Before long, Xiao Han adapted to life in her new home, because it was truly comfortable.

She retained some of the not-so-good habits from living at the orphanage that couldn’t be changed overnight, but Zhui Ye and Wu Man didn’t immediately demand she correct them. They simply used themselves as examples, letting the girl know that life could have another unrestrained appearance.

Of course, this required them to spend a large portion of their time on family matters. For this, both of them turned down many drama offers.

As a result, this made Xiao Han even more convinced they had no work. She ate so much every meal that she couldn’t help feeling deeply ashamed. But the food Zhui Ye cooked was really too delicious—she simply couldn’t control her appetite. The result was that over this period, her scrawny figure had visibly gained just a tiny bit of weight.

But Zhui Ye and Wu Man were both very happy about her changes. As summer was about to arrive, Zhui Ye proposed the whole family go on vacation, hoping to take the opportunity to draw closer to their child. Wu Man had no objections either.

The two of them had flown to many places together before, but if they brought a child along, where would be better to go? This question stumped them.

Southeast Asia? Europe and America? Japan and Korea?

After thinking through all the options, they couldn’t reach a better conclusion.

Suddenly, Wu Man had a flash of inspiration and looked at Zhui Ye. She hadn’t even said the place name yet, but Zhui Ye immediately understood.

He blinked. “Let’s go there then.”

When Xiao Han was told they would be going on a long trip tomorrow, she was so excited she couldn’t sleep the entire night.

In twelve years, the farthest place she had ever been was the small supermarket one street away from the orphanage. At that time, the auntie was too busy, and because she was one of the older children at the orphanage, she was sent to run errands and was even given a few extra yuan as a reward to buy popsicles.

On that golden afternoon with dappled tree shadows, she sat by the fountain along the road, her shameful lips moving over the sweet ice. That brief adventure of just over ten minutes was one of her happiest memories.

Her excitement carried a trace of confusion. What would the world beyond the small supermarket be like?

Most importantly, this time she wasn’t setting out alone.

The next day, she got up with dark circles under her eyes but was full of energy, showing no sign of the drowsiness from not sleeping all night. When children are spirited, they’re truly unstoppable.

Their plan was to leave after breakfast, with Zhui Ye driving them there. But the car they were taking wasn’t the black sedan Xiao Han had seen before.

Instead, it was a very large, creamy white vehicle. She peeked inside and saw there was actually a bed and small sofa inside, along with various trinkets—comparable to their small home.

“This is a car…?”

She asked in extreme shock.

“This is an RV. Because the self-drive journey will take quite a long time, it’s convenient for us to rest.” Wu Man smiled and touched her head. “Do you want to sit in front or back? Either is fine.”

Xiao Han looked up, expressing herself weakly, “Then… then I want to sit together with you both.”

Zhui Ye patted the middle position in the driver’s seat, beckoning with his hand. “That’s exactly what we were waiting to hear.”

All three of them got in the car. She was sandwiched between Wu Man and Zhui Ye, and the seat seemed somewhat cramped accommodating three people. But this kind of crowding made her feel extraordinarily secure.

“Where are we going?”

She only now thought to ask.

“Qingling Town.”

The place where it all began.

The car drove in an orderly manner onto the highway leading out of the city. Her view straight ahead was the expansive car windshield, allowing her to enjoy an unobstructed view of the scenery flying past.

She watched for a long time. The scenery on both sides gradually became monotonous, and only then did she reluctantly withdraw her gaze, turning instead to look inside the car.

Right in front of her seat was a small basket, in which sat alone a strange piece of paper covered with writing she couldn’t understand, the strokes not properly formed. But the strawberry cake printed on the paper attracted her attention.

She couldn’t help pulling it out and swallowed while looking at the cake. Her stomach, which had just eaten breakfast, seemed to be greedily churning again. Well, she could only blame herself for being fed too well recently—her appetite had been stretched.

“Hungry?”

Wu Man noticed her swallowing and asked teasingly.

Xiao Han hurriedly shook her head. “I just ate my fill! I wasn’t looking at the cake…!”

Zhui Ye, driving beside them, couldn’t help laughing aloud. “I also really like eating cake just like you. There’s nothing wrong with that. We can look along the way to see if there are any cake shops, but the cake on this paper is indeed impossible to eat now.”

