Chapter Seventy-Six: The Rose Blooms

I rose and walked to the counter. The distance was only a few steps, but every inch felt like torment. I could almost feel Zhang Jiaxin’s pitiful, desperate gaze burning into my back.

“Excuse me… The bill, please.” I had finally made up my mind. I was going to settle the debts of a love that once was.

“But your cold drinks aren’t ready yet.” The owner, a middle-aged woman, spoke. She was beautiful in a way only mature women possessed, exuding an effortless charm.

“I don’t want them anymore. How much do I owe?” I didn’t want to linger here any longer. Fear twisted inside me—fear that Zhang Jiaxin’s sorrow might move me, that I might betray my faithfulness to love, that I might… see her tears again.

The proprietress looked at me, hesitating, and I waited in the silence, taking out my worn wallet and placing fifty yuan on the table.

“Young man, I may be an outsider, but even just now, I could sense from your words that girl’s deep attachment to you. To leave her here alone like this… Do you truly think it’s right?” The woman sighed as she spoke.

In that moment, I felt so fragile. Her words shook the resolve I had struggled to muster. She was just a passerby in my life, but I didn’t think her words meddlesome; I had always believed that no one appears in our lives for no reason. Their presence always brings something to teach us.

“We broke up a year ago. Now, we’re just—”

“Just friends, is that it?” The proprietress smiled gently, her gaze drifting to Zhang Jiaxin, who still sat curled up in her chair, weeping.

I followed her gaze but found no words. Sensing our attention, Zhang Jiaxin slowly peeked out from the edge of her seat and looked over.

“In this life, what we fear most is hesitation and doubt. Is the choice you’re making now truly what you want, deep in your heart?” The woman stepped out from behind the counter and settled into a vacant seat at my left. She smiled and gestured for me to join her.

Sitting opposite her, I finally took a good look at this elegant woman. Her hair was styled in the soft curls beloved by mature women, her eyes clear and bright as spring water. Around her neck hung a silver necklace with a boat-shaped pendant, and on her collarbone bloomed a vivid, tattooed rose. She wore a dark red, casual outfit, relaxed and natural.

Seeing my silence, she continued, “The future is always full of uncertainty and change. None of us can say who belongs to whom, or who will fall in love with whom. On this voyage of fate, we are but ordinary explorers—perhaps we’ll see flowers bloom on the far shore, or perhaps we’ll misstep and fall into the abyss. Only by walking the path do we know where it leads.”

I nodded in agreement. But as she said, Zhang Jiaxin and I had already reached the end of our road. To continue would only mean plunging into that abyss.

“Young man, you said you have a girlfriend now, didn’t you?” The proprietress took the two cups of ice cream the waitress brought and set them before me.

“Yes.” I pushed a spoon gently into the ice cream.

“And that’s your reason for severing ties with this girl completely?” She pointed to the cup, inviting me to taste it, then continued, “Isn’t this just you running away? Afraid that if you spend time together, old feelings will resurface? Afraid her presence will overturn your so-called love now? Aren’t those just ridiculous excuses?”

Her words struck a nerve, for she wasn’t wrong. I was running away. But is this kind of avoidance truly wrong? If one chooses to do so for the sake of protecting love, what fault is there in that?

“If love can be separated, then it isn’t love.” The woman sighed, her words gentle. “True love may meet obstacles, but it knows no farewells—not even death can part it.”

“If love can be separated, then it isn’t love…” I repeated her words softly, my heart aching. Yes, whether for Zhang Jiaxin or Luo Qing, that was true. If something can be separated, it can’t be called love. Even if two people aren’t together, if their hearts remain bound, that’s the essence of love I seek.

“Why don’t I tell you a story? Right and wrong, you can judge for yourself—after all, I’m just an outsider.” The woman smiled kindly. “Of course, only if you’re willing to listen.”

I nodded, curious what lesson her story might hold.

“You, too, dear, come over. Haven’t you been eavesdropping long enough? Aren’t you tired?” The woman called, smiling, over her shoulder.

Zhang Jiaxin, her face flushed and eyes lowered, shuffled over to sit beside me. Her eyes, still rimmed with red, made my heart ache. This wasn’t the ending I wanted, but what could I do about it? Was I only capable of causing pain?

Once Zhang Jiaxin was seated, the proprietress began, “This is a story I experienced myself. It’s a piece of my youth, and a testament to my hopes for all things beautiful…”

“That year, I was still in high school. My grades were poor, so I ended up in a chaotic class. My parents were disappointed in me, and I’d given up on myself—sleeping and chatting through classes, never studying, just wasting time. Then, one day, a new boy transferred in. The first impression? Not handsome, but pleasant enough to look at. You both know what high school girls like: they go for the handsome ones or the tough guys. He was neither.”

The woman reminisced, a gentle, sweet smile curling her lips. “Of course, I was the type who liked good-looking boys. Seeing this plain transfer, I thought life had just gotten duller.”

“Time passed, and as the college entrance exam approached, he confessed to me in front of everyone. He said he liked me…” A flush colored her cheeks, her eyes gleaming as if reliving the moment. “But honestly, I felt nothing for him. To me, he was good for nothing except his grades. And what good were good grades, anyway? In my mind, it just meant you got bullied more. That’s truly how I felt.”

“What happened then? Did you accept his confession?” Zhang Jiaxin was absorbed, chin in her hands, eyes wide with anticipation.

“Of course not. I rejected him on the spot in front of everyone, using the cruelest words I could think of to humiliate him. I felt his confession belittled me—of all the girls in class, why pick me?” The woman’s eyes twitched with regret. “I didn’t understand his feelings. After the exams, I failed, unsurprisingly. But he, unexpectedly, also failed—deliberately, to wait for me, as you young people would say.”

“But how was he to know I had no intention of continuing my studies? I planned to use the money my parents saved to open a small shop. I didn’t ask for much—just enough to get by. But I was naïve; my father had squandered our savings on drink and gambling. It wasn’t until then that I learned the future I’d counted on was nothing but a joke.”

She sighed and continued, “When all my hopes evaporated, I thought of him—the boy who once pursued me. I found his number, hesitated, but eventually called him.”

“I told him, half on purpose, about my situation. Without hesitation, he secretly took out thirty thousand yuan—his mother’s entire savings—to help me. But he had one condition: he’d be the owner, I’d be the proprietress, in name only. I thought it over and agreed. With my family’s situation, failing to get into college meant going out to work, and I couldn’t accept that fate…”

“Did you really become the proprietress then?” Zhang Jiaxin looked around curiously, as if searching for the young owner in the story.

“Yes, and so began our days running a small sundry shop. He named it ‘Blooming Flowers’—he said I was like a rose: beautiful, even if I didn’t belong to him.” The woman smiled, but there was a sorrow in her words that defied explanation.

I glanced at the rose tattoo on her collarbone, suddenly understanding its meaning.

“As I spent more time with him, I learned that the thirty thousand yuan was all his mother had left him. He’d grown up with her, in a single-parent home. I gradually realized he was wonderful—independent, mature, far stronger than his peers. The more I discovered, the more I liked him. I knew then that I had fallen in love.”

She lifted her hand, revealing a beautiful diamond ring.

“You got married!” Zhang Jiaxin exclaimed, her excitement clear as she spotted the ring.

“Yes, we married…” But as she spoke, the woman’s smile faded, her face clouded with sadness and regret, and for a long while she was silent.

“And then?” I was drawn in, eager for the story’s end.

“And then… I made the most foolish decision of my life. I was the one who buried a marriage that could have been happy.”