Chapter 85: The Story of Shen Xing (Part 2)

Shen Xing and Guan Rui can’t say who liked each other first. It wasn’t a passionate love at first sight, but a warm and gentle love that was hidden in the years and touched the heart.

At the age of 18, Guan Rui was admitted to a university in the north. He was leaving his hometown, and on the day before he left, he asked Shen Xing out. The two walked down a familiar alley, but because they were both preoccupied with their own thoughts, they didn’t speak for a while.

Eventually, they came to the roof of an old bungalow. Guan Rui’s home used to be here. Guan Rui once told Shen Xing that when he was in a bad mood, he would come to the roof to look at the sky and the distance. After they met, he often brought Shen Xing here.

They were pure, and all the stories that happened on this roof were about how Guan Rui encouraged Shen Xing to face the sadness and grief of the orphanage.

On this day, were both of them in a bad mood? They both chose to come to this rooftop on the day before they were to part.

For the first time, Guan Rui bought some snacks and two bottles of beer before going up to the roof.

“This is to celebrate my admission to university, and also your admission to high school,” said Guan Rui, opening the beer and handing Shen Xing a bottle.

Shen Xing took a sip of the beer, her first drink. The foamy, bitter liquid slid down her throat and into her stomach, and even her heart followed suit, feeling strange and intoxicating.

Shen Xing said, “Let’s celebrate your college entrance. I’m not going to high school. The orphanage will only support us until we are 16 years old. I will go to a teacher training school. There are no tuition fees (previously, there were no tuition fees for junior colleges), and there are subsidies. After graduation, I will be assigned a job. I have already thought about this…”

The children in the orphanage are precocious and heartbreaking. Shen Xing is even more precocious than them. She has been planning her future step by step for a long time.

She knew very well that in the orphanage, there was no choice about the future. Her excellent grades were only to help her get into the cheapest school.

At that time, it was much harder to get into a technical school than a high school.

“It’s only three years,” Guan Rui said, taking a big drink of wine and suddenly seriously saying to Shen Xing, “The tuition for high school is not high, and you are so frugal that you don’t need much for living expenses! Let me support you to go to high school. Don’t give up college. You have such good grades.”

“No, how can you afford it?” Shen Xing was moved, but she still refused. After a few years, she trusted that Guan Rui was sincere at the moment, but she was a person who did not feel secure. She would hold on to the principle of not betraying her feelings, but she thought that people in this world were fickle.

She would remember Guan Rui’s kindness, but she was afraid to put her future in Guan Rui’s hands.

Facing Shen Xing’s refusal, Guan Rui was very excited. He told Shen Xing loudly, “It’s possible. College students receive monthly subsidies from the school, and there are many ways to make money. Together with my own living expenses, it’s possible to save a little.”

“No…” Shen Xing still wanted to refuse.

But at this moment, Guan Rui had already drunk half a bottle of beer. He was a little excited and couldn’t help himself. He stepped forward and put his hands on Shen Xing’s shoulders. His face was a little red and his voice was a little trembling. He said to Shen Xing, “Don’t reject me. I just want to be with you forever in the future. From now on, I have grown up. My father once told me that men have the responsibility to protect women and support a family. I just… I have already thought of you… as my family in my heart. I… want to start now…”

Guan Rui stopped talking. His hand on Shen Xing’s shoulder was trembling slightly. This was the first time he had made such an “intimate” move on Shen Xing, and it was also a confession that he didn’t even like half of.

Shen Xing wrote in her diary that this was not the same as her confession of love for him, but the most beautiful confession she had ever heard in her life. On that night, his eyes were so clear and sincere.

They had always liked each other, but because they were young, they had never said anything about it. Love always touches the heart, and even Shen Xing, who had a thick wall of emotions, could not refuse. At that moment, she lowered her head and whispered a single word: “Okay.”

The significance behind this word is enormous, because it represents Shen Xing’s decision to place her fate in Guan Rui’s hands.

