Please, for a Lifetime

I dedicate this story to my youth.

When Yu Xinle was fifteen, Lin Xijun said, “I believe people can make things happen through their own efforts. I don't believe in gods or Buddhas.”

When Yu Xinle was eighteen, on the day she left for university, Lin Xijun, who did not believe in gods or Buddhas, gave her a talisman for safety, wrapped in red cloth and carrying a faint scent of incense.

Lin Xijun chose Yu Xinle's university so that Yu Xinle could see the world, and so that Yu Xinle would be farther away from her.

Yu Xinle chose to travel by train. The journey would take three days and two nights, and she had only one purpose: to make Lin Xijun miss her.

Yu Xinle deliberately asked why Lin Xijun had given her the talisman.

Lin Xijun said, “I once came to deeply understand the meaning of the word ‘uneasy.’ I hope you stay safe, get what you wish for, and keep becoming happier and happier.”

When Yu Xinle was twenty, she was sent to the hospital after drinking until she bled from her stomach.

Lin Xijun, who did not believe in gods or Buddhas, knelt on a prayer cushion for the second time and prayed for Buddha to help Yu Xinle recover quickly. She begged Buddha to transfer all of Yu Xinle's pain to her.

When Yu Xinle was twenty-two, Lin Xijun sent her a message:

[If there is another life, I want to be a bird, flying wherever my heart takes me, with no bonds and no restraints.]

She replied:

[If there is another life, I want to be a tree, waiting for a tired bird to come rest.]

Lin Xijun, who did not believe in gods or Buddhas, knelt at Buddha's feet for the third time, praying that Yu Xinle would not come back.

Once, Lin Xijun stood at the lectern and told Yu Xinle to get out.

Later, Lin Xijun waited every day to walk home with Yu Xinle.

There is no romance while they are in a teacher-student relationship.

This is my first time writing a novel. The pacing is very slow, the prose is rambling, and the writing reads like a diary.

There are no big thrills, no major plot, and no elaborate setup.

There will be many, many shortcomings.

Thank you all for being willing to give this inexperienced, immature little story some attention.

Welcome here, and thank you for coming.

Theme: The world is worth looking up at, and you deserve a better life.