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The early fishing boats set sail at four in the morning, and Zhong Yan woke up at three-thirty.

My phone ran out of battery, so the alarm didn't go off.

She was only in a daze for a moment before jumping out of bed and rushing to the bathroom.

It took me five minutes to wash up and two minutes to get dressed.

Fortunately, she has a habit of preparing in advance and always has everything ready the day before, so she was able to pack up and leave so quickly.

She put all of Little Seagull's nest and food into the cat carrier Chen Baoran lent her, and it didn't bother her when she held it.

In the early hours of the morning, only the streetlights were still on on the island.

Fortunately, the streetlights on the main road in this scenic area extend all the way to the port.

Holding the baby seagull in her arms and carrying her small bag, Zhong Yan walked and jogged along the way, the little bell jingling to accompany her. She arrived at the port at 5:52, her phone charged to 40%, and she quickly contacted the fishing boat captain, fearing that he would abandon her.

The captain gave her the ship's number, and as the blogger had said, it was indeed a large ship with two decks.

The female crew member on the ship specially prepared a life jacket for her.

Although Zhong Yan can swim, she still felt awe in the face of the boundless sea and obediently put on her life jacket with the help of others.

As Sister Juan helped her tighten the straps around her thighs, she said, "Many people wear life jackets but don't fasten them here. When the water hits, they sink and the life jacket just slips off."

She added, "You're the first person I've ever met who spent money to rent a fishing boat just to release a bird."

Zhong Yan was the last person to board the boat. As soon as she stepped onto the deck, the fishing boat started up and slowly sailed out of the harbor.

Because Zhong Yan paid, the captain specially found her a clean and bright place to sit.

The other crew members were at their posts preparing for today's fishing work.

Zhong Yan put the baby seagull into the empty fish basket and fed it a few small fish.

I lost my appetite and couldn't eat breakfast.

The boat was rocking too much.

Zhong Yan wasn't used to the rocking on the sea. When she first came to the island, she took a large, heavy ship that was much more stable than this fishing boat, and she still felt uncomfortable for a long time.

The fishing boat cuts through the water, the sound of the waves lapping against its hull and then tumbling and rolling back into the sea, the boat rising and falling with the waves.

Rocking and rocking, Zhong Yan seemed to have returned to her cradle.

She couldn't help but close her eyes, and in her dazed state, she didn't know if she had fainted or fallen asleep.

"Xiao Yan, I'm here."

Zhong Yan looked left and right in the crowd, and countless unfamiliar faces flashed before her eyes.

No, no, none of those.

She forcefully pushed through the crowd, like a fish diving into the sea, swimming and swimming with all her might.

Finally, she saw that familiar face again.

"Little Swallow!"

A middle-aged man in a black short-sleeved shirt stood under the shade of a tree. His face was dark, but his teeth were very white. He waved to her with a bright smile, his wave always very large, as if he wanted to wipe away the gloom on his daughter's road ahead.

dad……

It's Dad!

Zhong Yan pushed her way forward against the flow of people.

My father is still the same as before; the kind years have not etched a single wrinkle or a single gray hair on his face.

"dad……"

"What's wrong, Xiaoyan? Are you still crying after getting into your dream university?"

"How old are you? Among so many students, you're the only one crying and whining. Who told you to go to such a faraway place? If something happens, your dad will have to fly here..."

Zhong Yan turned her head and saw her mother standing next to her father, looking tired and old because of her furrowed brows.

"Aerospace University is a good school. My colleagues are all very envious when they heard that my daughter got into Aerospace University," Song Qiannan said with a smile.

"Anyway, we're not doing the same kind of work outside."

"That's different. Graduates from the Aviation University are capable of building airplanes and cannons; they are the nation's top talents!"

"You have to be able to learn it first."

"Anyway, I believe in my daughter."

The way Mom and Dad argue is exactly the same.

Zhong Yan pressed her lips tightly together, her vision still blurred by tears. She wiped them away forcefully with the back of her hand and walked quickly forward.

The people separating them seemed endless, their figures bizarre and surreal, seemingly real yet unreal, as if they all shared the same face—a face both familiar and strange.

"Monsoon?"

Zhong Yan suddenly stopped, and she saw the face clearly.

