The two of them stared at each other in silence. Feng Ning’s mind went briefly numb, unsure if she was hallucinating.

The person with Jiang Wen looked somewhat surprised. Bai Hongyi observed for a moment, then asked, “Ryan, your friend?”

Jiang Wen didn’t register his words at all.

Feng Ning, sitting there, was caught off guard for a moment. But she recovered quickly; after a brief pause, she stood up calmly. “Jiang Wen?”

“It’s me.”

There was roughly the distance of a table corner between them. She stepped back a little more, without making it obvious. “When did you get back?”

He spoke. “Last week.”

“Oh… I see.”

This time, Jiang Wen didn’t respond.

An awkwardness, murky and hard to name, spread between them. Feng Ning, seeming unsure what to say next, lifted a hand to point at Min Yueyue. “I’m here having dinner with a friend.”

Jiang Wen said, “Alright, I’ll get going then.”

“Okay.”

After they left, Feng Ning sat back down.

After a long moment, she sighed, casually picked up a cookie from the snack plate and put it in her mouth. “What are you staring at me for?”

Min Yueyue, eyes full of hearts, asked dazedly, “Ning Ning, where do you know that gorgeous hunk from, you never mentioned it.”

“What gorgeous hunk.”

Min Yueyue kicked her foot under the table, displeased. “Don’t play dumb!”

“Oh, you mean the guy just now?” Feng Ning answered absently, sidestepping. “He’s my high school classmate.”

Right then, the server brought over the pot. “Your fifteen frogs, all here, already cooked, ready to eat.”

Feng Ning called the departing server back.

“Yes, anything you need?”

Feng Ning said, “Bring some liquor.”

A few bottles of Snowflake Pure Draft came to the table; Feng Ning picked one up, and without a bottle opener, cracked the cap open on the edge of the table in one smooth motion.

Min Yueyue’s eyes went wide watching. “Ning Ning, you’re amazing.”

Feng Ning poured herself a full glass and took a big gulp.

Min Yueyue, not much of a drinker, kept her company for a few sips before diving into the bullfrogs. She ate with her head down for a while, then looked up, staring straight at Feng Ning. “I don’t think it’s as simple as just high school classmates, is it?”

The topic jumped so fast that it took Feng Ning a moment to realize she meant Jiang Wen.

Min Yueyue’s face was full of gossip. “That look you two exchanged just now, there’s definitely a story there.”

“Have you been reading too many romance novels lately?”

“Is he your ex?”

Feng Ning swirled the beer foam in her glass, and said lazily, “Yeah.”

“Really!” Min Yueyue’s eyes went wide, disbelieving. “He’s really your ex?”

Feng Ning smiled, took another sip. “Just kidding.”

“Ugh.” Min Yueyue deflated, dropping her chopsticks. “Which is it!”

“I told you and you didn’t believe me.”

After a beat, Min Yueyue tried again. “Did you actually date?”

Feng Ning neither confirmed nor denied it.

“—Ahh!” Min Yueyue slumped against the couch back, defeated. “I’m so upset.”

“What are you upset about?”

“I just fell in love at first sight with that hunk, and before I could even dive into that river of love, I hear the devastating news—turns out he’s your ex.”

Min Yueyue smacked the table bitterly. “How am I supposed to make a move now.”

Feng Ning’s mood, which had been somewhat heavy, couldn’t help but lighten watching her. “Alright, drama’s over.”

Not long after, Min Yueyue perked back up, determined to interrogate further. “How long did you two date?”

“Don’t remember.”

“How can your memory be this bad!”

The words slipped out, and Min Yueyue immediately caught herself, quickly backtracking. “I mean, dating someone that good-looking, shouldn’t it be seared into your memory forever? That’s the peak moment of your whole life!!”

Feng Ning smiled, didn’t answer.

“Tell me about it, I’m really curious.”

“Tell you what? It’s been so long, what’s there to tell.”

Min Yueyue fired off a string of questions like bullets. “Who chased who? Did you kiss? Sleep together?”

