Qian Zhi’s trembling fingers touched the image. These were her and Xing Tuo’s children, perhaps two boys, perhaps two girls, or maybe one boy and one girl. But none of that mattered now. Tears fell drop by drop onto the image, gradually spreading.
Qian Zhi laid her face on the tombstone for a long time, until the dim twilight slowly covered her, and the old caretaker holding an ancient large key trudged through the thick snow towards her, softly consoling: “Miss, go back, it’s getting dark.”
She lifted her face from the tombstone, her eyes dry.
In this life, she had already shed too many tears, so many that she was tired of them, and she didn’t want to cry anymore.
Qian Zhi nodded to thank him, silently following him through rows of tombstones, watching him lock the iron gate that separated life and death, and then turn away.
Qian Zhi had just gotten off the bus when she saw Xing Tuo’s figure leaning against the shadow of a streetlight, who immediately strode up and hugged her tightly: “Where did you go? Why was your phone off?”
He carried a faint smell of tobacco, and Qian Zhi was held so tightly she could barely breathe. She gently pushed him back a bit, brushing the snowflakes off his shoulder: “Nowhere, just wandering around. My phone ran out of battery.”
He softly kissed her cold cheek: “You always make me worry, Qian Zhi.”
Qian Zhi whispered: “Sorry.”
Xing Tuo took her hand: “Are you hungry? Let’s go eat.”
Qian Zhi said: “Okay, but I want to cook for you.”
Xing Tuo laughed: “Can you cook?”
Qian Zhi said: “Of course, don’t you believe me?”
Qian Zhi shook her head, finally pointing to an inconspicuous white gold ring in the corner of the counter: “I want this one.”
Xing Tuo looked at the small white gold ring, with no decorative patterns, just in its most primitive and simple form, like a perfect period.
The saleswoman packed it in a deep blue silk box. In the jewelry store bright with late-night lights, Xing Tuo held the box and knelt on one knee: “Qian Zhi, will you marry me?”
Qian Zhi heard herself say: “Okay.”
She saw tears suddenly flood Xing Tuo’s eyes.
