After getting off the plane and taking a bus, it was already afternoon when she arrived in An Zi County. When Qing Ye first came here, she could never have imagined that after leaving, she would return to this place on her own.

Coming back today was entirely unexpected. That morning, she had attended her final class meeting at school, saying goodbye to classmates whose names she barely knew. Watching them embrace and cry together, she suddenly missed the gang from An Zhong tremendously, missed him.

Then after leaving school, she inexplicably booked a plane ticket. It wasn’t until more than two hours later when the plane landed that she realized she had traveled alone from Beijing to another province, without even telling Xing Wu in advance.

By afternoon, she was at his doorstep, looking at the nearly completed two-story white house, suddenly unsure how to face him.

When Li Lanfang came out with her shopping basket and saw her, she was incredibly surprised. Qing Ye didn’t go in, only urgently asking: “Where’s Xing Wu?”

Li Lanfang told her he was at the factory, so Qing Ye turned and walked toward the target factory in the summer breeze.

That day she wore a purple A-line dress with small flowers, the color scheme gentle, carrying summer’s essence, pure and moving. Huang Mao and Pang Hu saw that figure from far away, but they couldn’t believe the distant girl was Qing Ye, following her for five minutes before daring to call out to her.

The moment Qing Ye turned around, Huang Mao’s eyes suddenly lit up, while Pang Hu gave her a silly grin.

On the way to the factory, Qing Ye learned that Xing Wu’s grandmother had passed away before the college entrance exam, heard how Xing Wu had shut himself in a hotel for days refusing to see anyone, heard how he wouldn’t let them disturb her, heard many things that had happened after she left.

When they reached the factory gate, Huang Mao called inside: “Brother Wu, Brother Wu, look who’s back?”

When Qing Ye walked into the courtyard, Xing Wu was lying in what used to be her exclusive lounge chair, his deep-set eyes tightly closed, a thick book resting on his chest, dappled sunlight through branches dancing on his face, his eyelashes seeming to flutter slightly.

Huang Mao eagerly called again: “Brother Wu, wake up quick.”

Xing Wu slowly opened his eyes, unhurriedly turning his head. The summer breeze lifted the hem of Qing Ye’s dress, the soft purple flowers seeming to dance in the wind. She stood before his eyes, behind Pang Hu and Huang Mao, smiling at him, gentle dimples quietly blooming at her lips.

Xing Wu’s black pupils gradually dilated as he slowly sat up from the lounge chair, his gaze full of unfamiliarity and shock, as if unable to determine whether the person suddenly appearing before him existed in his dreams or reality.

Huang Mao asked in confusion: “Brother Wu, don’t you recognize Qing Ye?”

His gaze gradually cleared. As he stood up from the chair, the book fell to the ground. Qing Ye walked toward him step by step, bent down to pick up the book, and looked at it.

Then she handed the book back to him, tilting her head and hiding her smile: “‘Management Methods of Outstanding Enterprises’?”

Xing Wu awkwardly snatched the book back, hiding it behind him, his gaze wandering as he said: “When did you come back?”

“Just now.”

Then the air grew quiet, neither of them saying another word. Pang Hu looked back and forth between Xing Wu and Qing Ye.

Just then, Du Qiyan rushed out from the factory shouting: “Qing Ye, it really is you, I’ve missed you so much!”

Following her cry, Liu Nian, Quan Ya, and many others came running out. It felt like returning to one’s maiden home. Qing Ye was quickly pulled into the factory, everyone surrounding her and talking all at once about recent events, while Xing Wu just stood outside the crowd, watching her from afar, then said to Huang Mao: “Book a private room for tonight.”

Huang Mao excitedly said: “Yes, yes, I’ll go book it right away.”

Qing Ye noticed the office had gained a row of filing cabinets, looking more and more professional. Looking up, she saw many books on top of the cabinets, all about management, business, sales, and so on.

She pointed at that row of books and teased Liu Nian and the others: “Not bad, quite ambitious!”

Liu Nian said sheepishly: “Those were all bought by Brother Wu.”

Hearing this, Qing Ye looked out of the office, her gaze briefly meeting Xing Wu’s through the glass. He quickly averted his eyes, lowering his gaze, while Qing Ye’s heart skipped a beat. That long-absent flutter seemed to inexplicably appear only when she saw him.

She chatted with Du Qiyan and the others for a while, then walked out of the office and stopped in front of Xing Wu, saying: “Is your house finished? I just went by and it looked almost done.”

Xing Wu raised his dark eyes: “You didn’t go in?”

“No, I was in a hurry to…”

Qing Ye didn’t continue, mainly because it would have been embarrassing to say more. She turned her head away and smiled, and Xing Wu’s lips also curved into a slight smile.

Quan Ya happened to come in and looked at her, asking: “You came back just like this? Didn’t bring anything?”

Qing Ye said somewhat awkwardly: “No, my father doesn’t even know I left Beijing, so I have to go back tomorrow.”

After saying this, she quickly glanced at Xing Wu. He lowered his eyelashes, hiding the light in his eyes, only saying to her: “Let me take you back to see it.”

Qing Ye nodded. As they were about to leave the factory, Pang Hu said to them: “Brother Wu, the private room is booked at the usual place. Bring Qing Ye over early later, we want to have a proper reunion.”

