Kyoto Night Kiss

After locking the door, Qu Yun completely imprisoned herself in this small space.

She wouldn't go out, nor did she want to see anyone.

Aunt Qiuhong was worried, so every day she would bring warm meals upstairs on time. She would knock on the door again and again, gently coaxing Qu Yun to eat something so as not to ruin her health.

However, through the heavy wooden door, she could only hear low, suppressed sobs from inside.

It hurts so much...

No one can escape the pain of losing a child.

Aunt Qiuhong carried the millet porridge, which had long since gone cold, downstairs again.

In the living room, Lu Junhe returned at some point, looking more haggard than ever before, even his beard had grown long.

Seeing the food untouched, he said in a low voice, "I'll take it upstairs."

"Okay." Aunt Qiuhong turned around and scooped a bowl of hot porridge from the pot in the kitchen.

After Lu Junhe went upstairs, he gently placed the plate on the floor outside the door, and then slowly sat down with his back against the cold wooden door.

When she spoke, her voice was tired and hoarse, as if she hadn't slept for days. "Yunyun, come out and get something to eat. You haven't eaten anything since you came back to China."

"If my son could see, he would never want his mother to be so sad."

The room remained silent for a long time, so long that Lu Junhe almost thought he would not receive any reply.

Qu Yun's voice was lighter than air: "I don't want to eat."

She lay straight on the bed with her eyes tightly closed, forcing herself to sleep.

Only in her dreams could she see Lu Jinxing again.

Seeing her son walk into school every morning with his little backpack, seeing him come home and sweetly call her "Mommy," sharing the interesting things that happened that day...

But when she closed her eyes, all she could see was that small figure floating on the water.

Why wasn't she the one who died?

Why her innocent child!

Outside the door, Lu Junhe sat quietly for a long time.

He said in a low voice, "We're having our son's funeral tomorrow. It's a long journey and the process is exhausting. If you can't handle it, don't force yourself to come. Just rest at home."

"I handle everything by myself."

There was no further response from inside the room.

The funeral was held as scheduled the following morning.

Despite her broken body, Qu Yun still went to the scene.

In just a few days, she lost a lot of weight, her cheeks became deeply sunken, and her black coat hung loosely on her body.

Many people came to pay their respects.

Qu Yun had heard far too many comforting words from them, and she was completely numb to it.

It wasn't until a distant relative approached her and said, "Cheer up! You're still young. Do you want to live in misery your whole life?"

"If we have another child, things will gradually get better."

Qu Yun simply lowered her eyes and remained silent.

It looks like someone is watching her.

That person looks like Lu Junhe.

But she didn't know how to lift her head.

She did have this thought—perhaps having another child could fill the huge void in her heart and give her a little respite from the boundless pain.

But she felt she couldn't do it.

She felt she had let Lu Jinxing down.

Why could another child receive what he couldn't have given him...?

Halfway through the long and oppressive funeral ceremony, Qu Yun could no longer stand. She leaned against the wall and walked alone to the adjacent lounge.

A short while later, Aunt Qiuhong pushed open the door and brought in a bowl of warm, stomach-soothing porridge. She gently placed the bowl on the table, then sat down beside her and gently patted her back.

"Good child, this really isn't your fault. No one could have predicted something like this would happen. Don't take all the blame on yourself."

"Look how thin you are now... How can a person become so thin? You're just skin and bones..." Aunt Qiuhong's voice choked with emotion.

She also recalled what Lu Junhe looked like now.

Why does God have to torment a couple in love like this?

A tear seemed to have fallen into the bowl of porridge.

Aunt Qiu Hong hesitated for a long time before finally asking softly, "Did you see Xiao He's condition today?"

"Yunyun, Auntie wants to ask you something from the bottom of her heart: do you hate him?"

Outside the lounge, Lu Junhe, who was holding a glass of warm water, happened to hear this. He paused, subconsciously leaned against the wall next to the door, and held his breath, waiting for the person inside to reply.

Qu Yun slowly raised her tear-streaked face, gently shook her head, and said in a broken voice, "I... how could I hate him... he should be the one hating me..."

"I feel so sorry for him, I have no face to face him."

Qu Yun felt that this thought in her mind was torturing her to death.

She banged her head against the wall more than once, trying to stop the imagery.

But facts are facts.

Qu Yun buried her face in her hands. "I'm just an unfortunate person. Anyone who gets close to me will become unfortunate."

"My father... my mother... and now even my child is like this. I don't dare to see Lu Junhe. I don't want him to become even more unhappy because of me."

"This is all my fault... It should have all ended seven years ago..."

Aunt Qiuhong lost her voice and couldn't even utter a word of comfort.

She could only silently pull the child in front of her into her arms and weep along with him.

After the funeral, all the relatives and friends gradually left.

Qu Yun walked alone to Lu Jinxing's brand-new tombstone. Looking at the black and white photo of the little guy smiling brightly on the tombstone, her heart ached.

She couldn't even bring a family photo.

Qu Yun slowly raised her right hand, her fingers caressing the ring on her ring finger.

After a long silence, she gently took off the ring and carefully placed it in front of the cold tombstone.

Is a circle truly perfect?

A light drizzle began to fall from the sky again.

Qu Yun looked up, staring blankly.

Is this her child, even the heavens feel sorry for her...?

Just as Qu Yun was lost in thought, the rain stopped above her head.

A large black umbrella was steadily held above her head.

Qu Yun's heart trembled. She slowly turned around and, upon seeing the man in front of her, burst into tears.

