Chapter 7 — The Three-Person Trip

I laid down my pen and stood up to welcome the visitor, stepping just as far as the front foyer. For a split second, Hao looked stunned, then rushed toward me with quickened steps and pulled me into a gentle embrace. "Yuen? Is it really you?"

"I happened to scroll past an advertisement for this studio, and the stylistic tone of the writing felt so much like yours. I never dared to imagine it could actually be you."

She pulled me over to sit on a rattan couch in the lounge area, chattering endlessly as she caught me up on old times. After a long period of hesitation, she finally broached the subject of Khien Hanh.

"Not long after you left, Khien Hanh and Hoa Y had a permanent falling out."

"He used to yield to her and accommodate her in every possible way, but human patience always has its limits."

"Later on, when he struck out on his own in business, he met with one setback after another and suffered massive financial losses. Yet through it all, no one else ever appeared by his side."

"For the past five years, he has been asking old classmates everywhere trying to gather any news of your whereabouts."

"He looks perpetually melancholy and gloomy, completely stripped of that high-spirited, ambitious aura he had back in our university days."

Hearing all of this, not a single ripple stirred at the bottom of my heart.

"After a breakup, living our own lives well is more than enough."

Seeing how utterly calm I remained, Hao opened her mouth, likely wanting to ask about my romantic life over the past few years. Just then, soft footsteps echoed from behind. Tinh Chen walked over slowly, carrying a warm bowl of bird's nest soup. He bent down slightly, his fingertips gently stroking my hair with infinite tenderness.

"My little ancestral spirit, I was only in the back kitchen simmering some soup for a moment, and the second I turn around, you are already burying yourself in work again."

"You are sharing your body with two lives now, you simply cannot push yourself so recklessly."

"Whenever anything comes up, remember to call your husband. Otherwise, what purpose does my existence even serve?"

I raised my gaze to look at the gentle lines of his brows and eyes, my lips curving as I answered him in a soft voice:

"I know, I have stopped writing now."

I reached out to take the bowl of soup, sipping it slowly, spoonful by spoonful. The warm, soothing sweetness slid down into my stomach, so comforting it made every muscle in my body relax. Sitting across from us, Hao watched the scene in quiet observation. A sigh of emotion escaped her lips as she smiled: "It is so wonderful, Yuen. You have finally found someone who truly knows how to cherish you."

By the time dusk fell and we saw Hao off, we closed the heavy wooden doors of the studio behind her. Tinh Chen intertwined his fingers tightly with mine, and we strolled leisurely along the coastal pathway. The twilight rays cascaded over the surface of the sea, stretching our two leaning, closely intertwined shadows long and thin against the ground. The sea breeze brushed softly past the ends of my hair, and I leaned naturally into Tinh Chen's embrace.

All those turbulent nights spent tossing and turning, unable to find sleep. Now, looking back upon them, I felt as though they were nothing more than fleeting wisps of smoke. The loves and hatreds of the past had long since scattered away with the wind. The warm, tranquil sanctuary resting by my side, and the precious little life quietly growing within my womb—these were the true, enduring harbor for the rest of my days.