[Everyone Gets a Tragic Ending] [Heartbreaking] [Ensemble Cast] [Slow-Paced] [No System, No Golden Finger] [Read at Your Own Risk]
My name is Shen Yinian. I'm seventy-three years old.
I'm the last surviving member of the Big Dipper.
Sixty-five years ago, seven orphans met in this courtyard and named themselves the Big Dipper.
Wen Xuan would tuck a hot-water bottle in with the youngest, Yaoguang, then curl up under the covers and shiver herself;
Ling Xiao was always the first into a fight, and would come back with a bruised face, saying the Big Dipper would never fall apart;
Lu Ning got into the best school and went farther than any of us;
Jian Shuyi covered an entire wall with stars, saying she would draw every one of us;
Wu Yao spent her whole life protecting someone else's name;
Zhou Xiaoyao was still so young when she left, yet she was already the brightest star in the Big Dipper.
One by one, they left. Only I remained, trapped in this courtyard.
I kept a cabinet full of scarves, photo albums, notes, and hair ties.
I once promised a little girl that the Big Dipper would never be separated.
It was the kindest lie I ever told.
Now seven more children have come to the courtyard.
They've named themselves the Big Dipper, too.
The locust flowers have bloomed again, and the wind blows in from the mouth of the alley.
It makes me feel as if they're still here.
Seven stars in the sky, not one missing.
Those people on the ground, not one of them gone.
