I Promise to Walk With You for Half of my Life’s Journey - Chapter 14

June arrived in the blink of an eye, and Su Tong’s mock exam results were consistently excellent.

Fearing that Su Tong might be under too much pressure for her upcoming finals, An Chuxin decided to give her a chance to relax. She invited her out for a meal on Sunday. Su Tong arrived carrying a long, sandalwood-colored box.

“What is that?” An Chuxin asked curiously.

“I will tell you later,” Su Tong replied.

The two of them arrived at a restaurant to have hot pot. An Chuxin acted like an overprotective mother, reminding Su Tong to focus on her final exams and not to get distracted. She told her to answer the questions she knew first, save the difficult ones for the end, remember to write her name on the answer sheet, and ensure she filled in the bubbles correctly. Su Tong, of course, already knew all of this by heart.

An Chuxin placed a freshly cooked piece of beef tripe into Su Tong’s bowl. “Su Tong, eat more. You are truly too thin.”

The clever girl decided to push her luck. She had secretly bought two movie tickets, which she suddenly brandished as she made a sincere invitation.

“Teacher An, would you go to a movie with me?” Her eyes were bright and hopeful. “Just think of it as… going as friends.”

After speaking, she quickly stuffed the beef tripe into her mouth. “Hot, hot, hot!” she huffed.

An Chuxin was amused by her antics. “Slow down. It is as if you are stir-frying it in your mouth,” she laughed. Su Tong laughed along with her.

An Chuxin thought long and hard about the movie. She had already indulged this young girl many times. She told herself this would be the last time.

Su Tong had chosen a romance film. By the time the movie ended, it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening. As they walked out of the cinema, the night breeze carried a pleasant chill that dispelled the stuffiness of the air-conditioned theater.

“Are you hungry?” An Chuxin asked. Her gaze habitually scanned Su Tong’s face. After sitting in the dim light for two hours, she worried the girl might be tired.

Su Tong shook her head, her eyes shining strangely in the night. “Teacher An, I want to take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“It is a secret,” Su Tong said with a wink. She hailed a taxi and gave the driver a location that An Chuxin did not recognize.

The car crossed half the city toward a newly developed riverside park. At this hour, the park was nearly empty. Only a few ground lights outlined the paths, and the distant lights of cargo ships flickered on the river.

Su Tong led An Chuxin expertly through the mountain city trails and onto a winding wooden boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk was a circular viewing platform extending over the river. Transparent glass railings surrounded the platform, and the river breeze felt wide and free.

An Chuxin was surprised. “How do you know about this place? This does not seem like somewhere a high school student would visit alone.”

“I used to come here when I was in a bad mood,” Su Tong said. She walked to the edge and rested her hands on the glass, looking at the fragmented moonlight on the dark water. “It is very quiet here. It feels as if the river can carry all your troubles away.”

An Chuxin walked to her side. From this angle, the city’s night view spread across the opposite bank like a brilliant sea of light. They stood side by side in silence.

“Chuxin, did you hear the theme song in the movie?” Su Tong suddenly asked.

“Yes. The melody was very unique,” An Chuxin replied.

“I can play an instrument too. The flute,” Su Tong said.

An Chuxin turned to look at her. Under the moonlight, Su Tong’s profile was soft. The girl had bright eyes and elegant features, causing An Chuxin to lose herself in thought for a moment.

“Do you want to hear it?” Su Tong turned her head. “I will play it for you now.”

An Chuxin was stunned. “Now? Here?”

“Yes.” Su Tong took out the sandalwood box and opened it to reveal a smooth, rosewood-colored bamboo flute.

Su Tong’s fingers brushed over the instrument with familiar movements. She walked to the center of the platform to face the vast river. The moonlight draped over her, silvering her slender shoulders. An Chuxin stepped back and leaned against a pillar to watch quietly.

Su Tong raised the flute to her lips and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, and the wind seemed to quiet down as if out of respect, leaving only the gentle sound of the river as a backdrop.

An Chuxin recognized the melody. The tone was clear, desolate, and haunting. it traveled far across the open water and echoed softly on the small platform, enveloped by the night.

She saw that as Su Tong played, the girl seemed to glow. Her entire aura shifted. The pale, weary girl was gone, replaced by a devout soul immersed in music. Her fingers were beautiful, slender, and white as they danced nimbly over the holes of the flute. Her brow was slightly furrowed in deep concentration. The wind moved her bangs and her clothes, but she remained as steady and rooted as bamboo.

Su Tong was speaking through her music. An Chuxin suddenly understood. The girl was expressing the things she could not say: the pain, the loneliness, the fear, and the longing for love.

An Chuxin remembered the silent, pale profile on the bus during the research trip. She remembered the trembling fingers grabbing her sleeve in the hospital and the deep loneliness in Su Tong’s eyes when she spoke about the giraffes at the zoo.

