The days on the eastward and southward journey didn't seem to pass too slowly because we had a goal.

By the time Xu Zhuohua had checked, categorized, and archived the densely packed site information, more than a month had passed.

Returning to Dongzhou after a long absence, amidst the bumpy sounds of the car rolling over the bluestone road, Xu Zhuohua suddenly had a whim. The mottled red lacquer doors of the Xu family's old house gradually became clear, as if time had been paused here.

Only the old housekeeper and his family remain in the old house.

Xu Zhuohua softly asked everyone to wait in the front hall, while she herself walked slowly along the moss-covered corridor, fragments of memory piecing together in her mind with each step.

Turning past the winding corridor, the courtyard ravaged by last year's fire came into sharp view. Collapsed...

The collapsed white walls have been replaced by newly built bricks and stones. The snow-white walls are painted with bright paint and gleam with a cold light in the sunset, forming a glaring contrast with the mottled and blackened old walls around them, like an unhealed scar lying deep in the memory.

The wind blew through the hall, and the copper bells on the eaves rang out with a clear and melodious sound, which only made the surrounding silence seem even more desolate.

Looking up, I noticed that the kapok tree leaning against the wall was now covered in fiery red petals, as if someone had crushed the sunset and scattered them among the dark green branches. When the wind swept through the treetops, even the air was filled with a faint, warm fragrance.

The kapok tree that once stood tenaciously in the sea of ​​fire is now stretching its branches with astonishing vitality.

The branches are covered with large red flowers, their petals blooming as boldly as flames, seemingly setting the sky ablaze in the twilight.

On the sturdy branches, besides the blooming flowers, there are also dense green buds, bulging and full of energy, as if they are about to break free of their restraints and pour out the passion accumulated over the winter.

Flowers bloom without leaves, and leaves grow without flowers.

The kapok tree resembles a burning cloud, yet not a single green leaf is visible to complement it.

This is the unique stubbornness of the kapok tree—the flowers bloom without the leaves, and the leaves grow without the flowers; the flowers and leaves can never meet in life after life, as if they have been cursed by fate to be separated forever.

When the petals fall, it doesn't fall into the mud like ordinary flowers, but maintains its full bloom and falls heavily to the ground with a thud. Its resolute appearance truly lives up to its folk name of "decapitated flower".

Aren't those who strive for the future just as courageous and solitary?

It turns out that all dream chasers in the world are like this, just like the kapok tree. Even if they can't wait for the dawn to break or for the perfect time with green leaves, they will still use all their strength to burn themselves into the most brilliant form. Even if all that's left in the end is the tragic "decapitation", they will still bloom with a heart-stirring light in the moment of falling.

For no apparent reason, Xu Zhuohua began to reminisce over the sight of familiar objects. She remembered last year when Cheng Muyun stood on the steps, holding a kapok flower in his hand, looking at her through the window.

Cheng Muyun stood on these steps, his tall figure encased in military uniform. His slender fingers, with their distinct knuckles, held a bright red kapok flower. Looking through the window, his gaze pierced through layers of coldness, like a small flame that refused to be extinguished.

A faint bitter taste rose in her throat, and she had to admit that Cheng Muyun seemed to be a person sculpted by the Creator according to her wishes.

Thick eyebrows slanted upwards towards his temples, and deep-set eyes held an unyielding darkness. Whenever his lowered eyelashes cast a faint shadow, a cold aura emanated from him, keeping people at a distance, like a deep pool covered with a thin layer of ice.

Yet those hands, naturally aloof, had once gently tucked her in; and those usually cold eyes would soften with a gentle mist when they looked at her.

Xu Zhuohua's heart began to pound wildly once again, screaming with longing.

She crouched down and picked up a huge kapok flower, so red it was almost blinding. Its stamens were so tender they seemed to drip with moisture, and its petals felt like soft silk, cool to the touch.

Kapok flowers may appear vibrant, but they actually possess a soft coolness within.

Just like Xu Zhuohua.

During her time in Dongzhou, although she was extremely busy, she always felt a sense of being unable to fit in. Even with Xinghua helping her, she still felt as if there was a veil separating her from this era.

She tried hard to lift the gauze curtain, but after lifting it, she saw another layer of mist.

Perhaps she misses Cheng Muyun too much; her heart is no longer with herself.

Xu Zhuohua thought to herself.

The season for kapok flowers to fall has arrived, and Xu Zhuohua understands that her time is running out.

Whether it's time for himself to go to Beiping or time to spend with Cheng Muyun.

Xu Zhuohua gazed at the scattered kapok petals on the ground, and the longing surging in her heart turned into a sigh, which fell heavily into the damp air.

The silence was suddenly broken by footsteps behind her. The steady rhythm was like a silver needle, precisely piercing her tense nerves—the crisp sound of leather shoes striking the bluestone slabs, each step carrying an undeniable force, so familiar it made her heart tremble.

She subconsciously thought it was Xu Jixin. These days, no matter where she was, Xu Jixin always managed to deliver the letters to her.

"Second Brother..." Her voice trembled, and the strands of hair that fluttered as she turned around still carried the fragrance of kapok, but she froze on the spot the moment she saw the face of the person who came.

The kapok flower in her hand fell, its heavy thud hitting the bluestone slab startling the sparrows perched under the eaves.

It wasn't the gentle features of the man I remembered, nor the figure I longed for; the person who arrived was none other than Chen Hede.

He stood under the carved porch, his long black robe making his figure appear even thinner. His slender phoenix eyes were filled with a deep, cold aura, while a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth, like an icicle blooming in the dead of winter, exuding a chilling cold.

"Long time no see, Xu Zhuohua." His voice drifted in on the breeze, the last syllable swirling gently, like an invisible thread that re-tied the tangled grudges of the past to her heart.

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