Confession Under the Moonlight

On a scenic overlook on the mountainside in the suburbs late at night.

A man and a woman sat on the guardrail, letting the cool breeze brush past their faces. Occasionally, car headlights flashed by on the road behind them.

Gan Yan Yu seemed to be enjoying herself.

She spread her arms, completely relaxed.

A faint smile played on her lips.

The world was laid out before her, as if nothing could ever destroy what she possessed at this very moment.

If she were to die here, in this gentle embrace, it would be a fitting end!

If there was anything left she wanted to understand...

"Lin Tian, what did you mean by 'good half' just now?"

Gan Yan Yu turned her head and asked.

She still knew nothing about Lin Tian.

Living alone, working alone, even though she herself was struggling enough, she could still reach out to others...

These things, which should have been abnormal for a high school student, seemed to be perfectly fine in Lin Tian's eyes.

To him, it was as if his world was meant to be this way.

"What 'half'?"

"You said 'good half' when I was talking about my childhood earlier."

"Oh, you mean that."

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

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

"I was born into a family that shouldn't have existed – my mother got pregnant, and my father was forced to marry her."

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

"'Ran off with a bucket'? Why did your mother run off with your family's bucket?" Gan Yan Yu asked.

"Just think of it as her running off with all her belongings."

Lin Tian didn't know how to explain the term, with its rich historical and social background, to Gan Yan Yu.

He continued:

"Then, when I was 15, my dad said something inexplicable to me, and after that, I started living on my own."

"What inexplicable words?" Gan Yan Yu couldn't help but interrupt.

"He told me, 'Dad has his own dreams to chase, and he can't be bound by these romantic entanglements forever. As a member of the Lin clan, to achieve anything, one must first be without parents. Dad is helping you with this.'"

"And then, he also ran off."

"Huh?"

Gan Yan Yu was stunned.

She could understand each of Lin Tian's sentences individually.

But when strung together, she couldn't grasp the meaning at all!

But...

How pitiful!

Gan Yan Yu hadn't expected Lin Tian to have such a painful childhood.

Yet he was so strong...

Thinking of this, Gan Yan Yu quickly became dejected, her eyes gradually drooping.

Seeing Gan Yan Yu's mood shift, Lin Tian quickly patted her shoulder and smiled.

"It's all in the past!"

"I should thank them. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have clarified my life goals so quickly. Living alone isn't bad at all."

Even though it was his own experience, he ended up comforting Gan Yan Yu.

"Did you ever, at any moment, think about ending your own life?" Gan Yan Yu looked up, gazing at Lin Tian.

Hearing this, Lin Tian took a deep breath.

He knew very well why Gan Yan Yu was asking this question.

"Jacqueline du Pré."

"Hmm?"

"A British cellist," Lin Tian said.

"How come I don't know about a British cellist by that name..."

"England's history is so long, it's normal not to have heard of some musicians," Lin Tian quickly amended.

After all, the England of his past life and the England of this world had vastly different histories.

"That's true."

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

"Twenty years old, that's amazing."

Gan Yan Yu murmured.

At eighteen, she was still nothing.

Lin Tian continued:

"When Jacqueline was twenty-six, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. From then on, she retired from the music stage and passed away at the young age of forty-two."

"How could this happen?!" Gan Yan Yu couldn't help but exclaim. Her heart trembled at that moment.

"What many people don't know is that the world only remembers her falling ill at twenty-three, but in reality, for more than a decade afterward, she continued to perform in small, underground concerts while battling her severe illness."

"As long as there was an opportunity to play, she never missed it. Even when she was on her deathbed, she played the cello until the very last moment of her life."

Lin Tian finished the story calmly.

He looked at the young girl.

His purpose in telling this story was obvious.

Jacqueline du Pré, a great, genius cellist, a true tragedy.

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

Both were exceptionally talented, both achieved early success at a young age.

And similarly, both contracted a terminal illness in their youth.

Perhaps this was fate envying talent.

However, Gan Yan Yu's current achievements were still far from her ideal.

Lin Tian hoped Gan Yan Yu would pull herself together.

Since you like it, then do it!

If you want to keep playing, then play until you die!

At least, leave without regrets.

Talking about taking photos to show your grandpa in heaven, if I were your grandpa, I'd slap you twice!

Lin Tian's emotions grew agitated.

After a day of effort, he found he still couldn't change the girl's mind.

This deep sense of powerlessness and self-blame had already enveloped him.

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

If this still didn't work, Lin Tian felt he truly had no other options.

"You're right, Lin Tian."

After a long silence, Gan Yan Yu looked up.

Having just heard the story, tears welled up in her beautiful eyes.

"I can't give up now, I can't let Grandpa down."

"That's right!"

Seeing the girl finally show some spirit, Lin Tian said with a deep voice.

"I believe Grandpa will wake up one day. Ten years, twenty years, thirty years, I'll wait!"

"That's right," Lin Tian said emotionally.

Wait?

"Wake up?"

"Three days ago, Grandpa was in a car accident and became a vegetative state. The doctors said it's unlikely he'll ever wake up."

"Ah."

Although it was immoral, for some reason, despite it being a tragic event.

Hearing this news, Lin Tian felt a sense of relief.

So he wasn't dead.

Casually assuming someone was dead seemed even more immoral.

But upon hearing the news of Grandpa Gan's accident, Lin Tian's mood still turned heavy.

After all, he was in a vegetative state. Real life didn't have as many novelistic plot twists; the chance of waking up was almost zero.

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

Ten years, twenty years, thirty years?

No, Your terminal illness is quite pathetic!

Thinking of her grandfather, Gan Yan Yu's nose stung, and tears quickly welled up.

To avoid losing her composure in front of Lin Tian, she quickly got down from the railing and turned her face away.

"Grandpa is such a liar. He clearly promised he'd wait for me to come back from England after I finished treating my asthma."