Chapter 566

The next day, a new wooden crate arrived right on schedule.

When you opened it, you found that the note inside had changed. It read:

[Little Qiqi, Liguang saw your reply! Liguang is so happy—really, really happy!]

[Little Qiqi looked so cool when he caught that big fish! But be careful next time, okay? If the fish drags you into the sea, Liguang will worry herself sick.]

She really could see them.

You smiled, grinning like an idiot.

From that day on, you began communicating with Liguang through the notes.

You wrote down everything that happened each day on a piece of cardboard, tucked it into a wooden crate, and pushed it out to sea.

Every day, a new crate would drift over. Along with food and water, it always contained a reply from Liguang.

You chatted about the weather, fishing, the platform you were expanding, and the dishes she had cooked that day.

You wrote: “The sea wind is giving me a headache.”

She replied: “Little Qiqi, don’t sleep on the deck tonight. Go back inside and sleep in your room. If the sea wind is too loud, pull the blanket over your head.”

You wrote: “I tried cooking for myself today. That lousy pot I salvaged from the sea got burned, and I almost set the house on fire.”

She replied: “Little Qiqi, you really are still as clumsy as ever. Don’t eat anything that’s been burned—it’ll give you a stomachache.”

You read every note one by one and carefully put them away.

You had a small wooden box specifically for Liguang’s notes.

At first, there were only a few. Later, they piled up into a thick stack.

Every night before bed, you would look through them, regretting the loss of the very first note.

The one that said, “Little Qiqi, you did pretty well today~ Here’s a reward of survival supplies. Make sure you stay alive, okay? Otherwise… hee-hee!”

You couldn’t find it. You had searched every corner of the raft, but it was nowhere to be found.

Whenever you thought about it, you felt an unbearable sense of loss.

After all, it had been the first one.

Your life had become lively, too.

Even though there was still no one by your side, even though you could only communicate three times a day, you no longer felt as lonely as before.

You looked forward to every wooden crate that came drifting slowly toward you.

…

But the longer this went on, the more impossible it became to suppress the question in your heart.

Where was Liguang?

Why could she see you? Why could she send you food?

Why did she play this game of sending messages in bottles across the sea, day after day?

You didn’t know.

But sometimes, you imagined that Liguang might be somewhere nearby.

Perhaps while you were asleep, she would row a small boat quietly across the surface of the sea and stop beside your ever-expanding platform.

She would drop anchor, take off her shoes, and step barefoot onto your deck.

She would pass your little cabin and walk over to where you slept. Then she would crouch down and quietly watch you in your sleep.

Perhaps she had already come many times without your knowledge.

The thought made you feel safe.

It also made you feel ashamed.

You seemed to have truly stopped caring about what she had done to you in the past.

…

…

On the fortieth day, you decided to officially rename the raft “Home at Sea.”

You wrote about your decision in a note and sent it to Liguang.

The next day, she replied:

[Congratulations, Little Qiqi! Then make sure to celebrate properly tonight. Liguang has a gift for you.]

That evening, you really did receive a gift.

The wooden crate was pushed by the waves to the edge of your platform.

It was incredibly heavy. It took every ounce of your strength to haul it up.

When you opened it…

Inside was a complete set of cooking utensils!

A pot, bowls, ladles, a basin, a kitchen knife, a cutting board—even a small jar of salt and a bottle of soy sauce!

At the very top lay a note:

[Little Qiqi should cook for himself once in a while, too.]

[Liguang might be a little busy lately… There may be times when she can’t cook for you.]

[When Liguang isn’t around, Little Qiqi still has to eat properly. That’s the only way Liguang can stop worrying about you.]

Busy, huh?

So that was how it was.

You carried the cooking utensils into the cabin and set them beside the stove. Now your “Home at Sea” looked even more like a real home.

In the days that followed…

Liguang’s wooden crates really did occasionally fail to arrive.

