Before the court date, Ruan Yu accompanied her mother back to their old home in Su Shi.

Two days before the planned trip, she received a call from Liu Mao, who mentioned he happened to be heading to Su Shi around the same time to follow up on a case, and asked whether they would like to travel together.

The moment Ruan Yu heard this, she knew it was her father playing matchmaker. She wanted to decline, but couldn’t.

Because Liu Mao had said that the reason he was inviting her was out of consideration for her aunt’s poor health — cramming onto a high-speed train would be quite exhausting for her.

She might not need to think of herself, but she did need to think of her mother.

Early that morning, Liu Mao picked up both her and Qu Lan, driving the entire way with focused concentration. Beyond the initial greetings, he didn’t say much to either of them.

After exiting the highway and entering Su Shi, Ruan Yu sent him the location of the old family home. She heard him say: “Your place is pretty close to Xu Huaisong’s grandmother’s house, isn’t it?”

She hadn’t expected Liu Mao to even know Xu Huaisong’s grandmother’s address. Caught off guard for a moment, she instinctively glanced at her mother sitting beside her.

Qu Lan had once been a teacher at Su Shi No. 1 High School, and before the arts and sciences track split, she had taught Xu Huaisong Chinese for one semester.

Fortunately, Qu Lan showed no particular reaction — she appeared not to remember the student at all. With no signs of exposure, Ruan Yu quickly picked up on Liu Mao’s comment: “Oh, really? What a coincidence.” She followed it with a light laugh.

The little episode was soon forgotten by Ruan Yu. Once they arrived near the old home, she accompanied her mother on a leisurely walk around the area, snapped a few photos, and at noon, asked where she’d like to go for lunch.

Qu Lan said since they were already here, they might as well stop by No. 1 High School while they were at it, and eat at the school cafeteria.

Ruan Yu immediately tensed up.

Today was Tuesday — Xu Huaishi was certainly at school. If they happened to run into each other and she went back and mentioned it to Xu Huaisong, wouldn’t that bring Ruan Yu one giant leap closer to being exposed?

So then — what possible reason could she give to refuse her mother?

There was none.

At noon, Ruan Yu arrived near the school cafeteria.

Qu Lan kept a low profile, not alerting any of her old colleagues and deliberately avoiding the faculty dining hall. But the timing put them right in the middle of the peak student lunch hour.

From a distance, she watched students in blue-and-white school uniforms streaming in and out in clusters of twos and threes, lively and full of youthful energy. A wave of wistfulness washed over Ruan Yu.

She glanced down at the dress she was wearing and realized she stuck out entirely in this place. She turned to Qu Lan with a sigh: “How wonderful it is to be young, Mom. Look at me — I’ve already gotten old.”

Qu Lan shot her a sidelong glance. “If you’re already old, what does that make me?”

“I’ll go borrow a school uniform for you. Put it on, and someone will probably come up and ask, ‘Excuse me, fellow student, how do I get to the arts building?'”

“Such a sharp tongue.”

Ruan Yu smiled and hooked her arm through her mother’s as they walked forward. As they approached the row of slop buckets near the cafeteria entrance for discarded food scraps, she overheard one girl say to another: “You didn’t even finish your chicken leg — isn’t that wasteful?”

The girl being questioned shot her a look and said: “What do you know?”

Ruan Yu suddenly felt a flicker of something distant stir within her.

What that girl didn’t know — she thought she might understand. Chicken legs were delicious, yes. But if the person your heart was set on happened to be sitting somewhere in that cafeteria, then no matter how good the chicken leg tasted, it was destined to go uneaten.

She used to be exactly like that.

A secret crush in youth meant having eyes like radar, searching for him in every crowd at every moment — yet the instant you found him, you had to quickly look away, pretend you hadn’t seen him at all, and then compose your every movement and gesture into the perfect picture of a graceful, well-mannered young lady.

“Chicken legs — I desire them. Xu Huaisong — I desire him too. As one cannot have both, I would forgo the chicken leg and choose Xu Huaisong.” — Looking back now, the secret love of those days really had been so simple, so pure.

The most romantic thing she had done was leaving a ladder at the school’s back gate for him to climb over the wall. The most ardent expression of her feelings had been her willingness to give up her favorite food for him.

