The notebook’s cover had already faded somewhat, the pages inside were yellowed and the handwriting had become blurred, but it didn’t hinder recognition.

Chen Yi opened the first page. Only two lines were written on it—one was a date that held no impression for him and was quite distant, and the other was a phrase he was extremely familiar with.

—August 16, 2008.

—Chen with the ear radical on the left, Yi as in standing tall like a pagoda reaching for the stars.

Chen Yi froze for several seconds, in that instant recalling that sweltering and stifling summer night, recalling that mild-mannered and taciturn girl who was too timid even to make eye contact with him.

After learning of Ruan Mian’s former affection, he had countless times recalled memories related to her, trying to find the origin of this affection from some point in time, yet he had never imagined that there existed a kind of affection in this world called love at first sight.

His offhand remark had been an enduring flutter of her heart through long years.

Chen Yi suddenly realized what this notebook in his hands was. His whole being felt as if his breath had been seized, and the hand holding the notebook trembled faintly.

His Adam’s apple moved up and down. His fingertip lightly lifted, turning to the second page. The paper made a slight sound as it rubbed together, and this page also had two lines of flowing script.

—August 31, 2008.

—What’s wrong.

Chen Yi was not unfamiliar with this date. It was the day school started at No. 8 High School, and also what he had once mistakenly thought was his first encounter with Ruan Mian.

A path wrong from the very beginning had finally found the correct track after more than ten years.

Chen Yi continued flipping through several more pages. Most of the dates and contents were still fragmented and vague to him now.

In those years he didn’t know about, all the girl’s flutters and heartaches seemed unrelated to him, yet were precisely related to him.

He had performed a magnificent leading role in her world, but she had been only an insignificant supporting character.

She came silently, and when she left, no one knew.

Just like on January 30, 2009, she made a wish at Xishan Temple—”May I see him year after year”—while he only carelessly and casually hoped it wouldn’t snow tomorrow.

And on September 1, 2009, she was perhaps sad that he was going abroad, which was why this page’s handwriting bore traces of water stains. But at that time, Chen Yi was frantically busy preparing to go abroad, though occasionally he still felt glad he could escape the bitter sea of senior year early.

Seventeen-year-old Chen Yi didn’t know that his departure was a brief, unavoidable separation for his studies, but to seventeen-year-old Ruan Mian, it seemed like a regret of never seeing him again.

She said she wouldn’t like him anymore.

But on the next page appeared another line: My affection for him seems to be more than I imagined. I can’t learn to cut my losses in time. Even though I want to call a stop, my eyes are still filled entirely with him.

She failed in the competition, he gave up the recommendation.

She returned to the monotonous and dull life of senior year, he left campus, from then on growing farther and farther from her. All the joys and sorrows, partings and meetings—she couldn’t see any of them.

On the day of graduation photos, he wished her good luck on the college entrance exam. Later she gave back an alumni record saying “Wishing you success in the college entrance exam, may your name appear on the honor roll.”

She probably didn’t know at that time that it was the alumni record he had given.

At the farewell dinner, he came and went hurriedly. He couldn’t discern even a fraction of affection from Jiang Rang’s hesitation to speak or from her reddened eyes.

In midsummer, she failed the college entrance exam and returned to her old school to repeat the year. His parents hosted a banquet at Pingcheng’s best hotel to thank his teachers. Amid the clinking of glasses and toasts, he had never felt regret at her absence.

On August 17, 2010, on a bustling and noisy street, she truly wanted to let him go for a moment.

She hoped to leave those two years frozen at the best moment, which was why on the day before he was to go abroad, she left these two sad lines.

—August 29, 2010

—”Secret love is bitter, like summer wind—it sounds nice, but when it blows, it’s full of sweltering heat. So summer has ended, and I don’t like you anymore.”

—”Chen Yi, wishing you a safe journey and a bright future.”

When he flipped to this page, Chen Yi suddenly stopped. His mind went blank for an instant, and then as if remembering something, he took out that worn old-style mobile phone from the box.

Charged it, turned it on.

When he opened the sent messages folder, Chen Yi’s fingertips were trembling. As expected, he saw a message with the same content in the sent folder.

The recipient was him.

