Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

Siqi had been going to the Repulse Bay Villa after school these two days. The family of three had also

gone to the playground and zoo together.

On the third day, Zhengyuan called Tongrui, saying that the visa to Florence was done, and she could

fly over the next day.

Tongrui had mentally prepared herself, but she was still caught off guard. She did not expect the visa to

be done so quickly.

"But… What if Lingye wants to see me when I'm gone?"

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll distract Lingye after he gets off work tomorrow. When he

realizes you're not at home, you'll probably be in Florence already."

…

After hanging up the phone, Tongrui stood before a world map and looked at the countless countries

and cities. She searched for a long time before finding Florence, a city in central Italy.

The time difference between Italy and China was around seven hours, meaning that it would still be

midnight when Lingye woke up to go to work.

Tongrui's mathematics was not good, but she still calculated the numbers on a notepad for a long time.

The North City was around 10,000 kilometers away from Florence, so it would take around 13 hours to

arrive there by plane as she needed to travel across the Northern Hemisphere. However, this was not

the worst. At least she would still be in the same season as Lingye.

She heard that Florence's winter was freezing and it would rain often. The weather would be humid and

cold, sometimes below negative 10 degrees Celsius. No matter how cold the North City got, it would

not be lower than negative 5 degrees Celsius.

In Xu Zhimo's poems, he describes Florence to be beautiful. However, she did not look forward to

going there at all. She felt like it would be a freezing place without any warmth.

Tongrui found a book, "The Twilight of Florence", in Lingye's study. She sat on the thick rug and flipped

through the book for a long time, trying to make herself look forward to this city she would be going to.

However, no matter how much she appreciated the book, she felt indifferent toward this city.

She lay on the rug while holding a pencil and thinking about how she would go through the freezing

winter in Florence alone.

…

Tongrui fell asleep on the rug and was only awakened by the car's engine in the yard. She then put the

book, paper, and pencil between a row of books.

By the time Lingye stepped into the house, she was already downstairs.

Tongrui took the coat Lingye took off, but she did not put it onto the hanger. "I didn't cook dinner today,

so why don't we eat out? I want you to bring me to a place."

Lingye was in a good mood and said, "Are you in a good mood? It's so cold, but you're willing to go out

to eat."

"When I was studying, I always wanted to go to the Marine World. However, my father had always been

busy, so he never managed to fulfill his promise to bring me there. He later passed away, and I never

managed to go there. I've never been to the Marine World even though I'm over 20. I want to visit it

with you once."

Hearing her words, Lingye laughed and furrowed his brows slightly, "It sounds like you're complaining

that I'm not treating you well. I've never been to the Marine World either, even though I'm over 30."

Tongrui was a little shocked. "Did you not bring Siqi there before?"

"No, but my father brought her there once. She isn't willing to go there again after that. She's afraid of

huge creatures like sharks and whales, so we only bring her to smaller aquariums."

Tongrui smiled. "Then let's go tonight."

"Isn't that an easy task? Let's go!"

Lingye took the coat and put it on again. He did not even change his shoes as he dragged her out.

"Hey… Wait, I haven't changed."

Lingye looked at the time and said, "You can change, and I'll be waiting for you here."

"Alright."

…

It was a weekday, so although it was after hours, the Marine World was not busy.

The Marine World was mostly filled with parents and children, but there were also many young couples,

so it was not strange for Lingye and Tongrui to be there.

Other than the floor, they were surrounded by glass walls and a glass dome ceiling with marine animals

swimming inside.

Tongrui put her hand on the glass and looked at the whale swimming toward her.

Looking at her excited expression, Lingye said, "It looks like Mrs. Fu likes the Marine World. From now

on, we can visit every month."

Tongrui shook her head and said, "It's interesting when it's the first time we're here, but it'll get boring if

we visit every month."

"Then we can visit after half a year."

Tongrui was to say "sure", but she swallowed her words. In the following half a year, they probably

would not have the chance to visit the Marine World.

Tongrui turned around and said, "Lingye, let's take a photo with this giant whale."

She took out her phone and took a few photos with Lingye. When she looked at the photographs, she

complained, "You're so not photogenic." Even so, Lingye still looked good to her.

Tongrui carefully saved the photos.

She stared at the whale swimming slowly and asked, "Have you heard of a whale fall?"

"Mmhm, I read about it before in a biology book."

"A whale fall is when a whale dies in the sea, and its carcass will slowly sink to the bottom of the sea. A

unique ecosystem will be formed during the process. A single whale carcass can support the

ecosystem for over a century." Tongrui stayed silent once she finished speaking.

Lingye stayed silent and only looked at her under the dim, sparkling light refracted by the water.

Tongrui turned over and asked, "Isn't a whale fall a little sad?"

Lingye was not an artistic person, unlike Tongrui, who was an art student. In Tongrui's eyes, he was

probably only a businessman without any artistic or literary qualities.

He stroked Tongrui's head and comforted her calmly, "It's just the law of life and death."

However, Tongrui's eyes had gotten teary as she stared at the water under the dim light. It was not

because she thought about the whale fall but because she thought about how she had to stay in

Florence for a long time, so long that she did not know the exact time.

She said, "Even if a whale dies, it'll support the sea's ecosystem for over a century. This is probably the

whale's final gift to the sea."

Lingye felt that something was wrong and stroked her head. "Mrs. Fu, why are you so sentimental

today?"

She suddenly hugged him as he was about to lean over to look at her face.

Tongrui stood on tiptoes and kissed him. "Lingye, I love you."

I love you, like how whales can't leave the ocean or how birds always return to the woods.