Push Me Away When I Come, Don't Hold Me Back When I Leave - Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Luo Qingxuan Side Story – The Tomb of Beloved Wife Xia Ruoming

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The Weijiang Cemetery behind Qingcheng Mountain is picturesque, with spring-like weather all year round.

Everything returned to the past with the south wind, to the midsummer one year after Xia Ruoming’s death…

Luo Qingxuan had visited this place more than once, placing a bouquet of gardenia flowers in front of a stone tablet.

The stone tablet was forcefully engraved with “The Tomb of Beloved Wife Xia Ruoming.”

Before she came, several fresh white lilies had already been placed under the tombstone, still dripping with water droplets, the visitor had clearly left not long ago.

Luo Qingxuan certainly knew who that visitor was.

The eldest daughter of the Jiang family, Jiang Ruhua.

She also knew that despite Jiang Ruhua’s busy schedule, she would come more than 20 times a year, staying for half a day each time, always returning with red eyes from crying for who knows how long.

After Xia Ruoming’s death, Jiang Ruhua never married.

But what did that matter? This only made Luo Qingxuan angrier and hate that woman more.

That woman clearly loved her senior, yet she did such things because of her petty temper.

If it weren’t for her, how could senior have passed away? Luo Qingxuan would never forgive Jiang Ruhua. Senior was already gone, yet now she acts so deeply in love, it’s truly disgusting.

That woman didn’t even give senior any proper status. Senior followed her for half her life, only to end up as a former lover who died in an accident according to the news? How dare she engrave “The Tomb of Beloved Wife Xia Ruoming” on senior’s tombstone? Just seeing these words made Luo Qingxuan sick to her stomach. She had never seen such a shameless and pretentious woman in her life.

“Senior, I’ve come back again. Even though it’s been a year, I still miss you so much. They all say not to cry at the tomb of the deceased, that it will make you uncomfortable in the other world, but I really can’t stop myself.” Luo Qingxuan gently crouched beside Xia Ruoming’s tomb, tears falling uncontrollably. “I regret it so much. I couldn’t stop senior back then. If I had been braver in middle school, could I have won a place in senior’s heart? Maybe then, senior, you wouldn’t have been hurt by Xu Fengwu, and wouldn’t have agreed to be with Jiang Ruhua.”

“I could have done it back then, I really could have… Senior, I’m sorry… I regret it so much…”

“I really… miss you so much, senior.”

Luo Qingxuan always believed that it was her own cowardice that harmed Xia Ruoming. If she had truly listened to her heart and been braver, would the outcome have been different?

But everything was too late now. She could only pray again and again that Xia Ruoming would find happiness in another world.

“Excuse me? Could you move aside a bit?” A gentle voice sounded beside Luo Qingxuan’s ear. As she slightly shifted her body, a bunch of small white chrysanthemums was placed in front of Xia Ruoming’s tomb.

After a brief daze, Luo Qingxuan raised her somewhat haggard face to look at the newcomer.

The woman wore a light gray plain dress, her face hidden behind a misty blue veil, showing no expression. She only slightly bowed to Xia Ruoming’s tomb.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just here to pay respects to an old acquaintance,” the woman explained with a smile, seeing the confusion in Luo Qingxuan’s eyes.

Luo Qingxuan nodded slightly, seeming somewhat melancholic.

“Are you also an old friend of Xia Ruoming?” The mysterious woman asked proactively when Luo Qingxuan didn’t speak.

“No… she was my… most important person,” Luo Qingxuan gave a bitter smile, tears seeming to well up again in her eyes that had long lost their luster.

“Ah, I see.” The mysterious woman fell silent for a moment, then removed her veil. “Phew, since I’m not in my shop, I don’t need to dress like this. Let me introduce myself, I’m An Jinrou, you can also call me An.”

She then pointed to her pendant, which was engraved with the English word “An.”

“Luo Qingxuan.” Out of politeness, she also gave her name, while feeling somewhat comforted that besides herself, there were others who remembered her senior.

“You said Xia Ruoming was someone very important to you…” An Jinrou paused, then said something seemingly out of nowhere, “Then… would you like to bring her back?”

Those dark, dim eyes seemed to regain half their luster as Luo Qingxuan softly asked An Jinrou: “What do you mean?”

