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Chapter 23.2 -The so-called Romance is Simply the Absence of a “Afterwards” (2)
“It’s a coincidence, but there’s nothing strange about it.”
“What do you mean?” Sheng Huainan raised an eyebrow, a slight crease forming on his forehead. It looked kind of cute.
“The world is too big. No matter how exceptional, unique, or individual you think you are, or how twisted, dark, or heartless you think you are—you will never be truly alone. Because there’s no such thing as one-of-a-kind in this world.”
And besides, she created the coincidences that erased all his uniqueness.
“That’s a bit of a killjoy,” he lowered his head but smiled in agreement. “Those girls who find their true love and fall for them completely might be angry with you.”
“That’s because the world is too big, and we only occupy a small space and time. So, we don’t know if we’ll meet a ‘true’ soulmate in the distant future, or if the one we meet after being patient for a few more years will be the real one. Even if mistakes are corrected, feelings still end up with the person we stubbornly believed in, and that person becomes the one and only in our life. This special feeling and ‘only him’ are things you’ve created for yourself, and they don’t really have much to do with that otherwise ordinary person.”
“So, it’s only unique because I met him, loved him, and made him the one and only?” He seemed interested.
“Well, it’s enough to meet him. As long as the ending isn’t too tragic, even if nothing comes of it, it’s still better than emptiness.” Luo Zhi lightly added, feeling that the topic had become a bit heavy.
Sheng Huainan narrowed his eyes, looking out the window as if lost in thought, the corners of his lips curling into a smile.
So beautiful, Luo Zhi thought, lowering her head to smile shyly.
“But speaking of strange encounters… When I was little, there was a girl I liked,” Sheng Huainan suddenly changed the subject, looking very pleased, as if he was about to tease her. It was something he rarely did, and it was adorable enough to make her want to pinch his face.
This carefree Sheng Huainan made Luo Zhi wonder if she was seeing a little elementary school boy wearing a white shirt, the only difference being that he had forgotten to wear his red scarf. She suddenly remembered the day Jiang Baili smiled with tears in her eyes and said, “Back then, on the Gobi, you smiled like a pure child.”
Anyone would be moved.
“When you were three, huh? You were quite the little flirt,” she teased.
Sheng Huainan didn’t retort, embarrassedly scratching the back of his head. “I’m serious, I don’t know why I suddenly remembered this, it’s strange.”
After a pause, he looked at her seriously, his gaze a little strange.
“What’s wrong?”
He shrugged and continued,
“When I was little, I used to travel with my parents on business, visiting all sorts of cities. We were always going places—various government offices, even rural areas. Haha, I guess you could say I saw the world,” Sheng Huainan laughed. “But now I can’t really remember much, who I met, or where we went… Childhood memories are always so messy.”
“Oh, me too,” she replied, encouraging him to continue.
“You also traveled with your parents?”
She nodded.
But in reality, compared to his parents’ life of luxury, she and her mother spent most of their time in small villages or on trains, often working through the night. "This all sounds fun, doesn’t it?"
"But I do remember once, in a certain government compound, we a bunch of kids first played children's basketball, then played house. Uh, don't laugh at me, you can think of it as a primitive RPG game, after all, we were only four or five years old. It was like this: my mom asked me to look after a little sister, so I told the boys to call a few girls who were jumping rope on the side to join us—then we started playing house. The little girl always stood quietly by herself, with a mourning band on her left arm, like her father had passed away. But she didn’t look pitiful, her expression seemed like she was thinking about something. I had no choice, so I called her over to join us and told her we were playing. She obediently nodded, so I…”
“You?” She raised an eyebrow, looking at him with interest.
“Don’t look at me like that, as if I did something inappropriate.”
“Whether it's inappropriate or not, I don't know, but your expression looks like you have a guilty conscience.”
“Cut it out!” Sheng Huainan blushed. “I just told her, ‘Alright, now you’re my fourth imperial consort.’”
She paused for two seconds, not bursting out in laughter as he had expected. Instead, she smiled brightly but without making a sound.
“We were playing a palace game,” Sheng Huainan explained, his face turning even redder.
“Ah, the harem, then.” She continued to smile brightly, masking the slight redness in her eyes.
“Then, a girl gave her a piece of calendar paper. You know, those old calendar papers when we were kids, either with landscape pictures or beautiful women on them. Her piece had a woman wearing a white ancient gown. So, she became the fourth consort in the white gown.”
Her smile became even brighter, and Sheng Huainan nervously cleared his throat.
“Then, during the palace coup, according to the plan, everyone was supposed to rise up against me. A few boys were about to drag me to prison, but the girl, maybe not understanding the plot, I guess, had always been very quiet. But suddenly, she calmly said, ‘I want to go with the Emperor.’”
“Ah, such a cliché plot. Did she help you block a knife and die in your arms?”
“Shut up,” Sheng Huainan glared at her, “Right then, the adults called from upstairs, saying it was already five o'clock and we had to go.”
“And then?”
“My mom and dad were still talking to an uncle. They said the girl's mom had taken her and left first. I remember she kept waving at me as she walked away, and I stood at the door watching her until I couldn’t see her anymore. Later, the uncle laughed and asked if I liked that girl and if I wanted to marry her.”
“And then?”
“That was it.”
“Ah, how romantic.”
“Huh?”
“Romantic, because there was no “afterwards”
Luo Zhi looked into his eyes and said seriously.
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