Chapter 1: The Car Accident

"Excuse me, are there any tickets left for today's trip to Pengcheng?"

"There are none here. You need to go to the main station to get to Pengcheng. All the buses to Pengcheng this morning have already left."

"Alright, thank you."

Chen Kangjie, with a gloomy face and furrowed brows, walked out of the ticket hall of the Chengxi Bus Station in Deying City, dragging a suitcase containing some clothes for changing. His eyes were dim and his complexion was yellow, clearly showing signs of fatigue. He stepped out of the Chengxi Station, looked up at the clear blue sky, and sighed deeply. The weather was actually quite pleasant that day, with warm sunlight and a comfortable atmosphere, typical of a good winter day in southern China. However, Chen Kangjie still felt a chill, which was related to his mood over the past few days.

Deying City is a county-level city with a population of only 100,000, located in the eastern part of Guangdong Province, under the jurisdiction of Qingyuan City. It is 200 kilometers away from the provincial capital, Guangzhou, and is part of the northern region of Guangdong. It is a relatively poor mountainous area where the Hakka language is commonly spoken.

On the 29th of the 12th lunar month, Chen Kangjie went to his girlfriend's hometown in Deying City to celebrate the New Year. He was originally reluctant to go, as he had been dating her for over four years and had visited her family several times, but each visit ended in unpleasantness. She often left him alone to play cards.

This year, Chen Kangjie did not return to his hometown for the New Year. In fact, he had not gone home for the New Year for several years. After graduating from university, he went to work in the Special Economic Zone of Pengcheng, changing jobs several times due to various reasons and even starting three businesses, all of which failed due to bad luck. Therefore, he had not returned to his hometown in Qianzhou Province for the New Year. His girlfriend had originally promised to come from Deshun to Pengcheng to celebrate the New Year with him. They had not seen each other for months, and he had been looking forward to it. However, on the 28th of the 12th lunar month, he received a call from her, telling him that she had already gone home and asking him to come to her hometown for the New Year. Hearing this, Chen Kangjie felt deceived again, as Li Tingyan's promises to him had often been broken.

Chen Kangjie was very angry, but he was also numb. This kind of situation had happened dozens of times since they started dating, each time leaving him feeling disoriented and always doubting whether Li Tingyan truly loved him. They had argued many times about breaking up, but every time he saw her sad eyes, the tears in her eyes, and heard her say, "I love you so much, I can't live without you," he would soften.

It wasn't entirely because Chen Kangjie was soft-hearted; the main reason was that he loved her deeply. Li Tingyan had started working in Deshun after graduating from high school. They met online by chance. One evening, after work, Chen Kangjie was surfing the internet at home (he was practically a homebody, always going home to surf the internet after work and rarely going out to play). Suddenly, a QQ message popped up, and a girl added him as a friend. Chen Kangjie, with his calm personality, did not refuse and added her.

Chen Kangjie entered her QQ space to browse, wanting to see which girl had added him as a friend. He opened her photo album and slowly looked through the photos. He found that this girl was very elegant, graceful, and had bright eyes and a beautiful smile. Each photo showed her dressed in fashionable and trendy outfits, some with a cool vibe, and some with heavy makeup, but still radiating beauty. Although Chen Kangjie did not particularly like heavily made-up girls, it was normal for young girls in the city. As he continued browsing, he noticed some subtle changes in her expressions. Compared to the earlier photos, the later ones showed a hint of melancholy, suggesting that she had some sadness in her heart.

Of course, with over 100 million QQ users, and at least a few million online at any given time, Chen Kangjie had seen many beautiful girls' photos, so he did not pay much attention. Before he finished looking at the photos, a message popped up.

"Hello."

Chen Kangjie saw that it was from the beautiful girl, so he replied, "Hello."

From there, they started chatting. Chen Kangjie was a very sincere and straightforward person, and with his calm and humorous personality, the girl gradually became more talkative. Through their conversation, Chen Kangjie learned that she had added him randomly and that her name was Li Tingyan, who was four years younger than him. She had just broken up with her boyfriend and had started learning to chat online. Chen Kangjie also opened up about his failed romantic experiences. They chatted all night on their first day of meeting and made plans to continue chatting the next day.

Over the next few days, they chatted almost every night until late. As they communicated more deeply, Chen Kangjie learned more about her. She had loved her boyfriend deeply and had done everything to keep his love, but they eventually broke up for various reasons.

Hearing her story, seeing her sad eyes, and the tears rolling down her cheeks, Chen Kangjie was deeply moved and felt a sharp pain in his heart. He had a strong urge to protect Li Tingyan. Chen Kangjie had always wanted to find a sincere girlfriend, someone who would give her whole heart for love. At that moment, Chen Kangjie fell deeply in love with Li Tingyan and secretly vowed to love, care for, and tolerate her for the rest of his life, giving her a new, profound love.