In the past, Lu Junhe always kept his hair neat and tidy, with short, jet-black hair. Now, most of it is mixed with glaring white. Strands of gray-white hair are messily mixed among the black hair at his temples, forehead, and back of his head, which is shocking to the eye.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and his chin was covered with messy, untrimmed stubble. He looked tired and old all over, as if he had aged more than a decade in just a few days.

Qu Yun felt a sharp pain in her throat and said, "Lu Junhe, why has your hair turned so white?"

"How did you age so much all of a sudden...?"

Lu Junhe subconsciously raised his hand and hurriedly stroked the graying hair at his temples.

He wanted to reply, but all he could say was a sob. He could only tilt the umbrella in his hand a little more towards Qu Yun.

He let the cold rain soak his shoulders.

After returning home, Qu Yun did not go straight upstairs to lock the door as she had done in the previous days.

Lu Junhe watched her pace back and forth in the house, occasionally opening the cabinet door, probably looking for something.

He should have been happy at that moment, happy that Qu Yun had finally cheered up a bit.

But the thought of the ring left in front of the tombstone always weighed heavily on his heart.

"Found it!" Not long after, Qu Yun came out of the storage room with an unopened box of hair dye in her hand, which she had bought casually at the supermarket a long time ago.

Qu Yun looked carefully at the numbers on the packaging and whispered, "Luckily, it hasn't expired yet."

"Lu Junhe, let me dye your gray hair!"

Before the man could nod in agreement or refuse,

Qu Yun immediately opened the hair dye packaging and carefully followed the instructions.

She pulled Lu Junhe into the bathroom, stood on tiptoe, draped the disposable plastic apron from the box over him, and then carefully tightened the straps around his neck.

The bathroom lights were very bright.

Qu Yun gently parted the man's hair with her fingertips, then carefully combed and applied the prepared hair dye strand by strand.

They didn't exchange a single word of small talk throughout the entire process; the only sound was the faint rustling of the hair dye brush against their hair.

Thick, dark clouds still hung over the horizon outside the window, and the whole house was eerily quiet.

After a long time, the last strand of gray hair on Lu Junhe's head was carefully dyed evenly.

Qu Yun glanced at it with satisfaction, then slowly moved her gaze upwards, landing on the mirror in front of her.

The man in the mirror had regained the color of his black hair, which seemed to have concealed the glaring signs of aging, but the heavy weariness and sorrow in his eyes could not be hidden in the slightest.

Qu Yun's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she said softly, "Lu Junhe, I want to tell you something."

The man's body stiffened, his Adam's apple bobbing as if he were trembling with fear, and he pleaded, "Yunyun, don't say it."

"Please, don't say it."

—Let's break up.

As if she hadn't heard his plea, Qu Yun gently clenched the hem of her clothes with her fingertips, repeating each word again: "Lu Junhe, let's break up."

"I plan to go to a very, very far place, so far that no one will know me, and live out the rest of my life quietly. Please forgive my selfishness."

"I really can't stay here any longer. Whether it's facing this room or all the memories related to you, every single moment is too agonizing for me."

The main thing is.

She didn't want anyone else to suffer because of her.

From the moment her biological parents chose to abandon her, she was destined to live alone in this world, without coveting any happiness that did not belong to her.

Lu Junhe opened his lips, but no sound came out.

He knew that Qu Yun was determined to leave.

This may not be the fault of either of them.

But they both suffered heavy losses.

There is no going back.

Silent tears streamed down Lu Junhe's cheeks.

There were no arguments, no hysterical tug-of-war.

Silence is the final answer after twelve years of separations and reunions.

They didn't even need to go through divorce proceedings.

Qu Yun left the next morning without taking any luggage.

The cold rain that had been falling incessantly in Beijing cleared up for the first time since she left the city.

Sunlight fell on her thin shoulders.

She only glanced back once.

The road ahead is vast, yet empty.

*

Women's prison.

Yan Suling took the Buddhist scripture from a prison guard wearing a black mask. She ran her fingertips over the cover and said in a cold voice, "The promised kickback will be deposited into your family's bank account in three days."

Back in the cramped, multi-person cell, Yan Suling hid the Buddhist scriptures under her pillow.

Not long after, the cell door opened again, and two prison guards escorted the newly admitted prisoners in.

The moment their eyes met, Tang Bingqing shuddered, her pupils shrinking sharply.

She never expected that Yan Suling was also in this prison.

She was just unlucky. She didn't even kill the hotel cleaner, but because of Lu Jinxing's death, she was sentenced to life imprisonment.

However... as long as you behave well during your sentence, there is still a possibility that you can be released early, right?

Tang Bingqing didn't want to cause trouble here, so she pretended not to know Yan Suling.

As night fell, the patrolling prison guards went through the final procedures before turning off the lights and leaving.

Yan Suling lay quietly with her eyes closed for a long time.

The Buddha said that right and wrong, good and evil, have their own cause and effect.

Yan Suling quietly reached for the Buddhist scriptures under her pillow; hidden in the pages was a sharp eyebrow razor.

She quietly lifted the covers, gripped the razor blade tightly, and slowly climbed up to the upper bunk where Tang Bingqing was.

Tang Bingqing was fast asleep, completely unsuspecting.

Yan Suling raised her hand and quickly, accurately, and ruthlessly plunged the blade straight into her neck.

Blood splattered.

Yan Suling laughed, her voice unusually cold in the silent night: "You bitch, pay for my grandson's life."

(End of text)