A Promise at the Old Pier

The sea wind was strong. It hit her face, cold and painful.

Beside the new pier in Nan’an City was a cemetery. In front of the cemetery, the battered red sports car was parked.

Qin Yuqing placed a bouquet of white carnations in front of the unmarked grave.

“Are they inside?”

“No. They took their own lives in America. They set fire to the house they were hiding in. Nothing was left, not even ashes. They just left this child outside the house, as if they knew I would definitely come.” Qin Yuqing looked at the baby in her arms and smiled bitterly. Her beautiful face was indescribably bleak.

“They even left a shabby letter tucked into the baby’s blanket, saying they wanted to repent their sins, atone for their faults, only hoping the child would grow up healthy. What nonsense! They had done so many bad things before, and now they just leave a mess and go. What kind of logic is that!”

“Ah wu… ah wu…” The baby Qin Chan in her blanket seemed disturbed by Qin Yuqing’s shouting and started crying.

Qin An took the child from her. He coaxed her a couple of times, and miraculously, the crying stopped. The baby had big, round eyes, chubby little hands, and her delicate cheeks had a hint of redness. She was indescribably cute.

“Brother, let me hold my little sister.” Qin Yage hopped and skipped beside them, watching. It was her first time seeing a baby, and it was her own sister.

But as soon as she took Qin Chan, the little one started crying wa wa wa without any consideration, and seemed to be getting louder.

“Hmph, I don’t want to hold you anyway! Brother, you take her back!”

Little sisters aren’t good at all.

Qin Yuqing bit her finger and wrote on the unmarked tombstone in blood: ‘Brother Qin Shaofeng’s Grave.’ She paused and continued: ‘Sister-in-law Long…’ but her finger was scraped raw, unable to bleed any further.

“You have to leave here. It’s very dangerous. Qin An, Qin Yage, and Qin Chan, you must live well. Even if I die, you must live well.”

The sea wind mixed with the baby’s cries. Tonight would surely be sleepless.

The last day of May. The weather was good. Everyone was distracted in class because tomorrow was their favorite holiday. They would get to wear new clothes, receive awards, and play games for prizes.

An Qi came early in the morning. She had to accompany her father to welcome guests all day, so she only had a little free time in the morning. She had forgotten something very important yesterday: she forgot to tell Qin An her home address.

Yesterday, Qin An had agreed and then gotten so happy that he forgot to ask. It was really bad. She hoped he was already here.

But unfortunately, their seats were still empty.

“Oh, there’s the class monitor.” An Qi’s eyes lit up.

“Jiajun, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?” Huang Jiajun was very happy now. Like a victor who had defeated an enemy, she looked down on An Qi arrogantly. From now on, you’ll have to sit alone at your desk. Doing you a small favor is not impossible.

“Please give this to Qin An.” She handed Huang Jiajun an unsigned letter.

“Thank you, Jiajun.”

She waved at Huang Jiajun and trotted out of the classroom. Her father was still waiting at the school gate. She had to hurry; she couldn’t make him angry. His time was precious—he was the kind of person who made millions per second.

Huang Jiajun sat alone at her desk, her face full of infatuation. She lay on the table drawing small circles. Why hasn’t Qin An come yet? He hadn’t been late for a long time. When he came, she would tell him the explosive news that he was going to be her deskmate.

He finally came. He seemed to have run here, still panting. His first glance wasn’t at her. That’s fine, he would definitely come to find her, because now she was his deskmate.

“Monitor, An Qi doesn’t seem to be here. Could you give this to her? I have something to do, I’m leaving first.”

After speaking, Qin An walked a few steps and then turned his head. Huang Jiajun jumped up from her chair excitedly, not even noticing she had knocked it over.

“Oh, tell her I’ll wait for her at the pier before eight in the evening.”

Why didn’t he call my name! Why didn’t he look at me directly? Clearly, now I am your deskmate. Staring at the beautifully wrapped gift box in her hand, Huang Jiajun felt wronged. Because it was An Qi’s birthday, she also had to go tonight!

She held back tears that were about to burst out and ran out of the classroom. But the hallway already had no trace of that person, as if he had never appeared.

She skipped class. It was her first time skipping class, and it would be the last. She hid alone in the bathroom. She couldn’t stay in the classroom without him.

She first opened the letter An Qi had written to Qin An. She did not give it to him; or rather, subconsciously, she did not want Qin An to know the existence of this letter.

Although the white envelope had nothing on it, there was a stamp. It was a limited edition stamp with a picture of Mount Fuji, very beautiful.

For some reason, she felt no guilt when opening the letter, as if it were the most natural thing to do. The content was simple, just An Qi’s home address. But at the end it said: ‘You must come! We made a promise.’

Promise… promise…

How sly. She’s always doing these things behind my back that I don’t know about.

Huang Jiajun’s mind went blank. When she came to, the letter paper had become shreds.

She looked at the small pink box in her hand. It was beautiful and cute, but it didn’t belong to her.

Many times she wanted to open it. Each time her hand touched the ribbon, she withdrew it as if shocked.

“Just one look. Just one look.”

She opened the package. Inside was a very ordinary harmonica, inconspicuous but full of feeling. Beside the harmonica lay a letter folded into a heart shape. It was actually the same style as the letter An Qi had written. You two are always so in sync, so inseparable, so annoying!

It said: ‘To my deskmate.’

Will you still remember tomorrow
The diary you wrote yesterday?
Will you still care tomorrow
About the one who used to cry the most…

The same familiar handwriting, the same familiar feeling. The words were full of heart, but you belonged to someone else.

“I have nothing!”

Her tears dripped onto the letter paper, soaking through the heart.

She wanted to tear it up, but it was something he wrote; it had his scent. She couldn’t bear to.

At the entrance of An Qi’s luxurious villa, An Qi was wearing a gray-white lace sleeveless dress. The light material, paired with dreamlike colors, made her look ethereal and elegant, full of fairy-like aura.

But her eyes were full of anxiety. He didn’t come. He still didn’t come.

“An Qi, your birthday party should start now.”

“I know, Dad.”

An Qi returned to the hall, disappointed. She went through the speech mechanically, expressing thanks with a zombie-like smile. But no one noticed anything unusual, because everyone came for her father, not for her birthday.

“An Qi, don’t you have a gift for your father?”

“Yes.”

An Qi walked to the center of the stage. There was an expensive Steinway grand piano. She sat quietly, looking at the black and white keys. Suddenly she felt that perhaps playing for her father was only secondary. Her fingers moved mechanically yet flexibly across the keys. Her rhythm was terrifyingly precise, like a human metronome. When she finished, there was thunderous applause, but An Qi only bowed lightly.

Before, what she needed most were two people: her father and her mother. Later, only her father was left. Now she had two more most important people. Maybe one didn’t come, but if only the other one could…

What An Qi hoped for never came. She lowered her head in disappointment, but she didn’t see An Tie’s trembling hand. As expected, I only have Qin An.

In the end, Huang Jiajun still gave the gift box to An Qi. She wanted Qin An’s gift of affection for her. She would go to the pier later to say what she most wanted to say. She would replace An Qi.

“An Qi, you played wonderfully.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“This is what Qin An asked me to give you. He said he’ll wait for you at the old pier before eight.”

The moment she took the gift box, An Qi’s eyes lit up, very bright. She looked up at the clock. It was half past seven. Maybe it was a bit late, but definitely not too late, because no one knew the old pier better than her. The old pier was the first step she took when she arrived in this city.

The two walked out of the gate together. One went south, one went north.