It wasn't that I wasn't worried about him. During the mourning period, Lexi fainted several times and was extremely weak. The few pounds she had painstakingly gained had slipped away again. Although we had specifically invited Dr. Smith to examine Lexi, and the doctor repeatedly emphasized that there was nothing seriously wrong, I was still conflicted and worried. However, at this time, I had to give him some space.
Go down the steps and turn right, facing the Yangtze River, there is Qi Hui's father's grave. Many years have passed, and Qi Hui has never visited it, always entrusting others to sweep the grave on the anniversary of his death. He hates him, hates his cruelty towards Le Xi and his mother. But now, that hatred seems powerless.
He offered a bouquet of flowers, sat down in front of the tombstone, lit a cigarette, and stood before it. He whispered, "Dad, I've come to see you."
Dad, rest in peace. In the next life, let's not be father and son, okay?
We'll never see each other again. I only hope you find true love. Love wholeheartedly while you can. Don't hurt anyone again in the name of love.
On the way back, Qi Hui hugged Le Xi and let him rest his head on his lap. He gently stroked Le Xi's hair, savoring the hard-won peace. Le Xi suddenly spoke up: "Brother, do you know what I said to Dad in the end?"
"What?" Qi Hui picked up a strand of Le Xi's hair and twirled it in his hand.
"I said, let's not be father and son in the next life. I hope he can find his own happiness and be free from all burdens."
It turns out we've always been on the same page.
Please love me and never be apart.
Don't be sad anymore, don't be afraid anymore.
The End
Side Story - From the Initial Lighter
My name is Zippo, a very ordinary name, like Zhang San, Li Si, or Wang Ermazi. As far as I know, many lighters in the world share this name. Whether it's true or not, everyone thinks it's a very cool name. Actually, this name became famous during World War II. It's said that during the most legendary era of my ancestors, there were several amazing tales. One of them was that during the Vietnam War, it shielded a soldier from a bullet and is still working perfectly today (just between you and me, I don't know exactly which year this is; it might not even work anymore! Hehe...). Another story is that one of my ancestors fell from 1100 feet into a pineapple field in Hawaii, and luckily, it survived intact. Yet another is that a beach lifeboat was rescued in the dark sea by the light from a Zippo! So, my name is ordinary yet magical, ordinary yet extraordinary, ordinary yet...
(A gray figure popped its head out and reminded him, "Please get to the point, thank you!")
Um… what I actually want to talk about today is some very private and juicy topics! This topic is about a few characters in a supposedly "pure" BL novel… well, I've always believed I'm actually the protagonist, but someone won't admit it… Sigh, I'm an old man now, I won't argue with a child. However, this old man has indeed appeared several times in the story, and witnessed many, many things even when not appearing on screen. So, well, whether I'm the protagonist or not, I possess a lot of inside information, a lot of exclusive news, a lot…
(A lighter got smashed.)
(Seriously) Let's start from the beginning... It was many, many years ago... That year, a lady named Lan brought me home from a shopping mall. Ms. Lan was a very elegant and beautiful woman, but she always seemed lonely. She would often hold me in her hands and play with me, then talk to herself. Back then, she usually kept me in her delicate little handbag, rarely taking me out in public—after all, women didn't smoke as commonly back then—I could often hear two children's voices in her bag. One older boy seemed to be in middle school, his voice sounding rough and somewhat fierce as he went through puberty; let's call him "brother," okay? The other, younger boy had a crisp, somewhat childish voice; let's call him "baby"—hmm, why do humans have so many names? It's really worth studying... Oh, I've gone off on a tangent again... I'm an old man! Please understand!
(Seriously) Ms. Lan and her husband are separated. She owns a clothing store. She always likes to hang my little handbag behind the door of the break room, which is where my brother and baby often hang out. So I am often tormented by my brother's voice. He yells in his hoarse voice, "Baby! Why are you being disobedient again! Where is your homework! What's so interesting about Mom doing sewing! Did you do your homework after seeing it?!"
The baby fell silent instantly, then a pitiful sob escaped his lips: "Brother... Waaah... I don't know how to do it... There's too much homework..."
When the baby cried, the older brother seemed choked up and couldn't speak for a while. Then, he spoke in a calm voice: "Okay, baby, don't cry. Let me show you. If you don't understand something, I'll teach you!"
"Brother, can you help me make these? Waaah... there are so many..."
