Chapter 96: End of the Main Story

Pu Sha spoke at length. Xu Lin listened in growing silence, his head bowed, saying nothing.

It was hard to tell how much had sunk in.

If Xu Lin hadn’t come home early, Ji Hongyun would have left District Thirteen that night. Pu Sha had always made sure they didn’t meet, sending Ji Hongyun away whenever Xu Lin might return as if he were some secret lover.

Ji Hongyun had always complied, however reluctantly, not wanting to upset Pu Sha. But now that they’d crossed paths, he refused to leave.

He stayed for dinner, sitting close to Pu Sha, piling food onto his plate. Xu Lin sat across from them, barely eating.

“When are you leaving?” Pu Sha whispered.

Ji Hongyun pouted. “Why are you kicking me out? I want to stay here. Can’t I?”

Pu Sha bit his chopsticks, glancing nervously at Xu Lin.

Xu Lin set down his bowl. “I’m full.” He started to clear the table, but Pu Sha quickly said, “Just leave it. I’ll wash up later.”

Xu Lin nodded and went to his room, closing the door behind him.

He lay on his bed, listening to the muted voices outside. Ji Hongyun and Pu Sha chatted softly. Occasionally, he heard Pu Sha laugh.

“I’ll wash,” Ji Hongyun offered, following Pu Sha into the kitchen. A moment later, the clatter of a broken dish. “Please just stay out. That’s the second bowl you’ve broken.”

“I’ll stay still, I swear. Sorry.”

Xu Lin turned over, pulling the blanket over himself.

Despite everything, Pu Sha had chosen to be with Ji Hongyun in the end. In the end, it was Pu Sha’s decision to make. Xu Lin had no right to interfere.

“Because you were fooled once, you’re afraid to trust him again. Whether you want to forgive someone comes down to whether your heart is still willing to trust them. Whether you’re willing to give them a chance.”

Xu Lin closed his eyes and buried his face in the blanket. It smelled of sunlight and laundry detergent. Comforting.

He thought of the smile on Pu Sha’s face as he talked to Ji Hongyun, the warmth in his eyes.

His teacher was braver than he was.

That night, Xu Lin had a dream. In it, he sat alone on a mountain peak, waiting for sunrise. Then footsteps approached and stopped behind him, silent, just waiting.

Xu Lin didn’t turn around.

As the sun crested the horizon, he called out the name, “Ji Jinxuan.”

The person who had waited beside him stepped forward, stopping by his side. He turned to look. Ji Jinxuan was bathed in a golden glow, his gaze soft and calm.

He said, “I wasn’t lying when I said I love you.”

Xu Lin woke abruptly.

The sun was already up. On the table, breakfast was waiting. Pu Sha was gone, and Ji Hongyun was nowhere to be seen.

They must have gone out.

Xu Lin took a bite of the breakfast left for him, but he couldn’t taste a thing. He set the bowl aside.

He rested his elbows on the table and pressed his forehead to his hands, his eyes lost in shadow. His shoulders slumped, as though exhausted.

In the days before the New Year, Xu Lin helped prepare for the festival, just like before. Ji Hongyun had made himself at home, staying openly at Pu Sha’s place, not bothering to hide from Xu Lin anymore.

He stuck close to Pu Sha all day.

Pu Sha mentioned Ji Hongyun was staying for the New Year.

“He never celebrated the New Year in Danshi. Even if he went home, it was just cold and empty. His family relationships are terrible. His mother died, and he’s never been close to his father or grandfather. He and Ji Jinxuan barely see each other. What’s the difference between them and strangers? They’ve never spent the New Year together.”

Pu Sha glanced at Xu Lin. “I don’t think Ji Jinxuan has ever celebrated the New Year, not even once.”

Xu Lin paused.

A memory flashed through his mind: him and Ji Jinxuan making dumplings and watching fireworks at the villa.

He said nothing.

The day before New Year’s Eve, Xu Lin went out to buy ingredients. He planned to make dumplings that night. The filling still wasn’t ready. He left early, thinking to pick up some fireworks too.

It was colder than the past few days. His breath turned to fog the moment it hit the air.

He wore a simple hoodie and a thin jacket, his ears and nose red from the cold.

As he passed the river, he paused. The bank was empty. But in a blink, it seemed as if a shadow was there—someone crouching by the water, washing their hands, coughing softly.

Xu Lin lit a cigarette and stood there for two minutes before walking away.

He took a few steps, stopped, and glanced back. There was no one there.

He exhaled smoke and kept walking.

At the market, he spent half an hour gathering supplies. As he left, a woman at the rice shop called out to him.

“Hey, young man!”

Xu Lin stopped. “Yes?”

The woman, in her forties or fifties, held out a paper bag containing a black cashmere scarf.

“You’re dressed so lightly in this cold. Look at you. Here, I have a scarf. Put it on.”

“But we don’t know each other,” Xu Lin said.

“So what? You’re about my son’s age. I’d hate to see him out here freezing. Take it. I have plenty.”

She insisted, pressing the bag into his hands, beaming.

Xu Lin looked at the scarf, then at the woman’s red floral-patterned cotton jacket. He smiled. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Put it on.”

“Okay.”

After bidding her goodbye, Xu Lin returned to the riverbank. He took out the scarf. It was smooth, high-quality. He brought it to his nose and caught a faint floral scent.

He held it for a long moment, then put it back in the bag.

He skipped stones across the water. Then a couple came by, arguing loudly, oblivious to him. Words like “you don’t love me” and “you don’t care” flew between them. Xu Lin’s stone sank with a splash.

