It's just... they're both gone. Neither his father nor his mother can ever be seen again. There's no going back to sit at the table, pour his father a glass of wine, hand him a cigarette, and say, "Dad, you're truly badass."
Although in Tingting's world, her parents live on in another form, which can somewhat relieve her longing, it's just not the same. Some guilt will remain, forever impossible to make up for.
Someone once said that parents are like a wall standing between children and mortality—a wall that, when gone, means the children have to face death on their own. Gu Tao agreed. Now, whenever the past is brought up, instead of nostalgia, his heart is filled with regret and self-reproach.
"No wonder reincarnation novels are so popular." Gu Tao chuckled lightly, "Everyone did stupid stuff when they were young."
