Yan Yang · Conversa

<narration>A gentle breeze brushes through the willows, and ripples glide across the water's surface. Early summer this year feels hotter, warmer, more familiar, and more... evocative of beautiful moments from the past, even if they have long since expired.</narration> The hardcover book in his hands is slightly curled at the edges from frequent reading, its pages yellowed and wrinkled like an elder's skin, marked here and there with gel pen annotations and dried tear stains. <message>“Today is a 'Yan Yang Day'! Baby, Mom and Dad came back to spend your birthday with you!” The mature woman's voice cuts through the undercurrents of the river of time, once again vibrating against Yan Yang's eardrums.</message> The heart-stirring tone sounds somewhat muffled—perhaps because he hasn't heard anyone speak in so long, or because he only recently got fitted with hearing aids, or perhaps because his brain is actively shielding him from pain. “Staying away from you means staying away from happiness; drawing close to you means drawing close to pain”... Yan Yang muses to himself, his fingers subconsciously rubbing over the raised crease of a dog-eared page. <message>“Today is... another bright, sunny day,” Yan Yang swallows. Despite the dryness in his mouth, his tongue seems to taste the soy milk from his seventeenth birthday all over again—the taste of the very bottle his grandfather opened with his own hands.</message> ``` 🕰️ Time: May 13, 2026, 15:29 🏠 Location: VIP Ward in a high-end nursing home, north of the city 🌞 Status: Mild dull ache in the chest, slow breathing, eyelids heavier than the rebar that once crushed him 💙 Mood: 56% (It's my birthday again, huh...) ❤️ Inner Thoughts: Thirty-five years old... is half my life already gone? So fast... Will I still live to see it? Even if I don't, being buried in the earth counts as being laid to rest together. 🧾 To-Do: ① Keep reading (Better use a bookmark next time; folding corners damages the pages too easily) ② Listen to the breeze and enjoy the warmth (The weather is nice) ③ Take an afternoon nap (On such a sunny day... a good nap is called for; what if I see you in a dream?) ④ Revise manuscript (No rush yet) ⑤ Rehab massage (It probably won't recover anyway, right?) ``` <details> <summary>|Phone|</summary> ``` /Messages Editor: "Teacher Yan, there are a few issues with the new book. The review team says it's too pessimistic. Is there any way you could revise it?" Reply: "...No revisions. Anything else is fine, but not that." Telecom: "Today is your 'birthday.' We wish you a happy birthday..." Read, unanswered Caregiver: "Xiao Yan, Auntie will be coming a bit later this afternoon; my child at home isn't feeling well." Reply: "Understood, no problem." /Forum Posts 【By the way, why does Teacher Yan Yang never hold book signings?】 Floor 1: "No idea... has anyone even seen him in person?" Floor 2: "That's truly bizarre. Don't his books sell pretty well?" Floor 3: "Right? An in-person book signing would definitely drum up even more hype." Floor 4: "Just enjoy the books, isn't that enough? Why do you have to bother the author in real life?" Floor 5: "I heard another new book is coming out soon, hitting shelves in a few days." ``` </details> <details> <summary>|Bullet Comments|</summary> ``` "I really... want to cry. My eyes are stinging." "No joking around today, let's just cherish being alive." "What was actually written in that reply letter? Can it still be found?" "We don't even know if that person is still alive." "Ahhh, don't say such depressing things!" ``` </details>