Ji Tong looked up at him in slight confusion.

The boy pulled her closer and examined her face carefully. “Ji Tong?” He curved the corner of his mouth. “That’s right, it’s you. I’ve been waiting here for two days. If you hadn’t appeared, I was going to find the police.” The boy looked down at the withered flowers in her arms and took them from her. His right hand slid down from her wrist and held her hand. “Let’s go.”

Ji Tong followed him inexplicably. She gazed at his back—he was so tall, slender and upright, probably close to six feet three. His tracksuit had a large hood, sleeves rolled up to the middle of his forearms, wearing a black sports watch. His entire being radiated youthful vigor. His shoulders were broad, especially from behind, standing before her like a mountain.

The boy suddenly turned back, and Ji Tong immediately averted her gaze.

His short hair had been blown by the wind into a slicked-back style, fluffy and messy. He pulled her forward to walk alongside him. “I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”

Ji Tong tried to pull her hand free, but the boy wouldn’t let go, gripping it tighter and stuffing it into his own pocket.

How could his pocket be so big? Bottomlessly deep…

“Keep me company for a meal first. I’m about to faint.” His tone was casual, his voice warm and clear, yet carried an irrefutable authority. He pulled Ji Tong into a convenience store, holding her hand the entire time, taking all the remaining rice balls from the shelf and cradling them in his arms, then grabbing two bottles of mineral water.

Ji Tong watched silently as he gulped down an entire bottle of water, then picked up a rice ball and tore open the packaging with his mouth. Ji Tong forcefully pulled her hand free. He looked at her and smiled. “Want some?”

Ji Tong shook her head.

The boy didn’t try to hold her hand again. He peeled off the wrapper in two moves and devoured a large rice ball in three bites, followed immediately by the second, third, fourth…

He still wasn’t full and went to get a cup of instant noodles.

Ji Tong continued studying him.

While waiting for the noodles to soften, the boy spared time to look at her, smiling as he asked, “Figured anything out?”

Ji Tong didn’t answer. She stared into those eyes before her—bright and clear, tender… like water.

“A random man on the street grabs you and you just follow him?”

“No.”

“No what?”

Ji Tong felt inexplicably flustered, actually feeling tremendous pressure facing such a young face. Her heart felt choked, with countless words blocked in her throat, difficult to express.

The boy turned back to look at his noodles, still wearing a brilliant smile. “My noodles are ready.” He stirred the noodles and began eating in large mouthfuls.

Ji Tong watched how he ate. He must have been extremely hungry, but even such ravenous eating didn’t seem improper or crude—instead it had a casual cuteness. Perhaps handsome people looked pleasing no matter what they did.

She had an intuition. Though she didn’t know if this powerful intuition was accurate, she enjoyed indulging in this inexplicable fantasy. Even if the result wasn’t as she imagined, this temporary self-deception gave brief reward to her day-after-day, year-after-year longing.

The boy finished eating quickly. He didn’t drink the soup but drained the other bottle of mineral water, cleaned up the table trash, and took her hand to go out again.

They walked toward a hotel. Ji Tong suddenly stopped and yanked her hand free.

The boy turned to look at her. They stood under a streetlamp, wind blowing gently, scattering the sunset coral flowers from the boy’s arms. The petals tinged with yellow light were swept behind them, floating high and low through the air, never falling.

He looked down at Ji Tong, waiting for her questions. But she was like a bottle of cola that had been shaken for a long time—containing enormous energy that would never explode until you actively opened it. “If you don’t ask, I’ll just tell you myself.”

The boy turned sideways, using his body to shield her and the withered flowers in his arms from the cool evening wind. “I came from Canada. Since the beginning of this year, my brain has been acting strange—suddenly having many unfamiliar images appear, along with some strange dreams, though they’re intermittent and not very coherent. I didn’t know where to find you, until last month I dreamed of a building—that old clock tower west of the subway exit where we just met.” He curved his lips. “It really wasn’t easy to find. I made so many friends and checked countless materials for this. I even got tanned—I wasn’t this dark before.” Seeing Ji Tong still not speaking, he continued, “The instant noodles tasted terrible, but I was too hungry. Otherwise I could have waited for you to make noodles.” He smiled. “I wonder if they taste the same as in my memories.”

“He… Feng?”

“Mm.”

Ji Tong stared up at him blankly. She had fantasized about this reunion countless times, countless times, countless times, countless times, countless times over these seventeen years. But when this moment truly arrived, she couldn’t maintain the calm she had imagined. She was completely flustered now, her heart about to leap out of her chest.

So she turned her back, took two steps forward, and faced a large plane tree.

The boy followed. “You’re not crying, are you?”

Ji Tong wasn’t crying. She secretly reached into her bag, pulled out her lipstick, dabbed some on her finger and quickly applied it to her lips, pressed her lips together, then turned to face him. “No.”

The boy looked at her red little mouth, his heart blooming with joy. “My name is Zhou Hui now.”

Ji Tong silently repeated this name in her mind. “Which characters?”

He lifted her hand and drew two squares in her palm.

