That evening, Jiang Mu managed to have a peaceful dinner with Jiang Yinghan and Chris, though she barely spoke throughout the meal. The atmosphere was mainly sustained by Chris’s broken Chinese.

Finally, Chris raised his glass and said, “Everyone should cheer up! Isn’t Chinese New Year supposed to be a happy time?”

He lifted his glass and said, “Happy New Year.”

Jiang Yinghan raised her glass as well, and Jiang Mu followed suit, responding with a quiet “Happy New Year.”

Later that night, after Jiang Mu returned to the single room Jiang Yinghan had arranged for her, her mother knocked on her door before bedtime. She sat in the room for a while before saying, “I might have been a bit harsh earlier today, but you should understand everything I do is for you. In those first few years after your father passed, when I left my job, I had no money. Later, I made some money from the lottery, and your monthly guzheng lessons and tutoring cost thousands. Can you understand that?”

Jiang Mu sat on the bed with downcast eyes, nodding slightly. Jiang Yinghan moved to sit beside her and patted the back of her hand. “Everyone has their fate. Yes, Jin Chao is smart, but there are plenty of smart people out there. Not everyone can succeed. I know you were close to him when you were young, but you need to maintain boundaries. Your paths will be different from his in the future, understand?”

This time, Jiang Mu didn’t nod. She remained motionless and silent as Jiang Yinghan continued to console her before finally leaving.

The night passed quietly. The next morning, Jiang Mu had a peaceful breakfast with Jiang Yinghan, even asking about Chris’s family. Jiang Yinghan was happy to share, believing her daughter had finally come around after a night’s reflection. While she might not immediately accept Chris, at least she seemed willing to try to understand him.

However, after checking out of the hotel, Jiang Mu, carrying her luggage and backpack, surprised them by saying, “I won’t be going back to Suzhou with you for New Year’s. School only gives us a week off, and it would be too much trouble to travel back and forth before classes start again. I’d rather rest and catch up on sleep.”

This sudden decision left Jiang Yinghan momentarily stunned. “Is this still about yesterday?”

Jiang Mu remained silent, only shaking her head glumly.

“Who doesn’t go home for New Year’s?” Jiang Yinghan asked anxiously.

Jiang Mu replied quietly, “I can go to my father’s home just the same.”

Jiang Yinghan’s temper flared. “That’s your father’s home with someone else. Is that your home? I see now you won’t listen to anything I say, is that it?”

With a reddened nose, Jiang Mu finally responded after a long pause, “How much of what I say do you hear…”

Just as Jiang Yinghan was about to explode, Chris stepped in as peacemaker, saying that Mu-mu did look quite exhausted and hadn’t been sleeping well, so they shouldn’t force her if she didn’t want to come.

With their train departure time approaching, Jiang Mu insisted on staying in Tonggang, leaving Jiang Yinghan and Chris to head to the station alone.

Jiang Mu walked alone toward Jin Qiang’s house, carrying her backpack and dragging her suitcase. It was difficult to get a taxi on New Year’s Eve, so she walked for quite a distance, her mood remaining heavy. This was the first time in her eighteen years that she would spend New Year’s alone, away from home. All the storefronts were closed, though many displayed “Fu” characters and Spring Festival couplets. Hardly anyone was out on the streets, and with each step, she felt increasingly desolate.

But she preferred this to returning to Suzhou with them. Ever since learning that her mother planned to sell their house and move away with Chris, taking all their belongings, Jiang Mu had developed a prejudice against Chris. The thought of spending two awkward days with him made staying at Jin Qiang’s house seems like the better option.

After walking for what seemed like forever, a taxi pulled up beside her asking for her destination. She got in and gave Jin Qiang’s address.

Having left just yesterday, she was back again today, trudging up to the fifth floor with her bags, completely out of breath. Opening the door, everything was exactly as she’d left it yesterday. Jin Qiang and his family would likely be spending these days at Zhao Meijuan’s place.

Too tired to unpack, Jiang Mu simply dropped her suitcase by the door and collapsed onto the bed.

Perhaps from exhaustion, both physical and mental, she felt too drained to move. While she seemed to drift off to sleep, scenes played through her mind like a movie reel.

The rainy night nine years ago when she and Jin Chao parted kept replaying in her mind. Time seemed to rewind to that evening, which marked the beginning of their diverging paths.

She in the south, he in the north.

She striving for academic excellence, he struggling for survival.

Her world was simple, confined to school and home, while his world greeted him with chaos each morning.

