It was already March, and along the southern mountain streams, green willows and pink peach blossoms bloomed everywhere. The small rubber raft glided slowly along the calm waters before entering the more turbulent mountain gorge.
The rushing river battered the jagged rocks on both sides, sending up massive sprays of water. The splashing droplets leaped against the current, landing on people’s hair, faces, and even mischievously slipping into collars, eliciting a chorus of screams.
Among those shrieks, Jiang Yue’s voice stood out the most. As the raft drifted through the valley and into the rushing cascade, she clutched Lin Zixi’s hand, squeezed her eyes shut, and began wailing loudly.
For a moment, her cries echoed across the entire surface of the water.
Ye Can, paddling her own raft, turned back and glanced at Jiang Yue—who had her eyes tightly shut and was screaming her head off—amid the flying spray. With clear disdain, she said, “This isn’t even that dangerous. Why are you yelling so loud?”
Ye Can’s voice was loud enough to draw a sidelong glance from Lin Zixi. Lin Zixi gazed at the smile lighting up her face amid the rapidly shifting scenery and inexplicably felt a wave of relief.
Jiang Yue, who had been howling like ghosts and wolves as if on a roller coaster, shouted with her eyes still closed after hearing Ye Can’s words, “You think everyone’s like you, fearless as hell!”
The raft flowed into the most turbulent stretch. The churning water tossed the raft, making everyone inside sway wildly as they let out prolonged screams: “Aaaahhhhh… It’s floating up! It’s floating up!”
Jiang Yue screamed her lungs out, completely devoid of her usual poised celebrity demeanor.
Ye Can paddled her own raft downstream with the current, leisurely saying, “It’s supposed to float on the water. What’s so weird about it floating up?”
Her snarky comment right then made it utterly unbearable for Jiang Yue, who yelled, “Aaaahhh, shut up!”
Ye Can burst out laughing and gazed at the scenery along the banks, reciting loudly, “Dawn farewell from White Emperor amid colorful clouds, / A thousand li to Jiangling in a single day. / The apes’ cries on both shores cannot be stopped, / The light boat has already passed ten thousand heavy mountains!“
Given how Ye Can had emphasized those last two lines—”The apes’ cries on both shores cannot be stopped, the light boat has already passed ten thousand heavy mountains”—Lin Zixi, sitting in the back, had solid grounds to suspect she was mocking Jiang Yue.
Sure enough, upon hearing the poem, Jiang Yue shouted, “Ye Can, you’re the one screeching like an orangutan! Your whole family screeches like orangutans!”
Ye Can laughed merrily. “I said apes, not orangutans! Big star, you really should read more books!”
Jiang Yue shot back, “You’re the one who talks too much!”
The two bickered all the way downstream, startling birds from the dense forests along the banks as if they couldn’t stand the noise. Perhaps because she was so immersed in arguing with Ye Can, Jiang Yue gradually stopped feeling so scared.
On the stretch from the mountain gorge to calmer waters, there was one particularly thrilling section. The powerful current could nearly hurl people out, leaving them suspended in midair for an instant before slamming back down onto the surface.
As the raft approached this perilous cascade, the lead staff member warned ahead, “The next section is pretty wild—everyone grab your raft tight and take safety precautions.”
Jiang Yue heard the alert through her earpiece and immediately gripped Lin Zixi’s hand tighter, her expression turning tense.
Ye Can, piloting solo up front, relied on her superior balance and skills to plunge straight into the roughest part.
Alone on her rubber raft, she launched off the water, soaring along the crest of a wave before sliding down to the broader river below.
With a splash, Ye Can’s raft landed steadily on the surface, kicking up a huge spray. She stopped paddling, letting the raft drift freely with the current, and turned to watch the raft hurtling toward her from behind.
“Aaaahhhhh!” Accompanied by Jiang Yue’s terrified screams, the four-person raft slid down the wave, hung in the air for a moment, and crashed onto the water.
Splash! Water erupted high into the air. Through the massive spray, Ye Can saw Jiang Yue clutching Meng Zhiqiu and Lin Zixi’s hands. Her body lurched sharply to the left—and in the next instant, the entire raft tilted left and plunged underwater.
Ye Can’s eyes widened in an instant.
She clearly saw the staff on the raft flailing to steady it, but they couldn’t counter the chaos of everyone tugging at each other. Amid the sprays and panicked screams, the raft—capsized.
The sounds around her stretched out, or perhaps faded away. Without a second thought, Ye Can tossed her paddle aside and dove into the water.
The early spring river water was bitingly cold. The moment her face submerged, Ye Can suddenly realized something crucial: She couldn’t swim!
She buried her face underwater, flailing her arms in panic and choking on mouthfuls of water.
In her frantic struggle, after gulping down a huge mouthful, Ye Can lifted her head above the surface. Through her blurred vision, she spotted a figure swimming toward her.
“Ye Can! Ye Can!” Voices called her name everywhere amid the roaring water, but Ye Can strained to discern them and realized Lin Zixi’s wasn’t among them.
She couldn’t tell who was shouting. She could only leap up from the water as best she could, gasping for air, opening her eyes to see the world.
Surrounded by the cold water, she wasn’t that scared. Even as breathing grew harder, it wasn’t unbearable. But for some reason, she felt deeply unwilling.
Just like this? Die just like this? Drowned by the river? Talk about embarrassing.
After dying like this, how would the Immoral God cover up her existence? Erase the memories of millions? That’d be way too hard. But if it’s a god, she could probably pull it off.