Chen Yi’s throat felt dry, his heart uneasy.

That day had been utterly ordinary for him. At that time, he often received similar confession text messages, so when he received this message, he didn’t take it to heart and just deleted it as spam.

Until today, when opening this diary, when seeing the date on which “Chen with the ear radical on the left, Yi as in standing tall like a pagoda reaching for the stars” was written, when seeing that line “I secretly liked him for another year while hiding it from everyone.”

Only then did he realize that what he had casually deleted as a spam message had been, for seventeen-year-old Ruan Mian, the end of an entire youth.

When Ruan Mian came out of the airport, she saw that Chen Yi had sent her a WeChat message over half an hour ago, saying he was waiting for her in the parking lot, followed by his license plate number and location.

She turned and went down to the second basement level. Without much effort, she spotted Chen Yi’s car. When she got in, she smelled a faint scent of cigarette smoke.

Ruan Mian felt puzzled. She leaned closer to Chen Yi and sniffed like a puppy.

Chen Yi looked down at her movements and raised his hand to pinch the back of her neck. When he spoke, his voice held an unusual hoarseness. “What are you doing?”

She frowned, her thoughts quickly diverted by this voice. “Do you have a cold?”

“No.” He adjusted his seat back a bit more, then grabbed her hand and said, “Come here.”

Ruan Mian obediently unfastened her seatbelt, climbed over from the passenger seat to sit on his lap, knees kneeling on either side. The scent of smoke at her nose became even stronger with this proximity.

She looked up and glimpsed his reddened eyes in the dim light and shadow of the parking garage. Her fingers played with the buttons on his shirt. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.” Chen Yi looked down at her. Extremely intense sadness churned in his chest. He tried hard to control his emotions, his Adam’s apple moving up and down continuously, swallowing silently.

Ruan Mian felt somewhat helpless. She had never seen Chen Yi like this, as if wrapped in many negative emotions, unable to escape no matter how he struggled.

His whole being was like sinking into the deep seabed.

She leaned over, her cheek rubbing against the hollow of his neck. Warm breaths came one after another, as if merging with his pulse.

After a long silence, Chen Yi rubbed the back of her neck, his voice still low and hoarse. “I’m sorry, I came too late.”

“What?” Ruan Mian raised her head to look at him. That gaze was obscure and affectionate, yet carried endless sadness.

The tacit understanding between lovers was always wonderfully inexplicable. She seemed to understand in an instant, denying it extremely quickly. “No.”

Chen Yi looked down at her. His throat felt blocked, unable to speak.

“No.” She repeated, looking at him with focused eyes, speaking seriously and slowly. “That you could come, and that I’m still here—that’s already a great blessing.”

In this world there were so many errors and coincidences. In the years when we didn’t have each other, we once grew farther and farther apart, but as the years turned, at just the right time, those who were meant to meet would eventually meet.

The beginning of stories was always extremely gentle, but their ending didn’t lose to any gentleness either.

…

After returning that day, Ruan Mian saw those two large boxes in her room. The vague notion in her heart was confirmed, bringing a sense of settled relief like dust falling to the ground.

Now, when she reopened that diary she had long ago lost all impression of, the heartache and sadness in her memories seemed to have been washed away by the torrent of time, leaving only faint traces.

That was no longer the appearance of the past, but rather a witness to all the times she had once liked him—something worthy of being commemorated forever.

Ruan Mian placed the diary on the bookshelf, together with her brilliant and dazzling student days, as if those years of liking him had also become radiant and shining, no longer obscure and unclear as in the past.

Her constant remembrance had finally received an echo.

After New Year’s Eve, Ruan Mian went to meet Chen Yi’s family before the holiday ended. It was not far from the warm family she had imagined.

Whether it was Father Chen and Mother Chen, or Chen Yi’s grandparents, although their emotional patterns differed greatly, one could still see the tacit understanding and tenderness between husband and wife.

Before leaving that evening, Grandma Chen held Ruan Mian’s hand and handed her a yellow velvet pouch embroidered with the words “Peace and Safety” in red thread. “This peace amulet was something Grandpa and I happened to obtain while traveling abroad. We’re old and can’t use it. You and Ah Yi have special work situations, so keep it with you to stay safe.”