Whenever that happened, you would sit by the edge of the raft for a long time. Only when your stomach began to growl would you get up and go back inside to cook for yourself.

You began trying to recreate the dishes she had made for you: fish soup, grilled fish, seaweed salad.

Your cooking was, of course, nowhere near as good as Liguang’s. The flavor was always slightly off, but you still prepared each dish carefully and ate it with equal seriousness.

You thought that when you finally met Liguang…

You would definitely make her taste your cooking.

…

…

On the sixty-third day, the platform officially surpassed one hundred square meters.

You had planted seaweed and several green plants that you had no idea where they had come from.

You planted them in flowerpots made from wooden crates and arranged them crookedly outside the cabin.

You sat at the edge of the deck with your legs dangling in the air, watching the sunset on the horizon.

You thought that if someone were looking down from the sky right now, they would surely see…

A foolish-looking man sitting in front of a lonely little cabin floating in the middle of the ocean, waiting for something.

What were you waiting for?

For someone who could sit here with you and watch the sunset.

Your platform now had two-story cabins, a terrace, wind chimes, dried fish hanging out to dry, and a “sofa” cobbled together from scraps of cloth and wood.

It wobbled and creaked whenever you sat down, but it was surprisingly comfortable.

You thought, If only Liguang were here. She could sit on that battered sofa and rest her head against your shoulder.

You began imagining all sorts of things you could do “together with Liguang.”

You wanted to fish with her, lean against her while watching the sunset, and remodel the little house you had built with your own hands alongside her.

So you decided—

1. Find a way to reply to Liguang and ask where she was, telling her that you wanted to see her.

2. Do nothing and let things continue like this. It was pretty nice as it was. You didn’t want to change anything—and you were even more afraid of being rejected.

3. You were tired. You decided to jump into the sea and kill yourself. Perhaps you could return and see your yandere girlfriend.

You chose 1.

You knew that sooner or later, you would have to ask.

You went back inside, spread out a sheet of paper, and began writing. You crossed things out, started over, paused, and continued.

You wrote about how long it had been since you had spoken to another person.

You wrote about how much you wanted her to taste the fish you had caught yourself.

You wrote about how much you wanted to see her standing on your raft.

You wrote…

“Liguang, could you come and see me?”

By the time you finished, it was already dark.

The sea wind blew in through the cracks around the window, making the corners of the paper curl gently.

You tucked the note into a wooden crate and pushed it out to sea.

You stood there, watching as the waves carried the crate farther and farther away. Under the moonlight, it became a tiny, bobbing shadow.

You clenched your fists.

…

…

But for the next three days, no new wooden crate appeared on the surface of the sea.

You panicked.

You began to regret asking that question.

Maybe she was angry.

Maybe she simply didn’t want to see you.

Maybe she was only a ghost watching over you, unable to leave that stretch of ocean you could never reach…

Three days passed without a crate.

Not a single one.

You sat at the edge of the raft and called her name over and over into the empty sea.

“Liguang… Liguang…”

On the night of the third day, you felt as if you were about to break down completely.

Perhaps next time, you really should choose…!

But on the fourth day, a new wooden crate finally came drifting in.

You rushed out of the hut, threw out the hook, and hauled it up!

Inside, just like before, were two bottles of water, a meal, and a note.

Your hands trembling, you unfolded the note:

“Little Qiqi, Liguang really wants to see you too. But Liguang is so scared.”

“Little Qiqi, have you forgiven Liguang?”

“Liguang did so many terrible things to you before. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“Even someone like this Liguang… can you really accept her?”

You stared at those few lines and sat on the deck for a long time.

You were a little angry.

So she had left you hanging for three whole days over something so trivial?

Just because she had broken all four of your limbs before… something so trivial…!

You fell silent.

…Was that really something trivial?

You held the note in your hands and read it over and over.

Then you went back inside, picked up a pen, and after hesitating for quite a while, finally began to write.

