Before dawn, Song Beiyu was suddenly startled.

He opened his eyes; the nightlight was still flashing. He reached out and handed the book he was holding to Song Beiye.

"Brother, I had a dream that I went back to my elementary school classroom. I couldn't do any of the questions on the test. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that it was because my sister-in-law rewrote the ending that I hadn't finished reading."

"Can you read it to me? I'll do the test after you read it. I can't just hand in a blank paper after all this time."

Even just those few words exhausted Song Beiyu.

Song Beiye choked up:

"Okay, I'll read it to you."

Fearing the story was too long and he wouldn't be able to finish it, Song Beiyu pointed to the end of the book:

"My sister-in-law said she rewrote the ending, and I'd like to hear it."

Song Beiye flipped to the end:

"Then I'll start reading from the final chapter."

Song Beiyu nodded, closed his eyes, and seemed to see Tang Li writing at his desk.

A slight smile appeared on his lips.

A cool breeze blew through his dream. He pulled the blanket covering him up to his chest, his eyes too tired to even open.

4:26 AM.

The nightlight suddenly went out.

Only the lamp that Song Beiye used to light his books remained, lonely illuminating the final line of the ending:

"You must believe that someone will go through countless trials to return for you. No matter how good the world is, it can never compare to you."

Close the book.

Song Beiye was already in tears.

He reached out to cover Song Beiyu with the blanket that had slipped off his chest, only to find that his heart was no longer rising and falling.

Suppressing his immense grief, Song Beiye stood up and said to Tang Li and the others:

"He's asleep. Thank you all for tonight."

After bowing, Song Beiye bent down, picked up his younger brother who was as light as a child, and walked towards the van parked by the roadside.

Tang Li took two steps after him, but Song Beiye didn't turn around. He said to her:

"Even after seeing you off for a thousand miles, we must eventually part ways. Go back now, get a good night's sleep, and we will meet again when the sun rises."

Until Song Beiye got on the bus.

Huo Sitang asked, sobbing:

Was he really just asleep?

Tang Li put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, "A person dies three times in their life. He just passed through the first one earlier than us."

Huo Chenyu patted her head:

"Let's go back to sleep."

David Eagleman wrote in *The List of Life*:

A person dies three times in their lifetime.

The first time your heart stops beating and your breathing ceases, you are declared biologically dead;

The second time, when you are buried, people dressed in black attend your funeral, declaring that you no longer exist in this society, that you have quietly departed;

The third death is when the last person in the world who remembers you forgets you, and then you truly die.

The entire universe will no longer have anything to do with you.

This was the first time Tang Li had come so close to death.

When her parents passed away, she only said goodbye to their ashes and never saw them one last time.

That night, she stayed at a villa in the south of the city.

I waited and waited until dawn.

"Sweetie, take a nap, I'll go make you breakfast."

Huo Chenyu stayed with her until sunrise.

Soon, there were sounds coming from the kitchen.

Tang Li sat up, went to the study, and turned on the computer. She wanted to write something, but the moment she put her hands on the keyboard, her thoughts froze and tears welled up.

It's hard to imagine that just a few hours ago, the people who were calling her "sister-in-law" this and "sister-in-law" that were surrounding her have now completely parted ways with this world.

The flood of tears prevented her from writing anything. Tang Li walked to the window and looked at the river, which remained as calm as ever.

It had no idea that a bright young man had fallen into a deep sleep in its arms last night, never to wake again.

His hearty laughter seemed to still linger in the sunroom.

Tang Li walked out of the room and sat on the chair in the sunroom that hadn't been tidied up yet. He picked up the book of short stories that Song Beiyu had loved most when he was alive, opened it, and was surprised to find a letter tucked inside.

The envelope had three words written on it:

To Tang Li.

Upon opening it, the first sentence that catches the eye clearly shows that the hand was trembling when it was written.

Therefore, the characters for "sister-in-law" are written somewhat distorted.

But in fact, Song Beiyu has beautiful handwriting.

In his letter, he wrote, "Sister-in-law, I have a secret that I have never told anyone."

I really like her.

When I was seventeen, I watched her dramas, listened to her songs, and watched her variety shows. I knew that following a star was a futile endeavor, but I still waited for her.

Tang Li frowned slightly; she didn't understand the sentence Song Beiyu had written.

What does it mean that she finally arrived?

At the authors' conference, Lin Yiyun was clearly a complete stranger to him.

Tang Li continued reading, and Song Beiyu said:

From the age of seventeen to twenty-one, even though I had seen her in darkness and knew that her flaws were not hidden, my fondness for her never diminished in the slightest.

Until I met you.

Four years of devotion, abruptly ended.

Perhaps I simply didn't have the energy to continue writing.

On the letter, several ink smudges were left every other line, but no words were ever written on them.

Tang Li searched through all the books on the desk, but found nothing further.

What exactly is he trying to say?

Why did my four-year-long feelings for Lin Yiyun end the moment I saw her?

Tang Li knew perfectly well that what Song Beiyu wanted to express was definitely not that he had fallen in love with someone else.

What caused him to suddenly stop his love for Lin Yiyun?

Was it because he knew about the dirty things Lin Yiyun had done?

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!