Chapter 81: Life-long Romance (Ending)

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5881048

This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

One day, Wen Ruoxian learned from Cheng Suran that Jiang Yu's brand had a custom-made wedding dress series for women. After seeing many examples, she felt excited and developed the idea of taking wedding photos—

She believed Song Qingluo would like it, so she agreed first.

This time, she acted before consulting.

As expected, Song Qingluo was even more eager, and she boarded the plane with this anticipation.

Seven days were neither long nor short. Whenever the two had free time, they would turn on the video. Due to the time difference, they could only chat for a maximum of ten minutes each time.

At first, they thought it would be hard to endure. During the days they did not meet and the times they did not video chat, they were both busy with their work across the ocean.

The more focused they became, the less they noticed the passage of time. In the busy moments, when they paused and casually opened WeChat, they could see each other's updates, which relieved the fatigue of work. 

Every day, there were endless shares of delicious food and moods. Wen Ruoxian enjoyed this sense of connection. Amidst the busyness, she still had a piece of tranquility in her heart, adding color to her life and holding expectations for the future. 

Gradually, it did not feel so hard to endure anymore.

On the day Song Qingluo returned, Wen Ruoxian brought roses. She arrived at the airport half an hour early, holding a vibrant bouquet of bright red flowers, standing out in the crowd.

The figure she had missed day and night appeared in her sight, running toward her and drawing the attention of those around them. 

“Why aren't you hugging me?” Song Qingluo opened her arms but found them empty. She frowned in dissatisfaction, but suddenly felt a lightness on her shoulder as Wen Ruoxian took the violin case from behind her. 

She let out a soft "hm," and the corners of her mouth lifted.

Wen Ruoxian knew exactly what she was thinking. She raised the roses to block their faces and gave Song Qingluo a kiss near her lips. “Is this okay?”

“Barely,” Song Qingluo pouted, her lips almost reaching the sky, while her eyes hid a giggle.

“Since that is the case…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, say it.”

Wen Ruoxian just smiled and quickened her pace. Song Qingluo hurried to keep up, determined not to let the second half of her question go unanswered, and they made their way to the parking lot.

The car was parked in a corner far from the exit, with plenty of empty spaces ahead. Based on her understanding of Wen Ruoxian, she guessed there was a surprise waiting for her.

“Wen Ruoxian, do you know what happens when you deliberately tease me?”

“I do.”

“You won't be able to get up tomorrow.”

“…”

She was quite self-aware.

Wen Ruoxian opened the passenger door and carefully placed the violin case inside. Song Qingluo, filled with suspicion, was about to get in when Wen Ruoxian stopped her and tilted her chin toward the back door. “I prepared a gift for you. Go take a look.”

Song Qingluo's expression instantly brightened, and she eagerly opened the door.

She was easy to please.

Easily satisfied.

As Song Qingluo rummaged through the car, Wen Ruoxian quietly followed, closing the door behind her and wrapping her arms around her from behind. “Don’t move.”

Song Qingluo froze.

“Where is the gift?”

Wen Ruoxian did not answer. She pressed on Song Qingluo's shoulders and turned her around, sitting across from her. “Far away in the sky, close at hand.”

Song Qingluo inhaled sharply.

“Qingluo…”

“I miss you very much,” Wen Ruoxian whispered in her ear.

Song Qingluo tightened her grip and lowered her voice. “Who are you? Where did you hide Ruoxian?”

“Don’t you believe this is me?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I can prove it with actions.”

It was rare to see Wen Ruoxian like this, and Song Qingluo did not know when she had secretly learned her past boldness. She wanted to tease her a bit more, but in the end, she overestimated herself.

The fox would eventually reveal its wild nature, swallowing the prey delivered to its door whole.

The gift was not Wen Ruoxian herself.

It was the heart willing to break all boundaries beneath her long-held restraint, just to satisfy Song Qingluo.

….

On the day they went to take their wedding photos, both of them carefully put on makeup.

