Only when Ah Heng held the train tickets in her hand did it feel real?

She was about to leave this place. Ah Heng felt relieved and happily began to sing: “Rise, those who refuse to be slaves…”

She hummed softly while the youth beside her propped his chin up, looking at her like she was some strange creature.

Ah Heng blushed.

“You’re off-key.” The youth smiled faintly, took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled, “Rise! Those who refuse to be slaves! That’s how it should be.”

You’re… the off-key one…

Ah Heng sniffled but didn’t dare argue, remembering how many times Si Wan had mentioned Yan Xi’s bad temper.

The train was scheduled for 10 PM, still half an hour away.

During the Spring Festival travel rush, the waiting room was terrifyingly crowded. Afraid of getting stepped on, Yan Xi led Ah Heng to squat in a corner, both quietly waiting for ticket checking to begin.

“We’re going to S City?” Ah Heng asked the youth softly.

The youth squatted there, blinking his big eyes, nodding.

“Why?” Ah Heng felt secretly delighted – S City was very close to Wu Shui Town, only two hours by train.

“I had a dream about S City last night,” the youth spoke softly, voice lazy.

“Have you been to S City before?” Ah Heng asked him.

“No.” The youth shook his head.

“Then how did you dream about it?” Ah Heng’s eyes widened.

“In the dream, someone told me there are many beautiful people there as pretty as me, lots of good food and fun things to do.” The youth’s mask half-lowered, revealing a charming smile, his lips red and moist as if painted with honey.

Ah Heng burst out laughing.

“Attention passengers for Train 313, attention passengers for Train 313…” came a sweet female voice.

“They’re starting to check tickets.” The youth stood up, his thick gloves patting the dust off his backpack before slinging it over his shoulder.

Ah Heng had lifted that backpack earlier – she didn’t know what was inside, but it was very heavy.

Following behind the youth, she looked around curiously. The only transportation she’d ever taken was by car – this was her first time on a train, like a bride in her wedding sedan.

“Don’t look around so much, there are kidnappers.” The youth’s voice sounded muffled behind his mask.

Ah Heng withdrew her gaze, looking at Yan Xi, somewhat embarrassed.

She… wasn’t a child.

The uniformed staff wearing white gloves stood at the ticket gate. Ah Heng happily handed over their two tickets to the staff member, who checked them with a smile and kindly said to Yan Xi: “First time traveling far from home, sisters? As the older sister, you need to take good care of your little sister!”

The visible half of Yan Xi’s face above his mask darkened. He took back the tickets without a word and strode quickly toward the platform.

Ah Heng apologetically smiled at the staff member while stumbling after Yan Xi.

It was understandable – Yan Xi was so beautiful and wearing all pink, that strangers would naturally mistake him for a girl. But clearly, Yan Xi wasn’t happy about it.

Little did she know, Yan Xi wasn’t just unhappy – he was furious. Since childhood, what annoyed him most was being mistaken for a girl.

Past the ticket gate, Ah Heng began to sweat nervously. She’d never seen so many people in her life. The platform was noisy, with all sorts of people nearly drowning her.

They finally squeezed onto the train, but most people were blocking the carriage entrance, waiting for others to find their seats before moving through themselves. As a result, everyone had the same idea, creating more and more congestion until it became chaos.

Meanwhile, Ah Heng was nearly crying when a tall, sturdy man stepped on her foot without noticing. She tried calling out several times, but the carriage was so noisy he couldn’t hear her.

Yan Xi leaned against the window where there was slightly more space. Seeing Ah Heng about to cry from being squeezed, he shouted: “Hey, uncle, doesn’t your foot feel uncomfortable stepping on someone?”

The youth’s voice was quite loud, but the tall heavy man heard without comprehending, just staring blankly at Yan Xi’s bright black eyes.

