The lights along the riverbank sparkled brilliantly, and at the river mouth where it met the sea, hidden currents churned beneath the calm surface, creating a spiral pattern of ripples.
Along both banks stretched the luminous nightscape of Hai City, while on the bridge spanning the river, vehicles shuttled back and forth like weaving shuttles, their surfaces gleaming under the bridge lights.
Xia Xia walked aimlessly along the riverbank, with Xie Huai quietly following behind her.
After being yelled at by Xie Huai, Wu Shujie stood stunned for a long while. Finally, with pale, trembling lips, he said, “You dare steal my woman? Just wait, I’m going back to get people right now.”
Xie Huai’s sharp brows arched as he replied in an icy tone, “Your woman?”
His expression was mocking, and though he was smiling, to Wu Shujie’s eyes there was an underlying ruthlessness. Despite this being their first meeting and knowing nothing about each other, Wu Shujie could sense this emotion in Xie Huai’s gaze.
—If he left now, he still had a chance. Later, he might not be able to leave even if he wanted to.
Wu Shujie cowered but spat out viciously, “Just you wait!” before turning and running away.
…
Xie Huai deliberately slowed his pace to match Xia Xia’s rhythm.
He held Xia Xia’s book in his hands, his gaze falling on the red scarf wrapped around her snow-white neck.
The red complemented her complexion perfectly and suited her well.
She stood gracefully, her spine straight, like a vibrant flower blooming in an icy snowscape.
Xie Huai’s phone vibrated twice—it was a weather alert warning of snow in Hai City today. He rarely paid attention to weather forecasts before, going out without an umbrella even on rainy days, but since Xia Xia came to Hai University, his phone’s weather app had gained a new city.
Xie Huai didn’t chat much with Xia Xia daily. Besides telling her to go to bed early, his most frequent message was “It’s raining, bring an umbrella.”
He kept every message concise, afraid that saying too much would make Xia Xia more reluctant to part from him, yet after sending each message he would stare at his phone lost in thought, worried that Xia Xia would merely reply with a brief “mm” or “okay.”
The human heart’s machinations are intricate and profound, sometimes beyond even one’s understanding.
Like his.
Before, he only wished that Xia Xia wouldn’t be burdened by him and that someone else could give her a better life. But after hearing Zhu Ziyu’s words, all his previous thoughts were shattered and swallowed back down, and flying to Hai City had been just a momentary impulse.
The weather forecast said Hai City would see its first winter snow tonight.
Xia Xia stopped walking. The wind was strong by the river, making her face flush red. “Did you eat enough earlier? I’m a bit hungry.”
Her bright eyes looked at Xie Huai. “I know a really good place.”
The street-side food stall was packed with people. Xia Xia picked out ingredients and asked the owner to make her a bowl of spicy hot pot.
Xie Huai ordered a plate of fried rice and sat outside with her to eat.
The business was good, and the spot was sheltered from the wind. With so many people around, it wasn’t too cold even outdoors.
Xia Xia added lots of chili to her hot pot, eating until the corners of her mouth were covered in chili oil. She stuck out her pink tongue: “Spicy.”
Xie Huai opened a can of herbal tea and pushed it toward her. Xia Xia gulped down half the bottle.
While she was drinking, Xie Huai secretly tried to pick the green peppers out of his fried rice and throw them in the trash. Xia Xia’s sharp eyes caught him, and she slapped his hand.
She spoke like a little bully: “You’re still picky about food?”
Xie Huai irritably poked at his rice with his chopsticks: “I just don’t like these.”
Xia Xia: “You eat so few vegetables and don’t like fruit either. Your gums are always bleeding. If you go on like this, your immune system will weaken.”
“Just like my mom, nagging away.” Xie Huai slowly ate the green peppers.
Xia Xia’s gaze fell on his bare wrist, asking though she knew the answer: “Where’s your bracelet?”
Xie Huai: “It broke.”
He pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket and tossed it on the table, containing the Bodhi beads he had collected.
The Bodhi bracelet originally had 108 beads; he had only found 106, with two missing.
“How did it break?”