Ruan Mian had seen the quality of Chen Yi’s peace amulet before. It wasn’t as casual as Grandma Chen made it sound—in fact, it was an extremely rare piece of jade, not to mention the price.

But Shen Yunmiao didn’t give her a chance to decline, stuffing the peace pouch into her hands. “After we got this peace amulet back, I had your mother-in-law take it to the temple to be blessed. I also used yours and Ah Yi’s birth dates and times to request a peace talisman to put inside. So now this jade already belongs to you. Just take it.”

Ruan Mian accepted it. “Thank you, Grandma.”

“This peace talisman is very effective. When Ah Yi was in senior year and participated in competitions, I also got him one, and later he won first prize.”

Chen Yi, who had walked over with a coat, refuted with dissatisfaction. “Grandma, my winning the prize didn’t have much to do with that, did it?”

Shen Yunmiao said “you child” and smiled at Ruan Mian. “In the end, it’s also for peace of mind. Both of you must stay safe and sound out there.”

“Mm, we will.” Ruan Mian put away the peace pouch. Chen Yi walked over and held her hand. The peace amulet worn around his neck exposed a section of black cord.

On the way back, Ruan Mian took out that peace amulet to look at it, then put it away with extra solemnity.

Outside the window, the lights of tall buildings mixed with streetlamp shadows flashed by in an instant. As she watched, she inexplicably laughed. During a pause at a red light, Chen Yi glanced at her and reached over to hook her finger. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing.” Ruan Mian turned to look at him. “I just feel like this year’s winter doesn’t seem as cold as before.”

The red light ahead changed to green. Chen Yi withdrew his gaze and chuckled softly. “I feel the same way.”

The road ahead was long. A new year had begun.

After the New Year passed, spring breezes blew through the small southern city, flowers bloomed throughout the city with warm sunshine, while City B in the north still blew cold winter winds.

After the brief holiday ended, Ruan Mian returned to her previous busy life, even busier than last year. After all, this year Dr. Ruan gradually began to independently lead surgeries. In her spare time, she also had to handle the publication rate of department research papers and topics, keeping her incredibly busy.

Compared to Ruan Mian’s continuous rotation, Chen Yi was much more idle this year. During his two months of medical leave, he unexpectedly didn’t return to City B to accompany his girlfriend, but instead stayed in Pingcheng all day with Li Zhi. Later when his medical leave ended, he returned to the team for a systematic physical examination. The aftereffects of his right shoulder injury were quite obvious. Throughout the first half of the year, he didn’t go on any missions. Besides necessary rehabilitation training, during his occasional rest times, he would tirelessly travel back and forth between City B and Pingcheng.

Ruan Mian didn’t notice these things at first, until one day in May when she had a day off. While looking for spare keys at home, she inadvertently found over twenty round-trip plane tickets between City B and Pingcheng in the drawer of the shoe cabinet by the door.

Counting the round trips, in this half year, Chen Yi had returned to Pingcheng over ten times. This added up to almost more than the number of times in his previous years.

When Chen Yi next had time off, she took out these tickets with a somewhat serious tone. “Are you hiding something from me?”

When discussing this matter, Chen Yi was still looking at his phone. His peripheral vision caught sight of the stack of tickets on the table. He turned off his phone and sat up straight. “No.”

“Then why do you run to Pingcheng every time you rest?” Ruan Mian had been very busy these past six months and had almost no overlapping rest time with him.

“Hm? I told you about this before. Did you forget?” Chen Yi stood up and took her hand. “Li Zhi has a friend filming a military series. They didn’t have the budget to hire professionals, so they asked me to go help.”

Ruan Mian thought about it. It seemed there was such a thing, but having already assumed an interrogating posture, it wasn’t good to back down. She could only give a bland “oh.”

Chen Yi laughed aloud and pulled her hand to sit down. “Teacher Zhou called me a few days ago. The school is preparing to invite a batch of outstanding graduates to come back and give speeches to the seniors before the college entrance exam. He asked me to check if you’re available.”

Ruan Mian made a sound. “That wouldn’t be quite right. I was a repeat student.”