The crowd that had blocked her way vanished in an instant, leaving only her under the tree.

Ji Feng stood next to her father and spoke, but strangely, only her father's voice could be heard.

"You're Xiaoyan's senior, and from Shishi High School at that! What a coincidence! Please help take care of my daughter in the future..."

"Oh, is it inconvenient? It's okay, it's okay... You've already done a great job..."

As they talked, the two walked forward together. The sunlight outside the shade of the trees was so bright that their figures turned white, as if their lives had been washed countless times by the years.

"Dad! Monsoon!"

Father didn't turn around, only Ji Feng turned his head slightly, his eyes calm and warm. Zhong Yan suddenly felt panicked and took big steps to catch up. As she passed the shade of the tree where they had just stood, her wrist was grabbed and pulled back hard.

Zhong Yan woke up suddenly, her phone buzzing in her hand.

It was already bright outside, and the dazzling sunlight shone into the cabin, casting orange streaks of light. The light refracted at a corner on the wall, as if a ray of light was quietly sitting beside Zhong Yan.

Someone outside called out to her.

"Hey beautiful, you're awake? We're almost there!"

Zhong Yan looked down at her phone screen in a daze; it was a call from her mother.

She was about to answer the phone when she suddenly remembered something, so she hung up and found WeChat.

There's a red dot on Jifeng's profile picture, next to a new message.

The time was 5:34 PM yesterday.

It was before the surgery.

It's okay, it's okay.

Zhong Yan pressed her phone against her chest, momentarily unsure whether it was the phone vibrating or her heart pounding.

Goodbye, Xiaoyan.

Close your eyes.

Four words, two punctuation marks, and a complete sentence were still clearly imprinted in her mind.

Goodbye, Xiaoyan.

The red-hot iron first scalded the skin, then burned the flesh, and finally pierced the bone.

Didn't he say that a period signifies the end, and the absence of a period means they can continue their conversation at any time?

Why, why did he have to say goodbye?

Their conversation wasn't over yet; they would continue...

Zhong Yan opened her eyes again. The 26 letters were crammed at the bottom of the screen, each letter huddled in its own little square, looking at her innocently.

Good heavens, why are all the letters so small? Her fingers are so clumsy.

Click, error, delete, important.

It's so cold at sea that even through the glass, the sound of the waves continuously sends the icy chill of the seawater into the cabin.

Her hands were so cold that she couldn't bend or straighten her joints, as if they were in splints from the cold air.

Even stiffer than the fingers is the brain's language control center.

What does she want to say?

say something?

My mind was a complete blank, and I couldn't find a single complete sentence.

Let me start by talking about myself, I'll just say "I".

To be honest, she was really cold, so she added "cold" to her name...

Before she could finish typing the message, a text message fell heavily from the top of the screen, as if a clown had played a prank on her. A colorful gift box was opened, and something terrible suddenly jumped into her view.

By the time she realized what she was seeing, it was too late.

Before I could close my eyes, a faint buzzing sound came from my ears, like the pre-starting noise of a machine.

Tears welled up uncontrollably, heavy and hot, as if trying to carve two streams of water into her cheeks.

There was a deep hole in the floor of the cabin.

Not too big, not too small, just right for her to fall for it.

The seawater warmly welcomed her, enveloping her like amniotic fluid in a mother's womb, completely embracing her.

She doesn't need to breathe, nor can she breathe.

Until her lungs were completely empty, she opened her mouth wide, only to be filled with warm, salty water.

She tried to scream, but all she could hear was her bones cracking and her blood overflowing.

Her body was shaken, and countless hands passed over her shoulders, head, and back.

Thump—thump—thump—

Zhong Yan closed her eyes tightly, letting her body sink into the sea, into the deep and cold ocean.

The water gently cradled her neck, back, and thighs. Just as she was about to drown, her hands began to move gently with the surging water, once, twice, three times, becoming more and more rhythmic and powerful.

The body's memory is more reliable than we imagine.

"Relax, you will float, glide your hands and feet, you will move, don't be afraid of it or underestimate it, conquer it, and you will be invincible..."

Her therapist told her that the mind wants to control the body, and the body wants to rebel against the mind; this is the reason for her depression.

She would contemplate killing herself to break free from control.

