"What did you just say?"
Zhang Lei asked.
The older man pursed his lips, then repeated what he'd just said. "...I really did find two peaches on a rock by the river in the woods..."
"Then I ate them."
"After all, it was your imagination."
Zhang Lei had heard Zhang Chen clearly and quickly understood what he was hung up on.
"Of course you based it on your own experiences and memories."
So it was only natural that there'd be some truth to it.
"Isn't that right?"
"Something half true and half false is what makes people believe it."
Making things up might fool other people, but it would never fool yourself.
"...I suppose so."
The older man nodded.
He felt as though a light had suddenly dawned on him.
That was right.
He'd always felt...
Even though everyone but him denied that the old man existed, he still couldn't fully believe them.
That was because the reason the old man had given him was real.
And it was something he shouldn't have told anyone.
He'd been overthinking it.
Wasn't it easy to put your own experiences into something you'd imagined?
But...
He was still a little confused.
"...I've already forgotten about that..."
After all, it had been such a trivial thing to him.
How could he possibly...
Forget it.
The older man shook his head.
He wouldn't dwell on it anymore.
How many years had gone by?
Whatever the truth was...
It didn't matter anymore.
"...What a coincidence..." Zhang Lei murmured.
"What?"
The older man thought he'd heard Zhang Lei say something, but couldn't make out what it was.
"I said..."
Zhang Lei raised his voice. "What a coincidence."
"You found two peaches by the river..."
"Yeah."
The older man