Moonlight Confession

Late at night, at a lookout on a suburban mountainside.

A man and a woman sat on the guardrail, letting the breeze continually brush across their faces. Behind them, cars occasionally passed along the road with their headlights flashing.

Gan Yan Yu looked as though she was enjoying herself.

She spread her arms and completely let herself go.

A faint smile rested on her face.

The world lay before her, and it seemed as though nothing could destroy everything she had at this very moment.

If she were to die here now, in this tender haven,

that would count as a pretty good ending, wouldn't it?

If there was still anything worth learning about—

"Lin Tian, what did you mean earlier when you said, 'half good'?"

Gan Yan Yu turned her face toward him and asked.

She still knew nothing about Lin Tian.

Living alone, working alone—his own life was clearly difficult enough, yet he could still reach out a helping hand to others.

Things that should have been utterly abnormal for a high school student seemed, on Lin Tian, as though he had never found anything wrong with them.

To him, it seemed his world was simply supposed to be this way.

"What 'half'?"

"When I was talking about my childhood just now, you said, 'half good.'"

"Oh, that."

Lin Tian gazed at the night sky, looking completely unconcerned.

He tilted his head back and began to tell his story.

"I was born into a family that never should have existed—my mom got pregnant, so my dad had no choice but to marry her."

"When I was three, my mom ran off with the bucket, leaving my dad and me to live together."

"What does 'ran off with the bucket' mean? Why did your mother take your family's bucket and run away?" Gan Yan Yu asked.

"Just understand it as her running away with all her luggage."

Lin Tian had no idea how to explain a term so steeped in historical and social context to Gan Yan Yu.

He continued.

"Then, when I was fifteen, my dad said something inexplicable to me. From then on, I started living by myself."

"What inexplicable thing?" Gan Yan Yu could not help interrupting.

"He told me, 'Your old man has dreams of his own to chase. I can't keep being bound by this family nonsense. As a member of the Lin clan, if you want to achieve something, the first thing you need is to have no parents. Your old man is helping you out here.'"

"So he ran off too."

"Huh?"

Gan Yan Yu was dumbfounded.

She could understand every sentence Lin Tian said on its own.

But when they were put together, why could she not make sense of them??

But—

That was so pitiful!

Gan Yan Yu had never expected Lin Tian to have such an unbearable childhood.

Yet he was clearly so strong.

Thinking of this, Gan Yan Yu quickly grew downcast, her gaze gradually lowering.

Seeing that Gan Yan Yu's mood had turned strange, Lin Tian hurriedly patted her shoulder and smiled.

"It's all in the past!"

"I should thank them, actually. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have figured out my life goal so quickly. Living alone isn't so bad."

It was clearly his own experience, so why did he end up having to comfort Gan Yan Yu instead?

"Was there ever a moment when you wanted to give up your life?" Gan Yan Yu raised her head and stared at Lin Tian.

Hearing that question, Lin Tian took a deep breath.

He knew all too well why Gan Yan Yu was asking it.

"Jacqueline du Pré."

"Hm?"

"A cellist from the United Kingdom," Lin Tian said.

"How come I've never heard of a cellist like that from the United Kingdom?"

"The United Kingdom has such a long history. It's normal for there to be musicians you haven't heard of," Lin Tian hurriedly patched up.

After all, the United Kingdom in his previous life and the United Kingdom in this world had entirely different histories.

"That's true."

"Jacqueline du Pré began learning the cello at five. At twenty, she became famous overnight by performing Elgar's Cello Concerto, becoming the finest cellist of that era. She made the entire world remember that beautiful, genius cellist."

"Twenty... that's incredible."

Gan Yan Yu murmured.

She was already eighteen this year, yet she was still nothing.

Lin Tian continued.

"When Jacqueline was twenty-six, she developed multiple sclerosis. From then on, she withdrew from the music scene and ultimately died young at forty-two."

"How could that be?!" Gan Yan Yu cried out. Her heart trembled at that moment as well.

"What many people don't know is that the world only remembered that she fell ill at twenty-three. But in reality, for more than a decade afterward, she still dragged her seriously ill body through small underground performances."

"As long as there was a chance to perform, she never missed it. Even when she was nearing the end, she played the cello almost until the final moment of her life."

Lin Tian calmly finished telling the story.

Then he looked at the girl.

His purpose in telling the story was obvious.

Jacqueline du Pré—a great, genius cellist. It was heartbreaking.

In Gan Yan Yu, Lin Tian saw a few traces of that woman.

Both were exceptionally gifted, both had achieved some success at a young age.

And likewise, both had developed terminal illnesses while still young.

Perhaps this was heaven envying genius.

It was just that Gan Yan Yu's achievements were still far from the ideal she pursued.

Lin Tian hoped Gan Yan Yu could pull herself together.

If she liked it, then she should do it!

If she wanted to keep performing, then she should perform until she died!

At the very least, she could leave without regrets.

What nonsense about taking a photo to heaven so her grandpa could see it? If I were your grandpa, I'd slap you twice first!

Lin Tian's emotions gradually became agitated.

After a whole day of effort, he had discovered that he still could not change the girl's mind.

That deep sense of powerlessness and self-blame had long wrapped around him.

This was the last thing he could do for Gan Yan Yu.

If it still did not work, Lin Tian truly would have no way left.

"You're right, Lin Tian."

After a long silence, Gan Yan Yu lifted her head.

Having heard the story just now, tears swirled in her beautiful eyes.

"I can't leave like this. I can't let Grandpa down."

"That's right!"

Seeing that the girl had finally regained some spirit, Lin Tian said in a resonant voice.

"I believe Grandpa will wake up someday. Ten years, twenty years, thirty years—I'll keep waiting!"

"Exactly," Lin Tian said emotionally.

Wait a second?

"Wake up?"

"Three days ago, Grandpa got into a car accident and became vegetative. The doctor said he might never wake up again."

"Ah."

Though it was rather immoral, for some reason, even though it was clearly tragic news,

Lin Tian actually felt a little relieved when he heard it.

So he wasn't dead.

Casually assuming someone had died seemed even more immoral.

But upon truly hearing that Grandpa Gan had been in an accident, Lin Tian's mood still grew heavy.

After all, he was vegetative. Reality was not full of novel-like plots; the chance of waking up was practically zero.

No, Gan Yan Yu had just said she would wait.

Ten years, twenty years, thirty years?

Wait—

Your terminal illness is pretty weak, isn't it?!

Thinking of her grandpa, Gan Yan Yu's nose stung, and tears quickly began to flow.

Not wanting to lose composure in front of Lin Tian, she hurriedly climbed down from the guardrail and turned her face away.

"Grandpa, that liar. He clearly promised to wait for me to come back from the United Kingdom after my asthma treatment..."