Re-engraving the Spring - Chapter 30
“Married?!”
Luo Yun inevitably was shocked, but she soon accepted it.
Nowadays, it was not uncommon for men to get married to men. She just didn’t expect that these two poor kids in her clinic would eventually end up together.
Luo Yun remembered that after Lu Ming left the country, there was no news about him all of sudden, along with the number that had been in contact with Chi Qiu also became an empty number. Less than a month later, Luo Yun learned about the murder of Lu You.
She rushed to Lu’s family house with concern and asked about Lu Ming’s situation. Unexpectedly, the Lu family kept their mouth shut about Lu Ming, claiming that Lu Ming would settle abroad in the future and would not come back.
For the rest, she, a psychiatrist, was not qualified to ask too much.
She remembered that during that time, she spent almost every day comforting and enlightening the distraught Chi Qiu.
Unfortunately, Chi Qiu’s situation was not good. His parents at home were constantly fighting over him, and the guilt forced him to retract into a snail’s shell, becoming more and more introverted. Coupled with the disappearance of Lu Ming, Chi Qiu, who was only 15 years old, suddenly lost a lot of weight.
Luo Yun tried to help Chi Qiu many times, but he was never willing to tell Luo Yun the real knot in his heart.
He once said to Luo Yun, “Secrets sometimes guard a home.”
After that, Chi Qiu did not continue his psychological counselling in Luo Yun’s clinic.
In the long struggle alone, Chi Qiu found a so-called balance point and slowly returned to ‘normal’.
In the same year, Luo Yun also closed the clinic in Xingxi City for personal reasons and went to her elderly parents.
It had been more than ten years since this separation.
Luo Yun looked at the two people in front of her, especially when she saw Chi Qiu, who had a gentle and happy expression, she couldn’t help but be filled with tears and emotions. It seemed that the child had finally found a resting place for the secret in his heart.
She sincerely blessed them from the bottom of her heart.
The chat between the two did not last long. Both parties had their own business, so they left each other contact information and agreed to have tea together next time.
The whole time, Lu Ming rarely spoke, he almost did not participate in this brief catch-up.
As soon as Chi Qiu and Lu Ming left, the young man next to Luo Yun pulled down his mask. “Auntie, they are the two kids from your old clinic, right? I remember I saw them back then.”
“What kid, they are about the same age as you.” Luo Yun wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes.
The man looked into the distance with curiosity: “Can I know what happened back then? You still like the one named Chi Qiu as much as you did back then.”
“How can I talk to you more about the patient’s affairs?” Luo Yun, who had quite a professional ethic, kept her mouth shut. She turned to say, “Nowadays, there are more and more male partners as well.”
Hearing this, Luo Xu raised the corner of his mouth.
Luo Yun caught his smugness and couldn’t help laughing: “The good thing is, ah, you opened my eyes to me first, so I wasn’t too shocked this time. By the way, Luo Xu, are you still in the country next week?”
“No.” Luo Xu was a married man, busy with his family. “I’m going to go abroad for a while to accompany him. Recently he had a bunch of things going on over there, he was in a bad mood but didn’t talk to me. He is afraid of affecting my work.” For this reason, Luo Xiu rejected a good endorsement.
“Then, it would be nice to have him come back home.”
“Aunt, it’s not like you don’t know. If I walk with him on the road, there would be a bunch of paparazzi behind me. There is no personal space at all.”
Luo Xu felt a little hot, and seeing that no one was around, he took off his cap. After taking off all the disguise, he stroked his messy hair. His handsome face was familiar——this was the big star Luo Xu who occupied the advertising screens everywhere in the streets and alleys.
As usual, a star like Luo Xu, who was extremely well known in China could be recognized no matter how he disguised himself.
But the two people just now didn’t even give him the right look.
But it was not surprising, how would the blind Chi Qiu know big stars?
And even if Lu Ming recognized it, he didn’t plan to talk to him.
He was not interested in stars, and even less interested in Luo Xu. Technically speaking, he had a bit of a ‘personal hatred’ with Luo Xu.
A while ago, after the main product project team of their company held several meetings and discussions, they figured out Luo Xu’s itinerary and set a high price, sincerely wanting to invite the other party to be the spokesperson.
The first day of conversation was considered harmonious, and both parties were very satisfied with each other. As a result, on the second day, Luo Xu’s side suddenly said that there was something and he couldn’t do it.
The contract had not been signed, and the matter had not been decided. It was not a big problem.
But Lu Ming was curious to know why Luo Xu rejected him. It was fine if he didn’t ask. After asking, Lu Ming had deep doubts about Luo Xu’s work attitude.
Because the reason given by Luo Xu’s team was: he wanted to go abroad to accompany his wife.
When Lu Ming heard this, he thought there was something wrong with his ears.
