The editors were busy at work, and from within the office, bursts of agonized lecturing kept ringing out from time to time.
"What's the meaning of naming your heroine Richie?"
"Because the heroine was born into poverty, and her parents felt that giving her a name like that would make her easier to raise."
"I know what you mean, but this is a novel. If you name your heroine Richie, how are the readers supposed to like the character?"
"But didn't I write out a detailed description of her?"
"No matter how detailed your description is, the moment readers see this name, they'll only subconsciously think of a dog—they won't picture the beauty you wrote. Can't you learn a little from Fang Qiu? Look at her female characters—Tang Xuejian, Long Kui, Zixuan, Han Lingsha, Liu Mengli—what lovely-sounding names, every one of them. Now look at yours. What kind of jumbled mess is this?"
Watching that bespectacled female editor reason with the author with such an agonized look on her face, several of the other female editors couldn't help but cast sympathetic glances her way.
But speaking of Fang Qiu—how was Ah Qing getting on with reading the manuscript?
They turned their gazes toward Bai Qing's desk.
"Hm? She's almost done reading? But why doesn't Ah Qing have much of a reaction?"
"Now that you mention it, it's true—there's only a few pages of the manuscript left, right?"
"Could it be that this time it's just an ordinary story?"
The editors were all puzzled.
But looking at where the story in the book had reached, Bai Qing was puzzled too.
What had this child shown up for?
And what was the point of catching hold of a human who'd been transformed from a monster?
Holding on to this puzzlement, she turned to the next page of the manuscript.
After being caught by Gin, the boy politely thanked him.
Only, it was then that Takegawa Hotaru noticed the tips of Gin's fingers had begun to glow with tiny specks of firefly light.
His body was fading away.
Seeing this scene, Takegawa Hotaru finally realized.
Those two children just now weren't monsters at all, but humans who had carelessly wandered in.
Gin's body was fading away.
And there was hardly any manuscript left.
"Eh?"
Reading up to here, Bai Qing couldn't help but freeze.
Wasn't this far too sudden?
How could it be that he suddenly caught hold of a human child's hand, and was suddenly about to fade away?
Wasn't this far too abrupt?
How could a parting come so suddenly?
Although Fang Qiu had written the love between Gin and Takegawa Hotaru wonderfully, their parting came far too abruptly....
With Fang Qiu's current command of the pen, it shouldn't have turned out like this, should it?
This was the kind of mistake only a novice should make, wasn't it?
What on earth was going on?
Although Gin's body kept fading away, he showed not the slightest panic. Instead, he revealed a smile and opened his arms toward Takegawa Hotaru.
"Come here, Hotaru. I can finally touch you."
Reading up to here, Bai Qing suddenly thought—perhaps Gin had caught hold of the little boy on purpose.
Because he wanted to touch Takegawa Hotaru, yet he didn't want her to blame herself for it.
What's more, Takegawa Hotaru wanted to come work in the countryside, and if things went on like that, he would surely end up holding back the whole course of her life.
He didn't want Takegawa Hotaru to be bound by him.
Perhaps he had already long since prepared himself for this final farewell....
And so, Takegawa Hotaru took off her mask and, with a face full of happiness, went to meet him.
After all these years had passed, the two of them had finally gotten their wish.
They embraced.
This was the first time they had ever touched one another.
It was their first embrace.
And also... their last.
Gin turned into fireflies and faded away completely, leaving behind only his clothes and his mask.
No miracle occurred.
Takegawa Hotaru knelt on the ground, burying her face in Gin's clothes, as though the warmth of Gin still lingered upon them.
She wept.
It was because Takegawa Hotaru realized that Gin had truly faded away.
And also because the reason she had earlier thrown herself into Gin's arms smiling with such a happy face, was that she hadn't wanted Gin to see her crying.
As Takegawa Hotaru softly sobbed.
"I like you."
"Mm, me too."
"It feels kind of like a date, doesn't it."
"What a date utterly lacking in charm."
In her memory, the boy had held a wooden stick and led the childhood her by the hand as they walked across the grass.
"It feels kind of like a date, doesn't it."
"This is a date."
At the festival, the boy and she had been connected by a strip of white cloth, as though they were holding hands.
In the forest, with fireflies drifting through the air, Takegawa Hotaru picked up the mask from the ground and hugged it tightly.
In the forest where the fireflies drifted, the monsters did not take out their anger on Takegawa Hotaru over this; instead, they thanked her.
Because Gin had finally touched the person he liked.
And Takegawa Hotaru, holding the mask, walked all the way out of the forest.
She thought that, for the time being, she probably wouldn't be able to look forward to the coming of summer anymore.
Her heart ached so badly, and the tears kept overflowing.
But the warmth lingering in her palm, along with the memories of summer, would surely stay with her forever.
So, walk on forward.
Takegawa Hotaru returned to her grandfather's house.
The end of the story.
After finishing the whole text, Bai Qing sat blankly in her chair, lost in a daze for a long while.
