Chapter 15

I woke from a deep dream, the corner of the letter pressed on the desk fluttering in the wind.

I walked over slowly, an immense sorrow crashing over me, nearly forcing me to bend double. I felt countless memories flying through my heart-forgotten memories, newly born memories-all surging forth at this moment, granting me a sudden epiphany.

I saw that all the marks on the letter had been erased, except for the one line that had existed from the beginning to the end-“Miss Little Yuan, I like you, don’t be so oblivious.”

The letter was blown by the wind, flipping over and over, faintly revealing the writing on its back. With trembling hands, I turned it over. On the back was a pencil sketch of a profile-a girl turning her head in the corridor, her hair tousled by the wind, her brows and eyes still innocent. It was seventeen-year-old Miss Little Yuan.

Below, in bold, sweeping script, was written: “My dear, beloved Miss Little Yuan, you don’t really think I can’t recognize you, do you?”

In an instant, I understood what Chen Yabai meant: Miss Little Yuan, you don’t really think I can’t recognize your handwriting and tone, do you?

So cheeky, so smug.

I bent over, tears streaming down my face. Chen Yabai, you lied to me. You never liked Jiang Zishu. You’ve been lying to me all along. You even knew how disappointed I would be in the future, didn’t you? That’s why you followed my words step by step.

On the cover of the letter, there was also the original timeline I wrote down for fear of forgetting: February 2017, met Chen Yabai-he was annoying; March, ran away to the seaside with Chen Yabai-he was alright; April, liked Chen Yabai-he was great, played basketball well; May, suffered misfortune-Chen Yabai saved me from darkness and sought justice for me; June, Chen Yabai died in a fire.

But now it’s not like that. There’s only: February 2017, met Chen Yabai; March, missed the seaside escape; April, grew distant from Chen Yabai; May, survived the darkness alone; June, Chen Yabai died in a fire.

I influenced so many things, but no matter how the process changed, no matter how many times I relived it, Chen Yabai would always, without hesitation, save me from the fires and floods of the world, a thousand times over.

Suddenly, the wind outside grew stronger. The white window curtains billowed fiercely, and I could barely hold onto the letter in my hand. It was like a pale butterfly, ready to tear apart at any moment. Memories churned in my mind-old ones fading irresistibly, new ones finally taking over.

The letter that had crossed time and space, along with its cover, vanished before my eyes. I screamed, but it was useless.

I remembered nothing.

All I remembered was that in February 2017, I met a boy named Chen at school. He was pretty annoying, but had beautiful eyes. Later, he seemed to practice singing for the school anniversary and got together with the famous Jiang Zishu from our grade. After that, I was busy dealing with my own chaotic family affairs and suffered a misfortune I could never bear to look back on. I didn’t want to remember those months. But he was a good person-a brave classmate who saved my life from a fire, but died himself due to severe burns.

I’ve always felt guilty, always grateful to him, often visiting his grave and his mother.

That’s all.

A long time later, when someone asked me if there was anyone I could never forget in my life, I blurted out,

“Yes.”

“What’s their name?”

“Chen Yabai.”

By the time that blind date guy tried to ask me out for dinner again, he found I’d already blocked him; my mom never dared to set me up again, and even hearing my cold tone made her secretly anxious. I quit my dull, tedious job and went back to Media University. When I saw the students from the neighboring Police Academy walking out, I looked up and suddenly burst into tears.

I returned to media work, focusing on reporting in the field of sex education and prevention awareness for minors.

At last, just as Chen Yabai wished, I walked into the future on my own.

And he will always be young, always passionate and bright.