Chapter 65: Reunion of Mountain and Sea (2)
The crowd dispersed slowly, and Yin Guo couldn’t sit still for long. Before long, she ran off to splash in the seawater.
She had spent the day sleeping to adjust to the time difference, and by the time night fell, she was wide awake. Only then did she realize she hadn’t even stepped outside until now.
Lin Yiyang remained seated under the towering coconut tree, watching Yin Guo in the distance.
He had once told her that long, straight hair suited her, so she deliberately never cut it short, letting it grow nearly to her waist. As she chased the waves, her slender legs kicked through the water—so pale they were almost invisible against the sea, too thin.
When the tide chased her back and she ran toward the shore, he could make out her small, round face from afar. Even without seeing clearly, he knew exactly where her dimples were and how bright her eyes shone.
He still remembered that snowy night outside the inn, when she had worn a white knitted fisherman’s hat, beneath which those dark, luminous eyes had peered out. She had tugged down her scarf with her fingers, revealing her full face, offering him a shy, polite smile as she stood on the steps beside her suitcase, thanking him with a bow.
Back then, he knew nothing about her. She might have just been a Chinese tourist visiting New York for a few days, while he was studying in Washington.
Back then, he hadn’t even known if he would ever see her again.
Back then, he thought he was acting strange—wishing time would slow down just so he could watch her little bow and hear her thanks a little longer.
But he did nothing, said nothing.
He had grown accustomed to that over the years.
Until, just before getting into the taxi to leave, her younger brother ran out and insisted on adding him on WeChat. Lin Yiyang hadn’t hesitated at all—he gave it immediately. Heaven knew how long it had been since he last added a new contact.
If her brother hadn’t been there that day, that bowing, grateful girl might have remained just a fleeting memory in that snowstorm, with no chance for their paths to cross again.
……
Behind him, Jiang Yang and Fan Wencong strolled over, spotting Lin Yiyang sitting alone. They approached to greet him.
Lin Yiyang noticed them standing beside him and casually asked, “Isn’t my wife beautiful?”
The two promptly left, refusing to humor him.
Chen Anan happened to pass by, and Lin Yiyang called him over, repeating the question: “Beautiful, right? My wife?”
Chen Anan struggled for a response—it felt awkward to praise someone else’s girlfriend too much—so he silently made himself disappear.
Lin Yiyang then noticed a few boys staring at Yin Guo.
He called out to her as the waves chased her back.
Yin Guo immediately dashed barefoot through the sand toward him, flinging herself into his arms, laughing uncontrollably. “Come with me, let’s go into the water together!”
“Let’s hit the bar first,” he said, wrapping an arm around her as he pulled out his phone and showed her the screen. “Your friend’s here.”
Lin Yiyang lifted her up, carrying both their sandals as he sent her to rinse the sand off her feet at the wash station.
He had specifically reserved two tables at the open-air bar, placing the order and paying in advance during dinner, leaving Jiang Yang and the others to hold the spots. Wu Wei, who disliked swimming and had no interest in fireworks, had stayed behind the longest.
The rest of the group kept drifting in and out.
So the first one to meet Zheng Yi was actually Wu Wei.
He hadn’t expected Yin Guo’s friend to be a girl even taller than Lin Lin—her black hair casually tied up, probably around his own height, with legs longer than his, dressed in shorts. She sat down with a smile and introduced herself. Within moments, Wu Wei was thoroughly disoriented.When Yin Guo and Lin Yiyang arrived, these two people who had always existed in their WeChat conversations finally had the chance to meet in person.
Zheng Yi proactively extended her right hand: "Hello, fellow alum."
Lin Yiyang smiled and shook her hand before the four of them took their seats.
Before they could even settle in, Zheng Yi asked the question she was most curious about: "Back when she complained in her Moments that you 'weren't that handsome,' what did you think?"
Lin Yiyang took a moment to process the question.
It really was a distant memory. His first thought upon seeing it back then must have been—she actually came to DC.
Wu Wei, however, found this amusing: "You actually complained about him?"
