Pingcheng’s summer was very hot. Even the wind was scalding. The afternoon two o’clock sunlight was intense and oppressive, with wind pouring in through the open windows on both sides of the car.

At such a critical moment—tense to the point where every inch of breath required careful deliberation—Ruan Mian seemed to have lost her instinct to speak.

She had gone all-in during that obscure and unclear secret crush in the past, once thinking she would lose completely. But at the moment when the answer was truly revealed, Chen Yi had shown her his cards first.

Those things that the sixteen-year-old Ruan Mian had once hoped for, even worked toward, but ultimately had to give up—when she had almost given up hope of obtaining them—suddenly became an unexpected surprise.

It was as if through all these years, she had stumbled forward all the way, thinking this life would have nothing more to do with him. Yet unexpectedly, after going around in circles, he had long been standing at her finish line.

In the cramped car, the two still maintained their gazing positions.

Ruan Mian looked at Chen Yi as seriously as he looked at her, but she looked even more carefully. His every breath, every blink—after becoming conscious that these were all real existences, her nose suddenly stung, and tears instantly couldn’t be stopped.

It was a way of crying Chen Yi had never seen before.

Silent and soundless, overflowing from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and jaw to places unseen.

Chen Yi prided himself on having experienced and seen more than others in the first half of his life, but at this moment, he seemed helpless. He could only clumsily extend his hand, using his thumb to wipe away more tears from the corners of her eyes, his fingertips becoming stained with warm moisture.

As if he could also feel her emotions at this very moment.

Chen Yi’s heart felt like someone had squeezed it—not a sudden, obvious sharp pain, but a slowly spreading ache. He lowered his head slightly, about to say something, but was interrupted by a suddenly ringing phone.

Both of them seemed to wake from a dream, pulling apart slightly. Chen Yi withdrew his hand to get his phone. Ruan Mian wiped her face, gently sniffed, and turned to look out the window.

The ambiguous atmosphere that had quietly spread earlier was blown away by the wind, dissipating considerably.

During the phone call, Ruan Mian sorted out her emotions. Chen Yi was also no longer anxious about the answer to his question, but instead lowered his voice to say, “Shen Yu and the others are planning to go back to Eighth Middle School to visit Teacher Zhou after the college entrance exam ends today. Do you want to go?”

Ruan Mian had just cried. When looking at him, the corners of her eyes were still red. “Let’s go. I haven’t been back in a long time either.”

“Should we go now then? They’re at the milk tea shop near the school.” Chen Yi looked up at her. After putting everything out in the open, his gaze had changed from its initial probing to the current frank directness, as if he wanted to devour her.

Ruan Mian’s ears burned. She turned her face slightly to look ahead at the front of the car. “Let’s go then. We don’t have anything else to do later anyway.”

“Okay.” After saying this, Chen Yi paused. His gaze lingered on her for a long time, then suddenly reached his hand toward her.

Ruan Mian noticed from the corner of her eye. Her body’s first reaction was to dodge backward, but the space was so limited there was nowhere to hide. She could only force herself to ask, “What is it?”

Chen Yi laughed softly and withdrew his hand to remind her, “Seatbelt.”

“……” Ruan Mian’s cheeks flushed. She fumbled somewhat frantically for the seatbelt. The movement was too forceful—her fingers got pinched by it.

Chen Yi reached out to help her straighten it. After the car started moving, he withdrew his gaze and no longer looked at her. But Ruan Mian felt as if his presence surrounded her from all sides, wrapping her airtight within it.

Just like the person himself—from that summer night’s fleeting glimpse to the present mutual affection, over ten-plus years, even though they had once been separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, it seemed as if he had never truly left.

……

Around three in the afternoon, the sun was blazing. An SUV slowly stopped at the entrance of a milk tea shop near Eighth Middle School. Perhaps because of the college entrance exam, there weren’t many cars on the road, and few people either, making it seem quiet.

The four people sitting in the milk tea shop almost simultaneously looked out the window. Meng Xinglan, the only one who knew what these two had done today, was just short of pressing a hole in the glass to listen to what they were saying in the car.

But actually, Ruan Mian and Chen Yi really didn’t say much in the car. During those few minutes, they each answered phone calls one after the other.

Without exchanging even a sentence, they got out of the car. Chen Yi’s pace was slightly faster. His clothes in matching colors outlined his figure proportionately and slenderly.

He held the phone in one hand. While listening to the other party speak, he could still spare attention to open the door for Ruan Mian. An electronic “Welcome” sounded at the milk tea shop entrance.

Chen Yi covered the phone’s microphone with his finger and said to Ruan Mian, “You go in first. I’ll come over after I finish this call.”

Ruan Mian: “Okay.”