Xiao Han’s tone carried a bit of disappointment. “Why?”

“This flyer is from several years ago.”

“Oh, oh… I understand! So you’re using it to prop up a table leg!”

At the orphanage, when tables and chairs broke, the auntie would often use old newspapers from several years ago to prop them up. Looking at it this way, she really hadn’t guessed wrong—Zhui Ye and the others really were living quite frugally.

Zhui Ye gave Wu Man a meaningful look and said slowly, “Even if I used myself to prop up a table leg, I wouldn’t bear to use this flyer.”

Xiao Han froze slightly, thinking this was even thriftier than the orphanage auntie.

No, she really couldn’t eat so much anymore. She secretly swore in her heart that she must save money for them.

In fact, what Zhui Ye implied was an entirely different matter.

This flyer was from five years ago when they went to see cherry blossoms at Meguro River together. Wu Man had always remembered she owed Zhui Ye a cherry blossom viewing, but after “Spring Night” won at Cannes, their drama offers and schedules came flooding in. Their time was packed full. Forget going abroad—they didn’t even have simple opportunities to watch movies together at home or cuddle and chat. Aside from those few days when they participated in the romance variety show “Double Bed” and mixed business with pleasure, they were a pitiful couple like the Cowherd and Weaver Girl meeting only once a year.

This situation continued until the third year, when their schedules finally aligned for a few days. It happened to be spring again, so Wu Man proposed taking three days to go to Tokyo.

Zhui Ye was so happy he couldn’t control himself, saying enthusiastically that he would handle all the arrangements and she just needed to bring herself.

He was very particular about this. For lodging, he didn’t choose some expensive five-star hotel but rather a short-term apartment by Meguro River. The location was right by the embankment, where they could see an endless expanse of pink cherry blossom sea.

On the first day, Wu Man woke up early as usual. She walked to the window, and cherry blossoms from branches extending upward filled her vision. The sky was so blue it was utterly bare—it was a refreshing morning.

She didn’t wake Zhui Ye. Gently closing the door behind her, she went downstairs, walking to find a convenience store to buy breakfast for the late-sleeping Zhui Ye.

Along the road, cherry blossoms hung down and drifted to the ground. She walked casually with her hands in her pockets and soon discovered a Lawson at the corner. A large mascot stood at the entrance, handing out flyers to passersby.

This season when cherry blossoms bloomed was also Japan’s flower viewing season. Various places held cherry blossom viewing gatherings, and people were accustomed to going cherry blossom viewing and picnicking. The convenience store accordingly launched cherry blossom-flavored cakes, welcoming everyone to purchase them.

Wu Man casually accepted this flyer without any real intention to buy. After all, strict figure management had long cultivated her habit of not eating sweets. Although this cake looked quite popular—in this short time, several young men and women had walked out of the store, each holding one.

She walked into the convenience store, randomly picked up two rice balls from the shelf, along with oolong tea, and was about to walk to the counter to check out when the store entrance chimed. The automatic door opened, and an elderly couple walked in.

Their clothing was very neat and particular. The old lady wore a beret, the old gentleman wore a painter’s cap, the color schemes deliberately matched—they looked extremely well-suited. These two people seemed to still retain the refinement and sense of ceremony from the Showa period.

They passed by Wu Man and walked deep into the store, picking up a box of cherry blossom cake.

Wu Man finished checking out at the same time as them and followed them out of the convenience store, walking alongside them until they turned into a park, where they went their separate ways.

She stood outside the railing carrying the plastic bag of rice balls, unconsciously watching fixedly as that elderly couple slowly walked toward a cherry tree and spread a blanket on the grass to sit.

The old lady pulled out a large thermos from her cloth bag, along with two matching teacups with each other’s names carved on them. She unscrewed the lid to pour tea while the old gentleman was responsible for unwrapping the cake and tremblingly cutting it into several pieces with a knife and fork.

The two elderly people held teacups in one hand and cake in the other, savoring and chatting leisurely in the gentle spring breeze. The crisscrossing wrinkles on their faces were covered by the dappled flower shadows cast down, layering into an infinitely gentle oil painting.