“A repeat student who scored 683 points. After repeating one year, you became the top scorer,” Chen Yi smiled. “Shouldn’t this be written into the school history as a major event?”

“…” Ruan Mian didn’t want to argue with him. “Let’s just forget it. If I had repeated at No. 8 High, it would still be acceptable. But I didn’t even graduate from No. 8 High. I’ll call Teacher Zhou later to explain.”

“Alright.” Chen Yi touched the soft flesh at her waist and immediately noticed something wrong. “Haven’t you been eating properly recently?”

She had been busy with work these past six months, with irregular meals. In the first two months after returning, she had lost seven or eight pounds directly. With her already small frame, she looked even more skeletal.

The person who had come to accuse was left without grounds and was instead counter-accused. Ruan Mian felt guilty and raised her arm to hug him. “No, I’ve been eating on time, except for special circumstances.”

Actually not. When she scheduled surgeries now, elective ones were fine, but if she encountered emergency situations, or when assisting Meng Fuping as first assistant, she often went ten-plus hours without eating or drinking.

Chen Yi didn’t believe her words at all. He carried her to the scale, and when he weighed her, not only had she not gained back what she’d lost, she’d even lost another three-plus pounds.

His face darkened immediately. Although Ruan Mian felt guilty, she also had her reasons. “I swear, I really have been eating properly. It’s probably just that I’ve been too busy with work recently and tired.”

“Nonsense.”

Ruan Mian didn’t know whether to be angry or amused. “Then I promise, by the time you come back from leave next month, I will definitely, definitely eat my way back to ninety pounds.”

Chen Yi reluctantly agreed. That evening he made a whole table of dishes and only called it quits after watching her eat two bowls of rice and drink a bowl of soup.

Soon May also came to an end.

No. 8 High School set the speech time for the last day of May. Ruan Mian wasn’t free that day and didn’t even catch the livestream. Later when she went online to find the replay, there were only a few short video clips.

One video was a solo cut of Chen Yi, but it also wasn’t complete. The beginning was already the latter half of the speech. The man wore a simple and clean white shirt with black dress pants. His features were unrestrained and casual. Every gesture carried the unique maturity and sexiness of an adult male.

After the speech ended came the unchanging student Q&A session. This part had almost no novelty—it was just questions about what kind of person he was back then and what he was doing now.

Ruan Mian watched until the end when the microphone was passed to a girl in the corner. She asked the last question. “Senior, what was your most memorable and most regrettable thing from high school?”

The video quality wasn’t high definition, but it couldn’t hide the man’s outstanding appearance. He paused for a few seconds, as if thinking. One hand hung at the podium, the other supported the microphone. He leaned forward slightly. His low voice remained crystal clear despite multiple transmissions.

“The most memorable thing should be sitting as deskmates with Student Ruan.” The venue erupted in screams, but quickly quieted down again in breathless silence because of the voice coming through the microphone. The man lowered his eyes and smiled somewhat helplessly. “The most regrettable thing is that the time being deskmates with Student Ruan was too short.”

The video ended there. The final screams and cheers cut off abruptly, but Ruan Mian still felt her heart surging irrepressibly, as if in that instant, she had also been there.

Later, Ruan Mian saw the continuation of the video from Meng Xinglan. When Chen Yi finished speaking about his most regrettable thing and was preparing to leave the stage, someone in the audience asked, “Are you still in contact now?”

Chen Yi, who had already walked down the steps, borrowed the director’s microphone and stood in the packed auditorium. He raised his hand to show the ring on his ring finger, his tone casual and unrestrained. “Of course.”

It was already July when she saw this video. Summer came late in City B. Unlike the humid heat of southern cities, the air here was dry but not stuffy. The wind carried a tangible coolness.

Ruan Mian watched this video over and over, not even sparing the little time before bed. When Chen Yi came out after his shower and saw her holding her phone, watching with great pleasure, he moved closer while drying his hair. “What are you watching—”

His words suddenly stopped when he saw the video content clearly.

He reached out to grab the phone. “Stop watching. What’s so interesting about that?”

“It’s interesting. I find it interesting.” Ruan Mian blocked with her arm, not letting him take the phone. Then she turned her head to look at him and saw his ear tips were red. She couldn’t help laughing. “Are you shy?”

