Crossing the Clouds and Sky to Fall in Love with You - Chapter 19

The moment my eyes met that person’s, I felt like my heart was about to stop.

“Xiaoning, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

What was this feeling, like an electric shock running through my whole body?

“Sister… Sister Tao?”

It wasn’t a hallucination… Sister Tao was smiling warmly at me. She was dressed as effortlessly stylish as ever, her beloved camera hanging around her neck.

“How did you know…” my address?

“Ah! When you finish your errands, you should come home earlier!” she explained matter-of-factly. When she rose from the sofa, the room suddenly felt a little cramped. She came up to me, pouting slightly as she softly complained, “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

I was dumbfounded! “You called me?”

“Yes, about two hours ago.”

At that time… I was just about to leave with Xiaopei… Ah! It was those calls with the blocked number! It had been so long since I’d received one, and with scams running rampant, I usually ignored calls from unknown numbers—that’s why I missed them!

Sister Tao’s complaint sounded gentle, without any hint of threat, but I found her incredibly adorable. She had never shown me this expression before: her small lips were pushed out, and even her cheeks were puffed up!

“Sis! Is this the beautiful neighbor you were talking about?” Xiaopei’s timely interjection made me realize they were still there. I smiled apologetically and introduced Xiaopei to Sister Tao.

Since there was still some time before dinner, Mom suggested I take Sister Tao out for a walk. Thanks to the nice weather outside today, we could even catch a beautiful sunset.

Perhaps because of the heat in Kaohsiung, her clothes were lighter, though she still wore a scarf around her neck as an accessory. The light blue silk scarf was pleasing to look at.

Just like the feeling she gave off.

“How did you know where I live?” I guessed she had called initially to ask for the address.

Could it be that Tao Yian told her?

She placed a finger on her lips. “I called and asked my aunt.” The doctor? How would she know… “You filled out your personal information during your first visit! I only resorted to this because I couldn’t reach you. Please don’t report her for leaking patient privacy!”

The truth was revealed! How did she even think of that trick?

“You said you wouldn’t be back until Tuesday, but you’re two days early,” I asked tentatively. She grabbed her camera and snapped a picture of any image she deemed worthy of documenting.

I think this was only the second time I had seen her lift her camera to take a shot. The first time was when we first met at the entrance of the apartment building.

“Because someone was very upset!” she looked toward the sky, saying with a hint of teasing.

My heart instantly felt as if it had been squeezed and then released. I tilted my nose up and scoffed, “Who, who was upset?”

She didn’t answer, but her continuous laughter made my heart flutter.

“Alright, to be honest, I thought leaving for a week would be just like any other time, but after I left, I realized something was missing. So, I shortened the trip. It took quite a bit of effort to change the flight ticket.”

“Something was missing?” I looked back at her in confusion.

Her clear eyes stared directly at me, and the smile at the corner of her mouth was like the gentle winter breeze of Kaohsiung. “Yes… something was missing.”

I paused briefly. Before I could ask a follow-up question, she pressed the shutter several more times—aiming at a swallow’s nest under the neighbor’s eaves.

In any case, the fact that the elusive Sister Tao would travel all the way to the south to find me must mean that she actually cared about me quite a bit, right?

I took a step forward, and a moment later, I heard her ask, “How does it feel to be home?”

“What do you mean, how? It’s just home!”

“How is your mood? Also, I went back to the room to drop off my suitcase before coming down, and I didn’t see your pillow.”

I stopped, letting Sister Tao walk past me. She spotted a small potted plant growing by the neighbor’s door. “It’s a marigold,” she said, bending down to photograph the plant.

She stood up. My eyes were slightly moist. Before she could turn and face me, I walked toward her, getting close just as she began to turn.

I choked up, inhaling the cool air along with her body scent. I rested my forehead against her broad back, clinging to her like a child.

The response was a sympathetic sigh. “Xiaoning…”

“Without you in the room, the silence felt even scarier. I went back to sleep at my own place, and I even begged my friend to stay with me for two days. I also squeezed into the same room as my sister when I got home.”

She turned around, gently stroking the back of my head. Her movement was incredibly soft, as if she were touching something she cherished and loved.

“I hate being lonely, I hate solitude, I hate an empty room, I hate the coldness of sleeping alone!” I lifted my head, and her beautiful face blurred in my vision. “It… it makes me involuntarily remember that person… and the time I spent with him. I don’t want that! But I can’t control myself…”

“I hate this fragile me… and the only one who can make me hide this vulnerability… is you! I miss your company.”

She listened silently, then lowered her head and murmured something I couldn’t quite hear. Then, she used one arm to draw me into her embrace.

She didn’t say anything else. I leaned against her shoulder and wiped my tears, suddenly realizing how embarrassing I must look! How old am I… crying on the street? I wanted to pull away and continue walking, but she hooked her hand around mine.

She gave a gentle tug, pulling me back to her side.

Then, she whispered to me— “You who fear loneliness, can you bear to abandon your guest and let her get lost on her own?”

