Chapter 42

Time is the harshest developing agent, washing away every trace of life until it becomes clearer.

When Lü Xiaoyan turned sixty, he made a decision—he would hold one last solo photography exhibition, titled "Development".

This is no ordinary exhibition. He spent a whole year selecting from hundreds of thousands of negatives, not choosing the most technically perfect ones, but those images that best tell the story of a complete life trajectory. What he wants to tell is not only his sixty years as a photographer, but also the forty-two years of Qiu Yayu's existence in another form.

The exhibition is divided into five chapters.

Chapter One: 'The Beginning of Autumn'

The exhibits are all traces left by Qiu Yayu. Her famous painting, "The Way Autumn Lives," is enlarged to cover an entire wall, alongside Polaroid photos she secretly took, letters she wrote, her ugly little sun drawing, the knot on her camera strap, and even her favorite ballpoint pen, the cat sticker on the cap now faded. These seemingly insignificant items together piece together a vibrant, lively life that once existed passionately. As visitors linger before these exhibits, they can almost hear a girl's clear laughter echoing through time.

Part Two: The Year of the Empty Mirror

These are works from the first few years after he lost her. The empty seats, deserted streets, and silent landscapes vividly present a vast, silent grief to the viewer, so oppressive it's suffocating. Each photograph is a silent cry, a confirmation of absence.

Chapter Three: "Seeing the World for You"

The style shifts abruptly. Color appears in the images, people appear, and the atmosphere of everyday life emerges. There are steaming breakfast stalls at the market, children playing in the park, the cries of newborns in the hospital, and the backs of ordinary couples busy in the kitchen… This is the beginning of him fulfilling his promise, greedily recording all the human scenes she missed through her eyes. The photographs are full of vitality, but behind that gazing gaze, there is always a deep, unspeakable sorrow.

Part Four: 'Development'

These are works from his middle age. The scenery remains the same, the people remain the same, but the gaze behind the lens has become more peaceful, inclusive, and even imbued with a divine compassion. He is no longer merely "seeing for her," but has truly begun to use his own life to experience, understand, and embrace this complex and beautiful world. In those photographs, there is suffering, struggle, and separation, but more than anything, there is an unyielding love and reverence for life itself, a love that has endured countless hardships. He has begun to reveal his complete soul in his work.

Chapter Five: Eternity

This is the final scene of the exhibition, and also the smallest exhibition hall. Inside, there is only one huge mosaic composed of thousands of tiny images. Upon closer inspection, each tiny image is a moment of light captured by him over the past few decades—a new sycamore leaf, a beam of Tyndall effect piercing through the clouds, a stranger's kind smile, a dewdrop about to fall... And when you step back, all these tiny lights converge to form the profile of Qiu Yayu smiling as she looks back on the Ginkgo Avenue.

She exists in every ray of light he has ever seen.

She lives in the thoughts behind every click of his shutter.

She became his way of understanding the world.

The exhibition hall was silent. Many visitors stood in front of the huge mosaic puzzle, unable to look away for a long time, and quietly shed tears.

On the night the exhibition opened, Lü Xiaoyan remained alone in the empty exhibition hall. He slowly walked through each chapter, as if walking through his long life. He stopped in front of the mosaic puzzle, looking up at the eternal smile formed from countless moments.

“Ya Yu,” he said softly, his voice echoing slightly in the empty exhibition hall, “look, this is our life.”

"I've seen this world for you, and for myself. It's beautiful, and it's cruel, but it's worth loving."

"I did not disappoint you. I walked to the end with your eyes in my heart."

He took out the light blue camera box he always carried with him from his pocket. Forty-two years had passed, and the wrapping paper was fragile and faded, but he had never opened it. Now, he carefully untied the somewhat worn silver ribbon that had been tied for forty-two years.

He opened the box.

Inside, the rare camera lay quietly, pristine, its metal parts gleaming warmly under the soft lighting of the exhibition hall. Beside the camera was a folded, yellowed piece of paper.

He picked up the note and unfolded it. It was her handwriting, more earnest than the message on the back of the Polaroid camera:

To my eternal partner:

When you open this box, you must have already traveled a long way and seen many sights.

Use this camera to capture your own unique new autumn.

No need to look back, I will be with you in all the light you capture.

Happy birthday, Lü Xiaoyan.

— Your Autumn, Ya-yu

It turned out she knew all along. She knew the gift would be late, that he would endure a long period of darkness, and that he would eventually emerge from that shadow and usher in a new season. She had even written down the meaning for his feelings when he opened the gift.

Lü Xiaoyan's vision blurred. He reached out and, with utmost solemnity, for the first and last time, grasped the camera. The cool metallic touch felt like a high-five from afar.

He didn't use it to take pictures. He simply held it, feeling the heavy yet warm sense of relief brought by this gift that had finally been delivered intact after forty-two years.

He gently placed the camera back in the box, retied the ribbon, and then placed the box on the display stand below the mosaic puzzle.

The next day, visitors to the exhibition discovered an open, light blue box containing a rare camera on the display stand, along with a card bearing Lü Xiaoyan's vigorous handwriting:

"Development complete."

The gift has been received.

Thank you for coming into my life.

Goodbye, my autumn.

The exhibition lasted for three months and was a resounding success. However, Lü Xiaoyan did not appear on the closing day of the exhibition.

He took the photo album covered in Polaroid pictures and the wooden box containing the letter, and went alone to the small town where he could see the most beautiful starry sky. It was the same guesthouse, the same terrace.

Night fell, and the Milky Way hung low, seemingly within reach. He sat beneath the stars, turning the pages of those yellowed Polaroid photos, rereading those unmailed letters. He felt no sadness, but a strange peace and contentment on his face.

As the morning star rose, he slowly closed his eyes, as if he could see the girl in the white dress smiling and reaching out to him from the depths of the glittering Milky Way.

A faint, serene smile appeared on his lips.

The development is finally complete.

Light and darkness, love and death, loss and gain, pain and redemption... all of these things, in the darkroom of time, reveal their final forms.

It was a complete story about life, memory, and eternity.

(end)