She walked in. Only Meng Xinglan and the other three were in the shop. Jiang Rang sat on the sofa toward the back. Two days ago at the wedding, the things he’d said seemed to still echo in her ears.

Ruan Mian sighed almost inaudibly and quickly walked over.

Meng Xinglan stood up, blocking her motion to sit down, and smiled. “Come, come, come. Let’s go order. See what we want to drink.”

“……”

Once at the counter, Ruan Mian ordered a pearl milk tea. Meng Xinglan added a dessert for herself and asked, “You and Chen Yi really went on a blind date? So he’s the colleague’s son your dad often mentioned that you told me about before?”

Ruan Mian nodded. Her gaze looked outside. Chen Yi had his back to them, head slightly lowered, kicking small stones by his feet in small movements.

Meng Xinglan’s questions went on endlessly. Ruan Mian couldn’t keep up with answering. Finally, she said, “It’s about the same as what I told you on WeChat. Nothing else.”

As they spoke, Chen Yi finished his call and came in from outside, walking straight toward the sofa seat by the window. Within seconds, Ruan Mian, standing by the counter, received a WeChat message from him.

[CY]: [Transfer] Please confirm receipt

[Ruan Mian]: ?

Chen Yi didn’t reply again. Ruan Mian didn’t accept it either, just finding it inexplicable—why was he transferring money to her out of the blue?

The six of them didn’t stay long at the milk tea shop. After Meng Xinglan finished her dessert, they moved to the basketball court built inside Pingjiang Mansion.

Shen Yu, Jiang Rang, and Liang Yiran had come wearing their basketball uniforms. Only Chen Yi was still wearing leather shoes and dress pants. He handed his car keys and phone to Ruan Mian while unbuttoning his collar, turning back to tell them, “Wait a moment. I’ll go back and change first.”

With his movements, half of his collarbone line was already exposed. His collar stopped at an angle that invited imagination. The black patterned fabric made his skin look especially fair. Ruan Mian, gripping the phone, averted her gaze.

His good looks remained as soul-stirring as ever, day after day for ten years.

Chen Yi smiled imperceptibly and lifted his feet to walk out of the basketball court.

Ruan Mian held his things and sat with Meng Xinglan on the bench at the corner of the court. There were other people playing basketball on the court. Shen Yu went over to communicate and invited them to play a game together later.

Several teenagers who looked only in their teens readily agreed.

Chen Yi came back quickly. He preferred black clothing. His basketball uniform was also black and white, with matching colored shoes and black wristbands. Sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, broad shoulders and long legs.

It wasn’t yet four o’clock then. Sunlight penetrated through the sycamore trees by the tree-lined avenue and fell. He came against the light, as dazzling as always.

Ruan Mian watched him walk over unhurriedly. For an instant, she slowly overlaid his figure with the teenager in her memory.

After a moment of daze, she turned her head and looked away. Her eyes gradually reddened. It might not have been from sadness—it only went as far as reddening, without shedding tears.

Chen Yi had somehow gotten close, standing in front of her, blocking the fierce sun behind him. He frowned slightly, looking at her. “What’s wrong?”

Dust rose and fell on the basketball court. Ruan Mian rubbed the corners of her eyes. “Nothing. Got some dust in my eyes.”

She looked up at him, face raised. That gaze was as if she were about to be separated from him for eight lifetimes—so attached and immersed.

Chen Yi’s heart stirred. He wanted to be closer to her, but the time and place weren’t suitable. Moreover, there were others present. In the end, he only restrained himself, his Adam’s apple rolling, his tone seemingly regretful. “This seems to be the first time you’re watching me play basketball.”

Actually, it wasn’t. Ruan Mian thought this in her heart and said it aloud.

Chen Yi was clearly stunned, but quickly seemed to remember something. His eyes flickered slightly, then he said instead, “How about we make a deal?”

“What?”

“There should be a game later. If I win—” He took a small step back, smiling high-spiritedly. “You have to agree to one thing for me.”

Ruan Mian pressed her lips slightly, preparing for the worst. “……What if you lose?”

Chen Yi seemed to have thought out his answer long ago. “Then I’ll agree to one thing for you.”

Give and take—it didn’t seem like too much of a loss. Moreover, Ruan Mian had always been partial when it came to the words “Chen Yi.” Without hesitation, she nodded. “Okay.”

……

When dividing into teams, Shen Yu still followed the old method, putting Chen Yi and Jiang Rang together. “No problem with this, right? You two are old partners.”

Jiang Rang glanced at Chen Yi and smiled gently. “After being partners for so many years, how about we be opponents for once today?”

Chen Yi adjusted his wristband and readily agreed. “Sure.”

