I swam desperately towards the sinking guitar, but it drifted further away with the flow of the water.

The heavy winter clothes I wore were completely soaked, weighing me down. Coupled with the icy lake water, I felt my strength waning. I choked on water several times, but there was a hidden force within me that kept me going, struggling to reach the guitar.

Jian Wei’s muffled voice came from the shore, but I couldn’t make out her words amidst the sound of the waves. Using the last of my strength, I clung to the sinking guitar. Overwhelmed with joy, I suddenly lost my strength and choked on water again. Fear finally set in, and with it, a strong will to survive.

I swam towards the shore with the last of my strength, but my calves cramped from the extreme cold. I was frantic, feeling death closer than ever.

At that moment, Jian Wei on the shore suddenly took off her coat and sweater, jumped into the river wearing only a thin shirt, and swam towards me…

“Zhao Yang, hang in there, you must hang in there!”

The strong will to survive had me kicking my legs and slapping the water surface, trying to keep myself from sinking. Jian Wei finally reached me, she slipped under my arm to support me, and together we swam towards the shore.

…

The cold wind blew in gusts. Jian Wei and I, exhausted, collapsed on the ground, coughing violently. Water dripped from our bodies onto the ground, and so did the guitar. The water flowed down the strings, forming a line that merged with ours, as if carrying our countless pasts back into the river.

Jian Wei’s lips were pale, her body trembling. I used the last of my strength to crawl to where the down jacket was, draped it over her, and took out my phone from the jacket pocket, ready to call for help, fearing she couldn’t withstand the cold.

Jian Wei snatched the phone from my hand and shook her head at me, choking back tears, she asked, “Why did you do that?… Why did you risk your life for that guitar?”

“I’m scared now… and regretful… But at that time, I didn’t have time to think too much. Watching the guitar sink into the river felt like I was about to be buried at the bottom of the river. It was an instinctive reaction… I had to do it!”

Jian Wei looked at me with a complex expression. I couldn’t tell whether the drops falling from her face were tears or river water, but the twitching at the corners of her mouth was real. She wanted to say something several times but didn’t.

I was freezing to the point of breaking down. Jian Wei draped the down jacket back over me, then retrieved her dry sweater and coat from the bushes. She took off her wet shirt in front of me and put on the dry clothes.

She looked at the still dripping guitar and asked, “Zhao Yang, is this… guitar still usable?”

I shook my head, “It’s basically ruined… Let it be ruined.”

Jian Wei stared at the guitar in a daze, not saying a word.

I picked up the guitar from the ground and said to Jian Wei, “If you really want to get rid of this guitar, do it when I’m not around. After all, it’s been with me for so many years…”

Jian Wei took the guitar from me, lowered her head for the first time in front of me, and said softly, “I understand what you mean… I’ll take you home.”

“No need.”

“It’s hard to get a cab here, and if you stay any longer, you’ll catch a cold.”

I looked up at the road where few cars passed by and finally nodded.

…

Jian Wei turned the car’s heater up high, but we were both still shivering, especially me, who had spent more time in the river. But it was a relief that we both survived. In such a dangerous situation, I had no doubt that Jian Wei and I could have both drowned in the deep moat.

The car quickly arrived at my apartment complex. Just as Jian Wei was about to drive into the complex, I saw Mi Cai’s Q7 turn into the complex ahead of us. I immediately asked Jian Wei to pull over.

Before getting out of the car, Jian Wei said to me, “Zhao Yang, change your clothes as soon as you get home, don’t catch a cold!”

“Okay, you too.”

Jian Wei nodded, started the car, and left after I closed the door for her.

I walked into the complex and sat in an abandoned small garden. Even though I was shivering from the cold, I didn’t want to go home, not knowing how to explain the wet clothes to Mi Cai.

The phone rang again. I knew without looking that it was Mi Cai. I answered the call just before it ended, but didn’t speak first, afraid my trembling voice would give me away.

“Zhao Yang, where are you?”

I quickly thought and said to Mi Cai, “I’m… at Circle’s place, drinking!””Really?”

“Um… I’ll talk to you later.”

“Zhao Yang…”

I sensed something off in Mi Cai’s tone, and asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? Is there anything else?”

“Where are you right now? Can you tell me the truth?”

Holding onto my last shred of hope, I replied, “Didn’t I say I’m at Circle’s place?”

“…Did you forget that all the middle and high-level executives of Zhuomei went to my uncle’s birthday banquet today?… I left early, where is Circle now?”

I was taken aback, cursing my carelessness, and finally said to Mi Cai, “…I’m in the community, I’ll go up right away.”

Mi Cai hung up the phone.

…

I walked nervously towards the entrance of the building, only to find that Mi Cai had already come downstairs. She was waiting for me at the entrance. I braced myself and walked towards her.

She looked at me in surprise, drenched from head to toe, and asked, “Zhao Yang, what happened to you?”

I forced a smile and said, “I accidentally got sprayed by a water truck on the way, how unlucky!”

A look of distrust finally appeared on Mi Cai’s face. She frowned and said, “Do we have to deceive each other?”

I clenched my teeth, putting on a defiant attitude, but I was shivering from the cold.

Mi Cai sighed, “Go change your clothes first!”

I nodded, although I was eager to change my clothes, I still followed behind Mi Cai.

As soon as I entered the house, I ran into the bathroom, took off all my wet clothes, put on a bathrobe and returned to my room. After changing into my underwear, I turned on the air conditioner, wrapped myself in a blanket, but was still shivering.

Mi Cai walked into my room, poured a cup of hot water for me, and said with concern despite her bad mood, “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No need to go through all that trouble, I’ll tough it out.”

Mi Cai stared at me for a long time before asking, “Tell me, did you try to drown yourself?”

At her words, I spat out the hot water I hadn’t had a chance to drink yet, choked for a while, then looked at her incredulously and said, “Would I really try to drown myself?”

Mi Cai nodded, “Yes, you have a history of it!”

I suddenly remembered the time long ago when I called Mi Cai to stop me from jumping into the river. She was right, I did have a history.

Looking at it this way, I really am fragile!