Chapter 24 — I Shall Never Set Foot in Nam Thanh Again

Please confirm your participation in the Foreign Language Academy Freshmen Summer Camp.

In my previous life, I did not press confirm. At that moment, I was sitting on a high-speed train bound for the Southern City. Tan Tu Bach was sleeping soundly beside me, his gym bag wedged firmly beneath my feet. On my phone screen glowed a message from Manh Tri Ha: Sister Thanh Chi, thank you for accompanying Brother Tu Bach to the Southern City. You are so kind. I stared at those words, my heart flooded with an indescribable bitterness, yet I stubbornly comforted myself. It is fine. Things will get better eventually.

But they would not get better. Not every hardship leads to a sweet reward. Some miseries, in the end, remain nothing but suffering.

In this life, I refuse to deceive myself any longer. I pressed confirm. The system page flickered and swiftly transitioned to a new screen: Registration confirmed successfully. It was almost identical to the confirmation page for my college applications on that fateful night of my rebirth. The only difference was that this time, I was no longer running away from anyone. I was running toward myself.

A flight attendant pushed her cart down the aisle, asking if I would like some water. I nodded. She handed me a cup of warm water, the heat radiating against my palms. I cradled the cup in my hands, gazing out the window as the city grew smaller and more distant. That place held Tan Tu Bach, Aunt Chu, and Manh Tri Ha. It held the nightmare of the Southern City from which I had been unable to escape in my past life. But now, all of them had been left behind beneath the layer of clouds. They would never be able to reach me again.

As the plane pierced through the blanket of clouds, a brilliant, golden sunlight suddenly poured into the cabin. It was blindingly bright, radiating with intensity, as if an entirely new life had just unfolded before me.