Wu Man picked up her high heels and ran barefoot all the way onto a taxi.

“To the airport.”

At this moment, she was grateful that, afraid she’d forget to bring her passport tomorrow, she had simply kept it in her bag all along. Now she could fly directly to Hokkaido immediately.

She didn’t alert anyone, quietly changing her flight to the earliest one tonight.

Luggage and such could all be abandoned—as long as she could temporarily escape from Yu Jiaze.

The driver kept secretly watching her, not knowing if he had recognized Wu Man or was shocked that she was only wearing a backless little evening dress in the dead of winter. She couldn’t get her coat—it had been hung by Yu Jiaze in the inner room.

But at this moment, she didn’t feel cold at all. Perhaps it was the heat from running all the way, perhaps the car’s heating, or perhaps the thrilling sensation of rebellion surging through her body—she only felt filled throughout with a hot-blooded fearlessness.

Wu Man felt she must have gone crazy to have developed such courage to resist Yu Jiaze.

She couldn’t explain the reason. That instant of escape was driven by instinct, without any rational thought.

When she heard that poem, a voice thundered in her mind, demanding in a flash of lightning—do you want the person who gave you this poem to actually see Yu Jiaze’s name on your body?

She didn’t dare imagine that look in his eyes, so she fled.

*

After getting out of the car, Wu Man hurriedly bought a face mask at the airport convenience store and put it on, walking quickly through the VIP passage to board the plane.

After getting on the plane, all her rationality slowly returned, and only then did she feel the fear.

She kept surveying her surroundings, unconsciously trembling her leg slightly, terrified that Yu Jiaze would suddenly appear behind the next boarding passenger, walking in unhurriedly.

Just at the last second before the cabin door closed, just as Wu Man was about to relax her nerves, a pair of black leather shoes entered her field of vision.

Her scalp exploded instantly.

Goosebumps spread along her limbs at the speed of light.

She found it difficult to even lift her head at the slightest angle, as if as long as she remained still, the world would be safe.

She focused her gaze on those leather shoes, her sharp nails fiercely digging into her palm, unknowingly drawing blood that dripped onto the dark carpet.

Those leather shoes came closer and closer, heading straight in her direction.

An unfamiliar voice sounded: “Ah, I’ve boarded. See you after landing.”

Wu Man jolted, all her senses instantly returning. She quickly raised her head. The man who sat down next to her had a build very similar to Yu Jiaze, but it wasn’t him.

It was a complete stranger.

After he took the empty seat next to Wu Man, the cabin door closed completely.

Wu Man slid softly into her seat like a spring that had lost its elasticity, a circle of cold sweat around her neck.

Only then did she dare take out her powered-off phone. Opening it, everything was calm.

But the calmer it was, the more panicked she felt.

Yu Jiaze understood this principle too well.

Wu Man notified Zhao Boyu that she had flown early, asking him to coordinate with the production team and arrange for someone to meet her at the airport. After handling this, she turned off her phone again. The lips pressed into a straight line beneath her mask slowly relaxed.

*

After several hours, the plane landed in Sapporo. Wu Man waited until everyone else had left before getting off last.

It was past midnight. New Chitose Airport welcomed today’s last flight. The people ahead gradually dispersed, leaving the entire airport spacious and quiet. Even though the heating was quite strong, Wu Man, wearing only a backless evening dress, still felt cold.

She walked along the jetway. Outside the glass, snow was flying.

Wu Man involuntarily froze, stopping to watch for a while. The sky had no smog, but had a moon. Snowflakes fell rustling with moonlight as their backdrop. Outside the window was clear and transparent, leaving only pure white.

This was Christmas’s first snowfall. If she had followed the original plan, she would have landed at this time tomorrow and would have completely missed this snow.

She couldn’t help thinking—maybe sometimes in life, you need that kind of reckless impulse to be fortunate enough to encounter heaven’s gifts.

Even if it was just a snowfall, she felt it was worth it.

Wu Man rubbed her cold arms, straightened her back, and walked toward the exit. Her heart prayed that whoever came to pick her up would remember to bring her a coat. Otherwise, her pneumonia would definitely make a comeback.

*

Wu Man walked out of customs. Looking around, she didn’t see any staff holding up a sign.