He gave Yin Guo a thumbs-up—good girl, the one who could handle the unyielding Lin Yiyang must be extraordinary, not swayed by good looks.
"That day was just a joke," Yin Guo protested, feeling like she couldn't explain herself clearly.
Under the table, she kicked Zheng Yi.
While Lin Yiyang and Wu Wei were talking, she sent Zheng Yi a WeChat message:
Fruit in the Woods: Why did you have to ask that right away?
Zheng Yi: Just trying to liven up the mood!
Zheng Yi: Fine, how about another question?
Zheng Yi: How did you guys find that secluded spot in Hawaii last time? wink
Fruit in the Woods: "..."
Before long, everyone had arrived.
Outside the bar, in the open-air seating area, Lin Yiyang's childhood friends gathered around the two innermost tables.
The last to arrive was Jiang Yang.
Carrying his guitar, he made his way through several tables and handed it to Lin Yiyang.
Amid laughter, everyone pulled their chairs aside and rearranged the tables so that Lin Yiyang could face Yin Guo alone.
...
Yin Guo stared at him: "You... don’t know how to play the guitar, do you?"
Lin Yiyang smiled but didn’t answer.
"He doesn’t," Jiang Yang said. "He learned from me—a 70-day crash course."
"...Is he going to propose?" Zheng Yi, the only friend from Yin Guo’s side present, was stunned.
Witnessing a proposal at their first meeting? Talk about hitting the jackpot.
Given Lin Yiyang’s personality, public displays like this weren’t his forte—he was, at heart, a rather reserved person. Fortunately, there weren’t many Chinese tourists around, and at least the neighboring tables didn’t seem to be Asian, so they wouldn’t understand the conversation.
He lowered his head, recalling the tune, while Jiang Yang whispered a few words to him, worried he might forget due to nerves.
Yin Guo watched the whole scene, dumbfounded, not daring to say a word.
Lin Yiyang looked back at her.
He had never imagined doing something like this before, and he likely never would again. This was a one-time thing.
Those surrounding Lin Yiyang knew his temperament well—protective of him, they formed a small circle, creating an intimate, enclosed space for him.
Slowly, the sound of a guitar emerged from the little corner—the opening notes of Yellow .
He truly wasn’t skilled at this. Step by step, he had learned from Jiang Yang to reach this point, starting from that afternoon before visiting Yin Guo’s home, when the thought of marrying her first took root. Booking the hotel, learning an instrument—he had prepared for this.
Of course, he had also considered the worst-case scenario: if all else failed, Jiang Yang could step in to help. But Lin Yiyang was a perfectionist, so he insisted on learning it himself.
The only problem was that he didn’t look the least bit cool while playing.
Lin Yiyang, who was usually effortlessly capable at everything, approached this task with uncharacteristic caution, afraid of making mistakes—even though Jiang Yang had simplified the sheet music for him.
No one had ever heard Lin Yiyang sing before.Everyone knew he had no musical talent—no one is perfect—but fortunately, the song wasn’t difficult, and his English was good, so humming along wasn’t a problem.
Even the people in this unexpected corner couldn’t hear him humming the song.
But Yin Guo had long memorized the lyrics. Even if he sang so softly the words were barely audible, she knew exactly which line he was on.
That line—"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you."
He looked up, meeting her eyes.
And that line—"You know, you know I love you so."
He glanced up again, locking eyes with her once more.
When it ended, the piano notes faded.
The first applause came from a few tables outside the corner, who thought the group of Chinese tourists were simply entertaining themselves and praised the performance with smiles. Jiang Yang turned and thanked them.
But here, in their circle, the two at the center remained silent.
Yin Guo’s eyes were completely red, tears brimming in them.
Lin Yiyang had never told anyone, not even Jiang Yang, who had taught him this song, about its significance.
It felt like a secret, just between him and her.
He had only told Jiang Yang that the song was important and that he absolutely had to learn it.
Jiang Yang’s understanding was limited to the lyrics being good, especially the line "you know I love you so," which was perfect for stirring emotions.
