"Yuguang Ge, how could he... How could he..."
Have died... Those two words lingered in Ji Yi's mouth, but she couldn't say it aloud.
Since He Yuguang passed away four years ago, Mrs. He had long accepted that reality. However, seeing Ji Yi crying over her biological son, her eyes couldn't help but turn red. "You know Yuguang's health was poor since he was young."
"The doctors said he wouldn't be able to live past eighteen years old. In the end, he held on till the age of twenty before passing away. To him, that was truly a miracle."
Twenty years old?
Which means He Yuguang passed away four years ago?
But why have I not heard a word about this? Even my parents don't know about this...
The tears in Ji Yi's eyes continued to fall as she asked suspiciously, "Why have I never heard about this?"
"Yuguang slipped into a coma the day after you got into the car accident. One month later, he passed away. At the time, you were in a critical condition and you're your parents' only child; it was already bad enough to encounter something like this, and I didn't want to make matters worse for them. What's more, you know Yuguang grew up at home and didn't really know many people outside, so when he passed away, only members of the He family were there to see him off."
Mrs. He gave a long speech. After it was over, she stared at Ji Yi for a while then added, "Today happens to be the anniversary of Yuguang's death. I'm going to see him in a moment. Would you like to come with me?"
Ji Yi stood in front of He Yuguang's grave for three whole hours from the moment she found out he passed away.
At first, Ji Yi thought three hours would be enough for her to process the grief a little. However, when she saw the black and white photo of young He Yuguang on the gravestone and the three words "He Yuguang," her heart felt a sharp pain striking her.
So six years ago, when she left Sucheng, that was actually the last time they would see each other.
The sickly, weak young man who called her "Manman" had already passed away.
The He Yuguang in the photo was the version Ji Yi was most familiar with. He looked warm with a smile on his face, and he made her feel happy and comfortable.
After Ji Yi tried so hard to stop the tears, they finally crashed down, drop after drop, as she stared at the photo.
Ji Yi didn't leave with Mrs. He.
She stayed in front of He Yuguang's grave from the afternoon till sunset. When night fell, Ji Yi finally reached out to stroke He Yuguang's cold gravestone and silently said goodbye.
As she walked out of the cemetery, Ji Yi called for a taxi to the city.
Through the window, Ji Yi looked out at the dark sky as she sped through the streets and reminisced about every little thing that happened between her and He Yuguang after they reunited.
From the moment she received a text from He Yuguang saying "Manman" to the night he rushed over to Lijiang to see her to the sky lanterns he prepared for her...
Ji Yi quietly reminisced for a long, long time. It wasn't until she entered the city that her mind lingered over a single thought: The real He Yuguang passed away many years ago, so the He Yuguang I reunited with was actually... He Jichen?