After My Childhood Sweetheart Died

[Childhood Friends] [Road Trip]

Xin Li received a heavy package from the security office. The sender was his childhood friend, his big brother Chu Qiuhuai.

Inside was an urn decorated with a silly dog, along with an address where the silly dog was hiding.

From the letter, Xin Li pieced together what had happened. Chu Qiuhuai was dead. He had collapsed beside the operating table after working nonstop, and his last wish was that, having seen enough mountains in this life, Xin Li would take his ashes to the seaside and scatter them in a stretch of water he liked.

Xin Li picked up the urn, found the silly dog, and drove down the coast.

First stop: Yantai. Before he'd even gotten started, the silly dog bit someone as soon as they arrived at Yangma Island.

The silly dog was Chu Qiuhuai's Labrador pig. While Xin Li was busy setting up a tent, the dog dashed onto the beach and bit the backside of a homeless man who was sunbathing.

The homeless man bared his big white teeth and demanded an explanation. The silly dog's tail had left red welts all over Xin Li's arm, so he took the man and the dog to the vaccination clinic for shots.

After the shots, the bearded homeless man refused to take the money and leave. He snatched the urn, squeezed into the passenger seat, and clung to Xin Li like a mangy dog.

"What if you get rabies? I have to keep an eye on your dog. Even if I die, I'll die right beside you!"

The first time Xin Li read about death was in a biography of Haizi. As Chu Qiuhuai listened to him recite "Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms," he said lazily:

"Lili, when I die, you can decide what to do with my body. If you want, bury me in dog shit."

Xin Li imitated the adults and told him to spit three times and not talk about death. But in his young, naive heart, he secretly made a vow: if they died, they would be buried together.

Fifteen years later, twenty-eight-year-old Xin Li received news of Chu Qiuhuai's death, and ashes that were like a promise.

Afraid he wouldn't know what to do, Chu Qiuhuai had even left behind the maker of the dog shit.

Xin Li thought of "Facing the Sea" again.

He listened to the waves all the way from north to south, finally stopping before the orange sea at Changjiang'ao.

Just before he scattered the ashes, the homeless man who had followed him all the way shaved off his beard and came riding the wind, taking Xin Li's hand:

"Lili, how about we don't die?"

Theme: When trapped in desperation, fight to survive