You wrote:

“I can. Whatever Liguang does, I can accept it all. Come back, okay?”

“I’m not afraid of you anymore. Really. Liguang, come see me.”

You put the note into the wooden crate and pushed it back out to sea.

This time, the crate returned very quickly—before it was even time for dinner.

When you opened it, there was no food inside, only a note:

“Really? Little Qiqi really won’t run away?”

“Little Qiqi really will keep waiting here for Liguang?”

You replied:

“I won’t run. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll wait for you right here, on this sea.”

After pushing the crate back into the water, you returned to the wooden hut and started tidying up.

You polished the cooking utensils she had given you until they gleamed, then swept the wood shavings off the deck.

You straightened the flowerpot of seaweed, furled the sails, and polished the seashell wind chime you had made until it glittered.

You even used a small knife made from a seashell to scrape your beard.

Then you made a decision—

1. Go to bed early tonight, get plenty of rest, and welcome her looking your very best.

2. You couldn’t sleep anyway, so you decided not to sleep at all. You would sit out on the terrace and wait—keep waiting until she came.

3. It was all a hallucination. She wasn’t coming. You decided to jump into the sea and kill yourself. Maybe then you could return and see your yandere girlfriend.

You chose 2.

You sat at the edge of the terrace with your legs hanging over the railing, facing the direction from which the crates drifted, and waited.

The sea was frighteningly quiet at night. The only sound was the gentle lapping of waves against the platform.

You kept your eyes fixed on the horizon.

You stared until the eastern sky began to brighten, until the sea was dyed gold by the rising sun.

And then, at last, you saw it…

At the place where sea and sky met, a splash of color appeared—something different from the endless blue!

A small white boat!

Its white sail billowed in the wind as it came gliding toward you from the band of crimson-gold light!

For one instant, your heart stopped.

You stared intently at the little white boat as it drew closer and closer.

You saw someone standing on board!

The rising sun was behind her, outlining her figure in a glowing silhouette.

She waved at you with huge, exaggerated motions, as if she were afraid you might not see her!

You couldn’t make out her face. All you could see was her long hair streaming in the wind.

You could hear the voice of a young girl, carried toward you in broken fragments by the sea breeze:

“Se—npa—i!!”

…?

You stood blankly on the deck, feeling as though the entire world had fallen silent.

Who…?

It didn’t seem to be Liguang.

But…

How long had it been since you last heard a human voice?

Nearly three months, right?

Hearing a voice again so suddenly—even if it wasn’t your Liguang—still made you feel…

your ears growing hot.

You were a little excited.

Even if it wasn’t Liguang, it was still…!

“Senpai—!! This is—!”

The voice came a little closer.

You watched the silhouette waving frantically at you from the sea, and then…

you narrowed your eyes.

Something began to surface in your mind.

The sea wind rose again, and the wind chime rang out with a tinkling sound.

You gazed at the little white-sailed boat drawing ever closer and slowly lost yourself in thought.

Hmm…?

Your eyes gradually cleared.

The sunrise really was beautiful.

My wife really is amazing.

But…

You still felt you were more amazing.

Although some things had gone beyond your expectations, although your own Crazy Girl had gotten the better of you…

you felt that everything was still proceeding according to plan.

No big deal.

So you made a decision—

1. Jump into the sea and kill yourself. Maybe then you could return and see your yandere girlfriend.

2. Jump into the sea and kill yourself. Maybe then you could return and see your yandere girlfriend.

3. Jump into the sea and kill yourself. Maybe then you could return and see your yandere girlfriend.

4. Jump into the sea and kill yourself. Maybe then you could return and see your yandere girlfriend.

You silently watched the white-sailed boat in the distance as the waves suddenly pushed it farther away.

The figure on board was flailing about in a panic, yowling helplessly.

The situation seemed to have become just a little more serious.

But…

Wasn’t this exactly what you wanted?

And so, you chose 4.