A week later, Chen Kangjie proposed meeting her in person, but she refused, saying she was not ready. Chen Kangjie understood her feelings, as a girl who had just broken up with her boyfriend would find it hard to accept a new man's affection. Hearing her refusal, Chen Kangjie felt like his heart had sunk to the bottom, but he did not give up. He felt that he should not give up on this girl for the rest of his life. No matter what, he wanted to gain her acceptance and recognition because he wanted to protect her and prevent her from being hurt by other men.

For the next few days, Chen Kangjie rushed home after work to sit in front of the computer, waiting for her to come online. At that time, Li Tingyan worked in a jewelry store in a mall (she had not worked before when she was with her ex-boyfriend, who had a small factory and was financially well-off). After work, she would go to the internet cafe upstairs to chat with Chen Kangjie. Chen Kangjie proposed going to Deshun to see her, but she refused the first two times. On the third night, which was the eighth day they had known each other, Li Tingyan finally agreed to meet him, and Chen Kangjie was so happy that he could not sleep well that night.

Thus, their five-year-long relationship began.

After leaving the Chengxi Station, Chen Kangjie took a motorcycle to the Deying City Bus Terminal. Perhaps because the Spring Festival was not over, business was good, and the driver rode the motorcycle at high speed. At that moment, Chen Kangjie had no fear and did not remind the driver to be careful. His heart was like dead ashes, and tears rolled down his cheeks, only to be blown away by the wind.

On the second day of the New Year, Chen Kangjie and Li Tingyan went to the countryside to pay New Year's greetings. Li Tingyan's family had originally lived in the countryside but moved to the city when her three brothers started working there. However, they still had two uncles living in the countryside, and the three old houses in the countryside were given to the younger uncle's family. The second uncle's family built a new brick house next to the younger uncle's house.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast and careful dressing, Li Tingyan went to a class reunion with her cousin, Ling (the younger uncle's daughter), and her older cousin, Yu (the second uncle's daughter).

The night before, a male classmate had come to the younger uncle's house and chatted with them until late. His arrival made Li Tingyan seem distracted, as if her thoughts were on this man. Although she sat next to Chen Kangjie, she hardly spoke to him or looked at him.

Perhaps feeling that it was not right to leave Chen Kangjie alone at the relatives' house, she held his hand and said, "Why don't you come with me?"

Chen Kangjie, with his easy-going and understanding personality, and knowing that they had not seen their classmates for years, wanted to give her some space to catch up with old friends, so he said, "You go ahead, I won't go. Have a good time and come back early."

"Are you really not going?"

"Your class reunion, I won't have much to say. Just come back early."

"Then you stay and play with them, I'll go and sit for an hour or two and come back," Li Tingyan said, referring to her cousins.

She then happily left with her older and younger cousins on her cousin Bing's motorcycle. The reunion was in the neighboring village, about a 40-minute walk, at the house of the male classmate who had come to chat with them the night before.

"Are you not coming back for dinner?"

When it was dark and time for dinner, Chen Kangjie frowned and called Li Tingyan. She had been out for over six hours.

"I won't come back for dinner. You eat by yourself."

"Then when will you come back?"

Hearing Li Tingyan say this, Chen Kangjie was very unhappy. She had said she would be back in one or two hours, but it had been six or seven hours, and she had not returned for dinner. Anyone would be unhappy, and it seemed she would not be back soon.

"I'll come back later. You eat with them and can go to bed early after dinner."

At that moment, Chen Kangjie heard many people talking and laughing and the sound of cars. He found it strange.

"Are you in the car now? Where are you going? Back to the city?"

Li Tingyan's response made Chen Kangjie furious.

"We are going to the city to sing karaoke."

Hearing this, Chen Kangjie was speechless, feeling deeply hurt. At that moment, he suddenly realized that Li Tingyan did not care about him.

Without hesitation, Chen Kangjie hung up the phone and asked Bing to take him to town on the motorcycle. He then planned to take a taxi back to the city and find a hotel to stay the night before returning to Pengcheng.

The younger uncle's family tried to persuade him to stay, but they could not change Chen Kangjie's mind. It happened that Bing's brother, Ka, and his older cousin, Xin (the second uncle's son), also needed to go back to the city, so they rode two motorcycles back to the city that night.

In the city, Chen Kangjie wanted to get off and find a hotel to stay, but he felt it was inappropriate. At least Li Tingyan's brothers and mother had been nice to him, and as a matter of courtesy, he should say hello. Besides, Bing and Xin had directly taken the motorcycles to Li Tingyan's older brother's house, so he had to go in.

Inside, only her older brother, his wife, and her mother were at home. Chen Kangjie sat down and chatted with his older brother and Bing for a few minutes, smoked a cigarette, and then found an excuse to leave.

As he walked down the street, planning to find a hotel, her older brother called.

"Jie, where are you?"

"Brother, I'm just walking around the street," Chen Kangjie replied calmly.

