Chapter 23 — A Sweetness Forgotten

Two weeks after the night of the power outage, Thế Khôi invited Diệp Chi to a place he had never taken her to before - not a luxury restaurant or a company meeting room, but a small cafe located on the rooftop of an old building, where one could see the entire area that used to be Lá Me alley, which had now become part of the new urban area.

"Why did you choose this place?" Diệp Chi asked, a bit surprised when looking down at the familiar but completely different scene below.

"Because I want us to talk where everything started," Thế Khôi replied, pulling out a chair and inviting her to sit. "Even though that place is no longer the same as before."

Diệp Chi sat down, looked into the distance, trying to visualize the exact location of Lá Me tea shop, now just an unfamiliar street corner with high-rise buildings growing close together, no trace of the ancient tamarind tree or familiar steps of the past.

"I haven't been back here since the day I left," she said, her voice low with emotion. "I thought if I went back, I wouldn't have the courage to move on."

"What now?" Thế Khôi asked softly, his eyes observing her carefully, full of gentleness.

"Now..." Diệp Chi thought for a moment, her eyes following the traffic below, "I think I'm strong enough to look back on the past without fear anymore." Thế Khôi nodded, then took a deep breath, as if mentally preparing for what he was about to say. "Diệp Chi, I want to talk frankly with you about everything. Not as a business partner, but..."

He paused, searching for the right words.

"What is that?" She asked softly, her heart beating faster.

"Someone who still loves you, after twelve years," Thế Khôi spoke frankly, no longer beating around the bush like before. "I know we've talked a lot about work, about the past, but I've never really said this clearly. I love you, Diệp Chi. Not because of nostalgia, not because of curiosity to know what your life is like after twelve years, but because of the person you've become — strong, steadfast, kind, and still the same warm heart as before."

Diệp Chi was silent, tears suddenly welling up in the corners of her eyes. She had been waiting for this sentence, even though she didn't dare admit it, for many weeks since their reunion.

"But I also want to be honest with you about the difficulties ahead," Thế Khôi continued, his voice becoming more serious. "I am the only son of a family with many social responsibilities. Later, when I officially inherit my father's position, my life will be even busier, more pressured, more eyes watching. If we come together, you will have to face those things, not just once like at a birthday party every year, but possibly for the rest of your life."

Diệp Chi wiped her tears and took a deep breath to regain composure before responding. "I also have something to tell you frankly."

"Say it." Thế Khôi looked at her, ready to listen.

"I'm no longer the eighteen-year-old girl scared by the gap between rich and poor," she said, her voice gradually becoming firm. "The past twelve years have taught me that a person's value is not in the possessions they have, but in how they treat those around them, in what they are willing to sacrifice for what they believe in. You have proven that to me not just once, but many times, over the past weeks," She stopped, looked straight into his eyes, and continued speaking, her voice trembling but determined. "But I'm also scared. I'm scared that, once we're officially together, I'll fall back into that old feeling of guilt — the feeling of not being worthy, the feeling of always having to prove myself to the eyes of the world you live in. I don't want to live in that fear again."

"Then we will face it together," Thế Khôi said, his voice firm, holding her hand across the table. "I don't promise everything will be easy. But I promise, I will never let you face those difficulties alone, the way you have had to face them alone all these past twelve years."

"There's one more thing I need to clarify." Diệp Chi gently withdrew her hand, not to refuse, but to be able to look straight into his eyes when saying this important thing. "Ngọt Xưa is my whole life, the promise I made to my mother. No matter how far we go in this relationship, I will never let it become a part of your family's property, or be seen like that. I need to be an independent Chử Diệp Chi, before being anyone associated with the Ôn family."

"I respect that absolutely." Thế Khôi nodded immediately, without hesitation. "Actually, that's what I admire most about you. I don't want you to lose your identity over any relationship, even with me."

"And there's also your family matter," Diệp Chi continued, her voice filled with a bit of unconcealed worry. "Even though you said you don't object, I'm still worried about public opinion, about how people will perceive a relationship between the son of a big corporation and someone from a poor alley. I've gone through enough slander already, I'm not sure I can endure any more if it lasts for the rest of my life."

"We will not let public opinion decide for us," Thế Khôi said, his voice firm. "But I also don't deny that there will be difficulties. There will probably be articles, rumors, maybe even people in the business world deliberately causing difficulties out of jealousy. What I can promise is, I will always stand by your side, publicly, not in secret, not letting you face anything like that alone again."

Diệp Chi looked at him, feeling the absolute sincerity in every word, and a part of her heart, the part that was still shy and wary after many years of protecting herself, began to gradually relax.

Diệp Chi looked down at the hand holding hers tightly, feeling the familiar warmth that she had craved for so many years, then looked up at him, a trembling but genuine smile on her lips.

"Thank you," she said softly, her voice still shaking. "Not because of the promises, but because of listening to me talk about all these fears, instead of brushing them off as if they didn't exist."

"I will always listen," Thế Khôi replied, his eyes gentle. "That's what I learned, after twelve years of waiting — that loving someone doesn't mean trying to convince them everything is okay, but accepting their fears, and walking with them through them, instead of ignoring them."

Diệp Chi was silent for a moment, letting those words sink deep into her heart, then suddenly burst out laughing, dispelling some of the heavy atmosphere just now. "You know, if someone had told me in high school that twelve years later, I would be sitting here, having a serious conversation about the future with the same guy who spilled coconut milk on his shirt, I definitely wouldn't have believed it."

"Me too." Thế Khôi laughed, the atmosphere between the two became much lighter. "But I think, maybe a part of me has always believed that we would find each other again, even though I don't know how or when."

"So where do we start again?" She asked, her voice still choked with emotion.

"From here," Thế Khôi replied, squeezing her hand tighter, his eyes filled with a certainty she had rarely seen in him. "From this very moment, no rush, no pressure, simply give each other a chance to learn again from the beginning, like two adults, not two naive seventeen-year-olds, even though our hearts still retain the same vibrations from back then." Diệp Chi nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks but they were tears of happiness, not of suffering. She looked out into the distance, towards the land that had now completely changed, where once was Lá Me alley, witnessing the first vibrations of both of their lives, and felt like a circle was gradually closing, not to end, but to open a completely new chapter, more complete, more mature, more worthy of what they had both gone through to get to today.

The afternoon wind blew gently through the rooftop, bringing with it the coolness of a rain that had just stopped, carrying away even the last remaining worries in the two people's hearts. They sat there for a while longer, not saying much, just quietly holding hands, watching the city gradually light up below, letting this rare moment of peace last a little longer, before they both had to return to the daily chaos that awaited.