Chapter 613: A Hundred Years’ Promise, Growing Old With You: Marriage
That night, Gu Yuan and Chi Yu boarded a flight to Ireland.
...
This trip abroad was far too rushed for Gu Yuan. She hadn’t even properly arranged things for Suisui yet. Gu Yuan was worried about her daughter; with only the nanny and Uncle Xiang looking after her, she was afraid the house would be turned upside down. Just when she was planning to bring Suisui along with her...
Chi Yu gave her a reassuring pill: "Don’t worry about no one taking care of our daughter. Everything is within my plan; I’ve already arranged it all."
"Hm?"
"I’ve already sent our daughter to Yanjing. Her grandma and my mother are both there to look after her, so you don’t have to worry."
"..."
This was the first time Gu Yuan felt that Chi Yu had truly thought of everything.
He had taken all her worries into account; there was nothing left for her to fuss over.
Once on the plane, Gu Yuan and Chi Yu’s seats were right next to each other.
There was no way he’d buy tickets and let them sit apart.
If it weren’t for the rule of one person per seat, he’d probably wish two people could squeeze into one.
"When did you send our daughter away? How did I not know at all? The nanny and Uncle Xiang didn’t say a word to me either." She turned her head and shot him a look.
Strange that the nanny and Uncle Xiang hadn’t called to let her know.
Such an important matter.
By now Chi Yu had reverted back to that old clingy mode of his, always stuck to her side—touching her slender hand from time to time, brushing her hair now and then. In short, once he was next to her, his hands stopped behaving themselves, desperate to make up for all the days they’d been apart.
Right now he lifted a hand to smooth the hair by her ear, tucking it behind so he could see her profile clearly, and the fine little hairs on the bridge of her nose.
His tone was deliberately cheeky, with a hint of inquiry: "The nanny and Uncle Xiang have already been bribed by me. What are you going to do about that? How about... you consider changing people?"
At that, the corner of Gu Yuan’s mouth twitched.
It wasn’t like he didn’t know: the nanny and Uncle Xiang had been by her side for nearly ten years. They weren’t blood relatives, but had long since become more than family. What’s more, their care for her over the years, and the way they managed Gu Mansion, allowed her to feel that, among the millions of lights shining out there, she still had a home of her own.
She had never once thought about the day the nanny and Uncle Xiang would leave her. What she’d thought about was giving them a peaceful old age and seeing them through to the end.
"I don’t like you having me so tightly in your grip!" She slapped his hand away, a hint of proud arrogance tugging at the corners of her lips.
When her palm landed on the back of his hand, there was a sharp smack, surprisingly loud.
Then she glanced at the back of his hand; a red patch was spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye. Chi Yu held his hand out to her: "It’s red. Look what you’re going to do about it."
Gu Yuan looked at his aggrieved face. "Want me to blow on it?"
Chi Yu: "A kiss would work too."
So disgustingly clingy.
This man, when he’s cold, can drive you up the wall.
When he’s passionate, he’s overwhelming and gives you a headache.
He was basically the collision of two extremes.
"You’re not worried that I might ship you off to Sydney?" She held his hand, toying with it, and that did make him a lot more well-behaved.
Chi Yu lifted an eyebrow. "I figured it out."
"Figured what out?"
"Dying early is still dying, dying late is still dying. It’s just a matter of sooner or later. That’s what I figured out."
What kind of logic...
"Why does it have to be death?"
"If there’s no more Chi Yu, isn’t that basically death?"
"Then will you still leave?" she asked, carefully. She already had the answer in her heart, but she still wanted to hear him say it himself.
He sat in silence for a long time before he answered her: "Yes."
"You will leave... right?"
"Mm."
Chi Yu pulled his hand back, rolled up his sleeve, and showed Gu Yuan the light brown lifeline on his arm, which was slowly, bit by bit, growing shorter. Gu Yuan had seen this line before, and a long time ago she had asked him what it was. He’d said it was a birthmark.
Everyone’s birthmarks are different.
Some are oddly shaped and look like animals; some vary in color. The one on Chi Yu’s body was a light brown line.
If Chi Yu hadn’t just now told her himself that this was his lifeline, Gu Yuan would never have known that the line she’d always ignored was actually so important.
Chi Yu went on: "This lifeline represents the time I have left here. When it completely disappears, I’ll return to my own world."
His gaze rested on her. "You can also think of it as an hourglass."
Gu Yuan suddenly realized something. "When you hadn’t gotten your memories back yet, this line wasn’t on your arm, was it?"
All along she hadn’t paid much attention to the line on his arm. Most of the time she’d barely noticed it. Thinking back over this period, she couldn’t even recall clearly whether it had been there or not.
