Prisoner of Time

My name is Lin Rong. When I was thirty-two, I found a ring in the flower bed downstairs. It would not blacken in fire or break beneath a hammer. I put it up for sale online, and the very next day someone traveled a long way with a million yuan in cash. We completed the deal in person at the police station. I bought a house and moved, thinking that chapter of my life was behind me. Later, I met a woman who worked at a bookstore. When she smiled, her eyes curved into two arcs. We got married, had a child, and lived a peaceful life. Until she confessed that getting close to me had been a mission from the start. The ring was taken away, but my aging remained frozen forever at ninety. I watched my wife, my child, and everyone I knew pass away. I endured alone for a trillion years, drifting through the boundless sea of stars, until I finally came to rest on a gray planet, quietly awaiting the end. She said that if there were another life, she hoped we would meet in an ordinary way. Lin Rong said, “There’s no need for another life. This one has been enough.” This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.