"Why did Pei Hetong die? It's because of you. You are the culprit. You forced him to do what he didn't like, and you also forced him to do what he liked."

"Chu Zhihan, do you know that he could have lived happily, married and had children, but you had to interfere and ruined him."

“Bang!”

Chu Zhihan slapped her with a loud and crisp sound, and her hair was disheveled.

The hair wet with tears was like dry straw soaked in river water and rotted, sticking to the scalp stickily.

Her eyes were red from tears and she laughed crazily.

"Hahahaha, Pei Zhicheng...you've cleared yourself of all blame. It's you...it's you...he's your son...your son...Have you ever taken care of him since he was born? Have you ever taken care of him for a single day?"

"Why should I worry so much about you? I raised my son to this age, and now he's dead, and you're just saying that?"

"Why can you continue to live even though your son is dead? Why?"

"Pei Zhicheng, you bastard, you bastard, you gave birth to him, but you didn't care about him, you watched him die..."

"Why don't you cry? Cry..."

Pei Zhicheng couldn't bear it any longer and yelled, "I gave birth to him, yes, but what about you? What did you do to him?"

"Do you have the consciousness of a mother? Don't you know that a grown-up son should avoid his mother? He's seventeen years old, and you still want to take off his clothes and sleep in the same bed with him."

"What were you doing when he committed suicide?"

"He called you so many times, did you answer?"

"What are you doing? You're flirting with those male models."

"Have you ever been concerned about his mental health?"

"Hahahaha..." Chu Zhihan laughed crazily, and then started crying.

"Pei Zhicheng, you are wrong. I care about him. I don't care about anything else. I only care about him."

“Bang!”

"ah!"

Chu Zhihan took advantage of his inattention, snatched the bowl from the table and smashed it on his head.

Blood was splattered all over the floor.

"Pei Zhicheng, go to hell."

…

"Song Xijiao, when you see this letter, I will be dead."

"I don't know whether I am a very lucky person or an unlucky person. I am lucky that I met you, but I am unlucky that I still lost you. Or maybe I was deceived by myself."

"My uncle said you would."

"I thought about it for a long time, and I started to panic. You really would."

"It's because I can't cut that invisible umbilical cord that we're still headed towards this ending. Perhaps I'm too incompetent, and there's no way I can avoid it."

"That day, you stood at the stairs, the light and shadows were mottled, and I seemed to see you in time."

"You at the age of thirteen, Song Xijiao at the age of thirteen."

"You were wearing a blue and white school uniform, with your hair tied in a ponytail and a schoolbag on your back, walking home chatting and laughing with your classmates."

"I followed you secretly."

"You went up the stairs to the fourth floor, stopped, packed your bag, and prepared to go home."

"I secretly took a picture of your back."

“This is the most precious photo in my life.”

"For so many years, I still haven't had the courage to send it out."

"Song Xijiao in the photo is just like her name, graceful and lovable."

"I longed for a normal relationship so much that I became a deserter in relationships."

"You will hate me, but it doesn't matter. You don't need to try to understand me, and I don't need you to understand me either."

"I never thought that one day you would stand against me and fight against my uncle. This is too absurd."

"But it is indeed true."

"I have imagined countless possibilities, but none of them is as possible as this one."

"Looking back on the past, I feel that life was but a fleeting one, like a wind chime in a bamboo forest, with no real sound."

"I can't look at you again, that's all, my dear girl."

"I'm going to run away, to where I'm going to be."

"Pei Hetong's last words were on July 20, 2025."

The handwriting on the letter was sloppy and stained with tears. It took a lot of paper, which shows how sad the author was when writing.

Song Xijiao finished reading the letter with trembling hands. Her green fingers were stained with dried tears, which spread along the edge of the letter paper. She cried uncontrollably.

Li Zhenjun listened to Song Xijiao's crying and flipped through the letters on the table, one letter after another, all written by Pei Hetong.

She started to make small talk, "Mom, I really want to eat the stewed pork ribs you made."

"Mom, I got into the best high school in the city."

"Mom, what do you want for your birthday?"

"Mom, I bought you a birthday present. Remember to give me a good review when you receive it."

"Mom, do you love me?"

“…”

Pei Zhiting opened the door and Li Zhenyun was sitting on a chair. A faint light shone through the window and fell on the coffee table in the living room.

There was no light and the room was dim.

"Mom, you haven't left yet?"

"Go in and see her, she's not in good condition."

Pei Zhiting changed his shoes, walked in and sat next to Song Xijiao.

She looked out the window. The sky had already fallen into darkness, and she asked, "Is it going to rain?"

"The weather forecast says it will rain, but I don't know if it will rain."

"Whether it rains or not, there will be thunder."

"Yeah?"

"Um."

"Boom..." A loud thunder came from the sky, breaking the silence of the night.

Song Xijiao trembled all over and hid in Pei Zhiting's arms in fear.

"Pei Zhiting, is Pei Hetong really dead?"

"I'm sorry, Jiaojiao, I'm sorry..."

"He died. I couldn't save him."

"Then you can throw these letters away and pretend he never wrote them."

"I can, but do you have the right to know?"

"oh."

"You knew I would be sad, so you showed it to me, right?"

"Sadness is temporary. I don't want you to hear from others one day that he left you a letter, but I threw the letter away. I want you to know that he was here."

"You've been here..." Song Xijiao murmured to herself, as if lost in memories of the past.

"You were here..." she repeated, tears silently rolling down her cheeks.

"Yes, I have been here."

They talked for a long time that night.

Song Xijiao knew that Pei Zhiting had been blaming himself and he blamed himself for Pei Hetong's death.

She goes to Yumin for meetings every Monday.

Pei Zhiting ordered the driver to drive at breakneck speed, and all her high heels were confiscated. She then began to discuss the company's development plans for the second half of the year. Afterward, she unscrewed the water bottle and took a sip of dragon fruit, orange, and apple tea...

"Do you have anything else to add?"

“…”

Are there any flat-soled, thin-soled shoes in the shoe cabinet? He bought the old Beijing cloth shoes from the shoe stall across the community...

"What are you all doing staring at my shoes?"

Someone tried to hide their embarrassment, "Ahem, very chic. Where did you buy it? I want to buy a pair too."

“…”

“…”

Isn't this a meeting to discuss the company's development?

How did the discussion end up talking about his shoes?