A sob finally escaped from her throat, and the quicksand of sorrow poured out until the burden on her heart slowly disappeared.

She had just emerged from the deep sea, taking a deep breath of air, her stiff body trembling violently.

The sounds around her squeezed in through the gaps and filled her ears.

"Miss... are you experiencing low blood sugar?"

"We've brought all the food. How about some dried fish? Or some honey water?"

"Are you alright? How are you?"

The sounds from the outside world grew clearer. Zhong Yan pulled her wet face off her knees and sobbed out two words: "I... am cold."

Twenty minutes later, Zhong Yan, wrapped in a blanket, held a cup of hot coffee between her hands.

Sister Juan put her arm around her shoulder and patted her, "Alright, alright, you're not cold anymore. You scared us to death, we thought something had happened to you."

As the fishing boat rocked, Zhong Yan stared blankly at the sea.

The seawater was a bright, clear blue under the sunlight.

Sister Juan could tell that her bad mood wasn't due to physical illness; she must have been crying so hard because something sad had happened that she couldn't let go of.

Then he said, "It's okay, all difficulties will pass, you're still young."

“Being young makes you powerless,” Zhong Yan murmured.

Sister Juan scoffed, disagreeing, "Youth is all about endless possibilities! You have plenty of time to realize your dreams!"

"Dream?" Zhong Yan blinked.

Does she have a dream?

some.

She promised.

She had promised Ji Feng.

“I have a dream,” Zhong Yan said.

"That's great!" Sister Juan said loudly. "Then let's make it happen."

The simple fishermen have no complicated thoughts; they simply rely on the sea to make a living and dream of returning home with a full catch every day so that their children and families can live a good life.

If you have an idea, then take one step at a time every day to realize it.

"Quick! Look! Isn't that a petrel?!"

A voice came from above them.

Zhong Yan looked up and saw several small black birds flying across the sky, chirping.

"Didn't you want to release the little seagull? Hurry up!" Sister Juan gently nudged her.

The wind was strong on the observation deck on the second floor of the fishing boat, making it hard to stand. Zhong Yan was pushed against the railing by the wind and clung tightly to it to avoid swaying.

Zhong Yan opened her arms, and the little seagull in her palms faced forward, its tail swaying gently in the wind, like a small boat ruddering.

"Go."

Zhong Yan said softly.

The little petrel heard her voice and, just as they had always trained, it spread its pair of full-feathered wings.

The wind lifted it up, and its tiny, furry body rested almost imperceptibly on Zhong Yan's palm.

The fishing boat cuts through the waves, its head raised forward, wings spread, and feet pressed against its back, as if it were already flying.

The wind came from behind, not gently, but very powerfully, as if riding on it would allow one to cross thousands of mountains and rivers.

At this time, Zhong Yan is more likely to think of the monsoon.

He was that kind of person too, not exactly gentle, and sometimes even quite nasty, but it was he who "forced" her out of the ivory tower, "forced" her to make earth-shattering changes, and forced her to find her own life again.

He was like a powerful gust of wind.

Bang! —

WIND patted the cage.

Bang! —

WIND patted the cage.

Bang! —

WIND patted the cage.

The cage shattered in the wind, and a small bird emerged from the twisted steel wire and iron bars.

The little bird, long confined, hesitated in the unfamiliar sky, too afraid to fly away.

The voice that had been screaming in my heart countless times finally burst out of my throat.

Fly!

She lifted it upwards with force.

The little petrel completely broke free from her hand, caught the wind, and with each powerful downward flap of its wings, its tiny body rose a little higher into the sky.

The cries of petrels echoed in the distance as the little petrel flew straight into the sky, never looking back.

Finally, the little petrel's silhouette turned into a tiny black dot in the azure sky.

"He's gone."

Aunt Lin's text message contained only three words.

But it carries the weight of a person's entire life.

He is like the brief, prevailing monsoon at the end of summer, helping birds to take flight, but he too will eventually go far away and never look back.

Zhong Yan will never experience the same summer or the same monsoon in her entire life.

But she was destined never to forget.

Zhong Yan gripped the railing, looked up at the sky, and shouted at the swallows flying away.

"Tell the world, he was here!—"

/

Sunday, August 31, 2025

The little petrel took flight.

My summer is over.

But my story isn't over yet.

His also