Song Qingluo had high standards and a strict sense of aesthetics. She kept picking and choosing but didn’t find any of the wedding dresses appealing, not liking a single one. Wen Ruoxian, on the other hand, was more laid-back. There were two dresses she kind of liked, but she felt she could wear them or not—it didn’t really matter.

Jiang Yu, who personally accompanied them to choose the dresses, probably had already expected this outcome and thoughtfully helped by contacting her designer friend.

"These are all custom-made wedding dresses."

"My two friends, Qi Yan and Lu Zhiqiao. And then the ones in the back..."

She pulled out a commemorative album from eight years ago.

After looking through it, Song Qingluo was very satisfied. The only issue was that custom wedding dresses took a long time, requiring at least a two-month wait. She came back full of anticipation, but now it was like getting a mosquito bite—itchy but impossible to scratch.

However, for the freshness of wearing a wedding dress for the first time in her life, she could endure the wait.

After having dinner with Jiang Yu and the others, the two of them headed home. Wen Ruoxian felt like she had forgotten something. While waiting at a red light, she saw an ad for a honeymoon photography package and suddenly remembered:

"Qingluo, since we have the wedding dresses, are we going to hold a wedding?"

"What kind of wedding?" Song Qingluo was still savoring that commemorative album.

Wen Ruoxian thought for a moment but didn't know how to describe it, "Like a wedding banquet, the kind we've been to. If it’s a bit more formal, it would be like a cocktail party. We'd send invitations to friends we want to invite."

"A monkey show."

"?"

"Friends and family eating while watching the couple go through the ceremony—doesn’t that seem like a monkey show? Everyone cares more about whether the food’s good, if it meets the standard, who they can meet, and what connections they can make. Even if it’s a more formal cocktail party, it’s just a different broth but the same medicine. I’ve been tired of the whole hetero couple routine since I was a kid."

As she spoke, Song Qingluo shrugged, "I don’t really like it, but I’m not at the point of hating it. If you want it, I’m okay with it."

"I feel the same way as you."

"So this is called a 'monkey show'? Your description is too funny." Wen Ruoxian nodded repeatedly.

Song Qingluo spread her hands, "It’s a 'monkey show' for us, but for the guests, it’s ‘civilized monkey-watching.’"

"Hahaha..."

During the days of discussing the custom wedding dress with the designer, Song Qingluo decided to make a short film as another form of "wedding." When the Young Miss said she was going to do it, she meant it. She quickly assembled a team, revised the script, wrote the storyboards, and finalized the styling. It was a flurry of activity.

The story starts on a college campus.

Twenty-seven-year-old Song Qingluo played her eighteen-year-old self, while thirty-two-year-old Wen Ruoxian played her twenty-three-year-old self.

They hired a performance coach and a voice actress with a similar tone. As long as they poured in enough money, achieving the desired effect wasn’t hard.

Time quietly began to speed up.

During the days of waiting for the wedding dress, she balanced work with filming. The rainy spring passed amid the sounds of distant thunder.

Wen Ruoxian had at least one meeting every day and traveled for work at least twice a week. It was rare for her to break free from company affairs to focus on personal projects. She dealt with endless large-scale simultaneous and consecutive interpreting projects, and had countless translation manuscripts to review, along with numerous small classes to teach.

Song Qingluo had a relatively easier time.

After deciding not to do charity work, she charged whatever the price was for each performance. She reasonably controlled her schedule and reserved the remaining time for her own creations. Sometimes she wrote music for fun, and sometimes she sold it to film and game companies. With the support of her family background and her mother’s connections, she began to walk the path of a freelance musician.

Half a month before her birthday, they received the custom wedding dresses.

Song Qingluo wore an extremely sensual low-cut mermaid style that hugged her curves tightly. The sheer, lace design was a special request of hers.

