If Lin Weixia had known in advance that Fang Mo would spend the entire afternoon watching her with a teasing gaze, she never would have let herself be egged on into making that call — the one that had given Ban Sheng an endless excuse to make fun of her.

Ban Sheng laughed and asked her, “What’s gotten into you?”

She couldn’t think of an answer. In the end, Lin Weixia hung up in a hurry.

Ban Sheng’s gathering stretched on into the evening. When it was over, he went home, showered, then came out wearing a silver bathrobe, the sash tied loosely around him. He leaned down to pick up his phone from the table.

Nothing.

He realized that aside from the phone call that afternoon, Lin Weixia had not sent him a single message, and showed no concern over whether he had drunk himself senseless. He sat on the sofa, hunched forward, thumbing out a message, droplets of water falling from the fine, dark strands of hair at his brow onto the phone screen.

When Lin Weixia received the message, she was just about to get into bed. She unlocked her phone and read it — even through the screen she could feel the narrow-eyed displeasure emanating from Ban Sheng.

Ban:

【How come you didn’t message me tonight?】

Lin Weixia replied from under the covers.

Xia:

【Didn’t we just talk on the phone this afternoon?】

A minute later, the darkened screen lit up again. Ban Sheng fired back with his usual nonchalance:

Ban:

【Fine. Noted.】

He lazily added a follow-up: 【Once you have something, you stop worrying about losing it.】

Lin Weixia found herself utterly unable to come up with a rebuttal. He was clearly the one fishing for attention — yet the glow of the phone screen illuminated a face with a barely-there curve at the corner of her lips. She typed back.

Xia:

【You’re so needy.】

Ban Sheng’s reply was remarkably gracious: 【You spoiled me that way.】

The curve at Lin Weixia’s lips had grown so wide she could barely control her own expression. She patted her cheeks to compose herself.

After ending the chat, she sent a message to Liu Sijia, choosing her words carefully: 【Sijia, are you free tomorrow? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.】

She expected Liu Sijia to barely respond, but to her surprise the other girl replied quickly, her tone entirely different from usual — warm and enthusiastic:

【Of course! I’ll take you out for some fun tomorrow. Remember to dress up nicely. [Cheers][Cheers]】

【Okay.】

Lin Weixia smiled as she typed back, and without quite meaning to, felt her mood lift considerably.

The next day, Lin Weixia dressed in a white spaghetti-strap crop top paired with blue denim overalls, her arms — pale and smooth as lotus roots — left bare, the collarbone visible above the neckline like two elegant crescents.

She had been about to head straight out the door, but thinking that Liu Sijia might invite her to photograph café visits or similar outings, she reached for a nude peachy-pink lip color and dabbed it on.

Her lips shimmered a lush, water-red hue, and her whole face came alive. Lin Weixia was like a half-ripened white peach bending its branch downward — sweet and fresh from the inside out.

At four in the afternoon, the sun still hung high overhead, the heat fierce. Lin Weixia stood waiting by a fountain, a fine sheen of sweat forming at her brow. Shortly, a black sedan turned the corner and pulled up in front of her.

The car door swung open and Liu Sijia hopped out. She was wearing a pink-purple athletic set, her long curly hair framing a face that was brilliant and full of energy.

“Sorry I’m late,” Liu Sijia jogged over, shaking something in her hand. “Look what I brought you. I had the driver take a detour to pick these up — that’s why I’m late.”

Liu Sijia was holding two cups of salted lemon soda — one unsweetened, one half-sweet, as always.

“It’s fine,” Lin Weixia lifted her gaze, a glimmer in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Last time at the cafeteria — I’d just had a fight with my family and was in a bad mood. I was the one who lost my temper first. I’m really sorry.” It was the first time Liu Sijia had explained herself to anyone, and she stumbled a little over the words.

Lin Weixia slipped the straw into her cup, a faint smile touching the corners of her mouth. “Whatever happened at the cafeteria — I’ve completely forgotten.”

“Then let’s go to the arcade.”

“Okay.”

The two girls each held a summer iced drink and walked toward the shopping center, chatting and laughing. Just as they were nearly there, a boy in a white T-shirt and green athletic shorts stood at the entrance waving enthusiastically at them.

Lin Weixia’s smile faltered slightly, and her eyes behind their long, dark lashes looked puzzled. “Who’s that?”

“That’s my cousin. He’s hanging out with us today,” Liu Sijia took her by the arm. “Come on, let me introduce you.”

Liu Sijia led Lin Weixia over. The boy was reasonably good-looking, with fair skin and a neat appearance. A pair of narrow eyes sat behind silver-framed glasses — he gave off the air of someone from a well-bred, wealthy family.

The moment he saw Lin Weixia clearly, a flash of admiration crossed his eyes.

“Hey, this is my friend, Lin Weixia,” Liu Sijia said, her red lips parting lightly. She turned her head. “Weixia, this is my cousin, Lin Sen. He’s very easy-going — you don’t need to be formal with him.”

