her husband’s face.
Suddenly, an earphone was stuffed into her left ear. She then heard crystal like sounds.
It was “Air on The G-String”. She felt her heart quiver after she recognized that it was the very recording she made years ago.
After the piece ended, she heard her own voice making her confession shyly---
“I like you, Ren Guangxi, I really like you…
I like your stubborn streak. I like your proudness. I like the air of arrogance and confidence that surrounds you when you’re playing ice hockey. I like it when you’re reading your law texts for me seriously. I like it when you always don’t mean what you say; you’re always doing things for me and yet you’d always pretend that you’re indifferent.
I also like the childish look on your face when you’re asleep.
If life is to be a bus ride journey, I hope that my final destination will be you. But I don’t think that is possible because you have greater dreams to fulfill. I can never match up to that.
But it is alright. I have no regrets even though I can only take the bus ride with you for a short while. That’s because I’ve managed to see the most beautiful scenery at your stop.
Thank you, Ren Guangxi.
I love you even though your happiness isn’t at my stop.”
This was the very confession she recorded then.
Mucheng felt mixed emotions as she heard the recording. It felt like she had returned in time and experienced the taste of teenage love.
There was silence for a few seconds before she heard another warm and low voice---
“Liang Mucheng, I like you too.
I like it that you have a strong will. I like it that you’re very understanding. I like your expression while you play the piano. I like the fierce look on your face when you try to lecture me about things. I like it that you say that you should be protecting me too.
I also like it that you’re always so shy when we kiss.
Thank you, Liang Mucheng.
I love you. My happiness is at your stop.”
THE END
--- Support our hard work! Donate to help us maintain the website! Thank you! <3 ---
