Chapter 12 — Eight Years Change One Time Letting Go

There is only a setting sun carved from red mahogany, hanging silently on the mountain top. She reached out to turn the winding. Clear music echoed throughout the room. It's her favorite song - the song "Encounter".

"I made this myself at a second-hand shop in Iceland. There is no sky like mine, only snow mountains and sunsets that you like. Mo Tuyet, from now on, I wish you five years of peace, enjoying the sunset."

On the back of the paper, is his slightly scribbled handwriting. Not emotional, not soft-hearted. Looking at this music box, she only felt a mixed sadness in her heart. This bitterness is not for Tham Bach Chu, but for himself - the person who has been painfully waiting for a response in countless lonely late nights. Eight years have passed, and she was finally truly "seen" by him. He finally knew what she liked and wanted. But he realized too late, she didn't need it anymore. She closed the lid of the music box and put the paper in the bottom drawer of the locker. She won't intentionally throw it in the trash, because that shows she still cares. She just considered it an unnecessary trifle, permanently sealed in a corner of her memory. It's raining in Dali. Han Mo Tuyet changed into a faded sports jacket, tied her hair in a ponytail, pushed the door open and walked out. The phone vibrated in his pocket. She bent down to unlock the bike and took out her phone. On the screen appeared Nam Chi's message, a line of text with three exclamation marks.

"The house transfer procedure has been completed!!! The broker said he can sell it at any time. How much do you plan to sell it for?"

That house is her last link to this city. She sat on the bicycle, her feet on the ground, texting with one hand.

“Just follow the market price. If we get the money from the sale, how about the two of us pool our capital to open a homestay here?”

The message was sent in less than ten seconds, but Nam Chi texted back promptly. She sent a picture of a panda kowtowing and kowtowing, with big words on the top - "Mistress is so willing to play". Next, she sent another voice message, she clicked to listen, Nam Chi on the other side shouted: "Boss Han! Wait! I'm going to write my resignation letter right now! Book a plane ticket tonight!" She could imagine Nam Chi's disheveled appearance huddled in the corner at work, hiding her phone under the table to secretly text. She laughed, put the phone back in her coat pocket, kicked hard, and the bike ran out of the alley. At the corner of the alley, two old flower sellers sat and talked on a folding chair, in a plastic bucket in front of them were a few bunches of lilies still covered with morning dew. She didn't really understand their dialect, but just hearing that leisurely gesture made her feel relieved. An old lady looked up at her, smiled crookedly, and nodded in greeting. She also nodded back to greet the old lady. Exiting the alley is the lakeside road, the view suddenly opens wide. She slowed down, letting the wind pass through her ears. That feeling is very difficult to describe. In the wind there is no crowded smell of subway cars, no smell of ink from photocopiers, no greasy smell of fast food left overnight in the office. It's just the wind blowing from the lake, through the rice fields, through the villages, extremely clear and clean. Not this time There were a lot of people, there was only a couple holding up a selfie stick and posing by the railing. The girl smiled very sweetly, the boy struggled to find a satisfactory angle, and the girl lightly tapped him on the head. She leaned her bicycle on the side of the road and walked to the railing closest to the water. The lake surface in the distance was silhouetted by a brilliant cloud like fire. The couple on the railing changed the angle of the photo. The girl told the boy to step back a bit, saying she wanted to take a "shadow photo" of his life.