Xie Huai didn’t answer. Xia Xia’s lips curved up as she tried to suppress a smile.
After finishing her meal, Xia Xia dragged Xie Huai to go shopping. She went into a handcrafted jade store and browsed at the counter, examining and testing various cords before selecting a black one. After paying, she sat in the store studying Xie Huai’s bracelet.
She looked gentle and obedient when focusing on her task. Xie Huai stayed quiet, watching her.
“Say something,” Xia Xia said softly.
“What should I say?”
“You said you had something to tell me.”
Xie Huai made a sound of agreement but fell silent again afterward.
Xia Xia looked at him, her gaze full of confusion, but she didn’t ask. She decided to ignore this complicated man. Her fingers moved deftly, wrapping the thin cord around her fingertips and threading the Bodhi beads one by one. The girl’s hands were small but skillful, and soon she had strung more than ten beads.
Xie Huai got up and browsed around the store, standing at the glass counter for a long time.
The clerk handed him a small box from behind the counter. Through the reflection in the window before her, Xia Xia saw Xie Huai pay at the counter, after which the clerk took it to the back room for polishing.
When Xie Huai returned, Xia Xia had already strung all 106 beads.
She was about to cut off the excess cord when Xie Huai placed the small box in front of her.
He pressed his thumb to open it, revealing two pale white jade beads nestled in red velvet.
The jade beads were slightly smaller than the Bodhi beads, transparent and clear, with holes drilled through them for use as accessories.
“Don’t cut it,” Xie Huai said. “String these on too.”
Xia Xia picked up the beads. They felt smooth and cool to the touch, clearly of high quality.
Her fingertips traced the beads, feeling small indentations. Holding them up to the light, she saw two letters carved into them—one X and one H.
What’s this about?
She glanced at Xie Huai, thinking how this seemingly cool guy was being so girly, copying things young girls do, even carving his name into the bracelet—was it to make it easier to find if lost?
Xia Xia quietly strung the beads and sealed the connection point with a lighter.
The Bodhi bracelet was restored to its original form, yet somehow different.
She handed the bracelet to Xie Huai, but instead of wearing it, he took her hand and slipped it onto her wrist.
His wrist was thick enough for three loops, while Xia Xia’s slim wrist took four.
“It’s not Xie Huai,” Xie Huai said flatly, as if reading her thoughts. “It’s Xie Huai and Xia Xia.”
Xia Xia froze.
Xie Huai’s dry palm gripped her hand tightly: “Don’t be with them.”
Xia Xia blinked: “Them?”
Xie Huai’s expression remained unchanged: “Anyone except me.”
Xia Xia’s mind was a mess, truly stunned now. She couldn’t figure out what game Xie Huai was playing but felt he wasn’t joking. She stared blankly at the expensive phoenix eye Bodhi beads on her wrist, pulled her hand from Xie Huai’s grip, and made it as if to remove the bracelet.
“Sorry, Brother Huai,” Xia Xia said deliberately. “Although this bracelet is quite expensive, I don’t think you can just buy me off with a bracelet.”
“You don’t like me, yet you won’t let me be with others. This is typical dog-in-the-manger behavior. Do you know that the gender imbalance has become a serious social problem? If you won’t let me date, society will lose an excellent woman, and that might cause serious unrest.”
Xie Huai wouldn’t let her take it off: “Stop being so full of yourself.”
“Society won’t collapse without you, but I would without you.”
Xia Xia’s breath caught.
Xie Huai’s expression remained calm as if he hadn’t just been the one speaking.
“Xia Xia, give me some time.”
His tone was serious, and when he looked at her, his dark eyes held tiny sparks of light.
Xia Xia suddenly understood his meaning. Even though he hadn’t said a single extra word, she just understood.
She let him hold her hand, stayed quiet for a moment, then asked in a soft voice: “How long?”
Xie Huai’s voice sounded somewhat hoarse: “Not too long.”
“You need to give a specific time,” Xia Xia said. “I’m a girl, and I’ve spent my best years waiting for you. What if you change your mind in the end and no one will marry me?”
“I keep my word.”
