〈The Reissued Youth〉19
86. The Woman Outside the Boundaries of Fate
Night covered the coastline.
Zhang Ya-Hui dragged her heavy footsteps and slowly walked back to the teachers’ dormitory.
On ordinary days, she always faced her students with a smile, accompanying those children who were about to graduate with gentleness and patience.
But tonight, the smile on her face had disappeared.
She pushed open the door of her room without turning on the light, allowing only the faint moonlight outside the window to spill into the room.
The entire room appeared exceptionally quiet.
She walked to the desk and sat down.
Outside the window was a tranquil sea.
The moonlight reflected on the surface of the water, gently swaying with the waves, like countless pieces of broken silver glittering in the darkness.
In the distance, several fishing boats slowly sailed across the sea. Their scattered lights floated on the water, echoing with the stars in the sky.
Such a beautiful night view had always been able to bring her peace in the past.
But today, no matter what she did, her heart could not calm down.
In her mind, the photograph Cai Shi-Nan had shown her kept appearing again and again.
In the photograph, Cai Shi-Nan and Shi Mei-Lin stood together.
There was also a pair of twin children.
It should have been a picture of a happy family.
But……
The figures of Shi Mei-Lin and the children appeared in a strange semi-transparent state.
As if that future was gradually disappearing.
Zhang Ya-Hui closed her eyes.
The conversation she had with Shi-Nan that afternoon once again echoed in her mind.
“Who sent this photograph?”
At that time, she had stared at the screen, her face filled with confusion.
“Why is the sending date on it 2010?”
“Ya-Hui. I’ll tell you honestly. Don’t think I’ve gone crazy. This photograph was sent by me from ten years in the future. …Actually…… I came back from the timeline of 2019.”
Zhang Ya-Hui opened her eyes.
The silent room remained before her.
She looked at the sea outside the window, and a bitter smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
“Shi-Nan……”
She murmured softly.
“In the end, you only see me as a good friend you can share your worries with.”
“The woman you truly love is Shi Mei-Lin.”
She lowered her head, and a trace of sadness that was difficult to conceal appeared in her eyes.
“It’s Shi Mei-Lin……”
“My God!”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“Why can I only be the matchmaker?”
She reached out and picked up the photocopy of the photograph on the desk.
In the picture, the images of Shi Mei-Lin and the children were blurry and transparent.
She looked at it for a long time.
A thought that should never have appeared suddenly emerged from the depths of her heart.
If……
The images of Shi Mei-Lin and those two children eventually completely disappeared……
Would that mean……
The future destiny could change?
Would that mean……
That she, Zhang Ya-Hui, might also have a chance to enter Shi-Nan’s life?
The moment this thought appeared, she immediately felt a wave of shame.
She shook her head.
“How could I have such a thought?”
“How could I hope for someone else’s misfortune?”
She placed the photograph back on the desk, and her eyes gradually dimmed.
“As long as Shi-Nan can be happy in the future……”
“Even if the woman who walks through the rest of his life with him is not me, Zhang Ya-Hui, it doesn’t matter.”
She paused for a moment.
Her hand unconsciously rested gently on her abdomen.
Thinking of the results of her medical examination at the hospital, her eyes became even darker.
“Besides……”
“My body……”
“My ovaries…… may not even be able to be saved.”
She lowered her head.
Tears slowly gathered in her eyes.
“What right do I have……”
“To compete with Shi Mei-Lin for Shi-Nan?”
Outside the window, the waves continued to rhythmically strike the shore.
The lights of the fishing boats in the distance gradually disappeared into the darkness.
And Zhang Ya-Hui sat alone beside the window.
She loved a man.
Yet she could only stand outside his happiness.
She could analyze the future for him.
She could protect his love.
She could even help him find the other half destined for him.
But the one thing she could never do—
was place herself into his future.
Because she knew that some love did not necessarily need to be possessed.
Some people, as long as they could watch him be happy, were already enough.
