Remaining Lifespan: 1 hour, 11 minutes, 41 seconds
Qi Zhimu finished recounting his life story.
Clarice felt as if something was lodged in her heart, an unalleviated discomfort permeating her entire being.
Clearly, after Mr. Qi found salvation, his life had been as calm as still water, encountering no misfortunes until the very end of his days.
Yet, she felt distressed for Mr. Qi's life.
Why was this happening? She searched for an answer but remained bewildered.
Isn't an ordinary life good?
"Mr. Qi, isn't there anything you wanted to do, any dreams you wanted to fulfill?"
"Yes, they've all been accomplished. I just told you about them."
Hearing this, Clarice finally understood the source of her distress.
Mr. Qi... had never truly lived for himself!
His entire life was spent drifting with the current.
When his teacher imparted knowledge, he studied diligently, dedicating himself to madly absorbing everything.
When his teacher assigned tasks, he worked assiduously, solving difficulties and striving for a perfect completion.
He did whatever his teacher told him to do.
When his teacher told him to leave and establish himself, he left.
He quietly lived in seclusion here for a hundred years, never venturing far until his death.
Until his death, he guarded the path home for his teacher.
He was like a wireless puppet, willingly living for others, willingly dependent.
Seemingly free, yet he had never truly been free.
You shouldn't be like this, Mr. Qi... Even if she was the only light in your life, you should still have your own ideals and self, rather than willingly being bound by invisible threads.
Clarice really, really wanted to... really, really wanted to be jealous of Mr. Qi's teacher.
But she wasn't the one who brought him salvation, so what right did she have to be jealous?
On the contrary, she was the one saved by Mr. Qi.
If her mother forgot everything due to amnesia, she would also lose everything, completely!
Why was her heart sad, why was it sorrowful?
Clarice sorted everything out.
Because she had no right to comment, because everything was irreversible, because... she could only keep these words to herself.
How could she bear to say such things to Mr. Qi?
Was he wrong? He wasn't wrong.
Was his teacher wrong? No, not wrong either.
If one had to find a culprit, then blame the world Mr. Qi lived in, which had long turned to cosmic dust, yet left him with lifelong scars.
Were these reasons, and only these reasons?
Clarice closed her eyes helplessly.
No... perhaps, the factor that even Mr. Qi himself couldn't realize was the main reason, and also the reason she wanted to be jealous... Mr. Qi might have deeply loved his teacher.
But he didn't know it, didn't even realize the emotions in his heart, and didn't understand what love was.
He merely took love as a natural respect for his teacher.
Clarice recalled a song Mr. Qi had happened to play and sing during a recent visit.
"...Mr. Qi, I want to hear you play and sing that song."
"Which one?"
"I don't know the name, but it's... the saddest one."
Qi Zhimu would grant the girl's reasonable request, rising to fetch his a type of chinese lute and beginning skillfully.
The melody began, then the verse, leading to the chorus, the interlude, and the ending... From the moment she heard the first few seconds of the melody, Clarice had reached a conclusion.
Mr. Qi was slow-witted, had no correct understanding of emotions, and didn't even consider it love.
His life was largely occupied by his teacher; he simply didn't understand.
But... the songs he composed couldn't lie.
What one thinks about during the day, one dreams about at night.
Similarly, if one had never experienced that state of mind, how could one create lyrics and music that evoke sorrow in listeners?
A sigh for deep love understood, love finally becoming a shared journey... The last line of the song, perhaps, was Mr. Qi's truest subconscious hope!
But apart from the words at the end, everything before it revolved around the loneliness of love and unrequited affection.
The song Mr. Qi composed was about himself.
What made Clarice even more breathless was... wasn't this song also about her?
We are both constantly delving deeper into a path destined for missed connections and no results, our hearts riddled with holes.
But I know, and you don't... The cruelest part is that she can't say anything.
The most regrettable thing in the world is also this.
That divination for Mr. Qi wasn't ineffective; on the contrary, everything came true perfectly.
three of swords, ten of swords, reversed star.
Profound heartbreak leading to the end of a relationship and bringing unforgettable despair.
Ultimately, a complete loss of hope for the beautiful future once envisioned.
It's just that... Mr. Qi knew nothing, that's all... He didn't know his heart was broken, nor that he had envisioned anything, or perhaps; he simply didn't dare to envision... and even more, he didn't know that his subconscious had already fallen into despair.
He lived for his teacher, and even more so, he painstakingly waited for his teacher's last words until the end of his life.
He willingly remained bound by his teacher's past memories, never thinking of breaking free.
How pathetic... The a type of chinese lute in his hand, the White Coat in the Bamboo House, were all irrefutable evidence of this conjecture.
How many years has it been... still as good as new.
No wonder on the day they went to cultivate the back mountain, even though the weather had already turned cool, Mr. Qi still took off the White Coat.
It was precisely because he didn't want even a speck of dust to cling to it... Mr. Qi, you don't have to be so humble... At this point, Clarice could no longer hold back, she rose and embraced Qi Zhimu's head, pulling him into her arms.
"Clarice?"
"...Let me hold you, just for a moment..."
Perhaps, no one had ever truly cared for you, giving you an embrace filled with tenderness.
Then let me be the one to give it.
Before Mr. Qi grew old and died, I would bring the last warmth to his already cold and unknowing body.
Even a trace, even for just a moment.
Qi Zhimu was stunned.
A strange feeling surged in his heart.
His body was enveloped in a familiar warmth, and he felt so relaxed.