"Forge no bonds, lest you add to your sorrow."
Bai Qing murmured Fang Qiu's words over and over, tears trickling down her cheeks as well.
That's right.
From the very beginning, Gin and Takegawa Hotaru had been destined to be unable to be together.
A single touch, and he would fade away.
How sorrowful, how powerless....
Yet even so, Gin didn't want to miss the chance because of it.
He would rather fade away than not touch Takegawa Hotaru...
And Takegawa Hotaru understood Gin's intention, so she too resolved to bravely move forward.
A love that could never be touched melted away within an embrace meant to last a whole lifetime.
And Takegawa Hotaru would spend her whole life remembering the warmth of that embrace from Gin.
A gentle, yet utterly sorrowful story.....
She looked out the window.
Outside the window, beneath the sunlight, a gentle breeze drifted past, and the Silk Flowers swayed softly with the wind.
"This story should be able to strike a chord in quite a few people, I think."
So she thought to herself.
How many people are unable to forge a bond, left with nothing but the sorrow of regret...
And how many people would rather die themselves, if only to touch the other person...
And just then, Editor Li Ling, having handed in the adaptation application, walked out of the chief editor's office. Seeing Bai Qing gazing out the window with reddened eyes, she glanced at the manuscript lying on the desk.
"Are you alright?"
Li Ling asked.
"Don't worry, Senior Li Ling, I'm fine."
Bai Qing shook her head.
"Want to go out for a drink later?"
Li Ling asked.
As she spoke, a strange thought couldn't help but surface in her mind: ever since Fang Qiu wrote Your Lie in April, the frequency with which their editorial department went to the tavern had noticeably increased.
Did this count as Fang Qiu boosting the tavern business?
"Mm."
Bai Qing nodded.
"By the way, what kind of story did Fang Qiu write this time?"
Li Ling asked.
Seeing Li Ling bring this up, several of the female editors cast their gazes over as well.
Bai Qing thought for a moment, then looked toward the Silk Flowers swaying in the wind outside the window and said softly, "A gentle story. A story so gentle it makes you want to cry."
There was sorrow in her eyes.
"A gentle story?"
Li Ling was a little puzzled.
Several of the female editors present were a little puzzled too.
They couldn't help but feel a bit curious, and two of the female editors walked over to stand before Bai Qing, took Fang Qiu's manuscript from her, and sat down to one side to read it.
At this moment, it was just high noon.
The sunlight, with winter drawing near, was mild and gentle, neither harsh nor restless.
Two women with identical faces, both beautiful and coolly aloof, were walking side by side along the bluestone-paved street.
This morning, after handing the manuscript over to the editor, Fang Qiu had made her way straight home and called on Shenhe, who was in the middle of reading a book.
She planned to bring her and Hu Tao along on a trip to Sister Ying'er's place, to take a look at how the panda pajamas were coming along.
After all, winter had arrived, and continuing to wear that kind of nightdress as thin as a cicada's wing might just give one a chill.
What's more, she was very restless in her sleep, and often when she got up in the morning, the hem of her nightdress would be flipped up to her upper body.
Leaving her lower body wearing nothing but a pair of underwear.
These past few days, there was one time she woke up to find that her nightdress hadn't merely been flipped up to her upper body, but had been flipped straight up above her chest.....
She had no idea just what kind of sleeping posture would result in sleeping into such a state.
Were it not for the fact that she knew Shenhe wouldn't do something so pointless, she might even have suspected that someone had flipped it up.
Going on like this just wouldn't do.
Although there was an element of embarrassment to it as well, winter had arrived, the weather was gradually turning cold, and sleeping with her bottom bare like this would surely give her a chill.
She really didn't want to come down with a fever in the dead of winter and lie suffering in bed....
And besides, with a constitution like hers, it was highly likely that once she fell ill, she'd be sick for many days...
That would be far too tormenting.
So, switching to trousers would be more convenient after all.
"Come to think of it, this year Liyue Harbor should get some snow, right."
As they walked along the road, a gust of slightly cold wind blew past. Fang Qiu smiled and said with a touch of longing, "I'm looking forward to the sight of the first snow drifting down. How romantic that would be."
She was rather looking forward to it.
In her past life she had never seen snow, and although in her predecessor's memories there were recollections of snow falling on Liyue Harbor, memories were, in the end, only memories—how could they compare to seeing with her own eyes the romance of the first snow descending upon Liyue Harbor.
That sort of thing—walking forward together as the heavy snow falls upon your heads, as though the two of you had walked together all the way to a white-haired old age.
Although she herself already had white hair.....
And then there was the sight of night falling, the bright lanterns first coming on in Liyue Harbor, and the night snow drifting down.
"Snow falls upon the mountain peaks day after day. What day, then, can be counted as the first snow?"
Shenhe said with a hint of puzzlement.
"Eh?"
Hearing Shenhe's words, Fang Qiu couldn't help but freeze.
