Look up at me

Xi Yuan pulled out a chair and then went over to draw back the curtains, letting in a little morning light.

Chu Yiqi was quite self-aware, picking up the hangover soup in front of him and slowly sipping it.

Are you going on another business trip today?

"There are still some things to do. It's almost the end of the year and I'm quite busy. I don't want to put them off until next year."

Chu Yiqi nodded: "Where are we going?"

"I need to go to Haicheng."

"I'll take you to the airport."

Xi Yuan didn't ask Chu Yiqi why he came to Ningcheng. The two of them also tacitly avoided mentioning yesterday's conversation. One of them didn't dare to be so blatant after the alcohol wore off, and the other deliberately avoided it.

It's contradictory and conflicting.

They both knew perfectly well what was going on, yet they pretended to back down.

"I sent you a file; you might need it for your lawsuit."

Chu Yiqi didn't look at it, but said, "Thank you."

A few days later, Xi Ai rushed back to Beicheng early in the morning—today was the day Chu Yiqi was to go to court for trial.

However, Xi Ai did not go, nor did she even ask. She was unusually obedient and went to a charity gala with Grandpa Xi.

—A “dinner” that started at two or three in the afternoon.

Xi Ai didn't drink alcohol, and no one tried to persuade her to drink, so she kept holding a cup of fruit tea.

During the auction, under the watchful eye of the old man, Xi Ai did the only thing that truly made her presence known – she bid on a necklace.

Furthermore, Miss Xi stated quite confidently, "I will pay for it myself."

"Oh," Old Master Xi scoffed, "Who should we give it to?"

"Take a guess?"

"Then it's alright."

Xi Ai smiled but didn't say anything.

Chu Yiqi's day had actually ended in the afternoon, but for some reason, she went to a coffee shop across the street after everyone left, and came out again when it got a little late.

—Because it snowed.

She looked at her phone; the latest message was from eight days ago, on the sixth day since she hadn't seen Xi Ai.

Xi Ai replied, "I'm on a business trip in Ning City."

So Chu Yiqi went to find her that very day.

The day before Xi Ai left, her words echoed in her ears, gradually overlapping and becoming indistinct, yet she clearly remembered every single word Xi Ai uttered, where she paused, and for how long…

A long time later, Chu Yiqi posted a new Weibo post.

The moment she sent it, Xi Ai received a notification sound from Weibo that she had subscribed.

She clicked on it and saw that, just like the Weibo posts she had been making every other day recently, it was a demo.

Today's title is "Pink Sea".

Upon hearing the beginning, Xi Ai remembered that this was the three days of rest that the two of them had managed to squeeze out after they got together. As soon as the event was over, Xi Ai rushed out to catch the plane with Chu Yiqi.

There was also a set of fan-taken photos of Xi Ai, who was wearing a white dress and running away while lifting her skirt. There are no clear pictures, but the lighting is captured very well.

During those few days, Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi went to an island of unknown location. The timing was right, and while diving, they saw patches of pink coral on the seabed.

During dinner, Xi Ai pulled out a necklace from somewhere, and coincidentally, it was a necklace inlaid with pink crystals.

It wasn't until she lay down at night, idly studying the necklace, that Chu Yiqi noticed it wasn't entirely pink; the edges of each crystal had a subtle blue tint, which was quite beautiful.

Like the pink coral I saw that day, blending into the deep blue sea.

Xi Ai snapped out of her reverie and heard the line, "Crimson clouds sink to the bottom of the sea, peach blossoms rush to the tide."

"Silver butterflies flutter their wings."

Will I ever see the warm sunshine?

Xi Ai looked at the lyrics Chu Yiqi posted, and the next line should be "May we meet again by mountains and seas, and perhaps you will come too."

Xi Ai didn't turn off the music; she went to check today's trending topics.

A victory pronounced in court is good news.

I want to see you.

When she received the message, Xi Ai was huddled in a corner of the charity gala, scrolling through Weibo—the page was stuck on a report about Chu Yiqi's trial. She was plotting how to slip away naturally and subtly.