“You want to break up?!”

“Break up? Who was there when you were in the hospital? Who thought you were going to die? Who was ready to follow you if you did? Did your meals just appear out of thin air? Did your medicine walk to you on its own? And now you’re telling me you don’t want me? You didn’t say that then, when you promised you’d never leave me. Fine. If you want to break up, break up!”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Yes it is!”

The woman stormed off. The man chased after her, but he was slow—still recovering from an illness, maybe. Xu Lin noticed the woman, though angry, would slow down after a few steps, waiting for him to catch up, before hurrying on again.

They bickered all the way out of sight.

If she truly wanted to end things, she wouldn’t have slowed down.

Xu Lin smiled at the thought, then his smile froze. His mind drifted to something else.

He sat by the river for hours, smoking half a pack, then finally stood up.

He went to a fireworks shop and bought some handheld sparklers.

Carrying his bags, he walked slowly until he reached a familiar apartment building. It was old, bought by Ji Jinxuan but now empty. Rusted and abandoned.

He set down his things and, after a long moment, softly called out, “Ji Jinxuan.”

A faint footstep sounded behind him.

He turned. Ji Jinxuan stepped out from the corner of an alley. He was just as thinly dressed, his black coat making his pale skin stand out.

After a year of recovery, he could finally walk again. Xu Lin’s eyes fell to his legs. He couldn’t see them through the fabric, but if he was walking, the injury must be mostly healed.

Or was it?

He looked up, and Ji Jinxuan quickly averted his eyes, as if afraid to meet his gaze. Afraid Xu Lin might scold him for following.

Xu Lin had known someone was tailing him all morning. He would have been a poor soldier if he hadn’t noticed. The scarf was too nice to belong to a rice shop lady. Ji Jinxuan must have asked her to pass it along when he saw Xu Lin shivering.

But Xu Lin hadn’t worn it.

“I’m sorry,” Ji Jinxuan said, unable to think of anything else.

“When did you get here?” Xu Lin asked.

“Early this morning.”

Was that true? Xu Lin had no way of knowing.

“I’m sorry,” Ji Jinxuan said again.

“Your brother is here,” Xu Lin said, turning to climb the rusty iron stairs. They groaned under his weight.

Ji Jinxuan stayed below, watching.

“He’s spending the New Year with us,” Xu Lin added.

Ji Jinxuan looked up at him, standing on the landing, a cigarette between his lips. He took a few steps closer. Xu Lin noticed a slight limp. His leg still hurt.

Ji Jinxuan stopped after a few steps. “I won’t bother you,” he said softly.

“Will you build snowmen?” Xu Lin asked.

Ji Jinxuan looked down.

Xu Lin watched his thin jawline. Every time he called, Ji Jinxuan was there. If he hadn’t called him out, would Ji Jinxuan have spent this New Year’s Eve alone in that empty apartment, watching others from afar?

He remembered Pu Sha’s words.

“If you’re truly not meant to be together, one day you will stop meeting.”

“Fate brings you together and fate separates you. No one knows what lies ahead.”

So…just follow your heart.

“I won’t lie anymore. I’m not lying. I miss you, Xu Lin. I love you, Xu Lin.”

Xu Lin’s eyes were hidden behind curling smoke.

Whether to forgive someone—does it depend on whether your heart still trusts them? Whether you’re willing to give them a chance?

He remembered the fire, the fall, Ji Jinxuan’s desperate act.

He remembered the days and nights he thought Ji Jinxuan was dead.

“Go to hell.” Did he really want him dead? If so, why did it hurt?

Truly wanting it over would mean not waiting for him to chase after him.

Waiting—wasn’t that still giving him a chance?

“I want to be with you a little longer, even if you can’t see me.”

“If I live, I’ll keep loving you.”

“If I don’t make it, I’ll love you still.”

Xu Lin closed his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath he’d been holding for too long.

Ji Jinxuan.

Ji Jinxuan.

“I’m not lying when I say I love you.”

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was steady. A decision had been made.

His cigarette burned to the filter. He took out the last one from the pack and lit it. The ember glowed like a star in the gray sky.

He tore the empty cigarette pack, flipping the paper in his hands.

Ji Jinxuan had been looking down, head bowed in silence. He finally dared to glance up and saw Xu Lin on the landing, raising his arm. A small object flew through the air, landing in front of Ji Jinxuan.

He caught it instinctively.

In his palm lay a paper dragonfly, folded from the cigarette pack. Something was wrapped inside.

Ji Jinxuan stared in disbelief, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

Xu Lin just smoked, watching him.

Trembling, Ji Jinxuan began to unfold it. He kept glancing at Xu Lin for a sign to stop, but Xu Lin made no move.

Finally, he opened it completely. Inside was a ring.

He gasped and looked up at Xu Lin.

Xu Lin took his left hand out of his pocket and removed the cigarette from his lips. Smoke curled away. On his ring finger was a ring.

It matched the one in Ji Jinxuan’s hand.

“Run,” Xu Lin said.

Ji Jinxuan took a step forward, then hesitated. Could he dare to believe it?

Xu Lin repeated, his voice clearer, “I said run.”

It was real. Not a dream.

Ji Jinxuan broke into a run—disbelieving, joyful, desperate. The pain in his leg didn’t slow him down. He ran faster, climbing the stairs that groaned beneath him.

Snow began to fall, fine and white.

He left it behind.

And Xu Lin was right there.

“Come running to me, and I’ll forgive you.”

—The End—