Immediately, he asked in the conference room, “Xu Ling, didn’t you say that Luo Xu is an artist who takes his work extremely seriously?”
Cold sweat broke out on Xu Ling’s forehead, and he stammered: “He, he is indeed. But, but his wife seems to be more important. Mr., Mr. Lu, anyway, nothing has been decided yet, and there is no deep discussion. We have nothing to lose! Don’t worry, we’ll decide on a new spokesperson as soon as possible!”
Lu Ming didn’t mean to blame Xu Ling, he looked solemn and did not approve of Luo Xu’s work attitude.
He instructed, “In the future, don’t use such artists for any company projects.” He was not targeting Luo Xu, he was thinking that such a reason was simply unfathomable.
In the car, Chi Qiu was still happy about running into Luo Yun.
He talked to Lu Ming about something from the past: “The first time we spoke was in the small garden that Auntie Luo tended herself. Do you still remember? You were the one who talked to me first.”
“Remember.” Lu Ming asked casually, “Do you want to go back after dinner later?”
“Okay, ah.”
Chi Qiu was still immersed in that first meeting, with a bright expression on his face: “You know what? At that time I was stunned. As soon as you came over, you said my eyes were beautiful, like the color of spring. To be honest, I had forgotten what the color of spring was at that moment.”
From 11 years old to 15 years old, Chi Qiu spent four years in the darkness of nothingness.
Even if he saw a lot of scenery when he was a child, after the passage of time, the visual memory would no longer accumulate, and the empty heart would swallow up the color, leaving only endless black.
“…”
Lu Ming was immediately stunned. He didn’t expect that he had been so absent-minded. It was unnecessary to boast about the beauty of his eyes to a blind man. Maybe he would make the other party unhappy.
Fortunately, Chi Qiu did not have the slightest impatience, because that day he was in a low mood and did not want to talk at all.
17-year-old Lu Ming saw that he was silent, leaned his back against a tree in the garden, and under the dappled green shade, he sighed. After about half a century,1Not literally okay. Chi Qiu heard the other party leave and came back, and put a cup of milk tea on Chi Qiu’s face: “Don’t be upset, let’s talk, kill time.”
He shrugged his shoulders and drank a cup of milk tea. His tone was mature and a little lively: “I praise you for your beautiful eyes, why are you ignoring me?”
Chi Qiu couldn’t stand Lu Ming’s clear and pleasant voice, nor the sweetness of the milk tea, so he reluctantly replied to Lu Ming’s initial conversation.
As for what to answer, the current Chi Qiu turned his head. Facing Lu Ming who was driving, he suddenly asked, “Do you remember what I answered you?”
Lu Ming squeezed the steering wheel, looking calm: “Chi Qiu, I’m driving.”
Chi Qiu was dumbfounded.
After the car stopped at a traffic light, Chi Qiu asked softly, “Why are you always reluctant to talk to me about what happened ten years ago?”
“…”
“We’ve been apart for ten years, there are too many things we don’t know about each other.” Chi Qiu hoped that Lu Ming could be more honest with him, but if Lu Ming was not willing to talk, he would not force him.
“Lu Ming, I just want to get to know you better.”
The red light passed quickly. Lu Ming stepped on the accelerator and drove the car smoothly: “It’s not that I’m unwilling to talk, but it’s too long ago. There are many details I don’t remember. But I remember, you answered me at the time, spring has no color.”
Chi Qiu’s heart brightened up instantly. Lu Ming’s simple words often could easily blow away the gloom in his heart.
Chi Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, he thought Lu Ming didn’t remember.
But Chi Qiu must not know the reason Lu Ming knew about this sentence, not because he remembered it.
One year after Lu Ming went abroad, Chi Qiu, with the encouragement of Chi Lanyan, wrote a short story about a fairy tale and submitted it for publication in a weekly inspirational magazine for people with disabilities.
The name of this story was ‘Picking Up the Stars’, and the protagonist in it was Chi Qiu himself. In the story, he answered the other more than once: “My eyes are not spring, and spring has no color.”
‘Picking Up the Stars’ was sent along to Lu Ming’s email as part of Chi Qiu’s profile.
Lu Ming’s had enough patience to finish reading this lonely story.
Now, Chi Qiu, who was sitting in the passenger side of his lover, smiled happily, and said to Lu Ming with a vow, “After you come back, I know what color spring is.”
Lu Ming gripped the steering wheel tightly.
When the car pulled into the underground parking garage of the shopping mall, he deliberately looked into Chi Qiu’s eyes, eager to find the spring of that year. But apart from being pretty, he couldn’t see the colors of spring.
Chi Qiu had not changed, it was him, Lu Ming who had changed.
T/N: Sorry for not updating for two weeks. I caught covid and wasn’t feeling well. Just got better and my quarantine ended yesterday but I’m still not allowed to go to office so I’m updating this today. Might or might not post another chapter today.
