Yang Shan was half a fortune teller.

She had chosen the auspicious date long ago, insisting that Chen Xi wait until the seventh day of the sixth lunar month to open.

Chen Xi had originally planned to just set off a couple of strings of firecrackers at noon and call it an opening.

She hadn’t expected that, although her parents weren’t in Dunhuang, both had ordered flower baskets to be delivered.

Section Chief Ma and former colleagues had also sent flower baskets, piling the shop entrance with colorful flowers.

Fan Mingsu was too lazy to come join the excitement.

She had Chen Xi bring Sensen to the shop to play, while she rode her tricycle and took Grandpa Guan out to wander the streets.

Liu Boyang and Qin Zhan came to the shop early to help organize.

Close to noon, Liu Boyang noticed Qin Zhan had disappeared somewhere.

He hung up the firecrackers at the shop entrance and came in to ask Chen Xi, “Sister, have you seen Qin Zhan?”

Chen Xi had just finished taking a call from Chen Mei. She looked around the shop and said, bewilderedly, “I don’t know. He was here just now.”

She walked to the shop entrance and turned back to Liu Boyang, “Come with me to the roadside to pick something up. My aunt and uncle sent us a sheep.”

Liu Boyang looked delighted, “Qin Zhan was just saying to invite Qin Lie and Brother Yang Guan over tonight to barbecue outside. What perfect timing—good omen.”

Chen Xi smiled, “Yeah, let’s go.”

Chen Mei and her husband delivered a marinated sheep and had prepared the barbecue grill, charcoal, and seasonings.

The couple had business in Jiuquan, so they left right after dropping things off.

Chen Xi hadn’t been back in the shop long when Yang Shan’s family of three and Han Susu arrived one after another.

Yang Shan’s husband, Han Chao, saw the barbecue grill at the entrance and said with a smile, “We’ll feast tonight. I’ll go get a couple of cases of beer.”

Yang Shan told him to also buy some fruits and vegetables.

Yang Shan’s daughter Ruirui got excited as soon as she entered the shop and saw Sensen running over enthusiastically.

“Brother Sensen, let’s play together.”

Sensen was only two years older than Ruirui, but mentally seemed at least five years more mature.

He frowned, took out a math workbook from his backpack, and pretended to want to study.

Ruirui snatched his workbook and threw it aside, grabbing Sensen’s arm with her chubby little hands to pull him up.

“Come on, let’s play.”

Sensen was reluctantly dragged up by Ruirui’s persistence.

The two wandered around the shop and came to the small corner door in the partition wall.

Ruirui grabbed the door handle and was about to open it.

Sensen suddenly felt mischievous, grabbed Ruirui’s chubby little hand, and stopped her, “Don’t open it.”

Ruirui looked up at Sensen, who was a head taller than her, with round black eyes.

“Why can’t we open it?”

Sensen said mysteriously, “Last time I opened the door just a crack and was about to see what was inside, when a hand reached out from within, grabbed my arm and tried to pull me in. I barely managed to break free from that hand and escape.”

Ruirui’s big eyes instantly filled with terror.

“Whose hand was it?”

Sensen shook his head, “I don’t know either. Later I asked Sister Chen Xi, guess what she said?”

Ruirui nervously swallowed and asked timidly, “What did she say?”

Sensen replied, “She said there’s no door on this wall.”

Ruirui immediately let go of the door handle, stepped back, looking terrified.

Sensen held back his laughter and said seriously, “You can see this door too. This might be a summons from another world.”

He looked at Ruirui, his tone becoming deeper.

“I’ve decided I’m going to explore inside this door. Do you want to come with me?”

Ruirui hesitantly shook her head, “I, I won’t go.”

Sensen said, “That’s fine, it’s too dangerous.”

He patted Ruirui’s little shoulder and said with a sense of farewell, “If I don’t come back, you need to use your brain when doing homework in the future. Don’t calculate nine plus eight as eighteen again.”

Ruirui was on the verge of tears, watching helplessly as Sensen disappeared through the door crack.

Sensen had shaken off his little tail and walked alone to the VR center side.

He looked around and saw the dazzling array of VR equipment, his eyes lighting up.

Xiao Min was off for the weekend.

Qin Lie was alone, reclining on the sofa, dozing.

