The white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone were ones I bought the day before. The petals were still covered with morning dew, looking as fresh as if they had just been picked from the branches.
I crouched down and gently brushed away the dust from the monument with the handkerchief I carried with me, my movements so light as if I were afraid of disturbing her slumber.
Then, just like when he used to chat with Qianluo, he kept rambling on and on: "Qianluo, I brought Linxi to see you. She's the one I mentioned to you last time."
She's just like you, she loves sweets. Last time I bought her some osmanthus cake, she ate three pieces in one go, like a little glutton, and even said it was better than the pastries from her hometown...
I recently solved another case. If you were here, you'd definitely pat me on the shoulder and say, "Great job, you've improved pretty quickly."
Lin Xi stood beside me, holding a bunch of sunflowers in her hand. The petals were golden. She gently placed the flowers next to the white chrysanthemums.
She whispered, "Sister Qianluo, don't worry, I will take good care of Yun'er and make sure she doesn't suffer any injustice."
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a person standing under a camphor tree not far away. She wore a beige dress and her hair was loosely tied up. Her figure and temperament were very similar to Xin Zimo's.
She just stood there quietly, looking this way, without coming over, and I didn't go forward either—there was a tacit understanding, no need to spell it out, keeping it in our hearts was the best distance.
About a month later, life suddenly became incredibly smooth, as if I had been given a cheat code.
The dismemberment case that had been stalled for half a month was solved because I found some special wool fibers under the victim's fingernails.
Following the clues, they found the murderer, a psychopath hiding in a wool processing factory.
Lin Xi's job transfer was also much smoother. She moved from a mundane administrative position to a publicity position that she had always loved. She can do what she likes every day, and she smiles more often now.
Even when I go downstairs to buy breakfast, I can sometimes happen to buy the last freshly baked meat bun—which is my favorite.
Qianlu used to laugh at me, saying, "That's all you're good for. You can be made happy with just a meat bun."
One night, I had a dream in which Qianluo was wearing her faded combat uniform and smiling at me from the door of the dissection room.
She was holding a steaming hot meat bun in her hand, and handed it to me as she always did: "Ah Yun, I'm relieved to see that you're doing well, your work is going smoothly, and you have someone taking care of you."
When I woke up, my pillow was wet, and the moonlight from outside the window shone on the bedside table, like a thin layer of silver frost, so gentle that it brought tears to my eyes.
I suddenly realized that perhaps the words I said in front of the tombstone that day were really heard by Qianluo, who has already been reincarnated into another world.
This unexpected stroke of luck felt like a warm current flowing from my heart to every part of my body. I quietly made a wish upon the moonlight outside the window.
Qianluo, you didn't get to enjoy enough happiness in this life, you must make up for it in the next life, you must be happier than me, and live a more relaxed and joyful life than me.
In the blink of an eye, decades have passed, and I have become an old lady with gray hair who needs a cane to walk.
Every afternoon, I sit on the wicker chair on the balcony, squinting at the clouds in the sky.
Lin Xi specially chose the rattan chair, saying that the backrest was soft and comfortable to sit in. There was also a small tea table next to it, on which there was always a cup of warm chrysanthemum tea.
She knew I had a sensitive stomach and couldn't drink cold things.
The clouds drifted very slowly that day, as if blown by the wind, leisurely moving from one end of the sky to the other. My heart felt like it was filled with a pool of warm water, full of an indescribable sense of bewilderment.
After parting ways with Xin Ziming back then, I never saw her again—to be precise, she never appeared in front of me again.
But I often see news about her on TV and online: sometimes she's participating in charity events, dressed in simple black clothes.
Speaking to the camera, she said, "We must remember those who have not been forgotten. Their stories should not be buried in the ground, much less be forgotten."
Sometimes, when she is interviewed and talks about her understanding of life, her eyes are still clear, carrying a kind of power that sees through the world yet does not lose its gentleness.
Every time I see her, I smile at the screen and then turn to Linxi, who is sitting next to me knitting, and read her news.
"Look, Xin Zimo has done another good deed, helping families who can't find their relatives to find their loved ones."
Lin Xi would always stop her needlework, nod, and hand me a slice of apple: "She's a good person, kind-hearted."
I never questioned her about how she knew so much.
They didn't dwell on the lingering meaning in her words when she said in the villa, "Some relationships are destined, some are just passing through."
I don't resent fate for taking Qianluo away from me when I loved her the most.
I know that Xin Zimo and the world she lives in are like the stars in the sky—visible, but untouchable.
She can foresee the future and see through people's obsessions.
I'm just an ordinary forensic doctor, spending my whole life dealing with cold corpses and heavy case files. We're not even on the same level.
But everything she did for me was without any malice. On the contrary, it was like a light shining in the dark, illuminating my way forward when I was most confused and in the most pain.
It helped me slowly emerge from the shadow of losing Qianluo and bring me the peaceful and warm happiness I have now.
People are selfish. It's enough to be able to take care of your own little life and make the people around you happy.
Worrying about things that are out of reach or pondering mysteries that are hard to understand is pointless and will only disrupt the peace and tranquility of the present moment.
"What are you thinking about? Your face is all smiles." A gentle voice came from behind me, and Lin Xi gently placed a cup of freshly warmed chrysanthemum tea beside me.
Her fingers gently touched the back of my hand—it was still as warm as when I was young, with the familiar and comforting scent of her usual osmanthus-scented hand cream.
I held her hand, smiled and shook my head: "It's nothing, I was just thinking that the sun is so nice today, and the osmanthus fragrance in the wind is so strong."
Sunlight filtered through her hair, casting a soft glow on her face, much like how Qianluo looked back then, wearing her combat uniform and smiling at me from the doorway of the dissection room.
Clean, warm, and with a power that instantly puts you at ease.
Lin Xi's hair has turned white, like it's been sprinkled with fine snow, but her eyes are still so bright. When she smiles, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes exude gentleness, just like when she was young.
I turned my gaze away from the sky and looked steadily at my beloved beside me.
The smile on her face was like ripples spread by the wind, spreading out in circles, even softening the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
It's so wonderful to have her by my side, to have Qianluo's memories peacefully hidden in my heart, and to have the warm guidance that Xin Zimo brings.
I have no regrets in this life. This kind of life is already perfect enough.
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