Chapter 2

I had just lain down on my bed when my phone rang. It was a message from my boss:

[Li Li, knowing you as I do, I have to double-check-have you really decided to transfer to the UK?]

[Although I truly, truly hope you’ll go, you’ve turned me down so many times before because of your Lin Yuezhou. I’m a little uneasy, so I wanted to confirm with you again.]

I smiled helplessly and replied: [Don’t worry, boss.]

[I’ve really made up my mind this time.]

A year ago, the company established a Branch Company in the UK, and the manager position has been vacant ever since.

My boss has mentioned it to me many times-this is a rare opportunity, and I should definitely transfer over.

I’ve been tempted for a long time. Not only would transferring mean a promotion, but my annual salary would also double.

But the only thing I couldn’t let go of was Lin Yuezhou.

When Lin Yuezhou was a child, his mother left him and went abroad, and his father didn’t pay much attention to him either.

When his father moved with him next door to my house, he was only eleven.

It happened to be New Year’s Eve that day. He sat quietly by the door, all alone.

When I went outside to set off fireworks, I saw his small figure curled up in the corner, gazing longingly at the fireworks in the sky.

When he noticed me watching him, Lin Yuezhou lowered his head and returned to his usual expressionless look.

I stared at his thin frame, remembering how my mom had sighed about his situation that morning, and suddenly I felt a pang of sympathy:

“Will you set off fireworks with me? I’m too scared to do it alone.”

I handed him a firework.

He looked up in surprise and reached out to take it.

We set off fireworks together, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the tight line of his lips soften into a slight smile.

Later, I pestered him into coming to my house for New Year’s dinner.

He stayed until his father came home drunk from playing cards, and only then did he go back.

During those years, when a teenager’s pride is at its strongest, I was the one who stayed by his side.

It wasn’t until college that we went to different universities.

Lin Yuezhou suddenly cut off contact with me.

Until the year we graduated, I came home and saw him waiting under the streetlamp downstairs.

I watched him walk toward me at a leisurely pace, and for a moment, everything around me seemed to freeze.

His handsome features crossed the years and gradually overlapped with the image in my memory:

“Li Li, long time no see.”

“Long time no see.”

I looked at him, not knowing what to say.

Suddenly, he lowered his head and kissed me.

My heart stopped, then started pounding wildly.

Lin Yuezhou didn’t let go for a long time. Then he stared into my eyes and asked, “Li Li, will you be my girlfriend?”

I swallowed hard. “Okay.”

I regretted agreeing so quickly, but he’d always known I had a crush on him.

He did it on purpose.

Just like that, almost as if it was meant to be, we got married.

I still remember when I told him I needed to go abroad for work, he was silent for a long time.

That night, he drank a lot, his eyes red as he looked at me and murmured, “Xiao Li, are you going to leave me too…?”

After that, I was afraid to bring it up again, worried he’d remember the pain of being abandoned by his mother.

But in the end, I was the one left behind.

I bit my lip, feeling my heart slowly torn to pieces.

My boss seemed to sense something and asked cautiously: [Did something happen between you and Lin Yuezhou?]

I didn’t reply, which was as good as admitting it.

After a while, she sent another message:

[Flowers bloom forward, people move ahead. Li Li, trust your own choices.]

[Your plane ticket is for the end of the month. When you get there, I’ll give you a month off to relax.]