Fang: Impressive, singing such a childish song in a bar? I’m amazed you came up with that. I thought your previous performance of plucking the moon out of the sky with your bare hands was childish enough, but after all these years, you haven’t just remained childish—you’ve doubled down on it. So, did little brother Li Jin Yu accept you?
Lemon Leaf: Ah, it had the opposite effect. No, he’s avoiding me even more now.
Fang: He’s that hard to pursue? He wasn’t moved? Even I was moved just hearing about it. How did he respond to you?
Lemon Leaf: He said he can’t outplay me, he surrendered and asked me to stop bothering him.
Fang: What a coward, and he seems to enjoy playing games too. How could he not outplay you? Though to be fair, few people can compare to you.
Lemon Leaf: I strongly suspect Li Jin Yu may never have seriously dated anyone before. I’m suddenly a bit excited.
Fang: How did you figure that out?
Lemon Leaf: A player’s intuition.
Fang: Damn? So you haven’t given up?
Lemon Leaf: ??? Is this the first day you’ve known me?
Fang: Meng, have you genuinely fallen in love with him, or do you just want to play with him because he’s handsome?
Ye Meng stared at her phone for a long while before typing: Joking aside, when have I ever loved anyone? But it’s not just playing around either. I have to admit, I’m attracted to him.
Fang: How so?
Lemon Leaf: I just don’t want to see him with other women, understand? That day when he went to see Sister Li, I thought he was going to become a gigolo. If Sister Li had gotten her hands on him, I would have been devastated. And I don’t want to see him continue to self-destruct. I want to try and see if I can help him move forward. From then on, make him pledge allegiance to me.
Fang: You twisted sister. So what’s your plan now?
Ye Meng thought for a while before replying: Don’t know, I’ll keep him on the hook for a few days first.
Little did she know, these “few days” stretched into nearly half a month. During this time, Li Jin Yu seemed to have completely vanished from her world. As Spring Festival approached, students gradually returned home, making the once-empty small town much livelier. Even the lines at supermarkets were several rows longer than usual. Walking on the streets, unfamiliar young faces appeared everywhere. Although the small town felt a bit cramped, it was certainly more pleasing to the eye.
“Still keeping him on the hook?”
Ye Meng was accompanying Fang Ya En at the agricultural market in the western part of town, shopping for New Year’s goods. Fang Ya En picked through items, comparing prices at different stalls, before finally stopping at a familiar dried seafood stall. Holding a catfish stick, she shared her insights on pursuing young men.
“Ah, I’ve been busy lately,” Ye Meng said, holding bags of dried squid and crab while looking for more food at the stall. “A few days ago, I interviewed with a media company in the city. I’ll start working there after the New Year.”
“So you two haven’t seen each other during this time?” Fang Ya En asked incredulously.
“Not really,” Ye Meng sighed, shaking her head. “I only saw his grandmother once.” At this, she smiled, her heart clear as a mirror. “The old lady probably wants to matchmake us. She ‘accidentally’ ran into me twice at the entrance of the residential complex. But I haven’t seen her lately either. I don’t know if she’s been discharged from the hospital.”
“Not bad,” Fang Ya En gave an approving look. “You’ve won at the starting line.”
Ye Meng never pursued anyone with desperate persistence, no matter how much she liked them. She was always like flying a kite, maintaining perfect tension. When she doted on someone, she’d go to the ends of the earth for them, but when she let go, it was like releasing a falcon into the wild—completely free.
But she treated Li Jin Yu somewhat differently, sending occasional WeChat messages to check-in. She had finally gotten his WeChat contact through Fang Ya En after promising ten crab dinners, but the precious boy only accepted her request on the third day.
His WeChat name was “J.” His Moments feed was sparse and clean, with only one or two shared articles about elderly health from public accounts. His profile picture was just pitch black, making people think someone in his family had died. Ye Meng later discovered it was the night sky with an extremely faint star in the middle.
On his first Moments post, she saw a comment from Yang Tian Wei: “Hey, bro, why did you change your profile picture?”
Yang Tian Wei had left many comments. He hadn’t replied to any.
After stalking his profile, Ye Meng liked two posts and then occasionally sent WeChat messages to tease him.
Lemon Leaf: Baby, what are you busy with today?
Lemon Leaf: Baby, the weather’s getting cold, wear more clothes.
Lemon Leaf: Baby, is your grandmother recovering well?
Lemon Leaf: Baby, there’s flu going around. Remember to wear a mask when you go out. I sent you a box by local delivery. If you get sick, no one will take care of your grandmother, you know.
Lemon Leaf: Where’s my baby!?
Li Jin Yu only replied once—
J.: Dead.
After that, no matter what Ye Meng sent, he didn’t respond at all, completely playing dead. Ye Meng stopped teasing him too, deciding to loosen the kite string. She put her phone aside and seriously started job hunting. Before she knew it, more than half a month had passed.
As the New Year approached, the agricultural market was crowded and noisy. People swarmed around the long rows of stalls in the alley, bustling among chickens, ducks, and fish. Fang Ya En was returning to her village for the New Year and had bought a mess of holiday goods. She was currently engaged in a verbal battle with a vendor, haggling over prices. Ye Meng, with her head aching from the overwhelming fishy smell, decided to go to the alley entrance for a smoke.
