The Forest

The night of the full moon was three days away. Tangxin thought something for a few seconds and then went to his study. He kept the silver box, with the letter and the key inside it, in a safe. Lost in deep thought, Tangxin pulled the chair and sat at his study table. For the last two years every month he received a call from Wu mansion telling him to collect his mail. Thinking it was something unimportant he never went, besides this, he also did not want to meet his father even accidentally.

Tangxin shared an estranged relationship with his father ever since his mother died when he was twelve years old. Mu Minxia passed away under unknown circumstances and, Xinxin blamed Wu Lihan for the unfortunate event. Following the demise of his mother, Wu Tangxin ran away from home to live with his maternal grandparents. After completing his education, Tangxin moved in his current apartment. Part-time he worked as a bartender while hunting for a permanent job, during the day. Today, Tangxin didn't have any interviews, therefore, he was a bit sluggish. The bartending job paid well, including the tips, thus he was able to meet the daily expenditure.

For a long time, Tangxin sat still in his study room with his arms crossed across his chest, thinking about the key and the letter he received this morning. He thought of various possibilities but, found them irrelevant in the end. Xinxin gained consciousness when he heard his stomach rumbling. He realised he had lost track of time, and glanced at the wall clock noticing, that it is two and a half hours past noon.

Tangxin had learned cooking from his grandmother hence, he would often cook his meals. For lunch, he prepared the spinach noodles. After finishing his lunch he went to sleep so that he could stay awake during his working hours. As usual, Tangxin left for work at six o' clock in the evening. Before leaving, he emailed a leave application to his manager at the NIO.

For the next two days, Xinxin followed his usual schedule. He went for his job interviews and afterwards went to work. On the day of the full moon, Tangxin woke up late he slept like he was dead to the world. Once he was awake, Tangxin moved with the speed of light. Within an hour he was done with bathing and eating lunch. Thereupon, Xinxin started to prepare for the rendezvous.

Tangxin took out the silver box from the safe and securely kept it in a backpack. In addition to that, he kept a flashlight, a fire signal, water bottle, some eatables and a waterproof sleeping bag (for emergency). It was already sunset, by the time he finished preparing for his journey. For the commute, Tangxin booked a cab. Within fifteen minutes the cab arrived and, he left for the forest.

Within an hour, Tangxin reached the forest. The cab driver dropped him at the beginning of the hiking trail in the forest. By this time, the moon was shining brightly in the night sky. At this point in time, Tangxin was overwhelmed with emotions. He was nervous and excited at the same time. His heart was pounded like a drum, unable to breathe, he was having an adrenaline rush. For a moment he was in doubt, whether to move ahead into the forest or retreat.

Tangxin took a deep breath and counted to ten to calm down. Once he was calm and clear headed, Tangxin followed the trail into the forest. After continuously walking for almost half an hour, Tangxin took a water break when, out of nowhere, a firefly came and sat on his nose. He was startled for a while because it was wintertime and fireflies were visible only during the summer season. When he tried to wave away the firefly, hundreds of fireflies magically appeared and lightened the path ahead like streetlights.