Today she handed in her resignation, received her final paycheck, and from now on, Shen Xifan became an unemployed youth.
Coming out of the general manager’s office, she had a relaxed expression on her face. Taking one last look around the hotel, where she had worked for four years, she realized it held deep sentimental value. Over the four years, this workplace had recorded significant parts of her life.
She recalled the scene on her first day at the hotel, clutching her recommendation letter, watching people come and go in confusion. She was led to the manager’s office by the secretary like a zombie, and her legs were trembling for half an hour after coming out. When she officially signed the contract, she jokingly said that she was born in the hotel and would die as part of the hotel’s spirit. She didn’t expect that three years would pass so quickly, in the blink of an eye.
“There are still longer and more challenging roads ahead,” she told herself.
Back home, she took a long nap, had dinner, and chatted with Su Shan online. Since Li Jie’s birthday, she has become even closer to Su Shan. Perhaps it was because of their shared interests; in any case, they could talk about anything, and it felt like they had known each other for ages.
Out of the blue, Su Shan threw out a question, “Can you be my bridesmaid?”
She was taken aback, then quickly replied with a smiling emoji, “So soon! I’d be honored.”
Su Shan continued teasing, “Do you have time tomorrow afternoon? Can you accompany me to pick out a dress, then have lunch, and maybe catch a good movie?”
Without hesitation, she replied, “Sure, just let me know the time and place. Give me a call.”
The next day, they went to look at dresses. Shen Xifan was surprised to discover that the dress was already made and that it was for her to wear as a bridesmaid. After spending the afternoon choosing, Shen Xifan carried two dresses and two pairs of shoes, feeling a mix of emotions. “I used to hope that after wearing a bridesmaid dress, I could wear a wedding dress, but I’ve been a bridesmaid twice already.”
Su Shan chuckled, “Seems like there’s a line of people wanting to marry you; you’re spoiled for choice.”
Shen Xifan shook her head and changed the subject. “Su Shan, do you think it’s too early for you and Li Jie to get married?”
Su Shan raised her eyebrows, “Early? Not at all. Sometimes when you meet the right person, you just want to spend every minute and every second together. Life is short, spending a few decades with the person you love makes time even more precious.”
Shen Xifan sighed, “You’re making me jealous! Fine, you owe me twice the red envelope!”
That evening, they met at a Cantonese teahouse. Drunken prawns, fragrant eggplant casserole, shark fin soup dumplings, crab congee, steamed grouper with garlic and fruit peel, Peking duck, and even the appetizers of sliced pork with cold bitter melon and dried pufferfish were exquisite. However, the six males at the table, or more accurately, five men and a boy, ignored the food and instead bickered and made noise.
As Shen Xifan and Su Shan entered the private room, they saw Fang Kexin holding a rope, looking quite ordinary, and beckoning them, “Come on, come on, you’re just in time! You’ll miss the fun if you’re late!”
Su Shan smirked, “Coming, coming.” Glancing at the rope in her hand, she joked, “Kexin, aren’t all the ropes the same? Don’t favor your big brother!”
Fang Kexin spat, “I should find you a longer rope so your husband can discipline you properly!”
Only Shen Xifan seemed puzzled, feeling like a statue, while He Shouzheng winked at her. She muttered to herself, “What’s going on?”
Su Shan pulled her to sit down, and Qiu Tian reached out to take the rope, explaining as he handed it over, “Us guys…” He paused, feeling something wasn’t right, then turned to ask He Shouzheng, “He Shouwu, are we guys?”
He Shouzheng snorted, “Of course, I even know about Li Jie’s make-up exam when he was a junior!”
He Suye burst into laughter, patting He Shouzheng’s head, “Little brat, are you sure you want to be a groomsman?”
Shen Xifan was dumbfounded. “These six people…” She pointed at the rope. “Are they going to duel to decide who’s the best man?”
Su Shan and Fang Kexin nodded solemnly.
“This knot is called a surgical knot. The person who ties the most in one minute will be the best man.”
It was the first time she had watched a surgeon’s hands attentively, feeling an inexplicable reverence. A qualified doctor must undergo such rigorous training even when they are still medical students.
But it was also the first time she had focused so intently on He Suye’s hands.
Perhaps feeling her gaze was too presumptuous, she quietly turned to look at others. The one called “He Shouwu,” He Suye’s nephew, surprisingly tied knots with skill, but unfortunately, children’s fingers were too short and not as agile as adults. After observing for a while, she realized that He Shuye and Qiu Tian were evenly matched.
She secretly hoped He Suye would win.
But in the end, she was disappointed. After a minute, He Suye tied 98 knots, while Qiu Tian tied 101. She didn’t find it surprising; after all, Qiu Tian was a cardiovascular surgeon, which gave him an advantage in practice.
However, the medical students were all surprised, especially Qiu Tian. After a careful comparison, he raised his slender eyebrows, “Sharp angles, regressing!”
On the other hand, He Suye remained calm, carefully wiping the juice off He Shouzheng’s mouth, “I haven’t tied knots in years!”
