Mercury Records

This story will switch to a paid chapter from July 7. If you’ve already read it, please don’t subscribe to the same chapters again. Semi-realistic. Dr. Zhou has passed away in real life. I’m writing this only to indulge my hopes for the future. Important: Dr. Zhou had a child in her previous life, but not after being reborn. Excerpt One: The summer she was sixteen, Li Li ran into Zhou Jing. She had just run away from home, and her grandmother’s voice was still calling after her: “Li Li! Come back!” But she didn’t want to stop. Her parents had returned with her younger brother. He was fair and clean, dressed in fine clothes she’d never seen before, standing in the middle of the courtyard like a young master. She had waited twelve years in this town, and this was what she had waited for. She could run the road to the back hill with her eyes closed, but that day she was going too fast. As she rounded the alley, she crashed straight into someone’s arms. The impact made the woman stagger, but she reached out to steady Li Li first. “Are you all right, little one?” Li Li looked up. Zhou Jing wore a pale blue dress, her hair loosely pinned up, her features gentle and warm. Li Li stood there, stunned. Her mind went blank, leaving just one thought: This woman is so beautiful. Seeing her daydreaming, Zhou Jing waved a hand in front of her face. Li Li came to her senses and stammered, “I... I’m fine. Sorry!” Then she ran off. Even after she’d gone a long way, she couldn’t help looking back. The woman was still standing there, smiling as she watched her go. Li Li didn’t know her name. Later, she saw her again at school and learned that she was the school doctor, Zhou Jing. Excerpt Two: On the day the college entrance exams ended, Li Li received a text from Zhou Jing. “Li Li, what we’re doing isn’t right. I’m sorry.” She called back, only to find that she’d been blocked. She ran to the school and asked everyone she could find. They all gave her the same answer: Dr. Zhou had resigned. No one knew where she’d gone. Li Li stood outside the school clinic, clutching the train ticket she’d saved up for so long. She had wanted to take Zhou Jing to see the ocean. Zhou Jing had once said she’d never seen it. She’d imagined so many things. She’d imagined sneaking off to see Zhou Jing when she came home from college for the holidays. She’d imagined that once she graduated, they could be together openly. But Zhou Jing was gone. Two years later, Li Li was attending college in another city. She thought she was over it, that she could stop thinking about Zhou Jing, until a classmate messaged her: “Li Li, Dr. Zhou is getting married again. Did you know? Are you going?” Without a second thought, she asked for the address. On the day of the wedding, she stood outside the hotel, looking up at the window decorated with the character for double happiness. She thought Zhou Jing must look beautiful today, in a white wedding dress, just like the first time she’d seen her, glowing from head to toe. Then she saw a figure fall from the window, her white wedding dress billowing in the air. Li Li didn’t know how she ran over, or how she ended up kneeling beside the woman. Zhou Jing lay there with her eyes still open, staring at the sky. Blood slowly spread beneath her, staining the white fabric red. Later, Zhou Jing’s family arrived. They stood beside her body without crying, arguing with the hotel staff about compensation. Li Li heard Zhou Jing’s mother say, “That wretched girl is causing the family trouble even after she’s dead.” Li Li walked over and stopped in front of the woman. “I’ll take care of Dr. Zhou’s body. Tell me how much you want, and I’ll pay you.” That night, Li Li hired someone to do Zhou Jing’s makeup. The makeup artist said Zhou Jing had beautiful features and would look lovely. Li Li watched as her face slowly returned to the way she remembered it, as if nothing had happened. She chose the best cemetery plot. After she had done all that, Li Li returned to her rented apartment, wrote a letter, and put it beneath her pillow. Then she swallowed the pills. She thought, Zhou Jing, wait for me. Excerpt Three: Li Li was shaken awake by her grandmother. “Li’er, Li’er! Did you have a nightmare?” She opened her eyes and saw her grandmother’s face, as well as the familiar beam overhead. Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on the old quilt covering her. She sat up dazedly and stared at her hands. They were small and slender, the hands of a teenage girl. “Grandma,” she asked, her voice trembling, “do you know Zhou Jing?” Her grandmother smiled. “That girl from the Zhou family? She’s such a pretty thing, and a good student, too. It’s just a shame her parents don’t care for her.” Li Li’s heart began pounding. She threw off the quilt and ran outside barefoot. The town was the same town, and the alley was the same alley. She ran along the route she’d taken at sixteen, past the alley where she’d bumped into Zhou Jing. The door to Zhou Jing’s house was half open, and smoke curled out from inside. Li Li pushed the door open and saw a girl standing by the stove, dressed in old clothes and feeding firewood into the hearth. Hearing the noise, the girl turned and saw someone standing in the doorway, panting. “Hello. Who are you looking for?” Li Li stood on the threshold, and tears suddenly streamed down her face. Zhou Jing jumped at the sight of her and was just about to stand when the girl rushed over and hugged her tightly. “My name is Li Li,” the girl whispered in her ear, her voice shaking. “You have to remember me.” Zhou Jing stood there, unsure whether she should push her away. “Don’t worry,” the girl said, loosening her embrace a little. She looked into Zhou Jing’s eyes, her own red-rimmed but earnest. “I’ll make sure you get to go to college and live a good life.” Excerpt Four: Before Zhou Jing died, her son handed that notebook to Li Li. As Li Li opened it, her hands trembled. It was Zhou Jing’s diary, beginning on the day they met and continuing all the way to the day she left. “I bumped into a little girl in the alley today. Her eyes were red, like a little rabbit’s. She crashed into me, apologized, and then ran off. What an adorable child.” “That little girl came to the school clinic today. It was obvious she’d gotten into a fight. When she saw it was me, her face turned red again. I asked her name, and she said Li Li. What a lovely name.” “Today Li Li told me that her parents had left her in town and taken her younger brother to the city. She didn’t cry as she told me, but my heart ached for her. I want to be a little kinder to this girl. I have a son, after all, and I’m still missing a daughter.” “I’ve realized I’m starting to look forward to her visits. Every time the door opens, I look up to see if it’s her. I know this isn’t right, but I can’t help myself.” “Li Li confessed to me today. The eighteen-year-old stood in front of me, face bright red, and said, ‘Zhou Jing, I like you.’ I wanted to turn her down, but when I looked into her eyes, I couldn’t say the words. I said yes, after her exams were over. She jumped for joy.” “I sent her that text. I deleted her number, quit my job, and left. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her. I was afraid to. I have a child and a past. I can’t hold her back.” “Today they’re forcing me to marry. I don’t know the man, but I have no choice. Mom says if I don’t marry him, I can get out of her house. I thought, maybe getting married is for the best. Then I won’t have to think about her anymore.” The last line was written in a messy hand, as if her fingers had trembled as she wrote: “Li Li, I saw you. You’re downstairs. I want to jump down and land in front of you, but I don’t have the strength anymore. All I can do is fall. Don’t look. Don’t look at me like this.” Li Li held the notebook and cried all night. Then she woke up and discovered she had returned to the year Zhou Jing was sixteen. Theme: Be sincere in matters of the heart