Dream
The early morning bells rang, marking the transition between the old and new years in the long river of time. In the distance, the first cluster of fireworks soared into the sky, exploding with a roar in the deep night sky, scattering a blanket of golden light.
On the apartment balcony, the four of them stood side by side, the cold night breeze blowing across their faces, but it couldn't dispel the atmosphere of the moment. Lin Shuyin naturally held Lin Wanqing's hand tightly, and the two of them snuggled together in the flickering light of fireworks.
"Wow! This is beautiful!" Lin Shuyin pointed at a huge purple chrysanthemum-shaped firework in the night sky and shook Lin Wanqing's hand excitedly.
Lin Wanqing tilted her head back, her eyes sparkling in the light of the fireworks, a faint smile on her lips: "Yeah, very beautiful."
"I heard that the city hall allocated a larger budget this year," Gu Yan said, his hands in his coat pockets, his tone as steady as ever, with a calmness that comes from a keen insight into the world. "It's much larger than last year."
"No wonder," Lin Shuyin continued, deliberately nudging Xu Yan next to her with her shoulder. "Yanyan, look over there, a golden waterfall!"
Xu Yan looked up at the sound, gazing at the golden rain pouring down. The brilliant colors flickered and faded in his clear eyes. He said nothing, only nodded slightly, his quiet profile softened by the glow of the fireworks.
The fireworks faded, and the night sky returned to silence, but the four of them showed no signs of sleep. Perhaps it was the excitement of turning the page on the old year, or perhaps it was their own preoccupations, but they tacitly chose to greet the first dawn of the new year with a busy day.
At first light, Lin Shuyin had already dug out a pile of bright red decorations from the storage room. "Don't be idle!" she commanded, shoving a roll of Spring Festival couplets at Gu Yan. "Master Gu, use your height to your advantage."
Gu Yan took the couplets and shook his head helplessly, but he still carefully compared the height with the door frame. Xu Yan silently brought a ladder to steady it, and when he looked up, he met Gu Yan's downcast gaze. "A little higher on the left," he said softly. Lin Wanqing, holding the paste below, couldn't help but chuckle at Gu Yan's rare clumsiness.
"What are you laughing at?" Lin Shuyin handed a palace lantern to Lin Wanqing. "Come, help me show you how to assemble this." The two of them studied the lantern frame head to head. Lin Shuyin took the opportunity to slip another red envelope into Wanqing's pocket. "Happy New Year, my sister Wanqing."
“Sister Lin! This is too thick…”
"Don't refuse!"
Elsewhere, Gu Yan finished pasting the Spring Festival couplets and pulled two red envelopes from his pocket. He handed one to Xu Yan first: "Happy New Year!" Then he looked at Lin Wanqing: "Week to our family." Xu Yan held the perfectly thick red envelope, his eyes slightly warm. This was the first time he had received New Year's money from "family."
When the clock strikes eight in the morning, the sun is rising. The glass, covered with window paper, filters the sunlight into a warm red glow. The scent of freshly painted spring couplets is still fresh, and lanterns sway gently in the morning breeze.
"It's time to eat the dumplings!" Gu Yan came out of the kitchen carrying a steaming pot. The four of them sat around the dining table, their porcelain spoons making crisp sounds as they touched the edges of their bowls.
Lin Shuyin bit into a sesame-filled glutinous rice dumpling and suddenly laughed: "We really look like a family now."
Xu Yan lowered his head and blew away the hot steam from the glutinous rice balls, and said "hmm" softly.
Sporadic sounds of firecrackers were heard outside the window. On this special morning, the New Year really began.
After the four of them finished eating the tangyuan, Lin Shuyin couldn't wait to get everyone out to celebrate the New Year. "First stop! Grandma Zhang's!" Lin Shuyin waved her phone navigation. "She prepares delicious osmanthus candy every year!"
The neighborhood was decorated with lights and everywhere children in new clothes were setting off firecrackers. Grandma Zhang, who lived in the next unit, opened the door and saw the four people. She smiled so much that the wrinkles around her eyes softened. "Little Gu is here! Wow, and he brought so many friends with him!"
"Happy New Year, Grandma Zhang!" Lin Shuyin said sweetly, "I wish you good health and all the best!"
"Happy New Year, grandma." Xu Yan greeted softly, and his grandma stuffed a handful of osmanthus candy into his hands.
The second stop was Auntie Wang at the corner convenience store. As soon as he entered, he heard the festive New Year's song. Auntie Wang was weighing candy for a customer. "Sister Wang, good luck in the New Year!" Gu Yan greeted her familiarly.
"Ayan is here! Wait wait wait—" Aunt Wang hurriedly took out four red envelopes from under the counter, "Come on, one for each of you, and stay safe!"
