Chapter 1247: Star

“What is it?” Gao Yang asked.

“It’s...the gift Gao Xinxin prepared for you.” The boy said from the other end of the line.

Gao Yang’s breath hitched. It took a couple of seconds for him to recover. “Tell me about it.”

“On your birthday, I went with Gao Xinxin to get you gifts. I blacked out as soon as I left the shop. She acted strangely right before that.”

“Go on.”

“She suddenly stopped walking, and the gift fell to the ground. She quickly picked it up, but she tossed it away after inspecting it for a few seconds. It was like she didn’t know what it was. I asked her why she threw it away. She told me it wasn’t a good gift, that she would like to prepare something else.”

“I lost consciousness before I could say anything. When a passerby woke me up, the gift was right beside me. I didn’t have the heart to throw it away, so I kept it. No matter how I think about it, I still feel like it should be yours.”

“What is the gift?” Gao Yang asked.

“It’s a snow globe.”

“Can you describe it?”

“Sure. It’s pretty. Inside are the sun, moon, stars, clouds, and a little wooden cabin. It caught Gao Xinxin’s eyes immediately. She loved it, but then she didn’t after leaving the shop. It was strange.”

Gao Yang tried his best to stop his breathing from quickening. “Alright.”

“Do you still want the gift, Brother Gao Yang?” Guang Huan asked.

“No. She gave me something else.”

“Oh, okay. Um...”

“Guang Huan,” Gao Yang decided to tell the truth, “I’m sorry. I’d been lying to you because I didn’t want you to be sad. But Gao Xinxin was your friend. You are entitled to the truth...”

“Brother Gao Yang,” Guang Huan interrupted him, voice equally shaky. “I’ve guessed. A long time ago.”

Gao Yang stilled.

“The Gao Xinxin I knew was the most wonderful girl in the world. She was kind, strong, and caring. Although we were only friends, she wouldn’t have left without at least saying goodbye...”

“Brother Gao Yang, you saw Gao Xinxin as a petulant kid who needed protection, but you were wrong! She was so considerate. She was really, really great... Really, really...”

Guang Huan broke down into sobs. “Why? Why would God do this to her? Why would fate be so cruel...”

“Guang Huan.” Gao Yang activated Psychic Armor. “Thank you. Gao Xinxin was lucky to have a friend in you.”

“Brother Gao Yang...where is Xinxin...? I wanna...wanna visit her.”

“I’ll give you the address, but focus on the holiday first,” Gao Yang said. “The bygone can’t be kept or caught up with. Treasure those around you.”

“Okay...okay...” Guang Huan couldn’t stop crying.

Gao Yang ended the call.

Although he hadn’t put his phone on speaker, the rural area was too quiet at night, and Qing Ling caught every word.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Gao Yang stared at his old home for a long time.

“I know where Xinxin is.”

“Then let’s go,” Qing Ling said.

The pair walked out to the front yard and made it to the farm fields in the back of the house, moving along the ridges that ran through the land like capillaries. A few minutes later, they made it through a stone slab bridge and past a forest, reaching the bottom of the mountain.

There lay a cave with an oval opening, dark and incredibly narrow.

It was the secret base Gao Xinxin had spotted when she was little. The siblings often hid inside, bringing toys, snacks, flashlight, and stools from their home.

Gao Yang stared at it for a long while.

Qing Ling remained by his side.

Finally, he said, “Give me a minute.”

“Okay.”

Gao Yang teleported inside.

It was cool and humid. Moonlight shone diagonally into the mouth of the cave and barely revealed the rocky surface of the walls. Gao Yang soon spotted a decayed wooden stool. It whined in the dark corner like an abandoned puppy.

Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he spotted a sunflower doll, similarly forgotten in the running river of time.

Back then, when Gao Yang’s family moved to the city, Gao Xinxin had forgotten the doll in the cave and only remembered halfway. Gao Xinxin bawled and threw a tantrum, but the moving service cost them quite a lot. They couldn’t have turned back for a doll. Their granny and parents took turns comforting Gao Xinxin, but that didn’t help.

In the end, Gao Yang snapped, “I would stop playing with you if you keep crying! Be good, and Brother will give you another one next year.”

That calmed her down.

After moving to the city, the nonstop stimulation caught their fancy and drowned the memory of the sunflower in Gao Xinxin’s mind, and Gao Yang forgot to give her a new one.

Gao Yang stilled when he bent down to pick the doll up.

There was something next to it, the newness of it sticking out like a sore thumb.

It was a thin square wrapped in gift paper and adorned with a beautiful ribbon. The care put into it was evident.

Clearly, it was the gift Gao Xinxin had prepared for Gao Yang after awakening as Envy. She knew that Gao Yang would one day return to this place, so she left it here.

How contradictory.

Envy had wanted to kill Gao Yang. In her mind, Gao Yang should have no future and would thus never return to this cave. There was no point for her to leave the gift here. She should’ve given him the gift that night, before the Battle of the Curtain Call, but she hadn’t.

Why?

Gao Yang’s heart clenched and spasmed, as if telling him not to go down that rabbit hole if he wanted to keep breathing.

Activate Psychic Armor.

Gao Yang stopped thinking and continued to breathe.

It took a moment for him to pick up the gift, untying the ribbon and tearing off the wrapping paper. It was a framed painting. It was too dark here for him to have a good look.

He placed the painting on the small stool and stepped back, snapping his fingers.

A ball of fire lit up the cave. Gao Yang finally got a clear look at the oil painting.

Under the deep blue sky was a patch of grass, upon which stood a cabin. A sun hung in the sky, but also a moon, accompanied by white floating clouds. Feather-like snow poured down from the sky. Looking closely, he noticed green feathers amid the snow[1].

The window of the cabin glowed with golden light, and musical notes and lines representing the aroma of food floated out from the cabin. It was easy to imagine a happy family enjoying a meal together.

The painting seemed like a haphazard combination of contradictions, yet it was harmonious like a warm bedtime story, containing all the elements that would put a smile on Gao Yang’s face.

But one thing was missing.

There was no star[2].

1. Gao Yang’s ‘yang’ means ‘sun’. His mother, Lin Yue’s ‘yue’ means ‘moon’. His father, Gao Shou’s ‘shou’ means protection, presumably represented by the cabin. His grandmother, Yun, means ‘clouds’. Little Qing Ling’s ‘qing’ means green and ‘ling’ means ‘feathers’. Then there’s Fresh Snow’s snow. ☜

2. As referenced many times, Xinxin sounds similar to ‘xingxing’, stars. ☜