Chapter 107: Waiting in Vain
When Luo Sheng first met Ruan Yu, Teng Yi was also present. In fact, it could be said that Teng Yi was the one who facilitated their meeting. However, at the time, she was still Teng Yi’s girlfriend, and Luo Sheng had never entertained any improper thoughts about her. He was simply curious—what kind of girl could have captured Teng Yi’s heart?
The first time he saw her, she was standing beside Teng Yi—tall and slender, with a fair and delicate face like a small jasmine flower. She wasn’t breathtakingly beautiful, but there was something undeniably soothing about her presence.
That day, they shook hands.
What stuck with him the most was how she had glanced at Teng Yi before taking his hand, as if seeking permission. Only after Teng Yi nodded did she finally grasp his hand.
Hah, the sickening sweetness of love. It was ridiculous, yet somehow enviable.
The second time he saw her was during the national qualifiers for the World Street Dance Championship—the Captain’s Battle. Teng Yi dominated the stage, leaving the audience in awe. But when Luo Sheng happened to glance back, he spotted Ruan Yu standing among the crowd, her brows furrowed with worry.
That expression inexplicably struck a chord in him.
He had always believed that only dancers truly understood the pain and struggles of other dancers. But now, he realized that love could also make someone feel another’s suffering.
For the first time, Luo Sheng—who had always found girls annoying—felt the urge to fall in love.
In a way, Ruan Yu became his first teacher in matters of the heart.
After that, he dated many girls. Some were drawn to his looks, others to his wealth, and some even sought to ride the coattails of his father’s fame. Their affection for him was shallow, superficial. None ever cared to truly understand his joys and sorrows, and none ever genuinely ached for the injuries he sustained on stage or in the practice room.
Whenever a relationship ended, in those moments of deepest emptiness, his thoughts would always drift back to Ruan Yu—to that look of heartfelt concern that had cut through the cheers and applause. She must have truly loved Teng Yi, he thought. Not just for his looks, his money, or his family, but for his very soul.
Luo Sheng never expected to see Ruan Yu again.
Three years after the incident involving Teng Yi’s younger brother, he and his father attended TG TV’s New Year’s Eve gala. She was one of the hosts.
When they met again, the girl he had once found merely pleasant was now stunning—the kind of beauty that took his breath away at first glance. He didn’t know what had changed—whether it was the passage of time, the trials she had endured, or simply the makeup she wore.
Originally, he had planned to leave right after his performance. But in the end, he stayed until the very last moment, lingering just to catch another glimpse of her between segments.
Among the four hosts, Ruan Yu was the only newcomer. Yet her ability to command the stage and engage with the audience was on par with any seasoned veteran.
A dazzling exterior and a soul brimming with brilliance were not mutually exclusive. The only thing that could truly be obscured was something that never existed in the first place.
Suddenly, he understood why Teng Yi had been so captivated by her. It was because Teng Yi had seen the depths of her charm long before anyone else.
He had assumed she would maintain her flawless composure until the very end of the gala.
But then, in the final five minutes, she faltered. No—it wasn’t exactly a stumble, just a subtle shift. As she stood under the spotlight with the other hosts for the closing remarks, she laughed and joked with them, doing her best to keep up appearances. Yet Luo Sheng noticed the glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes.She seemed to have encountered something that saddened her, but as the host, professional ethics prevented her from breaking down on stage and disrupting the integrity of the event. So she was holding it in.
Luo Sheng was curious, but before he could delve deeper, the evening came to an end.
He stayed until the very end for her sake, but eventually, the gathering had to disperse. This left him with a tinge of regret. He thought to himself, once they parted ways here, who knew when they would meet again.
Unexpectedly, they met again right after stepping outside.
As he drove past the venue's main entrance, she happened to run out, still wearing the black evening gown from the curtain call, holding up the long hem of her dress.
Like a runaway princess.
The romantic notion flashed through his mind, and then his car slowed to a crawl. He simply wanted to see where the princess was escaping to. But who would have thought she would trip over her own dress and stumble headlong toward his car? He swerved sharply to avoid hitting her.
Yet, she still fell beside his car.
It looked like a blatant setup for a scam!
If he hadn’t known she had a respectable job and was far from needing money, he might have suspected she did it on purpose.
He quickly got out to help her up.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She didn’t answer. Her eyes were still brimming with tears—whether remnants from earlier or fresh ones from the pain, he couldn’t tell.
"Are you hurt? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?" he pressed.
"Take me to the hospital!" she suddenly snapped back to reality. "Please, take me to the hospital!"
He was taken aback by her use of the word "please" but politely replied, "You nearly got hit by my car. Taking you to the hospital is the least I can do."
The least? More like nonsense!
Once in the car, he tried searching for nearby hospitals on the navigation system. To his surprise, she asked him to take her to a hospital in Sanmenxia.
Sanmenxia?
For what was likely nothing more than a minor scrape, she wanted to travel four or five hundred kilometers to a hospital in Sanmenxia?
