The Twenty-third Song – 《With Love》

The next day, before dawn, we ran to the top of the sentry tower, panting and waiting for the sunrise.

The sunrise on Yangji Island was rose-colored. From afar, it looked like a garden of paradise at the end of the world. I hummed the melody of La Vie En Rose and held onto the railing, letting my upper body extend as far as possible to merge with the sea breeze and the morning light.

I could feel Lu Chengze looking at me.

He often looked at me like this, as if I was his view.

I looked back at him: “Please, give nature a little respect.”
Lu Chengze tucked my hair around my ears and said casually: “You are more beautiful than the sunrise.”
I said: “But the sunrise at this moment only exists once in a lifetime.”
He said: “But the you in this moment also only exists once in a lifetime.”

Lu Chengze’s eyes were sincere and bright, comparable to a magic mirror, in which I could be Snow White or the Evil Queen. Having spent time in such eyes, who would want to be mortal again.

So quite suddenly, I asked a cheap question: “Lu Chengze.”
Him: “Hmm.”
I said: “Do you love me?”
Lu Chengze’s eyes were slightly surprised, as if he couldn’t believe that I would ask this, and he said: “Of course.”

I began to add more to it: “Will you always love me?”
He asked: “What’s your definition of always?”
I shook my head, unclear myself: “I don’t know.”

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Ebyv oyp yzoyup, vbl pwx sq lhlau eyu clqsal zshl ekpyrrlyale, sa oyp kv vawzu qsalhla? Rv oyp elyvb vbyv oswze plryayvl wp.

R zywtble obkzl pvkzz oydvkdt vs nau y zkvvzl, clnywpl sq vbl nkanwxpvydnlp sq vbkp xsxldv, clnywpl sq vbl rlsrzl, clnywpl kv oyp kxrsppkczl vs kxytkdl vbyv R oswze lhldvwyzzu zlyhl bkx. Oprlnkyzzu, vbl tayde ldekdt sq lhlau alzyvksdpbkr kd vbl osaze oyp dsdl svbla vbyd pyukdt tssecul.

R oyp pwal Nw Ubldtgl pyo xu lulp aleeld, qszzsokdt obknb bl clnyxl dlahswp yde lmrzykdle iwknjzu: “R pbswzed’v byhl ypjle vbyv.”
Tl kxxlekyvlzu nbydtle bkp ydpola: “R okzz yzoyup zshl usw.”

Wasx bkp qynl vs bkp vsdl, bkp plakswpdlpp oyp wdxyvnble.

R zshle vbl oyu bkp lxsvksdp olal pbyjld cu xl, yde R oyp yzoyup xsal nsdhkdnle vbyv R oyp zshle yv pwnb vkxlp.

R pvyale yv bkx: “R alye y pyukdt vbyv zshl kp dsv nsdpvydv, cwv y vkdu qzllvkdt xsxldv vbyv alpsdyvlp.”
Nw Ubldtgl vbld ypjle, “Rp vbyv uswa hklo sq zshl?”
R vbswtbv ycswv kv yde dseele.
Nw Ubldtgl zywtble y zkvvzl, yde vbl obkvl yka bl lmbyzle rypple kdvs vbl okde: “Mbld R xktbv cl xsal kelyzkpvkn.”
R bwxxle: “Ebyv es usw vbkdj?”
Nw Ubldtgl pyke, “Nshl kp y pwrlapvkvksd sq vkxl yde rzynl.”
R yzps zywtble: “Mbkp kp y zuakn, aktbv?”
Nw Ubldtgl: “Zlp.”
R nsxxldvle: “Zswa wdelapvydekdt sq zshl kp lhld xsal ycpvaynv vbyd xkdl.”

“Nshl kp ycpvaynv wdvkz usw xllv y vydtkczl rlapsd,” Nw Ubldtgl oyp iwklv qsa y plnsde yde nyzzle xu dyxl: “Ck Ykys, esd’v usw byhl vbkp qllzkdt?”
R xlv bkp tygl: “Ebyv qllzkdt?”
Tl pyke, “El yal elpvkdle vs cl vstlvbla. Rq R esd’v zshl usw, R oswze cl elqukdt vbl okzz sq Qse.”
Xwa alzyvksdpbkr oyp elpnakcle cu bkx zkjl psxl jkde sq rskpsdswp syvb, yde zkjl y prlzz vbyv oswze vyjl y zkqlvkxl vs calyj. R nwazle xu zkrp, “Qse eke dsv saeykd vbyv usw pbswze yzoyup zshl xl. G rlapsd’p clzklqp nyd nbydtl, pwnb yp psxlsdl obs kp yd yvblkpv qsa vbl qkapv byzq sq vblka zkql cwv nyd’v blzr cwv nyahl pnakrvwalp sd vblka vsxcpvsdl qsa vbl plnsde byzq.”

Nw Ubldtgl’p zkrp olal pzktbvzu rwaple, cwv bl eke dsv prlyj ytykd, yp kq kd vbswtbv.

I turned my head back to the sea. On the horizon, the sun looked like an egg yolk, squeezed out by the pale white water in the end.

It was getting lighter.

There were more people on the coast below, two children running and playing, kicking up sand like flakes of snow.

