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墨書 Inktalez
Seven days before my wedding, I visited a tattoo shop on the outskirts of the city. The owner, a woman in her thirties who looked well-preserved, had eyes that reflected a deep weariness.
I glanced at the tattoo portfolio on her wall and pointed to the spots on my wrist and just below my collarbone. "Please remove these two."
The owner looked at me with surprise. "It’s going to hurt, and it might leave scars."
I shrugged it off. "It doesn’t matter; I only have six months left."
She gave me a complex look, probably thinking I wanted to remove the couple's tattoos because I was breaking up with my partner. While I waited for the tattoo artist to begin, I struck up a conversation with her.
"Ten years ago, I got together with him, and we’ve been together ever since."
Back then, Zhou Jie pursued me relentlessly through rain and shine. I thought he wouldn’t last more than a few days, but he truly stuck it out. Eventually, I softened and agreed to be with him.
"But then he grew tired of me."
I self-deprecatingly curled my lips into a slight smile. "Maybe I’ve just aged."
The owner laughed gently to comfort me. "You’re still so young; how could you be old?"
"I really am getting old," I replied. "Otherwise, why would he want to leave me?"
The tattoo artist cleaned the gardenia tattoo on my wrist, revealing raw, red flesh beneath.
"Does it hurt?"
I shook my head. "Not at all."
Curiously, the owner asked, "Does this gardenia have any special meaning?"
"It was his gift to me."
"There was an incident where I was kidnapped, and he fought tooth and nail to rescue me. At that moment, he said he was terrified of losing me."
"So, he had me tattooed with a Gardenia, saying it represented his determination."
"He said he would love me for a lifetime, that he would always care for me."
The shop owner looked at me with some surprise.
Indeed, who would believe that lovers who had been together for ten years and shared life-and-death experiences could end up apart?
But we had truly reached the end.
"Let me recommend a design for you," she said enthusiastically as she flipped through a tattoo catalog. "How about this Iris?"
I followed her finger to the vibrant red Iris.
"Alright, let's go with this one."
The tattoo turned out beautifully, and I loved it.
The Iris symbolizes a lack of love yet blooms in splendor.
I wanted to leave without any trace of his mark on me.
As I chatted happily with the shop owner, we exchanged WeChat contacts.
On my way out of the Tattoo Shop, I passed by a small stall selling cotton candy.
I suddenly stopped in my tracks.
When I was a child, my grandmother often bought me cotton candy. Watching me drool over it, she would take out her saved coins to buy me one, scolding me playfully for being such a greedy girl while watching me eat.
Now, those memories seemed hazy as if shrouded in mist, yet the sweetness of that cotton candy still lingered on my tongue.
I approached the stall and bought a Rabbit Pattern cotton candy.
It tasted just as sweet as it did in my childhood, almost cloyingly so.
As I ate the cotton candy, my heart felt heavy.
As I turned the corner, I heard a little girl's voice:
"Mommy, why is that lady eating cotton candy?"
"Because cotton candy is sweet, eating it makes you happy."
"But only children eat cotton candy."
I turned around and saw a woman holding a child, looking at me.
I nodded at her.
As soon as I got home, Zhou Jie called.
"Yiru, there are only seven days until our wedding."
"Do you have time tomorrow? I want to take you to choose a wedding dress."
"You decide; you know my size."
Zhou Jie fell silent for a moment, and I could hear a girl on the other end acting coy, saying she wanted to accompany him to try on wedding dresses.
"It's getting late; I need to rest."
I hung up the phone and lay back without caring.
Zhou Jie, go find your happiness; I no longer want to walk this path with you.
---
I decided to go to a concert.
After buying the tickets, I was about to head out when I suddenly felt a bit dizzy and my stomach started to ache.
I held my stomach as cold sweat dripped down my forehead.
But I gritted my teeth and took a taxi to the stadium.
The atmosphere at the concert was great, and I quickly got lost in the music. However, after one song ended, the pain hit me again.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
A young man beside me suddenly leaned over and asked.
"This is warm; drink it to help yourself feel better," he said, handing me a box of milk.
"Thank you!" I took the milk, feeling warmth in my heart.
"You're welcome! My girlfriend loves helping others; if she knew I gave you the milk, she would be really happy."
I glanced beside him and noticed there were no girls around.
"Where's your girlfriend?"
"She..."
The boy smiled, but there was a hint of bitterness in his expression.
"She passed away."
"Today, I'm here to watch the concert for her."
I was taken aback and instinctively apologized, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's all in the past."
He smiled again, his gaze fixed intently on the stage as if he were looking at his girlfriend.
The concert quickly approached its finale, and the lucky draw segment began, with cheers erupting from the crowd.
The host randomly selected a few numbers for people to come up on stage.
"There are thirty-six seats in a row."
When the big screen flashed the last number, my face suddenly appeared before everyone.
Cheers and shouts filled the air.
"Kiss her! Kiss her!"
I was stunned for a few seconds when suddenly the boy beside me raised a photo of his girlfriend.
"My girlfriend is here, so don't make a fuss!"
He held up the photo and smiled shyly at me.
I took the microphone handed to me by the host and slowly spoke:
"Thank you to all the fans for attending the singer's concert, and I wish the singer continued success, while hoping all fans live long and healthy lives!"
As the camera cut away, I heard the boy softly caressing his girlfriend's face in the photo and whispering,
"I wish you a long life too."
In that moment, I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to cry.
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