Jiang Li listened silently, filled with indescribable emotions.
How deep must the love be to buy an entire alley for a deceased person, build such a villa, and visit regularly, as if someone still lived here.
It turned out that true death was not the decay of the body, but being forgotten from people's memories.
When they came here, the powerful aura around Sheng Shuocheng visibly weakened. He seemed much more approachable than usual.
Seeing Sheng Shuocheng like this, Jiang Li couldn't help but wonder if, over the past twenty years, whenever Sheng Shuocheng missed his deceased wife, he would come here to look for traces of her.
"The things are all in the attic. You can go up and take a look by yourself."
Jiang Li was taken aback for a moment. Seeing that Sheng Shuocheng had no intention of going up with her, she pursed her lips and said, "Excuse me."
Then she walked up the stairs towards the bedroom on the upper floor.
Sheng Shuocheng still sat in the same place as before. His broad back, which had always been so imposing, now looked a bit desolate.
What would it feel like to miss someone to the extreme?
Jiang Li withdrew her gaze and quietly went upstairs. She gently pushed open the door. Inside was also very clean, spotless.
This room was filled with a woman's things.
There were several opera costumes hanging in the wardrobe, and there was a book on the table.
The cover was bound with cardboard, with a deep - red background. The title of the book was printed in gilded characters, which felt very textured when touched. She picked up the book.
It was Shakespeare's *A Midsummer Night's Dream*.
She flipped open the blank title page. There was a line of very elegant small regular script written by hand -
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
Jiang Li looked at the line of words, and gradually associated it with the person who wrote it in her mind.
Obviously, this line was written by the owner of the book, and it was also a famous quote from this book.
She silently repeated the sentence in her heart.
The image of Li Muzi gradually took shape in her mind. From a simple name, it gradually became a real, flesh - and - blood person.
It was like reuniting with an old acquaintance.
She thought this feeling was very strange and couldn't even explain it herself.
She had read this book before. She casually flipped through a few pages, and suddenly a photo fell out from the interlayer of the book and landed on the ground.
Jiang Li quickly squatted down to pick it up. After taking a look, she was stunned, and her breathing hitched.
In the photo were the young Sheng Shuocheng and Li Muzi. They were standing in a garden. The woman was holding a bunch of white roses, with a gentle and brilliant smile on her face as she leaned against the man beside her.
The photo had not been protected at all, and there were already some tiny scratches on it.
Jiang Li walked closer to the window with the photo. By the sunlight, she saw the fingerprints on it and suddenly understood where those scratches came from.
Whenever Sheng Shuocheng missed his wife, he must have repeatedly stroked this photo with his fingers. The calluses on his hands would inevitably scratch the smooth coating.
The scratches on the photo were traces of his yearning.
A huge sense of impact hit her chest and spread throughout her body. She couldn't control her tears. To prevent the tears from dropping on the photo, she held it a little farther away.
It was really strange. Seeing others' past romance, she couldn't help but want to cry.
She stood by the window and took a deep breath, gradually adjusting her emotions.
When she turned around, she saw Sheng Shuocheng standing at the door. She immediately panicked and randomly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her palm, quickly showing a proper smile: "Mr. Sheng."
"You can call me Uncle Sheng." Sheng Shuocheng smiled faintly. "You don't have to be so formal all the time."
Jiang Li was still a bit flustered from the emotional outburst just now. She still held the photo in her hand. She stared blankly at him, not knowing what to do.
The real emotions she inadvertently revealed were really cute and endearing.
"You're looking at this photo." Sheng Shuocheng walked over. "It was taken with an old camera. Unfortunately, the camera got wet, and all the data in it was lost. Only this photo that was developed before was left."
The implication was that, perhaps except for the wedding photos, this was the only photo that could prove their time together in the world.
Although his tone was very calm, Jiang Li could still sense a faint sense of loss and regret.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say some words of comfort, but didn't know where to start.
He had lived like this for more than twenty years. How could he need the comfort of an outsider like her?
Jiang Li put the photo back into the interlayer of the book and placed it back in its original position.
"This place looks like someone has been living here." Jiang Li made some of her own analysis. "It has a strong sense of life."
"I personally sorted and placed all the things here. Everything is in accordance with her living habits before. That book was also her favorite."
After he finished speaking, he laughed at himself: "Does it seem like I'm just deceiving myself? She's already gone, but I'm still doing these things."
"No."
At this moment, Jiang Li actually regretted the impulsive words she had said to Sheng Shuocheng at that time.
Apart from what she had seen, his love for his wife had always been single - minded and deep.
When leaving the old mansion, Jiang Li felt heavy - hearted.
She thought Sheng Shuocheng would take her back, but unexpectedly, he said he wanted to take a walk around.
Jiang Li thought that since he had taken the rare time to come here, he must want to cherish the memories here, so she agreed to walk with him.
Compared with the towering and neatly arranged buildings in the city center, Xile Street was really an old alley. The buildings were very low, only a few stories high.
The road in the alley was very wide. Some kids, no one knew whose, gathered together and squatted by the roadside, playing with marbles and laughing and joking.
Time seemed to slow down.
As they walked, Sheng Shuocheng told her that in fact, he had never been to Xile Street before, nor had he ever lived here.
Back then, he and Li Muzi had a big fight over emotional issues. She impulsively left Huacheng in anger. He couldn't reach her on the phone, and all the news about her suddenly disappeared. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.
At that time, information was still very closed. Without mobile phone contact, and with the fact that the surveillance systems in various places were not so developed and unlicensed black cars were everywhere, it was very easy for her to disappear.
Even though Sheng Shuocheng was already the powerful chairman of the Shengshi Group at that time, it still took him some time to find her. He had mobilized all his manpower and material resources and spent nearly a year.
When he finally found her, she had already been sleeping in the cemetery in the northern city. The only news he got was that she had spent the rest of her life living on Xile Street.
It was he who endured the pain and brought her ashes back to Huacheng and buried her in her hometown.
"Why did you quarrel back then?" Jiang Li was so engrossed in listening that she couldn't help but voice her inner question.
In her opinion, Sheng Shuocheng was not a person who would act emotionally. He would never be willing to make the woman he loved sad.
"I don't want to mention this to anyone. I'm sorry." Sheng Shuocheng slowed down his speech, but his tone was seriously unnegotiable. "This involves some of my personal issues, so it's not convenient for me to disclose."