Ruan Mian had slept late last night. Adding to that, she was still on vacation, so she indulged herself by sleeping until the afternoon.
The curtains in the master bedroom were drawn tightly, blocking out the light. So when she woke up and looked at the time on her phone, she thought it was two in the morning. After settling for a few minutes, Ruan Mian got out of bed, drew open the curtains, and outside was bright sunshine.
She washed up simply, and when she went to the living room she realized Lin Jiahui was home. She casually asked, “What time did you get back last night?”
“I just got back this morning.”
Lin Jiahui held a small bowl of strawberries. “I brought you breakfast when I came back, and ordered you takeout for lunch, but you were still asleep the whole time. Tell me, what were you up to last night? Was it…?”
She smiled meaningfully. Ruan Mian felt a little uncomfortable with her smile even though nothing had happened. Keeping a straight face, she finished drinking a glass of water as she walked to the kitchen, emphasizing, “I came back after ten.”
Lin Jiahui put down what was in her hands and followed her into the kitchen, “Then yesterday when you went out with Chen Yi, did anything happen?”
“What could happen? Just two friends having a meal.”
The kitchen counter still had the steamed buns Lin Jiahui bought in the morning and the takeout she ordered for lunch. Ruan Mian put the takeout box directly into the microwave to heat up, and took out a packet of instant soup to make to go with the meal.
“Just a meal? Nothing else happened?”
Ruan Mian tore open the seasoning packet and poured it into a bowl. While waiting for the water to boil, she recounted in detail yesterday’s activities from start to finish.
Omitting only what happened after she returned home last night.
After listening, Lin Jiahui didn’t have much of a reaction. She was just curious about what movie they watched, who picked it, and where they sat.
Ruan Mian told her the truth, “It was ‘More Than Blue’. Chen Yi picked it, I think our seats were Row 4 Seats 5 and 6.”
“So you two watched a tragedy in the prime seating area?”
Ruan Mian tapped the counter twice with her hand leaning on it, “We just randomly chose the next available screening, what’s the issue with that?”
“Oh, no issue if it was randomly chosen.”
Lin Jiahui was experienced, “But next time remember, it’s best to pick a lingering, sentimental romance or a thrilling, suspenseful horror movie. And you have to choose the seats carefully.”
Ruan Mian was a little surprised, “Aren’t the prime seats good?”
“Silly, who goes on dates sitting in the prime seats? They all go to the VIP theatre and choose couple seats, or at least the pitch black back row.”
Lin Jiahui laughed, “Have you ever seen a couple openly getting intimate surrounded by a crowd?”
Ruan Mian almost got tangled up in her words, when at that moment the boiling water started making gurgling noises. She turned off the heat, and while pouring the water emphasized again, “We’re just friends, not on a date.”
“Alright, just friends.”
Lin Jiahui blinked, “But possibly friends who may develop into a couple in the future, I’m not wrong am I?”
Ruan Mian stopped moving, wanting to say something but not knowing what. In the end she could only brush it off, “I’m going to eat first.”
Lin Jiahui didn’t keep asking. She giggled as she went back to the living room to keep watching the movie.
After eating, Ruan Mian still felt a little sleepy. She tidied up and planned to take another nap, playing on her phone before falling asleep.
Around 3:30pm she received a WeChat message from He Zechuan asking if she was free tonight because he wanted to treat her to dinner.
Since Ruan Mian had nothing going on tonight, she made plans to meet at 7pm for dinner. Then feeling drowsy, she set a 5pm alarm before falling back asleep.
The place He Zechuan took her for dinner was a Japanese restaurant near his company. Ruan Mian left home at 6pm, taking the subway directly to avoid traffic.
On the way there, she chatted with He Zechuan on WeChat, but he was working overtime and in meetings today so he didn’t reply as quickly.
While waiting for his replies, Ruan Mian went back to the WeChat chat list, and tapped on one chat box without a name.
The chat history started from last night and also ended last night. Not even one full page of chatting, very much like in high school, when she nervously worked up the courage to add him on QQ, but in the end they barely exchanged a few words. Just a few pages of chat records, but they spanned her entire youth.
Except this time, when Ruan Mian saw what Chen Yi had sent her last night, it was like a small pebble suddenly dropped into the calm surface of a lake, creating tiny ripples.
The subway arrived at the station very quickly. Ruan Mian followed the crowds making turns here and there. By the time she emerged from the subway exit, the sky outside was already shrouded in dusk.
He Zechuan had made reservations in advance. Ruan Mian waited for him at the restaurant for half an hour. “Treating me to dinner but you’re late. If it were someone else, you would have already lost me as a friend.”
He Zechuan had just come from a meeting and was unusually dressed in a black suit today. Tall and long-legged, dressed in tie, cufflinks, and watch, he looked quite decent.
He took off his coat and draped it on the side, then handed Ruan Mian the menu, “To make up for it, order whatever you want tonight.”
Although he said this, they still couldn’t eat too much. Ruan Mian pointed out a few items based on the menu recommendations, then He Zechuan added another five or six dishes. By the time the food was served, the small table was almost fully loaded.
Japanese food emphasized the original fresh flavors of the ingredients. Colorful and appetizing in appearance. Ruan Mian took a photo with her phone.
No editing or filtering, she directly shared it on Moments.
It was almost 9pm by the time they finished eating. With the night breeze blowing gently, He Zechuan drove Ruan Mian home. “How long is your break this time?”
“Three days. Tomorrow is the last day.”
