chance encounter

Saturday sunlight slanted into the supermarket entrance, warmly falling on Xu Yanchi's fluffy hair. As soon as she followed her mother, Song Shi, inside, she was enveloped by the aroma of bread—the bakers in the baking section were placing freshly baked croissants on the shelves, their golden crusts glistening with oil, making one's mouth water.

"Let's go buy some bread first, that'll be breakfast for tomorrow." Song Shi pulled the shopping cart and walked familiarly toward the bakery section, turning back to instruct Xu Yanchi, "Take the list with you, and after you buy the bread, go to the fresh produce section and I'll make your favorite tomato stewed beef brisket for dinner."

Xu Yanchi responded, looked down at the shopping list in his hand, and just as his fingertips traced the words "whole wheat bread," he heard the soft sound of a shopping cart wheel rolling behind him, followed by a familiar, flat male voice: "Excuse me."

Xu Yanchi subconsciously moved to the side, and just as she stopped, she heard the owner of the voice pushing a cart past her. She was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the voice sounded familiar. The instant she looked up, she saw the black canvas bag hanging from the other person's shopping cart handle—it was a custom-made model from the school's competition class, which she had seen on the corner of Xiao Fuzhou's desk last week.

Xu Yanchi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned to look: Xiao Fuzhou was pushing a silver-gray shopping cart, wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up halfway, revealing a clean neck. Unlike his cool and aloof appearance in a white shirt and school uniform pants at school, he looked like an ordinary weekend teenager, yet his youthful energy was still undeniable. He held a crumpled piece of paper in his hand, looking down at the shelf.

"What's wrong? Did you see someone you know?" Song Shi glanced in their direction, peeked out from the baking area, and followed her gaze. "Isn't that Xiao Fuzhou from your class? The top student the teacher specifically praised at the last parent-teacher conference. Why is he the only one buying things?"

Before Xu Yanchi could respond, he saw Xiao Fuzhou seem to have noticed their gaze and look up. Their eyes met for a moment, then he paused, nodding slightly as a greeting. Xu Yanchi quickly nodded back, her cheeks flushing, and pulled Song Shi behind the bread shelf to hide: "Mom, don't stare at him."

"I was just curious." Song Shi smiled, picked up a bag of whole wheat bread, and put it in the shopping cart. "Go get me a carton of milk; it's near the refrigerated section." He pointed in the direction of the refrigerated section.

Xu Yanchi agreed, clutching her shopping list as she headed towards the refrigerated section. Her mind was still a jumbled mess. She kept thinking, "Maybe this is fate. I can even run into him at the supermarket. I really want to be with him every day, even just for a glance, just one glance would be enough." She shook her head, feeling that what she was saying was somewhat absurd. As she walked, lost in thought, she reached the shelf and saw Xiao Fuzhou standing in front of the yogurt counter, holding two cartons of yogurt and comparing them, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were studying the ingredient list. His shopping cart was simple: a bunch of greens, a few packets of instant noodles, and a carton of eggs, looking like he was stocking up on food for the weekend.

"Xiao Fuzhou?" Xu Yanchi couldn't help but call out to him softly.

Xiao Fuzhou turned around, saw it was her, frowned, and held up the yogurt in his hand: "Do you know which brand of sugar-free yogurt isn't too sour? My mom said the one she bought last time was too astringent, and told me to get a different one."

Xu Yanchi paused for a moment, then walked to his side and pointed to the one at the very back of the shelf: "This one is pretty good. I usually drink this too. It has a little bit of honey in it, so it's not too sour." She paused again and added, "The auxiliary angle formula problem you helped me with last time, I was able to solve it when I encountered a similar one in my workbook later. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Xiao Fuzhou picked up the yogurt she pointed to, put it in the shopping cart, glanced at the list in her hand, saw the word "tomato", and casually said, "The tomatoes in the fresh produce section are on sale today, more than a dollar cheaper than usual, you can go and take a look."

"Really?" Xu Yanchi's eyes lit up. She had just been worried that tomatoes were too expensive and that her mother would nag her. "Then I'll tell my mother later."

The two walked side by side toward the fresh produce section. Xiao Fuzhou's shopping cart moved very slowly. Xu Yanchi secretly glanced at him and found him looking down at a piece of paper in his hand, muttering, "Vegetables, eggs, yogurt, instant noodles... that should be it."

"You came out to buy things by yourself?" Xu Yanchi asked in a low voice, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, my parents are working overtime today, so they told me to stock up on some food." Xiao Fuzhou nodded, walked to the vegetable stall, bent down and picked out a bunch of romaine lettuce with practiced ease. "What about you? Going grocery shopping with your auntie?"

“Yes, my mom said she’s making braised beef brisket with tomatoes tonight.” Xu Yanchi said, just as she saw Song Shi walking over from a distance, carrying a bag of ribs. Seeing the two of them standing together, he smiled and waved, “Fuzhou, what a coincidence, you’re here to buy vegetables too?”

Xiao Fuzhou straightened up and smiled politely: "Hello, Auntie. I came out to buy something by myself."

"You're such a sensible child, buying groceries by yourself at such a young age." Song Shi pulled Xu Yanchi over and stuffed a plastic bag into her hand. "Go pick out some tomatoes, just listen to Fuzhou, buy the discounted ones, and make an extra bowl tonight so Fuzhou can take it home to eat."

Xu Yanchi's face flushed instantly, and he quickly waved his hand, "Mom! It might not be convenient for her..."

"It's alright, Auntie, I'll just have instant noodles for dinner." Xiao Fuzhou quickly declined, picked up the vegetables from the shopping cart, and said, "I've chosen them, I'm going to pay now. Goodbye, Auntie, goodbye, Xu Yanchi."

"Hey, goodbye! Come over for dinner sometime!" Song Shi waved with a smile, watching Xiao Fuzhou push the shopping cart toward the checkout counter. She nudged Xu Yanchi's arm and said, "That kid seems so mature. If you ever have math problems, ask him for help."

Xu Yanchi looked down, picking through the tomatoes, her fingertips touching the plump fruit. She recalled Xiao Fuzhou carefully comparing yogurts at the counter, and the simple ingredients in his shopping cart. A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips. So this seemingly unattainable academic genius at school also bought instant noodles and frowned over choosing yogurt. She replied with a half-smile, her eyes brimming with uncontrollable amusement.