She gave a slight smile, didn't reply to Chu Yiqi, found Grandpa Xi in the crowd, and said, "I'm going to see the person I want to see now, goodbye."

The car headlights illuminated each snowflake clearly, as it slowly fell and accumulated into piles.

The moment Xi Ai stopped the car, she received a call from Chu Yiqi, but she didn't answer. It wasn't until she was running towards him with her umbrella, almost reaching him, that she finally answered the phone.

“Xi Ai”.

Xi Ai caught her breath, slowed her pace, and appeared to be in no hurry.

“Look up,” she said.

Xi Ai's voice was very soft, but every word fell clearly into Chu Yiqi's ears.

Chu Yiqi looked towards the light-drenched path to the side, where Xi Ai was dressed in a black cheongsam with a white fox fur coat draped over her shoulders. Perhaps because the light behind her was particularly dazzling, she stood out conspicuously against the white backdrop.

It's already night now. Chu Yiqi came out from across the street this afternoon and stayed here for a very long time.

After thinking about it for a long time, she finally made up her mind and sent that message. But she couldn't bring herself to say anything more passionate or intense.

There's only one sentence I really, really want to say, and I can't delay it for even a moment.

Regardless of whether there is a response or not.

Just like when she and Xi Ai watched Aunt Feng's cats wind yarn, they didn't know if it would work, but they were willing to give it their all.

Chu Yiqi suddenly remembered that many, many years ago, one afternoon, she had also called someone, but the call wasn't answered. It was on that very day that the person she should have called Mom and Dad turned against her. After that, Chu Yiqi stopped calling people. Time and again, after the snow, she would walk alone back to that house with her bag.

Once, she forgot what illness she had, but she felt terrible and curled up by the bed, hoping her mother would answer the phone.

But no.

But things are different now. Chu Yiqi heard Xi Ai say, "Look up."

As it turned out, she made the right bet.

Xi Ai stopped in front of her. The shadow of the black umbrella blocked the snow and some of the light, so Chu Yiqi could only see this person.

It's very clear.

She heard that person's voice above her, but it felt different from before: "Now you've seen it."

Chu Yiqi looked at her, her eyes slightly red.

It had only been a week, but it felt like she hadn't seen this person for a very, very long time.

“Xi Ai”.

“Sis…”

She stubbornly called out Xi Ai's name, wanting a response.

The person in front of me said, "If you'd rather turn yourself into a snowman here, I won't keep you company; you'll freeze to death."

Chu Yiqi had half her face hidden in her scarf, and her wool coat almost completely covered her, making her look like a quiet rabbit in the snow.

She saw Xi Ai switch her coat to the other hand and seem to sigh very softly, but it was hard to hear clearly in the wind and snow.

Xi Ai stretched out her hand, palm up, and offered it to Chu Yiqi, saying, "Aren't you leaving yet?"

Chu Yiqi blinked, slowly took Xi Ai's hand, and without really using her strength, stood up and walked to Xi Ai's side.

Where to?

Xi Ai said, "I don't know."

Despite saying that, Chu Yiqi still followed her closely, her fingertips curling slightly, but she still didn't dare to take Xi Ai's hand.

No one spoke again. Only the long trail of footprints behind them and the slightly tilted umbrella handle in the shadows proved that they had walked side by side out of this place.

Xi Ai opened the passenger door, and Chu Yiqi said very softly, "Thank you."

Xi Ai walked around to the side, opened the car door, and closed her umbrella.

But no one noticed, or perhaps didn't care—from the moment the car stopped, someone pressed the shutter button from a great distance away.

Xi Ai didn't say a word the whole way. She drove to their former residence, stopped the car quietly, and said, "Let's get out?"

"You..." Chu Yiqi paused for a moment, then said, "Aren't you going up?"

Xi Ai seemed to hesitate for a moment, then finally turned around and opened the car door. She then casually unbuckled Chu Yiqi's seatbelt.

