Stars Fall Into The Sea, Love Never Fades Chapter 28

Chapter 28 Memory fragments and the destination of the heart

In the late autumn of their junior year, Azhi and Qi moved into a small apartment off campus.

The apartment is not big, but it is warmly decorated.Qi’s paintings hang on the walls of the living room, mostly of the starry sky and the sea. In the corner is Azhi’s design draft. On the desk is a mug shared by the two of them, with small star patterns printed on the cup.There are several pots of white roses planted on the balcony, a variety specially selected by Qi, who said they “smell reassuring”.

Every weekend, the two cook together.Qi’s cooking skills are not exquisite, but he can always make the mango pancake just right, sweet but not greasy; A Zhi is good at braised pork, bright in color and fragrant in the nose.When eating, Qi would give Ah Zhi the sweetest diced mango, and Ah Zhi would put the fat and thin pieces of meat into Qi’s bowl, with a tacit understanding as if they had practiced it thousands of times.

“Azhi, look at this.” After dinner that day, Qi pulled out an old sketchbook from the bookshelf. He found it at the flea market. The cover was yellowed and had small star patterns printed on it.

Ah Zhi leaned over and watched Qi open the book – inside was unfamiliar handwriting, filled with drawings of the starry sky, the sea, and two figures holding hands. The style of painting was surprisingly similar to Qi’s.Turning to the last page, a line of beautiful small words came into view: “May the stars fall over the sea, and love will never be separated.”

The moment he saw this sentence, a series of fragments suddenly flashed through Azhi’s mind: the beach under the sunset, the white sweater, the familiar smell of cedar, the gentle whisper in the ear… He had a splitting headache, but tears poured out uncontrollably.

“Azhi, what’s wrong with you?” Qi quickly put down his notebook and supported him, his eyes full of worry.

Ah Zhi covered his forehead and waited for a while before calming down. His voice was trembling: “I seem to…remember something. It’s fuzzy, but warm, and a little sad.”

Qi felt a strange throbbing in his heart. He looked at the paintings in the notebook and lightly brushed the small words with his fingertips: “When I saw these paintings, I felt very familiar, as if I had painted them countless times before.”

That night, the two of them sat on the sofa, looking through their sketchbooks and chatting about each other’s dreams.Azhi said that he always dreamed of a small wooden house by the seaside, with an easel and white roses in the house; Qi said that he always dreamed of a man in a white shirt, waiting for him at the beach, calling his name.

“Perhaps, these are not dreams.” Qi suddenly said, holding Azhi’s hand, “They are the memories of our previous lives, engraved in our souls, guiding us to meet in this life.”

Azhi nodded, his eyes red.He remembered the palpitations in his heart when they first met, the warmth of their palms touching each other, and the countless moments of tacit understanding – all of this was not accidental, but a bond that spanned time and space, and an agreement for life after life.

From that day on, the two began to consciously pursue the fragments of memory.They went to many beaches together, trying to find the cabin in their dreams; they read books about depression together. Ah Zhi looked at the words and felt inexplicably distressed, while Qi Ze said, “I want to do something for them.”

During the winter vacation, they returned to Azhi’s hometown.Azhi’s parents liked Qi very much and treated him like their own son.On New Year’s Eve, the family sat around the dining table, eating New Year’s Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala.Qi suddenly pointed at the starry sky on the TV and said softly: “Azhi, look, does it look like the starry sky in our dreams?”

Ah Zhi raised his head, looked at the bright stars on the TV, and then looked at Qi beside him, his heart filled with solid warmth.He knew that no matter what they had experienced in the previous life, in this life they had finally found the home of their hearts.