The bracelet he gave her was not the ending of Tan Jin’s unrequited love story.

He was admitted to his first-choice university, and that university was particularly close to the one Lin Shilan would attend. Even if she went to the big city, Tan Jin still followed in her footsteps.

The bracelet he gave was the beginning of their story.

—It was supposed to be that way.

In mid-July of that same year, Nanyu City suffered a catastrophic flood, with Yan County being the most severely affected area.

Yan County was situated in low-lying terrain, backed by mountains, and surrounded by water on three sides.

During the flood disaster, mountain torrents erupted, and the roads and bridges connecting Yan County to the outside world were all washed away. The entire county lost power and food supplies, making rescue operations difficult to carry out.

The evacuating residents of Yan County almost all fled to the petrochemical plant, which was located on higher ground.

Tan Jin’s parents became separated from Tan Jin during their escape. They spent two days in fear and anxiety, thinking their son was in grave danger.

On the third day, a new wave of evacuees arrived, and Tan Jin was among them.

Not only was he alive, he had also rescued a girl and brought her back.

Lin Shilan lost her mother in the flood. When Tan Jin found her, she was trapped on the roof of a sedan, her expression blank. The floodwater had risen to her ankles, yet she refused to leave the car.

“My mom told me to wait for her to come back,” Lin Shilan told him.

Tan Jin looked around—the area surrounding the sedan was already a vast expanse of water. He steeled his heart and dragged her onto his floating board. Amid the wind and rain, she collapsed on his shoulder, her sobs heart-wrenching.

Many people were sheltering in the petrochemical plant, but there was no stored food or water here.

Yan County was like an isolated island. Everyone waited anxiously, no one knowing when rescue would arrive. The sound of rain was incessant, and fear of death spread through the crowd.

After being brought to the petrochemical plant by Tan Jin, Lin Shilan remained in a corner the entire time, not saying a word.

During this time, a female student in school uniform passed by her. When no one was paying attention, the girl stuffed half a package of crackers into Lin Shilan’s hand.

That person was Tan Jin’s classmate, Su Ge.

After the third mock exam cheating scandal and the school-wide announcement, Su Ge never showed her face in town again. Her grandmother was dead, her father pushed into a well by her own hands—Su Ge hadn’t planned to survive this rainy season either.

In the howling storm, everyone was anxious for their own safety, but only Su Ge remained calm and composed, her expression steady.

She took the opportunity of giving the crackers to get a clear look at Lin Shilan’s appearance.

—She was staring at the ground in a daze, her face small and pale, the shadow beneath her long lashes reminding Su Ge of a butterfly’s broken wings.

So this was the person Tan Jin liked, the reason he had rejected her confession.

Su Ge lingered too long, and Lin Shilan lifted her head.

Hastily shoving the crackers into her hand, Su Ge walked away before Lin Shilan could say anything.

The next day, the water level surged dramatically.

A massive landslide occurred near Yan County. Downstream of the river channel, the rising water rapidly backflowed, flooding into the town.

Houses collapsed, roads disintegrated, trees were uprooted and swept away. People washed away floating in the great water were no different from small pebbles… The muddy water swept up everything it saw, mercilessly carrying it all away.

The rolling torrent surged into the petrochemical plant, and the helpless people were forced to flee to higher ground within the factory.

Tan Jin walked beside Lin Shilan. He waded through the water, quickening his pace, carefully observing the rising water level.

Suddenly, he heard his father urgently shout his name from the front of the group.

The moment he looked up, his ears also received the signal.

Tan Jin used all his strength to push Lin Shilan heavily backward.

The floodwater had destroyed the petrochemical plant’s equipment. The instruments short-circuited internally, and the large amount of flammable liquid stored in the pipes was instantly ignited.

In a flash, the entire factory became a furnace.

Lin Shilan saw the high ceiling of the petrochemical plant. She fell backward facing upward, and a burst of exploding orange fireballs detonated before her eyes. The next moment, thick gray smoke obscured her vision.

Crying, screaming.

Tears, blood flowing.

Above was scorching fire, below was cold water.

Su Ge fell down the stairs.

Falling from high to low, she thought of the Spring Festival, when every household set off fireworks.

The fireworks in the sky, dragging long tails as they fell down, dropped into a large pot below. The water in the pot was boiling over fire, and many white dumplings bobbed up and down in the water.

Death was black.

Black water pressed down on her body, wrapping around her and carrying her toward deeper darkness.

When the air in her lungs was exhausted, on the eve of her life’s dissipation, a weak force pulled her against the torrent, and then forcefully dragged her back.

Su Ge opened her eyes and saw Lin Shilan’s face.

Lin Shilan’s two hands gripped her arms, her expression twisted from extreme exertion. She really wanted to tell Lin Shilan not to waste that effort.

Opening her mouth, Su Ge spat out a large mouthful of bloody water.

