Chapter 451

In his previous life, Li Luo once felt that many things held no meaning.

Take the sunrise before him, for instance—it was beautiful, but to see it, he had to wake up early and painfully climb to the viewing platform atop the mountain, all for this single moment.

What was the point?

During the time he worked at Yan Zhusheng's home in his previous life, Li Luo held this same thought.

Back then, aside from earning money to treat Lin Xiuhong's illness, nothing else held meaning for him.

If it wasn't tied to money, it had no meaning.

Meaning could sometimes be the driving force that pushed a person forward, yet at other times it became a heavy chain, invisibly binding them.

Now, as Li Luo recalled, watching Yan Zhusheng pointing at the sun beside him, golden sunlight fell upon her cheek, tracing the fine downy hairs on her face—more beautiful than the sunrise itself.

Then Li Luo's memory abruptly shifted to a certain afternoon, when Yan Zhusheng shoved a guitar into his arms.

He said he didn't know how.

Yan Zhusheng said she could teach him.

Li Luo said playing the guitar held no meaning for him.

Only when Yan Zhusheng said it was part of his job did Li Luo reluctantly learn to play.

But after playing for a long time, he gradually came to enjoy the feeling of being immersed in the world of music.

Meaning, little by little, drifted far away.

At least in the moment his fingers touched the strings, whether it had meaning or not no longer mattered.

"What are you looking at?" Yan Zhusheng asked, puzzled, seeing him stare at her instead of the sunrise.

"I'm watching the sunrise," Li Luo replied, smiling.

"The sunrise is over there," Yan Zhusheng said, pointing at the sun slowly rising.

"It's also in your eyes," Li Luo said, gazing at the tiny sun reflected in her eyes, smiling softly.

As soon as he spoke, Yan Zhusheng's eyes truly seemed to glow as she looked at Li Luo.

At that moment, everyone around was gazing at the sun, so Yan Zhusheng glanced around, tiptoed quietly, fixed her gaze on Li Luo's eyes, and kissed his lips.

Xu Youyu still clung to the railing, panting, his full attention on the sunrise.

Ying Chanxi crouched behind the camera, eagerly awaiting the shot.

The four parents leaned on the railing, savoring the beauty of the moment—none noticed what the two behind them were doing.

But Yan Zhusheng didn't go too far; after stealing the kiss, she stepped back half a pace, took Li Luo's hand, and walked forward to the railing to continue admiring the sunrise.

The brilliant sun rose from the sea.

Unlike the blinding midday light, the morning sun had a clear outline and gentle rays, like a newborn child, yet to reveal its sharpness.

Only when the sun fully cleared the horizon did the sea of Qiongzhou City's bay shimmer with a pale golden glow, like scales.

After finishing her recording, Ying Chanxi hurriedly called everyone to stand by the railing and set the camera's timer function.

The four parents stood behind, the four children clustered together, capturing one photo after another.

They stayed on the viewing platform until past seven in the morning, took a pile of photos, then descended and followed their original path to explore the park atop the mountain.

This place was already one of Qiongzhou City's more famous attractions, and the viewing platform atop the mountain was among the best spots in the entire city to watch the sunrise.

Besides the viewing platform, there were many other internal attractions worth visiting.

Especially right after leaving the viewing platform, they passed through a tropical rainforest botanical garden, where, under the morning sunlight, it truly felt as if they were inside a tropical jungle.

Ying Chanxi couldn't help but stop again and take more photos.

"Earlier, when we climbed up, we mainly took narrow paths, best for a direct ascent to the viewing platform," Butler Liu explained beside them, "Now we're walking the park's designated tour route, with many sights along the way."

As he spoke, the group had already passed through the botanical garden and arrived at a mountain tunnel.

Seeing the sign above it reading "Love Tunnel," Li Luo asked, "What's the story behind this?"

"This park's surroundings were originally inhabited mainly by the Li ethnic group," Butler Liu smiled and explained. "Legend says a young Li hunter once went out hunting and spotted a deer, chasing it relentlessly."

"Starting from the entrance of this mountain park, he passed through a long corridor, crossed a mountainside wall, then traversed this mountain tunnel, finally cornering the deer at the viewing platform we just left."

"Ahead lay a cliff, beyond it a vast sea—the deer had nowhere to escape."

"But just as the Li youth was about to nock his arrow, the deer turned its head—suddenly, flames burst forth, smoke rose into the air, and amid nine-colored halos, it transformed into a young girl."

"The two fell in love at first sight atop the viewing platform, married, and settled here permanently."

"Thus, this mountain park is also called Deer Turn Back Park—the statue of the deer at the entrance originated from this tale."