Had Zhao Boyu not confirmed the landing time clearly with them?

She pressed open her phone to contact him. It was dead.

…This was terrible. She had no idea which hotel the magazine team was staying at. This information would normally be organized for her by Wei Wei—she didn’t need to worry about it.

She reluctantly walked to the information desk, showing her phone and saying to the staff in English: “My phone is dead. Is there somewhere I can charge it?”

The other person didn’t understand her English, but humanity’s great body language still made him understand her question.

Unfortunately, she didn’t understand his answer. She said awkwardly: “Pardon?”

The two stared at each other with wide eyes.

Suddenly, Wu Man felt someone lightly pat her on the back.

Her heart pounding, she turned around. Zhui Ye stood behind her wearing a black coat.

Wu Man least wanted to see him right now.

But when he actually appeared before her, she suddenly thanked God for having already passed Christmas, so He hadn’t heard her inner prayers and still sent him to her side.

Zhui Ye’s brows still carried a cold air, his hair dotted with snowflakes. He looked her up and down once, then without a word, took off his coat and wrapped it around her, leaving himself in only a thin turtleneck cashmere sweater.

Still feeling it wasn’t enough, he also pulled off the blue scarf from his neck and haphazardly wrapped it around her neck. Soon, half her small face was covered by the scarf, revealing only a pair of eyes dazed from the cold.

“Why give me the scarf too?”

Wu Man reached to remove the scarf but was grabbed by the hand.

“You wear it.” He frowned, rubbing her fingertips. “Your hands are frozen purple.”

She instinctively expected him to ask next why she had come dressed like this, her brain already rapidly spinning to prepare an excuse.

But he didn’t ask anything.

“Just now when you hadn’t come out, I thought I’d missed you and went outside to look for you.”

“Oh… I got off the plane later.” Wu Man pulled back her hand. “Why would you come to pick me up? I clearly had Zhao Boyu notify the magazine team.”

He said lightly: “Late at night in a foreign country—I wouldn’t feel at ease if someone else came to pick you up.”

Wu Man’s heart was dully struck. She pulled his black coat tighter, wrapping herself more snugly.

So warm.

“You probably haven’t eaten yet?” Zhui Ye touched his stomach. “I’m hungry too. Want to get a late-night snack before going back?”

He was fine not mentioning it, but once he did, her stomach began protesting with a long growl.

Before she could say the words “no need,” she was betrayed by that uncooperative sound.

“Alright… where should we eat?”

“Drive to the city center and go into whichever place is open.”

…That really was his style.

*

The two called a taxi. The car drove very slowly in the snow, taking twice as long as usual to reach the city center.

It was now the early morning hours. Most of the storefronts on the street were closed, each with a pile of thick snow accumulated in front. The streetlights were spaced very far apart. In the dim areas between them, a bright red paper lantern swayed in front of a shop entrance.

The car stopped right in front of this izakaya, indicating that this place was still open.

When getting out, Zhui Ye pursed his lips and said: “Why was this driver going so fast?”

Good thing the gray-haired driver couldn’t understand Chinese, or he would definitely shake Zhui Ye’s hand in gratitude, thanking him for affirming his driving skills.

The two entered the izakaya one after the other. Inside, there were few diners. The remaining few people didn’t care about their arrival at all.

They chose a corner tatami mat. Zhui Ye opened the menu and said: “Let’s eat something warm.”

Wu Man noticed that when he said the reduplicated word for “warm,” he habitually gave both syllables the same weight, like a small child just learning to speak.

She couldn’t help wanting to laugh a bit, saying: “Then let’s have sukiyaki.”

Zhui Ye noticed the smile emerging from her: “What are you laughing at?”

She shook her head, saying it was nothing. She picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea, pushing it to Zhui Ye, then poured another cup and drank it herself. Instantly the cold left her body, and a comfortable drowsiness arose. Those fears and panic all retreated together with the hot tea.

This dim yellow izakaya was like a safe fortress where she could briefly forget everything about Yu Jiaze.

Zhui Ye shrugged: “Want to drink sake?”

“Don’t we still have to shoot tomorrow?”

