As the high-speed train slowly pulled away from the platform, Jiang Lai sat by the window, the warmth of Shen Ruxue’s embrace still lingering on her fingertips.
She looked down at the diamond ring on her ring finger. The tiny, scattered glints under the light dazzled her eyes, just like the tears in Shen Ruxue’s eyes last night. She clearly missed her so much, clearly couldn’t bear for her to leave, yet she still had to send her away.
Was it because she was afraid that the more time they spent together, the harder it would be to separate?
She pulled out her phone and flipped through the album to the latest photo she’d taken with Shen Ruxue.
Jiang Lai’s fingertip lightly traced across the screen. The scene of their parting played over and over in her mind, and she glanced again at the photo in her hand. Only this way could she slightly ease the longing in her heart.
In that last hug, when Shen Ruxue buried her face in the top of her hair and said in a muffled voice, “Wait for me,” Jiang Lai almost couldn’t hold back her tears. She could only nod vigorously, afraid that if she spoke, she’d lose her composure.
“From now on, our family will never be separated again.”
Shen Ruxue’s words echoed in her ears.
Jiang Lai’s lips couldn’t help but curl up, yet her nose tingled. She took out a tissue to wipe the corner of her eye, and then, afraid someone around might see, quickly turned her head to look out the window.
The scenery outside rushed backward like a movie on fast-forward, but her thoughts remained stuck in Shen Ruxue’s embrace.
She pulled out her phone to send Shen Ruxue a message, typing and deleting, deleting and typing.
‘I’m on the train now, don’t miss me too much…’
That would be too sentimental.
‘Remember to eat on time…’
Too wordy. After all, Shen Ruxue wasn’t a child anymore; she’d eat properly on her own.
Jiang Lai thought it over, and in the end, she only sent one line:
“Be safe on your way back.”
She attached a small heart emoji.
Within seconds of sending the message, Shen Ruxue replied:
“Okay. If you’re tired, get some sleep. Let me know when you arrive.”
A matching heart emoji followed.
Jiang Lai stared at the screen, her heart feeling soft, as if soaked in warm water.
But how did she reply so fast?
Shouldn’t she be driving right now?
What Jiang Lai didn’t know was that after she entered the high-speed rail station, Shen Ruxue sat there in the station for a long, long time before finally calming her emotions enough to go back.
For the rest of the journey, Jiang Lai didn’t sleep much.
One moment she’d touch the ring and replay last night’s proposal, the next she’d scroll through her photos with Shen Ruxue and daydream, then she’d worry that Shen Ruxue might forget to eat because she was too busy with work.
Time passed both slowly and quickly.
By the time Jiang Lai came to her senses, she had already returned to her own city.
Looking at the stopped train, her heart inexplicably started beating faster. She was both looking forward to seeing her daughter and Yingyu soon and reluctant to leave the city where Shen Ruxue was.
The train came to a steady halt at the platform.
Jiang Lai followed the crowd off. As soon as she walked out of the exit, she spotted that familiar figure in the crowd.
Chi Yingyu was wearing a cream-colored trench coat, her hair tied up in a ponytail. She was standing on tiptoe, peering in this direction.
When she saw Jiang Lai, her eyes instantly lit up, and she waved, calling out:
“Jiang Jiang! Over here!”
Jiang Lai smiled and walked over.
Before she could speak, Chi Yingyu stepped forward quickly, instinctively reaching out to take her hand.
But just as her fingertips were about to touch Jiang Lai’s palm, Chi Yingyu’s movement froze.
Her gaze landed on Jiang Lai’s ring finger.
That diamond ring was glaringly bright under the light, the refracted light stabbing into her eyes like needles.
The smile on Chi Yingyu’s face instantly dimmed.
Her outstretched hand froze in midair, her fingers curling involuntarily.
The corners of her mouth, which had been lifted, stiffly fell. Yet in the instant Jiang Lai looked up at her, she forcefully pulled together a smile that looked somewhat natural.
Her gaze seemed glued to the diamond ring on Jiang Lai’s ring finger, even her breathing faltering for half a beat.
“Welcome back. Was the trip tiring?”
Chi Yingyu withdrew her frozen hand and slipped it into the pocket of her trench coat, her fingertips gripping the fabric tightly to suppress the tremor in her voice.
