Mo Sheng didn’t respond to Aunt Huang’s comment and simply asked, “How’s my mom?”

“She seems fine. You just happened to come at the wrong time. She left earlier today on a five-day group tour organized by the community. You can stay at my place in the meantime.”

A trip? Mo Sheng hadn’t expected that. It really seemed like her mother was doing well. She looked down, gave a faint smile, then stood up.

“Thank you, Aunt Huang, but I’ll be going now.”

“You’re not going to wait for your mother to return?” Aunt Huang asked, surprised.

“No,” Mo Sheng replied. “I just came to see if she was okay, and to ask her something. But now that I know she’s doing fine, I don’t feel the need to ask anymore.”

Sometimes, once you’ve accepted the outcome, the reasons behind it no longer matter.

“Thank you, Aunt Huang. Please don’t mention to anyone that I came.”

Before leaving, she asked for the location of her father’s grave: Block 157, Area A, Jinji Mountain — an address that sounded more like a home than a cemetery.

Since it wasn’t a holiday like Qingming Festival, Jinji Mountain was nearly deserted. Mo Sheng sat beside her father’s grave, resting her head against the tombstone—just like how they used to sit and talk when he was alive.

Now she spoke softly, as if continuing those old conversations. “Dad, it’s been so long since I visited. I hope you’re not upset. I didn’t really want to come back…”

“Maybe I’ve just been too afraid. When I left, I was still your daughter, but now I feel like I’ve become just a memory.”

“I kept telling myself that as long as I didn’t come back, you were still alive. I still remember the cheese biscuits you gave me before I boarded the plane… You lied and said I’d just go to the U.S. to see how it was, and come back if I didn’t like it. But I never liked it. And I couldn’t come back.”

She looked at the photo on the tombstone—a young man who looked a lot like her, smiling warmly. Mo Sheng reached out and wiped the dust off it with her sleeve. “This must be your college photo, right, Dad? You can’t fool me by using such a young picture. You don’t look like a ghost, just a college kid.”

The mountain was shrouded in misty drizzle, everything silent and still. Mo Sheng tapped the tombstone lightly. “You’re really ignoring me now, huh?”

After a long pause, her eyes grew misty like the surrounding fog. “Dad… He Yichen—do you remember him?—he said we could be together again… Do you think that’s okay?”

Of course, there was no reply. Mo Sheng continued in a whisper, “Actually, I don’t think it’s a good idea either. He’s amazing—everyone likes him. He deserves someone better. So many years have passed and we’re practically strangers now. If we try again, we’ll only clash and hurt each other. He’s been disappointed in me before… If we break up again, I don’t know how I’d handle it. At least now, I’m used to things as they are.”She couldn’t go on. After a long silence, she finally said, “Don’t worry about me, Dad. I’ll be okay. I’m leaving now.”

As she descended the mountain, the rain had stopped. She turned back and looked toward the mist-covered peak fading into the night, as if it belonged to a completely different world.By the time she returned to the city, it was already dark.

Mo Sheng checked her phone—it looked like she’d have to wait until the next day to leave. She asked around at several inns, but they were all full. Eventually, she found a high-end hotel in the city center. After checking in, she showered and dried her clothes. It was still too early to sleep, so she headed downstairs.