He heard movement from the corner door and opened his eyes to look over.

A little head was poking around—it was the little boy who had ridden in his car that day to pick someone up.

Qin Lie watched the child walk step by step in front of him and called out his name.

“Sensen, right?”

Sensen nodded and walked to the giant spherical screen in the center of the venue, his expression awestruck.

“Uncle, can we see space with this?”

He asked carefully.

Qin Lie stood up and walked to Sensen, looking down at him, “Go in and try.”

Sensen’s eyes were full of anticipation as he nodded vigorously.

Qin Lie led him into the sphere, and the black glass door closed behind them.

Qin Lie pressed the remote control, the two spotlights overhead dimmed, and everything around became pitch black.

Gentle music began playing in their ears, slow and with a sense of tranquility, followed by a narrating voice.

“From humanity’s birth through the centuries of civilization, to us as individuals, this seems vast and boundless, but from the perspective of the entire universe, we’re smaller than a speck of dust. So what is the universe?”

On the screen, a bright, narrow arc of light slowly appeared.

In the center was a glowing sphere—this was the view of Earth from the darkness of outer space.

That band of light was Earth’s atmosphere, thin as a ribbon, and the glowing sphere was the radiant sunrise within the atmosphere.

The scene changed, and countless stars began twinkling around them, sparkling beautifully beyond description.

“If we imagine the universe as a vast, boundless painting, then it contains everything—space and time.”

Sensen stared in wonder at the changing starry sky around him, believing he was truly floating in the vast universe.

He suddenly became so excited that he almost cried.

Then the images transformed into spectacular nebulae.

There was the Horsehead Nebula from 15 million light-years away, and the magnificent Orion Nebula.

The Bubble Nebula in Cassiopeia floated like a giant bubble in space.

The Rosette Nebula was like a flower blooming in the universe.

Sensen’s eyes couldn’t take it all in.

He was immersed in the infinite universe, almost forgetting to breathe…

Ruirui stood blankly at the door, staring at this mysterious little door, holding her breath, waiting for Sensen to come out.

Time passed minute by minute.

After waiting for a long while, the door showed no movement at all.

The longer Ruirui waited, the more frightened she became. She raised her little face to look at the giant murals on the wall.

All the bodhisattvas in the paintings were looking down with mysterious expressions, watching her.

She stood under the wall like a tiny ant.

Suddenly, a cold fear rose from her back.

Ruirui’s hands and feet went cold, her eyebrows, eyes, and nose scrunched closer together, and she burst into tears.

Chen Xi was sitting on the sofa, talking with Yang Shan and Han Susu.

The three heard crying and hurried over to see what was wrong.

Chen Xi crouched down, holding Ruirui’s little shoulders, and asked, “What’s wrong with Ruirui? Why are you crying?”

Seeing adults, Ruirui’s tense nerves suddenly relaxed. She buried her head in Chen Xi’s arms and cried even harder.

“Brother Sensen… can’t come back.”

Chen Xi and the others were completely confused.

Yang Shan wiped Ruirui’s tears while asking, “Where did Sensen go? How can’t he come back?”

Ruirui pointed at the small door and said desperately, “You can’t see it, he went inside this door.”

She cried breathlessly, sobbing as she told them what had happened.

After listening, Chen Xi couldn’t help but laugh.

Yang Shan and Han Susu also laughed for a long time.

While laughing, the two women tacitly exchanged glances.

Since Bai Yuning left, this was the first time they’d seen Chen Xi laugh from the heart.

Yang Shan stopped paying attention to Ruirui and walked a few steps away with Han Susu, saying quietly, “Looks like she’s completely let go.”

Han Susu smiled and nodded, “That’s just how Chen Xi is—she can pick things up and put them down.”

Yang Shan looked at Chen Xi and smiled, “Exactly. Only those who dare to let go dare to pick things up. She’s been like this since childhood.”

After laughing, Chen Xi reached up and opened the small corner door.

Ruirui shrank into Chen Xi’s arms, blinked her red-rimmed eyes, and carefully peeked at the door.

She saw Sensen wearing a helmet, holding a gun, playing a shooting game with a burly uncle.

Ruirui sniffled and shouted delightedly, “Brother Sensen, you’re okay!”

