Ice skates forward, regardless of east or west.

1

Five o'clock in the morning.

Ling Wuwen opened his eyes.

The ward was dark. The green light from the monitor cast a small patch of light on the ceiling.

She turned to look at the bedside, where Gu Xidong was sitting on the plastic chair, asleep.

He leaned his head against the wall, his mouth slightly open.

His left leg was straight, his heel against the bed leg. He was still holding her hand.

She looked at his face.

Three seconds. Five seconds.

"Brother Xidong," she said.

The sound was very soft.

Gu Xidong did not wake up.

She looked at him. She looked at him for a long time.

Then she closed her eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already bright outside.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, cutting a narrow golden stripe across the floor.

Gu Xidong was not by the bedside.

She turned to look.

He stood by the window, his back to her, looking at his phone.

"Brother Xidong," she called again.

He turned around.

Look at her.

three seconds.

"What did you call me?"

She froze for a moment.

"Gu Xidong?" she asked uncertainly. "Isn't he?"

He walked back to the bedside and sat down. He took her hand.

"It's Gu Xidong."

She nodded.

"What did I just call you?"

He looked at her.

"Brother Xidong".

She remained silent.

long time.

"That's what my brother calls me," she said. "He calls me Wuwen, and I call him Brother Xidong."

He didn't speak.

She looked at the ceiling.

"I felt like I was him just now," she said.

2

Nine o'clock in the morning.

Director Wang came to check on the patients.

He frowned as he looked at the latest test results. He handed the report to the young doctor next to him, walked to the bedside, and looked at Ling Wuwen.

"Have you felt anything unusual from yesterday to today?"

Ling Wuwen thought for a moment.

"dream."

"What kind of dream?"

"I dreamt about my brother when he was a child. He fell on the ice and his knee was bleeding. I helped him back to the locker room. The coach scolded him, and he lowered his head and didn't say a word."

Director Wang nodded.

"Is there anything else?"

"Even when I'm awake."

"What?"

She paused.

Sometimes I feel like I am him.

Director Wang took a small flashlight out of his pocket and shone it into her pupils. Left eye, right eye. He put the flashlight away.

"The transplanted brain tissue contains fragments of memories," he said. "These fragments are merging with your own memories. It's normal."

Gu Xidong stood by the bed.

"normal?"

"It's normal for transplant patients. Her brother's memories will slowly seep into her own. She might remember things she didn't experience, speak in her brother's voice, or at some point become a completely different person."

Ling Wuwen looked at him.

Will I become him?

Director Wang shook his head.

"No. Your core memories are still there. You are Ling Wuwen, not Ling Wufeng. But some fragments will remain forever."

He paused.

"You need to help her anchor her identity. Remind her who she is every day. Call her by her name. Talk to her about herself. Show her in the mirror."

Gu Xidong nodded.

Director Wang turned and left.

He stopped at the door.

"The diary." He didn't turn around. "Read her brother's diary. Let her listen. That's Ling Wufeng's voice, and it's also the anchor."

The door closed.

The ward was quiet.

Ling Wuwen looked at Gu Xidong.

"Diary," she said.

He took the black notebook out of the bedside table.

Turn to the first page.

3

September 3, 2017.

He read it aloud.

"I didn't perform well in training today. I landed an unstable triple Axel and fell four times. The coach said I wasn't paying attention. Actually, I was thinking about other things."

Ling Wuwen listened.

"What happened? Wuwen called yesterday and said she got into the provincial team. I'm happy, but also worried. She's only fifteen and she's going to such a far place by herself. Mom told me to take good care of her, but I'm in Beijing and she's in Harbin. How can I take care of her?"

He turned to the next page.

"January 7, 2017. Today I received a letter from Wuwen. It was handwritten, three pages long. She said the new coach is fierce, her teammates are ostracizing her, and the food in the cafeteria is bad. She said she misses home."

He paused.

Ling Wuwen's eyes reddened.

He continued reading.

"I called her back. She cried on the phone. I told her not to cry, that I would try to go to the Harbin competition next year and I would see her then. She said okay. After hanging up, I remembered that the Harbin competition was the year after next."

She reached out her hand.

He handed her the diary.

She touched the page, her fingertips tracing the ink stains.

"He wrote this," she said.

"Um."

She looked up at him.

"I am Ling Wuwen," she said.

He took her hand.

"Who are you."

4

3 PM.

Ling Wuwen fell asleep.

Gu Xidong sat on the edge of the bed, flipping through his diary.

2017年3月。2017年4月。2017年5月。每一页都记录着训练、比赛、伤病、想念妹妹。

2017 October.

"A new doctor came to the team today. He said he was sent by the International Skating Union's collaborative laboratory to collect samples for research. He asked me if I would like to participate in a new drug trial. I said I would think about it."

He turned to the next page.

2017 October.

"I signed the informed consent form. They said this drug could shorten the postoperative recovery period. I asked what the side effects were. They said it was still in the clinical trial stage and the data was incomplete. I asked why they made me sign it. They said it was because I was young, in good health, and an ideal sample."

His finger stopped on the page.

Ling Wuwen turned over in his sleep.

He continued flipping through the pages.

2017 October.

"My knee started hurting. It wasn't the kind of pain you get during training; it was a pain deep inside the bone. The team doctor said it was a normal reaction. I believed him."

2017 11 Month 1 Day.

