Dr. Liang suddenly had the urge to stay up on New Year’s Eve. Four people and a dog sat in the living room, talking about everything that needed to be discussed. Shang Zhitao had been busy for several consecutive days, and her fatigue hadn’t yet subsided. She couldn’t help but yawn, her eyes misty.

Dr. Liang found her amusing. Despite being so tired, she still sat straight on the sofa, her posture unwavering. She thought the person Luan Nian had fallen in love with was quite rare.

And indeed, she was.

Luan Nian had been picky since childhood. He liked things that were special and the best, and his friends were the same. Even after such a brief time with Shang Zhitao, Dr. Liang roughly understood why Luan Nian would love her.

Looking at Luan Nian, he was reading a magazine, occasionally glancing at Shang Zhitao. Seeing her yawn, he raised his foot to kick her: “We’re staying up for New Year’s Eve, don’t be lazy.” He was saying this for Dr. Liang to hear, showing his dissatisfaction with her insistence on staying up.

Dr. Liang kicked Luan’s father: “Let’s not stay up anymore, I’m tired.” She said to Shang Zhitao: “Tao Tao, you go to sleep too.” She pulled her up and led her to the guest bedroom: “This is Luan Nian’s room, he’s only stayed here once. You can make do for one night.”

“Then where do I sleep?” Luan Nian asked Dr. Liang.

“You sleep in the smaller room.”

“I’m not sleeping in the small one. Why should I sleep in the small one?” He strode in: “Shang Zhitao, come in.”

“Then I’ll sleep in that room.”

Shang Zhitao felt uncomfortable sleeping in the same room with him while his parents were present. Luan Nian grabbed her collar: “That room has mice, fifty centimeters long. And cockroaches as big as fists.” He pulled her into the room and closed the door.

“This is impolite!”

“How is it impolite?”

“Sleeping in the same room in front of elders.”

“? We’re not doing anything. After we get married, will we never sleep under the same roof?” Luan Nian asked her.

…

Shang Zhitao was stunned hearing the word “marriage.” Luan Nian, however, acted as if nothing had happened and knocked on her head: “Go to sleep quickly!”

Shang Zhitao didn’t know whether to go out or lie down, feeling awkward.

Luan Nian got up, picked her up, and threw her onto the bed: “That room does have cockroaches.”

He turned off the light and held her tight, mocking her: “Why do you have so many outdated rules?”

Shang Zhitao was about to retort when his palm covered her mouth: “Sleep!”

Luan Nian didn’t want to pretend to be a gentleman, nor did he want to be bound by those formalities. He knew what kind of people his parents were; they were eager for Shang Zhitao to sleep in the same room with him, eager for them to get their marriage certificate tomorrow. That way, they could hand him over.

They really liked Shang Zhitao. Luan Nian could tell. Especially Dr. Liang. She wasn’t always like this; Luan Nian could distinguish between Dr. Liang’s superficial politeness and genuine liking.

Shang Zhitao was exhausted. She turned to face him, nestling her head in the crook of his arm, her legs between his. This was the comfortable sleeping position she had discovered yesterday, and she smiled to herself.

“Luan Nian,” Shang Zhitao called him softly.

“Hmm?” Luan Nian responded quietly. It was as if the house had poor soundproofing, which was true of old houses. But their voices were so low that even they had difficulty hearing each other, like two children giggling in the dark.

“I like Dr. Liang,” Shang Zhitao said.

“Don’t like my father?”

“I like him too.”

“What about me?”

“I like you.”

Shang Zhitao’s voice grew softer and softer until she finally fell asleep, content. Luan Nian, listening to her gentle nasal sounds in the darkness, also drifted off to sleep.

The next day when they woke up, Dr. Liang and Luan’s father had gone to visit friends. Dr. Liang had sent Luan Nian a message: “Young people, go have fun on your own.”

“Where do you want to go play?” Luan Nian asked Shang Zhitao as they were leaving.

