The night wind swept along the mountain path, carrying the scent of dry grass.
Yuan Su looked at the tip of her nose, red from the cold, and said nothing more. He simply turned his back more fully toward her and lowered his shoulders a little.
"Get on."
Pu Yu hesitated for a few seconds before finally climbing carefully onto his back.
She looped her arms around his neck, her body a little stiff, afraid to let her full weight rest on him.
Yuan Su reached back to support her beneath her knees, stood up easily, and headed up the mountain.
The mountain path was rugged, loose stones tumbling beneath his feet.
The boy's back was broad and warm, his steps steady and strong.
"Hold on tighter." He turned his head slightly, his voice scattering in the night wind. "If you fall off, don't expect me to bury you."
Pu Yu had still been a little embarrassed, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders. At his words, she immediately tightened her arms and pressed herself closer against his back.
Through two layers of fabric, her heartbeat seemed to gradually fall into step with his.
"You wouldn't leave me."
She spoke softly beside his ear, her breath brushing against it.
Yuan Su's steps faltered for a moment, but he said nothing.
Yet his grip beneath her legs tightened, his fingers holding firm, as though silently answering her trust.
The boy took long strides, full of a spirited determination that refused to yield, as though the steep mountain path were merely level ground, and the girl on his back were not a burden, but a treasure he had to deliver safely to the end.
At last, they reached the summit.
The view opened up in an instant.
Yuan Su set her down, breathing a little hard, a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead. He did not bother wiping it away, only turned toward the girl beside him and tipped his chin toward the foot of the mountain.
"Look down there."
Pu Yu followed his gaze and could not help holding her breath.
They stood at the highest point of North Mountain.
The whole nighttime vista of Whitebank Town lay before them.
The town that was usually shabby, noisy, and even a little drab now held only stillness and tenderness in the darkness.
There were mountains, water, and scattered pinpricks of light.
Amid the boundless silence, they formed a vast, poetic panorama.
"It's beautiful!" Pu Yu gazed into the distance, her voice full of delight. "I've never seen Whitebank Town at night before."
Yuan Su stood beside her and turned to glance at her.
In the dim light, her eyes shone brightly, filled with the starlight of the entire night sky.
Only after a while did Yuan Su look away. He turned toward a patch of grass behind a large rock nearby, bent down, and dragged out a battered cardboard box.
"What's this?" Pu Yu followed him curiously. "Have you been hiding a secret up here, too?"
Yuan Su did not answer. He simply tore off the tape with deft movements.
Inside was a large black contraption. Several patches of paint had flaked off its barrel, exposing the mottled metal beneath. The tripod did not match, either; he had cobbled it together using parts from who knew where.
It looked rather shabby, like a toy pieced together from a heap of scrap metal.
"I got it at a secondhand market. The original lens was broken."
As Yuan Su spoke, he expertly unfolded the tripod and mounted the telescope securely on it. "I ground a new lens and fitted it in. It works well enough."
He adjusted the focus, his fingers turning the metal knob.
At last, the blurry point of light in the view became clear and sharp.
Then he stepped half a pace back and tipped his chin toward it.
"Come take a look."
Pu Yu hurried over to the telescope.
The dark, distant night sky was suddenly brought close.
Countless stars too faint to see clearly with the naked eye spread thickly across the deep blue sky, like a spilled box of tiny diamonds, their brightness almost dazzling.
"I've never seen so many stars..."
Pu Yu could not bear to look away, drinking in that brilliant corner of the universe.
Yuan Su stood behind her, shielding her from the cold wind blowing in from the side, and said softly:
"Happy birthday, Pu Yu."
Pu Yu's heart jolted.
She turned, her amber eyes meeting his.
"You said before that your mom had become a star."
The boy's dark eyes held hers steadily. The night wind left his voice a little hoarse, but it was utterly earnest.
"I wanted you to see her."
Tears welled in Pu Yu's eyes at once.
Without warning, they fell in large drops.
All the longing, hurt, and loneliness she had suppressed for so long, along with the warmth and emotion now surging through her, turned into burning tears.
She had never imagined that he would remember so clearly something she had said in passing that night, when she had been frightened and desperate, let alone go to such lengths to repair this telescope and carry her up such a high mountain.
Watching her tears, Yuan Su curled his fingers slightly, as though he wanted to raise his hand, but in the end, he left it hanging at his side.
He looked away, his voice a little stiff. "Don't cry."
Pu Yu clumsily wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and looked at him with reddened eyes.
"Yuan Su."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you," she said earnestly. "This is... the very best birthday present I've ever received."
Yuan Su said nothing, only turned his gaze back to the telescope.
"Want to look some more?" he asked.
"Yes."
Pu Yu bent down again and brought her eye to the eyepiece.
This time, she looked very carefully, studying the stars one by one, as though she truly could find the tiny light that belonged to her mother in that vast sea of stars.
Yuan Su stood beside her, watching her quietly.
Moonlight fell over her, tracing the soft ends of her hair and her slender neck.
She gazed intently at the stars, her profile especially gentle in the faint light.
He suddenly remembered a time long ago, before Lu Zhen had fallen ill, when she had pointed up at the sky one summer night and told him, "Su, look. Every star is a story. That's Orion, Sirius, the Pleiades..."
In that instant, the distant, cold universe had seemed close enough to touch.
Countless stars shimmered against the deep blue sky, like scattered diamonds, or the eyes of a mother watching tenderly.
"Is that Orion?" Pu Yu asked softly, uncertain.
"Yes."
Yuan Su stood behind her and bent slightly to help her adjust the angle. "Those three on Orion's Belt are the brightest."
"What about the one beside it?" Pu Yu asked, her voice thick with tears.
"Sirius."
"And that one? The really gentle one that keeps twinkling."
Yuan Su looked in the direction she pointed. It was actually just an ordinary star whose name he did not know.
But he paused, then said softly, "I don't know. Maybe... it's your mom."
Pu Yu kept staring at that star, tears streaming down her face.
Her vision blurred, and she wiped it clear, only for it to blur again.
Watching her tears, Yuan Su changed the subject awkwardly.
"Make a wish."
Pu Yu froze for a moment, then raised her head and looked at him through tear-clouded eyes.
"Wishing on a star..." He paused, then continued quietly, "should work a little better than wishing on a candle."
Pu Yu smiled through her tears and obediently closed her eyes to make a wish.
The girl clasped her hands before her chest, tiny teardrops still clinging to her lashes.
Yuan Su turned his head to watch her.
In the dim light, her profile was soft and reverent.
His Adam's apple bobbed. Suddenly awkward, he looked away, his tone not quite natural. "...You really believe that?"
He had only said it offhand because he did not want her to keep crying.
Pu Yu ignored him, her eyes still closed as she silently made her wishes.
May this moment linger, and may tomorrow be bright.
May the boy beside me be safe year after year, and may the road ahead of him be smooth.
Before you continue