A Second Life Under the Moonlight

The late autumn night wind swept through the empty park. On a bench, a girl buried her face between her knees, like a drenched bird. Her name was Shen He. Just three months ago, she was still working at a convenience store, supporting a man who only knew how to talk sweet. Now the money was gone, her home was gone, and even the last dialable number in her phone had turned into a void. She didn’t know that the boy who once climbed over the same wall with her as a child was standing right now in the shadows beyond the streetlight’s reach, crushing a cigarette butt in his palm. His name was Xu Nanzhou. Between them lay a year of silence, an unsent letter, and a farewell shredded by pride.