"Are you afraid I'll ruin your reputation?" Zhou Xing then smiled. "It's alright, I can marry you."

Feng Guang laughed, but as she laughed, her vision suddenly blurred. It turned out that a layer of mist had accumulated in her eyes, making it impossible for her to see the person in front of her.

"Fengguang, don't cry." He raised his hand and gently wiped the corner of her eye with his fingertips.

She sniffed, then smiled easily and said, "Sorry, I got some sand in my eye."

There was no wind just now, so where would the sand come from?

But he didn't press the matter. Instead, he smiled and said, "Fengguang, I'll be all grown up soon. Will you marry me then?"

"Why do you want to marry me?" she asked casually, "We've only just met."

"I want to marry you. Isn't that based on feeling? Why should it depend on how long we've known each other?"

That was a good question, and she couldn't answer it at all, so she sighed helplessly, "I'm sorry, I already have a husband, and my daughter is older than you."

“It’s alright,” he said. “You can divorce your husband, or you can bring your daughter with you when you marry him. I will try my best to be a good father.”

Feng Guang couldn't help but laugh. She knew he was serious, but he was only twelve years old, and his words made her both laugh and cry.

Don't you believe what I'm saying?

“No… I believe what you say, but…” Feng Guang bent down, got close to his face, and slowly said, “I can’t be with you.”

"Why?" he thought. If her husband didn't want a divorce, he could kill that man.

"Because we are far, far behind."

"Age is not..."

"I'm not talking about age, but distance." The distance between life and death.

Zhou Xing didn't understand. He rarely encountered things he didn't understand, and he didn't like that feeling. What he liked was having everything firmly under his control. So he moved even closer to her, holding her hand tightly and smiling as he said, "Look, we're very close, close enough for me to hold your hand."

“A-Xing, you are still young,” she said. “There are many things you don’t understand yet.”

"When will I finally understand?"

Feng Guang didn't answer his question. She looked at the pastry shop not far away and smiled mischievously, "How about this, you go buy me a fresh osmanthus cake, and I'll tell you the answer."

He glanced back at the shop, then fixed his gaze on her. "Will you wait here for me to come back?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

You won't lie to me, will you?

"If I lie to you, may I die a horrible death."

He said seriously, "Fengguang, I don't like you making this kind of vow."

"Then... then if I lied to you, will you make sure I can never eat sweets again?"

He smiled with relief, "Wait for me here, I'll be back soon."

Feng Guang nodded and watched his figure disappear into the distance. When she saw him enter the pastry shop, he turned back to look at her again. She smiled gently, and he began to talk to the owner.

She turned away, no longer looking back.

The bustling crowd quickly swallowed her figure.

Zhou Xing walked out of the shop with the osmanthus cake in his hand. His usually gentle smile froze at that moment. He walked into the crowd, and naturally, he could no longer find her.

"Young master, what's wrong?" Uncle Fu, who hadn't seen the young master return for a long time, came out looking for him. Seeing that the young master was unusually flustered, he asked this question.

Zhou Xing did not answer him, but continued to weave through the crowd.

"Young Master..."

“Uncle Fu.” He finally stopped, the paper package containing the osmanthus cake crumpled in his hand, his voice low and hoarse, “She’s gone.”

Uncle Fu didn't ask who "she" was. "Young master, it's getting dark, you should go back."

"Let me take another look." Night had fallen sometime earlier, and he said, "Let me take another look."

Uncle Fu never took out the letter from his pocket; the letter only contained a single sentence:

I have already found a burial place. My body sinking to the shore of the East China Sea will be the best way to stop all of this. When the sixteen-year period is up, I will tell him that I am still alive.

He will only survive if she is still alive and he dedicates his entire life to finding her.

Isn't that right?