Guan Rui was very excited to get this word of “good.” He understood that this was also Shen Xing’s promise to be with him. He finally couldn’t help but give Shen Xing a light hug, and soon let go. This was their love at that time, and it was also the first time they were so intimate.

That year, Guan Rui was 18 and Shen Xing was 15. That year was 1988.

In the following years, Shen Xing resolutely chose to go to high school. She was warned by the orphanage that they could not afford to pay for her high school tuition because there were too many children in the orphanage and their funding was limited.

Shen Xing talked to the people at the orphanage, saying that she would not let the orphanage pay a penny for her studies or her living expenses, and that she would even help the orphanage with chores in exchange for a place to live.

Those were years of mutual dependence and support. Although Shen Xing and Guan Rui were just two children in a certain sense, they were worthy of those two words.

At the same time, it was also a period of bitterness, but full of the melody of struggle.

During that period, Shen Xing had to deal with high school courses and a large amount of chores every day. She saved her life to the extreme, so that the girl in her prime was actually pale and thin, looking somewhat malnourished.

She didn’t feel bitter because under Guan Rui’s ‘responsibility’, she had so much hope for her future, and she could even go to college. She also had her own happiness, such as when she received a letter from Guan Rui and when she wrote to him.

Guan Rui would send money to Shen Xing every month, from the first month he went to school to the three years Shen Xing spent in high school, without ever missing a payment. He always told Shen Xing not to be too hard on herself, to eat well so she would have the strength to study, and he said that he could make money.

Shen Xing remained thrifty. She didn’t want to become a burden to Guan Rui in college. She wanted to use the money she saved to pay for college. She didn’t want to owe the university anything. She could owe Guan Rui, because she had decided to spend her whole life repaying Guan Rui for his kindness.

In three years, Shen Xing had not seen Guan Rui once, because Guan Rui was busy during the winter and summer vacations. He had to make money and he had no time to go home.

The only bridge between them was the letters. By the time Shen Xing finished her college entrance exam, the pile of letters had accumulated to 900, almost one every two days, and sometimes even two a day.

Shen Xing kept all these letters, but when she was cleaning out her things, I burned them. Shen Xing had said that everything should be burned, except for this diary.

In fact, I understand the reason for keeping this diary very well. It was an explanation for Chengxin.

The story continues. After the summer vacation when Shen Xing finished her college entrance exam, Guan Rui finally returned. He did not tell Shen Xing anything about his parents’ reproaches for not coming home. He was worried about Shen Xing’s college entrance exam results.

But the first thing they said to each other when they met was the same.

“You’ve lost weight.”

“You’ve lost weight.”

After that, they both laughed. Yes, they had both lost weight. Guan Rui had become darker and thinner than before he went to university.

Shen Xing, on the other hand, had become yellow and thin because she had not been eating well, and even her hair looked a bit dry.

But in each other’s eyes, they were still the most beautiful people!

The rest of the story is sweet. Shen Xing got into the same city as Guan Rui, and the same university as Guan Rui. Guan Rui was in his last year of university, had taken on less responsibility, and had been accepted into graduate school.

University life was still hard, but it was not as hard as those past years. However, after the years passed, those three years were the most precious memories in their lives, shining brightly and firmly establishing the most unbreakable foundation for their relationship.

Then there was some trivial life, they both graduated, they both returned to their hometown, they both did well in their jobs, and Guan Rui’s parents also liked the introverted, persevering Shen Xing. They got engaged, and they were getting married…

At this point, I was reluctant to continue reading because I already knew how cruel the ending would be, but I sighed and continued reading anyway.

In the year that Shen Xing and Guan Rui were getting married, in 1997, Guan Rui fell ill with an incurable disease 鈥� late-stage lymphoma.

In Guan Rui’s final days, it was Shen Xing’s unwavering companionship, dedicated care, and tireless search for a cure that kept him going.

But all of this, no matter how sincere or precious, could not save Guan Rui’s life. Just one month before their wedding in October, Guan Rui passed away.

On that day, Shen Xing’s tears fell silently. She just said to Guan Rui, “You wait one more month, and I can marry you.”