And all that romance and ardor had needed no response in return — not even for him to know who she was.

Lost in her thoughts, Ruan Yu drifted into the cafeteria and joined the queue. When it was her turn, she pointed at the braised chicken legs without hesitation and told the cafeteria uncle: “Three, please.”

She was going to make up for all the meat she hadn’t gotten to eat back in those years.

The students around her threw curious, bewildered glances her way. A little embarrassed, Ruan Yu turned to Qu Lan and said: “Mom, you’re too thin — you need to eat more meat.”

Qu Lan muttered under her breath: “You and that clever little mouth of yours.”

The mother and daughter found a table in a corner and sat down.

The student cafeteria had no air conditioning, only a dozen or so large electric fans whirring noisily overhead. Ruan Yu picked up her chopsticks, ready to finally make proper acquaintance with the three chicken legs, when she suddenly heard a male voice carried over by the fan breeze: “Xu Huaishi, was that just now — your boyfriend?”

She snapped her head around and saw a young man with a buzz cut not far away, holding his meal tray and talking to Xu Huaishi.

Of all the people to run into.

She was just about to duck her head and keep a low profile when she heard Xu Huaishi’s reply: “A boyfriend that handsome? Not a chance — that’s my own brother!”

Ruan Yu nearly choked on her mouthful of rice. In the very next instant, she saw Xu Huaisong carrying his meal tray as he stepped forward and sat down across from Xu Huaishi.

Whatever else the buzz-cut young man and Xu Huaishi said after that, she heard none of it — because in that moment, her entire mind was filled with nothing but a loud, buzzing roar.

Qu Lan noticed something was off with her and asked what was wrong.

That voice drew Xu Huaisong’s attention.

Startled, Ruan Yu snapped her head back around, and in the instant his gaze swept over, she ducked her head and raised her hand, pressing it firmly over her face — while shaking her head to signal to her mother that everything was fine.

At the far end of the long table, Xu Huaisong seemed to have noticed nothing. He said to the person across from him: “Eat faster. I’ll take you home when you’re done.”

Xu Huaishi responded with a soft “Mm.”

Ruan Yu understood then — the college entrance examinations were just days away, and to clear the examination venues, the first and second years had been given a short holiday. Xu Huaisong had most likely come to take his sister home.

So then — if she could just get through this meal, she’d be safe.

She swept her hair to the right side to shield her face, then picked up her chopsticks again — only to find the three chicken legs on her plate had lost all appeal. She couldn’t bring herself to bite into them, couldn’t even bring herself to poke at them. She ate through the entire meal on the verge of tears, all while keeping up a cheerful front for Qu Lan’s sake.

Eight years had passed, and here she was, sharing a meal with Xu Huaisong in this very cafeteria once again — yet just like every single time before, she ended the meal without having eaten her fill.

Only after the Xu siblings finally picked up their trays and left did Ruan Yu let out a long, full breath of relief.

After lunch, Qu Lan was ready to head back — but Ruan Yu worried that Xu Huaisong hadn’t gone far yet, so she deliberately dragged her mother along for a wander around the campus. As it turned out, that wandering led them to an unexpected encounter near the academic building: the vice principal of No. 1 High School, He Chong.

He Chong had been Ruan Yu’s English teacher back then, and he was quite close with Qu Lan and Ruan Chengru as a couple.

He recognized Ruan Yu’s mother at a glance — surprised and delighted, he gently scolded her for not sending word before she came.

There was no escaping a round of reminiscing now.

He Chong walked along with Qu Lan, chatting warmly, smiling with a kind and gentle manner. Then he added: “Today has been full of surprises — I also ran into a former student of mine just now. Funny enough, he was in the same year as Ruan Yu.”

Ruan Yu was almost certain he was referring to Xu Huaisong. Back then, only her class — Class Nine — and Xu Huaisong’s class — Class Ten — were the arts-track classes in the entire year, which meant they had shared quite a few teachers.

She deliberately steered away from the point and said with a smile: “Teacher He has students everywhere — what could possibly be surprising about that?”

And just like that, the subject was smoothly sidestepped.

The two of them were invited to the principal’s office. It happened to be the midday break, and before long, a whole crowd of Qu Lan’s old colleagues had heard the news and come flooding in, filling the room to the brim.

