Chapter 42: Her Heart Softens 42

She leaned quietly against him, just as before.

But it seems impossible to return to how things were.

Her heart would never open to anyone again.

"Ruan Ruan, what's wrong?" the man asked softly.

She said nothing.

From that day on, Fu Qiwei's Weibo blew up.

He's great at taking photos, and his Weibo is filled with the same woman's smile.

Or the little woman in a pure white lace dress, wearing a big straw-woven hat, standing in a sea of cosmos in Tuscany, her smile bright yet gentle.

Or she walks barefoot in a red dress along the Aegean Sea.

In short, every one of his Weibo posts is about this woman.

Domestic media went wild guessing who this mysterious woman was, and gradually someone leaked that she was the Fu family's eldest grandson's wife, the lady Fu Qiwei had kept in a golden house for many years.

—The cosmos in Tuscany are beautiful, but they don't compare to my wife.

At the foot of Mount Fuji, she wore a full set of pink cloud-brocade gold-embroidered hanfu, greeting the falling cherry blossoms as she danced freely.

—The cherry blossoms at the foot of Mount Fuji fall for Ruan Ruan.

Manhattan

The man with his peach-pink messy hair sat before the computer, the screen filled with Weibo pictures.

In the sunflower fields of North Dragon Town, a woman in a mint-green liquid dress, wearing a man's coat, holding a bouquet of sunflowers, stood backlit, her peach-pink hair shining, smiling happily.

—No willow catkins drift on the wind; only the sunflowers turn toward the sun. My wife loves sunflowers, and I love her, and sunflowers.

His fingers slowly fell onto the woman's hand on the computer, and she still wore the diamond ring Fu Qiwei gave when he proposed.

"As long as I know you're still here and happy, I'm happy."

In the office, a sigh.

"What a pity,

Over the past half month, Yi Ruan has been very happy.

Fu Qiwei is a formidable person; he took her to many places, she played until she was exhausted, he personally carried her onto the plane, and often she'd wake up having already flown across half the globe.

Dawn

She woke from a castle in a fairy tale, where everything from the tale exists—even the cottage of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the swan lake where the ugly duckling becomes a swan.

"Do you like this place here, Ruan Ruan?" the man asked, wrapping his arms around her from behind as she nodded with a smile.

"I like it here."

"Can we stay?"

She said nothing; she liked this place, but she couldn't stay here—what a shame.

The man kissed her eyes, "Ruan Ruan, if you like it, just stay."

She responded softly, but said nothing.

At this moment, she only wanted to embrace all the love.

【Three days left.】

The system gave a cold prompt.

On the final day, she went to the last destination, Provence.

In Provence's lavender fields, she wore an off‑shoulder wedding dress, with the "Mount Light" diamond he gave her glittering on her chest; though the stone sparkled in the sun, it could not hide the young woman's gorgeous, dewy, soft‑yet‑radiant cheeks, her peach‑blossom eyes holding all her affection—both the tenderness of a little girl and her usual coolness.

The man wore a black bespoke suit; it was rare to see him smile, but Yi Ruan gazed at his extraordinarily handsome face and couldn't help recalling how, when she first arrived in this world, she had been dazed by his visage.

In the photographer's frame, the two laughed happily; the little woman's peach‑pink hair fell over the man's front, his big hand clasped her waist, and behind them the lavender sea swayed gently in the breeze.

"Qiwei, I'm a bit tired," she said, removing her veil; Fu Qiwei placed the pink diamond crown on her head, "Then I'll keep you company while you rest."

Yi Ruan had already sensed it; she gave a faint smile, "I'll go on my own; you come find me later."

Having said that, she was about to tiptoe when she saw the man drop to one knee before her, "You don't need to tiptoe—I'll kneel."

He smiled, his smile bright and sunny, his silver hair flowing freely.

In a daze, she too smiled.

Her eyes were brilliant, beautiful, pure, and clean.

Her slender fingers clenched tight around his head, and she kissed him without warning.

She broke his lower lip, leaned in, and bit hard into his shoulder.

He chuckled, stroking Yi Ruan as she buried her face in his shoulder, "Be good; wait till tonight, then you can bite as you like."

That day, in the pure white little pavilion, Yi Ruan leaned quietly against the pillar, the love of Romeo and Juliet engraved behind her.

In a haze, she saw a 28‑year‑old Fu Qiwei emerge from Qinggeng Cottage holding a little woman in his arms, his voice low and hoarse, heavy with guilt, saying, "Ruan Ruan, I've let you suffer."

The system began counting down…

Ten!

Nine!

Eight!

……

Three!

Two!

"Ruan Ruan, I bought you red roses!"

In her final moments, she faintly saw the man holding red roses, his pleasant voice tinged with a smile.

One.

The rose fell to the ground, the flower shattered, petals scattered everywhere, landing on her wedding dress train.

"Ruanruan, I'll take you home." The man almost choked up as he lifted her.

The photographer, seeing this, smiled and said, "The groom treats the bride really well; I'm so jealous."

Kunlun Mo Family

Mo Zhi looked at the blue bird flying out from Kunlun Mountain, holding little Mo Yan, his voice hoarse as he said, "Ayan, did you see that blue bird?"

Little Mo Yan nodded, "Is it that the phoenix's nirvana has fallen?"

He looked at his uncle, only hearing his uncle say, "Ayan, we are seeing the phoenix off on its final journey."

He followed his uncle's example, knelt down and prayed, until the blue bird flew back, yet he inexplicably felt unhappy.

Ten years later

"Ruanruan, how are you doing in that world?" The man sat before the tombstone, holding a bunch of sunflowers, and asked in a low voice.

The tombstone lay in a patch of roses.

"If you're not doing well, come back, okay? I miss you so much, Ayan misses you too." The man seemed to think of something, "Indeed, Ayan inherited your genes; he's very smart and has won many design awards."

He spoke somewhat dazedly, "Sometimes when I see Ayan, I'm reminded of you; he's just like you, his tone of voice identical, and whenever he wants something, he acts cute."

"By the way, Gu Yunzhen's family's little girl goes to the same school as Ayan; Ayan often hangs out with her, and Ayan seems to like that little girl." Suddenly he chuckled, "I've been thinking, when I have time, I'll go to the Gu family to propose a match for Ayan."

Fu Qiwei touched the cold tombstone, warm sunlight falling on it, "Ruanruan, I always feel you're still by my side; have you never left me?"

At a moment he didn't notice, the roses in the flowerbed had their petals blown off by a breeze.

"Ruanruan, this year's roses are blooming beautifully; do you still like them?"

The roses here are still in full bloom.

But that rose in his memory

It's no longer there; it has left, withered, and cannot return.

This is a hasty and sad ending()