Deng Dan glanced over at Duoduo, took a deep breath, and said,
"Duoduo was born in 2005."
"What?!" Li Daonian was shocked. "Duoduo was actually born in 2005?"
He was born in 2004 and was twenty years old this year. It turned out Duoduo was only one year younger than him, which meant this had happened many years ago—completely overturning all his previous assumptions.
Li Daonian had originally thought that Duoduo turning into a ghost after death was something that had happened just in the past few years. He hadn't expected the time span to be so vast. Logically speaking, had she lived safely to the present day, Duoduo should be right at the age of nineteen, in the flower of her youth.
If she hadn't taken a gap year to retake her exams, she would probably be in college by now. She looked like she had the makings of a beauty; once she grew up, she would surely have plenty of young men chasing after her.
Sometimes he didn't dare think too deeply about it. If Duoduo had lived a normal, healthy life, the person standing before him would be a slender, beautiful young girl, not a little child.
The length of time made these two forms constantly leap back and forth in Li Daonian's mind, filling him with an inevitable sense of sorrow and regret for the caprices of fate.
Deng Dan's eyes also revealed sadness, but it wasn't intense. Perhaps all these years had been enough for her to smooth over every scar.
"Duoduo was born on August 20, 2005. On September 27th, her father and I divorced because our views on life didn't align, and I discovered he was making reckless investments behind my back and going out to eat with his ex-girlfriend."
"We had already argued fiercely many times while I was pregnant, and we still divorced a month after Duoduo was born. Thinking back now, we were much too hasty. I was only twenty-three, and it felt like marriage didn't require that much careful consideration; my parents couldn't stop me at all."
"Duoduo was awarded to my custody. In January 2009, Duoduo kept running a fever and lacked energy. I took her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Eight months later, she passed away."
Li Daonian's heart was in turmoil. Thinking back to 2009, what was he doing at that time? Nothing more than an age of pissing in the mud, digging up cow dung, stuffing firecrackers into it, and making bombs.
Perhaps on some evening when he was climbing a tree to watch the local opera, Duoduo had died just like that. He hadn't known it back then, yet fate had brought their two paths together years later.
"I took care of Duoduo all by myself until my mind was on the verge of breaking. When she fell ill and needed medicine and chemotherapy, I quit my job to stay with her around the clock. I borrowed money from my parents, from my older brother—during that time, my life was pitch black," Deng Dan continued, recounting the past.
"There was simply no hope. I originally thought that by taking such good care of Duoduo all by myself, I was an awesome, pretty great mother. It wasn't until she got sick that I realized how utterly helpless I truly was."
"During that time, her father came to help out for a few days when I went to borrow money. Duoduo didn't recognize him and kept making a fuss, crying, 'I want my mommy, I want my mommy.' She wouldn't acknowledge this father. He gave me thirty thousand yuan, saying it was for Duoduo's treatment to express his guilt and dereliction of duty."
"I took it. In the past, I certainly would have cursed him out and told him to get lost, but I didn't have that luxury. In the face of Duoduo's life, everything else seemed insignificant. Back then, I cherished even a single penny from advertisement reward groups."
"During the last dozen days or so, Duoduo asked to come home. She said she was suffering too much—chemotherapy had made her hair fall out, she felt nauseous, and her hands and arms were covered in needle marks. Every few days she had to have blood drawn for tests, and it broke my heart just to look at her."
"I brought her home. Every night she would cuddle up against me to sleep, talking on and on until very late. I held her and told her I would never leave her, saying every loving word I could think of."
"She said, 'Mommy, let's make a promise. You'll always love me and never abandon me.' I cried and promised her."
"After she died, I moved out of that rented apartment and never went back."
"Throughout the entire year of 2010, I couldn't pull myself out of it. I still had her teddy bear, her drawings, little videos of her dancing, all those children's books we didn't have time to read, her bubble blower, her beach shovel..."
"But I still had debts to pay. I had to work. I worked as an accountant in a supermarket for a while, later switched to being a bus dispatcher, and finally ended up as a tour guide on Yangjiao Mountain."
