Gu Yan, Chen Zihan
It is always especially quiet late at night after the "Safe Haven" closes.
Gu Yan wiped the last glass, the light flickering between his slender fingers. His gaze swept across the corner of the bar—where Xu Yan and Lu Ziyi had just sat side by side. The air seemed to still hold a lingering scent of gentleness and possessiveness.
Lin Shuyin tidied up the table and chairs, walked over and handed him a glass of warm water: "Are you tired?"
Gu Yan shook his head and took the cup. His fingertips felt the perfect warmth, but he didn't drink. He looked out the window at the night sky, dyed lavender by neon lights. The silent street was like a frozen river. He suddenly spoke softly, as if talking to himself, or to the silence that filled the room: "It's great to see them like this now."
There was a sense of relief in his tone that went far beyond the ordinary, a complex emotion of memories and relief that comes from someone who has experienced it and witnessed perfection.
"Sometimes when I look at Xu Yan," Gu Yan's voice was calm, as if he was telling a story that had nothing to do with him, but was deeply engraved in his heart, "I would think of my past self. I was once like him, full of thorns, feeling that the whole world owed me, and I regarded anyone who approached me as having ulterior motives."
He paused, his gaze seeming to penetrate time and space, returning to a hot and desperate summer.
"I also met someone before," he said, his lips curling up slightly, like a stone thrown into a lake, disappearing in an instant. "Like Lu Ziyi, he barged into my life with an irresistible radiance. He said he wanted to take me away, away from that quagmire. We thought... that was each other's only salvation."
His fingers unconsciously stroked the wall of the cup. The memory was obviously not entirely pleasant.
"But in the end..." Gu Yan's voice dropped to a whisper, a barely perceptible hoarseness in it. "I was left alone, dragging a half-worn suitcase, not knowing where to go. Later, I used all my savings to open this 'safe haven'."
He didn't share the specific details of the story—how things had shattered that dark night, how promises had been shattered, how hopes had been extinguished. But those eyes, always brimming with a gentle smile, those eyes that had soothed countless lost souls, were now filled with the weight of time and a hint of indelible loneliness. He hid this loneliness well, revealing it only quietly in these moments, when no one could see.
"So," he turned his head and smiled at Lin Shuyin, the loneliness in his eyes expertly suppressed, and he put on his usual mask of gentleness and composure, "I hope more than anyone else that he can have a good ending. This place is called 'Safe Haven', not just for him, but also as a thought for myself."
It was as if he was here to light a lamp for all the homeless souls, and to find a symbolic anchorage for his old ship that could never truly reach the shore.
He raised his water glass, not towards Lin Shuyin, but towards the vast night outside the window that carried countless stories, as if paying tribute to something, or as if completing a silent farewell.
"To all the ships that have come ashore."
He drank the warm water in the cup in one gulp, as if drinking away all the unspoken past. Then, he put the cup down and picked up the coat draped over the back of the chair, his movements returning to their usual swiftness.
"Let's go, Shuyin. We're locking the door." His voice was still gentle, but no longer as vague as it had been a moment ago. "We'll open tomorrow."
The lights gradually dimmed, and the "safe haven" sank into true darkness and tranquility. Gu Yan locked the door, pocketed the key, and blended into the night.
His port always keeps its lights on for others, but he himself may have long been accustomed to sailing alone while watching.
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The southwestern sunlight, blazing and pure, shone like molten gold across the rolling hills and the shabby school buildings. Chen Zihan, his paint-stained trouser legs rolled up, was painting a newly built basketball hoop with a group of children. Sweat trickled down his forehead, dripping onto the dry earth before evaporating instantly. His smile was more relaxed than ever, even tinged with a hint of childish pride—no one here knew the "Young Master of the Lu Family"; he was simply "Teacher Chen" to the children.
The postman, riding his old green bicycle, stopped at the entrance of the orphanage and called his name. Chen Zihan was a little surprised. Who would send him a letter? He took the thick envelope. There was no sender's information, only the familiar, crisp texture of paper.
He walked to the shade of the banyan tree and carefully opened it. A photo slid out.
In the photo, the warm lights of "Safe Haven" clung like a soft layer of honey. Xu Yan, head bent down, concentrated on mixing a cocktail. His profile was soft, his eyelashes casting a light shadow beneath his eyes. Lu Ziyi stood beside him, not looking at the camera, but slightly tilting her head to look at Xu Yan. Her eyes were filled with undisguised tenderness and deep love, with the certainty of someone who had experienced many things.
The simple platinum rings on their ring fingers reflected a subtle and firm light under the light, which stung Chen Zihan's eyes, but strangely soothed his restless heart that had been restless for many years.
He turned the photo over and saw a line of clear and familiar handwriting on the back:
"We are doing well, and we hope you are doing well too. -Xu Yan"
There was no signature, but he recognized the handwriting. He had once obsessively collected everything related to Cheng Xiaorui, including the notes he'd scribbled. Those words, once the fuel of his mad obsession, now served as a gentle balm for old wounds.
He stood under the banyan tree for a long time, clutching the photo. The wind rustled through the leaves, and the distant sounds of children's laughter seemed to be filtered through a transparent membrane. The sharp pain he had expected didn't come, no burning jealousy, no tearing of resentment. Instead, there was a strange, relieved calm, as if a string, stretched to the point of breaking, had finally been gently released.
He thought he'd be angry, hurt, like this was a triumphant display. But none of that happened. He looked at the photo of Xu Yan, the tranquility and happiness he'd always longed for, and at Lu Ziyi's eyes, which had once held only cold warnings for him but were now filled with love, and suddenly understood.
What he gave was a cage-like possession; and what Lu Zi also gave was the sky that allowed Xu Yan to soar.
"Teacher Chen! Come and see! We're done!" The children jumped and waved at him under the brand new basketball hoop, their tanned little faces filled with pure smiles.
Chen Zihan took a deep breath, the crisp, dry air of the plateau filling his lungs, carrying the scent of sunshine and earth. He lowered his head and smiled softly, a smile that was slightly bitter but also filled with relief. He carefully and solemnly tucked the photo into the worn-edge leather notebook he carried with him and closed it. It was like closing an old chapter filled with too many paranoias and mistakes.
Then he turned around, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand stained with blue paint, put on a truly relaxed smile, and strode towards the group of children waiting for him.
"Coming!" he answered in a loud voice.
The sun poured down on him unreservedly, warm and scorching. He walked toward the path of redemption he had chosen for himself, filled with sweat and smiles.
At this moment, he felt that breathing was so smooth.
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