After he left, Lin Weixia didn’t know how long she stood there — not until the thunderous roar of a GTR starting up reached her from the street below, then faded away at speed.

Lin Weixia came back to herself, bent down to pick up the remote, and was just about to turn off the television when Qiu Yan inside the bedroom suddenly called out to her.

Lin Weixia walked in. Qiu Yan was propped up against the headboard, her post-alcohol eyes unusually bright:

“Well? Isn’t he gorgeous?”

“You weren’t even drunk,” Lin Weixia said.

“Ha — you don’t understand. At the party we were playing a drinking truth-or-dare game, and I happened to catch him losing. Ban Sheng didn’t want to answer anything truthful, so his only option was to walk me home. You have no idea how guarded he is — there was a whole car of people coming to send me home. I secretly messaged them all to hold back and not come upstairs, so I’d get a chance to be alone with him. Pretty clever, right?”

“I see. I’ll go make you a sobering-up tea.” Lin Weixia said.

“Wow, thanks — I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had your sobering-up tea. If you really do leave, I’ll miss you.”

In the kitchen, Lin Weixia turned on the gas burner, dropped the chopped apple pieces and dried sea buckthorn into the boiling water, then waited for it to come to a boil.

The pale-blue flame flickered against a face lost in thought.

All this time, Lin Weixia had never had any news of Ban Sheng, and could get none — only Wusuan had obliquely mentioned that Ban Sheng was in Philadelphia.

But she didn’t know which school he attended, or what he was studying.

When Lin Weixia had fought for the opportunity to go on exchange at Penn for three months, there had been a private motive behind it.

People said it wasn’t worth it — after all, it was only three months. Modern people calculate sunk costs and precise returns.

But Lin Weixia went anyway. She thought: what if they happened to cross paths? Even if only to catch a glimpse of him from a distance — to know he was doing well — that would be enough.

Yet looking at things now, that was clearly not the case.

Lin Weixia had just recalled the way Ban Sheng had looked — when he had spoken to her, the artery below his cold, pale neck had pulsed almost imperceptibly, dull and listless, as though nothing of him remained but this beautiful, grim shell.

On Wednesday, an overcast and rainy afternoon, Lin Weixia returned to the apartment carrying her textbooks. She pushed the door open to find Qiu Yan in front of the full-length mirror trying on clothes.

“Going to a party?” Lin Weixia stood at the entryway taking off her shoes.

“Yes! A few of us are going to a bar tonight — want to come? Come on.” Qiu Yan was drawing her brows while talking to the mirror.

Lin Weixia lowered her eyes. Her dark lashes fanned out like a row of sunflowers. She replied: “Alright.”

“What?! Really?! Then hurry and get changed!” Qiu Yan shouted.

Lin Weixia didn’t do much to dress up. She changed into a different outfit, and only paused in front of the mirror in the living room on the way out, hesitated briefly, then took out a peach-toned lipstick from her coat pocket and applied it carefully. After she was done —

Slender dark brows, cherry-red lips. In the glass a cool, captivating face.

The two got ready and went downstairs together. They stood by the roadside waiting for a car.

Lin Weixia held a white umbrella as she waited. It had rained a little — a dull overcast drizzle. The cold wind found every gap — sleeves, the open collar of her coat — and bored its way in.

Qiu Yan leaned against Lin Weixia, the whole of her bundled inside her coat. She accidentally brushed Lin Weixia’s hand and gave a start: “Your hands are freezing.”

“My constitution, maybe? Or the climate? It wasn’t like this back home in Nanjiang, but ever since I came to study in Jingbei, my hands and feet go ice-cold every winter. Probably just too cold there.”

They chatted for a while. Before long a car pulled up, its wheels spinning and scattering white droplets of rain. The two got in, and after roughly twenty minutes they arrived at a themed bar.

Lin Weixia took hold of the antique bronze door handle and pushed inside. A wave of warm air met her. Before her lay a dance floor where people were moving their bodies to the music. The DJ on the stage was playing a fast-paced song that ignited the whole atmosphere.

Qiu Yan knew the place well and led Lin Weixia straight to the bar, where several golden-haired, blue-eyed foreigners were sitting, chatting and drinking.

Qiu Yan went over and introduced Lin Weixia to everyone. The several young university students greeted her warmly. Lin Weixia sat there, ordered a drink, and swirled the ice cubes in her glass.

“Hey, let me message him and see if he’s coming.” Qiu Yan went over to chat with someone else.

Lin Weixia hadn’t put much effort into getting dressed today. She had on a camel-coloured wool coat with blue denim jeans — simple and a little retro.