Shang Zhitao somewhat missed the mountain scenery, his bar, and the stars and moon visible from the floor-to-ceiling windows: “I want to go to the mountain. Is it particularly quiet now? Is the bar still open?”

“It’s open. Let’s go.”

The bar manager had stayed with Luan Nian for nearly ten years. He just enjoyed staying on the mountain, so Luan Nian’s bar never closed, 365 days a year. Strangely, regardless of the season or weather, the bar always had visitors. Some people drove with their laptops and books, spending time at the bar until evening. For a while, the bar manager found these people quite peculiar and said to Luan Nian: “How are there so many lonely people?”

Luan Nian couldn’t answer him then because he was lonely too.

Luke still remembered the road up the mountain and was already excited in the back seat, turning in circles. Upon arrival, as soon as the car door opened, it rushed up, first going to the small path where Luan Nian often walked to urinate, marking the mountain as its own. Then it ran toward the bar. Luan Nian had already opened the door and was waiting there. Luke rushed in, saw the bar manager, and jumped up barking: “Where’s my meat! Where’s my meat!”

Dogs have such good memories.

The bar manager looked at Shang Zhitao, then at Luke, unable to believe it: “I thought I’d never see you guys again in this lifetime!”

Luan Nian gave him a cold look, and he quieted down, taking Luke to eat meat. The last time Luan Nian came, he had suddenly brought some meat and told the bar manager: “Luke will come.”

Shang Zhitao turned around, smiling, and saw the huge painting in the shadows.

In the painting, they stood on a street in Lhasa, in the prime of their youth.

She looked at the painting in disbelief, thinking she would never see it again in this lifetime. Those photos she had tucked between book pages had long been placed on the upper shelves, along with that period, put away.

They were truly beautiful in the painting.

It was that year when Luan Nian finished work late at night and drove out of the company. That day was the Qixi Festival, and he experienced a devastating traffic jam. The streets were crowded with people; young girls holding flowers leaned against their boyfriends, everywhere was lively. Only a high school student sat at a bus stop holding a book, unrelated to the bustling surroundings.

It was 22-year-old Shang Zhitao jumping off the bus and running into the elevator lobby, lifting her leg to prop up her backpack as she stuffed a thick Business English book into it.

The breakdown came unexpectedly.

Luan Nian flew to Lhasa early the next morning and stood on the busy street looking at that photography studio; their photo was still hanging there. The owner said he had never taken a better photo since.

He stayed in Lhasa alone for three days, then went to Nyingchi. There, he reminisced about their spontaneous trip. It was his favorite journey of a lifetime.

Shang Zhitao looked at the photo for a long time and finally said to Luan Nian: “Look, if you had known how much you loved me, how nice it would have been if you had been a bit kinder to me back then?”

“Shut up.”

Luan Nian didn’t accept her mockery and walked behind the bar: “What would you like to drink?”

“Anything is fine.”

Shang Zhitao liked watching Luan Nian mix drinks.

He had always been wild, his bartending movements unrestrained, yet sometimes he would lower his head to carve a piece of ice with intense focus. Shang Zhitao leaned on the bar, watching him. His drink took a very long time to prepare. When he finally finished and brought it out, an ice moon floated in the glass, surrounded by deep blue liquid, like poison.

“What’s this drink called?”

“Moonlight Guiding the Way Home.”

Luan Nian was rarely romantic; the few instances of romance in his life had all been given to Shang Zhitao. He watched as Shang Zhitao sipped the drink, which had the sweet and sour taste she liked, with a subtle hint of intoxication.

“Delicious.” She nodded and walked behind the bar: “I want to mix a drink too.”

“You know how?”

“I’ve learned a bit.”

Shang Zhitao had picked up other skills over the years. She learned aerial yoga while accompanying He Yun during her postpartum recovery, learned pole dancing to pass time with Shang Zhi Shu, and later, she dabbled in bartending on her own.

Old Shang always laughed at her restlessness, and she would justify: “I’m expanding the breadth of my life.”

Her hands shook rapidly in the air, ice cubes making sounds in the glass. Luan Nian watched her working with seeming expertise. After a while, she presented a drink with a white base. He asked her: “What’s it called?”