Here, Butler Liu paused, then added with a smile, "It's said this is the perfect sacred place for couples who fall in love at first sight."

"For instance, if you hang your photo together with the person you like inside this Love Tunnel, and walk through it with them, you'll fall in love."

"But it's just talk—many friends or even married couples hang photos here, simply for good luck."

Next to the Love Tunnel stood a photo studio, and its business was surprisingly good.

Since Ying Chanxi's camera already had the footage, they paid to borrow the studio's photo-developing equipment.

"There you go," Ying Chanxi handed two photos to Lin Xiuhong and Cui Suling, smiling happily, "Uncle and Auntie can hang these up—it's a kind of blessing."

Lin Xiuhong and Cui Suling said they didn't care, but once they held the photos, they eagerly began choosing spots, finally deciding to hang the two photos side by side.

While Lin Xiuhong and the others searched for places to hang the photos, Li Luo and the others were looking at the other newly developed photos from Ying Chanxi.

In the end, Li Luo pulled out one group photo of the four of them, boldly found a vacant wall, and hung it up.

"You're hanging a photo of four people in the Love Tunnel?" Xu Youyu chuckled with narrowed eyes.

"Didn't Butler Liu say friends sometimes hang photos just for good luck?" Li Luo said without blinking, "We're this close—we're just doing it for good luck."

The three girls each had their own private thoughts, but with all four parents present, they dared not make any moves.

Looking at the group photo of the four atop the mountain, it was, in a way, the best outcome.

After all eight hung their photos, they passed through the Love Tunnel.

In truth, the thing had no magic—it was just a tunnel you walked through.

But when they left the tunnel and saw the sun again, bathed in light, they truly felt as if reborn.

It was probably just psychological, caused by the legend Butler Liu had mentioned earlier.

Often, people believe in something—even couples who weren't truly intimate before may, during this Love Tunnel journey, develop new feelings for each other.

All of this remains uncertain.

After leaving the so-called Love Tunnel, they arrived at another place Butler Liu had mentioned—the very wall where the Li ethnic boy had chased the deer.

The wall was covered with all kinds of locks, each adorned with paper slips bearing the names of couples, symbolizing their love locked together, never to be parted.

Li Luo thought this place's attractions were purely money-grubbing—anything could be turned into a tourist spot.

These locks ranged from cheap ones costing just a few yuan to expensive ones priced at dozens or even hundreds.

If your partner was right beside you, could you really buy a cheap love lock?

Wouldn't that make your love seem cheap too?

So if you were really going to buy a lock, few couples would choose the cheap ones—least of all would they spend less than a few dozen yuan.

Fortunately, Li Luo no longer cared about such prices—he smiled and bought a love lock for each of his parents and his uncle and aunt, then said, "We came all this way, might as well join in. At least we won't feel like we came for nothing."

After Lin Xiuhong and Cui Suling took theirs, Li Luo turned away and secretly bought another lock.

……

As they descended the mountain, Li Luo and the others watched a local Li ethnic dance performance at the foot of the hill.

Around ten in the morning, they finally returned to the entrance of the park atop the mountain.

Beside the park's exit stood a Love Post Office.

Legend said the Li ethnic boy had first spotted the deer beneath a tree next to this post office.

The deer statue at the park entrance marked the exact spot where the deer had stood.

Such hearsay was worth only a passing listen—but the Love Post Office was interesting: you could write a letter to yourself or your partner here.

The letter would be mailed to the person you intended to send it to.

Or you could set a date, and the letter would be delivered only when that time arrived, precisely into the recipient's hands.

They'd already taken photos in the Love Tunnel and bought locks on the lock wall—so one more letter wasn't worth worrying about.

Everyone bought envelopes and postcards, sat down at nearby benches, and began writing.

At first, none of them knew what to write.

But perhaps because they hadn't spoken their true feelings in a long time—whether Cui Suling and Xu Rongsheng, or Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong—they started haltingly, then suddenly wrote with fluent ease.

They scribbled for half a day, and only then finished.

"Come on, come on, collect the envelopes," Li Luo gathered them one by one, then quietly slipped his own several letters into the pile and handed the whole stack to the Love Post Office staff.

After leaving the mountain-top park and boarding a minibus headed for a nearby restaurant, Cui Suling stretched in her seat, her peripheral vision glancing toward her daughter sitting in the back row.

"After dinner tonight, I'm not holding back anymore," Cui Suling whispered to the other three. "She's been smiling so brightly these past two days—I've been more than patient."

"Cough…" Xu Rongsheng cleared his throat and said, "Try to avoid mentioning it in front of Chanxi and Zhusheng—kids still have pride. Let's talk about it privately."