Love in the Republic of China is 9 out of 10 sad/
He said: "Xie Chunzhi, do you know what I regret most in my life?"
She said, "What?"
He said: "I regret speaking for you that day at the Rong family mansion. If I hadn't spoken, you might have died, but my heart wouldn't be as painful as it is now."
She lowered her head for a long, long time.
Then she said: "Rong Qimin, do you know what I am embroidering with this stitch?"
"What?"
"Embroidery lasts a lifetime."
"Whose?"
"Yours."
He froze.
She raised her head, there were no tears in her eyes, only light: "I have never asked anyone in my life. Today I ask you something."
"You said."
"Please don't be too nice to me. I'm afraid that if I get used to it, I won't be able to leave you."
He was silent for a long time.
Outside the window, the night fog in Shanghai is so thick that it cannot be cleared away, and the whistle of the Huangpu River is faint, like someone crying.
"Xie Chunzhi," he said, "do you know why I came back from Japan?"
"Why?"
"Because on the day I left, I saw a Chinese flag on the boat in Tokyo Bay. It was torn, old, and was blown by the sea breeze. But it was still flying."
He paused.
"I thought at that time, there are still people in this country who care. Then I came back not for anything else but to find someone who also cares."
"Did you find it?"
"Found it."
"Who is it?"
He didn't speak. Just look at her.
Her heart felt hot, as if she had been pricked by a needle.
——That needle is her own
