Chapter 28 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Seven years later.
"I am leaving."
Liuying smiled, put on her hair accessories in front of the mirror, and then left the room.
There was a photo in a frame placed on the cabinet next to the door. An Ming was holding Liuying's hand with a sunny and bright smile. Liuying's cheeks were a little flushed, and she was a little shy and didn't dare to look directly at the camera.
It’s midsummer again.
Children on the roadside were playing and fighting with ice cream, couples were hugging each other intimately under the parasols, and the fountain in the square was rising and falling.
Liuying stopped beside the flower shop and hesitated for a long time, and finally chose a bunch of white gentian flowers.
The shop owner smiled and asked, "From the looks of you, you look like you're going on a date, little girl."
Liuying blinked her beautiful eyes and hugged the bouquet tighter, "Yes."
"I wish you happiness."
Liuying accepted the shop owner's blessing with a smile, walked along the path in midsummer towards her familiar destination, and packed two more oak cake rolls when passing by the familiar cake shop.
Bright sunlight shone through the shade of the trees, and beads of sweat appeared on Firefly's forehead. The summer in Gramer was getting hotter every year.
Liuying was thinking that, actually, she didn’t really like summer.
Summers are hot, humid, and full of mosquitoes, which is not pleasant at all.
But why do you care so much?
The breeze brushed across her cheek, and Liuying smiled, and suddenly she got the answer.
What she really likes is not summer——
It was the second meeting with An Ming in front of the flower garden.
It is all displayed before the warm glow of fireflies.
It’s the path I take on my way home after buying the cake.
It is the countless shining moments with An Ming in the summer memories.
Those moments make up the entire midsummer, so beautiful that they seem like a midsummer night’s dream from which one will never wake up.
But people can't stay in dreams forever.
There will always be a day when you wake up from a dream.
Passing through the bushes, what comes into view is a sea of white flowers, among which stand black tombstones.
There are no names on the tombstone, only cold numbers.
They had no names.
They are the ashes of Grammer's pre-dawn burnout.
The remains of the Iron Cavalry cannot speak.
On the mountain peak at the end of the sea of flowers, there stands a particularly conspicuous tombstone, which can be seen from a distance.
Liuying walked to the tombstone holding a bouquet of flowers and said with a pout, "Really... I can see you from such a distance. I know you are taller than me."
"But no matter what, I am still your sister, huh!"
Liuying placed the bouquet in front of the tombstone and gently gazed at the words "An Ming" engraved on it.
"Do you know what day today is?"
"It's your birthday... You said it was our birthday."
Liuying sat among the flowers, arranged the cake rolls neatly and placed them in front of the tombstone. After staring for a long time, she used a fork to pick up a small piece from her own portion and put it into her mouth.
The taste hasn't changed, so why is it so bitter?
"Happy birthday to you."
"Happy birthday to you~"
"..."
Liuying sang the birthday song, but her hand holding the fork was shaking slightly.
"Happy 25th birthday, Anming."
Liuying ate the cake roll very seriously, bite after bite, until her tears soaked the cake and she could no longer see the scene in front of her.
The fireflies landed on the shoulders of the fireflies, emitting gentle light.
Liuying stretched out her hand with tearful eyes, and in the light of the fireflies, she seemed to see An Ming's figure again.
"Don't go...wait for me!"
"Woo——"
Liuying leaned against the tombstone and cried alone. She really wanted to hug him again.
She hadn't even kissed him yet.
At sunset, the glow of the setting sun illuminates the white flowers.
Liuying sat quietly beside the tombstone accompanying An Ming, and from time to time she would think of the past and smile from the bottom of her heart.
It takes seven years to completely forget someone.
Seven years will replace every past cell in the body, and with every passing day, some of those cells that still miss it will disappear.
One day, those cells that refuse to forget will disappear completely.
One day, the most important figure in your memory will gradually fade away and disappear at the end of your memory.
"An Ming."
"I still can't forget you."
Firefly stroked the traces of time on the tombstone, with a strong reluctance in his eyes.
Even if every cell in my body is replaced and I forget his voice and appearance, those shining memories will never fade.
As long as I think back to the light of the past, all the cells in my body will boil, and then once again -
Fall in love with him.
As night falls, faint lights appear among the flowers, and fireflies surround the fireflies beside the tombstone.
She leaned quietly against the tombstone, as if she was back to the summer night when she and An Ming slept in each other's arms. For so many nights, they were everything to each other.
The life of a genetically modified person is dark and ends in a numb death.
Living is endless pain, and death is the real relief.
An Ming brought her a beam of light, a light called "future".
In the endless darkness, even the tiny light of a firefly can turn into a starry sky if it gathers together.
Dawn breaks.
The fireflies curled up among the flowers, their soft long hair covered with morning dew.
"..."
Staring at Liuying's petite figure, Titania's eyes flashed with complex emotions, and she remembered what An Ming once said: "Some things don't exist whether they are worth it or not."
"you are right."
Titania didn't admit it until today.
Fireflies will use their almost infinite lives to wait for someone who is almost impossible to come back.
does it worth?
This question never needs to be answered.
Liuying had a happy smile on her face while she was sleeping, and Titania just stood there quietly, waiting silently.
Dewdrops on the tombstone dripped onto Liuying's cheeks, and her eyes, which were brushed by autumn water, slowly opened. After seeing Titania's figure, she was not surprised, but just nodded slightly.
"You came."
"I'm here to fulfill my contract with An Ming."
In Titania's palm lay a familiar transformation device, "This is your cavalry, and also the medical cabin you will need for your journey."
Liuying took the transformation device with a complicated expression, and the scene of fighting side by side with An Ming emerged uncontrollably from the depths of her mind.
“What will Grammer’s future look like?”
"Who knows."
Titania looked at An Ming's tombstone calmly, "But someone has to be buried with them."
Liuying pursed her lips and didn't try to save anything. She just silently put the transformer back to her waist.
"What about you?"
"I thought you would commit suicide for love."
Titania wasn't joking, she knew Liuying's character well and she would definitely do that.
Liuying picked up the gentian flowers on the ground, her eyes gentle, "I want to live, this is...his blessing."
This world is sad, but as long as we keep moving forward, we will definitely find that warm light somewhere in the future.
do not die.
live.
This is the future that An Ming gave her.
"This is your choice," Titania finally took out the well-preserved small box, "even if it means enduring endless longing and loneliness?"
"Ah."
Liuying took the box and asked doubtfully, "What is this?"
"That guy left you a gift."
"Gift...?"
Liuying gently touched the switch of the box and opened it easily.
An exquisite ring lay quietly on the brown velvet, with small silver wings wrapping around the central cyan gem.
In the sunlight, Liuying seemed to see An Ming kneeling on one knee and speaking softly: "Miss Liuying, will you be my bride?"
Tears flowed down her cheeks and turned into a brilliant smile.
"I am willing."