This statement made everyone burst into laughter. Qiu Tian sighed with emotion, “Back in the day, during exams, tying these knots drove me crazy. I ate, slept, and even tied my shoelaces with surgical knots. Sharp angles slept on the top bunk, and I hung a rope on his bed frame to practice at any time. Two weeks later, I found the rope missing, and he told me he had cut it.”
Li Jie interjected, “Back then, the surgery teacher told us that the record for surgical knots among our school’s students was 128. I almost fainted when I heard it. Feeling quite depressed, I complained to my big brother, and he innocently said, ‘Isn’t that my record?'”
He Suye waved his hand dismissively, “History, history, let’s not bring that up!”
On the other hand, He Shouzheng looked righteous, “Forgetting history means betraying the past!” Everyone burst into laughter.
Shen Xifan couldn’t help but admire He Suye. His candid and sincere laughter made her feel a bit petty. She was willing to admit defeat, especially since they chose groomsmen using this method.
However, she squinted and secretly glanced at Qiu Tian, the man who, according to He Suye, was more cunning than a fox. Always wearing a worldly-wise smile, he had the demeanor of someone who played with life, yet upon closer inspection, he seemed like quite a character.
Two men with vastly different personalities turned out to be the best of friends.
During the banquet, lively chatter filled the atmosphere. He Shouzheng roamed around, unabashedly calling out, “Li Jie, why did you get married? My uncle hasn’t even tied the knot yet!”
Li Jie shot him a glance. “What does it matter to me whether your uncle gets married or not? Call me uncle, kid, no need to hesitate!”
Defiantly, He Shouzheng retorted, “With your failed obstetrics and gynecology exam, do you still expect me to call you uncle?” Then he deliberately leaned on He Suye. “Uncle, why haven’t you gotten married yet? I want double the red envelopes for Chinese New Year.”
Li Jie, frustrated, clenched his teeth. Su San hastily served him a bowl of buckwheat cold noodles, teasing, “Why bother arguing with kids?”
Qiu Tian pondered, “Isn’t this buckwheat a kind of Chinese medicine? I’m not good with Chinese medicine. What do you say, Jianjian?”
He Suye thought for a moment, “That’s golden buckwheat. It clears heat, detoxifies, clears the lungs, and transforms phlegm. It’s used for lung heat coughs and throat swelling. Buckwheat is highly nutritious and effective for preventing and treating diabetes, high blood lipids, periodontitis, and stomach problems. My family’s ancestors used buckwheat husk pillows for decades, which clear heat and brighten the eyes.”
At the end of the banquet, Shen Xifan led He Shouzheng outside the hotel to talk with Su San. He Suye and Qiu Tian left last. Qiu Tian had a sly look on his face, putting his arm around He Suye’s shoulder. “I know you deliberately lost to me. In the last three knots, you paused. I could tell your speed back when we took the exams together.”
He Suye was about to explain, but Qiu Tian lightly tapped his head with a fist. “Spill it, what’s on your mind?”
He didn’t dodge, laughing candidly. The crystal chandeliers in the hotel lobby cast a gentle light into his eyes, reflecting a softness. “It’s not that I don’t want to be a groomsman. First, I can’t drink alcohol, and second, if I were a groomsman, who would take care of her?”
Qiu Tian was taken aback. “People say I’m shrewd, but you’re even more cunning than I am. I’m impressed by you. But it’s fine this way; it’ll give us more opportunities to spend time together.”
He was touched by this. “Qiu Tian, I’m quite unsure about this. I hardly interact with her in daily life. We just live in the same neighborhood and rarely see each other. I don’t know anything about her past. Thinking about it, I feel like I missed the best time in life to meet her.”
Qiu Tian chuckled, “You’re getting all poetic. But in my experience, the best time in life isn’t early or late. For some people, you’ll never love them no matter how long you live. For others, you fall in love at first sight, and they happen to fall for you too. That’s the best and most opportune time.”
He Suye smiled, “You didn’t do worse than me in psychology, did you?”
Qiu Tian was speechless, “Li Jie failed obstetrics and gynecology, and his grandmother is an obstetrics and gynecology specialist! Do you have to think like this?”
He Shouzheng, after all, was just a child. As the night grew late, he yawned incessantly and soon fell asleep on He Suye’s shoulder. Shen Xifan remained quiet. The three of them walked silently along the long main road of the neighborhood.
Suddenly, Suye spoke up, “What do you like to eat?”
Shen Xifan was somewhat surprised. “Why are you asking this?”
He chuckled, “Everyone is coming to my house for dinner the day after tomorrow. Didn’t Su San tell you?”
Shen Xifan realized, “I forgot.” After a moment of thought, she added, “I dislike cilantro, but other than that, I’m fine with anything. I have a sweet tooth, so generally, I’m easy to please.” Then she added, “The buckwheat noodles tonight were delicious. He Suye, can you make them?”
Unexpectedly, Shouzheng woke up and rubbed his eyes. “Little uncle, I want to eat too. Where are we going?”
He Suye was not amused. “Kid, all you think about is food. Do you want to eat chestnuts?”
