Meeting Again

Strictly speaking, this meal should have been a joyous family gathering, but Ye Mian seemed to have upset her stomach and kept making trips to the restroom. Considering not to disturb their dinner, she quietly informed Ye Haisheng, greeted her relatives, and said she was feeling unwell and planned to leave.

Her uncle, Ye Changlin, stood up, signaled to his son, and said warmly, “If you’re not feeling well, go home and rest. Let your cousin drive you back.”

Ye Chili, who had barely spoken, put down his chopsticks, took the car keys, and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Ye Mian tried to refuse, “I can go home by myself. No need to trouble you.”

Ye Chili smiled carelessly, “We’re family, don’t be so polite.”

It was the peak hour of a summer evening. Moreover, the newly opened hotel was far from the city, making it particularly difficult to hail a cab.

Ye Mian could only nod. “Thank you.”

She took the elevator downstairs, stepped out the hotel entrance, and was immediately assaulted by a wave of heat. Having just left the air-conditioned interior, the scorching air seemed even more unbearable.

Ye Mian rubbed her still-warm arms and quietly waited by the side for Ye Chili to return from the parking lot.

The air was oppressive, as if rain was imminent. Ye Mian held her handbag, dressed in a pale blue summer dress. Her hair was elegantly pinned up, and the ruffled hem of her dress swayed gently with her movements, exuding a gentle and serene charm.

Ye Chili drove up just as the girl looked up at the sky. Though they were relatives, he couldn’t help but be struck by her beauty.

No one had told him there was such a lovely young cousin in the country.

The white car stopped in front of the hotel entrance. He lowered the window and flashed the hazard lights.

The girl turned her head, recognized him, and quickly walked to the car, opened the door, and sat inside, fastening her seatbelt carefully.

After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Thank you… for this.”

She truly didn’t know how to address this cousin who had suddenly appeared. Having little experience with family connections since childhood, all she could manage after some thought was a simple “you.”

Ye Chili glanced at his watch and smiled, “You’re welcome. You can just call me by my name. I heard from Uncle that you’re a little younger than me, so ‘brother’ works too.”

“Alright, brother,” Ye Mian replied with a polite smile, then suddenly remembered something. “Are you planning to stay here long this time?”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want her uncle’s family to stay, but at dinner, her cousin had mentioned still being in high school in America.

Yet her uncle’s family already had a car in the country, which hardly seemed like a short visit.

Ye Chili started the car, reversing as he spoke, “We’ll see. I returned with friends, hoping to build something here. I might stay long-term. My mother and sister will head back in a few months for school.”

“Oh,” Ye Mian nodded. That made sense.

After a brief exchange, Ye Mian found her cousin’s temperament quite agreeable, and relaxed a little.

Ye Chili also liked his cousin; his talkative nature quickly emerged, and he shared many stories about America.

Ye Mian listened attentively.

It was as if she were hearing an intriguing tale.

She raised her eyes to the streetlights outside the car window.

Her mind wandered to someone far overseas.

—

The hotel’s long corridor was built along the mountain, with a spacious balcony outside the rooms, and below, landscaped streams flowed gently. Above hung delicate wooden chandeliers.

In such elegant surroundings, Jiang Chen sat on the sofa, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the white car below.

Twilight deepened. A pale blue figure entered that white car, but Jiang Chen simply watched her quietly.

The dim table lamp cast a warm golden glow, spanning across him like a long barrier.

The gently flowing spring carried the turbulence of his emotions upward. The cigarette between his fingers released a soft mist, only to be whisked away instantly by the wind.

After more than a year.

The difference in height wasn’t enough for him to see the girl’s face clearly, but he still recognized who she was.

The girl had changed considerably.

She’d grown taller.

Her style had become more mature and poised, her temperament more competent. Though her clothes were no longer as bright as before, she remained the most dazzling color in his heart.

Until the car drove away.

He glanced down at his phone.

The message from a year ago was still there.

Silent as stagnant water.

He recalled the soft words the girl had uttered after drinking.

“Do you know, you’re so far away—I’ll miss you so much.”

After a year, he couldn’t tell whether she still felt that way, but he was determined to leave. More than the pain, he hated seeing disappointment cloud those beautiful eyes.

Suddenly, the sky began to drizzle gloomily.

Raindrops fell onto the wooden floor of the balcony.

He lingered there for an hour.

When the impulse faded, a heavier melancholy took its place.

He’d intended to let it go, to focus on resolving matters in Jiangcheng.

But then, the girl’s figure appeared downstairs once more.

Jiang Chen’s fingers tightened around his phone as he stood up to look below.

In the shifting light, the girl stood troubled, her head bowed, hesitating as she walked alone.

Why wasn’t she home at this late hour? Why had she returned?

Jiang Chen gripped the wooden railing of the balcony, waiting anxiously for Ye Mian.

She walked to the roadside, sometimes lifting her feet to look around, sometimes checking her phone, as if facing some difficult dilemma.

Those few minutes of waiting felt like torment for Jiang Chen.

When he called, his voice was rough.

“Ye Mian, what are you doing?”

—

When she received his call, Ye Mian thought she was imagining things.

Over a year without contact—she assumed Jiang Chen had forgotten her completely.

She pressed her lips together and answered cautiously, not even managing a “hello” before his cold, low voice came through:

“Ye Mian, what are you doing?”

What kind of question was that?

Had he called the wrong number?

Impossible—he’d said her name.

Ye Mian blinked. “What?”

A few seconds later, Jiang Chen’s voice sounded again. “What… are you looking for?”

…

At this moment, Ye Mian understood.

Her mind suddenly went blank.

That tone…

It was as if Jiang Chen had bumped into her on the street.

Once the thought took hold, her heart felt as though someone had seized it, suspended in her chest, obstructing her breath.

Her hand unconsciously brushed her hair, unsure where to place it.

Such surprise and excitement wound through her like vines, tingling and restless, making her uncomfortable.

She glanced around. The hotel was secluded, her eyes passed over every face, but Jiang Chen’s was nowhere to be seen.

Then, she mechanically lifted her head and looked upward.

(End of chapter)