One Night, One Day, One Year, One Lifetime

Nine

'Later, I went out in search of you, only to realise that I did not even have an inkling of the places you frequented. I did not even know where your father's final resting place was.

'Only then did I begin to feel afraid. I thought, maybe, I should have treated you a little better.'

I smiled at Gao Fei. He had always been an honest person.

He looked at me, and inhaled deeply, his arms winding around me in a crushing embrace. With a tremor in his voice, he said, 'So, thank you for waking up this time. You've already destroyed my life, so if you still wish for me to become your murderer, sooner or later, you'll receive your retribution.'

I curled closer to Gao Fei and laughed to myself. Just like all the times in the past, my laughter was as clear and bright as the chirping of a little sparrow.

I said, 'Gao Fei, I love you.'

These words were the definition of He Yujin's life; the single wish in He Yujin's life; the only reason why He Yujin came to exist in this world.

Gao Fei tightened his hold on me, yet his voice was filled with conviction as he said, 'I have not forgotten what I vowed on the day of our wedding. He Yujin, there are some words which you will never hear in this lifetime.'

***

I did not die as early as the doctors had anticipated. Gao Fei spent the entirety of June by my side, living each day on tenterhooks.

The flowers which bloomed in June were brilliant, their colours enchanting to the eyes. Accompanying them was a cool breeze which rippled through the city soothingly. I turned to Gao Fei and said that this should not be a season for death, so I really did not die.

I thought that though I had not blessed with a lifetime spanning a hundred years, still, I had been fortunate.

But even the most brilliant sun would still have to set, the radiance of its sunrays fading into the night, just like my life, which peaked in the final days of July.

That night, I woke up at 3am in the darkness of the night. I was unable to sleep, my mind unusually lively and energetic.

I stared at my surroundings, and then at Gao Fei. Our home had long transformed into half a hospital, packed with countless medical equipment and emergency supplies.

I left our bed, and then searched the closet for my favourite clothes, before painting myself with the most radiant makeup. My cheeks were rosy beyond comprehension, and this was the most beautiful I had ever been in the recent months. Later, I went to the study and retrieved a book of love poems, possessing the pretentiousness of a young woman eager to wax lyrical after having only understood the faintest meanings behind literature.

I prepared everything. Then, I called Gao Fei.

I was extremely glad that I had been so wise in my foresight in refusing to enter the hospital for treatment. Otherwise, I would surely have been tortured beyond recognition, and the last moments of my life would have been spent surrounded by a crowd of quack doctors as they attempted to resuscitate me, the cold iciness of their medical appliances stuck within every inch of my body.

It did not take me very long to wake Gao Fei up. Ever since the accident, he had always been a light sleeper.

I was just like a little sheep as I clung onto him. Gao Fei quickly awoke, his eyes widening as he looked at me. With a jump, he stood up, the cloud of emotions within his eyes becoming increasingly shadowed. For a moment, it seemed as though he wanted to say something, but as he stared at me, taking in the way I had dressed myself in my best clothes, he seemed to have guessed something, and did not say a word.