How Does It Compare to Being Together Forever

The summer weather in Jinling was so hot, with cicadas calling in waves like surging heat that made one unbearably irritated. From the hall downstairs came the sounds of flutes, three-stringed instruments, and other music, with a woman singing in Suzhou dialect—the melodious, lingering Kunqu opera of “The Palace of Eternal Life.”

Yu Mingxuan frowned, took out a box of matches, struck one with a “scratch,” lit the cigarette in his hand, then blew it out in one breath, casually throwing the matchbox aside. He smoked while reaching for a vine-patterned vase on a nearby stand. Without even looking, he threw it out the second-floor window. There was a “crash” as the vase shattered to pieces, and the singing woman’s voice downstairs immediately stopped.

Both upstairs and downstairs fell into silence, as if in confrontation.

Soon, footsteps were heard approaching—she was coming upstairs. He still frowned but used one hand to unfasten the buttons on his iron-gray military jacket. Having undone just one button, a fragrant breeze approached as she gracefully walked before him, helping him unfasten those cold buttons one by one.

He held the cigarette between his fingers, his gaze radiating coldness, “Qingqing, have you forgotten everything I told you?”

She looked up with an alluring smile, revealing a row of small teeth white as rice grains, “How dare I forget the regimental commander’s instructions? No singing opera, no public appearances, no entertaining guests at home.” She recited them one by one, then smiled sweetly again. Her eyes sparkled with flowing charm, beautiful as a newly bloomed lotus. Now she leaned tenderly against his chest, saying softly, “Did I sing well just now?”

He knew she was deliberately provoking him. His brow suddenly furrowed tightly—he was furious to the extreme. Pushing her aside, he said coldly, “Look at yourself now—what have you become!”

He was truly enraged by her, using tremendous force. She couldn’t stand steady and crashed directly into a nearby stand, hitting her ribs painfully. She frowned slightly and drew in a sharp breath. All her grievances surged to her heart, and her eyes finally showed complete disillusionment. She turned to glare at him hatefully, “This is what I’ve always been—you’re not unaware. I’m just an opera singer from under the bridge, a lowly girl!”

The corner of Yu Mingxuan’s mouth twitched slightly, but he said coldly, “You certainly have self-awareness!”

He left her there and turned toward the door. Watching him leave, she felt even more aggrieved. Glancing at the writing materials on the table and the calligraphy she had painstakingly practiced, she remembered how good he used to be to her—teaching her to read and write. But not now. How could he have ever liked her? Never, not once!

She rushed forward and swept everything from the table to the floor, viciously trampling the practice sheets she had worked so hard on, stamping on them several times. Then she went to the rosewood wardrobe to pull out opera costumes—a garment with orange-red colored patterns of flying butterflies, its white water sleeves trailing to the floor. Gritting her teeth, she said hatefully, “If you won’t let me sing, I’ll sing anyway, sing for you to see.”

Several matrons and maids were standing outside, and seeing her acting so frantically, they all rushed in to restrain her, “Miss Lan, please bear with it. If you continue making such a scene, not only will we feel bad watching, but the regimental commander will be heartbroken too.”

Lan Qingqing was coaxed by these women and girls, but tears kept rolling down, “You’re all here humoring me like I’m a fool. How could he be heartbroken over me? How could his eyes even see me? What am I…” As she spoke, tears fell directly onto the white water sleeves. Maid Yun’er consoled her, “If Miss Lan would just soften a bit, the regimental commander wouldn’t be so stubborn with you. If the regimental commander didn’t care for you, how could he rush here just hearing you were ill? But you insist on being angry with him—there are so many times you could sing opera, but you chose to sing right in front of him.”

Hearing this, Lan Qingqing silently wiped her tears and smiled bitterly through her tears, “I won’t sing anymore. I won’t sing. I won’t sing a single line. He likes me to practice calligraphy, so I’ll write for him to see. Where’s my brush? When I write well, he might glance at me…”

Yun’er quickly picked up a brush that had fallen to the floor, spread paper on the table, while another maid hurriedly ground ink. Lan Qingqing stood at the table with the brush, head lowered, writing character by character, but scalding tears kept falling, blurring the newly written characters into smudged ink blots.

Yun’er said softly, “Miss, why put yourself through this?”

She shook her head as another tear fell, “How could I be so foolish?”

In three days, he would marry Jun Minru, daughter of the Deputy Finance Minister. In three days, she would become the mistress he kept hidden in this small building, never to see the light of day!

The promises he once made to her had long been completely forgotten by him.

On his wedding day, the ceremony was extremely grand. The wedding of the Military Committee Chairman’s eldest son and the Deputy Finance Minister’s daughter was naturally extravagantly luxurious and lively. Without stepping outside the small building, she heard the thunderous celebratory firecrackers. She lay in bed all day without a drop of water, as if dead, and the servants dared not disturb her.

At midnight, he actually came.

No lamps were lit in the bedroom, only some moonlight streaming through the window. She lay in bed looking at the moonlight on the floor. He walked to her side and sat down silently. Suddenly she sat up in bed, staring at him fixedly, and let out a cold laugh through her nose, “Get out of my room!”

He also laughed coldly, “This is my house!”

She immediately got out of bed and tried to rush out the door. He didn’t stop her, just stood up and casually turned on the wall lamp, saying indifferently, “What good end would you have if you left me? Go back to singing opera under the bridge, letting that inhuman master of yours beat and scold you? Forcing you to charm men everywhere!”

She suddenly stood frozen there, cold chills running down her spine.

With one sentence, he had struck her deepest fear!

That lamplight illuminated half the room, casting her shadow on the wall like a helpless, lonely soul. She finally turned around, grinding out a few words full of hatred through her teeth.

“Yu Mingxuan, you calculated that I have no way to leave you. You calculated that I… that I…”

She suddenly turned around, quickly walked to the large dressing table, opened the ivory cosmetic case, and took out a carved rosewood box. She pressed the mechanism, and the lid automatically sprang open, revealing a jade mandarin duck pair inside. The mandarin ducks were a gift from him. Back then they were so happy—he took her boating on the Qin River. His personal adjutant could only follow from a distance. He rowed the boat himself, though not very well. When the oar hit the water, it splashed countless droplets, crystal water beads spattering her and rolling off her soft satin qipao like pearls. She just laughed merrily. The sunset over the Qin River illuminated half the river surface, making it even more brilliant.

When they disembarked, she saw this jade mandarin duck pair at a roadside stall. He could tell at a glance that it wasn’t quality jade, but she happened to love it. The vendor was eager to make the sale and kept saying, “Young master doesn’t lack these few coins. It’s rare for the young mistress to like it so much—mandarin duck pairs symbolize growing old together.”

Mandarin duck pairs, growing old together.

Under the harsh lamplight, the jade mandarin ducks’ gleaming seemed like knife blades piercing her eyes, stabbing from her eyes straight into her heart. She turned around and hurled the jade mandarin duck pair forcefully against the wall. With a “bang,” the ducks struck the wall lamp, and instantly the room plunged into darkness again. Moonlight streamed in, illuminating the broken jade pieces on the floor!

She didn’t cry at all. Her body was like a dry well without any vitality. Her voice was light and ethereal, yet full of mockery, “Yu Mingxuan, I don’t want any of these things anymore. I’m returning them all to you.”

“What do you want?”

“I want fine clothes and food, I want wealth and honor, I want your money!”