She knew no troubles beyond poor test performance and lack of sleep,

While he was mired in the harsh realities of a cold world, treading on thin ice, surrounded by hostility.

With a twenty-year mortgage and endless medical bills – Jin Chao had still hidden the cruelest reality from her: the unjust civil compensation weighing on his shoulders. This must be why he refused to stop what he was doing.

“What’s wrong with living life on the edge of a sword? If you’ve got nothing left to lose, why fear the blade?”

These words echoed in her ears, making her heart feel as if it were being repeatedly pierced by countless needles.

How many times had she tried to decipher what lay behind Jin Chao’s calm gaze? But when she finally understood the desolation in his eyes, it felt like her very flesh and bones were being torn apart.

Outside, the snow had begun falling unnoticed, accumulating into a vast white expanse. The streets were empty now, with families gathered together. On this special day, regardless of wealth or poverty, nothing could prevent people from celebrating the arrival of the new year with their loved ones.

When Jiang Mu awoke, the room was pitch black. She sat dazed on the edge of the bed for a while, watching the heavy snowfall outside transform the night into a different shade of white, feeling somewhat disoriented.

Her phone displayed several group New Year’s greeting messages, including one from Dr. Li at the veterinary hospital. Jiang Mu replied with New Year wishes and asked if anyone would be at the hospital tomorrow to see Shandian. Dr. Li told her someone would be on duty until 4 PM, so she should come early if she wanted to visit.

Having finally planned something for tomorrow, Jiang Mu found herself at a loss for what to do next. Feeling hungry, she tore open a packet of cookies from the drawer but then didn’t know what else to do.

She didn’t want to watch the New Year’s Gala on TV or scroll through her phone to see all the festive updates. Even studying or doing homework felt too depressing on this particular day.

So she sat on the bed eating cookies, staring at the large dartboard hanging on the wall. The three darts were still stuck in the bull’s-eye, unchanged since her first day here. She gazed at them for a while, wondering if Jin Chao had thrown them.

She got up and removed the three darts, then returned to the bed and tried aiming for the bull’s-eye herself. She missed – the dart hit the wall and fell to the floor. She tried with the other two darts; only one managed to stick in the outer ring. It was harder than she’d imagined.

She went to pick up the darts and stood back on the bed to try again. She kept at it for half an hour, playing by herself, until boredom took over. Finally, she threw all three darts at once in frustration. One of them missed the dartboard entirely and stuck into the wall. Jiang Mu quickly jumped off the bed to retrieve it, discovering a tiny hole in the wall. Though barely visible, she felt guilty and tried to smooth it over with her hand. As she did so, her elbow accidentally bumped the dartboard, which was hanging from a single nail. It wobbled once and fell straight off the wall.

With a “whoosh,” several letters scattered across the floor. In the dim room, Jiang Mu stood frozen by the wall, staring at the familiar envelopes. Her heart leaped as if she’d been suddenly thrown from a valley into the sky. Shocked, she covered her face and slowly crouched down.

The envelopes before her featured various designs – a grumpy-faced gangster rabbit, a child on a swing, and delicate purple flowers. She had spent ages choosing each one. Though Jiang Mu had lived in this room for half a year, she’d never known these letters were bound behind the dartboard – and every single one was from her.

That year, Jin Chao had stopped calling her. When she tried his number, it was disconnected. They had completely lost touch.

She picked up the envelope with the pitiful-looking chubby gangster rabbit. It was her first-ever letter to anyone. Her fifth-grade handwriting was still childish: “Brother, you haven’t called for so long. I don’t know how to find you, so I’m trying to write to you. I hope you’ll receive this.

Brother, are you in high school now? I want to know how you did in your entrance exams. You must have done great, right? Did you get into a key high school? Is it because you’re so busy with high school that you don’t have time to call me anymore?

Mom and I are moving. She sold our old house. She says we don’t need the old telephone anymore. We might move into a rental place temporarily. Once I know where we’ll be, I’ll write to you again.

…

Missing you, Mu-mu.”

As Jiang Mu was about to refold the letter, she noticed a pencil drawing on the back – a girl with chubby cheeks and two bun-style pigtails, rolling on the ground. She was certain Jin Chao had drawn it. She’d seen his drawings before. Unlike her, who could only manage stick figures, he was artistic. Half of her kindergarten crafts and drawings had been his handiwork. After he left, bulletin board assignments became her biggest nemesis.