87. The Daughter Who Returned Home
On the day of her discharge from the hospital, the sunlight was bright.
In the hospital lobby, people came and went.
Carrying a simple bag, Lin Dai-Hua stood at the exit and looked back at this place that had helped her find her life again.
During this period of time, she had experienced an unbelievable journey.
Lost her memory.
Ended up in a homeless shelter.
Suffered an unexpected injury.
Recovered the memories of her past life.
And now, she was finally going back to the home she had not seen for many years.
Before leaving, she took out her phone and sat on a chair in the hospital lounge area. She sent an email.
Recipient: Cai Shi-Nan.
She stared at the screen for a long time, her finger resting on the send button.
Finally, she gently pressed it.
“Shi-Nan……” she whispered.
“Wait for me. I will definitely return to your side.”
The Lin family home was located in a residential area of Taichung.
In the afternoon, Lin Dai-Hua stood in front of her house and took a deep breath.
She had not returned for many years.
Unexpectedly, she felt a little nervous about returning home after such a long absence.
She pressed the doorbell.
The moment the door opened, Lin’s mother froze completely.
“Dai-Hua?”
Her eyes widened. She could hardly believe the person standing before her.
“You…… why did you suddenly come back?”
Lin’s mother quickly walked out and grabbed her daughter’s hand.
“If you were coming home, why didn’t you call first and let us know?”
Lin Dai-Hua looked at her mother’s familiar face, and her eyes became slightly red.
“Mom……”
She called softly.
That single word contained years of longing.
However, Lin’s father, who was standing in the living room, reacted completely differently.
He put down the newspaper in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed.
“You came back from California without saying anything?”
“What about your graduate studies?”
“Are you planning to give them up?”
His tone was stern.
“I do not agree with this.”
Lin Dai-Hua looked at her father.
Suddenly, her eyes turned red.
“Dad, Mom. Do you know?”
“You almost……”
She paused, her voice trembling slightly.
“You almost never would have seen your daughter again.”
Lin’s mother froze.
“Dai-Hua? What exactly happened to you?”
“Why are you suddenly saying these things?”
Lin Dai-Hua did not answer immediately.
She slowly pushed aside the hair on her forehead.
Two obvious surgical scars on her scalp appeared before her parents’ eyes.
Lin’s father’s expression changed instantly.
“This……”
He quickly walked closer.
“When did you get injured?”
His voice, which had originally been stern, instantly filled with concern.
Lin’s mother was even more heartbroken. She gently touched her daughter’s head.
“Dai-Hua, how could you have suffered such a serious injury?”
Lin Dai-Hua held her mother’s hand.
“Dad, Mom. Please calm down first.”
“Let me finish telling you everything.”
“And please don’t doubt me.”
Lin’s father remained silent for a moment.
Finally, he nodded.
“Okay. Tell us.”
In the living room, Lin Dai-Hua sat in front of her parents and slowly told them everything that had happened during this period.
She told them that after returning to Taiwan, she had lost her memory due to a car accident and was sent to a homeless shelter.
Later, after she fell and was injured, she recovered the memories of her past.
Finally, she revealed the most unbelievable part.
“Actually……”
“I did not return from the present.”
Her parents looked at her in confusion.
Lin Dai-Hua took a deep breath.
“I came back from the year 2019.”
The air instantly froze.
Lin’s father and mother looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock and confusion.
“Dai-Hua……”
Lin’s mother asked cautiously.
“Are you sure you are not mistaken?”
Lin Dai-Hua gave a bitter smile.
“I know it is difficult to believe.”
“But it is true.”
Lin’s mother suddenly stood up.
“Wait a moment.”
“I’ll call California to confirm.”
She picked up the phone and dialed the number of her daughter’s former dormitory.
The call connected.
“Hello, may I speak with Qiu Mei-Jun?”
Lin’s mother hurriedly said:
“I am Lin Dai-Hua’s mother. I would like to speak with Dai-Hua.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end.