“Hello,” Lin Sen took the initiative with a friendly greeting and a smile. “We’re practically family — both surnamed Lin.”

Lin Weixia’s nerves relaxed slightly at that. “Hello,” she replied.

The three of them rode the escalator straight up to the fourth floor of the mall, where beyond two rows of claw-machine cabinets stood the arcade they were headed for. Inside it was packed — students, adults with their children — all squeezed in together on the weekend.

Lin Sen exchanged a few hundred coins at the counter in one go, put them in a basket, and trailed after the two girls.

“What do you want to play?” Lin Weixia asked.

Liu Sijia pointed toward a dance machine not far away. “I’ve been wanting to play that for ages.”

“All right, but I can’t play for too long,” Lin Weixia agreed.

She was wearing her hearing aid — if she sweated too much, she was afraid it would get wet and the sound reception would suffer.

The two girls quickly took their places on the dance platform. Following the movements of the character on screen, they stepped their legs apart, then together again, arms swinging in unison, long hair occasionally flying across their faces, youthful smiles bright and unguarded.

Passersby began to gather, watching and enjoying the show. Some even took out their phones to film. A small child nearby started bobbing their head and dancing along in their little voice calling out:

“The two sisters are so pretty!”

They had barely played for a while when Liu Sijia gasped and called for a stop, clutching her stomach. “I can’t take it anymore, Weixia — you keep playing while I run to the bathroom.”

“Okay.”

After Liu Sijia dashed away, Lin Weixia stopped too. Her pale forehead and the back of her neck were damp with sweat. She was feeling around the pocket of her overalls for a tissue.

Suddenly someone held out a wet wipe toward her. It was Lin Sen.

Lin Weixia paused, then took it, murmuring, “Thank you.”

Lin Sen held a cup of cola and walked alongside Lin Weixia toward the outer area, asking with a smile, “Done playing already?”

“Mm. I’m waiting for Sijia to come back.”

The two drifted away from the dense crowd. Lin Weixia stood in front of the claw machines waiting for Liu Sijia, but no matter how long she waited, Liu Sijia didn’t reappear.

To pass the time, Lin Weixia started playing a claw machine. One toy inside the glass case immediately caught her eye — a small cavalryman, mounted on a horse, his expression cold and imperious. He looked exactly like Ban Sheng.

If she managed to win it, she would give it to Ban Sheng.

Whether the claw was too loose or her luck was simply terrible, Lin Weixia couldn’t grab it no matter what she tried. She might look quiet, reserved, indifferent to most things — but once the competitive drive in her was ignited, she would do exactly what she was doing now: try again and again, completely absorbed.

Lin Weixia stared intently at the little cavalryman through the glass, her eyelashes perfectly still. She shifted the claw to the left and was just about to press the blue button when —

A figure loomed over her from behind. A hand covered hers, and before she could register the cold, unsettling presence, Lin Sen had moved in from behind in an unmistakably intimate posture, leaning close to her ear and murmuring, “Here’s the trick — you need to grab it right in the middle.”

His voice was low and deliberate. For some reason it made Lin Weixia think of a snake flicking its tongue, a signal to its prey.

A chill ran down her spine. She jolted, shook off his hand, half-crouched and twisted sideways to slip out from the space he had boxed her into, her voice cool and distant: “I’m going to check on Sijia.”

Lin Weixia left with a composed expression. She found her way to the restroom, turned on the tap, and a white jet of water rushed into the porcelain basin. Her mind was still drifting — then she snapped back, squeezed out some soap, thrust her hands under the faucet, and scrubbed furiously, rubbing over and over until the pale backs of her hands turned a blotchy red.

Only then did Lin Weixia finally stop, as though purging herself of something.

She dried her hands and walked out, pulling her phone from her pocket and messaging Liu Sijia.

Xia:

【Sijia, are you feeling better yet?】

+:

【Almost, almost. Ate something bad this morning.】

Lin Weixia held her phone, her lashes flickering once. She typed again: 【After this, let’s find somewhere to eat — just the two of us. There’s something I want to talk to you about.】

After she sent it, the screen stayed dark for a long while. Eventually Liu Sijia replied, seemingly reluctant: 【Hmm? Would it be fine if he came along? We can tell him to give us some privacy when we’re talking. Because after we wrap up, I still need to go handle something with him.】

Lin Weixia didn’t reply. Three minutes later, Liu Sijia came out of the restroom looking apologetic. She linked arms with Lin Weixia and steered them back toward the arcade to reconvene with Lin Sen.

On the way, Liu Sijia asked how things had gone with Lin Sen. Lin Weixia tugged the corner of her mouth slightly, her tone a touch cool: “Fine.”

“My cousin is actually quite interesting — once you spend more time with him you’ll see.” Liu Sijia rarely praised anyone.

Once the three regrouped, a faint awkwardness hung in the air. By the time they made their way out, the sky had already darkened. Liu Sijia suggested dinner.

