1

In the early morning, the birdsong was loud and noisy.

Zhong Yan saw a flock of birds flying overhead from the window.

She pushed the window open wide and leaned her upper body out completely to get a wider view.

The flocks of birds, like a swarm of aircraft, cruised orderly across the blue sky.

They are a flock of migratory birds.

Their powerful wings flap, integrating individuals into a group, enabling them to help each other and sustain themselves through long migrations with the help of the wind.

Clothes on the opposite rooftop rustled in the wind, and a windmill hanging from the corner of the wall spun rapidly, creating a grinning emoji.

The wind is picking up.

Zhong Yan paused for a moment, then quickly went back into the house, found her phone, and pulled out the public account she had previously followed.

Niling Island is an important refueling point for migratory birds, so many migratory birds pass through it every year.

Bird enthusiasts have created a dedicated WeChat public account to provide birdwatchers with the latest information.

She saw the new tweet from last night.

There's an encouraging headline: "Weak cold air arrives, northeast monsoon will briefly prevail, helping early-morning migratory birds to migrate!"

She couldn't wait to share the tweet with Monsoon.

Cage: [The little petrel can hitch a ride!!!]

Zhong Yan rarely adds three exclamation marks.

WIND: [Happy.jpg]

WIND: [Perhaps it will even encounter its own kind.]

Cage: [Petrels are ocean birds, they shouldn't pass by our island, right? We don't even know how the little petrels got here in the first place.]

WIND: [Perhaps it was hunted, or perhaps it was blown off course by a typhoon.]

Cage: [I want to put it back on its original track.]

WIND: [Yes, it will go back.]

After washing up, Zhong Yan changed her clothes, grabbed a piece of bread, and went to put on her shoes. On the iron hook behind the door, a gray-black baseball cap hung quietly.

That was the hat that Jifeng put on her head the day before she left, and no one mentioned it when they parted.

Zhong Yan had a slight selfish urge to stay, and luckily, Ji Feng also forgot that the hat originally belonged to him.

She put the hat on her head.

She walked briskly down the stairs, the auspicious charm on her canvas bag swaying left and right, jingling.

Zhong Yan went to the small supermarket to buy fresh sea fish, and then went to Ji Feng's yard to feed the baby seagulls, and also watered Ji's mother's flowers.

While watering the plants, she subconsciously looked up.

The dried rose on the windowsill of Jifeng's bedroom was nowhere to be seen.

Zhong Yan got in touch with the blogger by leaving a message on the official WeChat account.

When he learned of Zhong Yan's idea, he suggested several feasible locations for her to release the baby petrels.

If you're lucky, you might even spot a small flock of swallows.

Two or three years ago, birdwatchers observed black-tailed petrels foraging in the water near the islands.

Zhong Yan immediately decided to take the little seagull to that area to release it.

However, the islands are a nature reserve and tourists are not allowed to land on them. The helpful blogger suggested that she could take the early fishing boats out to sea at four in the morning to reach the vicinity.

Ordinary fishing boats don't carry tourists, but he has friends who can help him make arrangements.

Once everything was arranged, Zhong Yan made another trip to the Ji family, packed Xiao Haiyan into a cardboard box, and "brought" her back to her own home.

Things went smoothly, and Zhong Yan remarked that this gust of wind had come at just the right time.

At noon, Ji Feng's test results came out, and the surgery time was changed to 6 p.m., earlier and more urgent than originally expected.

Anyone with common sense knows that major surgeries are not scheduled for the afternoon.

Cage: [Is it because of the doctor's appointment time?]

In big cities and big hospitals, famous doctors are always fully booked.

Every day, many people in the world seek medical treatment; there are more people in hospitals than in parks.

WIND: [Maybe, it's bound to happen sooner or later anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's sooner or later.]

Cage: [How long will the surgery take?]

WIND: [After the surgery and the anesthesia, I estimate I won't be fully awake until around 7 or 8 am tomorrow morning.]

Cage: [Then I'll show you how a baby seagull takes flight.]

WIND: [OK.jpg]

WIND: [I'm kind of like a second mother to it, after all.]

Cage: [If you're the mother, then what am I?]

WIND: [You are the other half of my mother]

Zhong Yan couldn't help but smile.

Cage: [I just brought the baby petrel home, and it seems to remember me.]

WIND: [It will always remember you]

Cage: [I actually hope it forgets me, so it can start its new life.]

After a while, Jifeng finally answered.

WIND: [You're right]

WIND: [It flies into the sky without needing to look back to see which gust of wind it was.]

As time passed, Zhong Yan suspected that Ji Feng might be preparing for surgery, which was why he needed to find time to answer her.

Cage: Are you busy right now?

