Inside the chrysanthemum garden, though the full panorama of the flower sea was difficult to make out in the dead of night, stepping into the garden one was immediately greeted by the fragrance drifting straight to the nose.

That scent alone was more than enough to lift the heart and ease the spirit.

Once inside, the tight coil of tension that had wound through Jiu’er’s chest loosened by no small measure.

All around her bloomed the flowers she loved. The chrysanthemum fragrance she loved. Even her footsteps grew lighter.

Zhan Yuheng walked behind her, watching the slender silhouette before him, his gaze as soft and gentle as still water.

“Walk a little further — there may be a surprise waiting.” Seeing Jiu’er stop, he said to her.

Feng Jiu’er glanced back at him. Perhaps because her mood was good just now, her perception of him had softened as well — no longer feeling such resistance.

A little further on, the sea of chrysanthemums stretched on as before, but once they rounded a bend, everything before them suddenly brightened.

“Fireflies!” Heavens above — so many! So many fireflies!

Jiu’er’s eyes lit up at once, and even the very core of her heart seemed to brighten with them.

She quickened her steps and walked forward, until she was standing in the midst of the fireflies’ glow.

She stretched out her hand — and to her wonder, a firefly alighted on her fingertip, blinking and gleaming, like a tiny star!

It was so beautiful! How long had it been since she had witnessed a sight like this!

Deep within her memories, it was as though fragments long forgotten were awakening one by one.

“Heng Brother, look — the fireflies are so lovely.” That little girl, her skin soft and luminous as cream jade, was a beauty beyond all compare!

“If Jiu’er likes them, then in the future, Heng Brother will build you a chrysanthemum garden and fill the entire courtyard with fireflies!”

The young boy held her hand — her small hand so delicate and smooth, soft and yielding, enough to make one reluctant to let go.

“Really?” The little girl stretched out her other hand, waggling her little pinky finger before him. “We’ll make a promise, and Heng Brother mustn’t deceive Jiu’er — if Heng Brother deceives Jiu’er, Jiu’er won’t speak to you anymore!”

“Alright, Heng Brother won’t deceive Jiu’er — not for a single lifetime!”

The young boy stretched out his hand as well, his little pinky hooking with hers.

In that moment, the two of them stood amid the sea of chrysanthemums, a light breeze stirring their robes, their sleeves billowing and their hair mingling in the wind — a scene as beautiful as a painting.

This was clearly her own memory — not the original Feng Jiu’er’s — because she could feel, from within, exactly what she had been thinking in that moment.

So vivid. So deeply moving.

She had wanted to be with Heng Brother — because Heng Brother cherished and adored her so.

Heng Brother was, in all this world, the person who treated her the best of anyone.

“Heng Brother…” Without her noticing when, her little pinky had been hooked up by Zhan Yuheng’s.

The image in her mind and everything before her eyes merged together — and not the slightest sense of wrongness arose.

“Heng Brother…”

“Jiu’er — you’ve come back, haven’t you?” The light in Zhan Yuheng’s eyes flickered, his excitement so great that even his breathing had grown unsteady. “What did Heng Brother say? Jiu’er, tell me — what did Heng Brother say?”

“Heng Brother said…” Feng Jiu’er’s consciousness felt as though it had been caught in something, and everything before her eyes blurred with the scenes playing through her mind, merging completely together.

She could not tell what was real and what was memory — could not sort it out at all.

“Heng Brother said,” she murmured, her gaze carrying a distant, ethereal quality as she looked at the man before her, uncertain who it was she was truly seeing.

“Heng Brother said — that one day, he would build Jiu’er a chrysanthemum garden, and fill the entire courtyard with fireflies…”

“Jiu’er, you’ve truly come back — I have waited ten years for you! A full ten years!” Zhan Yuheng pulled her into his arms in one swift motion, holding her with fierce, unyielding strength. “I have waited ten years! Jiu’er, do you know — Heng Brother has endured this wait in such agony!”