Lin Shilan kept talking to her. Piercing through the sound of wind and rain, her warm words fell into her ears, so clear.

“Hold on a little longer, I’ll pull you up.”

Finally, Lin Shilan successfully pulled her up onto the iron ladder.

The equipment platform was narrow, originally a place for workers to take brief rests, but now it held three people—Lin Shilan, Su Ge, and Tan Jin.

During the petrochemical plant’s explosion, with Tan Jin’s help, Lin Shilan only suffered superficial wounds. But both Su Ge and Tan Jin were severely burned over large areas.

Tan Jin was initially conscious. He and Lin Shilan were both swept away by the surging muddy water. The excruciating pain of his peeling skin kept him awake. Finding the right moment, Tan Jin grabbed onto the iron ladder on the outer layer of the large oil tank.

Lin Shilan shouldered the exhausted Tan Jin and brought him up to the equipment platform.

His wound bled profusely, his entire chest a bloody mess.

“Don’t die.”

Cold rainwater struck her face. Lin Shilan removed her outer clothing and frantically wrapped it around him. Her hands were stained red with blood—the blood was warm, his wound exposed and shocking to see.

“Please, don’t die.”

He closed his eyes, motionless, not responding to her words.

The petrochemical plant billowed thick smoke. Below their feet, the murky water current was rapid, the water carrying rotting poultry, plastic, cars, branches, pots and bowls, and many, many dead people.

Rainwater struck their bodies, sharp as needles.

Lin Shilan raised her arm, wiped the water from her face, and tried to retrieve something useful from the water that might alleviate Tan Jin’s injuries.

She noticed a school uniform floating on the water’s surface—it was the girl who had once given her half a package of crackers. She was drifting toward them.

With tremendous effort, Lin Shilan rescued Su Ge, dragging and pulling her up onto the equipment platform.

Su Ge’s eyes were open. She lay flat on her back, face toward the sky.

The girl’s pupils were pale. Her eyes were empty—looking into them was like looking at a glass marble.

Lin Shilan saw her mouth moving. She leaned her ear close and heard her calling almost inaudibly for “Mama.”

Blood flowed down from the corner of her mouth, Su Ge’s nostrils fluttering slightly. Her eyes were wide open, and Lin Shilan helped smooth the strands of hair plastered to her face.

“Here, there once was a tree, a very large tree.”

“Mama said, faith… has power…”

Deep longing filled her eyes.

The radiance shining in her pupils vanished in an instant.

Su Ge’s throat made an uncomfortable gurgling sound.

“As long as one is devout enough… one can pray… for rain.”

Her lips trembled, and the pain finally disappeared.

She revealed a gentle smile.

A raindrop fell into her eye.

Su Ge didn’t blink.

She was dead.

…

Tan Jin slept for a while.

Awakened by crying, he struggled to lift his heavy eyelids.

It had grown dark, and the fire in the petrochemical plant no longer burned.

All around was pitch black. They were surrounded by the sound of rushing water and rain.

A warm body held him.

Seeing him move, Lin Shilan cried even louder.

Their situation was not optimistic.

The rising water level kept approaching the equipment platform where they stood. To avoid being submerged, they had to climb higher. But the ladder above their heads had been damaged by the disaster and was broken—they couldn’t reach the next level.

She urgently called his name, confirming that his awakening wasn’t her hallucination.

Tan Jin moved slightly, his fingertip wiping away the tears at the corner of Lin Shilan’s eyes.

“I’m not dead yet, didn’t expect that, did you?”

At a time like this, he still had the mood for cold jokes.

Lin Shilan didn’t laugh. She had cried her voice hoarse, speaking as if she had a severe cold.

“They’re all dead, everyone is dead, only we remain.”

“Don’t leave me, I’m scared.”

“Don’t worry, I can’t bear to die…”

His voice was small, yet it still carried that casual, flippant energy from before.

“I just got into university, you know how hard it was for me to get into a first-tier school? Soon, I’ll be able to go to school with you again. So, there’s no way I can die. I don’t want you to become my sister-in-law.”

Lin Shilan stopped sobbing, her head in a daze.

“What’s wrong with me being your sister-in-law? Do you have to dislike me that much?”

Tan Jin burst out laughing, laughing for a long time before stopping.

“I like you, you idiot.”

His eyes were filled with sparkling stars.

She stared at him in shock.

She had no idea at all…

Lin Shilan’s tears flowed down again.

“You’re the idiot. If you liked me, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you liked my brother.”

His body temperature was getting lower and lower.

Lin Shilan worried that if he passed out, he wouldn’t wake up again.

“Actually, I didn’t like him that much. I just liked his class notes.”

“Hahaha…”

Tan Jin laughed while losing blood.

“Stop laughing.”

The wound deteriorated severely. The oncoming pain caused Tan Jin to close his eyes again.

