Feng Ning walked over.

She stared at him for two seconds, then couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Aren’t you quite self-aware.”

Jiang Wen didn’t react for a moment, just looked calmly at Feng Ning.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Had a bit to drink. My head’s a little dizzy.”

“Should I drive today, then?”

Jiang Wen bent down, the hair over his forehead sliding down. He leaned in a little closer, meeting her eyes at eye level. “I want to take a ride.”

Feng Ning seemed to sense something. “I don’t have any change on me.”

…

…

Xi Gaoyuan pulled up in his car, with Zhao Binlin in the passenger seat. He spotted the two of them walking side by side up ahead right away. He honked the horn as a signal, slowing down, and rolled down the window, calling out gleefully, “Hey, where are you two headed?”

Feng Ning smiled. “Taking a walk, working off the meal.”

Xi Gaoyuan chimed in too. “Want a ride?”

Jiang Wen’s manner was lazy. “No need, you two go ahead.”

Soon, the car started moving, and the two figures were left behind, gradually shrinking into two black dots. Xi Gaoyuan shifted his gaze from the rearview mirror. “So it really is Feng Ning.”

The remark came out of nowhere, but Zhao Binlin picked right up on it. “Yeah, her again.”

Xi Gaoyuan looked puzzled. “Honestly, I never thought Jiang Wen was the stubborn type, so why is it that when it comes to Feng Ning, he just can’t let go?”

Sometimes, looking at the people around him, it seemed like nobody was really all that into anybody else—at most you confess, and if it works out, you’re happily together, and if not, you say an awkward goodbye and move on, easy and carefree. Not like Jiang Wen, who seemed almost obsessed, unable to get past this one hurdle for practically half his life.

Hearing this, Zhao Binlin rolled the window down, letting the wind blow in. Fumbling for his lighter, he told him a few things.

Two grown men gossiping could go on forever.

Xi Gaoyuan listened, astonished, and then found it somewhat funny. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Zhao Binlin lit a cigarette and said casually, “Wasn’t it right after Feng Ning finished her graduate degree and went to Shanghai? That same year happened to be his little sister’s college entrance exam year, and every single one of the schools Jiang Wen picked for her was in Shanghai.”

After a long pause, Xi Gaoyuan swore. “So he was already scheming that far ahead—here I thought there was nothing left between them long ago.”

“That’s what I used to think too.” Zhao Binlin suddenly remembered something else. “But last year, right after Jiang Wen came back, I had drinks with him.”

“Yeah, and? Did Feng Ning come up?”

“Of course she did. Tch, Jiang Wen told me he’d hugged her, for a few minutes. I thought it was kind of funny, so I asked him how it felt. You know what he told me?”

Xi Gaoyuan was curious. “What did he say.”

“—Couldn’t bear to let go, but had to.”

“……”

It took a few seconds to register, then Xi Gaoyuan hissed through his teeth, sour enough his teeth practically ached.

Halfway through the cigarette, Zhao Binlin narrowed his eyes. “That’s when I knew—there was no way it was over between them.”

Night fell, the sky turning fully dark. The lights came on, and the night view of the southern city remained dazzling, the intersection bustling with traffic. The two of them strolled along the streets, crossing a pedestrian bridge, roads, a sweet soup shop. Tired from walking, they stopped at a bus station.

The night bus on Route 425 came swaying into view from a distance. Along with the flow of passengers, Feng Ning pulled Jiang Wen’s hand onto the bus, dropped in the coins, and went to find seats in the back.

A familiar scene, fragments of memory. Things she’d thought she’d already forgotten came back to her all too easily in this moment.

Even the details were so vivid.

The dim, gently swaying bus cabin, the little TV up front playing an ad. Neon lights along the route streamed in through the glass window, mixed with moonlight.

She thought back to that time when she and Jiang Wen had been together—it felt like everything had changed, and yet somehow nothing had.

Leaning against the seatback, Feng Ning turned her head to look at him.

Jiang Wen’s features were sharply defined, the contrast especially strong in the interplay of light and shadow.

She asked, “What are you feeling right now.”

Jiang Wen turned his head to look at her too. “I don’t know.”

One year, two years… some things had clearly happened long ago, yet remembering them felt like yesterday. Feng Ning actually hadn’t ridden a bus in a long time—after breaking up with Jiang Wen, once back in the southern city, she basically hadn’t dared to.

Sometimes she felt this city was so small—small enough that wherever she walked, whoever she ran into, whatever shop she passed, could easily stir up memories she didn’t dare touch. And sometimes she felt the city was so big—big and empty, with no sound of laughter to be heard. Everything connected to him seemed to have simply stayed frozen in place forever.

Her hand was held in his.

Jiang Wen tilted his head, lifting her wrist. Pressing against the ring, he rubbed his thumb against her ring finger for a moment, then let go and lowered his voice. “When are we going to see my grandfather?”

“Hm?”

Jiang Wen’s expression was calm. “To discuss our marriage.”

“……”

She spoke a bit hesitantly. “I’m not ready yet—give me some time?”

Something suddenly darkened in the depths of Jiang Wen’s eyes, his breathing tightening.

Feng Ning glanced at him quietly and promised, “It won’t be long.”

She tactfully changed the subject, starting to talk about high school.

Back in high school, Feng Ning had been bold, her thinking unconventional, often doing wildly imaginative things. Once, during sports day, she’d skipped two days straight, taking Shuang Yao to a nearby stretch of the Han River to fish, and after fishing, the two of them had gone swimming at a pool. She was like a Doraemon with a magic pocket full of treasures, pulling one out now and then to make every day vivid and interesting.