Her black hair was loosely caught up at the back with a clip, leaving a clean, unadorned face exposed. Her forehead was smooth and wide; her bearing cool and striking. Boys quickly came over asking for her number, complimenting her on a certain classical beauty she possessed.

But all were turned away by Lin Weixia with a smile.

Before long, a glass of orange fruit wine appeared in her line of sight, floating with slices of lemon. Lin Weixia looked up. Standing there was a young man in a grey hoodie, with blue eyes and pale skin.

“Try this — it’s sweet and sour.” The blue-eyed young man said.

Lin Weixia didn’t drink much, but she took a sip anyway. The bitterness hit the tip of her tongue so suddenly that she recoiled, her features all scrunching together.

The young man burst out laughing at her reaction. The small incident broke the ice, and the atmosphere between them warmed to familiarity.

“Is that butterfly on your face a birthmark or makeup? It’s beautiful.” the young man complimented her.

“Birthmark.” Lin Weixia answered.

This retro bar had a string of wind chimes hung at its entrance, so that nearly every time a customer pushed the door open, the chimes would ring out with a clear, bright sound.

Every time a sound rang out, Lin Weixia would instinctively look back — and when she saw who had come in, her long lashes would lower again.

The blue-eyed young man noticed and raised an eyebrow: “Waiting for someone?”

Lin Weixia hesitated, unsure how to begin, then asked: “Do you still have another member of your group coming?”

“Which one? You’ll have to be more specific — we have a lot of members. He went through a list of names and watched Lin Weixia’s face for any reaction; finally: “Are you talking about Ban?”

Lin Weixia’s chest seized sharply.

Some people — just hearing their name is enough to set your heart racing.

“Ha, I knew it — he does have a lot of girls who are crazy about him. He’s in our group, sure, but Ban doesn’t come often. He plays in a lot of different circles, and the kind of scene we run here — he might not even look twice at it. Whether he comes depends on his mood.” The blue-eyed young man explained.

Lin Weixia bit down on an ice cube in her cocktail and swallowed it slowly. The cold sank into her chest. She latched onto the key words and asked:

“What kind of circles does he move in?”

The blue-eyed young man shrugged and changed the subject: “I’m afraid to scare you.”

The remaining half of the ice cube, Lin Weixia swallowed whole. Even the tip of her tongue went numb with cold. She lingered a while longer, then said her goodbyes to Qiu Yan.

Qiu Yan was in the middle of a drinking game with a group of people, too busy to break away, and managed to free one hand to reply:

“Okay. Message me when you’re home.”

Lin Weixia answered with a smile and pushed open the bar’s door. The cold damp air swept in, making her tuck her neck down instinctively.

Outside there was a light drizzle. Lin Weixia opened her umbrella and walked forward along the street. She planned to take a solo stroll and breathe some fresh air.

Lin Weixia was walking along, umbrella in hand, when she passed through a tunnel. Lightbulbs embedded in the ground cast a dim, eerie glow. She was lost in thought when from behind came the thunderous roar of a motorbike.

Before she could react, a rush of hot wind rolled over her. Someone violently wrenched the bag off her shoulder with a powerful tug, and a motorbike sped off into the distance, leaving only a trail of thick exhaust fumes.

Lin Weixia lost her balance, lost control, and fell to the ground. Her body took the full impact — a dull thudding ache all over. Mercifully she herself was unharmed, only her clothes were stained with some mud.

Lin Weixia walked out to the street and spotted a red phone box not far away. She instinctively patted her pocket — luckily, her coat pocket held some coins she had received as change at the convenience store a few days ago.

Although she had been in the area for nearly two months, Lin Weixia wasn’t very familiar with the public safety situation in Philadelphia. She stood at the phone box and called Qiu Yan.

The call connected quickly. Qiu Yan’s lively voice came from the other end, occasionally punctuated by the low murmur of laughter from the people around her.

“Hello? Who is it?” Qiu Yan asked, laughing.

“Qiu Yan, it’s me — Weixia. My bag just got snatched. My phone and wallet were inside. Can you come with me to the police station?” Lin Weixia said quietly.

Qiu Yan let out a sharp “what the hell” from the other end and unleashed a string of curses. She then quickly asked: “Where are you right now?”

Lin Weixia looked at the nearby advertising board and gave the address. On Qiu Yan’s end, she seemed to be consulting with someone. The line went quiet save for faint static.

Shortly after, she came back and gave Lin Weixia an address: “Weixia, it’s getting pretty late. I’m sending you an address — go there now. I know someone who’s extremely familiar with this area. He’ll definitely get your bag back for you. Head over there first and I’ll be right behind you.”

“Alright.” Lin Weixia answered.

