The knock echoed softly through the quiet alley.
Fu Sheng lowered his hand slowly and waited.
For a few monts, nothing happened.
Then footsteps approached from inside the house.
Fu Sheng’s expression remained calm, but his eyes darkened slightly as the door finally opened.
A woman stood there.
Wei ilan.
The warm light from inside the house fell across her figure, revealing familiar features Fu Sheng had not seen in years.
For a mont, neither of them spoke.
Wei ilan looked at him carefully from head to toe.
Then she let out a quiet sigh.
"Took you long enough," she said.
Her voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
As though she had already expected him to co eventually.
Fu Sheng’s gaze remained fixed on her.
"You knew it was ?" he asked.
Wei ilan leaned lightly against the doorfra.
"You have been standing outside my house for quite a while," she replied. "Who else would co looking for at this hour?"
Fu Sheng remained silent.
The night air moved quietly between them.
Wei ilan studied his face for another mont before speaking again.
"You look older," she said.
Fu Sheng gave a faint laugh.
"So do you."
That finally pulled a slight smile from her.
But it disappeared quickly.
Neither of them looked relaxed.
Too much ti had passed between them for that.
Wei ilan straightened slightly and stepped aside from the doorway.
"Are you going to stand outside all night?" she asked.
Fu Sheng hesitated briefly.
Then he stepped inside.
The house was small but clean.
A lantern burned quietly near the table, and the faint sll of herbs lingered in the air.
Fu Sheng’s eyes moved around the room slowly.
Nothing luxurious.
Wei ilan closed the door behind him.
The soft sound imdiately sealed the silence between them.
Fu Sheng remained standing.
Then finally, he looked at her again.
"I did not expect to find you here," he said.
Wei ilan walked toward the table calmly.
"You already said that earlier today with your eyes," she replied.
Fu Sheng’s expression shifted slightly.
Wei ilan poured tea into two cups before continuing,
"You looked at like you had seen a ghost."
Fu Sheng let out a quiet breath.
"Maybe I did."
Wei ilan paused briefly at those words.
Then she handed one of the cups to him.
"You are married now," she said suddenly.
It was not a question.
Fu Sheng accepted the cup slowly.
"Yes," he replied.
Wei ilan nodded once.
"And yet," she said quietly, "you still ca here in the middle of the night."
She said as she led him into the house.
Fu Sheng did not answer imdiately.
Because even he was not fully sure why he ca.
The room beca quiet after her words.
Wei ilan remained standing near the table, one hand resting lightly against the teapot as she watched him carefully.
The lantern beside her cast a soft glow across the room, but it did little to ease the tension between them.
Then she spoke again.
"I hope your wife knows you are here tonight."
Her tone was calm.
Almost casual.
But the aning behind the words was clear.
Fu Sheng did not answer.
His silence alone was enough.
Wei ilan studied him for a mont longer before letting out a faint breath through her nose.
"I thought so," she said quietly.
She lowered her gaze briefly and pushed one of the tea cups slightly toward him.
"Do you want tea?" she asked.
Fu Sheng shook his head imdiately.
"No."
Wei ilan looked slightly surprised by how quickly he answered.
Then she gave a small nod and pulled the cup back toward herself instead.
For a few monts, neither of them spoke.
The silence between them no longer felt unfamiliar.
It felt heavy.
Filled with too many things left unsaid over the years.
Wei ilan finally sat down slowly across from him.
"You should not have co here," she said quietly.
Fu Sheng looked at her.
"You told to find you if I recognized you," he replied.
Wei ilan’s fingers paused slightly against the tea cup.
"That was before I saw your wife standing beside you," she said.
Fu Sheng’s expression remained unreadable.
Wei ilan lowered her eyes briefly before speaking again.
"She looked at you carefully," she said softly. "Like soone who pays attention to every small change."
Fu Sheng remained silent.
"And yet," Wei ilan continued quietly, "you still ca here."
The room fell silent again after that.
Fu Sheng finally looked away slightly and spoke for the first ti in several monts.