At this moment, a white cat ran across the grass. It stopped soundlessly in front of Wu Man, then quickly ran off. Startled awake by the cat, she came back to herself from this scene. Her heart seemed to have become the grass under that cat’s paws, stepped on several times, stirring with indescribable restlessness.

Wu Man returned to the apartment where the young man was still sound asleep on the tatami. The white gauze curtain outside the floor-to-ceiling window didn’t block light, and the transparent light filled his face—pure, without impurities, spotlessly clean.

In his sleep, he yawned warmly and murmured softly, “Elder Sister…”

Wu Man hugged her knees and crouched beside him, unable to bear waking him. It looked like he was having a sweet dream with her in it, so she permitted him to dream a little longer.

She quietly gazed at the bed-lazing Zhui Ye and suddenly remembered a prank he once played on her. She decided to give him a taste of his own medicine, taking out her phone’s photo app and activating the puppy filter aimed at him.

“Click—”

The phone, whose sound wasn’t muted, made a photo-taking noise. The young man sensitively lifted his eyelids, his unfocused gaze turning toward her as he said unclearly, “So, secretly photographing me…” His slender fingers grabbed her slender wrist and pulled with the momentum, drawing Wu Man into his embrace and nuzzling her twice. “Let me see which little paparazzo this is?”

“I don’t see any paparazzi, but there is one little dog who won’t get out of bed.”

Wu Man poked his pectoral muscle. The young man caught her fidgeting fingers and sighed.

“If you’re going to wake me up this way, I warn you we might not be able to leave the room later.”

Wu Man immediately scrambled nimbly off him.

She walked to the kitchen to reheat the cooled rice balls and warmed two cups of milk. When everything was ready, Zhui Ye also pulled on a white T-shirt and came out from the bathroom after washing up, his eyes regaining clarity as he wrapped his arm around her waist and clingingly planted a good morning kiss on her cheek.

“Thank you, Elder Sister.”

He pulled out a chair to sit, biting into the rice ball. As Wu Man passed by him, she casually pressed down his sticking-up hair.

The two sat face to face eating their rare quiet breakfast. For a moment, there was only the sound of cups and the table surface colliding. At this moment, no words were needed—just raising one’s head to drink a sip of milk, then lowering it to meet eyes that could never see enough of each other. Everything was exactly enough.

Zhui Ye vaguely pointed at her phone. “Little paparazzo, since you just secretly photographed me, it wouldn’t make sense if you didn’t pay some price, would it?”

“The little paparazzo already bought you breakfast. Are you, this big star, going to throw a tantrum?”

“How can you call yourself a big star without throwing tantrums?” He climbed up the pole she offered. “I don’t care. You have to set that secretly photographed picture as your wallpaper and let it shine!”

Wu Man secretly rolled her eyes, licked her lips and changed the subject. “When I went to buy breakfast just now, I found the convenience store was selling flower viewing cakes. Cherry flavor—seems a bit sour, not a flavor you’d like.”

“Ah, so what about it?”

“But it looked quite delicious.”

Zhui Ye laughed. “Then let’s go buy it and try it.”

Wu Man lowered her eyes, finishing the last bite of rice ball, murmuring meaningfully, “Okay, then let’s buy it and try it.”

They had originally planned to go out cherry blossom viewing in the afternoon, but Wu Man suddenly said an old friend in Tokyo had contacted her and wanted to meet.

She hurriedly apologized that she had to temporarily change plans, but didn’t suggest he accompany her. Zhui Ye also didn’t want to be overly clingy and follow along, shrugging and saying he’d randomly find a place to wander around and they could view night cherry blossoms together in the evening.

However, when he said this, his mouth was pouting enough to hang an oil bottle. He couldn’t help feeling a bit sour inside—just which friend he didn’t know about did she need to guard against him meeting? Especially watching Elder Sister’s departing back without hesitation, her steps light and quick, so impatient.

He didn’t mind Elder Sister abandoning him to meet others. What he minded was that she was hiding something from him.

But he also couldn’t really act like a child throwing a tantrum, demanding she reveal everything to him, even though he himself had done this—opening his belly wide to Wu Man, holding nothing back.

So… if he compared himself, there was indeed disappointment.

But more than that, he couldn’t bear to be angry with her.