As Feng Ning told the story animatedly, Jiang Wen watched her without blinking. “Back then, you were the person who annoyed me most.”

Feng Ning immediately chimed in, sounding utterly certain. “And also the one you liked most.”

Jiang Wen was silent for a moment, saying nothing.

After a while, hearing no answer, Feng Ning nudged him with her elbow. “Right?” Jiang Wen answered, “Mm.”

“Why did I annoy you?”

The moment she asked, she realized it was a pointless question—when she was younger, she’d loved pulling pranks on people. From the moment she entered Jiang Wen’s world, he hadn’t had a moment’s peace.

Jiang Wen, focused, watched the scenery pass by outside the window, and said only a few words. “You never paid me any attention, and you never once looked at me properly.”

“……”

Feng Ning said, “If I hadn’t gone to Guojin to take shelter from the rain back then. If I hadn’t ended up in Class Nine in freshman year. If the person you’d liked had been someone else—would the two of us be a little better off now?”

“No.”

“Hm?”

Something unreadable stirred in the depths of Jiang Wen’s eyes. “I like you.”

The bus reached a stop; some people got on, some got off. The row in front was chatting loudly, and in the noise, Feng Ning couldn’t hear what he said, so she leaned in slightly to listen.

“I’ve never liked anyone else. Only you.”

Feng Ning froze. After a moment of silence, she said, “Me too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before, and from now on, there’s only ever been you for me.” Feng Ning pulled his neck down and said seriously by his ear, “Jiang Wen is Feng Ning’s one and only.”

…

…

They rode all the way to the terminal stop.

Once the driver urged them along, the two finally got off. Feng Ning got off first, hopped in place, and breathed out a puff of white mist.

Not far off stood a wintersweet tree. She ran over to it, delighted. White flower buds, unmelted snow still lingering among the branches.

Wrapped in her warm scarf, Feng Ning turned back and called out to him with a smile, “Jiang Wen, come here quick!” Jiang Wen stood not far away, quietly watching her.

He still carried that same gentleness from his youth.

Time had passed; they were no longer the carefree teenagers they’d once been.

Yet all it took was one more glance from her, and the years would replay all over again.

After the Spring Festival, they went from the southern city back to Shanghai. Days passed one by one. Feng Ning occasionally had trouble sleeping, so she began seeing the hospital regularly for medication and psychological therapy.

Life gradually settled into a steady rhythm.

In May, Feng Ning and Jiang Wen went to A’Xin’s concert.

The final closing song was “Gentle,” the whole crowd singing along together—this is my gentleness, my gentleness—cold fireworks bursting from both sides of the stage, glow sticks and light boards waving across the whole venue, dazzling shifting colors of light, countless balloons of every color drifting up into the sky.

It wasn’t until past eleven that the concert ended, and Feng Ning pulled Jiang Wen out of the stadium.

At some point, a light rain had begun to fall from the sky.

Jiang Wen drove the car onto the elevated highway.

Feng Ning put in a CD, and a gentle woman’s voice filled the car. She hugged her knees, curled up in the passenger seat, and turned to Jiang Wen. “Let’s not go home tonight—let’s just drive around all night, how about it?”

Jiang Wen said, “Okay.”

They drove aimlessly around the outer ring road. Toward dawn, the rain grew heavier and heavier.

They passed a gas station and got out to rest. Feng Ning took a sip of water and said, “Let me drive from here—I’ll take you somewhere.”

Jiang Wen asked, “Where?” She said teasingly, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

…

…

Feng Ning entered a destination into the navigation and drove for about half an hour.

Jiang Wen rested his elbow on the window ledge, propping up his head, resting his eyes. Sensing the car stop, he opened his eyes.

Feng Ning pulled the key out and pushed the car door open.

Jiang Wen froze, watching wide-eyed as she strode boldly out into the rain, instantly soaked through. She circled around from the front of the car and knocked on his window. “Get out.”

This was a commercial street. At three in the morning, in a downpour, the whole street was empty—just the two of them out there without umbrellas.

Jiang Wen’s vision blurred, raindrops streaming down his eyelashes. “What are you doing?”

Feng Ning pulled his hand along, walking forward. “Taking you out to get soaked with me. How is it, romantic?”

Jiang Wen: “……”

It had only just turned summer, and the nighttime temperature had dropped sharply. The two of them, soaked from head to toe—hair and clothes both drenched—were shivering within ten minutes.

Not sure what they were even doing, they walked along the block. After a while, she stopped at a certain street corner.

Not far off, a massive LED screen was playing an advertisement.

Feng Ning suddenly circled around behind Jiang Wen.

She rose slightly on her toes, covering his eyes with both hands, unable to contain her excitement, as if sharing a secret. “There’s something I want to show you.”

He stayed still, quiet. “What?”

The rain was still heavy, her voice mixing with the sound of it. “Before you look, there’s something I want to say first.”

“Okay.”

Her chin rested on his shoulder. “I’ve always worried—I’m afraid we won’t get a happy ending. What do I do?”

“I’m more afraid than you are.” Jiang Wen seemed to sense something coming. He raised his hand, catching her wrist, trying to pull the hands in front of his eyes away. “And I want a happy ending even more than you do.”

“Is that so.”

Feng Ning let her hands drop along with the motion.

Before her eyes was still the pouring rain, the empty street, nothing else.

Feng Ning said from behind him, “Then turn around.”

Jiang Wen turned his head and froze completely in place.

The LED screen that had just been playing an ad had now changed to a different image. In its place was a peacock wearing a crown, beside it a beautiful girl with wide, noodle-like tears streaming down, holding up a ring, kneeling atop a row of English words.

—Will the little prince and I get married?