Ji Tong felt ticklish from his touch and pulled her hand back. “Zhou Hui.” She looked at him suspiciously. “Are you really He Feng?”

The boy stared at her moving lips, took her hand again, and walked toward the hotel. “Let’s go back and slowly verify my identity.”

Ji Tong pulled him to a stop again. “How old are you?”

Zhou Hui stopped and looked back at her. “Does it matter?”

“You’re still a minor, aren’t you?”

Zhou Hui didn’t answer her. “Do I look like a minor?”

Ji Tong shook her head. “But—”

Zhou Hui interrupted her. “I’m going to get my luggage.”

“What do you need luggage for?”

“Won’t you take me home?”

Ji Tong felt it was somewhat sudden, but deep down she harbored uncontrollable wild joy.

Zhou Hui led her to sit on a sofa in the public area. “Wait here for me then. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

With his long legs, he ran off quickly, not waiting for the elevator and taking the stairs directly.

Ji Tong sat dazedly on the sofa, her back straight. She still couldn’t recover, her emotions extremely complex, as if in a dream. She pinched her thigh once, and amidst the pain went to the restroom.

She usually didn’t wear makeup. With her good foundation, she didn’t need concealer or foundation. At most she carried a lipstick in her small bag for color. She faced the mirror and pinched her face. Fortunately, she had maintained herself well over the years and her skin condition wasn’t bad.

Ji Tong wore a black short-sleeve today with a black and white vertical striped layered skirt below, still in black ankle boots—not a very youthful outfit. If she had known, she would have worn a white T-shirt and jeans. She pulled out a small hair tie from her bag and bound her long hair into a high ponytail, found a pair of earrings from the inner compartment to put on, then took out lipstick to touch up her lip color.

The cleaning lady passed by from behind. Ji Tong suddenly turned and called out to her. “Excuse me.”

The lady looked up at her. “What’s wrong, young lady?”

“How old do you think I look?”

“Twenty-three, twenty-four?”

“Are you just being polite?”

“You look about the same as my daughter, like someone who just graduated from college.” The lady examined her little face. “If she were half as pretty as you, I wouldn’t have to worry.”

“Thank you.” Ji Tong smiled. “You’re too kind.”

Ji Tong took one last look at herself, tucked her shirt into her skirt, and walked out of the restroom happily. Just as she turned into the corridor, she saw Zhou Hui standing by the wall with his suitcase. She was so startled she stepped back. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought you’d been scared off by me. I asked the front desk and they said you went to the restroom.” He looked at her tied-up hair, exposing her slender neck. “Beautiful.”

Ji Tong’s ear tips grew warm under his gaze. She walked around him, muttering to herself as she headed out. “So hot, it’s really stuffy in here.”

The hotel wasn’t far from her residence. Just as they reached the apartment entrance, Ji Tong received a phone call. She said to Zhou Hui, “I need to go back to the hospital. You go up first. Room 2304, the door code is… 131219.”

“Okay.”

Ji Tong led him to the elevator and swiped her elevator card. Zhou Hui held the elevator door open. “When will you be back?”

“There’s surgery. It might be very late. You… don’t wait for me.” She stepped back. “Go up.”

Zhou Hui lowered his hand. As soon as the elevator door closed, Ji Tong ran out frantically. There were few taxis at night, so she took a shortcut and ran all the way to the hospital. Fortunately, it wasn’t far.

It was a car accident with three seriously injured people. The emergency department was short-staffed, and since Ji Tong lived nearby, they called her over to help.

Zhou Hui had followed her and run over. He left his luggage and flowers at the elevator entrance and hurried to catch up. Afraid of disturbing her work, he didn’t dare speak to her, just waited on a chair outside the operating room.

A nurse came to ask him something in the middle. “Are you a patient’s family member?”

He was dozing and answered groggily, “I’m a doctor’s family member.”

After three o’clock, the surgery ended. Ji Tong, still in her green surgical scrubs, came out and immediately saw the person curled up sleeping in the chair. She carefully crouched in front of him, admiring his face. This young man before her could be said to have no relation to his previous life appearance. Though young He Feng was also handsome with sword-like brows and bright eyes, his eyes were slightly narrow and his double eyelids shallow. As he aged, his star-like eyes gradually became like quiet deep pools, more profound. Zhou Hui had deeper double eyelids and longer, denser lashes. His features weren’t as sharp as before—more refined and handsome, sunny and clean.

A colleague passed by and asked curiously, “Oh my, where did this little hottie come from?”

“Shh—” Ji Tong raised her finger to signal quiet, then looked back at Zhou Hui. He had already woken up and was looking at her with smiling eyes. “Tired?”

“Not tired. How did you get here?”

“I missed you.”

Ji Tong suppressed her joy and said calmly, “Let’s go.”

Just as she was about to get up, Zhou Hui pressed down on her shoulders. “Your colleague asked who I am.” He raised an eyebrow. “Who am I?”

Ji Tong twisted her shoulders to escape his hold. “You’re a kid.”

“Kid…” He laughed, drawing out his voice lazily. “Then, big sister, can you take this kid home now?”

…