After leaving the phone box, Lin Weixia pulled out a tissue from her pocket to wipe the mud from her clothes as she walked. Ten minutes later, she arrived at the address Qiu Yan had given her. She looked up at the sign — it appeared to be a well-known nightclub in Philadelphia.

She didn’t go in. Both hands in her coat pockets, she waited by the entrance. The rain had stopped. The ground was wet. Lin Weixia walked out a little and stood in front of a utility pole, counting how many advertising signs there were along this street.

She was counting the advertising sign for the nightclub in front of her when the attendants at the entrance bowed respectfully and pulled the red doors open. A young man in a black jacket walked out. The lines of his face were smooth and decisive. His dark eyes held a sharp, lethal edge.

A cigarette was tucked between his lips, and a continuous stream of white vapor exhaled past them, dissipating against the wind as it drifted from his slender arms.

Their gazes collided mid-air.

And held there, locked together. Neither looked away first.

But now Lin Weixia could no longer read his eyes. The Ban Sheng of before had been easy to read — he had never concealed anything from her, his gaze extremely candid and unguarded.

Now his gaze was desolate. Beneath those pitch-black pupils lay what seemed to be a frozen lake of stagnant water — with only a single shadow of gloom resting beneath the cold, pale eyelids.

Ban Sheng walked to her and handed her the bag.

Lin Weixia should have guessed from the start — who else could Qiu Yan’s “amazingly capable friend” be but him?

“Thank you.” Lin Weixia took the bag.

Ban Sheng took the cigarette from his mouth and said:

“Don’t mention it. After all, you’re Qiu Yan’s friend.”

With that one sentence he drew a clean, hard boundary between them.

The young man’s upright neck bowed forward as a violent fit of coughing erupted from him. Lin Weixia caught sight of the pale-green veins on his neck flushing red, pulsing visibly.

Looking at his cold, indifferent expression, the hands she had buried in her coat pockets tightened involuntarily. The words “are you doing well” rose in her throat and sank back down again.

Lin Weixia was still about to say something when someone wrapped their arms around her neck from behind. Qiu Yan laughed happily: “Babe, I didn’t come too late, did I? I had James drive me over.”

“You’re not hurt, right?” Qiu Yan patted her chest and glanced at the bag in Lin Weixia’s hand with relief. “I knew Ban could find it. He’s got his ways.”

Lin Weixia gave a slight smile and said she wasn’t hurt. Qiu Yan hadn’t noticed at all the strange tension between the two of them. She knocked her companion on the shoulder and said:

“Hey — Ban did you such a huge favor. Aren’t you going to give him your number and treat him to a meal?”

Lin Weixia took out her phone from her bag and extended it. Ban Sheng put his cigarette back between his lips, took the phone, and pressed in a string of digits with his thumb.

When Lin Weixia took her phone back, her fingertip accidentally grazed his finger — a flash of cold.

Cold enough to make her heart instinctively contract.

In her line of sight, the phone screen lit up in the hand with clearly defined knuckles — the caller ID appeared to be a girl’s English name, though she wasn’t certain.

Ban Sheng glanced at it and answered quickly, pressing his voice down low to respond with a quiet sound of acknowledgment. He mouthed something at Qiu Yan — indicating he had somewhere to be and was heading off first — and Qiu Yan waved goodbye to him warmly.

Ban Sheng brushed past Lin Weixia’s shoulder and left without looking back. The cool, sharp air that was distinctly his lingered in the space he had just occupied — but the person himself was gone.

Finally, Qiu Yan and Lin Weixia shared a car back home. The two girls sat in the back seat. The car window sealed the bitter wind outside.

Qiu Yan had linked her arm through Lin Weixia’s and leaned her head on her shoulder:

“Weixia, do you know why I told you to ask Ban Sheng out for a meal?”

“He turned me down. Fair enough — there are so many girls chasing him. It’s more suitable for us to be drinking companions. So this dinner, you have to bring me along — I want a free meal!”

“Alright.”

The dinner was set for Friday evening. The restaurant Qiu Yan recommended was a Mexican place. When they arrived at eight that night, they found the indoor section completely packed, while the outdoor seating area was deserted due to the rainy weather.

Qiu Yan pulled Lin Weixia inside. The interior was decorated somewhat like a bar, with a drum kit in the middle and a guitar standing to the side.

A television mounted on the wall was cycling through World Cup highlights. Someone was seated at the bar, drinking and gambling on the match outcomes. Lin Weixia and Qiu Yan chose a table and sat down. A server quickly came over with menus.

The two took a menu each. Qiu Yan ordered roast chicken and a pitcher of Lincoln craft beer. Lin Weixia ordered a beef taco and sparkling water.

