113. Don’t Try to Guess a Girl’s Heart

When Chen Xuan returned, she was holding a portion of takoyaki.

Inside a palm-sized square box, six little octopus balls were still steaming. They were huddled together in pairs, drizzled with two stripes of black pepper sauce and sprinkled with a bit of shredded seaweed.

She had originally intended to share with Li An how these were made, but she noticed that ever since she returned, he had been watching her with a constant, gentle smile.

"What's with that look? You're smiling so benevolently, like an old grandfather."

Feeling self-conscious under his gaze, Chen Xuan lowered her head and picked up a ball, blowing on it near her lips.

Watching Chen Xuan’s sweet and obedient demeanor, Li An sighed softly. He glanced over and saw there were still four or five groups of people ahead of them in line. He suggested, "Let's have pineapple rice next time instead."

Chen Xuan nodded. "Should we go to the rice noodle roll shop now, then?"

Li An: "Let's go take a look."

Chen Xuan: "Wait a moment."

As she spoke, she held the takoyaki out to Li An’s lips. Having been fed by her twice before, Li An opened his mouth naturally this time.

This scene was caught from afar by Ma Tao, who had just stepped out of a restaurant.

The world is such a small place, especially on the Qixi Festival. Cheng Nan Lane, being an affordable dating spot that doesn't sacrifice festive atmosphere, is the top choice for most students and those with modest incomes.

Ma Tao never imagined that the person Chen Xuan was dating was Li An, whom everyone saw every single day. He thought it was wonderful, though, and decided to keep the secret for them.

***

Li An and Chen Xuan returned to the front of "Xiang Taste Supreme," only to find the line even longer than before.

Chen Xuan decided to let it go. "Let's go look somewhere else."

She didn't want to waste any more of their time waiting in line. At this moment, what they ate no longer mattered.

After wandering in a large circle, they found that every restaurant they were interested in had a queue at the door.

"Come on."

A secret smile played on the corner of Chen Xuan’s mouth as she pulled Li An toward the southern end of the lane.

Strangely, it felt as if they had swapped genders; Chen Xuan had become the one leading Li An on a date.

***

A muggy evening breeze blew past. On a set of steps in a corner at the south end of the lane, Li An and Chen Xuan began their Qixi dinner.

There were no candlelight, no flowers, no exquisite plating, and no gourmet food. There was only the unfinished street food they had bought earlier in the lane.

Under the starlight, listening to the raspy voice of a busker and watching the constant flow of people outside the nearby milk tea shop, Chen Xuan felt this was the kind of love she had once fantasized about during her incredibly stifling high school years.

No need for ceremony, just the ability to breathe freely and have the person you like by your side—that was enough.

Suddenly, she saw a pair of high schoolers walking past the steps, hand in hand.

A moment later.

"Li An."

"Hmm?"

"I want to see you smoke."

The takoyaki in Li An’s mouth almost fell out. "What did you say?"

"I want to see what you look like when you smoke."

Chen Xuan’s pleading expression made it almost impossible for Li An to refuse.

She added, "Pretty please?"

Li An nodded blankly. "I don't have any cigarettes on me."

Having received permission, Chen Xuan immediately put down her tripe, scampered off, and returned with a pack of Liqun cigarettes and a lighter.

She opened the pack, took one out, examined it, and handed it to Li An.

Under Chen Xuan’s expectant and curious gaze, Li An felt as if he had forgotten how to smoke. He held the cigarette filter in his mouth and reached for the lighter. Chen Xuan said, "Let me light it for you."

*Click.*

With a crisp sound, Chen Xuan cupped her hands around a small flame and held it out to Li An.

Their eyes met, and Li An took a gentle drag.

The faint, sizzling sound of burning tobacco filled the air. As the smoke entered his throat, Li An’s thoughts began to drift.

Ever since Chen Xuan had taken his arm and pulled him into this alley, she had seemed like a different person. She was feeding him, hanging her bag on him, and there were probably already five or six photos of them together on her phone.

Logically, this was all too bold for Chen Xuan; he had initially thought it was just her nature being brought out by the atmosphere of the day. But now, he felt he might have been fifty percent wrong about that.

Another breeze blew, and the bamboo dragonflies on their heads began to spin slowly.

After a long while, Li An exhaled the smoke, shifted into a more comfortable position, and squatted down, legs apart, his right hand holding the cigarette dangling casually at his side.

He leaned toward Chen Xuan and smiled mischievously. "Did you like wearing overalls back in high school?"

As if this question had pierced through all her little secrets, Chen Xuan felt a sudden surge of excitement, though she replied with a look of feigned innocence: "I didn't have much of a chance to wear them. I had to wear my school uniform all the time, and on weekends I was stuck at home and couldn't go out."

The two of them just stared at each other. Looking into Chen Xuan’s bright, piercing eyes, Li An didn't want to guess anymore.

He was just about to stub out the cigarette.

"Li An, confess to me."

Time didn't stand still for even a second.

"Chen Xuan, I like you."

"How much do you like me?"

"I’ll work hard at my piano practice and get into the same music conservatory as you next year."

Li An thought this memory game would end there.

However.

Chen Xuan seemed to have fully entered the role. She widened her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, her voice trembling slightly, "And then?"

Li An watched her expression and involuntarily stopped his movements.

A moment passed.

He slowly faded his smile.

Time seemed to slow down here. He began to think about the "then."

*Then, then, then... then we should be together by now.*

Li An suddenly wondered, if all this were real, how would the four years of university pass for them?

"Then," he said, slowing his pace as he imagined the two of them.

"Then we were very lucky; we both found out we were accepted at the end of the summer."

"It was the same school."

"I remember I lied to you that day and said I didn't get in, and you started crying your eyes out. Then I told you I was just teasing."

"And you ignored me for three days."

Chen Xuan: "You had it coming."

"Then, every day after that, we waited for the start of school in agony and restlessness."

"Two days before school started, I had to take the train early because you were flying, and you were leaving the next morning."

"That was the first time we were so far apart. From the moment I got on the train, we were chatting on our phones almost every second. You said you were scared."

"I said the one who should be scared was me."

Chen Xuan: "Why?"

"Because my train didn't arrive until the next afternoon, and your flight landed at noon."

Chen Xuan let out a soft laugh. "Next time, I'll buy you a plane ticket."

"There were so many people on registration day, but the moment I walked through the school gates, I found you at a glance. After your parents left, we met at the supermarket by the cafeteria."

"We were just five meters apart, grinning like idiots at each other."

"It felt as if the world had opened its arms to us."

As he spoke, Li An took a drag of his cigarette, unable to help but become completely immersed in the emotion.

"And then?"