Meng Xinglan and Liang Yiran still had work on Monday. They’d booked Sunday evening flight tickets back to Pingcheng. After dinner that evening, Ruan Mian saw them off to the airport. When she returned, she scrolled through her Moments and saw a new post Chen Yi had updated not long ago.

—On a mission, back at the end of the month.

No accompanying image, as if it were a message specifically meant for a certain someone.

Whether it was psychological suggestion from recent events or not, Ruan Mian inexplicably felt some connection between herself and this statement.

As always, she liked it, then clicked into Chen Yi’s Moments to browse idly.

After looking through five consecutive posts, Ruan Mian noticed something off. From Chen Yi’s “Leave ended” post on March 24th to today’s post, there were a total of seven updates.

No comments, and only one like on each—all from her.

Ruan Mian scrolled down to look at a few posts from before March 24th. Almost every one had likes and comments from Shen Yu, with the occasional like from Meng Xinglan on one or two.

But these seven had none.

As if realizing something, Ruan Mian’s heart raced. She looked over those seven posts again and again, that notion in her heart growing increasingly strong.

She still found it somewhat unbelievable. She exited and opened her chat with Meng Xinglan. When typing, she was so nervous that her fingertips trembled slightly. She typed the same sentence several times before getting it without any errors.

Just as she was about to press send, Ruan Mian hesitated again, not daring to confirm whether this fifty-percent chance might be her own presumption.

It was also at this moment that she saw the key placed at the corner of the table—the one Chen Yi had given her before leaving yesterday.

—The key to his home.

Inexplicably, as if courage suddenly found her in that instant, Ruan Mian pressed down. The message sent successfully, but Meng Xinglan was already on the plane back to Pingcheng at this time.

Those few hours felt endless to Ruan Mian, yet never before had she been so expectant of something.

She thought, if the ending was good, then even waiting would be meaningful.

……

At two in the morning, the city was utterly silent. All sounds would be amplified in such deep night, appearing especially abrupt.

In the dark, lightless room, the phone screen suddenly lit up with a vibration, startling someone who hadn’t been sleeping deeply to begin with.

Ruan Mian turned on the bedside lamp and picked up her phone to see that Meng Xinglan had just replied on WeChat.

This moment was like buying a scratch-off lottery ticket, having scratched to the second-to-last digit, just one number away from knowing whether she’d won.

That feeling was both exciting and especially nerve-wracking.

Ruan Mian gripped her phone, unlocking and locking the screen. This action repeated five or six times until she received another message from Meng Xinglan.

The good or bad ending was just an instant away.

She held her breath slightly and opened the chat window.

[Meng Xinglan]: Wait, I just got off the plane. I’ll screenshot it for you later.

[Meng Xinglan]: Image

Ruan Mian clicked on the image. The page showed Chen Yi’s most recent Moments post was the orange cat photo from January.

At this point, everything seemed clear. Even though this didn’t completely represent anything definite, she still had the feeling of winning a grand prize. All those stirrings in her heart, all those bold speculations—at this moment they all seemed to become certain thoughts.

What appeared to be her presumption was actually a hint of mutual affection.

After a while, Ruan Mian replied to Meng Xinglan, then clicked into Chen Yi’s Moments again to carefully look through those seven posts once more.

Each of those periods looked like they meant a perfectly satisfying ending.

She couldn’t help curving her lips. She looked for a long time before exiting.

……

The remaining days continued with routine busyness. Meng Xinglan’s wedding date was set in mid-to-late April for June 6th, coincidentally the day before Dragon Boat Festival.

The hospital used a rotating shift system. Ruan Mian wanted to keep all three days of Dragon Boat Festival free, so she switched several shifts with colleagues and didn’t even take time off for May Day.

After returning from Luolin, Meng Fuping had assigned her many additional tasks—ostensibly exploitation but actually training. It was estimated that by the second half of the year, he would let her independently lead surgeries.

Meng Fuping had always valued her highly. Ruan Mian didn’t want to disappoint his expectations, so she could only work doubly hard. As a result, on May 3rd when Chen Yi called several times, she didn’t answer any of them.

When she called back later, there was no answer. From his Moments, Ruan Mian saw that he would be going to the Southwest Military District for training exercises for a while and wouldn’t return until mid-to-late May.

At that time, both of them were extremely busy. Combined with Chen Yi’s unusual career nature, contact became even more scarce.

After another busy night passed, Ruan Mian learned from Meng Fuping that morning that at the end of the month, the B City Red Cross would hold a commendation ceremony for earthquake relief efforts in Luo Province. He told her to arrange her work in advance and also assigned her the task of writing the speech.

As one of the leaders of the first medical team at the time, Meng Fuping had to speak on stage at the commendation ceremony. He was usually too busy and had no time to write such things.

