29.6%, and 2.4%
The Old Man's dry and cracked lips trembled as they opened, and the corners of his eyes, which seemed to have long dried up, moistened once more... These words were like a sword that pierced through three hundred years, piercing into the softest place in his heart.
At this moment, all the exhaustion, pain, and grievances suppressed deep within his heart... surged out uncontrollably, condensing into drops of cloudy tears that streaked across his cheeks, dripping and falling onto the ruined earth.
No one knew how he had lived these three hundred years.
He shouldered the responsibility of maintaining the Red Dust Domain. He endured the pain of damaged devices piercing his body. He endured a loneliness that ordinary people couldn't bear, fighting against time stitch by stitch...
He originally wanted to take everything and return to the dust in loneliness, but a single sentence from Su Zhiwei shattered all of his stubborn perseverance.
The Old Man forced himself to look away, no longer meeting Su Zhiwei's gaze. He looked at the murmuring flowing water beneath his feet and spoke hoarsely:
"You shouldn't have come to find me..."
"Why?"
"Whether it's perfect or not, does it have anything to do with appearance?"
Su Zhiwei frowned and spoke, "The person who created Floating Life Painting is you, the person who protected the Red Dust Domain is you, the person who locked time for me is you, and the person who resisted the Lord of Wuji at the critical moment is also you... This Domain rose because of you, and prospered because of you. Without you, the Red Dust Domain would have been destroyed long ago, and I would have died in the river of time long ago.
You haven't been walking behind me for a long time, Yao Qing. You walked in front of me, you walked in front of everyone... You clearly did so much for us, why do you still feel that you aren't perfect enough?"
"But from now on, whenever you think of me, you will only think of this ugly old face... I don't want that."
"Just for a better image in my heart, you'd rather not see me??"
Su Zhiwei seemed to be angered. She gritted her teeth and glared at Yao Qing. "Childish! Stubborn mule!! You are still exactly the same as that little brat back then!"
Hearing the second half of the sentence, the Old Man was first startled, and then the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up. He leaned against the trunk of the willow tree, hoarsely chuckling lightly... His expression was somewhat stiff, even hideous. This wasn't because of anything else, but because he hadn't smiled for hundreds of years, and the muscles on his face had long atrophied.
The Old Man seemed to have relaxed a lot. He softly said, "But you are in your prime, yet you are missing an old man about to enter the grave. That just doesn't make sense..."
As soon as the word "missing" came out, Su Zhiwei was also startled. At this moment, she seemed to have truly returned to the years from over three hundred years ago. The Yao Qing back then also frequently joked with her like this, or rather, hid his affection in inadvertent teasing.
But at that time, she often wouldn't take the initiative to answer, because in her eyes, there existed some insurmountable barrier between them... She was eight years older than him.
The former Su Zhiwei, as a member of the highly educated group, had rather conservative views on relationships. But now she had experienced too, too much. Some existences she once viewed as barriers were long dispensable...
Su Zhiwei's lips pursed slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she still answered seriously:
"Age is not a problem. This is what you yourself said back then."
The Old Man also didn't expect Su Zhiwei's answer to be so straightforward this time. She no longer concealed her true feelings in the slightest, but generously gave him feedback... But this time, he didn't answer immediately.
The Old Man silently looked at the reflection of the river beneath his feet. Between him and Su Zhiwei, a heavenly chasm had long existed...
It was time, it was an era, it was life and death.
"Back then... I was just talking." The Old Man murmured.
"But I took it seriously."
Su Zhiwei's even more straightforward answer once again shattered Yao Qing's amorous worries. For a moment, he was stunned in place, not knowing how to answer... Facts proved that when Su Zhiwei, a straight-laced STEM girl, made up her mind to express her true feelings, even the most delicate and complex Embroidery Threads couldn't capture Yao Qing's crumbling heart.
In front of the current Su Zhiwei, all of Yao Qing's worries, misgivings, and complex thoughts were like a little boy's youthful troubles, forcefully torn to shreds.
"Back then, I was twenty-seven years old, a Ph.D. holder; you were nineteen years old, still a university student... To us at that time, eight years was an insurmountable heavenly chasm. But now, everything is different." Seeing Yao Qing taking a long time to answer, Su Zhiwei continued seriously,
"8/27 ≈ 29.6%, 8/330 ≈ 2.4%..."
"... What do you mean?"
Even though Yao Qing had lived for over three hundred years, he still couldn't understand Su Zhiwei's train of thought.
"The former heavenly chasm has already been trampled beneath our feet... Time is nothing in the face of love." Su Zhiwei looked deeply into his eyes,
"I love you, Yao Qing. Regardless of the era, regardless of life and death."
Under Yao Qing's shrinking gaze, Su Zhiwei closed her eyes and kissed those aged lips.
Raindrops fell into the river, making crisp ding-dong sounds. Two hearts resonated at this moment, and the world fell silent in eternal tranquility.
After an unknown amount of time,
The two figures under the withered willow tree slowly separated.
Yao Qing's gaze still stared blankly at Su Zhiwei's face. His gaze went from astonishment, to joy, ultimately falling into bitterness and helplessness...
Su Zhiwei's shoulder leaned beside Yao Qing's, leaning against the willow tree trunk together with him. The two just sat on the bank like this, quietly feeling the flowing river water beneath them and the gentle breeze brushing past their ears...
No one spoke, as if unable to bear breaking this illusion that was so beautiful it didn't seem real, as if enjoying this tenderness that bloomed for an instant within three hundred years of time.
The sound of heartbeats was gradually weakening, just like the fleeting breeze at their fingertips;
"... Big Sister Zhiwei."
Yao Qing turned his head and spoke softly, "I should sleep."
"Sleep... I'll accompany you here." Su Zhiwei looked into his eyes. "One day, we will meet again... In a dream, or, in another reality."
"... Mm."
Yao Qing's eyes uncontrollably closed. His vitality at this time was no longer enough for him to carefully consider Su Zhiwei's answer... He was like a bonfire that had burned fiercely for three hundred years, gradually extinguishing in this rain, leaving only an extremely tiny flame, silently drifting away.
At the same time, Su Zhiwei's slightly trembling voice, which could no longer be suppressed, rang out softly by his ear:
"Thank you for three hundred years of companionship... Yao Qing."
Ffft—
The flame extinguished in the aged shell.
The moment his heart stopped beating, Su Zhiwei could no longer control her expression. Two streams of tears continuously slipped from the corners of her eyes. With her arms wrapped around Yao Qing's corpse, she cried silently in agony.