“Damn it!” Yan Xi grew annoyed, cursed, then grabbed Ah Heng’s arm and pulled her forcefully against his chest. His hands gripped the window sides, body slightly arched to leave space for Ah Heng within his embrace.

Ah Heng’s body suddenly relaxed. Looking down at her cloth shoes, there was indeed a clear leather shoe print. Looking up, she saw the youth’s carved white chin.

The train swayed, and Yan Xi’s pink coat occasionally brushed against her nose bridge, carrying a faint milk fragrance, clean and crisp. Her face couldn’t help but redden with embarrassment.

After about ten minutes, the passengers gradually dispersed, and Ah Heng let out a breath.

Yan Xi glanced at her indifferently and began looking for their seats according to the ticket numbers.

“23, 24…”

Ah Heng tugged at Yan Xi’s coat hem, pointing to two seats on the left. She felt Yan Xi noticeably relax.

The youth stored the backpack and sat in the window seat.

Ah Heng sat beside Yan Xi and checked her watch – the hour hand was one mark away from midnight. The carriage gradually grew quiet.

As the train clattered along, Ah Heng listened to the howling wind, feeling very, very tired…

When she opened her eyes again, she was sitting outside the Yun family house.

She saw the familiar medicine stove, saw the old palm fan in her hand, that orange firelight flickering faintly, not scorching, not warm, yet seemingly endlessly drawing out her hopes.

Unable to distinguish the measure of time, the family dog Ah Huang lay obediently at her feet, like her, stopping all the world’s cycles of change. In her eyes remained only this medicine stove, waiting to be slowly engulfed by the medicinal fragrance.

Living a lifetime like this wouldn’t be so bad.

Constancy and permanence, just a medicine stove and a palm fan, no desires, thus no pain or heartbreak.

In such an enormous reality carrying inertia, she was certain she was dreaming. But which was the dream – her medicine stove, her Ah Huang, her Zai Zai, or this youth sitting by the train window, or the heartbroken Si Wan in the distant hospital room?

This reality was more illusory than dreams, these dreams were more real than reality. But no matter how anxious she was in her dream, to Yan Xi’s eyes, this girl had fallen sound asleep, cutting off thoughts of reality.

When sleeping, this girl maintained her quiet, ordinary appearance, neither annoying nor likable. Yet Yan Xi kept his eyes wide open, maintaining complete self-awareness.

He had a bad habit when sleeping – requiring absolute silence around him. If there was even a slight disturbance, he’d rather keep his eyes open until dawn than try to sleep.

He couldn’t tolerate being defenseless with interrupted thoughts while others were still thinking, still existing consciously beside him – it made him uncomfortable.

The youth sat there, leisurely gazing out the window at the rolling whiteness approaching. Watching snow from the train was like this – small squares, like a kaleidoscope, snowflakes forming the background of the rushing scenery.

Suddenly, something soft gently fell onto his shoulder.

Yan Xi frowned. He detested contact with intimate, ambiguous implications – not from germaphobia, just an unconditional mental rejection. So, solemnly, the youth straightened the girl’s head back up.

Fortunately, Ah Heng slept very properly, maintaining the position Yan Xi fixed her in, and properly behaved, with no further movement.

When Ah Heng woke, it was already early morning the next day. She rubbed her eyes, looking at Yan Xi.

Yan Xi looked the same as yesterday, except for the faint bloodshot in his eyes.

“You didn’t sleep?” Ah Heng’s voice carried the thick nasal tone of just waking up.

The youth glanced at her, smiling mildly: “You’re awake?”

Ah Heng nodded.

“I’m hungry.” He got up slowly, stretching, “Do you prefer pork rib noodles or beef noodles?”

Ah Heng was stunned. She had no particular preference for food and confusedly answered randomly: “Pork rib noodles.”

Yan Xi looked at Ah Heng, his big eyes suddenly becoming friendly, hiding their previous sharpness.

Ah Heng didn’t understand why.

The youth left his seat and returned holding two paper bowls.