Wen Ruoxian opted for a more conservative choice, a Baroque-style luxurious fairy-tale gown with a voluminous skirt and silver embroidery, resembling a princess from a Disney story. Her overly cool and reserved face matched the wedding dress even more charmingly.

At that moment, Song Qingluo had “bad thoughts.”

“Ruoxian...”

"I really like your wedding dress, how about we switch?" Song Qingluo clung to Wen Ruoxian, acting cute.

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5881048

This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

Wen Ruoxian couldn't resist her, but looking at the wedding dress on Song Qingluo, with parts exposed here and there, she still felt a bit embarrassed.

"You're always so conservative. This is your first time wearing a wedding dress, maybe even the only time in your life. Don't you want to try a different style?" Song Qingluo started persuading her.

"Maybe?"

"Why is it 'maybe' the only time in your life?" Wen Ruoxian caught on to the odd phrasing.

Song Qingluo hadn’t expected that, and stammered, "I... was just being careful with my words."

"You think we’ll break up, meet someone new, and wear wedding dresses again?"

"You're overthinking it!"

"But that’s exactly what you said."

"Ugh, you—"

The little fox was so anxious, scratching her ears and cheek in frustration, that even if she had a thousand mouths, she couldn't explain herself clearly.

Wen Ruoxian suddenly burst into laughter. "I know, I just wanted to tease you." As she spoke, she kissed her on the forehead. "It's not easy to make the little fox feel defeated."

Song Qingluo grabbed Wen Ruoxian's hand and bit it.

She didn’t use much force, only leaving a faint mark. Eagerly, she started tugging at Wen Ruoxian's wedding dress, and said fiercely, "I'm going to take a lot of close-up shots of you and hang them by the bed."

Wen Ruoxian couldn't resist and simply began tugging at Song Qingluo's dress too.

"This is the only time in this life I'll wear a wedding dress."

“With you."

….

The wedding photos were divided into three themes: violin, motorcycle, and office, symbolizing the different fragments of their life together.

To avoid suspicion, Song Qingluo didn’t choose Jiangcheng Concert Hall as the location. Instead, she took Wen Ruoxian and the team on a special trip to the capital. Standing on the stage like a princess, her beloved violin appeared in the shot as she played the wedding hymn. Wen Ruoxian, holding a bouquet, leaned against the edge of the stage, gazing at her affectionately.

It brought them back to the night she first saw her on stage, stunning and heart-stirring.

Wen Ruoxian went up on stage to present flowers to Song Qingluo.

The camera captured this moment, freezing them in this time and place.

A dynamic film and still photos—two ways to interpret this unique “wedding.”

While shooting the motorcycle theme, Song Qingluo brought out the custom helmet Wen Ruoxian gave her for her birthday last year, along with her beloved Ducati—wearing a wedding dress with a motorcycle helmet, no one had done it before. No matter how quirky her ideas were, Wen Ruoxian always understood her and was willing to cooperate.

The office theme was the fastest and easiest to shoot. After everything wrapped up, the microfilm entered the final stage of production, rushing to be completed before Song Qingluo’s birthday at the end of the month.

As usual, her friends took care of the arrangements for her birthday. They rented a small island offshore and, overnight, shipped equipment and supplies to the island. 

No one could resist enjoying food, drink, and entertainment. It was not just a celebration of her birthday and their love, but also a celebration of another year, with everyone still by their side.

For Wen Ruoxian, this was the day she had waited for a long time, a day to make up for past regrets. 

[I want to have it again, next year.]

[You owe me a birthday, Wen Ruoxian.]

She still owed her that Black Forest cake.

….

This morning, Song Qingluo had just flown back from Europe. She barely adjusted to the time difference but quickly changed into the new clothes Wen Ruoxian had bought for her, and excitedly boarded the yacht. Wen Ruoxian had also arranged her work in advance and was spending the entire day with her.

By the evening, all their busy friends had arrived.

On a cloudless night, the crescent moon hung low in the sky, and when you looked up, only half was visible.

