“Mhmm,” Lu Man said, smiling as she nodded. “I went to find you. You were 38 years old. But you could not see me, so I just stayed beside you and went nowhere.”
“Was I… single?” Han Zhuoli asked anxiously.
He would rather have stayed single and been alone for his whole life than let his wife see him start a family with someone else.
If she had seen that version of himself, someone who went and became someone else’s husband, he would not be able to accept it. She would have felt an immense agony.
Even though he did not know what had actually happened, he still felt sorry for betraying her.
Lu Man smiled and asked, “What do you think? Which is the answer you wish for?”
“Me?” Han Zhuoli said as he smiled. “Of course I wish that I was single. I would rather be single my whole life. I am not just saying it. I am not saying this because I have you in this life and I know that I will not experience being alone my whole life.
“I think, if you let me choose, I would rather stay single my whole life if I couldn’t meet you.”
Obviously, Lu Man believed him as that was what Han Zhuoli did in his past life.
“You stayed single,” said Lu Man. “You said that you were waiting for someone. You met various women, but none of them was the one you were waiting for, so you didn’t want any of them. You also did not find just anyone to marry. You said that if you didn’t meet that person, you would stay single your whole life.
“Your friends asked you how you were so sure that you would know if it’s that person. They asked you, what if you would never meet that person? You said that perhaps you would never meet the person. Little did you know that the day you had that feeling was the day that I died.”
Han Zhuoli’s heart dropped.
“But you kept saying you would meet that person.” Lu Man’s heart was filled with pain. “So it was under such a circumstance where you couldn’t see me that I stayed with you and watched you as you stayed single.
“Big Brother and Zhuofeng had many children, but you were always alone. Even though I stayed by your side, you could not see me. I watched you as you persevered in your loneliness.
“When you were 95 years old, I could feel that your life was coming to an end. I stayed with you at night as well since I was only a soul and did not need to eat or sleep. In the morning, your eyes snapped open and you could see me.
“You said I had finally come and asked me why I came so late and where I was. I told you I was already dead. You asked me my name and said that in the next life, we must stay together and that you would definitely come and find me.”
Lu Man held Han Zhuoli’s face in her hands. “You called me Man Man, just like how you did in this life. Then, you…”
Lu Man could not say the word.
Looking at Han Zhuoli made it even harder to say it.
She thought that when they were both gray and old and could not move anymore, she would still not be able to handle his death.
“Finally, meeting me was a wish fulfilled, so at the end, you had a peaceful expression.”
Han Zhuoli listened quietly as Lu Man talked about him.
Even though the person Lu Man had been describing was himself, he did not actually experience what happened in the past life and could not remember a single thing. As he listened, it felt familiar yet unfamiliar.
However, deep down, he knew vaguely that the person Lu Man had described was himself and that he did live that life.
