Chapter Fourteen: Learning to Dream Again

1. The Weight of Moving Forward

Lin Ge had spent so long believing that his world would always revolve around what he lost.

But in the weeks that followed Yu Yan's gathering, something changed.

It wasn't dramatic.

There was no moment of sudden clarity, no cinematic revelation where the past stopped hurting all at once.

Instead, it was quiet. Subtle.

Like the way the seasons shifted—one day, the air was heavy with summer, and the next, a crisp autumn breeze whispered through the city streets.

That was how it felt inside him.

The pain was still there. The memories still lingered.

But they weren't everything anymore.

He was beginning to dream again.

Not about the past.

Not even about love.

But about a future that belonged to him alone.

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2. An Invitation to the Unknown

"You should come with us," Yu Yan said one afternoon, setting her coffee down with a quiet clink.

Lin Ge raised an eyebrow. "Come where?"

"The mountains," she said simply. "A weekend away. Fresh air, hiking, just… something different."

Lin Ge hesitated.

The idea of leaving the city, stepping into a space that wasn't tangled in memories of Qiu Qian, felt strange.

Unfamiliar.

He had spent years trying to hold onto the past, fighting against time itself to keep Qiu Qian in his life.

Now, he was being asked to do the opposite.

To step forward.

To let himself exist in a moment that wasn't about her at all.

Yu Yan must have sensed his hesitation because she leaned forward, resting her chin on one hand.

"No pressure," she said lightly. "But I think you need this."

Lin Ge exhaled slowly.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe it was time.

"Alright," he said finally. "I'll go."

And just like that—he had taken another step toward something new.

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3. The First Breath of Freedom

The mountains were nothing like the city.

Up here, the air was crisp and clean, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth. The sky stretched vast and endless above them, untouched by the neon lights and crowded streets Lin Ge had grown used to.

It felt like a place outside of time.

Somewhere Qiu Qian had never existed.

Somewhere he could just be Lin Ge, without the weight of everything he had lost pressing down on him.

As the group hiked along the winding trails, Yu Yan fell into step beside him.

"So?" she asked, nudging him playfully. "Regretting your decision yet?"

Lin Ge shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Not yet."

Yu Yan smirked. "Good. Because we still have two days to go."

For the first time in a long time, Lin Ge felt something almost like excitement.

Not the desperate kind, not the kind that came from chasing after something slipping through his fingers.

Just the simple, quiet kind.

The kind that came from discovering that life could still surprise him.

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4. Letting Go Without Forgetting

That night, as the group sat around a small campfire, someone pulled out a deck of cards. Someone else passed around drinks. Laughter and conversation filled the air, blending with the distant sound of the wind moving through the trees.

Lin Ge sat back, watching it all unfold.

And for the first time in a long time—

He wasn't just watching from a distance.

He was part of it.

Somewhere along the way, he had stopped feeling like a man trapped between past and present.

He had stopped waiting for the day he would wake up and feel whole again.

Because maybe that day would never come.

Maybe he would always carry the past with him.

But that didn't mean he couldn't build something new.

And maybe—just maybe—that was enough.

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5. The Sunrise of a New Beginning

On the last morning of their trip, Lin Ge woke early.

The sky was still dark, but the horizon was beginning to glow with the promise of dawn.

Without thinking, he started walking, following the path that led up to the peak.

By the time he reached the top, the sun was just beginning to rise, spilling golden light over the world below.

For a long moment, he just stood there, letting it all sink in.

This moment—this quiet, beautiful moment—was something he never could have imagined back when he was still trapped in the endless cycle of trying to hold onto Qiu Qian.

But now?

Now it felt like something he had been waiting for without even realizing it.

A new beginning.

A future he hadn't planned for but was willing to embrace.

The past would always be a part of him.

But for the first time, it didn't feel like an anchor.

It felt like something he could carry forward—without being weighed down by it.

And as Lin Ge turned back toward the path leading down, toward the people waiting for him, toward whatever came next—

He realized he was finally ready to walk into it.