After dividing the teams, an informal basketball game began. Both Chen Yi and Jiang Rang’s momentum was fierce. They had been partners and were very familiar with each other’s defense and offense. For a time, the game on the court was neck and neck.

Cheers mixed with applause.

Sitting off the court, Ruan Mian felt for an instant as if she’d been pulled back to her high school days. The teenager was carefree and unrestrained on the crowded court. She would pass by the basketball court, her gaze and footsteps stopping for him more than once.

He won resounding applause among the crowd. Among all the heartbeats in her long years, he still took first place.

Even though there was an insurmountable chasm of over nine years between them, Ruan Mian had to admit that she seemed to like him even more than she had back then.

Especially in the gaze he cast toward her every time he scored.

That day, the ten of them played for about forty minutes. The final total score was 20:23. Jiang Rang won the game with a beautiful three-pointer.

After it ended, it was already evening. Shen Yu invited those few young boys to eat barbecue together nearby. The group came out from Pingjiang Mansion in a grand procession.

Chen Yi and Jiang Rang walked one in front and one behind in the crowd, gradually falling a few steps behind.

Ruan Mian inadvertently noticed something and looked back. The two of them had fallen behind the crowd, inseparable as before.

It should have been a very normal scene, but Ruan Mian had some indescribable feeling. Her footsteps unconsciously stopped. Liang Yiran, walking beside her, saw this and said quietly, “Let’s go. No need to worry.”

Liang Yiran was the relatively most precocious and mature among the four boys. Ruan Mian thought he probably knew something.

But when Chen Yi had found out, she had no way of knowing.

……

Chen Yi had known Jiang Rang for over ten years. After all this time, he still remembered the scene of their first meeting.

It was the day they first enrolled in their first year of high school. Because he’d stayed up all night, he arrived at school early, found the classroom, randomly picked a corner, and napped there.

He wasn’t sleeping deeply. Later, sensing someone sitting beside him, he instinctively woke up. Looking up, he saw a terrifying ghost face right in front of him.

“Fuck!” He instinctively cursed. His whole body stood up directly from his seat, the movement so large it knocked over his stool.

At that moment, the ghost mask was removed, revealing a handsome face smiling somewhat apologetically. “Sorry, sorry.”

The boy stood up and helped him pick up his stool, then introduced himself, saying his name was Jiang Rang, and asked what his name was.

“Chen Yi.” He pulled his backpack from the drawer with a dark expression, originally wanting to change seats. But by then, almost everyone in the class had arrived, so he had to sit back down.

It was quite an unpleasant first impression. So much so that later, after the four of them became familiar, Chen Yi particularly “targeted” Jiang Rang, but also had the best relationship with him.

He had never thought there would be such a day.

The two walked in silence for a stretch. At a red light, Chen Yi broke the silence. “When are you going back?”

Jiang Rang held the ball in his arms, but unlike in high school, he didn’t spin it while walking. “Still need a while. Waiting for my parents to settle down in Xicheng.”

“Xicheng?” Chen Yi looked up at him.

“Yeah.” Jiang Rang smiled. “I kept forgetting to tell you guys. My dad’s company relocated to Xicheng not long ago. He’s planning to settle there. These days he’s been busy with the move.”

Chen Yi nodded and didn’t speak again.

At that moment, the light turned green. He lifted his feet to walk across the street. After walking a few steps, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind.

Chen Yi had been a soldier for many years. His reflexes were much faster than in the past. But at that moment, he still walked at a steady pace. Within seconds, the person who had fallen behind caught up, bringing a gust of warm wind. An arm hooked around his neck, and the weight of half a body pressed directly down.

Chen Yi’s steps staggered. After straightening up, he laughed and cursed, “Are you a pig, Jiang Rang?”

Jiang Rang also laughed, hugging the basketball as he ran ahead to the other side of the street. Standing there, his finger spun the ball rapidly, smiling arrogantly and uninhibitedly.

Just like over ten years ago, that teenager in the red basketball uniform, standing at the bustling street corner, lifted his chin toward him and said with particular smugness, “I won this time. You’re treating tonight.”

—

**Author’s Note:** Sigh, I also really like Jiang Rang T^T

/Today, I’m promoting a story. Check it out if interested/

“Marriage Without Doubt” by Gu Qingzi

She was the bright moon he glimpsed in passing; he was the scattered stars she accumulated over the years.

Summary: The first time she saw him was in a theater, in the last row. Only the two of them were sitting there. Neither had come to watch the performance.

In the dim light and shadows, one glance, neither paid attention.

She hadn’t expected she would marry him.

Maneuvering, selfish motives, detours, twists and turns.

Love and hate, separation and reunion—like a great dream.

Zeng Jingjing/Li Chengqi

Marriage first then love, reunion after separation