Half a moon hung above the branches. Two sparrows slept nestled together in their nest, and by the moonlight, three or four eggs were visible beneath them. The two people on the swing below the tree sat just as close. Once the song ended, the courtyard fell especially quiet.
"Why do you Joy me?"
"Why do you ask?"
"What do you Joy about me?"
"..."
Chen Shu fell into Thought.
At any other time, he would have said she was being silly.
But now that he thought about it, he really couldn't come up with an answer.
Surely he wasn't the only one who felt that way—
Of course he liked her, but if someone suddenly demanded a reason, that didn't mean he could put it into words.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world, something that needed no reason. If he insisted on finding one, perhaps he could, but he would have to think slowly and for a long time. The answer would probably take a long time to tell, too, because it encompassed everything, more than a decade spent together day and night. Because he did Joy her. He truly did, and had for years. There was so much about her he Joyed, inside and out, from the past to the present and on into the future. Even the few things he didn't like so much became lovable because they were hers. At the very least, he could accept them completely.
There had been no ingenious coincidence that brought Chen Shu and Qingqing together, no earthshaking moment when love struck. Everything had been ordinary.
It was affection born of years together, not delight at first sight.
It was companionship and habit, the gentle rain of countless years that moistened everything without a sound. It was