Until My Soul Finds You Again - Chapter 16

Time is a peculiar thing.

When you’re waiting for someone, every day feels endless.

But when you’re trying to forget someone…

Years disappear before you even notice.

After Chen Mo and Su Qingyi ended their relationship, they never contacted each other again.

One season became another.

Spring turned into autumn.

Autumn into winter.

And before either of them realized it…

Five years had quietly passed.

Chen Mo

After graduating from university, Chen Mo remained close to his hometown.

He was never the brightest student.

Never the most talented.

Never the person everyone admired.

But he possessed something far rarer.

Patience.

Persistence.

While many classmates proudly displayed glamorous lives on social media, Chen Mo quietly built his own future one small step at a time.

He learned new skills.

Attended countless interviews.

Faced rejection after rejection.

Failed more times than he could remember.

Yet every time he fell, he stood up again.

Because deep inside, he carried only two wishes.

To take care of his family.

And to become someone Su Qingyi could be proud of…

Even if she was no longer beside him.

He never shared the second dream with anyone.

It belonged only to him.

Late at night, when sleep refused to come, he sometimes opened an old email account.

There, hidden among forgotten messages, were letters Su Qingyi had written years ago.

He never replied.

He never reached out.

But he never deleted them either.

He didn’t blame her.

He didn’t resent her.

He simply missed her.

Quietly.

Su Qingyi

Su Qingyi graduated with outstanding results.

Soon afterward, she accepted a position at a well-known technology company in Shenzhen.

A new city.

A new career.

A new beginning.

She became increasingly confident.

Independent.

Successful.

To everyone around her, she seemed to have the perfect life.

A respected career.

Financial stability.

Close friends.

An enviable future.

Many people admired her.

Some confessed their feelings.

Some sincerely asked her to date them.

Every time, she politely declined.

Her colleagues often teased her.

“Have your standards become too high?”

She would simply smile.

“I’m not looking for a relationship.”

Only she knew the truth.

It wasn’t that she had stopped believing in love.

She had simply never stopped loving the same person.

One evening after returning from work, she began organizing old storage boxes.

At the bottom of one cardboard carton, she found a familiar notebook.

Inside rested several forgotten treasures.

Old photographs.

Cinema tickets.

A folded piece of paper.

Written neatly across it were words she instantly recognized.

A little house.

Two horses.

Some cows.

Beneath the paper lay another photograph.

Two teenagers standing beneath a single umbrella beside West Lake.

Smiling as though nothing in the world could ever separate them.

She sat quietly on the floor.

Looking at the picture.

For a very long time.

Then whispered softly,

“I hope you’re doing well, Chen Mo.”

Two Lives Running Side by Side

In different cities.

Living different lives.

Surrounded by different people.

Two hearts quietly continued beating for someone no longer beside them.

Whenever something good happened…

The first person they wanted to tell remained the same.

Whenever life became difficult…

The first name that surfaced in their thoughts never changed.

To everyone else, they had become strangers.

But somewhere inside themselves…

Nothing had truly ended.

Five Years Later

By then, Chen Mo had found stable employment at a technology company in Hangzhou.

The salary wasn’t extraordinary.

The work wasn’t glamorous.

But it allowed him to support his parents and grandparents comfortably.

His grandfather often smiled proudly whenever neighbors praised him.

One autumn afternoon, his company assigned him to a three-day business trip.

Destination:

Shenzhen.

The very city where Su Qingyi now lived.

He hadn’t visited in years.

Every familiar street unexpectedly stirred old memories.

On the second evening, after finishing work, he wandered aimlessly through the city’s riverside district.

He wasn’t searching for anything.

Only walking.

Lost in thought.

Lost in memory.

Then he stopped.

Across the street stood a woman wearing business attire.

Her long hair was tied neatly behind her.

One hand held a paper cup of tea.

The other held a phone.

She appeared focused.

Professional.

Mature.

He looked once.

Then again.

His heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

It was Su Qingyi.

Five years.

Five entire years.

And yet he recognized her instantly.

He stood frozen.

Should he walk away?

Should he greet her?

What if she had already moved on?

What if she no longer wished to see him?

While hesitation filled his mind, she casually turned her head.

Their eyes met.

The bustling city seemed to disappear.

The traffic.

The conversations.

The footsteps.

Everything faded into silence.

Only two pairs of eyes remained.

Eyes that carried years of memories.

Years of regret.

Years of love.

And years of unanswered questions.

Su Qingyi slowly lowered her phone.

Chen Mo took one hesitant step forward.

Then another.

She did the same.

Eventually, they stopped only a few feet apart.

For several moments, neither spoke.

Then Chen Mo smiled awkwardly.

“Long time no see.”

She looked at him quietly.

Then smiled too.

“It really has been a long time.”

The conversation ended almost as soon as it began.

Five years apart.

Countless words left unsaid.

Yet neither knew where to begin.

After another brief silence, Su Qingyi asked gently,

“Do you have time?”

Chen Mo nodded.

“I do.”

She glanced toward a tiny roadside tea stall nearby.

“Would you like some tea?”

He followed her gaze.

Then smiled.

“I’d like that.”

And so…

After five years without a single message.

After countless nights spent missing each other in silence.

Two people sat across from one another once again.

Not quite strangers.

Not merely old friends.

But two souls who had once promised each other a future.

And perhaps…

Still carried that promise somewhere deep within their hearts.