Ruan Yu sensed that this gathering wasn’t particularly suited for someone of her generation, so she offered to take a stroll around campus and come back later.

The principal’s office wasn’t far from the main sports field. She walked out and followed a tree-lined path alive with the loud chorus of cicadas, and soon arrived.

The sun wasn’t harsh today. Ruan Yu made her way around to the field and climbed up into the stands. Down on the grass below, a group of boys were in the middle of a football match.

She took out the small notepad and pen she always carried and began writing: “June 5th. Overcast. Returned to Su Shi No. 1 High School today…”

She had only gotten that far when a shout suddenly rang out from across the field: “Watch out!”

She looked up — a football was shooting straight toward the stands. Fortunately it hit the railing in front of her with a clang and dropped down.

She was startled, her heart giving a belated, violent lurch.

The culprit came sprinting over at full speed and, reaching the base of the stands, tilted his head back to look up at her, still catching his breath: “Hey upperclassman, are you alright?”

Ruan Yu blinked.

Wasn’t this the buzz-cut boy who had been talking to Xu Huaishi in the cafeteria just now?

How did he know to call her “upperclassman”?

She stood up and stepped forward, shaking her head to say she was fine, then asked: “Why did you call me upperclassman?”

He grinned, flashing a full set of bright white teeth. “Then — lowerclassman?”

The younger generation these days really did have a way with words. Clearly that “upperclassman” had just been something he said off the top of his head.

Seeing her smile but not reply, the boy hugged his football and pressed on: “So what are you doing up there, lowerclassman?”

Since this boy was at least two degrees removed from Xu Huaisong, Ruan Yu felt reasonably safe and didn’t put up too cold a front. She gave her notepad a little wave: “Gathering material — recording life.”

“Gathering material? Are you a painter? Or a writer?”

“Something like a writer, I suppose.”

“What kind of books do you write?”

“Romance novels.”

“So you must be really good at relationships, right?”

Ruan Yu was caught off guard — and then she watched as he tossed his football to a teammate, scrambled up into the stands in two or three easy steps, and came to stand beside her: “Then teach me how to chase a girl!”

She couldn’t help laughing. “What year are you in?”

“Second year.”

“In a few days you’ll practically be a third-year. And you’re still thinking about dating?”

He gave her a look. “Boring. Adults are all the same.”

Ruan Yu was amused into exasperation: “Didn’t you just call me lowerclassman a moment ago?”

“If I’m not saying it, then you’re not a lowerclassman.”

With that, he ducked through the gap in the railing and climbed back down from the stands, pulling off his school jacket and tossing it carelessly onto the running track.

Ruan Yu stepped forward and called after him: “What’s your name?”

The boy didn’t look back, waving a hand in her general direction as he walked away: “Zhao Yi — Yi as in ‘lost without a trace’, not the one in ‘iron’!” And with that, he spun around and rejoined the battle on the football pitch.

Ruan Yu sat in the stands for a little while longer, then wrote in her notepad: “At graduation, tell her how you feel. You absolutely must tell her.” She tore out the page, climbed down from the stands, and tucked it into the pocket of Zhao Yi’s jacket.

Once that was done, she received a call from Liu Mao. He apologized and said he was terribly sorry — while conducting his visit, he had run into some important clients and needed to see them back to Hang Shi.

“Oh, I see.” Ruan Yu thought for a moment. “That’s alright, I’ll just book two high-speed rail tickets and—”

“Wait.” Liu Mao cut her off. “I still have one spare seat — it’s enough for your aunt. How about she rides with me? She’ll be more comfortable that way. You head back on your own, and take care on the road.”

That actually worked out well enough.

She gave a quiet “mm”: “Thank you for the trouble.”

After Qu Lan finished catching up with her old colleagues and left the school, Ruan Yu accompanied her to a nearby shopping mall to wait for Liu Mao to finish his business. By the time they met up with him, it was already close to evening.

Qu Lan had originally planned to take the high-speed rail with Ruan Yu, but when she thought about it — if they did that, once they reached Hang Shi, her daughter would still have to go out of her way to take her all the way back to the suburbs, which would be a bother. So she accepted Liu Mao’s offer after all, and before she left, she told Ruan Yu to stay safe and check in regularly.