While shouting, she broke free from Chen Xi’s arms and ran over to bother Sensen, completely forgetting about being scared by him.

Qin Lie found an appropriate game for the two children and settled back into his sofa.

Soon, the crackling sound of firecrackers came from outside.

Chen Xi’s repair shop was officially open.

Hearing the firecrackers, Ruirui took off her VR glasses and dragged Sensen back to watch the excitement.

Moments later, Qin Lie also got up and strolled through the corner door to the opposite venue.

The shop was cleaned spotlessly, with flower baskets piled at the entrance.

Chen Xi stood in the crowd with her hands in her pockets, watching the firecrackers exploding excitedly at the entrance, looking somewhat absent-minded.

Qin Lie walked to the floor-to-ceiling window beside the main entrance and suddenly noticed Qin Zhan also standing in the crowd, covering the ears of a little girl about Ruirui’s size.

Standing beside him was a petite woman with delicate features.

His brow furrowed slightly.

After the firecrackers finished, everyone swarmed into the shop.

Qin Lie saw Qin Zhan say something to the woman beside him. She shook her head, took the little girl’s hand, and turned to leave.

Qin Zhan crouched down and said something to the little girl, who nodded excitedly.

Then he stood up and led the little girl into the shop.

The woman stood in place, staring blankly at their retreating figures, a complex smile gradually blooming at the corners of her mouth.

She hesitated for a moment, then followed Qin Zhan inside.

As soon as Qin Zhan entered the shop, he saw Qin Lie standing by the floor-to-ceiling window.

He didn’t rush over immediately, first leading the little girl to Ruirui.

Ruirui immediately enthusiastically pulled the little girl to chase after Sensen.

Qin Zhan looked behind him and saw that Chen Xi and Yang Shan had already taken the woman he brought away.

He smiled unconsciously and walked toward Qin Lie.

“Bro…”

Qin Zhan came over and, seeing the big dark circles under Qin Lie’s eyes, immediately asked, “Do you have kidney problems? You look so tired.”

Qin Lie glanced at Qin Zhan speechlessly, turned to look at the woman Qin Zhan had brought, and asked calmly, “What’s going on?”

Qin Zhan followed Qin Lie’s gaze.

He saw her talking with Chen Xi and couldn’t help but smile, then turned back to Qin Lie.

“What else could it be…”

He scratched his hair and bashfully looked down at his feet, “Just… you know…”

He looked up and smiled at Qin Lie, “Pretty, right?”

Qin Lie was speechless again for a moment, “Where’s she from? How did you meet?”

Qin Zhan replied, “Her name is Lin Fang. She runs a noodle restaurant in Yangguan Town. I’ll take you there sometime.”

Qin Lie asked, “Anything else?”

Qin Zhan said, “She has a really good personality.”

Qin Lie looked at the little girl running around with Ruirui and raised an eyebrow, “Whose child?”

Qin Zhan said, “Fangfang’s…”

Seeing Qin Lie’s exasperated expression, he decided to explain clearly.

“Fangfang’s husband died in a car accident two years ago. She’s raising the child alone… It’s really hard.”

Qin Lie was silent for a while and finally just asked, “Do Mom and Dad know?”

Qin Zhan immediately deflated and said sheepishly, “Not yet… I’ll find a chance to tell them later.”

Qin Lie said nothing more and turned to walk back to his side.

As he walked, he looked up at the giant mural Chen Xi had painted through countless all-nighters.

He had spent many of those all-nighters too, sometimes ending at three in the morning, sometimes at five.

Facing the light spilling through the corner door, he’d huddle on the VR center sofa playing games, later simply moving his computer over.

She stayed up all night painting; he stayed up all night revising the third character’s promotional video.

He later heard from Qin Zhan about Chen Xi and Bai Yuning’s situation.

He didn’t know how others got through heartbreak.

But Chen Xi’s heartbreak had messed up his sleep schedule, too.

As darkness fell, charcoal fires were lit in the open space outside the shop.

Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang put the sheep on the grill, and the air gradually filled with enticing aromas.

The group couldn’t wait and started drinking.

The evening breeze blew, flames swayed in the wind, sending up flickering sparks.

Children played and chased around the courtyard.

Yang Shan called the three little friends to the car trunk.

She asked mysteriously, “You three guess what good things are in the car?”