Her first reaction was, surprisingly, to feel that what Shenhe said made quite a lot of sense.
On the snowy mountains, heavy snow whirled down all year round, so then—what day could be counted as the first snow?
Only, after freezing for a moment, Fang Qiu came back to her senses.
And then, she explained the definition of the first snow to Shenhe in detail.
However, while explaining, she happened to recall that, besides some of the common connotations, the first snow also seemed to symbolize pure, sincere love.
Just as they were chatting and laughing, passing by the Wanwen Bookhouse, talking about the first snow on one hand while heading toward the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor on the other—
At this moment, in the tavern below the Wanwen Bookhouse, the proprietress Jiang Qin Ji came walking out of the tavern.
She was dressed in a red-and-white cheongsam, her pretty face flushed red, her gaze blurry, her steps unsteady—one look and you could tell she was hopelessly drunk.
What's more, her eyes were rimmed red too, clearly she had been crying.
"How could Fang Qiu have the heart to write Kaori to death... How could she have the heart to do it..."
Her rosy lips parted slightly as she muttered to herself indistinctly.
In order to understand Fang Qiu a little better, she had finished reading Your Lie in April... and in the end, no miracle had been able to happen.
Miyazono Kaori's smile remained forever in the cold winter; she had departed.
The next spring, there would no longer be a Miyazono Kaori...
"If it were me, perhaps I wouldn't look forward to the coming of the next spring anymore...."
As she spoke, she lifted the wine bottle and took another swig, and the tears flowed out again.
Only, this mouthful of wine had just slid down her throat when, through her blurry gaze, she cast her eyes toward a spot not far down the street.
Hm?
Was that Fang Qiu?
No, that's not right...
How could there be two Fang Qius?
"Just how much wine have I had? How can I not even see people clearly anymore? How could there possibly be two Fang Qius."
She smiled, rubbed her bleary eyes, and cast her gaze over once more—only to find that on the street, there were still two Fang Qius.
Eh?
What was going on?
Could it be she hadn't seen wrong?
How could this be?
Could Fang Qiu even split into two?
Although she was hopelessly drunk, a strange theory she had once heard at the Wanmin Restaurant, from Director Hu over at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, still popped into her mind.
That is, if you plant Hilichurls into the soil, the next year a whole bunch of Hilichurls will grow out...
Eh, no, that's not right—what would you grow that many Hilichurls for?
It seemed to be that if you bury treasure chests into the soil, the next year a whole bunch of treasure chests will grow out.
Could it be that Fang Qiu had also been planted into the soil and grown into two Fang Qius?
She rubbed her eyes many more times, but found that there were still two people on the street.
So, she went back into the shop and drank a cup of cold water, and after sobering up a little, walked back out the door to look again—only to find that in the distance there was now only one Fang Qiu.
She stood quietly at the head of the street, as though waiting for something.
"Looks like I really did drink a bit too much... To think I'd actually believe such nonsense... How could a person possibly grow into two."
The proprietress couldn't help but let out a wry chuckle.
She smiled, then picked up the wine bottle again and took a few more swigs.
Come to think of it, what was Fang Qiu waiting for, standing in the road?
Could it be she was on a date?
So, she cast her gaze over once more.
Only, when she looked over again, she found that Fang Qiu had turned into two once more, and they were walking off into the distance, before long vanishing into the stream of people on the street.
"Forget it, no more drinking. Let me go sleep for a bit first—I'm so drunk I'm seeing double when I look at people. I'll just leave today's tavern to the staff to handle."
The proprietress Jiang Qin Ji pressed a hand to her forehead, let out a long breath, then turned and walked back into the tavern.
...
And at this moment, Fang Qiu and Shenhe were walking side by side down the street.
"What did you go buy just now?"
Shenhe asked.
Just now, halfway along the walk, Fang Qiu had said she wanted to buy something and told her to wait where she was for a moment, then had run into a shop beside the street.
"I bought some pastries to bring over to Hu Tao and Xiangling. According to the shopkeeper, these are a new kind of dessert that blends the flavors of all three nations—Liyue, Inazuma, and Mondstadt."
Holding two bags of pastries, Fang Qiu said with a soft laugh, "I bought a bit extra, so you can have a taste later too."
As she said this, she felt a little hungry herself.
Come to think of it, it seemed she'd forgotten to eat. She might as well grab a bite later while she was at it, and then go browse the shops.
"Mm."
Shenhe nodded.
They walked all the way to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, where Hu Tao was in the middle of pitching her new type of coffin to a customer.
A tombstone-shaped coffin.
Placing the ashes inside the tombstone meant one could both be buried—returning the fallen leaves to their roots—and save on land, since all it took up was the space of a single tombstone.
Hu Tao's eloquence was superb, and she talked it up to the high heavens.
After the customer finished listening, he said the idea was very good, but he declined, and then chose an ordinary coffin.
Then, under the guidance of the female undertaker, the customer began to sign the contract agreement of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
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