“Sorry, did you dial the wrong number?”
Lin’s mother froze.
“Wrong number?”
“Aren’t you Qiu Mei-Jun?”
“Lin Dai-Hua, your roommate who shared that apartment with you. She is from Taichung……”
A confused voice came from the other end.
“Ma’am, I really don’t know anyone named Lin Dai-Hua.”
“No one by that name has ever lived here.”
Holding the phone, Lin’s mother’s expression gradually stiffened.
“Are you sure?”
“You really don’t know Lin Dai-Hua?”
After receiving confirmation, she slowly hung up the phone.
The living room fell into silence.
The elderly couple’s faces were filled with confusion.
“How could this happen?”
Lin’s father frowned and whispered:
“Could it be…… that something supernatural happened?”
Lin Dai-Hua looked at her father.
She was not angry.
She simply said calmly:
“Dad. Mom.”
“I did not lie to you.”
“I really am your daughter.”
“It’s just that……”
“I unexpectedly came back from 2019 to the present.”
Lin’s father looked at her.
He stared at her for a long time.
Finally, he let out a long sigh.
“Alright.”
“I believe you.”
However, in the next second, the words Lin Dai-Hua spoke made her father freeze again.
“Dad.”
“I want to get married.”
“Please accept Cai Shi-Nan.”
Lin’s father’s face darkened instantly.
“No.”
There was no room for negotiation in his tone.
“You are still together with that poor kid from the fishing village?”
“You will definitely suffer hardships for the rest of your life if you marry him.”
“I do not agree to this.”
Lin Dai-Hua had already expected her father’s reaction, but she did not back down.
“Dad.”
She looked at her father.
“I am someone who has already been through death once.”
“Now, I only want to cherish the rest of my life.”
“I want to hold on to true happiness.”
She turned to look at her mother.
“Mom.”
“Please help me persuade Dad.”
Lin’s mother sighed.
“Dai-Hua.”
“Your father is also doing this for your own good.”
“He only hopes that you can live a happy life.”
Lin Dai-Hua shook her head.
“Mom.”
“Shi-Nan and I have already made plans.”
“After we get married, we will stay in Taichung together and start a business.”
“We will open a technology company.”
When Lin’s father heard the words “start a business,” his brows furrowed again.
“Start a business?”
“Where will you get the funding?”
Lin Dai-Hua was about to answer.
But Lin’s mother spoke first.
“The children’s father.”
“If they are willing to stay and develop their future in Taichung, then don’t oppose them anymore.”
She looked at her husband.
“Don’t you want to have a son-in-law?”
“Don’t you even want your daughter’s happiness?”
Lin’s father fell silent.
His attitude gradually softened.
After a long while, he let out a sigh.
“Dai-Hua.”
“Go bring that young man here.”
“I want to talk to him personally.”
Lin Dai-Hua’s eyes became slightly red.
She stood up and looked at her father gratefully.
“Dad.”
“Thank you.”
Outside the window, the sunset slowly descended.
The daughter who had returned home after many years finally received her parents’ acceptance once again.
However, what she did not know was this—
The gears of destiny had only just begun to turn.
88. The Promise From the Past
The afternoon sunlight streamed through the window into the room of the Cai family homestay.
The sea breeze carried a faint salty scent, passing through the half-open curtains and gently stirring the documents and papers on the desk.
Cai Shi-Nan sat in front of the desk, originally looking down while organizing the homestay’s operation records.
Suddenly, his laptop made the notification sound of an incoming email.
He instinctively raised his head.
“Ding——”
A new email appeared on the screen.
Sender name: Lin Dai-Hua.
The moment Shi-Nan saw those three words, his heart suddenly trembled.
This name, which had been deeply hidden in the depths of his memory for many years, was like a door that suddenly opened, bringing him back to those years he once thought had already faded away.
He hesitated for a moment before reaching out to open the email.