“I don’t believe you,” Xia Xia said. “You’ve deceived me before, I don’t trust you anymore.”
Xie Huai gazed at the girl’s shrewd face. Upon hearing his words, instead of being flustered like a startled deer, she calmly bargained with him, clearly having known his feelings for some time.
Only now did he realize that Xia Xia was truly a little fox, crafty through and through. It seemed he was the one holding the initiative, but somehow he had been unknowingly wrapped around her finger.
“Six months,” Xia Xia said.
“Not enough.”
“One year.”
“Not enough.”
“Then I won’t wait for you,” Xia Xia pouted coquettishly. “I’ll go date someone else. There are plenty of people pursuing me—finding a boyfriend would be easy.”
Xie Huai’s grip on her hand suddenly tightened, making Xia Xia cry out: “Ouch!”
“One year it is,” Xie Huai loosened his grip.
Xia Xia’s lips curved into a sly smile: “Then it’s settled, one year.”
Her smile was vivacious, and her gaze at Xie Huai was filled with countless tender emotions. Her affection for him was almost overflowing into the air, impossible to contain.
The young girl’s innocent love was like sugar syrup—one breath, and sweetness filled her nose.
Xia Xia leaned close to his ear and whispered: “Actually, I’ve known you liked me for a long time.”
Xie Huai asked: “Since when?”
“I suspected it when you scrubbed the toilet for me—how could someone who didn’t like me willingly endure that smell to clean my toilet? I confirmed it the night you were drunk.” Xia Xia’s bright eyes looked at him. “You called my name all night long. Did you dream about me? What did you dream about?”
Xie Huai blushed and turned away, not wanting Xia Xia to see.
Xia Xia asked innocently: “Brother Huai, can you kiss me?”
Xie Huai said: “No.”
“Then can I kiss you?”
Xie Huai’s Adam’s apple trembled slightly: “Better not.”
He walked out of the store. Snow was falling outside, blown onto the strands of hair on his forehead.
He brushed it away, standing silently under the yellow streetlight.
In the distance, the food stall was bustling with noise. The owner had put up plastic windbreaks, and steam rose from the spicy hot pot, the snowflakes melting in mid-air from the heat before they could reach the pot.
Xia Xia bounced behind Xie Huai, reaching out to catch the falling snowflakes: “Then what’s the point of all this? Can’t kiss, can’t hug, can’t do anything. Just because you say so, I have to stay pure and wait for you for a year? No matter how I think about it, I’m getting a raw deal.”
She counted on her fingers: “With so many guys who like me if I hadn’t agreed to you, I could have dated several during this year…”
Before she could finish, Xie Huai grabbed her wrist, his voice cool: “Say that again.”
Xia Xia didn’t dare continue, lowering her voice: “You don’t have to repay those debts, do you? If they come, let them come. I’m not afraid.”
Xie Huai remained silent, his gaze falling on the thick clouds gathering in the distant sky.
The snow grew heavier, and scenes from that winter involuntarily surged into his mind.
A young man burst into the basement against the howling north wind.
Qiao Ru lay on the ground, her clothes torn to shreds.
The man sneered: “As expected of someone Xie Zhi raised all his life—skin still so soft at forty.”
The bitter wind howled past like sharp blades, creating harsh clanging sounds as it swept through the iron bars of the basement window.
Snow swept through the window, filling the room with bone-chilling cold.
The police arrived late that night. When they broke down the door, their shoes stepped in something sticky. Looking down, they saw bright red blood everywhere.
The young man who had called the police twenty minutes ago stood in the center of the room with an unconcealed fierce chill about him. His coat covered the woman, leaving him in just a thin knit sweater. The white sweater was stained red with blood, his gaze furious, eyes bloodshot—more terrifying than a bloodthirsty beast.
Two blood-covered men lay on the floor.
The knife used in the stabbing had fallen to the ground, near the young man’s blood-soaked shoes.
…
“I am not afraid,” Xia Xia said. “I’m not afraid of anything when I’m with you.”
Xie Huai’s thoughts returned to the present as he looked at the girl’s sweet smile: “But I am afraid.”
His voice was hoarse: “I’m afraid, okay?”