She was still looking down at the menu when a pair of neatly pressed, dark work-trousers appeared in her line of sight. She glanced further up — the hem of a windbreaker in a dark serpentine pattern, arrogant and easy. It was Ban Sheng.

Ban Sheng sat down beside Qiu Yan — directly across from Lin Weixia. He tossed his silver lighter, a pack of red-and-white Marlboros, and a phone onto the table.

A hand with distinct knuckles rested on the surface, fingers reddened from the cold wind and rain outside.

Lin Weixia was suddenly elsewhere. The server smiled and asked: “Anything else for you, miss?”

“Nothing else, thank you. Could you ask what he’d like?” Lin Weixia replied with a smile.

Ban Sheng spoke with the server in fluent English, ordering a taco, nachos, and a pitcher of craft beer.

For most of the meal it was Qiu Yan who spoke. Ban Sheng would occasionally reply a word or two with languid ease. The drinks flowed. It seemed a familiar someone appeared — a rail-thin foreigner with a loose, dissolute look about the eyes. For some reason, Lin Weixia caught a whiff of something decayed about him — the kind she had seen in people on those dark streets, people who had collapsed into nothing but a shell of skin.

That young man leaned in close to Ban Sheng’s ear and said something. Lin Weixia caught fragments: “Brother… want to… come have some fun.”

Ban Sheng gave a short laugh and responded with a look. Lin Weixia couldn’t read that look. The other person smiled, drained the glass on the table in one go, clapped him on the shoulder, and left.

Before long, Ban Sheng picked up his cigarettes and lighter from the table, said quietly: “Excuse me for a moment.”

Qiu Yan had her head bent, messaging the man she’d just matched with on Tinder. She leaned over to ask Lin Weixia, voice troubled:

“Babe — is the abs photo he sent real or edited?”

“Hard to tell.” Lin Weixia glanced at it, then thought of the figure that had just left, her tone pausing briefly. “Qiu Yan — I need to use the bathroom.”

Qiu Yan nodded: “Go ahead.”

Lin Weixia rose from her seat. She recalled that Ban Sheng had seemed to leave toward the left-hand booth area. She made her way there, weaving through the narrow corridor.

The lighting was very dim here, casting an orange glow across the floor. Lin Weixia searched along both sides of the booths for something — couples pressed together taking photos for a dinner anniversary, men and women tangled in kisses, chaotic groups of teenagers.

She walked to the very end.

She didn’t see Ban Sheng.

Suddenly, Lin Weixia caught sight of a tall, lean silhouette flashing past — it looked like him. All along, her heart had been pounding wildly, out of her control.

She recalled that earlier in the bar, the blue-eyed young man had spoken of Ban Sheng:

“He plays in a lot of different circles. Not into our kind of scene.”

“What does he play? Can’t say. Afraid to scare you.”

Lin Weixia turned to the right side, instinctively looking up — it was a fire exit. She was plunged into complete darkness.

The person had vanished. She had walked herself into a dead end.

Total darkness before her. Lin Weixia had night blindness and didn’t dare stumble forward any further. She pressed her back flat against the smooth concrete wall and caught her breath in shallow gasps.

Suddenly, a dangerous presence drew close. Warm breath exhaled against her face — evoking something cold, damp, and animal — startling Lin Weixia into a sharp cry.

At the same moment, with a click, the sound of a lighter’s gear grinding in the darkness rang out. A cluster of orange-red flame burst to life, lighting the space around them in an instant.

Ban Sheng stood before her. He took a step forward; Lin Weixia instinctively pressed herself flat against the wall. Her throat tightened. His long legs pressed against her thighs. As the fabric grazed between them, warmth spread across her upper leg — like an electric current.

Ban Sheng pinned her against the wall. He raised his eyelids. His gaze drove straight at her. The flame flickered and glimmered, illuminating a stranger’s face.

“Not brave enough yet you still followed me out here.” Ban Sheng gave a low laugh, faintly mocking.

Those pitch-black eyes locked on Lin Weixia’s face, not missing a single expression: “Worried I’d go and do something depraved?”

His eyes carried an appraisal — like a predator in the dark of night. In their depths Lin Weixia could read this: if she dared try to deceive him again, she didn’t doubt for a moment that he would be capable of strangling her.

“Yes.” Lin Weixia met his gaze and answered.

Her eyes had always been clear and bright, and pitiably easy to feel sympathy for. Then Ban Sheng’s lighter flame in the hollow of his palm went out. They were swallowed by darkness again — so quiet that each could hear the other’s breathing.

The next moment, a low voice rang out — close to the cold of rusted iron — carrying a faint note of mockery:

“But what I do seems to have nothing to do with you.”