"No, no! Baby, you're a good child. Good children need to study hard, otherwise you won't even be able to write properly in the future. Look at your handwriting, it's like scribbles, only I can recognize it. You need to practice, otherwise it will be too embarrassing."
"Waaaah... Brother, you're so mean..."
She cried even harder, gasping for breath. Her brother was terrified! He quickly said, "Okay, okay, baby, don't cry! I'll take you to buy popsicles later! If you cry again, Mommy will say I'm mistreating you." Sigh, you little rascal, I'm only doing this for your own good! I told you eating too many popsicles is bad, but you wouldn't listen. Why are you so stubborn?
(Gazing into the distance) Hmm, actually, these two kids are really quite adorable. Especially when the older brother sees me, the look in his eyes, that gaze… how to put it? It's worship, um, from what I've observed, it really is worship… Think about it, back then, how many lighters were as beautiful and exquisite as ours, and called Zippo… So the older brother always sneaks peeks at me when Ms. Lan isn't around, and sometimes he even brings the baby along to admire me. Hmm… sigh… I actually… (blushing) I'm actually a male lighter… so I think… (blushing even more) the reason the older brother and the baby are gay… is probably because of me…
(?#￥%￥……I got scammed by some gray guy again……)
(Rubbing the bruises on his body, continuing to feign seriousness) Many years passed like this, and my brother and baby grew up. Then, my brother went to the land where my ancestors lived (Note: America), and then a few years later… sigh… Ms. Lan had an accident… because it was too… well, it really wasn't a pleasant thing, and I was in Ms. Lan's bag at the time, so I don't know the specific details, so I won't go into that part. (Looking at Mr. Gray with a timid expression, Mr. Gray nods to signal him to continue)
Then, I ended up with my older brother. He was quite different from when he was little. Apparently, it was because he had struggled and been through a lot on his own. Having been with him for so long, I knew his difficulties. Honestly, that kid was so pitiful. Not only were there endless social engagements, but also rumors. Often, he would sit alone in a dark room at night, holding me in his hands, staring blankly, sometimes crying in suppressed sobs. When he was drunk, he would call for "baby" and "Mommy." Seeing him like that made me so sad… Then, "baby" went missing. My brother searched for a long, long time. I overheard him on the phone saying that "baby" seemed to be with some guy named Wei. My brother was furious and confronted him, but the guy completely ignored him. So… sigh… my brother used some underhanded methods… Later, that Wei guy fell from grace, but I heard that "baby" ran off to another city… This kid, he's so irresponsible.
Later, their story, as I saw it, became fragmented. Because the older brother found the baby! After finding him, he was completely devoted to his precious child! Therefore, my chances of making a grand entrance decreased! So I knew less! Sigh… it's all that... that gray guy's fault… how come such a handsome, veteran character with protagonist-like qualities wasn't discovered…
(After being stepped on countless times, he was thrown onto the stage and continued to pretend to be profound.)
(Seriously) Later, I met a man named Huahua, at a hotel table. He gave off an indescribable, incredibly warm and safe feeling—yes, really, a perfect family man. Baby seemed to really like him. Honestly, tell me, with my unchanging poker face for decades, could you handle it? Even if he were incredibly handsome, even if he were a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky… uh… wrong, that's for women… well, elegant and dashing, tall and graceful… (several words omitted), you'd still find him too cold, right? And honestly, at the time, I really thought Huahua was a wonderful young man. Look at the way he looked at Baby! So tender and affectionate, like water, shy and hesitant to speak (several more words omitted). So I say, we can't be too low-key, can we? Even if you appear calm on the outside but are restless inside, you still have to show it! What are you doing fiddling with a lighter in the middle of the night?! (Someone popped their head out and concluded: "Oh, so when my brother gets jealous he always torments that machine, no wonder he has such a big problem with it...")
(Snorts coldly, continues) As for Hua Hua, I was quite optimistic about him back then. I thought that after all the suffering he'd endured, he deserved to find an ordinary person and live a simple, peaceful life—that would be perfect. But my brother…sigh, how could he possibly tolerate this? I often saw him at his desk at night, grinning wickedly, so incredibly sinister…I've even seen all the schemes he devised to harm Hua Hua—maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but that's the gist—schemes to ruin him. They were so thrilling, so impossible to defend against, so utterly unbearable (several more words omitted), I was sweating bullets watching! But ultimately, none of my brother's schemes worked; Hua Hua fell ill.