"Climbing up and down the mountain seven or eight hours a day, meeting different tourists in different seasons—sometimes it was rainy and foggy, sometimes the sun was blazing. Back then, the scenic area wasn't very well developed, and there were a lot of unpaved trails. After sending the tourists off, I loved to go rest by the cliff edge."
"In 2012, I remarried and gave birth to Wang Jia—you just saw her, my daughter. This new child brought hope back into my life. In the blink of an eye, twelve years have passed. She's in middle school now, and I need to pick her up and drop her off every day. When I think of Duoduo sometimes, it doesn't hurt as much anymore."
Li Daonian let out a deep sigh. From 2010 to the present day—a full fourteen years—Deng Dan's psychological state had undergone countless changes. They said time heals all wounds, and fourteen years was enough to heal anything.
As Deng Dan spoke, he could vividly picture it all in his mind. He knew that every single word and phrase represented the passage of time. He imagined her sitting at the edge of the cliff, with the unfathomable abyss below and distant green mountains and the setting sun ahead. What was she thinking about back then?
He truly admired Deng Dan. Plunged into utter despair, she had never once thought of giving up. She had pulled through, built a new family, and found a happy life. The pain of the past no longer hurt; the days ahead were always bright.
The mother had looked forward, leaving only Duoduo trapped in the past.
All these years, while the mother was walking out of her grief, every single night a lonely ghost drifted through the rooms, searching for her.
This was the cruel part. This was why he was reluctant to let the dead see their living relatives again. After so many years, time could fade everything away, and bringing it all up again wasn't necessarily good for them.
Fortunately, Deng Dan was strong. This wouldn't break her; once Duoduo was seen off, everything would be settled.
"When I married and moved here, I was so surprised to find it was this very residential complex. I never went near Building 1 again; I always deliberately avoided it," Deng Dan said.
"When Jiajia was five, she ran into Building 1 to play. I chased after her, and as I passed that apartment, I realized I didn't feel the pain anymore. Only the rooftop door of Building 1 was open, offering a great view where you could see Yangjiao Mountain."
"After that, I often brought Jiajia up to the roof of Building 1 to look at the scenery, air out quilts, and eat barbecue. Now that I've become the director of the scenic area, I don't have to climb up and down the mountain every day, and the salary is much higher. Jiajia's grades are great, and she knows how to study. Her dad is also wonderful—he gets a bonus every year, and he doesn't smoke or drink."
"My mother-in-law is wonderful, too; she loves taking Jiajia out to eat fried skewers, and whenever she comes over, she brings milk and freshly stewed chicken soup."
"During the summer vacation, our family goes back to my old hometown in the countryside to stay for a week. Her dad loves fishing, Jiajia loves the family's yellow dog, and I pick watermelons to eat."
"Today, when I saw Duoduo, I realized how many years of grievance she had suffered. I cried because I felt I had failed her, but at the same time, I felt I had lived up to her—her mother has become better, and I hope Duoduo can be happy, too."
Li Daonian pressed the corners of his lips together. "Duoduo will definitely be happy for you."
"She was an obsession. Before she died, her only reliance was you. You gave her a promise never to leave her. After she died, you moved away, and she stayed behind."
"Still, Sister, you don't need to feel guilty either. She doesn't have such a clear concept of time; she will only feel like she hasn't seen you for a very, very long time. Resolving her obsession today will be enough."
"Think about what you want to say to Duoduo in a moment. This will be your final conversation, and after that, she will never appear again. Duoduo is very sensible; just speaking your hearts out will be enough."
Deng Dan had said a great deal, getting it all off her chest. Feeling much more at ease, she nodded.
Li Daonian led Deng Dan back.
His heart was rising and falling with ripples of emotion.
Deng Dan was undoubtedly much happier now than back when she was caring for Duoduo—a new family, a new life.
Building 1 was old and sorrowful, yet just a hundred meters away lay a brand-new life.
Life was ordinary. Put up against the present day, the weight of past vows was so much lighter than before. People change, but ghosts cannot let go of their obsessions.
At that moment, Li Daonian felt that his job had a profound meaning: building bridges to connect the gaps between the living and the dead.
As long as there is love, everything can be met again.