“However, Qinghan, as a friend, I’ll give you one last piece of advice.”
Dai Feng looked at her, her expression serious.
“Sometimes, what the eyes see isn’t necessarily the truth. What the heart believes is right isn’t necessarily correct. Don’t wait until you’ve missed it to feel regret.”
Su Qinghan didn’t speak.
She just sat there, motionless, holding her wine glass.
The shifting light played across her face, making her expression unreadable.
After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice soft yet carrying a stubborn, undeniable force.
“I won’t regret it.”
“Because the person I love, from beginning to end, has only ever been Muyun.”
She raised her eyes to look at Dai Feng, a seriousness in her gaze that had never been there before.
“Do you know why?”
Dai Feng was taken aback.
“Why?”
Su Qinghan lowered her gaze, staring at the slowly melting ice cubes in her glass.
The floodgates of memory opened silently at that moment.
Those dusty, yellowed images came flooding back like a tide.
“It was the summer when I was ten,” she began, her voice low, as if telling a story from long ago.
“I went on a seaside vacation with my family. I was stubborn back then, got into an argument with my parents, and ran off alone.”
“The wind and waves were strong at the beach. I wasn’t paying attention and got swept into the sea by a wave.”
“I couldn’t swim. The seawater was salty and bitter, rushing into my nose and mouth, choking me so I couldn’t breathe. I struggled desperately, but my body kept sinking uncontrollably. There was no one around, only the sound of the crashing waves. At that moment, I thought I was probably going to die.”
Her voice was very calm, unnervingly so.
But the fingers holding the wine glass trembled slightly.
“Just when I thought I was going to drown, someone grabbed my hand.”
“It was a little girl. Probably around my age, maybe a little younger. She wasn’t tall, thin and small, but she was very strong.”
“She held onto my arm tightly with one hand, paddling frantically with the other, and dragged me out of the sea.”
“We both lay on the sand, coughing violently from the water. I coughed until tears streamed down my face, taking a long time to recover.”
“Only then did I get a clear look at her. Her hair was plastered wetly to her face, her skin was very fair, her eyes were big and bright, sparkling like stars in the sea.”
“Her arms and legs were scratched by the rocks, bleeding, but she didn’t seem to care at all. She just looked at me and asked softly, ‘Are you okay?'”
Su Qinghan paused here.
She closed her eyes, as if she could still see that afternoon—the blazing sun, the golden sand, the azure sea, and that little girl, soaked to the bone.
“I said I was fine, then asked her name and whose child she was. But she shook her head, said nothing, just took something off her wrist and pressed it into my hand.”
“It was a shell bracelet. Strung on a thin red cord, the shells were a pale pink, glowing softly in the sunlight. It wasn’t anything valuable. But at that time, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.”
“She pushed that bracelet into my hand and said, ‘I made this myself. I have two. This one is for you. In the future… be more careful. Don’t come to the beach alone.'”
“After saying that, she stood up, brushed the sand off her clothes, turned, and ran.”
“I wanted to chase her, but my legs were weak, I couldn’t stand. I could only watch helplessly as she ran farther and farther away, finally disappearing behind the rocks at the end of the beach.”
“I held that shell bracelet and sat on the sand for a long time. Until my family found me and took me back.”
Su Qinghan opened her eyes; their depths were an unfathomable darkness.
“Later, I searched for a long time. I asked every shopkeeper on that beach, everyone who might have seen her. But no one knew who she was, where she came from, or where she went. It was as if she had appeared out of thin air and vanished just as suddenly.”
“I kept that shell bracelet. I put it in a box, never letting anyone touch it.”
“I told myself I had to find her. I had to thank her in person. I had to… keep her by my side, protect her well, just like she protected me back then.”
Her voice finally wavered slightly as she said this.
The waver was faint, but like a stone thrown into a calm lake, it sent ripples spreading.
“I searched for over ten years, with no news. Until three years ago…”
Su Qinghan paused, lifted her head, and looked towards the silver figure by the dance floor.
Jiang Muyun was holding a cocktail, chatting and laughing with a girl beside her, her profile gentle, her eyes curved in a smile.
“Until three years ago, Muyun returned to the country to attend the opening ceremony of an art exhibition. I went as the family representative and sponsor. In the lounge, I happened to see something hanging from the zipper of the handbag she had placed on the table.”
“It was that shell bracelet. Exactly the same shells, exactly the same red cord, even the tiny chip on the edge of one of the shells was exactly the same.”
Su Qinghan’s voice, at this moment, finally softened completely.
Like ice melting, revealing the warm spring beneath.
“I walked over and asked her where she got the bracelet. She was surprised and said it was her favorite thing from childhood, she always wore it. Later, the cord broke, so she put it away, and only recently dug it out to hang on her bag as a memento.”
“I asked her if she remembered saving a drowning little girl at the beach the summer she was ten. She was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said she remembered. Said she was at the beach with her family back then, saw someone drowning, and jumped in without thinking. After pulling the person out, she was afraid of getting scolded by her parents, so she ran off quickly.”
“She said she never imagined that little girl was me.”
After finishing, Su Qinghan let out a long, deep sigh.
As if she had shed some heavy burden, or finally confirmed something of vital importance.
“So, do you understand now, Dai Feng?”
She turned to look at her friend, her eyes clearer and more resolute than ever before.
“The one I love, from beginning to end, is that girl who saved me at the beach. That kind, brave girl who jumped into the sea without a second thought to save me. That girl who gave me the shell bracelet, the one I searched for over ten years.”
“And that person is Muyun.”
“From beginning to end, it’s been her.”
“As for Yan Yu…”
She paused, her voice turning cold again.
“She is just a substitute. A replacement who looks a bit like Muyun and happened to appear when I needed one. I never had any real feelings for her. Not before, not now, and in the future… even less so.”
After saying this, she tilted her head back and finished the remaining whiskey in her glass in one gulp.
The cold liquid burned her throat and her heart.
But she felt utterly, completely relieved.
As if she had finally spoken the secret buried in her heart for years. As if she had finally confirmed her own feelings and solidified her choice.
Jiang Muyun was the person she had been searching for.
The person she had loved for over ten years.
That would never change.
Dai Feng looked at her, for a very, very long time.
In the end, she said nothing, just sighed softly and poured herself another glass of wine.
“Since you’re so certain, I won’t say any more.”
She raised her glass, gesturing towards Su Qinghan.
“I wish you happiness.”
Su Qinghan looked at her, and a faint curve finally appeared at the corner of her mouth.
“Thank you.”
She said softly, also raising her glass.
The two glasses met lightly in the air.
Emitting a crisp sound.
Su Qinghan set down her glass, her gaze returning to the dance floor.
Jiang Muyun seemed to sense her gaze, turned her head, waved at her, her smile sweet and gentle.
Su Qinghan smiled back at her.
That smile came from the heart—warm, filled with complete trust and love.
As for that faint, elusive irritation in her heart…
She shook her head, pushing it aside.
Probably, she was just too tired lately.
Once Muyun stayed by her side for a while, once everything settled into its proper course, it would naturally get better.