Ruan Mian leaned her elbow on the window, looking at the high-rises outside. As if just casually bringing up a topic, “He Zechuan, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
She hadn’t even finished speaking when He Zechuan laughed and interrupted her, “With our relationship, do we still need to use the ‘I have a friend’ tactic?”
There was a red light in front. He Zechuan slowly braked to a stop, tapping the steering wheel twice with his fingers, “Come on, just tell me directly what it is.”
Ruan Mian clicked her tongue. She thought about it but still didn’t know how to say it. She put her arm down and rubbed her temples, “Never mind, it’s not a big deal. Let’s talk about it next time there’s a chance.”
He Zechuan glanced at her but didn’t ask further.
For the rest of the drive, the two chatted sporadically about things that had recently happened. He Zechuan still had a business trip to go on tomorrow, so he left after dropping her off.
Lin Jiahui was out again tonight. After showering, Ruan Mian video called Meng Xinglan for a while and tentatively made plans to go back at the end of the month when they were free to accompany her trying on wedding dresses.
“Oh right, Xinglan, I heard from Liang Yiran you ran into Shen Yu and Chen Yi at the disaster zone?”
On video, Meng Xinglan had a bare face. She hadn’t changed much these past few years, just more charm in her eyes and brows that she didn’t have as a girl, making her look even prettier.
“Mhm, what a coincidence.”
“I heard they’re both in B City now too.”
Meng Xinglan turned to look somewhere off screen, “Yiran, ask Shen Yu later when they have time off. Let’s go to B City and meet up with them.”
After graduating, Meng Xinglan and Liang Yiran had both returned to Pingcheng, one doing artificial intelligence and the other teaching at Ping University.
Compared to big cities, life rhythm and work pressure were more relaxed in this small town, with more ample free time.
Ruan Mian didn’t chat too long with her. After hanging up, she saw WeChat had an increased number on it, which was the Moments updates.
Clicking in, it was all just other people’s likes and comments.
Ruan Mian casually scrolled down and saw Chen Yi had liked the Moments post she shared earlier, 10 minutes ago.
She froze for a second, surprised he was so busy yet still had time to browse Moments.
Ruan Mian replied to some of her friends’ comments before exiting. But before leaving, she thought for a bit then clicked into Chen Yi’s Moments. She was even more surprised to see he not only had time to browse Moments, but also time to post.
His latest post had very simple content.
Vacation’s over.
The photo was of street scenes seemingly shot from inside a moving vehicle. The image was a little blurry with scattered lights.
Ruan Mian also reciprocated with a like, then exited his Moments and got up to go blow dry her hair.
The last day of break went by quickly too.
On the first day back at the hospital after time off, Ruan Mian felt unwell all over as if having Monday blues. At the end of her shift in the evening, she and Lin Jiahui went across the street from the hospital to a noodle shop for dinner.
Ruan Mian ate quickly. As she sat there browsing her phone after the meal, she saw Chen Yi had posted on Moments again around noon.
The photo was of a blue sky with white clouds.
She thought for a bit before giving it a like.
In the next few days, Ruan Mian kept seeing Moments posts from Chen Yi at different times of the day, one per day, all in the same format.
A period plus a photo, the contents sometimes a blue sky with clouds, sometimes a night sky with stars, rarely repetitive.
Ruan Mian basically liked them whenever she saw them, but never commented.
At the end of the month, the department couldn’t give her time off, so Ruan Mian was unable to go back to accompany Meng Xinglan with wedding dress trials. But she and Liang Yiran decided to come to B City on a weekend in two weeks, and told Ruan Mian to be sure to keep those days open.
Because of this, on the three day Qingming festival1 break, Ruan Mian gave up the only day off she had and specially switched shifts with colleagues for two days. She also informed Doctor Meng Fengping beforehand to clear her schedule for the full weekend.
Meng Xinglan and Liang Yiran’s flight was early morning on the 13th. On the afternoon beforehand, while Ruan Mian was writing up medical records in the office, she received a WeChat message from Chen Yi.
He and Shen Yu had the next day off and would be coming from the military area in the evening. He asked if she had time to get together for a meal.
Ruan Mian pressed the pen clip and typed a few words.
RM: I’m working the night shift tonight, can’t get away. You guys go eat.
CY: Okay.
CY: Got it.
RM: Mm.
Ruan Mian stared at the period, randomly thinking of the Moments he had been posting recently, and inexplicably smiled.
A little past 7pm, the emergency department sent a patient over and called Doctor Mengfengping for a consultation, bringing Ruan Mian along as well.
By the time they were done, it was late into the night. Doctor Meng Fengping still had matters to discuss with the chief of emergency, Zhou. Ruan Mian returned to the department alone, passing by the nurse’s station where the nurse on duty called out to her, “Dr. Ruan.”
“Hm?”
She looked over, “What’s up?”
“You have something here.”
The nurse took out two exquisitely packaged meal boxes from the side, “A handsome guy dropped them off for you.”
Ruan Mian’s eyes flickered slightly. She walked over and said thanks.
The nurse smiled, “No problem, it was convenient.”
Ruan Mian split half with the nurses before taking the rest back to the office. But she didn’t hurry to eat. Instead, she took out her phone from the drawer.
Three missed calls, and two unread WeChat messages, all from the same person.
CY: I bought you a late-night snack and left it at the nurse’s station, remember to grab it.
CY: I’m heading back.
- ??? (Qingming Festival) – Also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a Chinese tradition where families visit ancestral graves, clean tombstones, and pay respects to deceased relatives. Typically falls in early April. ↩︎
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