Finale
The next day was a rare day of beautiful weather. The sky was as clear as a giant sapphire, and a few wisps of cloud resembled the casual brushstrokes of an artist. Jiang Yibai didn't say where they were going. He simply pulled the still sleepy Lin Xiyan out of bed early, carefully dressed him in comfortable clothes, and tucked the still drowsy Bai Yan into his arms before driving them out of the city.
The scenery outside the car window gradually changed from a forest of tall buildings to open fields. Finally, a salty sea breeze blew in, revealing a boundless expanse of blue. It wasn't a bustling tourist area, but a secluded bay with a long, white sand beach. The waves gently lapped against the reef, making a soothing sound.
As soon as Bai Yan stepped on the soft sand, he immediately woke up, meowed excitedly, jumped out of Lin Xiyan's arms, took elegant yet tentative steps, leaving a string of small plum blossom prints on the beach, and ran away chasing a small sand crab that crawled by quickly.
Lin Xiyan, holding Jiang Yibai's hand, walked barefoot on the cool sand, one foot deep, one foot shallow. The sun shone warmly on him, and the sea breeze ruffled his hair and clothes. He rarely came to the beach, and this vast and free world felt a little unfamiliar to him, yet strangely relaxing.
Jiang Yibai chose a dry, sun-warmed patch of sand to sit on, then pulled Lin Xiyan over to him. He said nothing, simply staring out at the distant spot where the sea and sky met, watching the waves surge in and out, watching Bai Yan not far away, struggling to catch the sand crab he could never catch.
Lin Xiyan imitated him, hugging her knees and watching quietly. Time seemed to slow down here, with only the sound of the waves and everything around her forming a peaceful symphony.
After an unknown amount of time, the sun began to set, painting the sky and sea a warm golden orange, and framing the clouds with a brilliant red. The light became soft and poetic, casting shimmering golden fragments across the sea.
Jiang Yibai suddenly moved. He stood up and walked towards a black reef not far away, smoothed by the waves. Lin Xiyan looked at his back with some confusion.
Jiang Yibai squatted down by the reef, as if searching for something. After a while, he stood up, seemed to be holding something in his hand, and turned back to Lin Xiyan.
He walked against the light, his figure outlined by the setting sun as slender and firm, his long hair and the corners of his clothes fluttering slightly in the sea breeze. He walked step by step to Lin Xiyan, then knelt on one knee.
Lin Xiyan's heart skipped a beat, and his breath caught in an instant. He looked at Jiang Yibai, who was kneeling before him, at his serious face, softened by the setting sun, and at his deep, violet eyes, which seemed to draw him in, reflecting the rosy glow of the sky.
Jiang Yibai raised his hand and spread his palm. Inside lay not a velvet box, but a white shell, polished by seawater and time until it was smooth and warm. Its shape was perfect, like a small, natural ring. Inside, a delicate ring of platinum, shimmering with a soft silver hue, held a small, yet brilliant, violet gemstone, the exact color of his eyes.
"The tides rise and fall, rounding the edges of the reefs." Jiang Yibai began, his voice low and clear in the sea breeze, unlike his usual cold and hard voice. Instead, it carried a solemn, oath-like gentleness. "They don't speak, they simply exist, bearing witness to impermanence with billions of years of silence."
His gaze was fixed on Lin Xiyan's amber eyes, which were slightly widened in shock.
"I used to think that freezing a moment was the essence of life. Until I met you." He paused, his fingertips gently stroking the unique "ring." His voice became deeper and slower. "Lin Xiyan, you are the only thing that is clear outside of all my preset focal points."
"I don't want to be just a recorder of time anymore." He held up the shell ring. The violet gemstone shone with a moving halo in the sunset. His eyes were devout and fervent. "I want to be the constant coordinate in your future."
"So," he looked at him, each word clear and distinct, "are you willing? Let the rest of my life revolve around you."
There were no flowery rhetoric, no boisterous crowds. Just the whisper of the waves, the afterglow of the setting sun, a curious cat peering from a distance, and a one-of-a-kind shell ring filled with stories of the sea and the colors of the stars.
Lin Xiyan stared at him, at the ring, at his intensely serious eyes, filled with her own reflection. Time seemed to flow backwards at this moment, then rapidly forwards. From their first encounter in the campus alley, to that firm embrace in the haunted house; from their tightly held hands on the Ferris wheel, to their silent companionship across the screen; from that gentle kiss on the forehead at graduation, to that nerve-wracking yet reassuring embrace in the counseling room yesterday...
Scene after scene, frame after frame, it's all about this person.
It was he who pulled him out of the cold and lonely abyss, and clumsily and stubbornly taught him what warmth and what it meant to be loved in his own way.