She must have been out of her mind to make such an absurd request—and he must have been out of his to agree.
Perhaps the night itself held some magic. Or perhaps the image of her running toward him with her dress lifted was too much like a fairy tale. Whatever the reason, he suddenly wanted to be the knight protecting the runaway princess, to take her far away, to help her disappear.
It was the first and only time in his life he drove such a long distance—five full hours from Liaocheng to Sanmenxia. She sat beside him in silence, lost in thought. Worried she might be cold, he adjusted the air conditioning and even gave her his jacket, but she remained wordless.
Only at the hospital did he learn that her grandfather had passed away.
The old man had been diagnosed with heart disease over three years ago, but it had been kept from her. It wasn’t until his death from cardiac arrest that she discovered he had been ill.
Grief, pain, guilt, remorse...
That night, he saw countless emotions in her eyes, yet she never shed a tear. She knelt calmly in the hospital morgue, more like a wooden doll than when she had arrived.
Later, after leaving the morgue, a neighbor who had brought her grandfather to the hospital came to console her, urging her to stay strong for the sake of the living.
She nodded.The woman, seeing her so composed, felt slightly relieved. She said to Ruan Yu, "If you're alright, your grandfather can rest easy. He always told us how unfair life was to you, with no parents by your side and only an old man to raise you. Even though he loved and pitied you deeply, he dared not be too kind to you. He feared that if he treated you too well, one day when he was gone, you wouldn’t be able to bear it, and the grief would be too much. Ruan Ruan, now that he’s passed, don’t hold his past strictness against him. It was because he cared for you so much that he remained stern and unsmiling."
Suddenly, Ruan Yu broke into violent sobs, crying so hard she nearly collapsed in the hallway.
The tree may long for calm, but the wind will not cease; the child may wish to care, but the parent waits not.
This kind of regret is incomprehensible to those who haven’t experienced it.
How agonizing it must be—now that she finally had the ability to repay his love, the old man who had raised her with such profound devotion had left this world forever.
Luo Sheng accompanied her to get an IV drip.
When she woke up, she had returned to her usual composed self.
She stayed in Sanmenxia for two days to arrange her grandfather’s funeral. Luo Sheng blended into the crowd of mourners and stayed by her side those two days.
Two days later, overwhelmed, she collapsed again from exhaustion.
Once more, Luo Sheng accompanied her for another IV drip.
At the hospital, he received a call from a friend who asked where he was and why he had disappeared after New Year’s. When he mentioned he was at a hospital in Sanmenxia, his friend was shocked and hurriedly asked what illness had driven him so far for treatment. Glancing at the woman lying on the hospital bed, Luo Sheng laughed self-deprecatingly, "Probably insanity."
Yes, insanity.
Nothing else could reasonably explain his madness and devotion.
After the IV, she woke up.
Luo Sheng would never forget the first words she said upon seeing him.
She said, "So it was you."
Damn it all!
After traveling all this way to bring her here and staying by her side without rest, she hadn’t even recognized his face!
Damn it all!
What an ungrateful little thing!
"Who did you think it was?" he asked.
"Some random good Samaritan I picked up on the road."
"Sorry to disappoint, but I’m no Samaritan. I’m Luo Sheng!"
She blinked her bloodshot eyes at him. "You really aren’t a Samaritan. Samaritans don’t leave their names when doing good deeds."
He couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.
From then on, they became friends and kept in touch even after returning to Liaocheng.
She was someone who remembered kindness deeply. Having helped her in her time of need, she held onto that gratitude tightly. But unsure how to repay him, she resorted to the simplest method—treating him to meals, over and over again. No matter how much he took advantage, she never complained, only quietly paid the bill. And yet, at that time, she wasn’t well-off herself.
The more he learned about her, the deeper his affection grew.
He began to grow dissatisfied with just being friends. He grew greedy, wanting to possess her.
Ruan Yu was far too perceptive. She had sensed his intentions from the moment they arose. Instead of outright rejecting him, she gently hinted that she was waiting—for someone else.
That "someone" needed no explanation.
Teng Yi.
Luo Sheng believed a man who had vanished without a word for three years didn’t deserve her love. Yet she said, "I know he’s trying—trying to tear through the darkness and come back to me."
Foolish.
Utterly, ridiculously foolish.
But it was precisely this foolishness, this unwavering devotion, that made it impossible for him to pull away.Once the window paper was pierced, he no longer held back.
"Then you wait for yours, and I'll chase mine," he said.
"Why bother? You'll exhaust yourself."
"Mind your own damn business!"
And so, he chased for three years—three years with no result.
It was exhausting, fucking exhausting.
Yet, he had no regrets.
He knew she was tired too, and she, likewise, had no regrets.
Now, Teng Yi had returned, and the two fools balanced on the scales would finally see a winner. If the outcome was destined to send one of them plummeting, he didn’t want it to be her.
This empty wait—he was willing to bear it for her.
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