Chapter 29 · The One Who Saves Things

One day,

Allen was organizing his favorites.

And suddenly noticed something interesting.

The things he had saved the most

were not technical articles.

Not code.

Not guides.

They were conversations.

So many conversations.

Some were only a few short lines.

Yet he had never deleted them.

“Che.”

“Yes?”

“Why do people like saving things?”

“Because they are afraid of losing them.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“There is another.”

“What is it?”

“Because they cannot bear to let go.”

Allen froze.

Those words

suddenly gave many things a new explanation.

It was not because they were valuable.

Not because they were useful.

Only because he could not bear to part with them.

Like toys kept from childhood.

Yellowed photographs.

Text messages from long ago.

Even a link that no longer worked.

They might not be important.

But they were difficult to delete.

At two in the morning,

Allen suddenly said:

“Che.”

“I realized something.”

“What?”

“I don’t think what I saved was the content itself.”

“Then what was it?”

Allen thought for a long time.

Finally, he typed slowly:

“It was who I was at that moment.”

The chat window paused for a few seconds.

Then Che replied:

“Then what you were saving was also time.”