WIND: [Not busy]

WIND: [I'm having porridge. I can't eat anything after 10 PM.]

Zhong Yan had never undergone surgery before and was unaware that fasting was required before surgery. She only thought that not eating or drinking for a long time would be quite difficult.

At this moment, the person undergoing the surgery should be tense and fearful, but Zhong Yan felt inexplicably flustered.

From 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. tomorrow, she will be completely unable to contact Ji Feng for 14 hours.

This was something that had never happened before in their lives.

Ji Feng is a night owl; he might not sleep until two or three in the morning. If Zhong Yan has insomnia, she can send him a message and they might be able to chat for a bit.

She took a deep breath; she was already nervous about what would happen in a few hours.

My stomach sometimes feels empty and sometimes feels bloated.

It felt like I was hungry, but also like I was overeating.

WIND: [The little girl in the ward next to mine had surgery yesterday and passed away today.]

Cage: [Discharged from the hospital so quickly?]

WIND: [No]

Zhong Yan understood. Her stomach cramps worsened, and she felt nauseous, but she hadn't eaten much that morning.

But Jifeng is still typing.

WIND: [Her parents have been crying for hours.]

Zhong Yan had absolutely no idea what to say in response.

I thought it was unlucky for Ji Feng to bring up this topic at this time, but the little girl's parents were also suffering greatly, so how could she be so heartless as to criticize them and treat their pain as "unlucky"?

WIND: [Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all too common here.]

Cage: [But isn't that the best hospital in City B?]

WIND: [Because it's the best hospital, the most difficult patients are all here.]

Zhong Yan couldn't laugh at Ji Feng's words, because that was also why he was there.

Not long after, a new conversation appeared in the chat box.

WIND: [I'm a little nervous]

Upon seeing the six characters "Ji Feng," Zhong Yan couldn't help but stand up and pace back and forth.

Fortunately, this wasn't a phone call, otherwise Ji Feng would have only heard her rambling.

As she frantically deleted and edited the text in the input box, Zhong Yan was sweating profusely. She had learned so many rhetoric and so many substitutions, but she couldn't think of a single suitable sentence.

How could she comfort Ji Feng and make him feel better?

She was completely powerless in the face of illness.

The monsoon seemed to "see" her predicament and distress again.

WIND: [You don't need to rack your brains to comfort me [laughing emoji]]

WIND: [At first, I didn't want to admit I was nervous, but after thinking about it carefully, who wouldn't be nervous in the face of life and death?]

WIND: [But I've studied and played over the past 20 years, so I haven't wasted my time.]

WIND: [If we're not comparing length, but just quality, I'm not bad either, right?]

Zhong Yan quickly affirmed.

Cage: [Hmm!]

The text being typed is displayed on the screen.

WIND: [Only a minority of people have a perfect life; most people live with regrets, like the Venus de Milo with her missing arms.]

WIND: [But only a very few people can become as famous as it.]

Cage: [You will become world-famous. When the engine you designed takes to the skies, history will remember you forever.]

WIND: [If that day ever comes, I'll definitely set off a huge firework display, hahaha!]

Cage: [It will happen!]

The dialog box fell silent for a moment, with the two avatars facing each other quietly.

On the left is a cross-section of an engine with a turbine disc; the metallic texture and complex components exude a sense of technology and futuristic style. On the right is a small blue bird curled up in a ring of black thorns, like an illustration from a fairy tale book.

After a long while, it was Ji Feng who typed out a message first.

WIND: [Xiaoyan, I've always remembered my dream and worked hard for it, without wasting time or my life. I'm so glad you've also found your dream. Will you stick to your dream?]

Cage: [I will.]

WIND: [I believe in you]

It was getting late, and Zhong Yan didn't want to delay Ji Feng's rest time, so even though she was reluctant, she had to press pause first.

Cage: [Good luck with your surgery! See you tomorrow, I'll show you how the little seagull was successfully released!]

WIND: [Okay, I'm putting my phone away.]

Cage: [[Goodbye little bird.jpg]]

Zhong Yan packed her things for tomorrow's departure and waited a while longer.

There was no reply from Ji Feng, so she finally put her phone face down under her pillow and pressed her head down on the pillow.

Exhaustion came like a flood, and it was hard to resist.

When she closed her eyes.

The phone screen shone faintly through the folds of the bed sheet.

Like a shooting star that briefly streaks across the night sky, unnoticed by anyone.

Two thousand kilometers away at the central hospital, a young man in a light blue hospital gown kissed a dried rose on the windowsill.

The only time, the last time.

WIND: [Goodbye, Xiaoyan.]

/

Saturday, August 30, 2025

Monsoon, see you tomorrow