He Shouzheng put on a pitiful expression, looking like a small white rabbit, and reached out to Shen Xifan. “Sister, carry me!” This made Shen Xifan burst into laughter. “This kid will be talented when he grows up. He acts cute and clever around you, keeps silent around Qiu Tian, and bullies Li Jie.”
In the end, Shen Xifan received an invitation the next day. A friend from college was getting married.
She sighed at her misfortune. With no husband in sight, not even the shadow of a boyfriend, she increasingly felt that for a woman, a happy and fulfilling family was more important than a successful career.
But what could she do now? Cutting apples in front of the mirror at midnight, and surfing the internet for fortune-telling, it was all just futile self-comfort.
In the morning, Shen Xifan took the car from her mom’s workplace to the neighboring city. The wedding was held at the largest hotel in the city. In the lounge, she met her long-lost friend. After several years apart, they both felt a bit awkward, not knowing where to start, so they just smiled at each other.
The wedding was grand, with government cars and military vehicles filling half the space. The groom was stiff, and the bride wore a faint smile on her face, a casual and indifferent demeanor, not like Su San’s genuinely happy smile.
Perhaps it was the beginning of another unhappy marriage. She suddenly thought of Gu Ningyuan, a woman who used to be so vibrant, but ended up trapped in the confines of marriage. The relationship between marriage and love was indeed a subtle one.
Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder, startling her out of her reverie. She heaved a long sigh of relief. “You scared me to death, Dashao, couldn’t you see what kind of occasion this is?”
Ling Yufan snorted. “It’s just an alliance, what’s the occasion? If it weren’t for the connections above having some relationship with my family, I wouldn’t have come.” His tone was full of disdain.
She smiled and pointed at the bride. “Is this how rich people’s marriages are? Diamonds and flowers everywhere.”
Ling Yufan lowered his eyelids and remained silent for a while, repeatedly chewing on the word “marriage.” “It’s either lifelong commitment or playing games in the mortal world. Marriage? For people like us, it’s just interests and power wrapped in diamonds and flowers.”
Shen Xifan understood, and couldn’t help but smile. “I hope the person I marry loves me, and I love him, not for money, not for power, just because I am me, and he is he.”
Shen Xifan remembered the first time she saw Su San, smiling so happily, with her eyes full of joy. It reminded her of her former self, seeing only that person in her eyes, the one who would be the end of her gaze, no matter how far away, she would always follow.
The happiest thing in the world is when the person you love is passionately loving you in return.
But how many marriages in the world are solely based on love?
Forget it, marriage is too distant a thing. Before her eyes were only a vague old love and a seemingly one-sided crush on someone new. And there was the offer to study abroad, it should have arrived today.
Meanwhile, chaos reigned at He Suye’s house. Qiu Tian somehow managed to bring in a laboratory white mouse, which He Shouzheng accidentally released. The kids were excitedly chasing after it, while Fang Kexin cowered in the bathroom, scared. Qiu Tian mocked her, “Little sister, even with a clinical background, you’re so timid?”
Fang Kexin, frustrated, snapped back, “Qiu Tian, stay away from me, I hate you, I hate you!”
Qiu Tian shrugged helplessly and whispered to He Suye, “Did you hear that, Sharp Corners? I hate her too!”
He Suye ignored him, his eyes drifting to the clock on the wall, somewhat absent-minded. He wondered why Fang Kexin hadn’t arrived yet. Could she be working late or did something come up unexpectedly? She hadn’t even sent a call or a text. He got up and called her, only to hear Shen Xifan’s breathless voice on the other end. “I just got back. An accident happened on the street near the entrance of the neighborhood, so I’m stuck here. I’ll be there soon, remember to save me some food!”
He couldn’t help but smile, comforting her, “Don’t worry, I’ll save a portion for you in the kitchen, okay?”
When Shen Xifan arrived, He Shouzheng sat on the sofa, mysteriously calling out, “Sister, I have something fun to show you.” Then a white mouse popped out and squeaked at Shen Xifan.
She was taken aback and accidentally bumped into He Suye behind her. He caught her, glaring at He Shouzheng. “Kid, don’t think Uncle Suye can’t handle you. I’ll discipline both you and Qiu Tian together!”
Qiu Tian looked up from the medical records. “Me? What did I do wrong? Oh, I know, I should have brought a rabbit, harmless to humans and animals!”
He Shouzheng got excited. “Uncle Suye can cook rabbit meat!”
At that moment, He Suye noticed the package Shen Xifan was holding, with rows of English letters and a familiar red shield-shaped logo. No one else noticed, but he urgently wanted to know the origin of that letter.
In the end, he saw it, “School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, U.S.A.”
He saw Shen Xifan sneakily smiling at him, gesturing with her hands, because she knew he had secretly saved a bowl for her as a midnight snack.
Suddenly, he realized his insecurity. He realized he knew too little about her, understood too little, and now he was about to disrupt the only connection and balance between them.
Pulling out a map of the United States, he searched for the locations of Philadelphia and New York, found the application form for the University of Pennsylvania, and quietly made a decision.
Everything was waiting for her to speak up and explain.