Ah Heng hurriedly reached out to take them, standing to let Yan Xi sit.

Yan Xi slurped his noodles loudly, soup splashing onto his mouth corners like a beard. Ah Heng ate in small bites while sneaking glances at Yan Xi. The youth’s noodle-slurping grew even louder, carrying a mischievous playfulness.

Nearby passengers all curiously looked their way, making Ah Heng’s face flush red.

“Delicious, right? Pork rib noodles are my favorite!” Yan Xi pretended not to notice, smiling as he spoke, his face flushed from the hot soup’s warmth.

Ah Heng honestly nodded.

Yan Xi always believed that when people interact, common interests are most important. He hadn’t found any common ground with Ah Heng before, feeling a natural barrier. Now that she also liked pork rib noodles, he felt a sense of kindred spirits meeting by chance, regardless of past acquaintance.

Of course, Ah Heng had no idea that Yan Xi’s newfound friendliness was simply because of a bowl of pork rib noodles.

“Achoo!” The youth rubbed his nose – he seemed to have caught a cold again.

He had always feared the cold, piling on clothes in winter, wrapped up tightly, preferably with zero contact with air. Even so, he frequently caught colds, and each time wouldn’t end without dragging on for ten-plus days.

They still had half a day’s journey to S City.

“You should sleep a while.” Ah Heng looked at the youth.

Yan Xi shook his head slightly, calm yet stubbornly frustrated.

“I’ll watch the bag, it’s fine.” Ah Heng thought the youth was worried about safety.

The youth ignored her, pulled up his mask, tilted his head slightly toward the window, and closed his eyes to rest.

Ah Heng looked at the youth’s gently closed flower-petal-like delicate eyelashes, feeling somewhat awkward. Finally, she took out her handkerchief, folded it, and nestled it against the outside of his left hand in a caring gesture.

This would be much more comfortable for his hand than the hard seat.

The youth’s fingertips trembled slightly, but gradually his fingers relaxed in their placed position, sinking into that softness. He seemed to have truly fallen asleep.

Ah Heng lowered her gaze to those jade-white fingers in the beige handkerchief, smiling slightly.

At four in the afternoon, they arrived.

Getting off the train, Ah Heng expected another struggle, but fortunately, Yan Xi’s big eyes carried quite the cold pressure when glaring, so they had a clear path, smoothly exiting the station.

The South and North had distinctly different warm atmospheres.

Ah Heng gently closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of the familiar moisture and sweetness. When she opened her eyes again, Jiangnan’s enchanting charm was already fixed in her gaze.

If people in B City were too busy to notice the flying snow, then people in S City were leisurely enough to research the most attractive walking postures.

“Where do we go now?” She tilted her head, looking at Yan Xi.

“Follow me.” He spoke, expression somewhat tired.

Ah Heng followed silently, trusting unconditionally.

Yan Xi bought a map, pointing to the marked S Lake: “Are there boats on this?”

Ah Heng found it amusing and nodded.

“Do they offer homestays on the boats?”

“Yes.”

The youth’s eyes instantly brightened as he spoke excitedly: “Really? I thought that only happened on TV. Let’s go!”

Ah Heng frowned, somewhat hesitant: “But you’ve never been on a boat, you might get seasick.”

“Is there good food on the boat?”

Ah Heng nodded.

“Beautiful scenery?”

Another nod.

“Beautiful people?”

A third nod.

“I’ll go even if it kills me.” The youth smiled.

Speaking of Yan Xi, he had three great loves in life: first, he loved good food; second, he loved beautiful scenery; third, he loved beautiful people. Among these three loves, beautiful people were especially important.

Unfortunately, life often disappoints. After eight years of struggle, this fellow never won the beautiful person he admired, only married a plain wife who could cook well and barely appreciated the scenery on the dog-shit-covered Champs-Élysées.

Of course, that’s a story for another time.