Prologue The splendor of the world unfolds for but a season.

Click—Boom—

Flames roared and the circuits crackled. As he crawled out from the overturned car, his vision swam. Beside the river, beneath the shroud of night, the city’s dense lights shimmered on the opposite bank, flickering like fire atop water, as if a colossal city floated there. The scene of prosperity stood in stark contrast to the park’s solitude and neglect. He remembered: more than a decade ago, he’d led the project for this park’s development.

“A failed venture, really…”

The wind swept by, and he sighed, staggering toward the glimmering water. Behind him, the car erupted in a thunderous explosion, flames leaping high, searing air surging at his back as if to engulf him. From above, the thrum of helicopter blades descended, followed by a blinding searchlight that swept his blurred vision. Voices shouted from the sky. Vehicles converged at both ends of the park—most of them police cars—lights flashing, chaos everywhere.

His head was still foggy. Blood trickled down his forehead; he wiped it away, clutching his overcoat. On either side of the river, hovercrafts and speedboats surged forth, determined to keep him from escaping into the water.

“Really… I’m no assassin…”

The suffocating encirclement—land, sea, and air—irritated him. His vision was indistinct, but his mind grasped the reality: luck would hardly favor him this time. The cold wind brought memories of insignificant things. This was the city where he’d grown up. Back then, it was a simpler place; from this bank, the city’s present, palace-like splendor was unimaginable, yet warmth abounded. The riverbank was all earthen slopes, a dirt path. On the way to school, he’d ride his bicycle here with friends.

“One day, I’ll build a park here, make it beautiful, fill the city with skyscrapers, and we’ll all live inside…”

He was so young then. After his first visit to the provincial capital, he’d made this grand vow. How bold and hopeful he’d been! In the following two or three decades, like a primitive man who’d just invented stone tools, he forged ahead with astonishing resolve, overcoming countless dangers unimaginable to others, and built one of the world’s largest financial empires. Sometimes, reflecting on it all, it felt like a dream even to himself.

In the eyes of others, he was an indomitable giant of finance. He’d come to believe it, too. Yet, returning to this place tonight, he realized at last: this park—was a failure.

It was meant to make everyone happy…

A failed project can always be salvaged, of course, with enough capital—and to him now, that was nothing. So why hadn’t he done it? When he’d wanted to, he’d lacked the means; now, he’d deliberately neglected it because it wasn’t profitable. Looking back, so many things he thought he remembered, he’d actually forgotten; so many things he thought he’d forgotten, he now recalled…

His old friends, his companions, the hopes to make the world better, the vows, the roads they traveled. He sat on a stone bench by the embankment, city lights dazzling his eyes, his thoughts tangled. He fumbled in his pockets—at a time like this, he really needed a cigarette, though it had been years since he’d quit.

Someone handed him one.

The man was beside him, dressed in a suit, gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. He didn’t have to look up to know who it was. He took the cigarette, and the man lit it for him, shielding the flame from the wind.

“Remember when we used to ride our bikes to school from here? You, me, Qingyi, Ah Kang, Ruoping… Qingyi died a couple of years ago, didn’t he? I couldn’t make it to his funeral…” He took a drag, the smoke instantly whisked away by the cold wind. “How’s Ruoping?”

“She has two children now. She’s doing well,” said the man with glasses, sitting down.

“Ah… You told me that once—I almost forgot…” He paused, then chuckled. “She was the prettiest among the girls. I remember I always had a crush on her, but never confessed.”

The other man was silent for a moment, then took out his own cigarette and lit it. “I knew you liked her. I confessed before you did, and she turned me down… Said you were the one she liked.”

“You never told me that…”

“What difference would it have made? Later, we were all busy fighting for our futures. You forgot about her, and she couldn’t wait forever. You never confessed, so she married someone else.”

“Yes. I missed a lot…”

“You always wanted everything to be perfect.”

“You know, when you reach the top—” He gestured, raising his hand to a certain height. “At the very top, you realize that aside from a fleeting sense of achievement, there’s nothing. There’s always… regret. And the path I’m on now—maybe it wasn’t what I truly wanted…”

“Yeah,” said the man with glasses.

After a while, he glanced at his cigarette; it was nearly spent. “Plugging that billion-dollar hole will be a nightmare. I saw it coming months ago and drew up a contingency plan—it’s on my computer. I just didn’t expect you’d react so strongly. A change of leadership makes it easy to shift the blame onto others, and that takes the pressure off. Adjust the plan as you see fit, just try not to drag too many people down with it. We all fought hard together for this.”

“…I…” The man hesitated as if to explain, but finally just said, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing. After all this time, I was always out in front. As brothers, it’s your turn now… You’ve set the stage well—the company’s yours, it won’t collapse. Just… take some money later and really finish this park. I always meant to, always thought I’d get to it, but when the time came, it never seemed urgent, and I kept putting it off…”

“I’ve spoken to them. After this, you’ll still live well…”

“‘If you don’t pull weeds up by the root, they grow again in spring; if you let the tiger return to the mountain…’” He turned, his eyes calm but severe. “Who do you think you are?”

“As long as I’m alive, I’ll always be a threat to you!” He paused, flicked the cigarette to the ground, and crushed it underfoot. “It’s lonely at the top. I’ve come far enough in this lifetime. Even if I could do it over, I’d want to start clean, with nothing to hide, no schemes… If only I had another chance…”

He smiled, stood up. “If I had another chance, I think I’d confess to her…”

Above, the helicopter hovered, boats sped across the river, vehicles surrounded the park. On the embankment lit by a thousand beams, the man rose suddenly, drew a gun, and aimed it at the man with glasses. Seeing this, the man with glasses also stood, raised his hands, and shouted to those around them, “Don’t shoot—”

A hail of gunfire burst forth. Blood bloomed across the man’s back. For a long moment, he simply stood there, then finally turned, staring at the corpse lying in a pool of blood. Dazed, he took off the glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and picked up the gun from the dead man’s hand.

“I said don’t shoot… There were no bullets…”

In the night wind, he murmured quietly.