"Sis, you never come back. Yanyan misses you so much."
He pouted, his voice carrying childish innocence, tears in his eyes.
Just a little boy hoping to see his dearest sister often.
Chang Xuyu hardened her heart. She turned around, gently pushed him away, walked forward with big strides, and slammed the door shut with a "bang."
From behind the closed door, Chang Yanyan's loud sobs could be heard, gradually fading as their mother pulled him away.
...
The long-missed cold air hit her again. She had insufficient qi and blood, and her hands and feet were always cold, but now she felt that her heart was even colder than the weather.
As if she couldn't feel the temperature, she numbly drove her legs forward. Looking at the gray sky and bare trees, she walked slowly, not knowing where to go.
She rubbed the thick scarf around her neck and let out a gentle breath, which immediately turned into white mist in the cold air.
Unconsciously, she arrived at an abandoned park.
Chang Xuyu found a relatively clean bench and sat down. Looking at the rundown playground equipment, she suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.
Déjà vu, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.
Her head ached a little. She sniffled and reached into her bag for a tissue.
But when she opened her bag, she froze.
Inside lay a limited-edition comic book.
She slowly pulled out the comic and looked closely—it was the one she had touched, the one on Chang Yanyan's bookshelf.
Chang Xuyu's eyes stung again.
Chang Yanyan had a weak heart. He had been frail since childhood, thin and small.
She hadn't seen him for months, and he was still wearing that big pair of glasses, laughing and joking in front of her.
She bit her lip and slowly opened the comic book in her hands. Her fingertips, touching the pages, felt slightly hot.
Familiar images appeared before her eyes. When she turned to a certain page, there was suddenly an extra note.
—For my dearest big sister, the painter.
A teardrop traced down from the corner of her eye.
*
The taxi stopped outside her best friend Yuan Zixu's apartment.
Chang Xuyu bought a bag of swimming crabs and called Yuan Zixu.
Yuan Zixu was a freelancer. When she wasn't working, she'd hole up at home playing games. She definitely wouldn't hear the doorbell.
The keyboard clicks on the other end of the phone were frantic.
"Hello? Talk! Talk!"
"Can I stay at your place tonight?"
Chang Xuyu crouched under a certain eave and asked softly.
...
Yuan Zixu placed a cup of hot tea in front of her and sat down beside her.
They had been classmates in college. After graduation, Yuan Zixu worked in illustration, while Chang Xuyu chose the art education industry she loved.
Chang Xuyu was a slow-tempered, good-natured girl who treated people with warmth and ease—the kind most people liked.
Yuan Zixu felt that being an art exam teacher suited her well.
"What's wrong? Suddenly coming to find me." And bringing such expensive crabs—really, an assistant teacher's salary was so meager; was she not planning to survive?
But speaking of this, Yuan Zixu suddenly remembered her friend's man, the husband she was just muddling through a marriage with.
A sculptor, pretty rich, it seemed.
Her Xuyu might indirectly be a little rich woman now.
But the two of them got together just to escape their families, so there probably wasn't any real feeling.
That was fine—fake marriage, but the perks were real.
"Hey, Xuyu, I haven't met your Dearest Heart yet. When will you bring him out for me to see?"
Chang Xuyu leaned back, nestling into a soft pillow, and let out a long sigh—
"I'm getting a divorce."
Yuan Zixu nearly spat out her tea.
"What?!"
Chang Xuyu frowned, covered her face with both hands, and said in a muffled voice, "It's a widow's marriage. I'd rather be alone and peaceful."
"And besides, this feeling is too strange," she said, her eyes peeking through her fingers. "When he looks at me, it's like he's looking at someone else... I don't want to be anyone's substitute."
She couldn't help but think of the way Yi Zhuo touched her hair, including the look in his eyes—so warm, completely different from his overall demeanor...