(Looking melancholy) Oh... Baby, this child, it breaks my heart. Because of a hereditary heart condition, his health has always been poor. As a child, he was constantly sick, easily catching colds and fevers from even a slight breeze. Once, when Ms. Lan wasn't home, Baby developed a high fever that night. He endured it all because his older brother was about to take the college entrance exam, and he didn't want to disturb his studies. After taking his medicine, he hid in his room wrapped in a blanket, sweating it out. Finally, when he got up to drink water, he couldn't hold on any longer and fainted, which woke his brother who was engrossed in his studies—and you know, his brother, he clearly cherishes Baby like a treasure, yet he's never truly cared for him, using the excuse of working hard for their future. While it's true that men who work hard win, what's the point of working so hard when you're almost losing the person you love? Ahem, we've digressed again. Let's get back to the point... where were we? (A certain gray figure appears mysteriously like a ghost: "We were just talking about how the brother was woken up...")
Oh, right, my brother alerted him. He was terrified and carried the baby to the hospital. Actually, the baby has a habit: if his brother knows he's sick, he likes to whine and act spoiled. So when he was little, he always wanted his brother to carry him to the hospital. So, this time was no exception. He stayed in the hospital for two days, remaining unconscious. His brother stayed by his side for two whole days and nights until he was fully recovered before finally getting some rest. A few days later, during the college entrance exams, because he was worried about the baby's health and was also exhausted, he didn't perform as well as he should have—actually, the school his brother got into was also good, but with his talent, he should have been a top student, at the top of his class, and renowned far and wide (several more words omitted! — #
(Someone slapped someone on the shoulder and yelled, "Hey kid, get to the point! You've already written over three thousand words! That's more than a heavyweight extra chapter! You really think you're the main character?!")
(Sobbing) Baby's illness, while it prevented her brother's plan to harm Huahua from succeeding, actually gave him an opportunity. Think about it, what kind of person is her brother? A tycoon, you know? The kind who buys two bags of soy milk, one to drink and one to throw away. So, Baby's recovery was all bought with money from her brother. And Huahua, oh poor child, with her own mother bedridden and unconscious, how could she have time to think about anything else? That's just fate! What's meant to be will be, and what's not meant to be, you can't force. Under these circumstances, Huahua has actually accepted the situation. But, men are all stubborn, and besides, Baby is such a good child, beautiful and kind-hearted—where can you find another like him!
Later, the three of them kept putting it off. Baby was actually quite upset. One day, he made an excuse to go back and pack some clothes, but actually, he was hiding in the house writing his suicide note! How did I know, you ask? Well, that silly brother of mine put his briefcase on Baby's desk, and then Baby tricked him into going out to buy some candied hawthorns. So, I became the lucky one to see Baby's suicide note first! (PIA! What's so lucky about that!)
(Facepalm) Sigh, all three of us knew exactly what was going on, but there was always a thin veil separating us, and it just wasn't clear yet. The baby had even made up his mind on New Year's Day to break through that veil once we got back to the hospital, but…sigh…his body just wouldn't cooperate. After collapsing at home, the doctors issued several critical condition notices after we got back to the hospital; it was terrifying! Even someone as hard as me couldn't take it. When the older brother signed those stack of critical condition notices, his hands were shaking uncontrollably, and his eyes were red…
What happened next... we all know... it's truly heartbreaking... the baby was in a coma for over half a year, and those six months... sigh, let's not dwell on it... Anyway, the older brother had already made it clear how the baby felt, so he handled everything perfectly, leaving the baby with no worries. Besides, Hua Hua, this good man, although he was heartbroken, was also thinking about the baby's health—tell me, if Hua Hua had been clinging on and on while the baby was seriously ill, threatening suicide, even getting into a huge fight with the older brother, how could the baby focus on treatment? Would he have survived? So! This is what you call a battle of wits! On the surface, everything seemed calm, but underneath, the struggle was fierce! And both had to maintain a harmonious facade in front of the patient! Therefore, Hua Hua's step back was actually a huge step forward. It's also called strategic retreat. After all, even if you can't be lovers, you should still be an unforgettable memory, a cherished memory forever. That's what a true man is! Like me, a real man! It was under my influence that these two men truly grew and matured. So, I really feel like I'm the protagonist...
(Having had enough, the gray creature grabbed a machine, and fled quickly with a pot lid on its head.)
(Echo) Hey, don't you guys think I should be the main character? If any of you write a story, publish a book, or make a movie in the future, don't forget me... Aaaaaaaahhhhhh... (Echoes 450 times, the sound lingers for days...)