After getting off the bus, Zhou Mi returned the earphone case and stood still, saying she would help Zhang Lian hail a taxi to go home.

But the man remained unmoved, insisting on accompanying her to her building.

Zhou Mi finally compromised and walked into the residential complex with him side by side.

The complex where Zhou Mi rented wasn’t a new residential building. Although it was a mid-rise, the internal environment wasn’t much different from her previous home. The pathways were narrow, and it was obvious that the ground and street lights were poorly maintained, so their shadows on the cement ground appeared somewhat dim.

But with one tall and one short, they still looked compatible.

Zhang Lian walked on the outside. Zhou Mi stared at him a bit absent-mindedly. The night breeze was light, and crabapple branches swayed, and they walked slowly.

When they reached the building, Zhou Mi turned around: “Alright, you can go now.”

As she said this, she didn’t look up at Zhang Lian, only gazing at his shirt that was just within reach. He was wearing a somewhat fitted style today, and the contours of his solid chest were vaguely outlined by the white wrinkled lines.

The figure in front of her didn’t move for a while, and Zhou Mi couldn’t help but look up, only to find him staring at her intently.

The emotion in his eyes was like hot, thick tar. Zhou Mi’s thoughts boiled, afraid of misunderstanding, she quickly looked away.

Her wrist was caught again.

Zhou Mi pulled in the opposite direction a couple of times, couldn’t break free, so she raised her arm to push him with some venting force, only to be firmly pressed against his left chest.

Zhou Mi was stunned.

She felt Zhang Lian’s heartbeat.

The pressure was so tangible, as if there were no barriers or gaps, as if he had placed his heart in her hand, then merged into it, becoming a nerve in her palm.

Zhou Mi’s emotions and body were softening. Zhang Lian raised his arm and pulled her into his embrace.

My God…

Zhou Mi’s nose stung, and this exaggerated phrase was all that could flash through her mind. Even after such a long time, his embrace was still every adjective related to “sinking” and “stability,” like her shell, her cocoon, her pod, her nest and shore.

“I miss you.” his chin lightly rested on her forehead, repeating: “Zhou Mi, I miss you.”

Zhou Mi didn’t want to tear up for the second time in the same evening, but she couldn’t control it. She inhaled deeply, her nostrils filled with his scent.

Zhang Lian didn’t like to wear perfume. The scent on his body mostly came from his shower gel or laundry detergent. It was very familiar, like an old coat carefully stored in an attic, like being tired from flying for a long time and falling back into the jungle where one had survived since birth. Those leaves and floral scents had never changed.

She could fall asleep in it immediately.

She missed him too, missed his embrace so much.

Even at this moment, with him standing before her eyes, with them close and touching, their chests rising and falling in unison, there was a twisting pain of longing inside her. It was as if he were far away and unreachable, yet also as if something lost had been regained, leaving her heart palpitating.

She mumbled in a muffled voice: “You should go now.”

Zhang Lian said in a deep voice: “Let me hold you a little longer, okay?”

Zhou Mi didn’t say anything more.

They embraced for a long time. Finally, Zhang Lian let her go, saying goodbye and goodnight.

Zhou Mi returned upstairs and, without changing her shoes, rushed to the bathroom window because she could see downstairs from there. She carefully and slowly opened the frosted glass window, afraid that too much noise would alert him.

Zhang Lian indeed hadn’t left, but he also wasn’t looking up at the building, just standing quietly in place.

After a moment, he turned to leave. Zhou Mi watched him for a while, just about to withdraw her gaze when he suddenly turned around and strode back.

Zhou Mi leaned against the window, widening her eyes in slight surprise.

Zhang Lian returned to her building, took out his phone from his pocket, and lowered his head to operate it. Zhou Mi also took out her phone and waited for a while, but there was no response on the screen. When she looked outside again, the man had already turned off his screen and was leaving again.

Zhou Mi gently bit her lower lip, her heart filled with a tide of bitterness, as if she could empathize with all his actions.

She guessed he wanted to call her, but ultimately didn’t say a word.