Eagerly, she opened another letter, written after moving into their new home when she was in sixth grade: “Brother, Mom, and I finally moved out of the rental and into our new place. It’s an apartment with an elevator on the 12th floor! There’s a big garden downstairs with swings and slides. It’s super, super pretty. I really wish you could come back, but you must have lots of schoolwork now, right?

I’m starting middle school next year and have lots of homework and tutoring classes too. But don’t worry, Mom says the district school is pretty good. She hopes I can get good grades and get into the experimental class, so I need to work hard.

If I do well, could you come visit me during summer break after graduation?

Our new address is…

Missing you, Mu-mu.”

She had sent him many letters that year, filled with random thoughts, girlish worries, stories about studies, daily life, and how much she missed him. On the back of every letter, Jin Chao had left a pencil drawing. In his illustrations, she evolved from that rolling little girl into a young woman. Though he hadn’t seen how she’d grown up, each drawing was how he imagined her to be.

The final letter was written at her elementary school graduation: “Chao-chao, this is my last letter to you. Since you’ve never replied, it feels like I’m writing to thin air. I’m starting middle school soon and will meet lots of new classmates and make more friends. So, this is it.

…

No longer missing you, Mu-mu.”

Jiang Mu hastily turned this letter over. Instead of a drawing, there were eight characters in the bottom right corner: “I’m sorry. Missing you, Chao-chao.”

Seeing his strong handwriting, Jiang Mu burst into tears. She clutched the letter tightly as all her emotions burst forth from her chest like a broken dam.

She threw on her coat and ran out the door. The streets were empty, buried under heavy snow. She trudged through the snow toward Tongren Lane, the snow settling on her hair, eyelashes, and shoulders. But she didn’t feel cold at all – instead, a fire burned within her, making her blood boil with excitement.

Her hopeful letters hadn’t been lost. He had received them all, drawing how he imagined her on each one, keeping them safe all these years. It wasn’t one-sided longing or solitary yearning – he had thought of her too, missing her just as she missed him all these years.

Snowflakes danced around her as Jiang Mu alternated between wiping away tears and breaking into silly grins. She bent down to scoop up handfuls of snow and threw them into the air. The light, soft snowflakes swirled around her like luminescent sprites in the night, lighting up her vibrant eyes. She was alone on the empty street, undaunted by the cold or the difficult path. When she slipped, she got back up and kept going, feeling no pain, completely exhilarated. Even the old residential buildings, weathered pavilions, and frozen fountains seemed beautiful to her.

Though the distance wasn’t short, Jiang Mu felt no fatigue. Her mind was filled with images of Jin Chao through the years – him holding her hand, feeding her snacks, their playful wrestling on the floor, her crying when he upset her, and him hugging her to make amends. She had asked him, “Brother, will you always be good to Mu-mu?”

He answered, “As long as you don’t change, I won’t change either.”

When she reached Tongren Lane, her steps grew lighter, almost running. From afar, she saw that Feichi’s metal shutters were down. Suddenly, reality hit her – it was New Year’s Eve. Everyone would be having a reunion dinner with their families. Had Jin Chao gone to join Jin Qiang and the others?

Jiang Mu’s steps slowed. She took out her phone, wondering if she should call him. But what if he was at Jin Xin’s mother-in-law’s house?

She left a long trail of footprints in the snow before stopping at Feichi’s entrance. Her excitement gradually subsided. Everyone would be having their New Year’s Eve dinner now. Perhaps it wasn’t appropriate to call Jin Chao – would she be interrupting their family reunion?

Jiang Mu crouched down by the shutters, finally feeling the cold. As she hesitated, she suddenly heard San Lai’s distinctive laugh coming from the pet shop next door. Startled, she quickly stood up and walked to the pet shop’s door, knocking on the shutter and calling out, “Brother San Lai.”

The noise inside stopped. A few seconds later, the shutter suddenly rolled up, releasing a rush of hot pot steam and boisterous laughter. San Lai looked her over in surprise, exclaiming, “Am I seeing things? Weren’t you supposed to be in Suzhou?”

Jiang Mu lifted her frost-reddened face with a radiant smile: “Happy New Year!”

She peered inside, where a table had been set up on the first floor of the pet shop with a bubbling hot pot. Jin Feng and Tie Gongji were both there.

Her gaze moved past them to Jin Chao, sitting furthest inside. He was wearing a black sweater and lounging in a recliner, his figure slightly blurred by the rising steam from the hot pot. When he heard that clear “Happy New Year,” he turned to look, his eyes slightly curved. His casual, lazy expression suddenly lit up when he saw Jiang Mu, his eyes gleaming like mirrors in the light.