It was he who made him realize that love is not a difficult problem that needs to be solved with great effort, nor is it a debt that needs to be repaid carefully.
Love is instinct, dependence, mutual need, and always looking in the same direction even when walking on different paths.
Love is Jiang Yibai.
Without warning, his eyes began to moisten, his vision blurring. He took a very light breath, the salty sea breeze mingling with a vast, almost overwhelming sense of happiness and belonging, flooding his lungs.
He stretched out his slightly trembling hand and without hesitation, handed it to Jiang Yibai. His voice was soft and choked with sobs, but it was extremely firm, as if he had exhausted all his strength:
"My coordinates... have long been shifted." He looked at him, tears finally falling, but the corners of his mouth curved upwards into an incomparably clear, incomparably genuine smile, "It's been shifting towards you for a long time."
The answer is self-evident.
Jiang Yibai's eyes instantly shone with an indescribable brilliance, as if absorbing the entire beauty of the sunset. Carefully and solemnly, he placed the ring, which carried the scent of the ocean and the color of his life, on Lin Xiyan's left ring finger. The size was perfectly accurate.
The ring was slightly cold, but was quickly warmed by body temperature.
He stood up and hugged the man in front of him, whose eyes were misty with tears but whose smile was bright, tightly and forcefully. His arms were so tight that it seemed as if he wanted to rub him into his own bones and blood, never to be separated from him again.
Lin Xiyan also reached out and hugged him back, burying her face in his warm chest, listening to his heartbeat which was as violent as her own, and her tears silently soaked his clothes.
The setting sun stretched the figures of the two embracing, casting them across the golden sand, blending so tightly together that they could no longer be distinguished from one another. Bai Yan had run back at some point and quietly sat at their feet, his tail wagging gently, his amber eyes reflecting the warm scene.
Seagulls cry in the sky, and the tides rise and fall, unchanging from time immemorial.
Lin Xiyan was in Jiang Yibai's arms, feeling the warmth and strength that almost melted him. The once barren and cold land in his heart had long been irrigated with flowers and vitality by the sun, rain and the persistent love of the man in front of him.
He finally understood.
What is love?
Love is not a heavy burden, nor is it a favor that requires an equal exchange. Love is a willing indulgence, the peace of the soul finding its home, the confidence to expose all vulnerabilities without fear of being hurt, and the motivation to become better and to see the world side by side with each other.
It does not need to be returned, just accept it calmly and cherish it with the same or even greater respect.
And he finally, after a long time, stumbling and struggling, learned how to express this cherishment: with a hug, a handshake back, a gentle "OK", or, like this moment, a complete and unreserved surrender.
In his heart, facing the sea, the sunset, and the person in his arms who he would spend his whole life with, he said softly:
I once struggled to understand the meaning of love until Jiang Yibai appeared. He made me realize that love isn't a hypothesis, but the only answer. He's wonderful, and my love for him is the final and only answer to this question.
It's not because he illuminates me, but because, standing side by side with him, I can see that I can also shine.
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Hi, everyone who has accompanied us all the way to this point in Chasing the Light~
This is the author who secretly climbed up here to whisper to you!
Towards the end of the writing process, looking at our baby Xiyan, I always felt a little heartache. This silly baby, always secretly struggling with the questions "What is love?" "How should I repay?" "Do I deserve all this?", wrapping himself in small, gray circles.
But I want to tell him through Jiang Yibai, and also tell all of you who, like Xiyan, sometimes feel uneasy and self-doubt:
Love doesn't need to be repaid
It is not a difficult question that requires you to think hard and find a standard answer.
Look at Jiang Yibai, this "flower of Gaoling" who used to be indifferent to the world and spoke no more than five words, after meeting Xiyan, he lost all his aloofness and sharp tongue. He learned to bring breakfast, accompany students to study, act spoiled and ask for hugs, and even "recharged" all the time like a large pendant.
He didn't know how to love, but he just relied on his instinct to give Lin Xiyan all the goodness and warmth without reservation in the most straightforward, clumsy and sincere way.
Therefore, someone who truly loves you will take the initiative to take a hundred steps towards you, just like Jiang Yibai. You just need to try to reach out your hand, or stand there, like Xiyan, and let him find you.
You deserve all the good things, just like Xiyan deserves Jiang Yibai.
There is no need to rush to understand what love is. Those who love you will naturally let you know.
I hope that everyone like Lin Xiyan, who has a soft heart and a little bit of a weird streak, can meet their own "Jiang Yibai". He will rush towards you without hesitation through the crowd, and in his own unique way, pull you out of all your anxiety, and then tell you with confidence:
"Just stay here and let me love you."
——I am Qing Shengyou●v● (ran away holding Bai Yan
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