But for Lin Yiyang, he needed a bar, this song, and the starry sky of Hawaii.
Tonight, here, all of it had come together.
"I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an old movie, The Truman Show ," Lin Yiyang said to her in Chinese, a language only their circle could understand at this distance. "In that film, there’s a man named Truman who lives in a fake world, watched by everyone every day. Everyone knows his life is fabricated—except for him. Until a girl appears, wakes him up, shows him the truth, and helps him leave that false place to return to the real world."
He paused, then continued, "For over a decade, I’ve also built myself a fake world. It might seem fine, but it wasn’t what I truly wanted. And then, a girl appeared—she pulled me out of it."
Even after all this time, he could still remember the feeling of adding Yin Guo on WeChat and scrolling through her Moments.
That day, afraid of poor signal in the New York subway, he had stood at the entrance for a full hour, refreshing her posts. In that hour, he didn’t just learn about her—he also glimpsed the world he had once belonged to.
That circle back home, the one he had once known so well.
As he listened to the subway chatter about paralyzed traffic, the terrible snowstorm, the widespread school closures… he kept scrolling through her Moments, unable to stop.
And he wondered—what did any of this noise around him, the traffic jams and blizzards of a foreign country, have to do with him?
Lin Yiyang’s hand rested on the guitar.
Once again, for her, he had accomplished something he never thought possible.
A man with no artistic inclination, who had never pursued such things in his youth and even found them boring, had learned this—just to convince her to marry him."Yin Guo, thank you," he said.
"Thank you," he repeated.
She could feel her tears falling, landing on her thighs and hands.
She shook her head. "I didn’t..."
"I know you want to say you didn’t do anything," Lin Yiyang finished for her.
But you’ve given me so much—
I watched every single one of your group stage matches, over and over, at the Washington pool hall.
Your wish to see me helped me overcome my barriers, stepping onto the court for the first time in over a decade.
After winning your match, you crossed half the court to take my hand and share your victory with me. You probably didn’t realize what else you were passing on.
The passionate love for the sport, the pride of a champion—these were things Lin Yiyang once had.
Lin Yiyang met her gaze and said slowly, "I want to marry you."
Yin Guo, I want to marry you. These were the words from his heart.
Holding her eyes, he asked, "Do you want to marry me?"
...
He wasn’t telling her: Marry me.
He was asking: Do you want to marry me?
The girl before him, eyes red, wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded repeatedly at him.
Lin Yiyang smiled.
He reached out, cupping her face in his palm, using his thumb to brush away her tears.
No matter how hard I tried, how desperately I pushed myself, I always felt empty. If life was unfair, why struggle so much? There was no place I had to go, nothing I truly wanted, and no one I absolutely had to be with.
Until,
I met you in the midst of a snowstorm.
Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all Yellow.
……
You know, you know I love you so,
You know I love you so.
—《Yellow》
— THE END —
Author’s Note: Finally finished, hahahahahaha.
Originally, some readers mentioned they had postgraduate entrance exams on the 22nd, and I planned to write three chapters to wrap up by then. But the ending turned into a major climax, and breaking it off wouldn’t have felt right, so I just finished it all. To those taking the exams—good luck!
As usual, a few words now that the story is complete.
But this time, I don’t have much to say… Maybe because I’ve already said it all?
How much do I love Dun Cuo? Just look at his birthday.
How much do I love Xiao Guo? Longtime readers know I adore round-faced girls, hahahahaha, I just want to pinch her cheeks.
If you’re interested in a physical copy, you can check my Weibo or bookmark this story. I usually update here before publication to let everyone know. (No idea when it’ll be out—look at The Story of Old Acquaintances , which finished in January and still hasn’t gone on pre-sale = =…)
For updates on new works, you can also follow my Weibo.
If you don’t need either of those, no need to visit—I’m not exactly productive there anyway. So let’s just say goodbye here.
This story was a joy to write. To all readers, may your lives be—free of snowstorms, only sunshine.
Till we meet again~
OpenNovel