"There are things I need to understand," he said.
Wei ilan looked at him carefully.
"About ?" she asked.
Fu Sheng’s gaze slowly returned to her face.
"Yes."
Wei ilan stared at him quietly for a long mont.
Then finally—
She smiled faintly.
But this ti, the smile carried sadness beneath it.
"Fu Sheng," she said softly.
"So things are better left buried."
The room remained quiet after her last words.
The lantern between them flickered softly, casting moving shadows against the walls as the night deepened outside.
Fu Sheng looked at Wei ilan steadily for several monts before finally speaking.
"Do you bla ?"
His voice was calm.
But quieter than before.
Wei ilan’s fingers paused slightly against the tea cup she held.
For a brief mont, she did not answer.
Then she lowered the cup slowly onto the table.
"No," she said softly.
Her gaze lifted toward him.
"I used to," she admitted. "A long ti ago."
The room beca still.
Then she continued quietly,
"But after thinking about it for years, I realized sothing."
Her expression remained calm, though there was tiredness hidden beneath it now.
"What happened back then was not only your fault," she said.
Fu Sheng remained silent.
Wei ilan gave a faint smile, though sadness lingered inside it.
"We were both at fault," she said quietly. "You made choices. And so did I."
Her gaze lowered briefly.
"No one was innocent."
Fu Sheng listened without interrupting.
For the first ti since entering this house, his expression softened slightly.
Because those words mattered more than he expected.
Then after a mont, he spoke again.
"Aren’t you curious about them?"
Wei ilan looked back at him.
Fu Sheng’s gaze remained fixed on her.
"You have not seen your children in six years," he said quietly.
His voice carried clear confusion now.
"That still baffles ."
The mont those words settled between them—
Wei ilan’s expression finally changed.
Not dramatically.
But enough.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the table.
And for the first ti that night—
Real emotion appeared in her eyes.
"You think I was not curious?" she asked softly.
Fu Sheng remained silent.
Wei ilan let out a quiet breath and looked away briefly.
"There was not a single year," she said, "not a single month, not a single night where I did not think about them."
Her voice remained calm.
But there was pain beneath every word now.
"I wondered how tall they beca," she continued quietly. "I wondered whether they still rembered my face. I wondered if they hated ."
Fu Sheng’s expression darkened slightly.
Wei ilan gave a faint laugh.
"But wondering changes nothing."
She looked back at him again.
"I left," she said simply.
"And children do not forget things like that."
Wei ilan lowered her gaze slightly, and for a mont, neither of them spoke.
Then Fu Sheng finally said quietly,
"I never told them their mother was alive."
Wei ilan looked up at him imdiately.
His expression remained calm, but his eyes had darkened with old mories.
"They only know that their mother is gone," he continued. "I never explained anything beyond that."
Wei ilan remained silent for a mont before speaking softly,
"They must have wondered."
Fu Sheng looked at her.
"No child goes that many years without asking questions," she said quietly. "Especially after never seeing their mother even once."
Her voice carried no accusation.
Only sadness.
Fu Sheng lowered his gaze briefly.
Then after a long silence, he finally spoke again.
"When I returned from war," he said slowly, "I did not even know they existed."
Wei ilan froze slightly.
Fu Sheng leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression distant now as the mories returned clearly.
"When I reached ho, my mother was holding two children in her arms."
His voice remained calm.
Too calm.
"But the mont I saw them..."
He paused briefly.
"...I did not even carry them."
Wei ilan stared at him quietly.
Fu Sheng let out a slow breath.
"I ran straight to your house."
The room beca completely silent.
His gaze lowered slightly as he continued.
"I thought there had to be so mistake," he said quietly. "I thought maybe you were sick or hiding sowhere."
A faint bitterness entered his voice.
"But when I got there..."
He stopped briefly before continuing.
"Your parents told you had already left."
Wei ilan’s fingers tightened slowly.
Fu Sheng looked at her again.
"They said you had gotten married," he said. "And that you had already left the village with your new husband."
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