“Snow White Clarity.” She blinked, saying whatever came to mind. But the drink in the glass resembled the snow hanging on the mountain peak ahead, matching the scenery.

They held their glasses by the window, savoring the drinks, whiling away the first day of the New Year. The mountain was so quiet that it seemed one could hear even the sound of a dry leaf falling.

“I’ll send you back to Ice City tomorrow,” Luan Nian told her. “Go back for the end of the New Year festivities.”

“Alright. Would you like to come to my house for dinner?”

“What do you think?” Luan Nian gave her a deep look, and after a while, said: “If my parents visit your home some time, would that be convenient for you?”

“Huh?”

Shang Zhitao couldn’t immediately understand why Dr. Liang and his father would want to visit her home.

Luan Nian understood customs, though not many. If two people wanted to get married, the parents from both sides would need to meet. Sit together and talk, making the young people’s life plans clear.

Shang Zhitao was too naive; she hadn’t detected his intentions at all.

“Would that be okay?” Luan Nian asked her.

“Of course.” Shang Zhitao finally realized: “Are we talking about marriage?”

Luan Nian gave her a look without speaking.

He had rented a piece of land on the mountain. He wanted to plant roses there. When the roses bloomed, he would give the entire garden to her.

And so this topic passed.

Luan Nian sent Shang Zhitao home and had a formal meal at her house. Shang Zhitao’s parents were already quite familiar with him, and the four of them sitting together didn’t feel distant at all. They chatted and laughed, and Luan Nian drank a little with Old Shang.

Old Shang still liked to make him drink. Each time, after about 300ml, he would pretend to be drunk and lay his head on the table. Later, Old Shang knew this was an act but didn’t expose him.

Luan Nian stayed with Shang Zhitao until the eighth day of the New Year, then returned to Beijing.

After the New Year, Shang Zhitao wanted to open a new track while also representing another company’s advertisements. So she began working day and night again.

She consulted the channel manager about the new track, and the manager found her two second-generation businesspeople, letting her run a few accounts first for practice. Shang Zhitao obeyed and practiced diligently.

Although she was busy, unlike before, she didn’t forget about Luan Nian when occupied. She would send him messages after finishing a meeting or seeing a client, sometimes discussing issues, sometimes just being coquettish. As for Luan Nian, his replies remained brief. But he often called her directly after receiving her messages, talking for a few sentences.

Shang Zhitao often told him: “I miss you.”

He often said: “Mm, I know.”

“Do you miss me?”

“Mm.”

“Do you miss me or not? I want you to say it directly.”

Luan Nian would always pause for a moment, then say: “I miss you.”

They were truly in a relationship, like other couples, after they had both passed their thirties.

They were both very certain, and also not in a hurry, wanting to use a lifetime to slowly digest this love.

Sometimes late at night, when they had both finished their work, they would have a pre-sleep call. Sometimes they would argue on the phone, still, because Luan Nian wasn’t good with words and expressed his views too directly. But it was just arguing; Shang Zhitao wouldn’t take it to heart because she thoroughly understood what kind of person Luan Nian was.

In late March, Dr. Liang and Luan’s father came to Ice City once.

Not wanting Shang Zhitao’s parents to be tired, they had a meal together at their old pub.

All four elders were good people, chatting freely with each other. In the end, Dr. Liang said to Da Zhai: “I know Luan Nian has a difficult personality. I hope he hasn’t caused you any displeasure.”

“Not at all. Luan Nian is very polite.”

“That’s good.” Dr. Liang nodded: “If the two get married, do you have any local customs here? Like a bride price.”

Old Shang shook his head: “My daughter is priceless. I’m giving away my daughter, not selling her.”

“We understand. If the two children can reach that stage, rest assured, we will treat Tao Tao well.”

Just like that.

Shang Zhitao sat to the side, secretly asking Luan Nian when they had said they were getting married.

Luan Nian smiled without speaking.

He was brewing a lifetime of romance.