The island was bathed in moonlight, and the melodious and penetrating sound of a violin echoed across the night. Song Qingluo stood in the middle of the crowd, fully immersed in performing the original piece she had composed for this day. Countless lights focused on her, dimming even the glow of the moon.

Like a lighthouse in the vast ocean, guiding lost ships home.

All the friends who could make it had gathered. They raised their champagne glasses and formed a circle around the burning bonfire, which crackled as the sea breeze swept through, providing a rhythmic accompaniment to her music.

As the final notes of the violin faded, cheers and applause erupted.

"Wow—"

"As expected of the birthday star."

"Baby Qingluo, happy birthday!"

Amidst the chorus of blessings, Song Qingluo smiled so much that her eyes narrowed.

She set down the violin, raised her glass in a toast, and instinctively searched for Wen Ruoxian's figure. The person who promised to come at this moment was still nowhere to be seen.

She downed the champagne in one go.

On the huge projection screen, the micro-movie began to play.

It was their special wedding, a story from the campus to the office. Even though she had already watched it twice, Song Qingluo was still drawn to the images, marveling at the nine years that had passed.

Her eyes became a bit red.

At some point, the crowd slowly parted, and a small cart carrying a candle-lit cake rolled up to her side. Just as it stopped, Wen Ruoxian softly called her name:

"Qingluo."

"Happy birthday."

Song Qingluo turned around.

The rich, sweet scent of chocolate wafted into her nose—it was her favorite Black Forest cake. Two small figurines leaned against each other on top, and in the middle stood a candle shaped as the number “27.” In the candlelight was her lover's face.

She happily blew out the candle.

Wen Ruoxian picked up the cake, scooped a piece with a small silver spoon, and brought it to her lips, "This year's chocolate is sweeter than last year's."

Under the gaze of everyone, Song Qingluo ate the cake without hesitation. She then took the silver spoon, scooped another piece, and fed it to Wen Ruoxian, watching her finish it. "You're sweeter."

"These lovers are so lovey-dovey, I can't take it, I can't take it."

"We want some cake too!"

"Too much lemon gotta balance it out with some cake."

Everyone joined in the fun.

Tonight, Shi Chuning, for once, didn’t tease anyone. The reason was simple: her idol was also there to support the event, and she had to behave like a well-mannered fan. Jiang Yu and Cheng Suran stood on either side of her, not displaying any signs of intimacy, making it impossible for anyone to discern their true relationship.

“The cake for everyone has to be cut by the birthday girl herself.” After feeding Song Qingluo a few more bites, Wen Ruoxian led her to the long table.

She had ordered two cakes from ‘Huajian’.

A personal-sized one was reserved for Song Qingluo, while the three-tier celebration cake was meant for everyone to share.

Song Qingluo picked up the cake knife and swiftly cut the cake, dividing it into dozens of pieces layer by layer, placing each piece on small plates and personally handing them out to her friends.

Not a single piece was left over.

The mini-movie continued playing, approaching its conclusion. On the screen, Song Qingluo and Wen Ruoxian appeared in wedding dresses, hand in hand, walking through the woods. There were no friends, no priest, just a wide view of the ocean in sight.

"Oh wow, Qingluo’s turned into an obedient little princess."

"Maybe she's afraid of her wife?"

"Definitely. The wedding dress represents family status, showing that Qingluo might be arrogant outside but is afraid of her wife at home."

"Hahaha, you're such a tease!"

The wedding dress scene made everyone burst into laughter again, playfully mocking Song Qingluo.

Song Qingluo bared her teeth and pretended to claw at them, feigning anger.

The bonfire blazed brighter.

The moon hung low in the sky, and the island was filled with joyous singing and laughter.

Clusters of brilliant fireworks shot up into the night sky.

Song Qingluo led Wen Ruoxian to a quieter spot on the beach, away from the crowd. The waves crashed against the rocks, and the sea breeze brought in salty air, with the sounds of revelry drifting from a distance.