“No.” He was stubborn. Taking advantage of her inattention, he snatched the phone and exited out in a few moves. Then suddenly he pressed her down. “Is it funny?”

He came on fiercely. Ruan Mian suppressed her laughter and shook her head, but as soon as she spoke, it was exposed. Her voice was full of laughter. “Not funny at all.”

Chen Yi bent down fiercely to bite the tip of her nose, then straightened up and stood by the bed, completely killing the mood. “Get up. Weigh yourself.”

“…” Ruan Mian’s feet curled up the blanket. She yawned. “Tomorrow. I’m sleepy.”

But Chen Yi didn’t indulge her. He directly bent down and picked her up horizontally.

Seeing things had come to this, Ruan Mian struggled a little. “I’ll weigh myself, I’ll weigh myself, but let me use the bathroom first.”

This time Chen Yi listened to her, let go, and went out to find the scale. After waiting several minutes without seeing Ruan Mian come out, he returned to the room to look. He was simultaneously amused and exasperated. “You might as well come weigh yourself wrapped in the blanket.”

Hearing this, Ruan Mian put down the thick coat in her hands and picked up the blanket tentatively. “Is that really okay?”

“…”

After much fussing, the weight was eventually measured. Ruan Mian stepped on the scale with the mindset of going to her death. She squinted and looked—her mood improved greatly.

She pointed at the 89.99 on the scale. “Rounded up, that’s ninety.”

Seeing it had indeed come back, Chen Yi didn’t say anything. Before bed, he made her a cup of milk to help with sleep. “Remember to keep the twenty-fourth of next month free.”

“I know.” That day was Chen Yi’s birthday. He was planning to return to Pingcheng this year. Worried the time wouldn’t be sufficient, Ruan Mian also cleared the day after.

On the day of returning, Ruan Mian caught the last flight on the evening of the twenty-third. By the time she arrived in Pingcheng, it was already late at night. Chen Yi’s car was still parked in the same spot as last time.

The two of them went back to Pingjiang West Lane together. The night was quiet. Few people walked in the alley. The small path that went through Li Zhi’s place had recently been closed temporarily for drainage pipe repairs.

Chen Yi took Ruan Mian through the small alley where the internet cafe used to be. Before there was no barbecue stand, but now one had really been set up. The internet cafe entrance looked brand new, yet one could still see the former dilapidation from the surroundings.

Several boys stood on the steps. One of them wore an oversized black T-shirt and black athletic pants with white stripes. His hair was fluffy and soft. The contours of his profile were very beautiful.

Ruan Mian took an extra look.

Chen Yi followed her gaze and squeezed her fingers hard.

“That boy.” After walking past, Ruan Mian hooked his finger. “Don’t you think he looks a lot like you?”

Chen Yi’s tone was bland. Without looking back, he said, “Where’s the resemblance?”

“The first time I saw you, you were wearing clothes almost the same as his, even standing in a similar position.” As Ruan Mian spoke, she looked back again. The boy seemed to notice something and glanced this way. This time, she didn’t dodge or feel nervous, but instead seemed to discover something interesting. “Even his reaction when he noticed someone was staring is the same.”

Hearing her talk about the past, Chen Yi didn’t mind so much. Instead, he turned back to look at the boy with her.

She kept talking about the similarities between the two of them, as if no matter how many years passed, what could attract her gaze was still things related to him.

Thinking of this, Chen Yi withdrew his gaze and laughed softly.

Chen Yi’s twenty-eighth birthday was quite plain, but everywhere revealed warmth. The longevity noodles were hand-rolled by Grandpa and Grandma. The cake was made together by his girlfriend and mother.

Even that evening’s meal was completed entirely by his father, without letting the family’s housekeeper or servants help. The whole family ate together harmoniously and properly celebrated his birthday.

After making wishes and cutting the cake, after chatting with family for a while, in order not to disturb the two elders’ rest, Chen Yi and Ruan Mian left Pingjiang Mansion at nine-thirty.

The small city’s evening was quite lively too. The summer wind was warm, carrying a familiar scent.

