I am terminally ill, but I am healing the world with my songs

As twilight draped over the folds of the Ba Mountains, a warm light suddenly illuminated a hollow in the mountainside.

The wooden cabin resembled a firefly cupped by the evening breeze, its soft glow filtering through pine branches, casting fragmented gold leaf patterns onto the stream.

The wooden sign for "Firefly Cottage" leaned against the vines, its crooked lettering still speckled with pine needles.

Several stacks of books were visible through the log-framed window, and a pottery vase held freshly picked wild ginger flowers, the unfaded dewdrops on their petals mirroring the first crescent moon in the sky.

The mountain wind carried the fragrance of pine resin as it pushed open the door, and the old bookshelf creaked, shaking loose a few acorns from last autumn.

The warm yellow light wandered across the old book's title page, startling the ginkgo bookmark tucked into "Stray Birds," causing the golden veins of the leaf to ripple with light.

Outside the window, fireflies flitted past, adorning the night valley with starlight.

【If you visit me and I'm not here, please sit with the flowers outside my door for a while.】

【They are very warm, and I have watched them for many days.】

At this moment, a hand flipped over the sign with the words on it, which was hanging at the doorway.

Gao Chongting simply brushed the dust and wood shavings off his body, lit some dry grass, and tossed it into the fireplace. Then, he added a few thin pieces of wood, and after the fire burned a little brighter, he added a few more logs.

The dancing flames displayed a graceful performance through the glass.

He placed a kettle of water on the fireplace to slowly heat.

He picked up a vinyl record and placed it on the record player.

“When you step into this house of joy~”

“Carrying all your dreams and thoughts on your back~”

“Various faces with various makeup~”

“No one remembers what you look like~”

“…”

Listening to the familiar voice coming from the record, Gao Chongting was momentarily stunned.

He was in a daze for quite a while.

It wasn't until the kettle started to whistle that he snapped back to reality.

He gently wiped away the few tears that had welled up in the corners of his eyes, and then brewed himself a pot of tea.

“Big shareholder, the company you sponsored opened today. How about it, not bad, right?”

As he spoke, Gao Chongting placed a cup of tea on the seat facing him.

Even though it was empty.

Ding, ding, ding~

Just then, a gust of breeze swept through.

The wind chimes hanging at the doorway made a pleasant sound.

The tea water rippled slightly, and Gao Chongting seemed to see Wen He's warm face in the ripples of the teacup.

As the ripples gradually subsided, her face also disappeared.

But Gao Chongting smiled.

He knew that Wen He had already been here.

They had decided on the name [Firefly Cottage] while eating at a roadside stall, after drinking a little wine.

Afterwards, Wen He sang the song "Sorrow".

These things seemed to have happened just yesterday.

“Wen He, you and Yu Die must be happy in your next life.”

“And Xiao Huang, didn't you say you hoped Xiao Huang would be born into a good family in the next life? I think being born to you guys would be the best choice.”

“You guys all need to be well. I'm lucky to have met you guys in this life.”

“That guy Wen Ze has been really busy lately. I can't see the independence and maturity that an eleven-year-old should have in him.”

Speaking of this, Gao Chongting drank the tea in one gulp, his face filled with unspeakable pride and satisfaction.

He really seemed to treat Wen Ze like his own son.

Seeing the things he was doing, Gao Chongting felt genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart.

“He's been learning all kinds of musical instruments lately. Whenever he has free time, he drags me along to do public service projects.”

“Several trucks of rice, oil, salt, cotton-padded jackets, quilts, and other basic supplies are sent to those impoverished mountain areas.”

“And he also spent money to build [Brightness Primary School], including charity canteens for the elderly.”

“You don't know, that little guy has so many clever ideas, he's been giving me a hard time lately.”

“At first, I was worried that he would misuse the large sum of money you left him, but now it seems that the kid knows how to use it much better than I do.”

Gao Chongting talked on and on about some of the things that had happened recently.

Unknowing people would think he was some kind of self-talking madman, talking non-stop to the empty study.

The night grew deeper and deeper.

But the light emanating from Firefly Cottage grew brighter and brighter.