Chapter 032: An Unattainable Wish

The hotpot bubbled and boiled. Jiang Yao seemed quite delighted as she ate from the pot, as if nothing had happened earlier.

"The hotpot base I made is the best in the world," Jiang Yao said, mixing a bowl of dipping sauce and handing it to He Yunqing, her eyes shining brightly as she looked at him.

He Yunqing glanced at her with skepticism, took the bowl, and tasted it lightly.

Then he tried another bite.

Finally, he pushed his own sauce aside.

"After the filming of 'Pierced Heart' wraps up, I’ll be away for a while," He Yunqing said, picking up some greens with his chopsticks, speaking as if it were a casual remark.

"Oh."

Such was the life of an artist, forever on the move.

Jiang Yao poked at a fish ball in her bowl with her chopsticks, wondering why He Yunqing had bothered to tell her this. For some reason, she suddenly felt a vague heaviness in her heart.

She pushed the milk she had bought in advance toward He Yunqing, poured herself a cup of soju, clinked it against his milk, and drained it in one go.

The fireworks had not yet faded, but fine snow had begun to fall from the sky.

Jiang Yao looked up at the falling snow and rubbed her cheeks.

"He Yunqing, do you have any New Year’s wishes?"

He Yunqing lowered his gaze and continued eating his greens with slow, graceful movements. "No."

Jiang Yao rested her chin on her hand and watched him. "No one has no wishes."

"Wishes that can’t be realized—what’s the point in making them?" he replied, voice cool and distant.

Jiang Yao leaned back against her chair. Someone like He Yunqing, who seemed to have everything he wanted—could he really have wishes he could never fulfill?

She pursed her lips. "But if you had to name one? Just say it. Maybe it’ll come true."

He Yunqing’s hand paused as he held his chopsticks. He thought for a moment, then slowly set them down. His clear eyes gazed quietly at Jiang Yao as he spoke softly, "I wish I could go back ten years."

Jiang Yao straightened. "What would you do, going back ten years?"

"Ten years ago, I made a mistake."

Jiang Yao looked at him, but didn’t press further. There seemed to be a weight on this man’s shoulders, so heavy she could not bear to touch it lightly.

She only nodded and lowered her head to eat.

"And you?" He Yunqing suddenly asked in return.

"Me?" Jiang Yao lifted her face, thought for a moment, and said, "Then I’d want to go back ten years too."

He Yunqing looked at her in surprise.

Ten years ago must have been when she suffered the most...

"Why?" he asked, frowning in confusion.

Jiang Yao brushed the snowflakes from her hair. "If I went back ten years, there was someone—on that day, I could have stopped him, told him not to cross that street."

Maybe it was just a snowflake that happened to fall into her eye. She wiped at them unconsciously. "No… I should have stayed far away from him right from the start."

In her mind’s eye, she saw again the image of Mr. Chen in his prime.

That year, he was the model of excellence among all the teachers. Yet that same year, he was publicly criticized and dismissed from the school.

He encouraged her, lent her books he had once read.

She had opened the title page, and inside was written a line: "The road ahead is long and has no ending; yet high and low, I will search with my will unbending."

He said it was his motto for life.

He said that when his child was born, he wanted to name the child "Yao."

But in the end, he never lived to see that day.

After everything settled, a policewoman at the station asked her if she wanted to change her name.

She said, "Jiang Yao."

Her second life was a gift from him.

She was his child.

"Jiang Yao..." she murmured, repeating her own name, "Does it sound nice?"

It was as if she was asking He Yunqing, and also herself.

He Yunqing looked at Jiang Yao and realized at some point her face had become streaked with tears.

"I’ll take you somewhere," he said softly.

Jiang Yao snapped out of it, realizing she had been crying without noticing, and hurried to wipe her tears away. "Where?"

But He Yunqing had already stood up, pulled her along without another word, and ushered her into his car.

They drove for about an hour before stopping by the sea.

On the vast, boundless shore, He Yunqing led Jiang Yao to walk along the soft sand.

Jiang Yao trudged along, joking, "You’re not going to tell me this place is yours too, are you?"

He Yunqing sat down on the sand, propping himself up with one hand and gazing into the distant horizon. "This is the best place to watch the sunrise."

Jiang Yao sat down beside him and idly scooped up sand, giving him a sidelong, gossipy glance. "Sunrise? How many girls have you brought here to see the sunrise?"

He Yunqing turned his head, said nothing, and cast her a fleeting glance.

Jiang Yao tossed the sand in her hand. "Fine, don’t tell me if you don’t want to."

"I’ve heard that if you make a wish on the first sunrise of the new year, it’s more likely to come true," Jiang Yao said, leaning on her elbows in the sand. "Don’t you want to make a wish again—one that might really happen?"

He Yunqing was silent, so still it was as though he would merge into the meeting of sky and sea.

Jiang Yao furrowed her brow and turned her face away, ignoring him.

The sea breeze brought a chill with it.

Just as she was yawning, Jiang Yao shivered and pulled her coat tighter.

He Yunqing noticed out of the corner of his eye, took off his thick coat, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Seeing that he only wore a thin shirt underneath, Jiang Yao tried to refuse. If He Yunqing caught a cold and delayed filming because of her, she couldn’t bear the responsibility.

In the end, they ended up sharing the coat, huddled together.

The closeness made Jiang Yao a little uneasy, but the gentle warmth from the man’s body made her sleepier than ever.

After a long while, a faint red glow began to ripple at the horizon—the sun was about to rise.

He Yunqing nudged Jiang Yao with his elbow. "The sun’s coming up."

Her head bumped gently against his shoulder.

He Yunqing was startled, and turned to look at her, only to find that she had already drifted off to sleep, leaning against him and softly snoring.

He Yunqing watched her peaceful sleeping face; the corners of his lips curled with the faintest of smiles. He did not wake her, but watched the sky alone.

The red sun slowly peeked over the horizon, painting half the sky in brilliant color—radiant and beautiful.

It was the morning sun, the first sunrise of the new year.

When the sun was fully up, He Yunqing woke the drowsy Jiang Yao. "Time to go."

She opened her eyes in a daze, still not quite awake. "Huh?"

He Yunqing looked at her confused expression and crouched down, his back to her. "Hop on."

Before she knew what was happening, she found herself on his back.

She was so sleepy she closed her eyes again, instinctively wrapping her arms around He Yunqing’s neck, and murmured by his ear, "Has the sun really risen, He Yunqing? I want to make a new wish..."