I took a drag on my cigarette and said, "Do you still remember those birds?"

  She was stunned: "Bird?" Something clearly flashed in her eyes. So I knew she had an impression too.

  I nodded and said: "Right, those black, peculiar water birds we saw on the boat that day. Ive never seen them anywhere else. Cant find their species online either."

  The air in the room seemed to suddenly become quiet. Her expression was somewhat dazed, and her eyes were also somewhat empty. This made my heart feel a little uncomfortable, and I took a few more puffs of smoke, laughing at myself sarcastically.

  "She said: Is it you? Her voice was weak."

  I stared at her: "Its me."

  Her expression became unbelievable, and she spoke like a machine gun: "How is it possible? How can your change be so big? Its impossible for someone to change so much in such a short time! And you didnt graduate from a famous university, you were about to live a life of luxury, how come now..."

  "Tan Jiao!" I interrupted her, even laughing and saying, "Nothings wrong, people are bound to change. Theres nothing wrong with me being like this now."

  She stared at me intently and then asked slowly: "Wu Yu, what have you been through?"

  I paused for a moment, looking at the extinguished cigarette butt in my hand. At this moment, I didnt want to hide myself from her. But I couldnt talk about myself either. I replied: "Life."

  She didnt say anything for half a moment.

  I lit another cigarette and put my hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off at once and turned away from me. She was angry, unhappy. But I couldnt see why.

  At last she bit her lip and said, "Lets talk about the bird. I also feel like Ive seen that bird somewhere before. You say on the boat...I remember now. We saw it several times along the way. Whats with those birds?"

  "Those birds are abnormal," I said. "They shouldnt be in the city. I chased them all the way and found they were well-trained and very spiritual."

  "Whats the big deal?" Tan Jiao said.

  I looked into her eyes and said, "Abnormal things are often related to abnormal things. I think they might have something to do with what happened on the boat."

  She was taken aback and said: "What thing? Whats going on?"

  I didnt expect her to react like this, is she really that different from me? I licked my dry lips and said, "Do you still remember what happened after the first day on the boat?"

  Her eyes were a mixture of confusion and shock, as if she had just realized the fact. I suddenly felt a bit helpless, this girl, how could she be so clueless? This matter had always been a hole in my heart, but she seemed to be completely unaware of it.

  "After the first day, everything that happened, I dont remember at all. My memory only starts from when we got off the boat and returned home. Is it the same for you?"

  She moved her lips and said: "The same... but I really didnt realize it before, just remembered that after the trip was over, I got off the boat. Now that you mention it, I found that those few days things, I couldnt remember a single thing. Not even one detail. How could this be..."

  She looked a bit flustered, so I handed her the water beside me. She took a sip absent-mindedly and didnt say anything else.

  I saw her calm down and continued: "So for this whole year, Ive been wanting to find out the truth. But theres been no progress."

  Little did I know, this sentence of mine would push her heart to the edge of an even deeper cliff.