Only a few short lines of text, yet they made his breathing stop instantly.
Shi-Nan,
I have persuaded my father. He has agreed to meet you and discuss our marriage.
I will come to Xiaoliuqiu to find you in the next couple of days. Wait for me at home!
Dai-Hua
Cai Shi-Nan stared at the screen, remaining motionless for a long time.
The room was so quiet that the only sound was the waves crashing against the shore.
“How is this possible……?”
He murmured softly.
His finger remained on the mouse, yet it seemed to have lost all response.
According to his memory, at this moment, Lin Dai-Hua should still have been studying in California, USA, focusing on her graduate studies.
How could she possibly have suddenly returned to Taiwan?
Even more impossible was that, at this point in time, she would propose marriage.
A powerful sense of uneasiness surged into his heart.
Shi-Nan suddenly stood up and paced back and forth across the room.
“Dai-Hua……”
“How could you suddenly come back?”
He frowned and looked out at the ocean through the window.
Another name emerged in his mind:
Shi Mei-Lin.
If Dai-Hua knew that he was already dating Shi Mei-Lin, how would she react?
And how should he himself face these two intertwined lives?
“If she finds out about Mei-Lin’s existence……”
“What should I do?”
Shi-Nan reached out and rubbed his forehead.
A look of confusion he had never shown before appeared on his face.
Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
He picked up the phone and saw the name displayed on the screen.
— Zhang Ya-Hui.
At that moment, he actually felt as if he had encountered a savior.
He took a deep breath and pressed the answer button.
“Hello, Ya-Hui.”
From the other end of the phone came Zhang Ya-Hui’s familiar and gentle voice.
“Shi-Nan, I have already arranged everything with the students. The whale-watching trip schedule has been confirmed.”
“At seven o’clock in the morning on June 10, everyone must gather at the Baisha Fishing Harbor pier on time.”
She paused for a moment, then reminded him:
“Don’t forget, okay?”
Shi-Nan reluctantly came back to his senses.
“Got it. I’ll make the preparations.”
A soft laugh came from the other end of the phone.
“What’s wrong? Your voice sounds strange.”
Shi-Nan was silent for a moment.
He originally wanted to directly tell her about the letter Lin Dai-Hua had sent.
But when the words reached his lips, he stopped.
This matter was too complicated.
So complicated that even he himself did not know how to explain it.
“Ya-Hui……”
“Do you have time now?”
Zhang Ya-Hui was startled for a moment.
“Now?”
“I’m busy right now.”
Her tone carried a hint of confusion.
“What’s wrong? Are you urgently looking for me?”
Shi-Nan looked at the email on the desk, his eyes becoming deep and serious.
“Yes.”
He lowered his voice.
“There’s something I want to ask you to help me think through and give me some advice.”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.
Zhang Ya-Hui seemed to have sensed something unusual about him.
“Alright.”
“If something really happened, we can talk tonight.”
“I’ll wait for you after I get off work.”
Holding the phone, Shi-Nan felt slightly more at ease.
“Okay. I’ll come find you at your dormitory after work.”
After hanging up, he looked back at the email on the screen.
That email from Lin Dai-Hua was like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
It was about to create ripples that would change everyone’s destiny.
What he did not know was this—
The love from twenty years ago, the choices of the present, and the tragedy that had not yet happened in the future were gradually converging on the same timeline.
90. Understanding from Mother and Younger Sister
In the afternoon on Xiaoliuqiu, sunlight streamed through the windows into the living room of the Tsai family’s guesthouse. The sea breeze carried a faint salty scent, blowing in through the half-open door and gently stirring the white sheer curtains by the window. The guesthouse remained as busy as ever. Tsai Shih-fen sat beside the front desk, looking through reservation records while holding the phone and confirming guests’ arrival times.
“Okay, no problem. We’ll keep the room for you. After you arrive at the pier, just give us a call and let us know.”
After hanging up the phone, she lowered her head and organized the documents on the desk.
