The promise of forever

     The promise of forever

    ... it turns out, we can love like this too.

    Sometimes, we only realize our mistakes when we lose something. Some people, some things, we thought were just fleeting clouds in our lives, things we thought we could forget forever, but at the moment of parting, we discover that those past experiences have already taken root in our hearts, indelible and unforgettable. The person you cherish can't give you a promise, and then you finally understand how elusive happiness is. But why still be like a moth drawn to a flame, clinging to it for a lifetime? Perhaps it's like Li Mochou's often-murmured question: "What is love in this world, that it makes people

    willing to die for it?" How can one person truly understand the most complex thing in this world? You think that as long as you leave gracefully, there won't be much pain, no lingering attachments, but why do you suddenly fall silent in a noisy crowd, why do you suddenly choke up halfway through a song? You don't know what you're expecting, what you're holding onto; what lingers in your mind are the reflections of the past.

    Ding-a-ling! The doorbell rang, and a man in his thirties, dressed in a sharp suit, walked into the small coffee shop filled with the rich aroma of coffee.

    "Good afternoon! Welcome!" the young proprietress greeted him warmly.

    The man nodded politely and sat down at the counter, saying,

    "A mocha, please, please."

    "Sure, just a moment," the proprietress said with a smile.

    She then skillfully ground the coffee beans and began brewing the coffee. The man watched her movements with a smile, seemingly enjoying himself.

    Soon, the proprietress brought a cup of fragrant coffee to the man. "Please enjoy!"

    "Thank you." The man brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip.

    "Is this your first time here?" the proprietress asked.

    "Yes!" the man replied.

    "What do you think of our shop?"

    "Very nice! Great atmosphere!"

    "I like it very much myself, so even though business isn't good, my husband and I can't bear to close it down."

    "Hmm..." The man seemed to nod thoughtfully and took another sip of coffee.

    The two were silent for a moment, the empty shop filled only with the soft strains of jazz music. The man suddenly spoke, breaking the brief silence.

    "Uh… excuse me, can I ask you a question?"

    "What is it?" the proprietress asked curiously.

    "Well… how… how should I put it?" the man scratched his head, looking bewildered. "Or could you tell me a story first?"

    the proprietress nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

    "I used to have a very close girlfriend, we were even at the point of discussing marriage. Our relationship developed quite ordinary, not some dramatic, passionate love story. But I think from the first moment I saw her, it was as if there was a magic, a voice pushing me, telling me, 'She's the one! She's the girl I've always been waiting for.' What made me even happier was that she responded to my advances and accepted me. All of this went so smoothly that I was completely immersed in happiness, except…"

    "Except! What happened?" the proprietress interrupted, clearly captivated by the story.

    "Hmm..." The man's face darkened. He paused slightly before continuing,

    "But I forgot that behind happiness often lurks the most terrifying demon. The night before our engagement, she... she was raped by a thug!"

    The landlady cried out, "Ah!"

    "It's all my fault! If only I had insisted on taking her home that day!" The man slammed his fist on the table, causing the caffeine in his cup to spill violently.

    "That's not what you wanted to ask me, is it?" The landlady said, wiping up the spilled coffee.

    "No! No! My feelings for her wouldn't waver because of that. I decided to still get engaged as planned, but unfortunately, on the day of our engagement, she... hanged herself!"

    The man's tone was unusually calm, but his expression revealed how heartbroken and shocked he had been.

    "Suicide! What happened to her?" The landlady's eyes widened at the sudden turn of events, looking at the man anxiously.

    “Luckily, we found her early. She was still breathing when she got to the hospital, but she was in a coma due to prolonged oxygen deprivation in her brain. The doctors said she was in danger of becoming a vegetable.”

    The landlady breathed a sigh of relief. “Did she wake up later?”

    “Yes, she woke up!”

    “But… but when I heard she had woken up and was happy to go see her, her parents stopped me at the door.”

    “Why? Why wouldn’t her parents let you see her?”

    “Her parents knelt on the ground and begged me. It turns out she had lost her memory, lost all memories of what happened after she met me. The doctor said it was selective amnesia. When a person experiences a great shock, they may hide some memories to avoid the situation. Her parents begged me not to appear in front of her for the time being. They thought it was better for her to forget everything that had happened before. They were afraid that if I went to see her, it might make her remember, and then she might fall into a coma again, or even try to commit suicide again.”

    “What her parents said makes sense. It’s only temporary! Once her emotions and body have stabilized, you can see her again!” The landlady said after hearing the man’s words.

    The man forced a smile, his face filled with utter desolation: "Do you know how long 'temporary' means? It's ten years! For these ten years, I'll have to endure this without her. Even if we occasionally bump into each other on the street, I'll have to pretend we're strangers and brush past her." He was almost roaring. "Do you know how unbearable these days are? How painful it is to want to love but not be able to!"

    "Although it will be very painful, you still chose this path!" The landlady

    's gaze softened as she looked at the man. Her gaze calmed him down, and he nodded, saying, "Yes! Today will be ten years!"

    "Oh! Really?! Congratulations! You've endured ten years, and today you can finally see her!" the landlady said happily.

    “That’s right! But the closer the day gets, the more scared I become. Ten years have passed, and my feelings haven’t changed, but what about her? What if I tell her about the past, and she still can’t remember me? Or what if she already has a boyfriend, or even gets married? That’s the question I want to ask you!” The man looked at the young female shop owner with a hint of nervousness, quietly waiting for her answer.

    “Hmm…” The shop owner rested her head on her hand, her face serious as she pondered the man’s question.

    “Since you love that girl so much, whether she remembers you or not isn’t really important. It’s just a matter of starting over, pursuing her again, falling in love again—that’s not bad at all! And even if she has a boyfriend, it doesn’t matter! Just snatch her away from him!” the proprietress said with a smile.

    “But!” she suddenly said seriously, “if she’s already married, then you should give up! We married people hate breaking up families the most!”

    “Is that so?” the man said, head bowed, utterly dejected.

    “Exactly! So please, don’t be the one to break up someone else’s family!”

    *Ding-a-ling!* The bell hanging on the door rang again, and several college students who had just finished class walked in. The proprietress stepped out from behind the counter, busy greeting the new customers.

    “Oh, right!” the proprietress seemed to suddenly remember something, turning to look at the man.

    “Why are you asking me these things? We’ve only just met!” she asked curiously.

    “Hmm…why…maybe it’s because that girl once said that after we got married, we’d open a coffee shop like this together!”

    “Oh! I see!” the proprietress said.

    “Hmm! That’s all! That’s all! That’s all! That’s all…” The man kept repeating the same sentence, as if trying to tell himself something. The jazz music stopped, and the only sound in the room was the cheerful laughter of the college students. The man lowered his head and secretly glanced at the wedding ring on the proprietress’s hand. A warm tear quietly slid into the now-cold coffee. A

    spark of emotion .

    Perhaps you once imagined her in her wedding dress, being escorted by her father from the other end of the long red carpet, smiling as she walked towards you; perhaps you once imagined him in a sharp suit, a red flower pinned to his chest, giving you a strong princess carry as he married you. But one day, the person who put on the wedding dress for her wasn’t you; you put the diamond ring on someone else’s ring finger. But you know that the person in your memory is happy, and so you should smile and be happy too.