Lin Sen walked a short distance away, smoothly pulled out his phone, and made a quick call. He was back in no time. “I’ve asked Uncle Wang to reserve a VIP private room at the Junyue Mansion for us. Weixia — Jiajia mentioned you prefer light flavors, so I specifically asked them to make the dishes mild, with less oil and less spice.”

“His family owns the hotel. So what do you think — isn’t Lin Sen quite thoughtful?” Liu Sijia said softly to Lin Weixia, gently smoothing her hair clip back into place.

Lin Weixia lifted her eyes toward Lin Sen. Catching her gaze, Lin Sen adjusted his glasses, a flash of shyness crossing his face — utterly unlike the person he had been earlier.

“Actually, I feel like having a night-market meal tonight,” Lin Weixia said, her lips parting in a measured way. She turned to Liu Sijia. “What if we go to Ning Chao’s family’s stall? He said he’d give me a discount if I showed up.”

She made it sound completely natural. She had no desire to share a closed private room with Lin Sen — and if refusal wasn’t an option, at least an open-air stall had people around, and a classmate’s family running the place.

Liu Sijia hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

They hit the after-work rush. From the subway exits, wave after wave of commuters poured out, crowding and jostling, shoulders bumping into each other.

The air was thick and hot — even the breeze that came was scorching.

Turning into Jinyu Street, the surroundings felt as though they had been cleaved off from the gleaming high-rise-lit cityscape of Nanjiang. The road conditions here were far rougher than outside.

Lin Sen’s expression was visibly strained, though he was doing his best to endure it.

Liu Sijia, despite her naturally disdainful, imperious manner, seemed only to wear it on the surface here — the moment she spotted trinkets on the mobile stalls she couldn’t put them down.

A child on a skateboard was horsing around with a friend on the street, tossing a ball between them. Suddenly a shuttlecock came flying from nearby and smacked Lin Sen squarely on the head. His face darkened to an extreme degree. He planted a foot on the shuttlecock and ground it to pieces, gritting out between his teeth: “Can’t we go somewhere with a better environment?”

Liu Sijia rolled her eyes at him. “We’re already here. Just endure it.”

The three soon arrived at Ning’s Open-Air Stall. Only Ning Chao’s father and mother were there — the couple said Ning Chao had gone to pick up supplies and would be back shortly. Liu Sijia sweetly greeted both of them, which nearly made Lin Sen’s jaw drop.

Lin Sen was meticulously wiping down the table. Seeing him scrub like he was trying to wear it through, Liu Sijia looked utterly exasperated. “You’re going to rub a hole in their table — are you going to pay for it?”

“I just — Jiajia, how do you even know people like this?” Lin Sen was half amused, half indignant.

Liu Sijia was momentarily at a loss for words. Lin Weixia, who was in the middle of pouring tea, interjected mildly, “I’m ‘people like this’ too — I live in Shuiwei Lane.”

“That’s not — I didn’t mean it that way,” Lin Sen said awkwardly, scrambling to change the subject. “So, Weixia, what kinds of things do you enjoy?”

“Reading mystery novels,” Liu Sijia answered for her.

When Ning Chao came back from picking up supplies and spotted Lin Weixia and the others, he lit up and moved to greet them. Then he noticed the unfamiliar boy sitting beside them and held back until he was serving the food, when he went over to say hello, told them to eat and drink well, and threw in a complimentary pitcher of iced mung bean soup.

The three chatted over dinner. Lin Weixia’s manner remained lukewarm throughout — until Lin Sen mentioned that he studied at the school next to Shengao and had crossed paths with Gao Hang, bringing up some stories about him. Then Lin Weixia’s iciness melted slightly, and her expression eased.

Ban Sheng was at a bar with a group of friends when Ning Chao’s message came through. The moment he swiped the screen and read it, his expression shifted. He grabbed his lighter and cigarettes, dropped everything, and walked out on the whole group.

The lights flickered. His companions exchanged confused looks. “What’s gotten into Ban Sheng? I’ve never once seen an expression on that man’s face — so how come right now it’s as black as a demon king’s? Who did he?”

“His soul’s been hooked away by a little butterfly,” Li Yiran said, tossing a cherry tomato into his mouth.

When Ban Sheng arrived at Jinyu Street it was not yet late, but the place was murky and dimly lit, all manner of people mixed together. He immediately spotted Lin Weixia sitting quietly, a faint smile perpetually on her lips. Beside her sat a male companion whose gaze kept drifting over to her.

A leaf drifted down and landed in her soft black hair. The boy reached out, his arm sweeping past the back of her neck, his whole body leaning toward her to retrieve the leaf.

Ban Sheng stood some distance away. His frame was lean — black top, black trousers. The fingers dangling at his side held a cigarette, damp, tapping it idly. Embers flicked and fell in a shower. The scarlet burn was creeping toward his middle knuckle when —

With a soft crack, he broke the cigarette clean in two without a sound. He stood in the dark, his eyes like two sharp blades, face set, silently watching the two of them.