“Did you forget you came early? There’s no shooting scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Oh, right.” Wu Man thought for a moment. “Then let’s drink a little.”

Wu Man suddenly remembered that in Japan, it was illegal for minors under twenty to drink alcohol. By just a little bit, Zhui Ye would have fallen into this category, though he wasn’t constrained by this law.

It just made Wu Man realize for the first time so clearly how terrifying the age gap between them was.

If the two of them were Japanese entertainers, a few months earlier when he wasn’t yet twenty, if they were exposed drinking like this, she would need to publicly apologize.

These inexplicable thoughts flashed through her mind, and her emotions uncontrollably dropped a few notches. She picked up her phone wanting to use the front camera to check her face, subconsciously wanting to see if there were any new lines at the corners of her eyes, but couldn’t turn on the screen.

Right, the phone still wasn’t charged.

Wu Man poked Zhui Ye’s arm: “Do you have a power bank or charger?”

He nodded: “In the coat pocket. Get it yourself.” He immediately realized something. “The left one!”

Unfortunately, it was a step too late. Wu Man’s hand had already reached into the right pocket. She touched a rectangular object and, thinking it was a power bank, took it out—

It turned out to be a gift-wrapped box.

The atmosphere between them solidified for an instant. Wu Man silently stuffed it back, saying: “Sorry.”

Zhui Ye sighed: “Just leave it. That’s for you anyway.”

He seemed distressed about this gift being hastily given out. In his imagination, they should have been strolling on a deserted street with snowflakes falling like the Milky Way. He would have asked “are you cold?” then casually wrapped her hand and tucked her into his coat pocket, naturally touching this gift.

And all of this was ruined by a damn charger.

“For me?”

“Don’t forget, today is Christmas.” Zhui Ye touched his nose.

Wu Man had a moment of realization and couldn’t help laughing: “So you’re Santa Claus.”

“Don’t laugh. When I was little, I really believed Santa Claus existed in this world.” He took a sip of wine, a trace of blush rising on his cheeks. “Because my mom would always put the present I wanted at the head of my bed on Christmas. Actually, my family was very poor, but she never showed me that poverty. She gave me what I wanted.”

This was the first time Wu Man heard Zhui Ye mention his family.

She had originally thought his relationship with his parents must be quite strained. Otherwise, how could a small child start cooking so early, and how could he run alone into the desert at sixteen?

But that sentence just now made Wu Man feel her guess might not be accurate.

Between him and his family, there should exist very deep affection. Beneath the flat tone was full of attachment.

Wu Man felt genuinely envious from the bottom of her heart.

“When I was little, I also hoped for a Santa Claus who could fulfill my wishes.” She finished an entire cup of sake and leaned against the hard chair back, her eyelids half-closed. “Back then we were learning dance at the Children’s Palace. The teacher said if we hung our wishes on the Christmas tree, he would come help us fulfill them the next day.”

Of course, now everyone knew those gifts were teachers opening the wish notes one by one to read, then secretly buying them and placing them in the classroom.

But the children at that time all naively believed a deity truly existed, including Wu Man.

So she boldly wrote down her wish on the note.

“You didn’t receive it?”

Wu Man shook her head self-deprecatingly: “It would be strange if I had. Who told me to make such a ridiculous wish?”

—Santa Claus, can I have a gentle mother?

This was the wish she had written crookedly on the note.

Then that note was handed to her mother by a teacher she had once talked back to.

The next day, not only did she not wait for Santa Claus to dispatch her a new gentle mother, but instead waited for an even more furiously angry version.

Her mother said, you want me to disappear so badly, I’ll disappear and show you, you ungrateful child.

After saying this, she really disappeared for a whole week, leaving her only ten yuan.

She could only eat one meal a day, dividing the money into portions, buying the cheapest bread at the convenience store.

Even now the impression was deep—that bread called “Caterpillar,” priced at one yuan fifty cents, filled with cheap cream filling. Every time she ate it, she would feel nauseous for a long time.

A week later, her mother came back.

She looked at her coldly and said, do you know how hard life is now? Do you understand what I’ve given up all these years raising you?

She was too hungry. Nodding, she said, I understand. Can I have a meal?

From that time on, she knew that deities were the most tormenting things.