Xu Yan pinched the red envelope and found a delicate peace locket pendant inside. He carefully put it in his pocket and looked up to see Gu Yan helping Aunt Wang replace the expensive items on the shelf - that was his usual thoughtfulness.
As they walked to the community square, they happened to encounter a lion dance troupe. Amidst the roar of gongs and drums, golden lions leaped and tumbled in the sunlight. Lin Wanqing watched intently. Lin Shuyin leaned close to her ear and asked, "How does it compare to the one we saw in Thailand?"
"It's different," Lin Wanqing's eyes sparkled, "It's more lively here."
As they passed the children's play area, they saw several children flying kites. One of the kites was stuck in a tree. Xu Yan quietly walked over, easily removed the kite, and handed it to the little boy who was about to burst into tears. The child smiled and said in a baby voice, "Thank you, brother!"
"I didn't expect you to be so good at taking care of children." Gu Yan seemed to be thinking about something. Xu Yan lowered his head and kicked away the stones at his feet: "I have taken care of children before."
At noon, they walked into a well-established teahouse. The hall was bustling with people, and waiters were pushing dim sum carts around. Lin Shuyin grabbed the last basket of shrimp dumplings and proudly placed them in front of Lin Wanqing, "Your favorite!"
Gu Yan skillfully heated the dishes and chopsticks and placed the first cup of Pu'er tea in front of Xu Yan: "It will help you feel less greasy."
The old man at the next table recognized Gu Yan: "Ah Yan, who are these people?" Gu Yan looked at the three people beside him and raised the corners of his lips slightly: "Family."
Xu Yan's hand, which was picking up the glutinous rice chicken, paused, and a corner of his heart quietly became soft like snow melted by the sun.
As they walked out of the teahouse, the sun was just shining brightly on the long street. Lin Shuyin and Lin Wanqing were discussing the snacks they had just made, while Xu Yan and Gu Yan walked side by side in the back. Passing by a stall selling sugar paintings, Gu Yan suddenly stopped and asked, "What pattern do you want?"
Xu Yan looked at the dragon pattern on the turntable and said softly, "Rabbit."
When the crystal sugar rabbit was handed to him, he heard Gu Yan say, "Happy New Year, Xu Yan."
At this moment, the sound of firecrackers, laughter, the aroma of food, and the warmth from the sugar painting on his palm, everything told him: This is the world of fireworks, this is the world he almost missed forever.
As night fell, the city lights came on, adorning the streets with a brilliance brighter than the starry sky. The four of them strolled along the riverbank, where lanterns on both sides were reflected in the water, shattering into a myriad of crimson shadows as the waves shone.
"I heard there's a lantern riddle party going on at the Cultural Square tonight!" Lin Shuyin flipped through her phone, excitedly showing off a photo of a giant revolving lantern. "Wanqing, how about we go and see it?"
Lin Wanqing stopped and looked towards the teahouse on the other side of the river: "I'm a little tired, I want to find a quiet place to sit." She glanced at Xu Yan lightly, "Xu Yan, can you accompany me?"
The air was subtly still for a moment. Lin Shuyin was about to speak when Gu Yan naturally put his arm around her shoulders. "That's perfect. I also find lantern riddles too noisy. There's a nice teahouse up ahead. Let's go together."
The teahouse by the river was indeed elegant, with bamboo curtains separating the semi-open booths. Gu Yan pressed Lin Shuyin to a window seat, and she watched helplessly as Lin Wanqing and Xu Yan sat in the booth diagonally across from her.
"Did you do this on purpose?" Lin Shuyin lowered his voice.
Gu Yan poured tea, smiling but saying nothing.
In the compartment across from him, Xu Yan stared at the tea leaves floating in the cup. The light from the lantern filtered through the bamboo curtains, casting tiny shadows on his face.
Cheng Xiaorui." Lin Wanqing's voice was very soft.
"My name is Xu Yan." He corrected immediately.
Lin Wanqing pulled a worn envelope from her bag and pushed it to the center of the tea table. There was no signature on the envelope, but Xu Yan recognized the sharp handwriting at a glance—it was Lu Ziyi's.
He's been looking for you for a long time." Lin Wanqing's voice was filled with a sigh, "This is what he planned to give you on your birthday."
Xu Yan didn't touch the envelope, but looked out the window. The lotus lanterns floating on the river drifted downstream like countless unfulfilled wishes.
"I don't need to know." His voice was dry. "That's all in the past."
"Is it really over?" Lin Wanqing looked directly into his eyes. "Then why don't you dare open it?"
Suddenly, fireworks exploded in the distance. Xu Yan's fingertips trembled, and a few drops of tea spilled out. In the fleeting light, Lin Wanqing saw the pain hidden in his eyes—it turned out that some people just hid their wounds too well.