She smiled at me. I forgot my tears, moistened my lips, and smiled back at her.

And so, we walked side-by-side, fingers intertwined, slowly heading toward the vicinity of my old high school.

“Just to here! This is my alma mater.”

The sky was getting dark. She stopped taking pictures along the way. One hand was linked with mine, and the other was casually tucked into her pocket. She always wore jeans. Although they looked great, I always imagined her in a dress. She specialized in wedding photography, so she must have seen countless beautiful gown styles. I wonder if she ever imagined herself wearing a dress.

I pointed at the school gate. She took a few symbolic photos and then wandered to the other side of the road. This side was a riverside park, and people could be seen cycling leisurely along the river. Bicycles were becoming more common in the north too, but perhaps due to the dense population, cycling in the north represented “busyness,” while in Kaohsiung, it was a picture of leisure.

We sat down on the withered grass by the riverbank, watching the lights of the tall buildings across the way turn on, one by one.

There was a sense of peaceful isolation.

“Actually,” she finally began slowly, “what you just said made me very sad.”

“Huh…”

“I felt like I was the one who abandoned you, that I hadn’t considered your feelings. I knew your wound hadn’t completely healed, yet I left without a word, forcing you to face your emotional stress alone.”

Her tone was self-reproaching. I lowered my head and said guiltily, “I… I was the one who was wrong. I relied on you too much.”

She shook her head, the smile on her lips looking bittersweet. “You said that whenever you are alone, you still think about your past with him?”

I gave a sad smile. “Yes! Even though he treated me so badly, so heartlessly… he wasn’t like this before. Until the start of this semester, he was still just that simple, passionate guitarist chasing his dream. I once told someone that he was vital—my sun, air, and water—that I couldn’t live without him…”

I picked up a small stone and threw it far away. “It’s as if the universe was contradicting me; not only did he leave, but he did so in the most cruel and humiliating way, completely extracting himself from my life.”

It was evening, and the wind blowing from the river was a little cold. I huddled, shivering… Immediately, a warm arm wrapped around me.

I was startled at first, but then I nestled against her, filled with joy.

“See, you are still alive and well without him… No one can accompany another person until the end.” She held me and spoke a difficult and profound life lesson. “Xiaoning, you have to learn, learn one thing.”

“What?”

“Learn to live well alone.” Her eyes were incredibly bright. “You should live for yourself.”

Live… for myself?

What did that mean? Was she going to leave me? “But… I don’t know how, I don’t know…”

“I’ll teach you.” Her gentle tone calmed me just in time. “For now, you can rely on me, but I will slowly teach you this lesson… I will show you, in my own way, what it means to live for yourself…”

“Find your passion for life. That was one of the reasons I decided to leave home in the first place.”

Live for yourself… Find your passion for life.

Her words reminded me that I hadn’t had a chance to ask her why she left home, abandoned the family business, and became the “irresponsible” person Tao Yian described.

However, from these words, I seemed to see a part of the answer.

She took a deep breath and said slowly, word by word: “So, I have decided to take you on a trip.”

My heart trembled. The moment I understood what she meant, I was ecstatic! “You promised! You’re going to take me traveling, and you can’t leave me behind!”

Her eyes curved into a smile. “Yes, I promised.”

I beamed, until I came back to my senses and realized I was tightly gripping her hand. She was holding me, and I was practically clinging to her body. Realizing how intimate our posture was, I quickly created some distance. Even though the wind was a bit cold, my face was burning hot!

My phone saved me—Xiaopei called to announce that dinner was ready and told us to hurry back.

I got up and pulled her up. She held my hand, and as she stood, she bent over and enveloped me in her body scent. “Oh, I have a special gift for you.”

She whispered close to my ear, making my ear feel hot.

“A gift?”

“I bought it in Sri Lanka. It’s famous for gemstones, so I chose a piece of jewelry that I thought would suit you,” she said, taking a small, exquisite box from her hip pouch and placing it solemnly in my hand. “It’s not very valuable, but I think it suits you. It’s for you.”

I felt her saying “not very valuable” was hard to believe… I pouted, happy because she had thought of me. Not only did she immediately come south to find me, but she also brought me a gift… “Can I open it?”

“Mm, open it and see?”

Using the light from the streetlamp, I opened the box. It was a round gemstone about the size of a thumb, and it was purple! “It’s beautiful! What kind of gem is this?”

Her eyes sparkled with joy. “It’s crystal—natural amethyst.” She held it up so I could see it was a crystal necklace. “Shall I put it on you?”

“Yes.”

Besides the crystal pendant, the rest of the chain looked like silver. As I accepted it, I realized how valuable it must be. “Sister Tao…”

“It’s very beautiful.” She gently brushed my hair, smiling. “Shall we go home? Time for dinner!”

Her smile was so captivating, and my heart felt an involuntary stirring.

Slow as I was, I didn’t yet understand where this stirring came from.

But she would make me understand, eventually.