Meng Yan's Transformation

Chapter 607 Zhan Mengyan's newly warmed heart begins to cool again.

The warm light inside the room fell on the mother and daughter's clasped hands, as if it too was moved, freezing this silent yet heart-stirring moment in the small house: one showing the strongest tenderness in the midst of illness, and the other drawing courage from tears to travel to distant places.

At that moment, time seemed to flow backward, and Zhan Mengyan saw the cycle of life—from dependence to protection, and then from protection to giving back. Their close bond, without fancy words, was more powerful than any vow.

Zhan Mengyan's eyes suddenly welled up with tears, which flowed uncontrollably. This ordinary yet profound affection struck Zhan Mengyan's heart like a heavy hammer. She recalled her increasingly distant communication with her mother and those overlooked details. Zhan Mengyan cried her heart out, for this undisguised purity, and for all the kinship that had silently flowed through time.

"Mengyan, you should be happy that Zhanyue can go to school with you. Why are you crying so much?"

As Zhan Yingying spoke, she smiled and wiped away Zhan Mengyan's tears.

"I...I am happy, these are tears of happiness, not tears of sadness."

As Zhan Mengyan spoke, she broke into a smile through her tears.

Zhan Mengyan and Zhan Yingying bid farewell to their third aunt's family and walked home with a sigh of relief.

Night had fallen, and the starry sky was exceptionally clear and cold. The scattered starlight, like frozen frost flowers, adorned the deep blue canvas of the sky. The path beneath the sisters' feet stretched out in the gloom, accompanied only by the distant lights and the silent starlight overhead.

The two sisters walked in silence for a while, then Zhan Yingying suddenly spoke, her voice very soft, as if afraid of disturbing the stillness of the night. "Sometimes, when I see my friends getting married, I always feel a sense of emptiness in my heart." She paused, her gaze fixed on the unseen distance. "Everyone says it's a destination, a fulfillment, but what exactly is it? Is it two people becoming one, or is it carrying a heavy shell from then on?"

Zhan Mengyan turned her head and, in the dim light, saw the bewildered outline on Zhan Yingying's face. She didn't reply, but just listened quietly. The night wind rustled through the branches, making a soft sobbing sound.

“I feel like I can see that road,” Zhan Yingying continued, her voice tinged with an unusual weariness. “Going through blind dates, getting engaged, preparing for the wedding, and then entering a structure called family, but what happens after that? Like my parents, will all the passion be worn away in the daily grind? Or will it be like some seemingly glamorous marriages, where loneliness has already crept in?” Zhan Yingying gave a bitter smile. “Behind the glamour, there may be hardships and constraints that others cannot see. Just thinking about these things makes me afraid, as if there is not a road ahead, but a fog that cannot be seen.”

Zhan Mengyan's initial joy at Zhan Yue being able to go to school gradually sank as Zhan Yingying spoke. That bewildered tone was like a pebble thrown into a still lake, creating not ripples, but a heavy, muffled thud.

Zhan Mengyan had always regarded her older sister as a guiding light—independent, clear-headed, and always able to offer her the most sincere advice. Now, however, this guiding light seemed to be swaying uncertainly before her, leaving her feeling lost and panicked. She had originally intended to talk about her and Zhan Yue's school life, but now those topics felt insignificant, unworthy of the heavy confusion beneath the starlight.

Zhan Mengyan recalled her sister's encouragement to explore the vast world and not be bound by anything too early. Yet now, it was her sister who felt first bound by invisible ropes. This realization weighed heavily on Zhan Mengyan's heart. She silently slipped her hands into her pockets, her fingertips touching the cold air. The roadside grass was covered with a thin layer of frost, gleaming faintly under the starlight, much like her chilling emotions.