After showering, Zhou Mi lay on the bed for a while, then raised her phone to message Zhang Lian: Are you home?

Zhang Lian replied promptly: Mm.

She didn’t say more: Rest early, good night.

He also said: Good night.

—

Over the next few days, Zhou Mi would chat with Zhang Lian every night, either through WeChat or phone calls, occasionally going home together, eating late-night snacks, talking about mundane daily matters—some enjoyable, some complaints—like any man and woman who hadn’t known each other before and were still in the developing stage.

The night before the team building event, Zhou Mi packed her luggage, lay on the bed, and asked Zhang Lian: Are you going tomorrow?

Zhang Lian replied: Do you want me to go?

Zhou Mi said: No.

Zhang Lian said: Then I won’t go.

Zhou Mi laughed: You’re the boss, how can the boss lead the way in escaping team building?

Zhang Lian replied: So you do know I’m the boss.

Zhou Mi: As a member of Aoxing, how could I not know who the boss is?

Zhang Lian: But I hope you can de-emphasize that identity.

Zhou Mi asked: Without that identity, what are you?

Zhang Lian said: Just Zhang Lian.

Zhou Mi pressed her lips together: You know, many girls are attracted to you because of your boss aura.

Zhang Lian said: Is that so? Did you know I was the boss the first time you met me?

Zhou Mi said: Although I didn’t know, I did feel you were quite extraordinary, not an ordinary person.

Zhang Lian said: An ordinary person couldn’t handle you either.

Zhou Mi sent a string of question marks: ???? You’ve handled me? How did I not know?

Zhang Lian said: I don’t know either, but you’ve handled me.

Zhou Mi mentally cursed, buried her face in her phone for a moment, then replied: I’ve handled you? I don’t know about that either.

Zhang Lian said: Your skill at playing dumb is improving month by month.

She took the bait: I really don’t know. Can you specifically tell me how I handled you?

Zhang Lian replied: Just like this.

Zhou Mi was genuinely confused: Like what?

Zhang Lian said: Just like now.

Zhou Mi touched her head.

Zhang Lian’s reply didn’t reveal whether he was angry or amused, or perhaps both: If I were beside you right now, you wouldn’t be able to talk.

Zhou Mi’s cheeks warmed, with a lovesick girl in a pink dress hurriedly fleeing back inside her heart: Going to sleep now, have to get up early tomorrow.

Zhang Lian: Mm, see you tomorrow.

—

Early the next morning, everyone gathered on the ground floor of the company building. After counting heads, they boarded the bus to the airport.

Zhou Mi sat with Tao Ziyi. Before departure, Zhang Lian got on the bus. He rarely dressed so casually in front of employees—a pure gray hoodie that made him look like a tall, fresh college student from a distance.

Tao Ziyi stretched her neck in shock: “This is the first time I’ve seen Fabian on a bus. Before, for suburban tours or going to the airport, he always drove himself.”

With multiple seat backs like stacked ridges, Zhou Mi sat on the outside and tilted her head to look from afar.

But when the man raised his arm to place his travel bag and turned his head to scan the scene inconspicuously, she lowered her eyelids and head, playing hide-and-seek with him.

On the way to the airport, Zhou Mi received a message from Zhang Lian. Probably afraid that his seatmate would notice, he didn’t use WeChat but sent it through SMS, asking where she was sitting.

Zhou Mi lifted her lip slightly: I’m on the same bus as you.

Zhang Lian: You’re good at hiding.

Then he added: I brought some snacks you like, I’ll find a time to give them to you.

Zhou Mi: I brought my own, no need to trouble yourself.

Zhang Lian, unusually, replied with an emoji—it seemed to be one he had previously saved from her—a fat cat angrily squeezing an empty can and then throwing it away.

Zhou Mi found it adorable and checked her emoji collection, confirming it was indeed from there. She gripped her cheeks with her hand to prevent her smile from becoming too obvious.

After leaving Yuzhou Airport, there was another bus journey.

