Chapter 22 — Stupid But Strong

Even though the public's attitude had completely changed, even though the storm of public opinion had calmed down and justice had been served, Tang Ninh still realized that in her heart there was still a bit of vague hesitation every time Bach Duy mentions officially confirming the relationship between the two people in front of the public and his family. She had never verbally told him about that fear, but Bach Duy, with the sensitivity he had learned from years of careful observation of her, still recognized something that was preventing her from completely letting go.

A few days earlier, Bach Duy confided in Lam Nha Thu about his concerns. "I feel like Ninh still has something she can't let go of, even though everything has been cleared," he said, sitting in her office after a long practice session. "I don't know what to do to make her truly believe that she deserves to be happy, and no longer has to carry guilt about the past."

Lam Nha Thu thought for a moment and then suggested. "Sometimes, to let go of an old fear, one needs to directly face the place that gave birth to that fear, instead of constantly avoiding it. Maybe you should take her back to where it all started, so she has the opportunity to completely close the past, instead of just letting it hang in her heart forever."

That advice made Bach Duy come up with the idea to take Tang Ninh back to visit the old house, the place that contained both the most beautiful memories and the deepest pain in their relationship.

One weekend afternoon, he invited her to visit the Nhieu family's old house, which was now for sale after the family company was completely restructured according to the court's ruling. The house is still there, although it has degraded somewhat over time, the flower trellis in the front yard has withered, but the scene is still enough to evoke many memories for both of them.

"Why do you want to come back here?" Tang Ninh asked, her voice a bit nervous as she walked through the familiar gate.

"Because I think, maybe you still have something in this place that you can't completely let go of," Bach Duy replied, leading her to stand in front of the stairs where he used to sit holding a guitar and singing sad melodies years ago. "I remember, this is where I stood quietly listening to you sing for the first time. And it was also here that I realized your feelings for me."

Tang Ninh stood still, memories rushing back like a wave, both the warm moments and the pain of that day of separation. "I'm still scared," she admitted, her voice shaking. "It's not that I'm afraid that my feelings for you aren't sincere, but I'm afraid that, no matter how many years have passed, even if everything has been vindicated, there will always be someone who looks at us and remembers the gap between us in the past, looking at me as someone who used to be your guardian, instead of seeing me simply as the person I love."

Bach Duy grabbed her hands and looked straight into her eyes with absolute determination. "Sister Ninh, I cannot control other people's thoughts. There will always be people who look at our past with skeptical eyes, no matter how clear the truth is. But I don't live for their eyes. I live for myself, and for the people I love. The most important question is not what other people think, but whether you really want to be with me or not."

Tang Ninh was silent, tears rolling down her cheeks, but this time, they were not tears of fear or pain, but tears of someone who finally allowed herself to be honest with her own heart. "I want to," she said, her voice shaking but more determined than ever. "I've wanted to for a long time, Bach Duy. I just never allowed myself to admit it, because I always thought I wasn't worthy, that I had hurt you too much to have the right to demand my own happiness."

"You deserve it," Bach Duy said, his voice choked. "You're more worthy than anyone I've ever known. You sacrificed six years of your happiness to protect me, you faced down your own father's plot to keep me a safe future. If anyone deserves to be loved completely, without guilt, without hesitation, it's you."

The two sat down on the old stone steps, where moss had covered them through many rainy and sunny seasons, together reviewing the small memories of the two years of living together in the past - the first meal that Tang Ninh cooked was a bit salty, making Bach Duy try to swallow in silence, the evenings she sat with him studying under the yellow light, and the high fever when he was seventeen that she stayed up all night to take care of. Each recalled memory made the distance between them gradually narrow a little more, as if they were rewriting the entire old story together in a new light, no longer entangled by fear or guilt.

He pulled out a small object wrapped in a silk scarf from his coat pocket - an old leather-bound notebook that Tang Ninh had given him when he was eighteen years old, now worn out over the years but still carefully preserved by him for the past six years. He opened to the first page, where he wrote a short diary entry on his birthday every year.

"Do you remember this notebook?" he asked, showing it to her. "I've been writing here since the day I turned eighteen, the day I realized my feelings for you. During the past six years, no matter how much I've been through, I've kept it with me, as a reminder that, no matter how the world changes, that feeling has never faded."

Tang Ninh held the notebook in her hand, flipped through each yellowed page, re-read the immature words of an eighteen-year-old boy who was just discovering his first love. She burst into tears, no longer trying to hold back like before, letting all the pent-up emotions for six years be completely released.

"I'm sorry for making you wait so long," she said, hugging him tightly. "But from today, I promise to no longer hide my true feelings. I accept your feelings, Bach Duy, completely and without any hesitation."

Bach Duy hugged her tightly, the feeling of happiness was so overwhelming that he couldn't speak for a moment. Standing in the middle of the old garden of the house that had witnessed both their warm days and the pain of their separation, the two finally found what they had been looking for six long years — a love that was fully accepted, no longer encumbered by any fear or guilt from the past.

The afternoon sun gradually set, dyeing the whole garden yellow, and in that warm light, the two people stood hugging each other for a long time, as if making up for all the hugs they had never dared to give each other during the years of separation.

On the way back, Tang Ninh immediately called Ha Thuy Duong, her voice was bustling in a rare way. "I already told him," she said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice. "I accepted his feelings, honestly, without any hesitation."

On the other end of the line, Thuy Duong shouted so happily that Tang Ninh had to put the phone away from her ear a little. "Finally, this day has come! I've been waiting for you to say this for a long time. We have to celebrate, let me prepare a small party right at my flower shop."

Tang Ninh laughed, a feeling of relief and happiness filling her heart, a feeling she had denied herself for too long to fully enjoy. She looked at Bach Duy who was driving next to him, his eyes also shone with undisguised happiness, and she knew, from this moment on, any fears about the gap in status or age in the past would no longer be able to prevent them from being together completely. The car drove slowly through familiar streets, the street lights turned on one after another in the gradually falling dusk, and in Tang Ninh's heart, a feeling of complete peace that she had never allowed herself to feel for six long years finally spread throughout her body, as warm and sure as the love she had just decided to keep. She gently grabbed Bach Duy's hand that was placed on the gear lever, squeezing gently as an unspoken promise that from now on, she would never let the old fear pull them apart again. Bach Duy smiled slightly, his eyes still looking straight at the road ahead, but his heart was completely relieved, knowing that their most arduous journey had finally officially ended.