Prodigy’s Playground

Chapter 52 Tombstone

May Day.

After waking up, Jiang Ran went to find Wang Hao. The two of them took a high-speed train back to Hangzhou City.

Ever since the unpleasant breakup at the cafeteria yesterday, Nan Xiuxiu hadn’t sent him a single message or made a single call.

It seemed she really was angry.

So be it.

That was fine too. At least she wouldn’t disturb him.

Jiang Ran sat by the window on the high-speed train, quietly watching the scenery outside.

The train was getting closer and closer to Hangzhou City.

Yet he felt as though he was getting farther and farther away from Cheng Mengxue.

Clearly, reviving her was right in front of him…So why did he feel this strange sense of unease?

Was it because visiting the grave made his mood heavy? Or because he still lacked confidence in the Positron Cannon?

Perhaps he shouldn’t have come on this trip at all, needlessly burdening himself with psychological pressure;

yet on the other hand… he really did want to come see Cheng Mengxue, even if all that remained of her was a single tombstone.

…

After the high-speed train arrived, the two of them took a taxi to Jingshan Bamboo Cemetery.

From Wang Hao, Jiang Ran learned that after Cheng Mengxue passed away and was cremated, her ashes were buried here.

It was unknown whether it was because of overwhelming grief, but after burying their daughter, her parents sold their property and went to the United States. After that, there was no further trace of them, and their whereabouts were unknown.

Unlike the bustling crowds filling Hangzhou City during the May Day holiday, the moment they entered the Jingshan Bamboo Cemetery area, everything became desolate.

Not only were there few people, it felt as though even the temperature had dropped significantly, making one’s arms feel faintly cold.

Along the way.

Jiang Ran and Wang Hao each carried a bouquet of flowers, one walking ahead, the other behind, both silent.

“There.”

Wang Hao stopped, raised his hand, and pointed toward a tombstone ahead.

That tombstone sat beneath a patch of tree shade, square and proper, quiet and still.

In the instant their gazes met.

Jiang Ran felt as though the green grass beneath his feet had turned into a sticky swamp, clinging to him so tightly he could hardly move. Every single step seemed to drain all the strength from his body.

At last, after those interminable few meters, he arrived in front of the tombstone.

The tombstone was very low, not even reaching his waist. There was a thin layer of dust on it, and the engraved letters on its face were clearly visible.

Cheng Mengxue.

The name of his childhood sweetheart, unbearably familiar to him, now appeared in the place he least wanted to see it.

Above the name, a black-and-white photograph of Cheng Mengxue was inlaid.

Looking at the familiar smile on the girl’s face in the photo, Jiang Ran felt his breathing grow abnormally heavy.

He squatted down, set the bouquet aside, and brushed his right palm across the embedded photograph…

Smooth, yet rough.

A touch utterly devoid of life.

And yet it awakened memories that spanned worldlines—

“Then just like this, keep being a hero!”

“We grew up together. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you be this brave. Even without that life jacket, you still would have jumped.”

“Here, I’ll lend it to you for now.”

“According to the background story of the spacetime-particle Rhine Cat… this is something that can bring miracles and power.”

“Wherever you go, I’ll go. I’ll always follow behind you.”

…

The words Cheng Mengxue had spoken echoed beside his ears.

As if she had never left, as if she were still standing right behind him.

Jiang Ran slowly turned his head.

There was no one behind him.

Only Wang Hao stood nearby, bending down as well, rearranging the bouquets of lilies together, hands pressed together in prayer.

Time passed. The blazing sun hung high in the sky.

One squatting, one standing, the two of them remained like that for a long time—silent, unwilling to leave.

At this moment.

Looking at the photograph of Cheng Mengxue smiling like a blooming flower on the tombstone, feeling the icy chill beneath his palm, Jiang Ran truly understood what it meant to be separated by life and death, what it meant to never meet again.

At this moment.

He truly understood Qin Feng’s actions, understood Qin Feng’s longing and obsession with his biological father.

At this moment.

He truly realized how cold-blooded and cruel his own decision back then had been. Without personally experiencing the eternal parting brought by the death of someone close, all so-called verbal empathy was nothing but hypocritical self-deception.

Now, he was willing to do anything to revive his childhood sweetheart;

Qin Feng, at the very last moment, had revived his biological father amid deep remorse and apology;

If, in this matter, there truly was someone who owed someone else…

It seemed.

That he owed Qin Feng more.

A warm spring breeze passed through. The bouquets of lilies swayed with the wind, releasing a clear, glistening fragrance that seeped into the heart, awakening Jiang Ran’s chaotic thoughts.

He braced his hands against his knees.

Slowly stood up.

“Wang Hao.”

Standing straight, he looked at his closest friend beside him.

“Can you accompany me on a trip to Kaihua?”

“Kaihua?”

Wang Hao asked in confusion.

“Kaihua County in Quzhou? What are we going to that poor backwater for?”

“I want to look for an old friend.”

After a pause, Jiang Ran continued:

“I don’t know where he is now, or what kind of life he’s living.”

“But… I know his hometown is Kaihua, Quzhou. He grew up there and went to elementary school and middle school there.”

“Maybe he’s already not there anymore, but at the very least, going there, we can ask around and find some news about him.”

“I mean, it’s not impossible.”

Wang Hao scratched his head.

“But how come I’ve never heard you mention him? What’s this friend of yours called?”

Jiang Ran let out a soft chuckle.

“How could I not have mentioned him? You just forgot, that’s all.”

“His name is…”

“Qin Feng.”

…

After the two men left, the cemetery returned to silence.

But this silence was only temporary.

In the distance, a cherry blossom tree swayed in the wind. Petals of late-blooming sakura drifted down, and from behind the tree, a girl likewise bathed in pink blossoms peeked out.

She cautiously scanned the cemetery entrance. Only after confirming that the two men had indeed left did she relax and step out from beneath the tree’s shade.

She shook her head lightly, flicking pink cherry blossom petals from her hair. They slid down along the waist-length pink waterfall and fell onto the ground.

Canvas sneakers stepped onto the stone steps. The girl held a large bouquet of white chrysanthemums in her arms and slowly walked toward that tombstone.

Drawing near.

She stopped.

Nan Xiuxiu lowered her head, looking at the familiar name on the stone, at the unfamiliar face.

Cheng Mengxue.

So this was the girl who had died two years ago—Jiang Ran’s childhood sweetheart.

Only, the black-and-white background was far from worthy of the girl’s delicate beauty. This should not have been the color tone belonging to someone her age.

She should have been like Nan Xiuxiu herself—colored, vivid, something people longed for… not something meant to be remembered.

Nan Xiuxiu bent down.

She placed the large bouquet of pure white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone.

Then she smoothed her skirt, knelt on both knees upon the stone slab, closed her eyes, pressed her hands together, and prayed devoutly.

The fragrance of lilies mixed with the fresh scent of chrysanthemums, surrounding the two girls.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Cherry blossoms solidified in midair. Grass no longer swayed. Hair no longer fluttered. Sunlight followed like a shadow.

Everything was quiet.

Everything was listening.

It was the silent confession of two girls—a whisper crossing time, space, and worldlines, a revolving interweaving of black-and-white and color.