Ruirui raised her round little face, eyes wide with delight, “San Huang?”

Sensen glanced at Ruirui speechlessly, “San Huang locked in the car this long would have suffocated by now.”

Ruirui almost had another breakdown, “Ah? What do we do?”

Sensen: “…”

He didn’t want to talk anymore.

Yang Shan finished building suspense and cheerfully opened the trunk, taking out a small box of sparklers.

“Go play with these.”

Sensen took the small cardboard box and pointed at the big box of fireworks in the trunk, “I want to play with those.”

Yang Shan closed the trunk and shook her head with a smile, “Children can’t play with those.”

Sensen pouted in frustration, feeling like Aunt Yang Shan had lumped him in the same category as that little fool Ruirui.

Ruirui and Fangfang’s daughter buried their head in the small box, rummaging through it.

There were hen-laying-eggs, peacock-spreading-tail, fairy wands, Russian roulette…

The two little girls smiled, showing their gap teeth, and couldn’t wait to light two fairy wands.

Two small clusters of sparks suddenly bloomed in the night, brilliant and dazzling.

Ruirui waved her fairy wand, drawing brilliant trails of sparks across the night sky.

Chen Xi sat on the steps at the shop entrance.

She watched the sparklers’ twinkling lights while hearing the sporadic conversation from Qin Zhan and the others nearby.

The evening breeze carried summer’s warmth and the aroma of barbecue.

Chen Xi’s lips unconsciously moved slightly.

She loved nights like this so much.

Even if there were only one or two such occasions a year, when everyone gathered together to drink, chat, and spend half the evening together.

No matter how hard life was, she could recover her energy overnight and bounce back.

Yang Shan handed her a can of beer and asked casually, “Where’s Han Susu? Did she leave?”

Chen Xi looked left and right, only then realizing she hadn’t seen Han Susu for a while.

She said, somewhat bewildered, “She was the one organizing the drinking earlier. Did she go to the bathroom?”

Looking at the people in the courtyard, she suddenly felt that tonight wasn’t complete enough.

Everyone was here except Yang Guan.

Chen Xi turned to ask Yang Shan, “Why didn’t Brother Yang Guan come?”

Yang Shan said helplessly, “We called him several times. He doesn’t like crowds, told us to have fun.”

Chen Xi turned to look at the small stones on the ground, her brow slightly furrowed.

Brother Yang Guan used to love crowds.

Chen Xi still remembered how, during New Year celebrations in childhood, Yang Guan would always take her and Yang Shan to set off fireworks.

Small firecrackers, rocket fireworks, big roman candles, double-bangers—there was nothing he wouldn’t dare set off.

Yang Guan was also like Sensen now, always wanting to shake off the little tails behind him.

But whenever pestered by her and Yang Shan, he could only helplessly take them along.

He’d play cards with them, go ice skating on the Dang River.

He’d play hide-and-seek with them, pop corn for them, his handsome face always carrying a trace of unrestrained smile.

He wasn’t someone who loved quiet at all.

“Sister Shan, the lamb ribs are done just right, perfectly tender. Give some to the kids first.”

Qin Zhan called to Yang Shan.

“Coming.”

Yang Shan got up and walked over.

Chen Xi watched Qin Zhan and Yang Shan’s husband lift the sheep down together and place it on a large rectangular iron tray on the table.

Yang Shan’s husband removed a piece of succulent lamb rib and placed it on the plate Yang Shan handed him.

“Kids, come eat meat.”

Yang Shan called to Sensen and the others.

Chen Xi watched them from afar for a while, then smiled and stood up, quietly walking toward her motorcycle amidst the festivities.

Tonight’s gathering couldn’t miss anyone.

She straddled her motorcycle and started the engine.

Just as she was about to leave, someone grabbed the back seat.

Chen Xi turned around and saw Qin Lie with one hand in his pocket and one hand gripping the motorcycle, his eyes deep and worried as he looked at her.

Neither spoke.

In that instant of eye contact, Chen Xi immediately understood what Qin Lie was thinking.

He was afraid she’d go crazy and ride off alone in the middle of the night to do something foolish.

Chen Xi felt somewhat speechless but didn’t explain. She just raised her eyebrows and smiled at him.

“Qin Lie, come with me. Do you dare?”