Just make do with this. I can't get the cover colors right anymore, so I changed it to another one. Aaaaah, my original cover! Well, they're both the same tree!
[Why? This ending is about the living carrying on with their lives, and the dead being wished a safe journey.
Treasure life. If you're alive, you should live well.
You only get one life.]
Melancholy, poker-faced Ren Xiliu (has to hold back and go mad early on; I want him to behave later)
Sunny, warm, laughing with strength (way too enthusiastic) Jiang Lanzhou
"I'm fifty-three this year."
"I'm twenty-four this year."
We met at different ages, at the same coordinates.
(Age gap?)
The present-day world is 2059.
Please remember that in Jiang Lanzhou's memories, it is 2024.
"In the end, Ren Xiliu's idea of love made even Heaven lower its head."
Reader's guide:
1. A healing story.
2. Modern alternate universe, with a future setting.
3. Two plotlines: the youthful years (memories)
and the future world (after being reborn).
They run in parallel and proceed in order.
Jiang Lanzhou died at twenty-nine.
4. Third-person narration.
Diary entries are in first person (Ren Xiliu) and second person (Jiang Lanzhou).
Note: Only after Jiang Lanzhou dies does Ren Xiliu start addressing him in his diary as "you" instead of Jiang Lanzhou (or Lanzhou).
Pay attention to the timeline. (It's a small clue, actually.)
Some things I think aren't important, I'll put directly in Ren Xiliu's diary as hints.
There's a diary entry by Ren Xiliu after every chapter.
5.
The first chapter is meant to be like that. It's a clue, so don't doubt it.
Things will naturally take a turn for the better later.
After the first chapter, the story shifts to their youthful years, with the two plotlines running in parallel.
6. Jiang Lanzhou doesn't know he's been reborn. He still has amnesia.
7. I've toned down the rebirth element. Everyone knows he came back from the dead, except Jiang Lanzhou himself.
What's more original is how Jiang Lanzhou learns, while living a peaceful life, about the world Ren Ge gave him, that he is dead, and so on.
The first time, he can face the deception.
The second time.
The third time.
8. I'll do my best.
9. I forgot: whenever the lunar calendar comes up in the story, please pay close attention. It's a clue!
Is this an act of deception, or have I really come back?
A dream or reality?
Transmigration or rebirth? A return to the past or a continuation?
This story is also known as "Leaving the Rewind of Time"
"Watching His Eight Chapters of Mortal Life"
"The Beloved Missing from the Photo"
I finally settled on "The Old Lover in the Photo and the One Who Saved Him"
Theme: Life is precious. Live well if you're alive, and rest in peace if you're dead. The answer is hinted at, but no more.
Mrs. Paipa, the number of collections is now four.
Oh, no wonder, I remember that I didn't save this name. It turns out the name was changed.