"Let's go."

In the darkness before the lights were turned on, Chu Yiqi looked at Xi Ai's silhouette, pursed his lips, and deliberately stood in front of Xi Ai, bypassing her to press the switch.

Xi Ai leaned back slightly, and Chu Yiqi froze for a moment when he noticed the movement.

She hadn't felt this panicked in a long time.

—Even in court, she remained quite calm.

Perhaps she had been waiting for a very long time, which made her a little calmer; or perhaps she was just thinking that everything was about to end smoothly, and then she could see that person, the one she had wanted to see for a very long time, but had never dared to look directly at.

At this moment, my heart was pounding, and I felt incredibly uncertain, as if I were about to fall from a tall building.

Perhaps she made the wrong choice from the very beginning...

In fact, if Xi Ai's reaction had changed slightly at this moment, it would have resembled what happened after a concert a long time ago.

It seems to have been a snowy night like that too—For 8 always has a concert in winter, and if you're lucky, you can catch the first snowfall.

It seemed to be getting late, so Chu Yiqi and Xi Ai returned to the villa. The two of them sneaked into Chu Yiqi's room together.

Xi Ai went in after her. As soon as she closed the door and turned around, Chu Yiqi, who hadn't turned on the light yet, was walking past Xi Ai to press the switch.

In the darkness, all senses seemed amplified, and another person's cold breath tickled my face.

Xi Ai paused for a moment, then chuckled very softly, her voice slightly breathy. She grasped Chu Yiqi's wrist, pulled him close, leaned forward, and brushed her nose against his.

What followed was the mingling of breaths in the dim moonlight...

As for now...

Chu Yiqi quickly withdrew and said, "Well, you should get some rest."

Xi Ai nodded and said indifferently, "Go to sleep, I need to deal with some documents and look at some materials."

Chu Yiqi nodded, went to the master bedroom but couldn't fall asleep. He sat up and looked at the snow for a long time, left a few lyrics in his memo, and stared blankly at the light coming through the crack in the door for a long time.

After a long, long time, Xi Ai finally turned off the light, but there was no further movement. Chu Yiqi looked at his phone by the dim light of the desk lamp and saw the trending topics on Weibo.

The top trending topic is simple and clear, just five words:

"Xi Aichu in anticipation"

Chu Yiqi clicked on it and saw photos taken when Xi Ai picked her up. She didn't look at the individual photos, but went straight to the group photos starting from the third one.

The composition of the photo is excellent. The headlights of a car in the distance shine in, illuminating Xi Ai, who is slightly blurred. Chu Yiqi sits to one side, and there seems to be a dividing line between the two of them, defining the light and shadow.

The next scene shows Xi Ai standing in front of her, and she looks up at the dim streetlights, which create a warm, hazy atmosphere of snow.

Then, Xi Ai stretched out her hand and said, "Aren't you leaving yet?"

Chu Yiqi completed the rest of the scene himself.

The following photos show them walking side by side towards the brightest spot. Chu Yiqi was so nervous at the time, and her mind was only on Xi Ai, that she didn't notice until now when she looked at the photo that Xi Ai's umbrella handle was actually tilted quite obviously.

Some people are always like this: they say they don't care and put on a cold and indifferent appearance, but in fact they are more thoughtful and care more than anyone else.

It's been like this ever since they met, nothing has changed.

After browsing Weibo for a while, she didn't rush to say anything to Su Luojian. Instead, she tiptoed out and went to look at Xi Ai by the sofa.

Although the two scenes were unrelated, Chu Yiqi suddenly remembered Xi Ai's words, "Look up—you see it now."

—In the thirty seconds or so before Xi Ai answered the phone, Chu Yiqi was actually quite uncertain.

In that blank space, the snow seemed to fall exceptionally heavy, just like many, many years ago.

That day, Chu Yiqi must have had a fever, or maybe it was the time with appendicitis. She curled up by the bed, her hands trembling slightly, and called her mother.

It wasn't connected.