Visit His Parents

One year since their engagement and not yet two weeks since their first meeting, there was a subtle change in their relationship after that day.

She could sense it when he came to pick her up. Ou Junsan walked into the Shen's residence and paid his respects to her parents in such a natural manner, she would've believed it if someone said he was their son. With her head in a daze, she fell behind his large steps.

Patiently, he waited until she caught up before resuming his walk. This time, his steps were noticeably much smaller. He had changed his pace to match hers.

The carriage ride was a couple hours long. Inside the small space, there were no words spoken, but the atmosphere was light. She didn't talk and he didn't ask. In this way, he silently allowed her to watch him as she pleased.

Ou Junsan's parents resided in a small village out of the city. The old couple liked the peace and calmness of the mountains and insisted to stay where they've been all their lives. Although he returned to the residence bestowed upon him by the emperor in the capital, his visits were always brief and done out of a sense of duty. He, too, preferred the quiet life outside.

Shen Mohua stood frozen in her spot, staring at the well built and maintained building. The blue roof tiles were especially dazzling to her eyes. The commander's parents' home wasn't fancy or anything of that sort. Rather, it stood calmly with humbleness.

It was just, this scene brought up a memory. A certain memory she had no idea would spurt out of nowhere. Shen Mohua didn't know whether she should laugh or cry.

"Hurry along," He reminded her.

"Coming."

Together, they walked up the trail to the orange door in which an elder couple stood waiting. With their belongings on his shoulder, her hands wrapped around his arm. The image of the commander and his bride side by side was oddly harmonious.

Ou Xing nudged his wife. "You were right, they indeed make a good pair."

"Of course, I have an eye for these sorts of things," Na Zhen said proudly.

Shen Mohua smiled when they reached the couple. "Auntie, we meet again."

Na Zhen pulled the young girl inside and hurriedly scolded, "What auntie? Call me mother."

"But Ou Junsan and I are not yet married..."

"Just two more weeks. There's no harm in calling me mother now, is there?"

Shen Mohua sat down, a blush clearly painted across her cheeks. "Yes, mother."

Ou Xing laughed as his wife beamed with happiness after hearing the girl's change of address. He turned to his son who walked into the room. "Jun, look at your mother. She's way over her head now."

Ou Junsan could hear the light conversations of the two women, chattering away as if they've parted for years. If he remembered correctly, this was only the second meeting. The first meeting was the engagement ceremony.

"It's alright, let her be," He finally said.

After dinner, Shen Mohua washed dishes by the large earthen pots. She happily moved the sponge around each dish, taking care to clean it thoroughly. Because she was in a good mood, she blew bubbles and giggled to herself.

"Is washing such a happy task?"

She glanced at the man who had somehow come over without her knowing. "En, it's fun. What are you doing here?"

"Mother asked me to accompany you." He was honest, brutally honest.

She found it endearing and the corners of her lips curved upwards. After she rinsed the last dish, she said to him, "Let's go."

The rest of the evening was spent mostly catching up. Ou Junsan and his father talked on the porch, sipping rice wine. Shen Mohua sat with his mother by the fire, the older woman's hands busied on a piece of embroidery.

"Mother, what are you making?" She asked.

"I'm embroidering a flower on Jun's father's handkerchief. When he carries it around, he will think of me." Na Zhen glanced up, stopping the motions of her hands. "One day, Jun and you will be like us. You'll want him to think of you wherever he goes and he'll carry something of yours because he misses you."

Shen Mohua shyly bit her lips. Such an image was too much for her imagination. The thought of Ou Junsan carrying something she made just to keep himself reminded of her was... too romantic for her little heart.

Ou Xing returned from the porch and went to his wife's side. "Honey, it's late. Let the children rest."

Na Zhen's lips suddenly turned into a smile. She quickly ushered them away, "Go, go sleep."

Ou Junsan and Shen Mohua were practically pushed into the same room before the door came to a close. The two stood awkwardly by the door. It was clear they were to spend the night in the same room. Together.

She cleared her throat and gathered up her clothes that he had already placed there earlier. "I-I'll go wash."

He didn't stop the girl who rushed into the adjacent bathing room. The night's cool wind wafted into the room and the cicadas sung from the dark. Settling on the bench underneath the window, he laid on a pillow.

Ou Junsan understood his mother's intentions. She wanted them to become acquainted before the wedding. She wanted him to move on, let go of the one he loved so dearly from before.

"She's not ever coming back, my son. Don't freeze your world for someone who's not coming back," This was what she had said to him.

In response, he told her, "I love this woman more than life, more than myself. I've loved her so much, I don't remember how life felt when I didn't love her yet..."

"Place your heart at rest and let time do the healing, my son. Loving someone takes time. To unlove that someone, also takes time."

The sounds of water and soft laughter suddenly accompanied the sounds of the night. His thumb grazed the lotus carvings on the gold band. Two years, it had been two years since she left. No, it was longer than that. She was long gone, he had only found it out two years ago.

His stay lasted no more than three days. Gone for three years, he didn't even stay for three days. He hurriedly went back to that place of hell just so he could get away from the places that haunted his memories.

Did the gods hate him? Did the heavens hold a grudge against him? Or was their love, not love...? How could her heart change so fast in the time of his absence?

These were the thoughts that plagued his mind for the year that came after. There must be a reason. There had to be. Even one would be sufficient to calm his mind. Ou Junsan wanted, no he needed, to know why Song Qiuyue married another man.

"Jun, you're the sun of my world, the light in my eyes, and the warmth radiating through my heart. In this life, I'll love no one else but you. Only you, Jun."

"My father forbids me to see you. He wants to take me away. Jun, I don't know what to do. I don't want to go with him. Save me."

"Once you become a commander, my father will approve of us and we can get married then. On the day of your return, I'll be the happiest girl in the world. I'll kiss you, I'll hug you and cling onto you until you're tired of me. Over the hill, under the jasmine tree, we'll meet again."

Indeed, she came. With the breaths of another man on her lips and another man's child in her stomach, she came.

The force on the ring became increasingly stronger until it slipped from his grasp, hitting the floor with a sharp clink. The metal shone in the moonlight as it kept rolling until it came to an abrupt stop by her feet.

Shen Mohua, with a new change of clothes, bent down and picked it up, twirling it between her fingers. This... This was her engagement token she had given to him.

"Ou Junsan, this is yours," The woman sweetly said to him.

Ou Junsan retrieved the ring. "Go sleep."

She sat on the bed, a towel in her hands carefully drying each bundle of hair. By the window, he returned the ring back into his waist pouch and said nothing else. When she finished drying her hair, she pulled the blanket up to her chin and laid on her side.

In silence, she watched him. His eyes were closed, whether or not he was truly asleep, she couldn't tell. Before she fell asleep, there was one thought that she'd never forget.

Ou Junsan did really carry her token with him. Whether he liked her or not, it didn't matter. The fact was, he kept a piece of her by his side.