"Wuwen came to see me in Beijing today. She's thinner and darker, but her eyes are bright. She said she's going to participate in the National Youth Competition. I said, 'Brother is coming to see you.' She smiled."

2017 11 Month 5 Day.

"The doctor said I needed to be hospitalized. I asked how long. He said it was uncertain and depended on the situation. I asked what would happen to the competition. He said the competition would be next year."

2017 11 Month 8 Day.

The last line is in Russian.

He closed his diary.

Put it in the bedside table.

5

7 PM.

Ling Wuwen woke up.

She looked at Gu Xidong.

"What time is it?"

"Seven o'clock."

She slowly sat up. He supported her back and propped her up with pillows.

"You read your diary?"

"Um."

"Where are you reading?"

"November 8th."

She remained silent.

That was the day before my brother was hospitalized.

He didn't speak.

She looked out the window. Night had fallen, and the lights in the hospital building across the street were coming on one by one.

"Gu Xidong," she said.

"Um."

"Sometimes I'm scared."

"What are you afraid of?"

She paused.

"I'm afraid that when I wake up, I won't recognize you."

He took her hand.

"Won't."

How did you know?

Women's eyesight.

"Because I will keep calling your name."

6

Nine o'clock in the evening.

The nurse came to take my temperature. 37.8℃, 0.2 degrees higher than this morning.

She frowned, wrote something in her notebook, and said to observe it; if it continued to rise, the medication would need to be adjusted.

The nurse left.

Ling Wuwen looked at Gu Xidong.

Are you leaving the day after tomorrow?

He was silent.

Three seconds. Five seconds.

"Walk."

She nodded.

What time is your flight?

"Six o'clock."

"Then you need to get up at four o'clock."

"Um."

She looked at him.

"Gu Xidong".

"Um."

I'm afraid I'll forget you when I wake up.

He held her hand tightly.

"Won't."

How did you know?

He thought about it.

"Because you remember your brother."

She didn't say anything.

He continued:

"In his diary, he wrote a lot about you. You fell on the ice as a child, you were nervous during your first competition, you wrote to him saying you missed home. Do you remember these things?"

She nodded.

"Those aren't your own memories. They're his memories of you. But now, those memories are in your mind."

She looked at him.

"so?"

"So you can't forget me. Because even if you forget, he will remember for you."

She remained silent.

long time.

She reached out and touched his face.

"Gu Xidong".

"Um."

"You are Brother Xidong."

He didn't speak.

"It wasn't him who called him 'Brother Xidong.' It was me."

He took her hand.

"I know."

7

Two o'clock in the morning.

Ling Wuwen suddenly sat up.

Gu Xidong woke up with a start.

He jumped up from the folding bed, his left knee throbbing, but he ignored it and rushed into the ward.

She sat on the bed, looking out the window.

"What's wrong?"

She turned to look at him.

"My brother is outside."

He walked to the window and drew back the curtains. Outside was a parking lot, deserted under the streetlights.

"Nobody's here."

She shook her head.

"He was just standing there. Wearing a blue tracksuit. Just standing there watching me."

He walked back to the bedside and sat down.

Hold her hand.

"Hallucination."

She nodded.

"I know."

He looked at her.

"What did he say to you?"

She thought about it.

He didn't say anything. He just stood there, watched for a long time, then turned and left.

She paused.

He walked towards the sea.

Gu Xidong gripped her hand tightly.

"Ling Wuwen".

She looked at him.

"Look at me."

She looked into his eyes.

"You are Ling Wuwen."

She nodded.

"I know."

Your brother is gone.

She remained silent.

Three seconds. Five seconds. Ten seconds.

"I know."

8

Four o'clock in the morning.

Ling Wuwen fell asleep.

Gu Xidong sat on the edge of the bed without folding it back up.

He looked at her face.

She had a furrowed brow when she was asleep.

The two vertical lines between her eyebrows were very deep. He reached out to smooth them out, but as soon as his fingers touched her, her eyebrows twitched, and she remained unconscious.

He withdrew his hand.

It started to get light outside the window.

The eastern sky changed from black to deep blue, and then from deep blue to grayish-white.

He stood up and walked to the window.

In the parking lot, a white van was still parked there. The reporter had changed shifts; the new one, wrapped in a military overcoat, was sleeping in the driver's seat.

He turned to look at Ling Wuwen.

She was still asleep.

Breathing is steady.

He walked back to the bedside and sat down.

Keep watching her.

9

Seven o'clock in the morning.

Ling Wuwen opened his eyes.

She saw Gu Xidong sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You're not asleep?"

"Going to sleep."

She looked at him.

"That's a lie."

He didn't speak.

She reached out and touched his face. Her fingers were cool, and her nails traced his chin.

"Gu Xidong".

"Um."

"I just had a dream."

What did you dream about?

"I dreamt about my brother. He was teaching me to ice skate. I fell, and he helped me up. He said, 'Don't cry, your brother is here.'"

She paused.

Then I woke up.

He took her hand.

"You cried," he said.

She touched her face. It was dry.

"no."

I cried in my dream.

She looked at him.

How did you know?

He did not answer.

He looked out the window.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, cutting a narrow golden stripe across the floor.

The narrow strip moved slowly, from the doorway to the foot of the bed, and from the foot of the bed to her feet.

She looked at the sunlight.

"Gu Xidong".

"Um."

"Read my diary."

He took the black notebook out of the bedside table.

Turn it over.

September 3, 2017.

He read it.

She listened.

The sunlight continued to move.