As they approached the vacation hotel near Wanlong Ski Resort, the surroundings gradually changed, as if rapidly transitioning to the Minor Cold solar term. Snow was still falling from the sky, like torn cotton wool.

Zhou Mi shared a standard room with Tao Ziyi.

After unpacking, most people went to the hotel restaurant for a buffet lunch and agreed to meet at 2 PM to go to the ski field.

In the women’s changing room, Zhou Mi experienced for the first time how heavy and tight ski gear could be. She walked as if she were already eighty years old, with a tottering gait.

Wanlong is one of the few outdoor ski resorts in China that can remain open until May.

When they entered the ski field, it was like landing on another pure white planet. Looking around, the moving crowds looked like colorful candies scattered on a white flannel.

The weather was freezing, and the temperature was naturally low. As a beginner, Zhou Mi was still adapting to the environment. She was breathing out visible air, her face inevitably frozen red. When jumping in the soft snow, her movements were somewhat slow and stiff.

Tao Ziyi raised a ski pole and laughed at her: “Zhou Mi, you look like a pink penguin.”

Zhou Mi threw a handful of snow at her, grumbling: “You talk too much.”

Standing still would only make them colder. Before long, Zhou Mi enthusiastically joined another female colleague who was also a beginner, sitting in inner tubes to play “snow slides,” sliding down from a height and then splashing up waves of snow.

The third time she was repeating this game with clear laughter, Zhang Lian appeared not far from her.

He was wearing all-black ski gear, without any bulkiness, sharp and slender like a blade of black iron, and carrying equally all-black ski boards. The vast whiteness made his skin appear as white as snow. His knit hat pressed down his bangs, making him look young and handsome, shining brightly.

He was slightly tilting his head, listening to Teddy beside him, but his eyes were looking toward Zhou Mi’s position. Their gazes melded in the snowy wilderness, as if they had been placed in the same vacuum glass jar filled with pure white sugar.

Suddenly, Yuan Zhen’s scream pierced the atmosphere: “Fabian! You can snowboard?”

Zhang Lian smiled, his lips red and teeth white: “A little bit.”

Yuan Zhen covered her mouth with both hands: “My goodness! I so want to see!”

A group of people immediately echoed, “Want to see!”

Zhou Mi stood among the crowd, also shouting similar content, adding fuel to the fire.

Zhang Lian inconspicuously glanced at her quickly, did a simple warm-up, then bent down, skillfully put on his snowboard, and put on his goggles.

A minute later, Zhou Mi felt like she was watching a live version of the snowboarding videos she had searched online not long ago.

With each jumping movement, snow was repeatedly raised high around Zhang Lian, turning into fine white mist. He was like a black swift, agile and smoothly gliding along the snow veins.

Along the way, fellow snow enthusiasts cheered “wow” for him.

Everyone on the high slope was cheering, raising their arms, recording videos, howling continuously like a wolf pack responding to their leader.

A male colleague cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted: “Boss—take it easy! You’re the lifeblood of our Aoxing—”

Another burst of laughter followed.

Zhou Mi watched with a blank expression, her heart pounding, mouth dry, continuously questioning in her heart, how can someone be so handsome???

She was also worried about the obstacles along the way, fearing that some accident might occur.

Fortunately, Zhang Lian didn’t ski for long. After a while, he walked back with his snowboard. As he approached, he was greeted with unanimous admiration from all the employees.

He was breathing slightly heavily, looking around with a formal expression: “How was it?”

“So handsome~!” The company’s gay colleague said in an affected tone while clutching his heart, only to be collectively booed away.

HR moved closer and showed him the video on her phone: “This video can be put in this year’s recruitment brochure. I guarantee the inbox will be flooded. Who wouldn’t want to work under such a divine boss?”

Zhang Lian watched it briefly, then raised his face, unable to resist casting a glance at Zhou Mi in the crowd, his eyes full of meaning.

Zhou Mi touched her reddened nose, her eyes darting around, finally uncomfortably looking up at the sky, with only one thought in her mind: Coach, I want to learn snowboarding.