She deliberately avoided the ring and reached out to take Jiang Lai’s small bag.
“Le Yi is anxious at home. As soon as she woke up this morning, she asked when you’d be back.”
Jiang Lai didn’t notice her strangeness. She smiled and nodded, her fingertip unconsciously stroking the surface of the ring, her tone full of undisguised tenderness.
“The trip was fine. I just missed you guys a little. Oh, by the way, Xiaoxue saw me off at the station. We…”
Jiang Lai wanted to tell Chi Yingyu everything that had happened with Xiaoxue.
But Chi Yingyu cut her off.
“Let’s get in the car first. The wind’s strong outside.”
She grabbed Jiang Lai’s hand with one hand and carried her bag with the other, her back straight and rigid, as if deliberately hiding something.
Jiang Lai paused mid-sentence, frowning at her back.
Looking at the sparkling diamond ring on her own finger, she probably already knew why Chi Yingyu’s mood had suddenly changed.
The atmosphere in the car was a bit heavy.
The knuckles on Chi Yingyu’s hand gripping the steering wheel turned white. From time to time, her gaze swept through the rearview mirror toward Jiang Lai’s hand.
That diamond ring quietly sat on her ring finger, yet it pressed on Chi Yingyu’s heart like a boulder.
At some point, Chi Yingyu had developed a habit that only she had.
Every so often, she would unconsciously look at the ring on Jiang Lai’s ring finger.
The ring from her own sister that had once been on Jiang Lai’s hand—the one she wore when they were married—had always been on Jiang Jiang’s finger.
Even after Jiang Lai turned into a woman and the ring size no longer fit, Jiang Lai still thought about how to wear that wedding ring on herself.
In the end, she bought a necklace and hung the ring on it.
But ever since Jiang Lai and Chi Yingyu started dating, she had put that ring away completely.
Chi Yingyu had thought that from then on, the only ring Jiang Lai would wear would be the one she gave her.
But she never expected her sister to be so fast.
After only two days over there, her sister had already bought a new ring.
Jiang Lai watched Chi Yingyu’s tense profile and unconsciously slowed the movement of her fingertip stroking the ring’s surface.
‘I can’t believe I forgot something so important.’
Jiang Lai wanted to tell Chi Yingyu everything that had happened these past two days, but when the words reached her lips, she didn’t know how to explain.
As for the ring, she had no idea how to explain it either.
She couldn’t just say it was a new promise from Shen Ruxue, proof that after missing each other for over a decade, they were finally going to hold each other tight.
The silence in the car was like fine rain, falling heavily on their hearts.
Jiang Lai tried several times to break the stalemate, but Chi Yingyu glanced at her quickly through the rearview mirror and then immediately looked away.
Her knuckles on the steering wheel tightened even more, turning pale.
“Yingyu…”
Jiang Lai finally spoke, her voice very soft.
“This ring… your sister gave it to me…”
Even though she had already guessed, when she actually heard it, Chi Yingyu’s heart still clenched painfully.
She smiled, but her voice was lower than usual.
“That’s great… it’s really beautiful…”
She deliberately tried to sound lighthearted, but to Jiang Lai, that smile looked worse than crying.
Jiang Lai didn’t press further.
She understood Chi Yingyu’s personality.
She wouldn’t easily give in on things she’d decided, especially emotions buried deep in her heart.
Unless she was willing to talk about it herself, pressing would only make her more resistant.
The car fell back into silence.
Only the air from the vents gently blew the unspoken barrier between them.
They arrived at the residential complex.
As soon as Jiang Lai unbuckled her seatbelt, she heard her daughter’s clear voice from the entrance of the building:
“You’re back—”
Jiang Leyi was wearing a pink little jacket, fluttering over like a small butterfly.
Jiang Lai bent down and scooped her daughter into her arms, the heaviness in her heart easing a little.
But after looking at her daughter for a moment, her gaze shifted back to Chi Yingyu.
When she looked at the person beside her again, she found that Chi Yingyu acted as if those terrible emotions had never appeared. She was back to her usual self.
But Jiang Lai knew very well.
Chi Yingyu’s heart was really, really hurting right now.
But with their daughter present, she couldn’t say anything.
So after the three of them got home, they acted as if the ring had never existed.
The whole family appeared warm and harmonious.