.
Bai Ruxue slowly turned around.
Not far from her stood an old man with a head of white hair.
Looking at the person before her, Bai Ruxue parted her red lips, trembling slightly.
Her long legs emerged from beneath her skirt, and Bai Ruxue walked toward him, one step at a time.
Bai Ruxue didn't dare walk too fast.
She was afraid that when she drew near, she would find he was only an illusion.
She was afraid that if she came close to him, he would vanish.
At last, the woman stopped right in front of him.
Even then, Bai Ruxue wondered if she was dreaming, and whether any of this was real.
She reached out to touch him, but each time her hand was about to make contact, Bai Ruxue would shrink it back in fear. She did this again and again.
Finally, when Bai Ruxue summoned the courage, her tender palm touched his weathered cheek.
The real sensation beneath her palm told the woman:
This wasn't a dream.
He was truly standing before her, real and unmistakably there.
Bai Ruxue gently stroked his rough face.
She looked at the wrinkles on his face.
She looked at the spots at the corners of his eyes.
She looked at his head of white hair.
Tears blurred the woman's eyes, silently tracing her cheeks before falling onto the green leaves at her feet.
Each time her throat bobbed as she tried to speak, a thousand words crowded back into her heart.
Seeing Bai Ruxue standing there in a daze and weeping, the old man reached out, gently stroked her cheek, and brushed away the tears at the corner of her eye.
He spoke slowly, his voice aged by the years. "Silly girl, haven't I come back? Why are you