After explaining the miscellaneous matters, Meng Fuping said warmly, “Alright, hand over your shift and go home to rest. Work is work, but don’t exhaust yourself.”

“Okay, I understand.” Ruan Mian had worked the night shift last night. After handing over to her colleague, she came down from upstairs and ran into Chen Yi’s teammate in the first-floor lobby.

Zhou Ziheng.

He had accidentally encountered a secondary collapse while participating in rescue operations at the scene. Timely emergency treatment had saved his life, but his left leg was left with permanent disability.

Zhou Ziheng obviously also saw Ruan Mian. His expression paused. “Dr. Ruan.”

After saying this, he turned to the middle-aged woman standing beside him. “Mom, this is Dr. Ruan Mian. She also participated in the disaster relief.”

Ruan Mian smiled politely. “Hello, ma’am.”

“Hello.” The middle-aged woman held a stack of forms in her hands and smiled. “You two chat. I’ll go pay the fees first.”

“Alright.” Zhou Ziheng watched his mother’s figure walk far away before withdrawing his gaze.

Ruan Mian wasn’t particularly close with him. At most she’d taken extra care of him in the disaster area. Standing there, she chatted with him for a bit and learned he was doing rehabilitation training here.

The doctor who had performed his surgery was Director Li from Union Hospital’s orthopedics department. After returning from the disaster area, considering Director Li’s familiarity with his condition, he’d suggested Zhou Ziheng come to Union Hospital for follow-up treatment.

The two didn’t chat long. Later when his mother finished paying and returned, they left first. Ruan Mian stood in place watching for a moment before withdrawing her gaze.

On the day of the earthquake commendation ceremony, Ruan Mian arrived at the hospital early in the morning and rode the hospital shuttle bus to the venue with colleagues. Several buses from other hospitals were already parked at the entrance, as well as vehicles from the military district.

Figures in various colored clothing wove through them. She looked several times toward the cluster of people wearing military uniforms but hadn’t yet spotted a familiar figure when colleagues urged her to walk into the venue.

Not long after she entered, several more vehicles pulled up outside in succession. Chen Yi got out of one car, Shen Yu from another nearby.

The group formed ranks and walked into the venue. The sound of shoe soles striking the ground was uniform and orderly, causing many people to turn and look repeatedly toward the entrance.

The third time Ruan Mian turned her head, she saw Chen Yi walking at the front. The man wore a crisp military uniform, his features upright and handsome. He was reporting something to a leader, his expression serious and proper.

But after a moment, having finished his report, he turned to speak with a teammate beside him and returned to that casual demeanor, as if nothing mattered to him.

He also seemed to be searching for something, occasionally turning to look in this direction. Ruan Mian held her breath and straightened her posture slightly.

The commendation ceremony’s schedule had been set early on and distributed to each unit. The second segment was the awards. Ruan Mian followed her colleagues up onto the stage from the left side.

The host was describing the efforts and contributions this group of medical personnel had made on site at the time. Standing on stage, Ruan Mian could see everything below at a glance.

She saw Chen Yi sitting in the third row. Across the rather distant space, she wasn’t sure if Chen Yi had seen her.

But she soon found out.

Chen Yi sat upright and proper below, military cap placed at his side. When Ruan Mian inadvertently glanced over again, he suddenly curved his lips in a smile.

Ruan Mian’s gaze paused. Her cheeks grew slightly warm. She pretended to remain calm and looked away, feigning attention to the host’s words.

Applause rose from below in waves. People on stage changed batch after batch. The entire awards process took three hours to complete.

There were still some other segments afterward. By the time everything truly ended, it was past noon.

Medical personnel and other civilian participants left first. Outside the venue, the sunlight was bright and pleasant. People who knew each other gathered in small groups, chatting away.

Ruan Mian and Lin Jiahui stood under the shade of a tree, waiting for the shuttle bus to pick them up and take them to a hotel for lunch. After quite a while, the people from the military district finally emerged from the venue.

Ruan Mian saw Song Yangling stop Chen Yi at the bottom of the steps.

The two didn’t speak for long, perhaps less than a minute. Chen Yi looked around, then withdrew his gaze. She didn’t know what he said to Song Yangling, but she turned and left.

Not long after, Shen Yu came looking for them, standing there with his hands on his waist. “Liang Yiran and the others are getting married on the 6th. You should be going back on the 5th, right?”

“Right, leaving on the evening of the 5th.” Ruan Mian had worked several consecutive shifts earlier to free up the 6th along with Dragon Boat Festival.

“Then don’t book a plane ticket.” Shen Yu smiled. “Chen Yi and I are driving back on the evening of the 5th. Come with us.”

