Everyone feels lonely, especially when you travel a long way to a strange place. It is precisely because of this shared feeling and situation that such an encounter becomes all the more precious. So I packed up my thoughts of leaving and went to the open-air bar next door to buy a small plate of peanuts and two cans of "Wind, Flower, Moon and Snow" beer.

At that moment, most of the tourists passing by were holding cameras and looking around, but I walked towards where Ye Zhi was sitting without any distractions.

I was standing behind her, so she didn't notice me immediately. She was just holding a twig she'd picked up somewhere, swinging it back and forth in the water, and then staring blankly at the ripples. She was even more lonely and isolated than I was.

"Hello!"

I called out, and Ye Zhi turned to look at me. Just as she turned around, several startled seabirds flapped their wings and skimmed across the sea, flying away into the distance. Her clear figure on the water was shattered, but in our gaze, her face was clearer than ever before.

I smiled at her, sat down next to her, and handed her one of the cans of beer, saying, "This is for you."

"Thank you." She took it from my hand.

I smiled at her again to show that she was welcome, and then we fell into a silent understanding. It was less a silence and more a quiet one, because being in silence, with the sea breeze blowing on us, truly captured the atmosphere of this evening.

...

Another sea breeze blew by, and her long hair inadvertently fell onto my shoulder, making intimate contact with my neck—a soft, fragrant sensation.

I looked at her awkwardly and finally said, "Um, it seems we're sitting too close. I'll move over a bit."

She wasn't a petty woman; she smiled and replied, "It's nothing!"

After saying that, she took out something like a rubber band from her pocket and tied her hair up. This was the first time I had seen her with her hair in a braid; she looked less charming but more neat and efficient.

Or perhaps she is simply a very capable woman, but because she is so beautiful, it is difficult for people to notice her other personality traits.

...

After the little incident, she finally took the initiative to ask me, "Do you live around here?"

"Yes, it's in Kazein-in, just across the street. You live around here too?"

"I live by the sea."

I vaguely remember this hotel; it's located in the area closest to Erhai Lake, a truly prime beachfront hotel. I saw online that HaiTu has many beachfront suites where you can soak in the large bathtub on the balcony while sipping wine and enjoying the best scenery of Dali.

In comparison, the "Wind Man's Inn" where I stayed had a strong sense of being a loser. The room didn't have a view of the sea, and it wasn't spacious either, with only a tiny wooden window connecting us to the outside world.

However, this gap is quite natural. There is an insurmountable class difference between Ye Zhi and me, so I can't say I envy her much. I know that my heart has been numbed by long-term poverty; I've become accustomed to this way of life.

Facing the wind blowing from the sea, I drank most of a can of "Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon" liquor, feeling somewhat content. I then asked Ye Zhi, "Most of the inns and hotels around here have been closed. Is Hai Tu still open for business?"

"HaiTu has also closed down, but I'm a friend of the owner, and I'm just entertaining one or two friends, so it doesn't count as business."

I nodded and replied, "Oh, it seems there are loopholes in this policy after all."

This time, Ye Zhi didn't respond. She seemed completely uninterested in how I managed to check into "Fengrenyuan" when all the inns were closed. It was better she didn't ask, because my method was far less respectable than hers. The three of us—Instructor Ma, Tie Nan, and I—couldn't turn on the lights after 8 PM, living a clandestine life. How could that compare to hers?

After a moment of silence, I finally remembered how impolite it was not to ask for her contact information last time, so I took out my phone and said to her, "We live so close, we're practically neighbors. Let's add each other on WeChat, and we can arrange to go for a walk or play mahjong sometime."

"You mean if we don't live nearby, we don't need to exchange contact information?"

I was stunned for a moment before I realized that she was indeed bothered by the fact that she had given her contact information to Yang Sisi, but I hadn't contacted her afterwards. Even after we ate together, I didn't proactively ask for her contact information.

So it seems she's quite petty in this regard. After giving me a jab, she made no attempt to take out her phone to add me as a WeChat friend, leaving my hand holding the phone awkwardly hanging in front of her.

...

"If you don't want to add it, then don't. We'll see each other all the time anyway."

As I spoke, I withdrew my hand and then sipped the last drop of beer from the can. Just when I thought we'd stubbornly continue this silence until dark, Ye Zhi suddenly turned to me and said, "Staying here tonight is pretty boring. Why don't you contact Sisi and ask her to come over and play mahjong?"

I met her gaze, finding it hard to believe she was such a forward person. Her words likely indicated she already knew something. My intuition also told me that she and Yang Sisi were quite close. After all, they were both from Shanghai, both from high society, and neither had many friends here, so they were bound to get along.

Furthermore, putting aside Yang Sisi's willfulness, she is indeed a friend worth making.

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