"Tell him for me," Xu Yan finally spoke, his voice so soft it seemed to be lost in the wind, "Cheng Xiaorui is dead."
After saying this, he stood up and left the tea room, his movements as he lifted the curtain and left so quickly that he almost fled. Lin Wanqing watched his back disappear into the shadow of the lantern, gently pressing the letter on the table, knowing that some stories are far from over.
Xu Yan fled to the backyard of the teahouse. The cold night wind blew against his face, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in his heart. He leaned against the mottled wall, looking up at the night sky dyed red by the lanterns.
"Just left like that?" Gu Yan's voice came from behind, handing over a cup of hot tea, "Shuyin is accompanying Wanqing, so I asked you to come and see me."
At this time, Lin Shuyin also pulled Lin Wanqing over, her face full of curiosity: "Wait, who are you talking about? Ziyi? Is it Wanqing's brother? Yanyan, do you know him too?"
Xu Yan's silence made the atmosphere even more solemn. Lin Wanqing took a deep breath and gently placed the envelope on the stone table. "He intended this letter for you on your birthday."
As the three of them watched, Xu Yan trembled as he opened the envelope. Inside was no bank card, no check, only a yellowed photo and a piece of letter paper.
When the photo came into view, Xu Yan's breathing suddenly stopped——
In the photo, two boys, soaking wet and covered in sand, wrestled in the sunshine after the rain. The dark-haired boy he pinned down, grinning but smiling, was eight-year-old Lu Ziyi. And the one riding on him, grabbing his collar, was his eight-year-old self, Lu Xuhan...
How could it be...
That child on the rainy day...is Lu Ziyi?!
The floodgates of memory burst open. The boy curled up like a drowned rat on the park bench, the boy who fiercely threw his schoolbag, the boy who fought him fiercely in the sandpit, the boy who secretly wiped away tears while eating egg fried rice... All these blurred images now overlapped with Lu Ziyi's stern face.
So he recognized me a long time ago?
When does it start?
How did you know it was mine?
Yes... No wonder he always looks at me with such complicated eyes, no wonder he helps me time and time again, no wonder he...
Xu Yan's fingertips gripped the edge of the photo tightly, his knuckles turning white. Those actions he had interpreted as charity and control suddenly took on a completely different color in the light of his childhood memories.
There were only three short words on the letter paper:
"I'm waiting for you."
"I'm waiting for you".
These three words burned into Xu Yan's heart like a branding iron. They were too simple, yet too heavy, so simple that there was no embellishment, and so heavy that he was at a loss.
What does this mean?
He chewed over these three words in the darkness, trying to decipher the true meaning behind them.
Do you like it?
Like Lin Shuyin's wait for Lin Wanqing, filled with clear love? But Lu Zi had never expressed such feelings to him. All he remembered were mockery, control, and those complex looks he couldn't understand.
Is it guilt?
Wanting to make amends for past wrongs? That made more sense. Paying the medical bills... all of this could be explained as "atonement." So, were those three words a promise of responsibility? A cold declaration of "I'll take responsibility to the end"?
Or... a more terrifying kind of charity? A condescending, "I'll allow you to adjust yourself before facing me again" arrogance?
Every speculation was like a needle piercing his sensitive heart. If it was out of love, why did she treat him that way in the first place? If it was out of guilt, how pathetic was the foundation of this relationship? If it was charity... then he would rather not have it.
He found himself afraid to know the answer. He was afraid that behind those three words lay a pure responsibility he couldn't answer. Even more afraid that behind those three words lay a complex love he dared not touch.
This uncertainty was more tormenting than clear hatred or clear love. It was like a fog that trapped him where he was, unable to move forward, nor to truly escape.
He clutched the piece of letter paper with three words on it tightly against his chest, as if he wanted to draw a little illusory warmth from these cold words, and as if he wanted to use all his strength to crush them and make the mystery that troubled him disappear completely.
"Lu Ziyi..." He asked silently in his heart, "Why are you waiting for me..."
Perhaps only the person who is far away and also waiting can answer this question.
"Is he...doing well now?" Xu Yan's voice was broken, and every word was filled with bloody pain.
Lin Wanqing's eyes were red as she shook her head. "It's not good. After Chen Zihan was sent away, he had a complete falling out with his family. He should be abroad now."
Lin Shuyin finally understood the whole story and covered her mouth in shock: "So Yanyan, you are the one he has been looking for..."
The night wind blew up a corner of the letter. The two young men in the photo smiled at each other under the dappled light. Xu Yan clutched the photo tightly, as if grasping the other side of time, a summer that had not yet been torn apart by fate.
It turns out that their entanglement had already begun during that rainy season. And the usually aloof Lu Ziyi had actually remembered their eight-year-old encounter for a full ten years.
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