Chapter Seventy: Guarding a City for One Person

She shook her head. "It was left by my father. In my memory, he treated it as his lifeblood. By rights, even if someone offered a fortune, I shouldn’t sell it. But now my father is ill. If I keep it, I might not be able to save him. If I choose to save his life, I lose his lifeblood." Thinking of how her father had fallen ill years ago, she felt deep remorse. "I’ve already failed as a daughter."

"Let me tell you a story," he said. "Once, a man was walking down the street when a stranger handed him a bag of steamed buns, saying he’d be right back. The man was truly honest and waited on the spot, unmoving. But two days passed, and the owner never returned. The man had neither food nor water and was about to collapse. If it were you, what would you do?"

Xiaoxiao countered, "Where did you hear that?"

Xi Mintang laughed it off. "Never mind the source. Just answer as you feel."

"Wait!" she replied, resolute. "If he promised to return, I believe he surely will."

Xi Mintang snapped his fingers. "I admire your persistence, but in the end, you’d starve to death clutching those buns. Even if the owner returned, after so long, the buns would likely be inedible."

She grew anxious. "Isn’t there a way to have the best of both worlds?"

"There is. Eat the buns first, and when the owner returns, compensate him."

Still, the story felt absurd to her. After all, it was only a tale. She lowered her head, torn by indecision. "Talking about this is pointless. Real life doesn’t allow so many what-ifs."

"That’s precisely why you need to cut the Gordian knot," Xi Mintang said, tying the story to her situation. "You’re betting on the wrong thing. No matter how precious the old item is, it’s just an object. There will come a time to let it go. To your father, you are his lifeblood. If you can spare him some hardship, he would surely want that."

"Is that really so?" She hesitated, hoping for guidance from Xi Mintang, whom people called clever.

"Have you never heard that nothing in this world can be kept, a rosy face leaves the mirror, flowers leave the tree? While you still have the chance, do what you can."

She fell silent. "Let me think about it. That object is truly important to my father."

"Xiaoxiao." He exhaled, dissatisfied with her fear of change. "Many people fail because they don’t dare take the first step. They only think but never act. In dreams, they plan a thousand paths, but when awake, they walk the same old road, or even stand still." He knew her too well. On the surface, she was decisive and strong, but inside, she was conflicted and fearful of choices. Just like her attitude toward Lin Shuo—she claimed indifference, yet was deeply attached.

Xi Mintang’s words struck Xiaoxiao. He was right; she was always searching for a noble excuse for her indecision. She stayed, not just to care for her parents, but because she couldn’t let go of Lin Shuo, couldn’t let go of memories, afraid that someday Lin Shuo might return and find her gone.

Under the lamp, Lin Shuo’s photo had grown yellowed. Her fingers traced the face she couldn’t forget. The warm lamplight made her restless, and she sighed softly, "I wait for you here, while you pretend you’ve never been here." She hugged the album, gazing at the neon outside lighting up the sky, like an orange mist caged in the night. Kunming—she knew it so well that every streetlamp carried silent streams of old feelings in her heart.

She anchored herself here, guarding a city for one person, giving a lifetime of devotion.

Perhaps, just as Xi Mintang said, it truly was time to take that first step.