At that moment, Chiu Hsiu-tuan came down from the staircase. She had just finished tidying the guest rooms and was pushing a cart piled with clean bed sheets and towels. Years of running the guesthouse had made her accustomed to doing everything herself. Even as she grew older, she still personally handled every detail, keeping everything orderly and well arranged.
Tsai Shih-nan stood to one side of the living room, his expression somewhat heavy. Looking at his mother’s busy figure, he hesitated several times before finally speaking.
“Mom.”
Chiu Hsiu-tuan stopped and turned to look at him.
“What’s wrong?”
Shih-nan remained silent for a moment.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Chiu Hsiu-tuan glanced at him. A mother’s sharp intuition told her that her son’s tone was unusual. However, she did not immediately ask questions. Instead, she pointed at the cart beside her.
“Wait for me a moment. I’ll take these sheets over to be sorted out first.”
“Okay.”
Shih-nan sat down on the living room sofa, clasped his hands together, and quietly waited.
Chiu Hsiu-tuan pushed the cart toward the laundry room.
The sound of waves came from outside the window. He looked at the family photo hanging on the wall, but his mind was filled with the email Lin Dai-hua had sent him.
That name, which had been buried in his heart for many years, had once again entered his life.
Not long afterward, Chiu Hsiu-tuan finished her work, wiped her hands, and returned to the living room. She sat down beside her son.
“Shih-nan, what kind of thing you want to talk to me about?”
She asked in the familiar Taiwanese dialect.
Shih-nan took a deep breath.
“Mom, do you still remember Lin Dai-hua?”
Chiu Hsiu-tuan was slightly startled.
Of course she remembered.
That girl who had once been deeply loved by her son, but had also hurt him and caused him to leave.
“I remember.”
She looked at Shih-nan.
“What? She came back to find you?”
Shih-nan lowered his head and gently nodded.
“Yeah. She said her father is willing to meet me.”
Chiu Hsiu-tuan’s expression changed slightly.
Shih-nan continued:
“She will come to our house in the next couple of days.”
The living room fell into a brief silence.
Looking at her son’s expression, Chiu Hsiu-tuan knew that his heart must be filled with complicated emotions. She did not blame him, nor did she rush to make a decision for him. Instead, she calmly said:
“So that’s how it is…”
She paused for a moment.
“But now you have already met Shi Mei-lin’s family. Lin Dai-hua has come back to look for you at this time. You should tell her clearly face to face.”
Chiu Hsiu-tuan’s voice was gentle, yet firm.
“After all, back then, you were not the one who wronged her.”
Shih-nan raised his head and looked at his mother.
Her words made him feel slightly more at ease.
At that moment, Tsai Shih-fen, who had been organizing documents at the front desk, seemed to have overheard their conversation. She put down the papers in her hand and walked over to sit beside them.
“Older brother.”
She looked at her brother and smiled.
“You don’t need to worry!”
Shih-nan looked toward his younger sister.
Shih-fen patted his shoulder.
“We don’t owe Lin Dai-hua anything. Why should we be afraid of her?”
Her words were direct, but they carried a sense of standing up for her brother.
“Back then, she was the one who left you, not you who left her.”
Shih-nan gave a bitter smile.
“It’s not that simple.”
Shih-fen raised her eyebrows.
“Relationships are complicated to begin with!”
She glanced at their mother, then looked back at her brother.
“But the most important thing about being a person is honesty. Whatever you truly want in your heart now, you have to face it bravely.”
Chiu Hsiu-tuan nodded.
“That’s right.”
She said softly:
“No matter who you choose in the end, you cannot hurt someone else, and you cannot wrong yourself either.”
Shih-nan looked at his mother and younger sister, and a warm feeling rose in his heart.
This family was always his safest harbor.
However, he did not know that—
when Lin Dai-hua appeared in his life once again, the love from the past and the love of the present would face an unavoidable test.
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