An Yi turned around and saw a man in white standing in the sea breeze, holding a glass in his hand.

“Come down,” the man reached out to him, “It’s windy up there.”

An Yi stiffened and didn’t move. One leg was still hanging outside the railing, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

The man leaned over and glanced down at the churning waves below, the pitch-black sea showing white teeth in the night, making him amazed, “It’s quite scary to look at the sea at night, aren’t you afraid?”

An Yi shook his head slowly, once again gazing into the vast darkness.

In that instant, the railing shook slightly. When he turned his head again, there was already another person beside him.

An Yi saw him also lifting his leg to cross the railing and frowned, “What are you, what are you doing!”

“Trying what you’re trying,” the man withdrew his leg, standing shoulder to shoulder with An Yi, blinking with lingering fear, “You’re braver than me.”

An Yi pursed his lips, then heard the man ask him again, “Since you’re not afraid of death, why don’t you have the courage to live?”

An Yi didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m Xie Nancang,” the man reached out his hand again, “I don’t know if it’s an honor, but I’d like to listen to your troubles.”

An Yi looked at him with teary eyes.

Xie Nancang smiled gently, “Before you leave, leave some of your marks behind. Even if only one person remembers, it’s still good, right?”

An Yi blinked emotionally and gently held his fingertips.

Perhaps it was because he had suppressed it for too long, or perhaps because he was too lonely. In the face of the kindness shown by a stranger, An Yi’s fragile psychological defense collapsed, and he poured out all the accumulated grief, resentment, and depression of the past few days.

Xie Nancang was a very good listener, nonjudgmental, not evaluating, occasionally nodding to show that he was listening. When An Yi cried until he was hoarse, Xie Nancang would hand him a cotton handkerchief and gently pat his shoulder for comfort.

After taking a few deep breaths, An Yi squeezed the wrinkled handkerchief in his hand and glanced at the man beside him.

After venting, a wave of shame surged in his heart.

“Sorry, I said too much.”

People come to cruise ships for vacation, they probably don’t want to listen to a stranger’s sad sob story.

“It’s okay, I like listening,” Xie Nancang leaned on the railing, the sea breeze flipping his clothes, “Through a conversation, you can temporarily experience another person’s joys and sorrows. I think it’s very interesting.”

After saying that, he looked at An Yi and explained seriously, “I’m not making fun of your pain, I hope you don’t misunderstand.”

An Yi nodded.

Xie Nancang asked, “Feeling better now?”

An Yi exhaled slowly and nodded again.

“That’s good,” Xie Nancang said, “When traveling, get away from the old environment, look at the mountains, look at the sea, encounter birds, encounter whales. I believe there will always be a moment when you will be moved, at least in that moment, you will feel that being alive is not so bad.”

“Will I?” An Yi looked at the crescent moon hanging heavily in the sky.

“Try it,” Xie Nancang looked at him and smiled, “There’s nothing to lose anyway. Be patient and wait to see if that moment will come.”

An Yi’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

He heard Xie Nancang speaking to him in a consulting tone, “How about this, don’t jump tonight, just consider it as accompanying me, a passerby, to pass the time. Leave the rest to tomorrow.”

An Yi looked at Xie Nancang, who took the first step. He jumped back onto the deck and reached out to him for the third time.

“Come down, it’s too windy, you’ll catch a cold.”

An Yi hesitated for a while before reaching out his hand.

Xie Nancang held onto him, using his warm and strong hand to pull him back to reality.

Xie Nancang took him to the top deck bar, ordered two tequila sunrises, and sat in the wind-protected recliners to chat.

An Yi looked up at the summer night sky, quietly listening to Xie Nancang’s interesting anecdotes about his past travels. Xie Nancang was elegant and humorous, with a charming charisma. As he listened, An Yi’s heart gradually calmed down, and he unknowingly fell asleep in the latter half of the night.

Xie Nancang got a blanket for him and covered him without disturbing him.

It wasn’t until dawn that he gently tapped An Yi’s shoulder.

An Yi opened his eyes and saw the scene of the sunrise leaping out of the sea horizon, where the sea and sky met, dyed with a translucent orange, as beautiful as an oil painting.

“Good morning,” Xie Nancang smiled at him. “I didn’t want you to miss such a beautiful sunrise. Do you like it?”

An Yi nodded and smiled back, “I do, thank you.”

After watching the sunrise, An Yi belatedly apologized to Xie Nancang, “Did you accompany me here all night? I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to fall asleep…”

“It’s okay, it’s comfortable to feel the sea breeze and take a nap. I also slept for a while,” Xie Nancang glanced at the time. “The Chinese restaurant downstairs should be serving breakfast now. Can you accompany me to have something to eat?”

An Yi hesitated for a moment but didn’t refuse.

After breakfast, when they returned to their rooms, An Yi was surprised to find out that Xie Nancang lived next door to him.

Xie Nancang deliberately showed a slightly sad expression and teased him, “So you only recognized me now. I thought I greeted you on the balcony the day we boarded, and you would remember me a little.”

An Yi was flustered again, and Xie Nancang laughed even more heartily.

