Pei Yuli’s coat wrapped around her.
Like so many years gone by, when the baby-faced Pei Yuli would clumsily pull her into a hug.
Then, as he grew like bamboo shooting upward, the garment he draped over her head when she was upset changed from a school uniform to a loose athletic jacket, and after time slipped quietly by, it became the suit jacket it was today.
Pei Yuli, as always, had been there through every season of her life.
Proud as she was, Wen Sui hated crying in public, so when that coat came down over her, it briefly created a tiny world that belonged to her alone.
No one could see her tear-streaked face. The coat, carrying a faint woody fragrance, blocked all gazes and left her enough space to let it all out.
The one by her side, always, was her childhood friend.
At four, Pei Yuli stood in front of the older kids to protect her rocking horse.
At nine, he lifted a chair leg and pointed it at the little clique trying to bully her.
At thirteen, he spent all his pocket money buying the cosplay outfit she’d been longing for, collecting every piece of her idol’s merchandise.
At eighteen, dressed in a suit, he held her hand for the first dance of their coming-of-age ceremony, his palm sweating, and never let go of her until the banquet ended.
The past was close enough to touch, spiraling through her mind in winding lines.
At the end of every thread stood Pei Yuli at a different age.
And now, the twenty-six-year-old Pei Yuli held her through his suit, his strong arms impeccably proper, without the slightest offense.
Just as in years past, he bent down, bag in hand, and softly called her name.
The cool, clear voice of a boy and the deep, magnetic voice of a man overlapped in that instant, carrying that forever-dependable sense of safety:
—”Suisui, let’s go home.”
“Suisui, let’s go home.”
The car pulled onto the asphalt road, and the strangeness that the years had brought melted away.
Wen Sui’s eyes were red as she sat in the back seat, sniffling softly.
The air conditioning in the car was set low; she had Pei Yuli’s coat draped over her shoulders.
Pei Yuli, mature and steady, wiped her nose for her, then gently cleaned the tear tracks from her face with a soft wet wipe.
Wen Sui was frustrated. “When did they get divorced?”
Pei Yuli: “After you disappeared, the conflicts between your mom and dad intensified completely. Neither of them wanted to tolerate the other any longer.”
His little childhood sweetheart tilted her eyes up at him, her water-soaked irises glistening, curled lashes clumped together, looking innocent and pitiful:
“Did they stop loving each other?”
Pei Yuli was silent for a moment, then took Wen Sui’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze:
“Your mother and father are very different people. The gaps between them—in values, in money, in family backgrounds—were too wide, and even years of marriage never fully bridged them.”
“Your mother’s career soared. A CEO inevitably holds all the power and has a forceful personality, so she naturally couldn’t be the gentle, obedient, homely wife your father wanted.”
“Your father was free-spirited, loved art, and saw money as dirt—which from another angle meant he lacked ambition, did nothing but talk big, and was never practical or grounded.”
“They loved each other once, but after passion faded, all that remained was incompatibility. Conflicts flared, they clashed constantly, and even love wore away bit by bit.”
“So after you vanished too, they realized there was even less reason to tolerate each other, and they simply parted amicably.”
The young girl sitting in the leather seat trembled, her lashes fluttering—
“They never fought in front of me. Every week they’d arrange to have a meal with me, travel regularly, treat each other with courtesy… I thought that was what love was.”
“Being apart was fine too—”
She sniffled, her long lashes tilting upward.
Golden sunlight streamed through the glass onto her hair, tinting her smooth long locks a pale gold.
Her voice was very soft, her soft lips pressed lightly, like a little angel who would always embrace everything, speaking quietly:
“Everyone has their own life. At least after I left, they weren’t sad for too long. They’ve both found their own happiness.”
The man watched her quietly, his grip on her fingers tightening a little, and gave a low “mm.”
The little angel looked at him, her clear black-and-white eyes glinting with light in the sun, full of concern:
“Pei Yuli, what about you? Have these years been good to you? Are you happy with the life you’ve grown into?”
A pair of elegant phoenix eyes settled on her, their dark gaze softening for an instant, like an ancient well that had never seen daylight suddenly favored by a slanting beam of sun, rippling with shimmering waves.
“It’s been fine. I just never got used to it. I’ve missed you all along.”
The man’s voice was calm, stating it almost without a ripple,
“Whenever I saw something familiar, I would think—it would be so nice if Wen Suisui were here.”
“Whenever I saw something new, I wanted to share it with you. Sometimes I’d run into old classmates, see new merchandise of anime characters you liked, see someone eating little wontons on TV, hear employees talking about some new shop that opened… I always thought of you.”
Seeing the newly risen sun, even seeing eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds walking together in pairs, Pei Yuli would feel envy.
Everyone was enjoying a new day, enjoying an ever-changing world.
Only his Suisui was gone.
Like a drop of evaporated water, a patch of melting snow, stirring no ripple in this world at all.
The vibrant tomorrows marched ever onward.
Only Pei Yuli’s world had utterly collapsed.
The gloom in his eyes thickened in an instant, but Pei Yuli, holding the girl’s fingertips, adjusted his emotions in the blink of an eye.
Facing his Suisui, he produced the practiced, standard smile from nineteen-year-old Wen Sui’s memory—not a single degree of the curve at his lips out of place—
“Suisui, I’m very lonely.”
The man’s blood-red thin lips parted and closed, in a perfectly uniform tone, wearing the smile that nineteen-year-old Wen Sui could completely trust.
Like a fierce ghost hiding its monstrous face, doing its best to sheathe its fangs, imitating the gentleness his beloved would like, controlling his pace of speech:
“Suisui, thank goodness you came back…”
Wen Sui’s eyes grew redder.
They had rarely hugged since puberty.
But in this moment, her heart aching sour and bitter, Wen Sui leaned over and hugged him, calling Pei Yuli’s name in a small voice.
The man’s large hand wrapped around her, the tip of his high nose brushing lightly through her hair before burying in the crook of her neck, greedily inhaling the familiar scent on her.
His little childhood sweetheart, entirely unaware, wrapped her arms around the man’s broad back, her voice thick with obvious tears:
“Pei Yuli, but last night you said you didn’t want to live anymore!”
Pei Yuli’s movements paused, a faint light flickering through his narrow eyes.
His beautifully curved lips lifted, brushing faintly against the girl’s cheek, tenderness and madness intertwined in his gaze:
“Suisui heard wrong.”
“With Suisui here, how could I possibly not want to live?”
He tightened his arms bit by bit, until the person was gathered entirely, completely into his embrace.
A sigh of satisfaction rose silently from deep within him, his smile tender yet sick:
“Big brother Yuli will protect you. Big brother Yuli cherishes life above all.”