The two of them walked forward along the street side. Without realizing it, they had walked back to the entrance of No. 8 High School. During this season, only the seniors remained in school for supplementary classes. The guard room at the entrance had also been reduced from the usual three people to one person.

Chen Yi looked at the teaching building where he used to be in sophomore year and suggested, “Want to go in and walk around?”

“Sure.” Ruan Mian then thought of something. “We didn’t bring ID. Will they let us in?”

“We’ll know if we try.” Chen Yi held her hand and walked over. Before they could say much, the guard waved his hand broadly and let them through.

Ruan Mian sighed. “Is it this loose now? A few years ago when I came back to visit Teacher Zhou, even though I brought my ID, they wouldn’t let me in. I had to call Teacher Zhou and have him come out to get me.”

“It is summer vacation after all,” Chen Yi said. “And it’s so late.”

Ruan Mian thought that made sense. Her gaze inadvertently fell on the basketball court beside them. At this hour, there were actually boys still playing basketball on the court. It seemed quite lively.

She stopped.

Chen Yi also stopped. The two of them stood there feeding mosquitoes for a while. He raised his hand to check the time. “Let’s go. Let’s look inside.”

Ruan Mian withdrew her gaze. When they walked to the bottom of the teaching building, they actually ran into an acquaintance. “Li Zhi?”

“Hm?” Li Zhi raised his hand to extinguish his cigarette, threw it into the trash can beside him, and walked down the steps. “What are you two doing here?”

“Nothing much, just came over.” Ruan Mian looked at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, a friend came here to scout locations. They’re done now, watching a movie upstairs.” Li Zhi waved away the smoke smell in the air. “Want to come up and see?”

“Sure.”

With that, the three of them went upstairs together. Quite coincidentally, the classroom where they were showing the movie happened to be the classroom where Ruan Mian and Chen Yi were in during their sophomore year.

The classroom lights weren’t on. It relied entirely on the faint light from the projection screen. People sat scattered about. Ruan Mian and Chen Yi entered through the back door and sat down in the last row by the wall.

This position was too familiar.

As soon as Ruan Mian sat down, she had a feeling as if she were in another world, as if returning to that time when they were still studying at No. 8 High School.

She turned her head to glance at Chen Yi, suddenly recalling before the first monthly exam in sophomore year, when Zhou Hai showed the mental health education video arranged by the school in the classroom.

The boy had been leaning lazily against the wall just like this, his expression indifferent as he watched the screen. The dim light and shadow divided bright and dark profiles on his face, making his appearance hazily indistinct.

Ruan Mian inexplicably felt the urge to cry. She looked at Chen Yi, gradually overlapping him with the boy in her memory, but something seemed different. Sixteen-year-old Chen Yi wouldn’t have paid attention to any glance from sixteen-year-old Ruan Mian.

But twenty-eight-year-old Chen Yi would.

He turned his head to look at Ruan Mian and held her hand under the desk, just like in student days secretly dating in the classroom while hiding from teachers and classmates.

Ruan Mian saw his lips move, but unfortunately the light was dim and she couldn’t see clearly. She leaned over. “What did you just say?”

The next second, two pieces of warmth suddenly landed on the corner of her lips.

“Want to kiss you,” he said.

They came in late. The movie had already reached the end. Before long, the end credits song began to play. Ruan Mian sat in her seat, surveying the classroom.

Compared to over ten years ago, this classroom was obviously brand new. Apart from the person beside her, she could hardly find any similarities with the past.

Times had changed. Everything was changing.

Before long, the screen at the front of the classroom began playing a new movie.

Ruan Mian saw Li Zhi in the corner on the other side. Sitting beside him was another man with his arm resting on Li Zhi’s chair back.

She didn’t pay much attention and withdrew her gaze, focusing on the movie playing in front.

The movie opened with an alley. Ruan Mian recognized the internet cafe and barbecue stand inside. She tilted her head and leaned over to ask Chen Yi, “Was this filmed in Pingjiang West Lane?”

Chen Yi made an affirmative sound. “Should be.”

“I haven’t heard of any movie being filmed in Pingjiang West Lane.” Ruan Mian muttered, her gaze continuing toward the screen.