Ruan Yu said she would, then made to hail a cab to the high-speed rail station — but at that moment, fine threads of rain began drifting down from the sky.

She had given her umbrella to her mother. Thinking of all the open stretches of road she’d have to walk through, she had no choice but to turn back into the shopping mall to buy another one. This back-and-forth cost her time, and by then the rain had only grown heavier — holding an umbrella up did almost nothing.

The rain came down in torrents, hammering against the umbrella in a relentless clatter. Puddles of muddy water quickly gathered in every hollow along the road.

Beneath the dim, overcast sky, Ruan Yu stood at the roadside, using a ride-hailing app to call for a car. After a while, she received a call from Qu Lan: “Yuyu, it’s raining so hard — have you managed to get a car?”

“Don’t worry, Mom — I bought an umbrella, and a driver has accepted my request.”

The words had barely left her mouth when a sports car flew past, its tires rolling through a hollow in the road and sending a splash of muddy water straight onto the hem of her white dress.

She swallowed the urge to react, not wanting to worry Qu Lan. But once she hung up, she stood there clutching her phone, deeply troubled.

In weather like this, who on earth would want to pick her up?

She tucked the umbrella under her shoulder, dabbed at the hem of her dress with a tissue, and kept refreshing the ride-hailing page anxiously, worried she might miss her train. Then, just as she was beginning to panic, she spotted a Porsche Cayenne pulling toward the roadside where she was standing, moving at a brisk pace.

After what had just happened, Ruan Yu immediately stepped back to avoid a repeat — but to her surprise, the car slowed down, easing carefully through the hollow in the road, then came to a complete stop right in front of her.

The rear window rolled down, and Xu Huaishi’s head popped out: “It really is you, Ruan Jiejie! What are you doing here?”

Ruan Yu was taken aback. She could see Xu Huaisong in the driver’s seat.

She quickly answered: “I’m waiting for a cab — I need to get to the high-speed rail station.”

Xu Huaishi waved her over: “Then get in! We’ll take you!”

Ruan Yu was still hesitating when the front window rolled down too. Xu Huaisong, his expression neutral, said: “Can’t park here.”

She gave two quick “oh”s and hurried over, closing her umbrella as she moved. She went to the rear passenger side — only for Xu Huaishi to wave her off: “There’s no room back here!”

Left with no other option, Ruan Yu turned and got into the front passenger seat.

The car was brand new — she’d noticed it the moment she opened the door. So after sitting down, she felt even more reluctant to simply set her soaking wet umbrella aside, with the result that the dripping water ran entirely onto her own dress.

Xu Huaisong started the car and glanced at her: “Just put it anywhere.”

She gave a quiet “mm” and said “thank you,” then — not entirely just anywhere — gently laid the umbrella down by her feet. Then she heard him say: “Seatbelt.”

From the back seat, Xu Huaishi suddenly leaned forward: “Gege, in romance novels, the gallant male lead would always help the female lead buckle her seatbelt at a moment like this.”

Xu Huaisong and Ruan Yu: “…”

Was that gallant? More like having ulterior motives, surely.

Ruan Yu let out a dry laugh: “I can manage it myself.” She reached over and pulled the seatbelt across.

Since she already knew why Xu Huaisong was in Su Shi, she hadn’t asked the obvious from start to finish. A moment later, she watched as he kept one hand on the steering wheel and used the other to open the glove compartment, pulling out a clean white towel and holding it out to her.

She paused for a beat before taking it, and said “thank you” again, then slowly began blotting at the mud stains and water marks on her dress.

Xu Huaisong gave a quiet “mm”: “We’ll drop Huaishi off first.”

She was hitching a ride in someone else’s car, after all — Ruan Yu didn’t feel she was in any position to say that if they did it that way, she might miss her train. She simply calculated that if they didn’t make it in time, she could always change her ticket.

But when Xu Huaisong dropped Xu Huaishi home, helped carry in all the large and small bags from the back seat, and then returned to the driver’s seat, she heard him say: “We’re not going to the high-speed rail station. We’ll drive straight back to Hang Shi.”

Author’s Note:

Ruanruan’s Diary: June 5th. Overcast. Returned to Su Shi No. 1 High School today… and once again failed to eat the chicken leg.

Songsong: But I accepted your fare request — isn’t that enough? 🙂