She wore a look of stubborn persistence, as if she wouldn’t let it go all night unless Feng Ning answered.

Feng Ning said, “Kissed. Never slept together.”

“So who chased who?”

“…I chased him.”

Just then, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. Feng Ning, absorbed in talking to Min Yueyue, didn’t notice.

“Your high school classmate… how’d you break up? At graduation?”

Feng Ning answered patiently, “Something like that.”

“So that’s been, what, ten years? Impressive you two still remember what each other looks like.”

Min Yueyue sighed mournfully. “Ning Ning, what do I do, I really do just love handsome guys so much, why can’t I date several boyfriends at once?”

The second time the phone rang, Feng Ning finally noticed the screen light up. She picked it up, answering Min Yueyue at the same time: “See a doctor, get treated promptly.”

She swiped to answer while still talking, said hello into the phone.

No response.

“Why can’t I hear anything.”

Feng Ning said hello twice more, checked the screen—it still showed the call connected—put it back to her ear, muttering, “Is something wrong with my phone.”

Min Yueyue agreed, continuing to pick at the frog. “You should really get rid of this junky phone, I can never get through to you lately.”

She circled back to the earlier topic, mouth still full, mumbling, “You really should’ve slept with your ex before you broke up. There’s a saying on Weibo—the hardest thing in the world isn’t diamonds, it’s a high schooler’s.”

Swallowing the food in her mouth, Min Yueyue said loudly again, “You never even got to try the hardest man in the world, what a waste.”

“……”

Feng Ning, at a loss for words, was about to hang up the call when a familiar voice suddenly came through her ear: “—Why’d you stick your number on my car.”

The voice on the phone was Jiang Wen’s.

She gripped the phone in her hand, thinking for a second she’d misheard, paused, then said, “Huh?”

“Your phone number.”

Feng Ning took a moment to process this absurd situation. “The car that got blocked in… was yours?”

His voice sounded confused. “What?”

She echoed, “What?”

For some reason, there was a long pause on Jiang Wen’s end, then he said, “Oh… right. My car got blocked in.”

After Feng Ning hung up, Min Yueyue asked, unbothered, “Who was that?”

Feng Ning picked up her glass, downing the remaining beer in one go. “The hardest high schooler in the world.”

Min Yueyue: “……”

Feng Ning stood up, grabbed her bag. “Let’s go.”

Min Yueyue turned. “Huh? Not eating anymore?”

“Go move the car, big sis.”

The parking lot lighting was dim, and where Jiang Wen stood was especially dark. He had a cigarette between his teeth, lit it, holding it between two fingers, a wisp of smoke curling between his lips, an ember glowing faintly at the tip.

A few steps away, Feng Ning’s footsteps stopped without a sound.

For some reason, in that instant, a line from Faye Wong’s song “Fleeting Time” suddenly came to her mind:

—In this lifetime, fated to cross paths on a narrow road, there’s no escaping it.

The moment the thought surfaced, Feng Ning inwardly scoffed at herself, wondering since when she’d become the type for such melodrama.

Jiang Wen bent slightly at the waist, cigarette in one hand, phone in the other. His back leaned against the fire exit door, his expression hidden in the dim light, his smoking posture practiced and easy.

Standing ten meters off, she gazed steadily at him.

Min Yueyue, catching up from behind, called out excitedly, “Hot guy!”

Seeing them approach, Jiang Wen stubbed out his cigarette.

Min Yueyue skipped past Feng Ning, bouncing up to him. “Hi there, nice to meet you, I’m Min Yueyue. Ning Ning’s my best friend.”

He looked the person in front of him over blankly for a few seconds, then straightened up, extending a hand with a hint of casual indifference. “Hello, Jiang Wen.”

Min Yueyue said sweetly, “Ah, I’m so sorry, we blocked your car, hope it didn’t cause any trouble?”

