Looking at the photograph, Yang Xi sank deep into his memories. "Ah, Li'er, how could you bear to leave me all alone in this world?" On a summer morning three years ago, the two of them were as they usually were.
Yang Xi was getting ready to head to his shop, planning to buy some pipes to install a surveillance system at the newly built government building next door.
Meanwhile, Xiali had dressed up nicely for work, and since it was on the way, Yang Xi dropped her off right outside her office building.
For some reason, Yang Xi had felt uneasy all day today.
While working, he felt a bit unwell, so he stopped what he was doing and leaned against a nearby scaffolding to rest for a moment.
An inexplicable sense of unease welled up inside him, and he had a lingering feeling that something was going to happen.
"No, I'll be climbing up and down today, I need to be careful. Any little accident could spell trouble." Thinking this, Yang Xi decided to double-check his safety harness and ropes.
After a careful inspection and confirming everything was in order, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps he was just overthinking it. Yang Xi shook his head, trying to brush off the strange feeling, and went back to work.
"I love the way you stand unyielding, I love the way you faced despair..." Just then, the ringtone of Yang Xi's phone suddenly blared. He pulled out his phone and saw an unfamiliar landline number.
He frowned, but still answered the call, "Hello." "Yang Xi, I'm Li Wan'er, Xiali's colleague. Xiao Li suddenly collapsed at the office and has been rushed to the People's Hospital by ambulance. You need to hurry over!" an anxious voice came from the other end of the line.
Hearing this news, Yang Xi's face instantly turned pale, and a chill crept up from the soles of his feet.
He couldn't believe this was real, but the caller's tone was so serious that he couldn't doubt it. "I'm coming right now!" Yang Xi hung up the phone, immediately dropped his work, and hurriedly left the construction site.
Along the way, he was frantic with worry, the image of Xiali fainting replaying constantly in his mind. He didn't know what had happened to her, only praying that she would be safe and sound.
When Yang Xi rushed to the People's Hospital, he saw Xiali lying on a hospital bed in the emergency room, tubes running down her throat, while four or five doctors continuously performed chest compressions to try to save her.
"I'm sorry, we did everything we could. We've been trying to resuscitate her for eighty minutes, but the patient has lost all vital signs. Please accept our condolences!" a female doctor wearing a mask said to Yang Xi with sorrow.
From that day on, half of Yang Xi's life seemed to have been stripped away. Xiali's fleeting presence had taken half of Yang Xi's life with her. After handling Xiali's funeral arrangements, Yang Xi handed over the entire million-plus compensation for her death-in-the-line-of-duty to her parents. Despite their repeated refusals, Yang Xi insisted they take the money.
Yang Xi's misfortune dealt a devastating blow to his own parents' health as well. In less than half a year, both elderly parents passed away one after another.
Yang Xi no longer had any close family left in this world, and with no family came a total lack of hesitation or fear.
Yang Xi lived like a walking corpse for two and a half years, guarding this shop every single day as he always had, every day waiting in expectation for that youthful and beautiful figure to walk through the door and shout loudly, "Honey, I'm back!" or "Honey, let me cook you a bowl of noodles!" Yet he could only ever catch sight of that graceful figure through the surveillance footage he had kept.
Who could know that the cheerful Yang Xi wept until his tears ran dry in the solitude of every night?
"I love the way you stand unyielding, I love the way you faced despair..." Just as Yang Xi was immersed in his memories, his phone rang again.
Seeing that it was a call from his old friend Mai Zi, he answered, "Hello, Mai Zi." "Xizi, a group of us best friends are planning to go swimming at Longtan tomorrow, and they made me promise to get you to come. What do you say, join us!" "Um..." "Don't 'um' me, it's settled. Be at your shop tomorrow morning at ten to gather, don't be late..."
The call ended. Yang Xi's five best friends were all buddies from their school days, and they had all chosen to work in the city as migrant workers.
Mai Zi traded in grain, Li Shusheng repaired cars, Zhang Xiaobao was a two-hundred-pound chubby guy who slaughtered pigs and sold meat, Xu Ansheng ran a pet store, and Liu Dachuju was the most successful among the close friends, owning his own restaurant and considered a boss of sorts.
Thinking about how his close friends had invited him on trips time and again, and how he had turned them down every time, he figured he might as well say yes this time. Yang Xi walked into the bedroom and took out the swimming trunks and gear he had prepared when he went out to play with Xiali. Looking at the packed bag, complete with a label reading "Hubby's Swimming Gear," Yang Xi couldn't help but burst into bitter tears.