As I walked down the tower holding Lu Chengze’s arm, he finally spoke to me: “Have you thought about one thing?”
I asked, “What?”
Lu Chengze said, “Marrying Lu Chengze.”
I was stunned and made a wary face: “You’re not going to pull out the ring next, are you?”
Lu Chengze smiled faintly: “No, I’m just curious.”
I said truthfully: ” At the moment, I have not thought about this. Although we were joking like that last night, it’s too early for marriage, and I don’t want to hijack and set our relationship so early, as if we are in love for the sake of something.”

I stared at him closely as I answered, smoothly converting his question into a way for me to probe his thoughts.
I’ve always had little interest in marriage, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t anticipate Lu Chengze seeing me as the only option in his heart.

Although Lu Chengze’s answer was not in line with mine, it made me happy. He said, “I thought about it. On the way back from our second meeting.”

“The second meeting……” I confirmed the timing, “You mean what I considered to be the first meeting? The time we had coffee?”

Lu Chengze then nodded.

“No way.” I was surprised.

His bangs ruffled in the wind and he smiled beautifully as always: “I pictured a lot of scenes about us, VCR-like, like the montage at the end of 《La La Land》.”

I summed it up: “Is it the kind of thing…… where you live out your life with each other in your head?”

“Probably?” He didn’t seem sure: “I kept looking out the window, my mind was running wild, and then I saw the bookstore and got off halfway through.”

I added down the line: “And then you bought the book.”
He said: “Well, I thought to myself, I’m going to have a conversation with you again, I’m so awesome.”

How could he be so cute? Why do I ask these boring questions? Craving for those flimsy promises? Constantly begging for verbal proof of whether or not he loved me, how long he would love me, when he clearly loved me like this, the best kind of progress.

I couldn’t stop laughing: “So, have you read it?”
Lu Chengze turned his face: “Read it.”
“Did you finish reading it?”
“Yeah.”

“Oh my god you really watched it,” I hit my forehead, angry at myself, “and I didn’t play Grounded.”
He looked at me with downcast eyes, completely unimpressed: “You’re right not to play it, there’s a lot of spiders in there and it’s easy to have nightmares if you do.”

I felt guilty: “Are you disappointed? I have not thought about marriage. As I told you that night, I don’t think we are in love.”
Lu Chengze then said, “I’m not.”
I said: “Tell the truth.”
Lu Chengze said: “It’s the truth.”
I immediately believed him and stopped doubting.
……

On the way back to Yicheng, the sea and sky were on either side, and there was also a colorful cascade of rooftops, as if we were driving through a scene in a movie.

Lu Cheng then played a song on loop in the car, 《With Love》, which he said was his answer and his definition of love.
I laughed at the lyrics that ran through the screen: ” You looked for a song all night, didn’t you?”
He raised an eyebrow in surprise: “How did you know? I obviously waited for you to fall asleep before I started looking.”
I said: “I can telepathically communicate with you even after I fall asleep.”

While waiting for the red light, his eyes strayed to me and he cleared his throat: “Ahem, question.”
I looked straight ahead with my hands on my legs, as if I were an interviewer: “Ask.”
Lu Chengze then asked, “Have you seen the Before Trilogy?”
I said, “Yes, I have. But only the first one.”
He asked again, “Do you think they met after six months?”

I had searched for spoilers and reviews, so I knew, but I pretended not to know: “I don’t think so, romantic films always create some overlooked appointments and missed opportunities to add drama.”
Lu Chengze, on the other hand, said, “Yes, they only reunited nine years later, and that’s how they had the second part of the content.”
“Ah ……” I put on a surprised and regretful reaction, “So long apart? What happened later?”
Lu Chengze then said, “The third movie takes place after another nine years, and they had twin daughters.”
I laughed: “Really, it’s totally unexpected, I always thought the first part was the most beautiful, their separation and agreement at the end were very romantic.”
Lu Chengze looked at me, his eyes darkened: “But people who have suffered the pain of separation will cherish it more.”
I stopped saying anything, knowing what he was alluding to.

“Qi Miao,” he suddenly called me as the green light counted down. His eyes also lit up, and in this second, he looked like a little boy, asking questions despite knowing the answer, full of expectation and sincerity: “When we get back, let’s watch the third part together?”

“Sure.” In the car full of music, I did not hesitate, gladly agreeing.

　　—

　　“Do I ever dare to love again monogamy
　　Cutting deep in my mind stress on my chest
　　Our checkmates are slowly sly to ’em confide to ’em

　　Girl I’m talking ’bout you put two and two together that\’s forever with you
　　Do the math don’t laugh and count it
　　The solution is our future we are nothing without it
　　I said do the math hold my hand and count it
　　The solution is our future we are nothing without be about it

　　Love love
　　So easy but so hard
　　But I’ll take my time and show you
　　You’re that girl for me babe
　　True love can’t ever be explained
　　But I’d like to show you with my heart and soul for you babe

　　These days some people just can’t last
　　But I promise that I’ll try my best to make it forever
　　Others don’t really understand
　　Cause their doubt is what I know that me and you will stay together

　　With love with love
　　That’s all we really need
　　Relationships can’t work at all without it

　　With love with love
　　We can do anything believe me girl there’s nothing else without it

【The main story is finished.】