By the time the two of them reached the house, it was past 2 a.m. The row-house neighborhood was completely silent.

Not wanting to disturb the neighbors, Su Man drove at a crawl once inside the gate, carefully maneuvering the car into the family garage, then led Lu Yuwen inside.

Although she was in her twenties, she had never hosted a guest on her own before, and the moment she stepped through the door, a mild nervousness set in.

Right — what was she supposed to do first? Pour him a glass of water, wasn’t it? Water, water, water…

Su Man hurried over to fuss with the automatic water dispenser.

“Um… would you like it hot or cold?”

She turned around and saw that Lu Yuwen was still standing at the entryway, smiling politely. “Do you have any slippers?”

“Ah, slippers!” Su Man quickly ran over. How had she forgotten that — she should have found him slippers first!

She opened the shoe cabinet, which held a few pairs her family regularly wore.

Su Man was momentarily stumped. Maybe she should have him wear her father’s for now? …Wait, she distinctly remembered her mother had taken Su Ba’s slippers to the hospital — so why was there still a pair here? What slippers had her mother brought to the hospital, then? Did that mean there was actually a spare pair at home after all?

“Guest slippers are usually kept separately — check the cabinet next to that one,” Lu Yuwen suggested helpfully.

Su Man opened a side cabinet next to the shoe rack and sure enough found several rows of slippers, some still in their original packaging.

She turned and gave him a sheepish smile. “I’ve lived here all these years and didn’t know the slippers were kept here. You seem more at home than I do.”

The corners of Lu Yuwen’s mouth lifted. “Let me guess — if you needed a fresh towel, you wouldn’t know where to find that either?”

Su Man was mortified.

Crouched by the shoe cabinet, she nodded awkwardly.

“Do… do you need one right now?” she said with difficulty. “For — for the moment… a wet wipe — would that work? The housekeeper comes at 7 a.m. She’ll know where the towels are.”

Lu Yuwen laughed. “I’m joking. It’s past 2 a.m. — let’s get to sleep. Don’t you have to go to the hospital tomorrow?”

Su Man stood up, feeling very guilty. She had wanted to be a good host, and yet nothing had gone right.

Lu Yuwen bent down and picked out a pair of slippers. “Which room am I in?”

“Oh — there are two guest rooms on the second floor. You can take your pick. I’ll show you…”

Su Man led him upstairs.

……

*You’ll never believe why I moved to… Pekalongan*

They had intended to keep things simple and get to sleep as quickly as possible, but the guest room was bare — the quilts and pillows had all been stored in the wardrobe — and getting the room sorted took some time. By the time they finally lay down to rest, it was nearly 3 a.m.

The most exhausted part of the night had already passed.

Lu Yuwen lay on the bed, unsure whether Su Man next door had fallen asleep. At least he himself was wide awake now.

He stared quietly at the ceiling, replaying everything that had happened today, scene after scene rising in his mind — like probability theory and logic colliding violently, throwing off sparks.

First, the strange dream.

Then, the sudden impulse to head to Shanghai.

Then, he discovered his leg had healed.

Then, he arrived at the scene as though by arrangement, and witnessed a car accident.

And now, he had met a young woman — a beautiful, candid young woman whom he found himself rather taken with.

Lu Yuwen closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The conclusion he was arriving at might sound absurd…

But he truly felt that, by some unseen arrangement, it was as though someone had arranged a match for him.

His body was whole now — he could pursue the woman he liked without restraint. But all of this… could it be wishful thinking on his part?

Lu Yuwen turned onto his side and exhaled softly.

If fate truly existed, then the other party would also have fallen for him at first sight — otherwise the plot wouldn’t make sense. But clearly that hadn’t happened. Even though he’d only known her for a few hours, he could already tell: her heart was entirely set on that childhood sweetheart of hers.

That wouldn’t do…

When it came to feelings, not even a trace of coercion was acceptable. If the other party had no such intentions, any gesture of his would only create awkwardness — and avoidance.

Lu Yuwen closed his eyes.

He’d wait and see…

He needed to observe for a while longer.

—