The scenes in the movie were very familiar. But gradually, Ruan Mian suddenly realized that the familiarity of those scenes didn’t come from having once lived here.

That kind of familiarity was as if everything that happened in the movie, she had once experienced as well.

After realizing this, a notion that was hard to believe suddenly emerged in Ruan Mian’s heart. She watched the girl in the movie run out from the dim alley.

Watched her see that boy who made her heart flutter at first sight, as if in an instant also returning to that sweltering and stifling summer night.

Sixteen-year-old Ruan Mian, in panic and helplessness, saw that boy. He had deep and cold eyes that gave her an unforgettable flutter once in a lifetime.

At that time, the real Chen Yi hadn’t looked toward Ruan Mian, but the Chen Yi in the movie turned his gaze toward her after Ruan Mian withdrew her line of sight.

They walked together to the alley where they could go home. They reunited in No. 8 High School’s classroom. This time the boy didn’t forget their first encounter.

He said, “Student Ruan, hello, we meet again.”

In the classroom, he introduced himself. “My name is Chen Yi. Chen with the ear radical on the left, Yi as in standing tall like a pagoda reaching for the stars.”

At the sports meet, the girl ran forward toward the light, toward the boy in her heart without hesitation. But he had long ago stood at her finish line, just like in reality—after so many years since graduation, Ruan Mian had thought she had no more connection with Chen Yi, yet unexpectedly he had long ago been standing at her finish line.

The movie had just begun, but Ruan Mian had already started crying continuously. Every moment she had liked Chen Yi in the past received a response in the movie.

He wished her Happy New Year a bit earlier than she did.

At Xishan Temple, he made a wish: “I hope Student Ruan and I will be happy year after year, and everything will go well every year.”

…

He could see every bit of her affection.

The ending of the movie showed Chen Yi returning again to this classroom at No. 8 High School. But this time, both in the movie and in reality, there was only one person.

The sound of the door opening in the movie gradually overlapped with the sound of the door opening in reality.

Only then did Ruan Mian realize that the person sitting beside her had left the classroom at some point. She turned her head, eyes brimming with tears.

The man wore No. 8 High School’s uniform. The blue and white school uniform wrapped around his upright and slender form like green bamboo. He held a bouquet of roses in his arms.

Her breathing stopped in this instant.

Chen Yi walked in. Light followed like a shadow, just as over all these years, no matter how far the journey, he was forever the brightest light in her life.

Like the ending of countless romance movies, he knelt on one knee before his leading lady, his expression solemn and focused.

“Student Ruan Mian.” Chen Yi looked up at her. His Adam’s apple rolled up and down. Every subtle movement revealed nervousness. “I know I’m very late, but I will make up for all the love during the time I was late. I will only love you, love you very much.”

He lowered his head to take out the ring box from his pocket, but because he was too nervous, he held it backwards. Ruan Mian covered her face with both hands, unable to help laughing.

She bent down to take the roses.

At the same time, Chen Yi grasped her right wrist and removed the plain ring that represented their promise. He looked up at her again. “So, are you willing to give me a chance to let me marry you?”

Ruan Mian stood there. Through her tear-blurred vision, she said, “I’m willing.”

Sixteen-year-old Ruan Mian was sensitive and mild-mannered. Looking at the boy she liked, she hid her admiring gaze again and again, until she hid it where no one could see.

She thought this affection would never have a chance to see daylight again, yet she never imagined that years later, all her painstaking pursuit and effort would be seen by him one day, would have a new preface rewritten by him.

He would cherish her unsettled girlhood feelings, then carefully place them in his world.

It turned out that the person you like at first sight, you really will like for a very long time. Whether the ending is unfulfilled regret or wish fulfilled, that feeling of looking once and never being able to look away—it’s impossible to simply forget.

Even if liking him was a bumpy road full of thorns, just thinking of the first glance of seeing him would forever make the heart flutter for that one moment.

People always have to pay for their flutter of the heart—whether sad or happy, unforgettable for a lifetime.

At the end of the movie, the screen went black and a line appeared with the title.

“Not all affections in this world will have a good ending, but Ruan Mian’s affection will.”

—*No One Like You*

—Volume 2 · End—