Ruan Mian thought about it. “That works.”

“Then it’s settled. I’m heading back now. I’ll contact you later.”

“Okay.”

Not long after he left, the hospital shuttle bus arrived. Ruan Mian followed Lin Jiahui onto the bus. Outside the window, military trucks and buses passed each other, driving in opposite directions.

At that time, the sky was clear for miles with a gentle breeze—a perfect season.

On the 5th, Ruan Mian woke up early. Perhaps thinking about the evening’s travel arrangements, her state throughout the day seemed different.

Yang Xingrui from the same department was leaving work and heading to the subway station with her. She asked with a smile, “What good thing happened today? You seem so happy.”

“Do I?” Ruan Mian unconsciously touched the corner of her lips and deflected, “Maybe because I’m off tomorrow. I’m a bit excited.”

“Alright, I really envy you.”

Ruan Mian smiled without saying more. Later, after entering the subway station, the two went in different directions. They said goodbye at the escalator entrance, and she followed the crowd inward.

She arrived home just past seven. Ruan Mian showered first. When she came out, she picked up her phone to see that Chen Yi had sent her a WeChat message ten minutes ago.

[CY]: We’ll probably arrive downstairs at your place around eight.

She replied with an okay while drying her hair with one hand.

After Ruan Mian dried her hair and changed clothes, time had somehow passed. When she received Chen Yi’s call, she was deliberating over which shoes to wear.

She stopped hesitating, chose a pair of flats, and said into the phone, “Okay, I’ll come down right away.”

He chuckled softly. “No rush, take your time.”

That voice was low. Even across the distant space, Ruan Mian still felt as if her ear had been scalded, carrying a slight tingling sensation.

She pressed her lips and made an affirming sound, then hastily hung up.

……

Outside the residential complex, Chen Yi stood by the car. He put away his phone and tossed it into the car. Shen Yu, sitting in the back seat, rolled down the window and leaned on the edge. “Just heard from Liang Yiran that he picked up Jiang Rang. That kid, went abroad and it’s like he forgot about us.”

Chen Yi smiled lazily. “Probably busy.”

When he’d first gone abroad, it had actually been the same for him. The rigor and special nature of his field meant being busy from dawn to dusk, basically with no spare time.

Shen Yu shrugged. Actually, back in high school among the four of them, speaking of it, Jiang Rang and Chen Yi had been closer.

He didn’t know what had happened over these years. He sighed and said no more.

It was already June in B City, the season of summer’s arrival. The evening wind carried a bit of stifling heat. Stalls were set up at the residential complex entrance, the aroma of grilled skewers especially tempting.

Shen Yu couldn’t resist the temptation. He got out of the car and stood there stretching. “How about we eat something before we go? We’ll get home in the early morning hours whether we leave early or late anyway. No difference.”

Chen Yi: “Alright.”

He turned back to grab his phone and sent Ruan Mian a message, then went with Shen Yu to a barbecue stand near the complex entrance.

This time of day was crowded. Chen Yi found a seat and sat down. Shen Yu went to the rack to select skewers—three of each kind. The basket quickly filled up.

He made a trip to the grill to deliver them, then came back to select a second basket. Back and forth, he filled three large baskets. The owner told him to have a seat.

Shen Yu detected a Pingcheng accent in his speech. After chatting a bit, he discovered the man really was from Pingcheng. He simply stood there and struck up a conversation with him.

The owner casually moved his three baskets to the front of the queue.

The two chatted enthusiastically. Chen Yi sat not far away, occasionally looking up toward the residential complex entrance. Surrounding voices were clamorous. Night shrouded the entire city.

A moment later, a familiar figure emerged from the complex entrance. Ruan Mian wore very simple stonewashed jeans and a white T-shirt. Her long hair was loosely tied back. Her gaze swept around as if searching for something.

Chen Yi picked up his phone and typed a few words.

Almost at the same moment, she looked down at her phone, then quickly looked up and locked her gaze here, walking over rapidly.

Due to the angle, Chen Yi’s position allowed him to see her one-directionally.

Ruan Mian’s pace was somewhat quick. Her figure was slender. Her outfit made her look like a student who hadn’t yet left campus.

She was approaching this direction. The dim yellow streetlight gathered around her figure.

Somehow, Chen Yi inexplicably felt this scene was vaguely familiar. Many fragmentary moments flashed through his mind all at once.

A stifling summer, a noisy barbecue stand, a running girl.

These scattered fragments connected seamlessly together without warning in a certain instant, becoming one continuous, complete scene.

Something flashed through Chen Yi’s mind, and he suddenly remembered.

—That was his first encounter with Ruan Mian, a meeting that came even earlier than that classroom full of reading voices at No. 8 High School.