Chapter 534: Chapter 533: From Young to Old (9)
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and although a day goes by, tomorrow the sun will still rise.
Humans experience birth, aging, sickness, death, fortune, and misfortune. You as an individual may suffer from illness and ultimately face death, but as long as there is a legacy, it does not necessarily have to be your own biological child. As long as there is a place to put your hopes, there is still hope.
“Look, those clouds over there!”
Following Bo Yan’s pointing finger, Xia Siyu saw the sky, where the clouds were piled up, vast swaths of clouds enveloping the afterglow of the sunset, looking as if they were scorched, red like blood. The backdrop was tinged with red, the edges glowing with a golden hue, the center of the clouds white, and the slightly darker cloud layers were mixed with the black of the night.
This was the Loess Plateau, where it seldom rained and rainbows were rare. But such beautiful clouds were no less spectacular than the vibrant colors of a rainbow.
Initially, Xia Siyu had really thought it was all about enduring hardship, that it was to strengthen her resolve, to help her learn acting better.
But it was not until she arrived that she realized she had put the cart before the horse. Indeed, Bo Yan taught her how to observe and let her endure hardship, but what was most important was that he allowed her to experience and go through a variety of experiences. Many things could not be felt or imagined unless personally experienced. Perhaps her quick learning over this period might not be immediately transferrable to her acting skills. However, it had expanded her knowledge reserves, observation skills, as well as broadened her mind and perspective substantially.
Her initial goal had been only to become a leading actress, to strike a blow to the Xia family, and to not let her mother down. Of course, there was nothing wrong with that. But her vision had been too narrow, attaching too much importance to immediate gains and losses and her own private grievances. It wouldn’t prevent her from moving forward, but the level of advancement wouldn’t be very high.
This journey to the Northwest allowed her to witness customs and lifestyles completely different from her own. She understood the lives of many people. She would still strive to be a leading actress, would still harbor dissatisfaction towards the Xia family, and would still work hard to make her mother proud. Yet, she saw that the world was so vast; what seemed like insurmountable mountains of misfortune to her were comparatively minor when considering the greater suffering of others who didn’t live bristling with hostility like she did.
And then there was Bo Yan.
Even though she had agreed to a friends-with-benefits relationship with him and had dated him before, both in the past and present, she had never truly understood him. Mentioning him beforehand, her default description was a lecherous dog of a man; the notion of being with him stemmed from habit rather than affection.
But now, having spent some time with him, even though he never missed a chance to be close to her, he was erudite, upright in character, and good to her and others. Even if she still called him “dog of a man”, she was gradually convinced by his wisdom and judgment and had started to develop a slight dependence on him emotionally.
Even if it still wasn’t love, she had finally become comfortable in his company. She could physically accept him without her spirit rejecting him. Even if she was reluctant to admit it, at this moment, leaning against him, she felt at peace—a rare moment of stability for her normally restless heart these past few years.
The two of them leaned on each other, with Bo Yan gently rubbing his cheek against the top of her hair. Holding her from behind, perhaps due to her menstrual period, his embrace felt especially warm to her. She did not resist; instead, mimicking his gestures, she gently rubbed the top of her head against his chin.