There was no time left.

When he opened his eyes again, his spirits seemed to have improved considerably.

Gripping the railing behind him, Tan Jin supported himself to stand up and straighten his back.

He untied the clothing on his body and secured it to the stairway above their heads. He was tall—if it were her, she wouldn’t be able to reach at all. Tan Jin completed this step well and quickly.

“It’s time to go, Lin Shilan.”

“First step on my shoulders to get to the next level, then pull me up.”

In the darkness, she couldn’t see his expression clearly.

He crouched down, waiting for her.

Lin Shilan did as Tan Jin said. She stepped on his shoulders, and he lifted her to the broken ladder. She used the clothing he had tied up as a stepping platform, and then, leaving his shoulders, Lin Shilan climbed upward using her own strength.

The wind roared in her ears, making her sway precariously.

Lin Shilan didn’t dare stop, reaching the equipment platform on the next level at the fastest speed.

She gripped the guardrail, leaned out halfway, and extended her arm toward Tan Jin’s position, just waiting for him to jump up and grab her hand.

“Tan Jin, Tan Jin, come quickly.”

Unable to see what was happening below, Lin Shilan frantically called his name. The water was about to rise—why hadn’t he moved yet?

Thank heaven, he responded.

Tan Jin said slowly, “You stay put first, let me rest a bit.”

His voice sounded too weak. Lin Shilan immediately had a bad premonition.

“If you don’t grab my hand, I’m going to jump down to find you.”

“Don’t. You need to stay up there, save your strength to pull me up.”

Tan Jin’s response didn’t calm her.

Lin Shilan’s heart hung suspended, her rationality on the brink of collapse.

“It’s so dark and cold here. I don’t want to stay here alone. Don’t leave me by myself—I won’t be able to survive.”

The rapids struck the oil tank. Between heaven and earth, the wind and rain were chaotic, yet terrifyingly quiet.

“I won’t leave you alone. I’m with you.”

His voice was gentle, like false dream bubbles.

Lin Shilan wasn’t stupid.

Refusing to accept this false candy, her eyes were blurred with tears.

“You can’t lie to me. Swear it.”

“I swear.”

Tan Jin raised three fingers, pointing straight at the sky.

Dark clouds pressed down overhead. Wild winds swept up large masses of gray clouds, lightning flickering behind them, brewing a new storm.

His words came from the depths of his heart, each word deliberate and forceful.

“Lin Shilan, no matter what happens, I swear I will always be with you.”

“You swear too…”

The massive torrent carried away his trailing words.

Time stopped at this moment. In this corner of heaven and earth, only they remained, only they could hear each other’s voices.

She heard what Tan Jin wanted to say.

Her heart ached as if a layer of skin had been peeled off. She trembled uncontrollably.

The vow Tan Jin wanted, Lin Shilan likewise promised to him.

The chaotic, pitch-black world was split open by falling thunder. Silver-white lightning, like the veins connecting heaven and earth, one line following another, forming into a dense net.

Under the bright light, the world seemed like daylight.

Lin Shilan saw the overwhelming lines.

Lin Shilan saw Su Ge’s pale face beneath the water’s surface.

The water had already risen past Tan Jin’s waist, and his burned chest wound had already festered.

Countless silver threads connected the sky and the water’s surface.

Tan Jin’s body was entangled by long silver threads—the blinding white coiled round after round, intricate and dense, impenetrable to wind.

Lin Shilan looked down. The other end of those silver threads terminated at her wrist.

…

In the universe, countless spacetimes exist.

They exist independently, not interfering with each other—countless non-intersecting lines.

The power carried by their vows caused the originally parallel lines to twist and tangle, wrapping around Lin Shilan and forming a knot, trapping her in the rainy season.

Tan Jin died, but his vow continued to affect her world.

And Lin Shilan’s vow preserved Tan Jin’s final consciousness within her bracelet.

The gray-blue bracelet was like a string of teardrops filled with heartache.

Tan Jin lived inside it, unable to perceive time.

He no longer thought, had no memory, neither joy nor sorrow.

He saw what Lin Shilan saw, felt what she felt.

Just like that, Tan Jin accompanied her for three years.

Until the fourth year’s rainy season…

Lin Shilan rushed to the psychiatric hospital to get her medication before the rain came.

While crossing the street, her bracelet was caught by a passerby’s backpack.

The bracelet broke, and the beads rolled all over the ground, crushed into powder by passing vehicles.

Tan Jin’s consciousness, preserved within the bracelet, gained freedom. He acquired a body and reappeared in her world.

In the waiting area of the psychiatric hospital, having carefully planned their reunion, Tan Jin called out her name.

“Lin Shilan.”

She turned around and saw him once more.

Suppressing the myriad complex emotions in his heart.

Looking at her, Tan Jin’s smile was radiant.