★ A unique literary initiative centered on "saying goodbye." In her journey across 49 countries, Cui Xinyue, a post-00s backpacker, took on a special part-time job: writing eulogies for complete strangers. To date, she has penned final "love letters" for 60 individuals she never met.
★ The author’s stories have been featured by major Chinese media outlets—including CCTV News, Real Story Project, Sanlian Humanities, Tencent, NetEase, Sohu, The Paper, and Toutiao—moving countless readers to tears.
★ Eschewing grandiosity, the author focuses solely on the "weight of a life truly lived." Free from superficial philosophical preaching, the writing employs restrained yet poetic sketches. Each story recorded by the author speaks directly to the shared spiritual dilemmas of modern people today.
★ These stories transcend geography, social class, and culture to pay tribute to every ordinary person. They exist to prove one thing: even the smallest, most mundane life is filled with awe-inspiring love, struggle, and dignity. Every life possesses its own moving narrative and a weight that is both concrete and vast.

But life always springs surprises on you. Damn it, I just fell ill like that. If you are hearing this, it means I have unfortunately contributed to the mortality rate of this cancer. But it's alright; I didn't feel as if the sky was falling.
Though there is a hint of reluctance, I’ve accepted it quite calmly. What is it like? It’s like the distant wind suddenly ceasing; you know it's time for the sailboat to furl its sails, and you know the journey is coming to an end.

The only ones I feel sorry for are my parents. When I think of them, a voice in my heart says—wait a little longer, stay with them a bit more.
But some things are beyond human control; illness is an irrational thing. It arrives quietly, yet stabs deeper step by step. I am not afraid of it; I am only afraid that when my parents stand before my grave, they won't know how to walk back.
——*Letters from Afar*

Until I saw someone comment: "In truth, even if he turned into a raindrop, he wouldn't have the heart to fall on you." I saw this sentence while on the subway.
The carriage jolted, and the light from the screen reflected on the glass; suddenly, the words became a blur, so I had to lower my head and lean closer.
In that instant, it felt as if something in my chest had been lightly tapped; the next second, that void collapsed into a surging flood. Parting is a mist-shrouded river that permeates a lifetime.
——*A Moment to Remember*

He actually doesn't remember me anymore. His mind is a sieve that specifically filters out the heavy gold—my name, the way home—it has all slipped through. Instead, some weightless dust, like the half-basket of eggs a neighbor owed him fifty years ago, remains stubbornly stuck in the mesh.
——*A Moment to Remember*

The author records real-life stories from her experience as a "eulogist for strangers." This book collects the life fragments of dozens of ordinary individuals. Through the narrations of the bereaved and the author’s delicate prose, it reconstructs the diverse lives of common people—from programmers and the elderly to foreign youths and border wanderers.
The writing is restrained yet profound, serving as a literary monument meticulously crafted for every ordinary person who never spoke loudly in life.
Cui Xinyue, a member of Gen Z and a backpacker who has traveled to 49 countries, writes eulogies for strangers as a part-time calling. By day, she wanders through various nations in the physical world; by night, she takes up her pen to listen to the emotions of the living and gaze upon the organized legacies of the deceased. To date, Cui Xinyue has written "final love letters" for over 60 strangers.

Among them are:
A programmer from a rural background who climbed the corporate ladder at a tech giant, only to die suddenly at his workstation;
A grandfather with Alzheimer’s who forgot his own name but remembered exactly what his children loved to eat;
A boy making a living selling chocolate along a coal transportation line in Kazakhstan;
Two puppies who were the most important companions in the life of a courier station owner;
A backpacker volunteering in Iraq who was diagnosed with terminal cancer;
……
"One only understands all of this when approaching death."
"Life is a train; it never stops unless you jump off."
"In truth, even if he turned into a raindrop, he would be loath to fall on you; parting is a mist-shrouded river that spans a lifetime."
"But some things are beyond our control. I am only afraid that when my parents stand before my grave, they won't know the way back home."
She writes of the impermanence of the world, of things lost and found, of the pricelessness of a sincere heart, of the weight of longing and love, and of the specific yet vast life of an individual. It is only when one is close to death that one ponders how to live. While hearing about and depicting death at close range, Cui Xinyue is also contemplating and searching for the meaning of life.
In the Sahara Desert, amidst the mournful cries of a mother camel losing her calf during birth, she felt the pulse of death and rebirth. Having witnessed how nomadic families coexist with death in their daily lives, she learned how to face grief: by digging a well in arid land, planting flowers under the scorching sun, finding peace within sorrow, and discovering routine within uncertainty.
"May the years of life not be sorrowful, for there are still dreams and dawns."
This book pays tribute to every ordinary person who continues to love earnestly and live diligently under the heavy pressure of life.

Cui Xinyue
Cui holds an integrated Bachelor's and Master's degree from the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle and the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB). She is a contributor to *Lifeweek* and *Marriage and Family* magazines. Her work *Letters from the Ferry* was selected for *The Life I Am Not Good At*, an anthology from Xiaohongshu’s "Writing Around You" competition. She has curated numerous exhibitions in Berlin and Leipzig, focusing on research and discussions regarding social documentary and related topics. Her initiative of writing eulogies for strangers has been featured by various media outlets, including CCTV News, Tencent News, and Toutiao.

Someone Asked Me to Write Down My Life
Steamed Bun, Steamed Bun
Rusty Exit
Cloudy Day
Mountain Peak
A Moment to Remember
A Letter from Afar
Going Ashore
Stuffed Bitter Melon
The Olive Tree in Dreams
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening