"Facing the moat."

"I'll plant lots more sunflowers for you, and next year this place will surely be warm and blooming with flowers!"

...

When Yan Yin and I parted ways, we exchanged contact information and made a promise.

In the coming month, whoever dies first will bury the other, and the survivor will simply accept their fate.

An interesting, yet somewhat sad, agreement.

I don't really know why I made such a promise with a stranger I'd only known for a day, like a friend, and we felt a little sympathy for each other.

I didn't expect that either.

This comfort will come in the time to come.

It will make me feel pain again.

When I got back to the hotel, Gu Nianci sent me a text message. We had blocked each other's other means of contact, and the only ways we could communicate now were by phone and text message. But I didn't want to answer the phone; I didn't want to hear her voice.

The message was simple, but it still surprised me.

It was the time we agreed to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

This time, she was indeed decisive.

I think it's probably because we completely fell out at the hotel. I know what kind of person she is now, and she also knows clearly that there's nothing left for us to talk about.

She's such a goal-oriented and rational woman, she naturally wouldn't choose to waste time with me at a time like this.

I didn't reply to her. After washing up, I lay down on the bed.

But as I looked at the snow-white bed, a figure involuntarily came to mind.

Song Qingrong.

After getting to know Yan Yin, I found that I seemed to have been influenced by her without realizing it. I no longer felt so sad or desperate. Instead, I felt a little more relaxed.

I think I can now face the love and lack thereof in this world with equanimity.

Having and losing.

But I didn't contact Song Qingrong. Even though I've figured things out, it's impossible for me to be like Song Qingrong.

My understanding of my relationship with her is vague.

Before we slept together, I always considered her my only friend in the world. After we slept together, I actually felt very indebted to her.

Go find her again.

It would only hurt her again, but I felt that I might need to make it up to her in another way.

But not now...

Before I fell asleep, Yan Yin sent me a message, which was a picture of a sunflower in bloom.

The caption below the picture reads: "This world is actually full of sunshine; don't always hide yourself in the shadows. Although I still don't know why you had to die, I still hope that in the days you were alive, you could face the sun like a sunflower."

I wish your life to be as beautiful as a flower!

I stared at this sentence for a long time, unable to calm down.

I couldn't help but recall the past few years; it truly felt like I was stuck in a quagmire.

I want to redeem Gu Nianci.

But I myself am sinking deeper and deeper.

It took me a while to reply, "You too."

After that, I didn't look at my phone anymore. I just stared blankly at the ceiling until another message came in.

I glanced at it.

It's still Gu Nianci.

This time it's not about divorce anymore.

It's something else entirely.

Are you sure you don't want to go find Song Qingrong?