Time is a persistent embroiderer. Using forty-four years as the warp and latitude, and the fragrance of pine needles as the wet ink marks, she embroidered the affectionate bond between Dai Mu and Wang Xirui across life and death. In the forest farm in southern Yunnan in 1982, the mountains were covered with green pine trees, and the youth of Dai Mu, an educated youth from Shanghai, was gently knocked away by the laughter of Wang Xirui, a girl from Kunming - she was like a dancing light spot in the forest, twisting the white thread between her fingertips, turning the blue The cloth of the educated youth's clothes was sewn into a totem of love. Hidden in the crooked stitches was the burning oath of "Choose a forest to live in and stay with you for the rest of your life." The scent of pine needles spread through the corners of the clothes, marinating this mutual presence into the longest sweetness in the years.
In 2024, the disease swept away Wang Xirui like a cold mist, but it could not take away her instruction to "don't forget that dress" - this instruction was an invisible thread, one end tied to the past, and the other end leading Dai Mu ups and downs in her thoughts. In the late winter of 2026, the 63-year-old became the "night watchman" of the office, unwilling to step back into an empty room filled with the smell of bitter medicine - the smart door lock there would noisily "welcome", and the sensor lights would only illuminate the boundless loneliness, and the bitter smell had already been woven into a dense network, trapping all the remaining warmth related to her. Every morning at five o'clock in the morning, he would always hold the educated youth uniform and wait. The scent of pine needles was a messenger that spanned forty years, coming in the morning light and knocking on the door of his memory; the word "Mu" on the inside of the skirt was the seal of years, the red rope thread was the unbroken concern, and the rosin mark was the birthmark of youth. Every detail gave the longing a touchable temperature and a smellable fragrance.
When the candle of life gradually faded, Dai Mu's consciousness broke through the cocoon of time in the pure white of the hospital's emergency room.