Outside the alley was a small square where grandmothers danced. During the New Year season, when space was at a premium, the Urban Management Bureau temporarily cleared it for customers coming to buy holiday goods to park.
Ye Meng emptied her mind, leaning against an electric pole at the alley entrance, taking occasional drags on her cigarette, her gaze somewhat unfocused as she watched several children laughing and chasing a ball. She was considered one of the most beautiful women in this small town. Her features were delicate but not excessively refined or sultry. Wearing light makeup, her eyes and eyebrows conveyed gentleness, with the boldness and restraint of a mature woman. When she laughed and joked with people, she looked like a young girl.
Those children darted around in her line of sight. Finding her pretty, they called out “Sister, sister,” wanting to talk to her. Ye Meng chatted casually with the children, somehow finding plenty of common topics.
The children were amazed by her, thinking this big sister seemed to know everything. Excited, they called over a large group of spirited kids from across the street, gathering around to listen to Ye Meng make up stories for them.
Seeing the crowd growing too large to control, Ye Meng hurriedly finished the story and clapped her hands twice: “Alright, the story’s over. Dismissed.”
The children were reluctant to leave, asking about the hero’s ending. Ye Meng smiled ambiguously and said, “You’ll know the ending when you grow up.”
How could a hero have an ending?
Heroes are those who, even when facing the unknown future, always carry a passionate love to save the world.
Just as she finished speaking, Ye Meng casually noticed a familiar license plate. She narrowed her eyes slightly—it was a Beijing “A” plate.
She leaned against the electric pole, lowering her head and casually tapping her cigarette ash, seemingly waiting for the person to get out of the car.
Sure enough, it was Jiang Lu Zhi who had returned.
Dressed in an elegant Chanel outfit, Jiang Lu Zhi stood out. Ning Sui was a southern small town; winters weren’t extremely cold, but it wasn’t the weather for wearing skirts either. And without central heating indoors except for air conditioning, wearing such an outfit in the square would guarantee chattering teeth.
But Jiang Lu Zhi showed no signs of discomfort, walking gracefully in high heels—the typical Beijing elite style. Ye Meng had been the same way during her first few days back from Beijing, earning criticism from Fang Ya En for prioritizing style over warmth.
Now, looking down at the puffy jacket that made her look like a bear, she smiled self-mockingly.
Just as she was wondering how to greet her old friend, she looked up, cigarette between her fingers, and saw Li Jin Yu was there too.
That “dead” baby of hers.
After half a month without seeing him, he had grown even thinner, his jawline more defined. He wore a black cold-weather jacket, left open to reveal a V-neck sweater underneath. His thin neck hollow was deeply concave—another person choosing style over warmth.
No one else got out of the car, just the two of them. Jiang Lu Zhi locked the car, and they walked toward her.
Ye Meng suddenly lost her enthusiasm for greeting them. She grudgingly took a final drag of her cigarette, preparing to return to find Fang Ya En. Unexpectedly, a clear female voice called urgently from behind: “Ye Meng.”
Ye Meng responded with a sound of acknowledgment, reluctantly turning back. She extinguished her cigarette on the trash can, met the other’s gaze, and joked: “The beauty has returned?”
She didn’t look at Li Jin Yu beside her, her gaze unwaveringly fixed on Jiang Lu Zhi.
The three of them standing together certainly attracted attention. Passersby couldn’t help but repeatedly glance in their direction. Jiang Lu Zhi wore heavy makeup, emanating an aura of wealth from her hair to her toes, but her beauty was conventional. Ye Meng’s beauty was bold, casual, and natural, more attractive.
Although the two women had often been compared and privately competed against each other, Ye Meng wondered if she could make small talk with anyone, even Jiang Lu Zhi, unsurprisingly.
Jiang Lu Zhi said: “Yes, I heard from Gou Kai that you aren’t planning to return to Beijing?”
Ye Meng nodded: “Mm, I’ve already found a job here. I’ll start after the New Year.”
Jiang Lu Zhi got straight to the point: “I wanted to find you a few days ago, but I’ve been tied up with family matters. Do you think Gou Kai and I ganged up to set you up?”
Ye Meng smiled, “Does it matter?”
“It does,” Jiang Lu Zhi smiled self-deprecatingly. “We’ve been classmates for so many years. Don’t you know what kind of person I am? I admit I’ve been particularly concerned about your affairs privately, but I’ve never used any tactics to force you to leave Beijing.”
Ye Meng was tired of listening. “There’s no ‘forcing’ involved. I just couldn’t make it on my own. Anything else? If not, I’m leaving. Fang Ya En is waiting for me.”
She never once looked at Li Jin Yu. She knew Jiang Lu Zhi’s vanity. Saying these things in front of her ex-boyfriend was just to make Li Jin Yu think she was beautiful and capable—see, others couldn’t make it in Beijing, but she was thriving.
“Wait,” Jiang Lu Zhi called out to her, pausing for a moment before saying, “Gou Kai asked me to tell you something. If you’re willing to return to Beijing, he’ll come to get you personally after the New Year.”