She looked up at the moon.

"This birthday is the most lively, but it is a pity that Yiren-jie did not come. I wanted to formally introduce you to her—this 'friend' who often picks me up is actually my girlfriend."

"Is it because of her busy performances?" Wen Ruoxian tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Song Qingluo shook her head. "No, she directly refused, saying she does not like crowded places. Ai..." She sighed, unsure if it was disappointment or nostalgia. "I feel like we are growing more distant."

"People's fates with one another are different," Wen Ruoxian comforted.

"Some grow up together like sisters, some meet only briefly and merely nod at each other, and some have tangled ties over the years..."

She paused here, tilting her head to peck Song Qingluo's lips.

"And will accompany you for a lifetime."

Song Qingluo smiled, knowingly asking, "Who is this person?"

“Me."

Wen Ruoxian stopped, smiling as she gazed at her.

"By the way, didn't you say you had something to show me? You have been mysterious all week, and I have waited so long."

Song Qingluo smiled shyly, took out her phone, and lowered her head to fiddle with it. "It's a mood diary I wrote before. I deleted it out of anger last year, and I finally found it from the cloud backup. I want to show you."

"A diary..." Wen Ruoxian was stunned. "Can I really look at it?"

"Here,"

Holding the phone screen in front of her.

"Old-Fashioned Observation Diary"

The text recorded the dates, one after another, stringing together dense fragments of emotions.

11.22: She said I was cute and interesting, and I declare, she's really good at reading people.

….

1.17: I got her ID number through work. It turns out her birthday is November 1, the same day I accidentally met her again. This means I must be her destined girlfriend! [laughing]

….

As she read, Wen Ruoxian felt her eyes sting and could not help but say aloud, "February 9: I woke up in her arms in the morning. Her face was very close to mine, and I really wanted to steal a kiss."

"Hey, do not read it out loud. I am so embarrassed," Song Qingluo said, blushing as she tried to take the phone back.

Wen Ruoxian grabbed her arm, her lips trembling. "I want to add a few more entries."

"Add what?"

Without answering, she snatched the phone away and quickly typed on the screen:

[November 1, 2027: We got together.]

[June 24, 2028: We wore wedding dresses.]

Two simple statements.

Then, she renamed the file to "Love Observation Diary," saved it, and returned the phone to Song Qingluo.

"Mrs. Wen."

"Do you want to spend a life-long romance with Mrs. Song?"

Wen Ruoxian cupped Song Qingluo's face. The moonlight spilled down, and the sea breeze blew gently. Unsurprisingly, Song Qingluo's lips curled into a smile as she said loudly, "I do!"

Just like nine years ago.

Nothing had changed.

Fin.

Author's Note:

It’s over~

I feel ashamed that this article took too long to write, and that the little cuties who follow it have been chasing it for too long. I really could not balance many things, so I fell short on the update frequency. I bow to everyone, TUT. When I first conceived this story, I chose between writing it as an extra to "Forbidden To Be Tempted" or writing it as a separate article. In the end, I chose the latter. The plan was for a short to medium-length piece of about 200,000 to 300,000 characters, hoping the main storyline would be simple and light, so the whole story is relatively flat, without major ups and downs. Giving Wen-jiejie and Xiao Luobo a perfect ending means I have no regrets. I wish they would be forever happy in the story. Wu, Mom is crying TUT.

….

PS: There should be an extra chapter. I want to write about them in a parallel universe, but I won’t spoil it for now (covering face.jpg).

(Although I am not sure when I will post it...)

….

The next article will likely be titled "Humanoid,"* and I will attach a synopsis—

*this novel was shelved.

On the first day of the New Year, Qiu Fuluo scattered her girlfriend's ashes into the sea, kneeling by the shore and unable to rise.

A few months later, she yawned as she walked out of the bedroom and saw her girlfriend entering with a cake, smiling at her:

“Fuluo, happy birthday.”

Research genius X bionic AI.