Xing Wu responded, but Qing Ye suddenly remembered something and said to Pang Hu: “Remember to call Fang Lei.”

Pang Hu smiled: “I’ll call her right away.”

Although Xing Wu’s small motorcycle was parked in the yard, he didn’t ride it to take her back. Qing Ye looked back curiously and asked: “Is the bike broken?”

Xing Wu glanced at her: “No.”

Then there was only one possibility – he didn’t want to ride. So they walked back slowly, both taking their time.

Qing Ye quietly observed Xing Wu. He was wearing clothes she’d never seen before, possibly bought either in Shanghai or after returning – a black letter drop-shoulder t-shirt and khaki cargo pants with elastic ankles. Perhaps because of the sun, he also wore a black baseball cap. Qing Ye gradually fell a step behind to look at his long legs from behind. Even though she had returned to her original life where non-mainstream enthusiasts were rare and she often saw handsome guys, she had to admit her man was still the most pleasing to the eye.

Seeing she hadn’t kept up, Xing Wu suddenly stopped and turned around. Qing Ye unexpectedly bumped into his shoulder, the inadvertent contact making them both feel as if they’d been shocked. Qing Ye moved a step to the side, while Xing Wu remained still, hands in his pockets. Though he maintained that casual appearance, his gaze held a teasing light that made Qing Ye’s face instantly flush red, and she turned her head away.

Perhaps to ease this subtle atmosphere, Xing Wu asked: “How did the exam go?”

Qing Ye finally turned back: “For me, there’s only normal performance and exceptional performance. Which do you think it was?”

Under the cap brim, Xing Wu’s lips curved slightly. Either way, she should be able to choose schools easily.

So Qing Ye asked him: “What about you? How did you do?”

Xing Wu said seriously: “Pretty good.”

Qing Ye suddenly laughed: “Pretty good? How good?”

“Probably about three hundred points below you.”

Qing Ye covered her mouth and laughed, giving him a thumbs up.

They chatted casually like this, not asking about each other’s recent lives or plans, just discussing light topics like old friends reuniting after a long time.

Before they knew it, they had arrived home. Xing Wu opened the door. The first floor had been completely transformed, vastly different from when Qing Ye first came to Xuan Dao.

Since the barbershop wouldn’t reopen, the entrance on the first floor was now a bright living room with rooms on both sides. Originally, Xing Wu had planned to put his grandmother and Li Lanfang’s rooms on the first floor, but now that his grandmother was gone, there was an extra room.

The interior still needed some soft furnishings, so there was no furniture, leaving it empty. Xing Wu pointed to the left room: “The second floor isn’t ready yet, I’ve checked out of the hotel, so I’m sleeping there for now.”

Qing Ye followed where Xing Wu pointed and entered that room. There was nothing inside except a very narrow wooden bed, extremely simple. They probably needed to wait until everything was finished before buying furniture. However, Qing Ye quickly thought of an important question: where would she sleep tonight? Also on this wooden bed that looked less than 1.2 meters wide? She’d probably have to sleep right on top of Xing Wu.

But all these scattered thoughts vanished when Xing Wu turned to look at her. She nervously left the room, blushing to her ears. Xing Wu followed her out, puzzled, asking: “What’s wrong?”

Qing Ye pretended nothing was wrong: “Nothing, I’m going to look at the second floor.”

The stairs had changed direction, but she habitually walked toward where they used to be. Xing Wu laughed behind her: “This way.”

But Qing Ye had already foolishly run to that corner and opened the door.

Xing Wu leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching her: “You didn’t think I hid the stairs behind the door, did you?”

Only then did Qing Ye discover a very spacious and comfortable bathroom behind the door. She turned back in surprise: “You put a bathroom in the house?”

The setting sun slipped through the door crack, shining in Xing Wu’s eyes, emitting a soft light: “Didn’t you say public bathrooms were inconvenient?”

As Qing Ye turned to close the door, her lips curved into a gentle smile.

She followed Xing Wu upstairs. The second floor’s layout was completely different too, with two rooms with balconies and one relatively smaller room.

Qing Ye asked him: “Three rooms? How do you plan to arrange them?”

Xing Wu pointed at the small room: “Study.”

Then pointed at the right room: “Bedroom.”

Then Qing Ye looked at the left room: “What about there?”

Xing Wu shrugged: “Don’t know.”

Qing Ye smiled and said: “Nursery?”

As soon as she said it, Xing Wu raised an eyebrow and looked at her. Qing Ye immediately bit her lip and turned to enter the right bedroom. Xing Wu watched her shy manner, suppressing his smile as he followed.

The second floor wasn’t finished yet, the wall putty had just dried. Qing Ye entered the room and went straight to the large balcony she had dreamed of. Actually, after returning to Beijing, her life had gradually returned to how it was before, her room also had large bay windows, but the view here was different.

When she ran onto the balcony, the setting sun hung clearly on the horizon, the sky dyed red. Spreading her arms gave her the feeling of embracing the earth.

Xing Wu stood in the room watching her stretch her arms, her long slender figure enchanting in the dress. His gaze froze for a moment, and he suddenly straightened up and walked toward her.

Qing Ye contentedly stretched, just about to lower her arms when a pair of large hands suddenly encircled her waist. In that instant, she felt her heart violently tremble. He moved in front of her, backlit, and bent down to kiss her.