She was a girl from southern Jiangsu, her way of speaking soft and coquettish, almost like she was being coy. Jiang Wen withdrew his hand, relaxed. “It’s fine.”

“Wait just a bit, I’ll move it right away.”

Two beeps sounded, and Little Pink flashed, unlocking. Min Yueyue pulled the door open, calling to Feng Ning, “Ning Ning, step aside, I’m backing up.”

She started the engine, honking the horn twice more to hurry things along. Feng Ning shifted her feet, walking toward Jiang Wen.

Standing a meter away, she glanced around. “Where’s your friend?”

“Went back.”

Feng Ning made a small sound of acknowledgment, trying, as best she could, like meeting an old friend after a long separation, to make polite small talk with him. “Are you settling back in okay?”

As she spoke, she didn’t even look at his face.

Jiang Wen said indifferently, “Fine, nothing I’m not used to.”

Feng Ning stared at the cigarette ash near her toes. She wanted to ask when he’d started smoking, but the words caught in her throat, unable to come out.

Their conversation was flat as still water, seeming unable to stir up any ripples at all.

Just as Feng Ning thought things were about to wrap up, Jiang Wen suddenly grabbed her. “Watch out.”

A deafening “bang” echoed through the parking lot—the Maserati’s rear end had slammed directly into the front of the Bentley.

Feng Ning’s chin hit Jiang Wen’s shoulder, a jolt of pain. Both of them stumbled.

Perhaps worried she’d hit the wall, Jiang Wen instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist, his other hand bracing against the wall beside her ear, steadying them both.

The two of them were pressed close together; through their clothes, she could feel the heat of his skin.

Feng Ning let him hold her.

Too close—her vision blurred, then refocused.

Jiang Wen’s face was inches away, his brows furrowed tight; she could even see the mole beside his brow.

—Once, her favorite mole of all.

His eyes lowered, and he asked quietly, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” After a brief moment of distraction, Feng Ning pushed Jiang Wen back slightly—it didn’t budge him. Worried about Min Yueyue, she said to him with some agitation, “Let go!”

Jiang Wen complied, releasing his hold.

Min Yueyue scrambled out of the car in a panic, running to the back to see the collision, letting out a devastated shriek.

Feng Ning hurried over, grabbing her to check. “Are you hurt?”

“Waaah, I’m not hurt, but my Little Pink is hurt, my heart hurts.”

“How were you even driving, to manage to crash into that.”

Min Yueyue pouted, stamping her foot. “It’s all your fault, you made me drive drunk!”

“…”

Feng Ning’s temple twitched. “Your highness, you had two sips of beer.”

“Well then my alcohol tolerance is bad!”

Min Yueyue looked a little embarrassed, her face crumpling, and she turned toward Jiang Wen. “Sorry, hot guy, do you have insurance on this car?”

“Not sure, I just got back to the country. This is my friend’s car.”

Jiang Wen picked up his phone and called Bai Hongyi.

Min Yueyue whispered to Feng Ning beside her, “I can tell, your ex comes from money too.”

“What?”

Min Yueyue said, “Luxury cars crashing into each other, and he’s this calm about it, didn’t even blink.”

Feng Ning thought about it. “His family’s pretty well-off, I guess.”

“How could you not have locked that down back then! I’m getting anxious for you.”

Min Yueyue lowered her voice. “A guy this top-tier, you can’t let him slip away!! Heaven brought you two back together, isn’t that fate?”

After finishing the call, Jiang Wen walked over. He bent down and picked up the keys that had fallen to the ground for Feng Ning.

Feng Ning took them, saying sincerely, “Thank you.”

After a pause, he replied with three words: “Don’t mention it.”

Perhaps because his aloofness in high school had left such a strong impression on her, Feng Ning still felt unused to this… gentler side of him. “You’ve really changed a lot.”

Jiang Wen said casually, “You haven’t changed much at all.”

“Hm?”

“Toward me, you’re still exactly the same as always.” Jiang Wen paused, then said flatly, tasting the word: “Cold.”