“Okay, I won’t tease you anymore.”

Leaning against the cabin wall, Xie Nancang swayed with the cruise ship, looking quite relaxed. “The ship will dock at noon, shall we go together?”

“Go together… where?”

“To have fun, to be silly,” Xie Nancang said, “It’s quite boring alone, why not go together?”

An Yi hesitated for a moment.

Xie Nancang didn’t insist, “You have the morning to evaluate whether I’m a bad person or not. I’ll go back to rest first, and come find you for an answer at noon.”

An Yi wanted to explain that it wasn’t about that, but Xie Nancang waved to him and went back to his room.

At noon, the cruise ship docked, and the crew kindly reminded through the broadcast about the departure and ticket checking deadline.

Just as the broadcast ended, An Yi heard a knock on the door.

Xie Nancang changed his clothes, put on sunglasses, and stood spiritedly outside the door, asking him, “Are we getting off the ship together? The ship will be docked overnight, and we’ll depart tomorrow morning.”

“…Wait for me.” An Yi quickly washed and changed clothes.

Xie Nancang leaned against the doorway, reminding him to put valuables in the safe, and didn’t enter An Yi’s personal space rashly, showing gentlemanly manners that were quite likable.

After An Yi finished packing, he got off the ship with him.

The two of them first had lunch at a five-star restaurant near the port, rested for a while, and then set off together for snorkeling.

The magnificent underwater world opened up An Yi’s perspective.

He immersed himself in the underwater world, reacquainting himself with schools of fish, corals, and reefs from a perspective he had never experienced before, marveling at the wonders and magnificence of nature.

Xie Nancang then took him whale watching. The two of them sat on a specially made transparent boat, floating on the clear sea surface as if there were no barriers, and a humpback whale leisurely swam past them, making An Yi widen his eyes in astonishment.

“Humpback whales are very friendly to humans,” Xie Nancang encouraged him, looking at him with encouragement. “You don’t have to be afraid.”

Following his example, An Yi put his hand into the sea. The rippling waves seemed to respond warmly to the touch of the sea, and for a moment, he believed that his fingertips touched the smooth and elastic skin of the humpback whale.

“Wow! It’s so smooth!” An Yi exclaimed softly, finally smiling.

Under the gaze behind Xie Nancang’s sunglasses, attracted by his smile, his eyes followed An Yi’s every move, unable to move away, and the corners of his mouth remained upturned.

The two of them hang out until late at night before returning to the cruise ship.

This was probably the first time since after An Ya’s death that he truly felt happy.

It had been so long.

He gratefully thanked Xie Nancang, who ruffled his hair. “I’m also very happy. Can we continue tomorrow?”

An Yi thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Xie Nancang bid him goodnight, then came knocking on his door early the next morning. He took An Yi to the lower deck of the cruise ship to fish and crab with the crew. Although they ended up smelling fishy and disheveled, both of them had a great time. After returning to their rooms to shower and change, they made plans to have meals, drink wine, and watch the sunset together.

For several days in a row, An Yi was led by Xie Nancang to gradually appreciate the little beauties of this world and this journey.

Occasionally, he would still be surrounded by immense emptiness, feeling so sad that he wished he could jump off the cruise ship and end it all. At times like these, Xie Nancang would always reach out to him and gently persuade him, “Just wait a little longer, okay? Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

So An Yi would wait a little longer.

As he waited, on the day the cruise ship arrived at its fourth city, he welcomed his 29th birthday.

And after nearly ten days of being out of touch, the first call came from Yan Chen.

To be precise, it was the first call that got through.

When he saw Yan Chen’s name, An Yi’s heart felt like it was being squeezed, and his hand trembled. He answered the phone.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, as if Yan Chen hadn’t expected the call to be answered. After a few seconds, his voice came through the receiver, tired and hoarse. “An Yi, where the hell are you! Do you know how crazy I’ve been, looking for you all over the damn place!”

An Yi panicked and hung up without thinking, then immediately threw his phone into the sea.

“I… damn it!”

The darkened screen of the phone reflected an angry and shocked face. Yan Chen’s eyes were red as if he were spitting fire. He was unwilling to call the number that had been dialed hundreds of times again, as it was already turned off.

“Fine, you’ve got guts!”

Yan Chen was so angry that he wanted to throw his phone, but Jiang Hai reflexively stopped him.

At that moment, another call came in. Yan Chen answered anxiously, just as he was about to call “An Yi,” but when he heard his elder brother’s indifferent voice on the other end, his face fell even further.

“What the hell are you doing, not coming home all this time?” Yan Heng asked sternly. “Don’t forget you’re engaged. Miss Zhou has been waiting for you to come back to finalize the wedding details. The Zhou family has been hinting about it for the past few days. Give them a definite answer.”

Yan Chen was already annoyed, but when he heard Zhou Qianyu’s name, he became even more enraged.

“She still has the nerve to look for me?! She contacted An Yi privately, and I haven’t even settled accounts with her for that yet! And she still wants to get married?!” Yan Chen gritted his teeth, growling, wishing he could crash the phone with his bare hands.