Zhui Ye couldn’t help reflecting on himself—was it because he didn’t give Elder Sister enough sense of security, which was why she wanted to hold something back?

That afternoon, he didn’t go anywhere, trapped in the Meguro River apartment, experiencing the sudden melancholy of late spring.

By evening, Wu Man finally finished meeting her friend and contacted him. The two agreed to meet up in Shinjuku, ate a pot of steaming hot sukiyaki, and after eating and drinking their fill, they carried the flower viewing cake bought from a convenience store and found a park to sit down.

They were very cautious, hiding in the most remote corner, with voices talking only in the far distance.

After all, the last time Zhui Ye came alone, he wasn’t as famous then and could still be recognized. This time they didn’t dare be careless.

Wu Man carefully recalled that video and huffed, “Thinking about it now, I’m still a bit angry.”

How could she have imagined then that the young man under the cherry tree, so arrogant and full of himself, would walk into her beautiful night in the future?

Fate was truly something so mysterious.

“I’ve apologized many times…” This was Zhui Ye’s eternally guilty weak spot. He surrendered by pulling out a can of beer from the bag, popping it open and saying with feigned boldness, “Then I’ll punish myself with one bottle. Elder Sister, you do as you please.”

“This routine again…”

Wu Man muttered as if helpless, but actually wasn’t angry at all. She also pulled out a beer from the bag and opened it, but quietly placed the pull-tab ring in her palm, rubbing it over and over.

Zhui Ye didn’t notice her small movement and downed the beer in one gulp, his face immediately flushing red.

“So wonderful.” He sighed contentedly. “Finally able to be with you under these cherry blossoms.”

“Hold out your hand.”

Wu Man suddenly took another gulp of beer and abruptly said this to Zhui Ye.

“Hm?”

He reacted blankly for a long moment, dazedly extending his hand.

“A ring for you.”

Zhui Ye was stunned in place by enormous shock, his brain shutting down, his gaze looking straight at Wu Man as she tossed from her palm a shiny… beer can pull-tab ring.

“…”

Heaven and hell completed their exchange in this instant.

Wu Man smiled mischievously, teasing him. “Do you like it?”

“I’m now very doubtful about which one of us is actually the younger one.” Zhui Ye laughed in exasperation, but still reluctantly slipped the pull-tab ring onto his ring finger, stuck on the upper knuckle, wearing it just like that awkwardly.

Wu Man detected the cherishing in his movements and suddenly couldn’t laugh anymore.

She covered it up by unwrapping the cake’s outer packaging, changing the subject. “Come try this.”

She cut two pieces and divided them. She picked up one piece and after eating just a few bites, frowned and said, “I really still don’t like eating cake.”

Zhui Ye ate with relish. “That’s such a shame. This flavor is actually pretty good—the sweet and sour balance is just right, and it has the aroma of cherries.”

“…You’re quite suited to being a food critic. If it were me, I’d probably only say two words: delicious!” Wu Man criticized unromantically. “Then don’t waste this piece. You eat it for me.”

She matter-of-factly pushed her half-eaten piece of cake in front of Zhui Ye, and he just as naturally took it over, continuing from where she had bitten.

He didn’t notice that Wu Man had already begun to feel slightly nervous, raising her head to look at the tree full of night cherry blossoms—flowers blooming fiercely, all things growing.

“Crack—”

Zhui Ye stopped chewing, his brows furrowing as he spat out from his mouth a hard… real ring.

His gaze gathered on the ring, becoming distracted from being too concentrated.

Only then did Wu Man dare to look at him, her expression solemn and serious. “Zhui Ye, all these years you’ve been giving me gifts constantly, whether material or spiritual—too many, too many. And I’ve never been able to give you anything presentable…”

Like that Christmas spent in Hokkaido that year—he had prepared a gift for her in advance, while she just on a whim while shopping at Don Quijote with him, hurriedly picked out a return gift.

Compared to his thoughtfulness, it always seemed so crude.

“I’ve been thinking, what kind of gift should I proactively choose for you… and today, I thought of it.” Wu Man calmly looked directly at him, only her trembling trailing tone revealing her trepidation and hope. “Please marry me.”

Please marry me.

Five incomparably simple yet powerful words that shattered Zhui Ye completely.