Now, this girl was using a single melody to lay all those fragments of her untold past before her. It was a gesture of ultimate trust. She was revealing her most vulnerable wounds in the most beautiful way possible.

When the last note fell, the lingering sound circled the river for a long time before slowly fading into the wind. Su Tong lowered the flute and opened her eyes. Her chest rose and fell slightly, and her cheeks were flushed from the effort.

They looked at each other from a few paces away as the wind picked up again, disheveling their hair. Su Tong stepped forward and gently pressed the flute against An Chuxin’s chest, directly over her heart. An Chuxin felt the cool touch of the bamboo through the thin fabric of her shirt. It felt like a silent inquiry.

An Chuxin looked down at the flute and then up at Su Tong’s face. She reached out and gently placed her hand over Su Tong’s hand.

“There are many stories in your music,” An Chuxin said softly.

She saw a flash of fluster in Su Tong’s eyes. Su Tong took another step forward and leaned her head against An Chuxin’s shoulder. An Chuxin could feel the body in her arms trembling slightly. She hesitated for a moment before finally letting her hand rest on Su Tong’s back, offering a gentle comfort.

“Did I play well?” Su Tong’s muffled voice asked.

“Very well. So well that I am almost jealous of anyone else who has heard you play,” An Chuxin replied.

“Not many people have. You are one of the few.”

“Then I am honored.”

“In the future,” Su Tong bit her lip, “can I play for you again? Only for you?”

An Chuxin nodded. “But next time, choose a warmer place. The river breeze is too cold, and it is not good for your heart.”

Su Tong wiped the flute carefully as if it were a treasure and returned it to its box. She suddenly remembered something and took out her phone. She opened a recording app, showing that the entire performance had been captured.

“This is for you,” she said as she sent the file. “Listen to it whenever you want.”

An Chuxin looked at the audio file on her screen. The filename was simple: For Chuxin – The Beautiful Myth.

“Let us go,” An Chuxin said. “It is time to go home. You have school tomorrow.”

They walked back along the boardwalk. Su Tong’s steps were much lighter now. An Chuxin followed behind, watching the girl’s silhouette in the moonlight while the clear melody of the flute still echoed in her ears.

As they reached the park entrance, Su Tong suddenly turned around. “Chuxin.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for being willing to listen.”

An Chuxin walked up to stand beside her. “I am the one who should say thank you. Thank you for being willing to let me hear it.”

A taxi arrived. Once they were inside, Su Tong sneezed twice. Her health had always been fragile, and the river breeze had finally caught up to her. An Chuxin immediately took off her own jacket and draped it over her.

“Su Tong, do not catch a cold. I will take you home.”

“Okay, thank you, Teacher An.”

Su Tong naturally leaned her head on An Chuxin’s shoulder. An Chuxin stiffened for a moment but did not push her away. Instead, she adjusted her posture to make Su Tong more comfortable.

When she got home, Su Tong fell into a peaceful sleep while still wearing the teacher’s jacket. She had a strange dream.

She dreamt she was in a garden filled with various flowers. The scent was incredibly fragrant, and she sniffed around like a puppy. Suddenly, a woman wearing only a semi-transparent veil appeared. Her figure was ethereal and flickering. Just as Su Tong moved toward her, she stepped into a void and woke up with a start.

Upon waking, she realized the scent on Teacher An’s jacket was just like the one in her dream. Furthermore, she discovered that there was saliva on the jacket.

Su Tong was horrified. Her mind raced to find a way to explain this to her teacher. She jumped up and threw the jacket into the washing machine with detergent. She felt she had no other choice.

She sent a WeChat message to An Chuxin. “Teacher An, I am so sorry. I fell at home yesterday and got your jacket dirty. I will wash it and return it to you!” she wrote, adding a guilty-looking dog emoji.

A moment later, the phone vibrated. “It is fine. I can wash it myself,” An Chuxin replied.

Su Tong slapped her own forehead and typed quickly. “No! Please do not! I have already washed it for you!”

An Chuxin did not understand why she was so insistent. She sent a shrugging emoji and asked, “Alright. Was the fall serious? Do you need help?”

“No, I am fine! Do not worry about me!”

An Chuxin sent an “OK” gesture, and they ended their conversation. Su Tong then told her friend Song Qingqing about the incident.

She first received a question mark, followed by, “Su Tong, I am going to die laughing! That is hilarious!”

Su Tong replied with a question mark and a threat to block her.

“Wait, do not do that!” Qingqing replied.

Su Tong put her phone down and ignored her. This caused Qingqing to spend the next day in class giggling. She was eventually caught by the teacher, failed to answer a question, and was forced to stand as punishment.

During the break, Qingqing asked with a mischievous grin, “Hey, that woman in your dream was Teacher An, was it not? You are in trouble, Su Tong. Just wait for your punishment.”

Su Tong looked miserable. She frowned and gave a bitter smile. “Song, do you want a taste of the teacher’s pointer?”

The two of them continued to play and bicker.

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