"I know you're upset. Come back, I've called Yan, and she's coming back soon."

It seemed that Bing and Xin had told the older brother what had happened, so he thought Chen Kangjie was upset and had "run away from home."

Hearing his older brother's words, Chen Kangjie felt a warm feeling. Her older brother was a good person. Although he had been involved in some trouble when he was young, he had changed a lot after getting married. He was steady and kind, hardworking, and about 1.8 meters tall, but his tone was always gentle and made people feel comfortable.

"Okay, brother, I'll come back after a walk."

After hanging up, her mother called within two minutes.

"Song, Yan is back. Come back quickly."

Li Tingyan's mother could understand Mandarin but could only speak Hakka. Fortunately, Chen Kangjie had been to Deying City several times and had often heard her family speak Hakka, so he gradually understood a lot of Hakka. Every time he went to Li Tingyan's house, her mother was very kind and hospitable to him, so he respected her deeply.

Chen Kangjie, somewhat moved, replied, "Auntie, I'll come back soon."

Chen Kangjie walked to his older brother's house and met Li Tingyan, who had hurried back. She did not greet him and went straight home, possibly angry that Chen Kangjie insisted on going back to the city from the younger uncle's house in the countryside, or that the commotion made the family aware that she had left her boyfriend to go out and play. Regardless of the reason, her face showed that she was very angry.

Inside, only his older brother, Bing, and Xin were in the living room, drinking tea and chatting. Li Tingyan and her mother and sister-in-law were not there.

Chen Kangjie politely sat down and drank tea and smoked with his older brother, but he said very little. His older brother, perhaps feeling awkward, did not ask about the details of what had happened. After a while, the three of them went to their aunt's house to play, leaving Chen Kangjie alone in the living room, smoking.

The more he thought, the more bitter he felt, and his mouth felt dry. After a while, he heard Li Tingyan and her mother and sister-in-law chatting upstairs, but he could not make out what they were saying.

He sat alone until after 11 PM, smoking about half a pack of cigarettes, and the living room was filled with smoke. Her mother finally came downstairs to call Chen Kangjie to go upstairs and take a shower and go to bed.

That night, Chen Kangjie could not sleep. When he went upstairs, he saw Li Tingyan taking a towel to the bathroom to shower. She did not even greet him as they passed each other. After showering, she did not look at Chen Kangjie and went straight to bed.

Countless bitter feelings flashed through Chen Kangjie's mind. The third day of the New Year had turned into such an unpleasant experience, and he felt that he had to watch her mood at her home. The sense of being unloved and neglected was indescribable, and the night grew colder. However, Chen Kangjie had no sleep, sitting by the window, smoking alone, feeling that he had many grievances but no one to share them with. After much thought, he decided that to prevent similar incidents from happening again, he should break up with Li Tingyan and return to Pengcheng after the New Year.

This morning, after getting up, Chen Kangjie told Li Tingyan that he was going back to Pengcheng. Li Tingyan, perhaps feeling a bit guilty, only made a mild attempt to persuade him to stay. She thought she had done nothing wrong and that Chen Kangjie was too petty.

In fact, no matter whether she was right or wrong, Li Tingyan would never admit it. Over the years, she had never admitted to doing anything wrong in front of Chen Kangjie. She was a very stubborn person, which Chen Kangjie knew well.

At the bus terminal, Chen Kangjie bought a ticket for the 2:30 PM bus back to Pengcheng. On the bus, watching the rows of trees along the road pass by, Chen Kangjie's eyes became blurry. Although they had been dating for five years and could only see each other every two or three months, the happy moments they shared still played in his mind like a movie. Li Tingyan had often been very good to him, cooking, washing clothes, and playing together. The most expensive suit he owned was a gift from Li Tingyan on Valentine's Day. However, the arguments caused by her coldness also kept flashing before his eyes. Whenever she was in Deshun, she was almost unreachable, often refusing to meet him for her friends and never celebrating his birthday with him (she even lied about going to another city to attend her ex-boyfriend's birthday party after breaking up with him).

Chen Kangjie felt very conflicted, but when he turned and left Li Tingyan's older brother's house, he had made his decision. Better to end it quickly than to suffer for a long time. Although he had always deeply loved her and hoped she would one day return to live with him forever, she had never agreed to his repeated invitations to work in Pengcheng. Chen Kangjie sighed, thinking, "I don't want to think about it anymore. She can go out all day and leave me without a word to go sing karaoke. She must not really love me."

As he was lost in thought, there was a sudden loud "bang," followed by the screeching of brakes. Chen Kangjie's head hit the back of the seat in front of him, and the whole bus was in chaos. The shrill screams reached his ears. Chen Kangjie tried to shake his head to clear his mind, but then he saw a large truck crossing the highway's median and speeding towards the bus. There was a louder crash, and Chen Kangjie lost consciousness.

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