“Come with me.” With that, An Jinrou took Luo Qingxuan’s hand, and Luo Qingxuan dazedly followed her away.

…

“Xia Ruoming’s destined lifespan wasn’t over, she only passed away due to an accident. All this isn’t without a chance for remedy.”

After bringing Luo Qingxuan to that “An’s Magic House,” An Jinrou sat across the table, playing with a crystal ball while speaking to Luo Qingxuan.

“What do you mean? You can bring the dead back to life?” Luo Qingxuan found An Jinrou’s words almost laughable, feeling she had encountered a scammer.

“No… bringing the dead back to life, that I cannot do, but I naturally have other methods. Before that, I want to ask you a question.”

“If you want to save Xia Ruoming, what price are you willing to pay?”

“Any price…” After a moment of silence, Luo Qingxuan gave her answer.

“Even your life?”

“Even my life.”

Even if there was just a sliver of chance, even knowing it might be a scam, Luo Qingxuan still wanted to bring back Xia Ruoming, bring back that senior who always loved to smile.

An Jinrou gave a light laugh, moved the crystal ball, and it began showing Luo Qingxuan a series of scenes.

In the crystal ball’s space-time, Xia Ruoming no longer had to rely on Jiang Ruhua, nor did she chase after Xu Fengwu like a love-sick puppy. After Xia Ruoming moved, Luo Qingxuan remained very close with her, and their parents became good friends for many years through their connection. Luo Qingxuan would say every day that she wanted to marry Xia Ruoming when she grew up, saying they would be together forever, and Xia Ruoming would just laugh gently and say “Alright, let’s wait until Qingxuan grows up.”

Time flew by, the two walked together all the way, attending the same middle school and getting into the same university.

The quiet-loving Xia Ruoming chose to go to Canada after graduating from university, occasionally going camping in national parks and fishing.

What was different was that this time, Luo Qingxuan would always have meals ready at home waiting for her.

In the photo hanging in the living room, Luo Qingxuan wore a pure white wedding dress, her smile as beautiful as flowers, her eyes as beautiful as a painting.

“This is like an ‘if’ timeline from a story, I can send you to such a world, and there would be no price to pay,” An Jinrou said softly. “But if you choose this path, this current world would still continue running normally, and the Xia Ruoming of this world would still remain in eternal sleep.”

“Since you’ve said this much, I think you’re going to tell me there’s a second choice, aren’t you?”

“Correct, another choice is that I can turn back time to the past, back to when Xia Ruoming was still alive, but I don’t know exactly which point in time we’ll return to. After the time reversal, both you and I will lose our memories and start anew. In other words, the current story might happen again, and you would have no power to change it.”

“Moreover, this choice requires you to pay a price.”

“What price?”

“The you who returns to the past will have 40 years less lifespan compared to this life. This is the punishment for reversing time. If you’re truly determined to make this choice, then bite your finger and drop a drop of blood on this tarot card.” As she spoke, An Jinrou took out a gold-edged tarot card with 【The World】 printed on its face.

Luo Qingxuan didn’t even hesitate, immediately biting her index finger and letting a drop of blood fall onto the tarot card.

“It seems you’ve made your choice, then please close your eyes.”

“Let’s rectify this erroneous world…” After Luo Qingxuan closed her eyes, she heard the gentle voice by her ear.

Then, Luo Qingxuan felt the whole world spinning.

At the very last moment, she seemed to hear An Jinrou saying something more, but she could no longer make it out clearly.

“There is indeed a price to pay, but it’s not your lifespan. Starting over again, good luck, and farewell.”

Noisy sounds came to her ears, and no longer dizzy, Luo Qingxuan opened her eyes to find herself in a familiar classroom, her memories stopping at returning home from school yesterday.

But in her mind, there seemed to be memories of Jiang Ruhua abandoning Xia Ruoming and Xia Ruoming’s death, as if she had personally experienced it, yet she didn’t even know who Jiang Ruhua was, she had never met this person…

Had she slept too long? Were those scenes just a dream?

She didn’t know, she only knew that a voice in her heart was telling her that no matter where senior went in the future, she would protect her completely.

Just then, she heard a familiar voice in her ear.

“Senior Xia, I like you…”