Ye Can’s mind raced with these odd thoughts, but her heart wouldn’t calm. Like every drowning person, she thrashed desperately, clutching at any lifeline, splashing water everywhere.
Her excessive panic made her swallow more water. As breathing became labored, Ye Can suddenly realized she didn’t actually want to die.
Who dies on a day this perfect? Shouldn’t she be embracing her beloved wife, living blissfully ever after?
So why die?
Why?
She wasn’t willing! Not willing at all!
Ye Can flailed her arms wildly and, in a haze, grabbed hold of an arm.
In her daze, she felt herself pulled into an embrace, with a familiar, urgent voice at her ear: “Ye Can, Ye Can, can you hear me?”
Ah, it’s Lin Zixi. Lin Zixi came to save her.
Right, Lin Zixi can swim!
Once that sank in, Ye Can relaxed completely. She slumped into Lin Zixi’s arms, letting her tow them toward the riverbank, drifting like a dead fish with the current.
Her consciousness faded, and eventually, Ye Can closed her eyes.
It felt like a long time had passed—or maybe just moments—when she awoke to pressure on her chest.
She blinked groggily and saw Lin Zixi’s reddened eyes. Her heart ached. She croaked, “Lin Zixi…”
Lin Zixi nodded, holding her close, her voice thick with tears. “I’m here, I’m right here. How do you feel? Anywhere hurt?”
Ye Can huddled against her, rolling into her embrace and whispering, “I’m cold.”
Soaked to the skin herself, Lin Zixi knelt on the riverbank, pulling her tight and pressing her cheek to Ye Can’s. “Not cold, it’s okay. We’ll get you back soon.”
“Ye Can, it’s okay. Everything’s okay now.”
She repeated it over and over, unsure if she was comforting Ye Can or herself. Ye Can wrapped her arms around her waist, burying her face in her abdomen, and nodded. “It’s okay.”
But how could it be okay?
She nuzzled Lin Zixi’s belly, whining like a spoiled child. “Lin Zixi, I don’t want to die at all.” These days were too enchanting; she had no desire to leave.
Or rather, she’d discovered the meaning and joy of living in this world—and she was starting to hate the thought of leaving.
Lin Zixi held her, stroking her dripping hair and soothing her. “You won’t die, Ye Can. You won’t die…”
Ye Can said nothing, just clung tighter to this woman shivering from the frigid river water under the bright sun. She really didn’t want to die. Really didn’t.
She wasn’t even dead yet, and Lin Zixi was crying like this. If she actually died, and Lin Zixi remembered… wouldn’t she cry herself blind?
The thought made Ye Can so sad.
It saddened her so much that she reached out and hugged Lin Zixi properly.
And so, under everyone’s gaze, they embraced for a long time—until the production crew arrived and rushed Ye Can to the hospital for checks.
That evening, after a full checkup confirmed she was fine, Ye Can returned to their lodging.
To express her guilt, Jiang Yue treated everyone to dinner. After all, no one had expected the three of them to fall in while Ye Can, of all people, ended up in peril.
After dinner, the group chatted in the homestay’s living room. Jiang Yue still couldn’t figure it out and asked, “You can’t swim—why jump in?”
Ye Can glanced at her and pouted. “I panicked.”
Jiang Yue instantly got what she was panicking about and sighed. “Panicking doesn’t help. Lin-laoshi can swim, they had life jackets, staff were right there—no way anything would’ve happened. But you, nearly drowning with a life jacket? Unbelievable.”
Ye Can cradled her teacup, took a slow sip of barley tea, and said flatly, “I was scared.”
Jiang Yue was speechless, struggling before blurting, “I thought you were fearless, always stirring up heaven and earth.”
Ye Can set down her cup, looked up at Jiang Yue, and said slowly, “I’m scared of dying. Isn’t that normal?”
Dying means goodbye to Lin Zixi forever. Never seeing her again.
Everyone feels a bit scared, reluctant, unwilling, sad when parting from the world. It was human nature—couldn’t she be allowed to fear it?
As Ye Can’s words landed, Lin Zixi, sitting beside her, stared at her profile and silently shed a tear.
Meng Zhiqiu, sharp-eyed, quickly handed her a tissue. “Lin-laoshi…”
Her voice drew everyone’s attention. Ye Can turned and froze at the tears on Lin Zixi’s face. Lin Zixi turned away, wiping them and choking out, “Ah, sorry, I don’t know why…”
Her eyes red, she kept wiping endless tears, sobbing. “I just…”
Ye Can turned her body around, wiped her tears, at a loss for words. Ignoring the stares, she pulled Lin Zixi into her arms and patted her back.
Lin Zixi buried her face in Ye Can’s shoulder, tears flowing nonstop. Ye Can fumed inwardly, glaring fiercely at Jiang Yue. “This is all your fault! Why bring it up?”
Jiang Yue blinked her innocent big eyes, speechless. “I…”
Ye Can snapped, “What ‘I’? You made her cry—treat us to dinner later.” She took Lin Zixi’s hand and headed to their room. “I’m taking her back. You all keep chatting.”
She spoke without a care for Lin Zixi’s feelings and pulled her straight into the room, their hands clasped together.
The others watched the pair’s retreating figures, all their earlier speculations suddenly feeling confirmed. Gu Yiyi picked up her cup of barley tea and summed it up with a knowing tone: “These two… they really are…”
What?
Meng Zhiqiu chimed in: “A perfect match, right?”
Gu Yiyi turned her head and shot her a glance. The two women exchanged smiles, a knowing look that said it all without a word.