They deceive people into offering their sincerity, then not only fail to deliver, but use that expectation to form an arrow that pierces through the heart.

*

“It’s okay. At least now you’ve received it.” Zhui Ye raised his chin, gesturing for Wu Man to take out the gift. “You can open it and look. I’ll state upfront it’s a small trinket—don’t expect too much.”

Wu Man’s slightly swaying vision refocused. She smiled: “I’m already very happy just receiving something.”

She carefully unwrapped the gift packaging, thinking it would be a greeting card or music box or something similar.

But when she saw what was in the box, Wu Man still froze slightly.

It was a Mount Fuji badge pin.

She inevitably recalled that wrap party night when Ding Jiaqi confessed to Zhui Ye, calling him Mount Fuji that couldn’t be privately owned.

And Zhui Ye replied that Mount Fuji was actually privately owned, just that the person who could privately own him wouldn’t be Ding Jiaqi.

Now, he chose to give Mount Fuji to her.

Wu Man put the pin back, saying: “I can’t accept this.”

Just like that plant encyclopedia—if she had known early on what it meant, she wouldn’t have accepted it either.

But now, she could only act as if nothing had happened, pretending to still be in the dark.

“Why not?” Zhui Ye’s expression was extremely natural. “I bought one for everyone on the magazine team. Everyone gets one.”

…Is that so?

Wu Man was suspicious, yet also realized that perhaps she had been overthinking and being presumptuous… Mount Fuji was indeed the most common souvenir in Japan. And regarding that casual remark when Ding Jiaqi confessed, he had probably long forgotten it. Only she still remembered it for him.

So could that plant encyclopedia also have a different meaning?

She just happened to hear that poem and felt it was fitting. But there were many other poems in the world also related to crops.

But Wu Man’s intuition told her she hadn’t thought wrong. Perhaps this badge was a coincidence, but that plant encyclopedia was not.

But she didn’t dare ask. Asking would mean breaking through, and neither of them could bear the consequences.

“Alright… thank you.”

Wu Man suppressed the twists and turns in her heart. With her left hand, she put the gift in her pocket, then changed pockets to take out the mistaken power bank. Zhui Ye, however, extended his palm to ask for it.

“Let me have that for a moment.”

Wu Man handed him the power bank, puzzled.

He took the power bank and lightly tapped it twice on the casing, muttering: “I get angry just looking at you!”

“…What are you doing?”

Zhui Ye looked completely serious: “Teaching it a lesson.” He handed it back. “All disciplined now. Use it.”

Wu Man didn’t understand the calculations in his head, naturally not understanding why he would take out his anger on a power bank. She inexplicably took the power bank and plugged in her phone.

Because the temperature was too low, the phone didn’t respond right away and wouldn’t turn on. Wu Man didn’t bother with it, leaving it on the table to charge slowly.

The server finally slowly brought over the half-started sukiyaki pot. Zhui Ye stirred open the boiled items in the pot until cooked, scooping out a piece of soft tofu and placing it in Wu Man’s bowl.

Wu Man blocked his spoon: “Eat yourself. Don’t worry about me.”

Zhui Ye was noncommittal: “Then you probably won’t get anything to eat. When others eat with me, they never out-compete me.”

Saying this, he only picked up a mushroom from the pot, eating very slowly, such that it looked somewhat more elegant.

The two famished people divided the vegetables and beef in their bowls between them. Halfway through eating, Wu Man felt her stomach churning.

Perhaps because she’d been frozen all evening, suddenly eating something hot—extreme cold and heat—her stomach protested.

She awkwardly stood up: “I’m going to the restroom. Take your time eating.”

Zhui Ye waved carelessly, eating happily himself, not even raising his head.

After Wu Man left, in a moment, the phone charging on the table finally slowly powered on.

Just as it jumped to the lock screen, a call immediately came in.

Zhui Ye unconsciously glanced at it and saw the caller’s nickname was Yu Jiaze.

The phone rang persistently, continuously.

After finally disconnecting, immediately another identical one came through.

Rushing to be reincarnated—must someone answer?

Zhui Ye stared at that phone, thought for three seconds, and decided to be a gentleman helping others succeed—help him with his reincarnation.

He answered the phone, asking knowingly: “Who are you?”