Reunion

The chill of late autumn is growing stronger each day, and the north wind swirls withered yellow leaves through the streets. Those who are sensitive to the cold have already wrapped themselves in thick coats.

Qi Shuo also changed into the long black trench coat that Sister Jin had dragged him to the mall to buy a while ago. The trench coat was sharply tailored, making his figure appear even taller and more slender. Paired with his newly trimmed, clean-cut buzz cut, he exuded a cool and composed aura, attracting a lot of attention on the street.

He finally finished reading the thick book on translation theory that Xiao Jue gave him on his birthday, albeit intermittently.

The moment I closed the book, I felt a strange sense of fulfillment, as if I had completed a long and solitary conversation.

After work that day, it was still early, and he suddenly thought of going to the library to see if there were any other books that interested him.

The city library remained quiet, the air filled with the scent of pages and the sedimentation of time.

He walked confidently to the familiar bookshelf, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed spines, and finally pulled out an academic work on the evolution of postwar European literary translation.

Then, as was his habit, he walked toward the quiet corner by the window that he often frequented.

However, that spot was already taken. A young man who looked like a student was hunched over his desk, writing furiously.

Qi Shuo paused for a moment, then, without stopping, calmly scanned the reading room before settling on another relatively quiet corner. It was against the wall there, slightly dimly lit, but quiet enough.

He remembered that the spot seemed to be... where Tan Huaiyu used to sit.

He had noticed it before, but hadn't paid much attention to it.

The thought only flashed through his mind and did not stir up much of a ripple in his heart.

He walked straight over, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

There was no one opposite him. The table was clean, with only an open, thick psychology book on it, with a few delicate metal bookmarks between the pages, showing the owner's serious reading.

Qi Shuo didn't pay any attention, assuming that someone had just left temporarily. He placed the book he had chosen on the table, took out his notebook and pen, and immersed himself in the world of words.

He watched intently, sometimes frowning in thought, sometimes jotting down flashes of insight or questions in his notebook.

The setting sun outside the window cast its last rays obliquely in, gilding his sharply defined profile with a soft golden edge.

After an unknown amount of time, a very light, hesitant sound of footsteps sounded nearby. Qi Shuo did not look up until the footsteps stopped opposite him, and a chair was gently pulled out, making a slight rustling sound.

A figure sat down cautiously, even deliberately keeping their breathing slow and gentle, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Then, a very faint call, trembling almost imperceptibly, tentatively rang out:

"Brother Qi Shuo...?"

Qi Shuo's fingers, which were turning the pages of the book, paused slightly, and he slowly raised his head. What came into view was Tan Huaiyu's pale yet delicate face.

He looked somewhat nervous, his amber eyes fixed on him, filled with a complex mix of emotions—surprise, unease, humble anticipation, and a hint of…precarious fear.

It turns out this spot belonged to him.

Qi Shuo understood.

I thought I wouldn't run into him today.

Qi Shuo's face remained expressionless; he merely nodded slightly as a greeting. Then, he lowered his head again, his gaze returning to the pages of his book, continuing his interrupted reading and contemplation as if the person sitting opposite him were an insignificant stranger.

However, this extremely slight nod caused Tan Huaiyu's pupils to contract sharply, and his heart felt as if it had been violently struck by something.

He stood frozen in place, as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his head, and his ears were ringing.

Did he respond to me?

Brother Qi Shuo... he just... nodded at me?

He didn't ignore me, he didn't show any disgust, he even... responded to me?

A tremendous, unbelievable ecstasy swept over him like a tsunami, followed by an overwhelming sense of bitterness and grievance.

He bit his lower lip hard to barely hold back the tears that were about to spill from his eyes.

He lowered his head, frantically grabbed the psychology book in front of him, but couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.

The printed words on the pages blurred into a blur, and his entire attention was focused on the quiet figure opposite him.

All afternoon, Tan Huaiyu was in a dazed and absent-minded state. He had no interest in reading; all his attention was drawn to Qi Shuo as if by a magnet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he secretly and greedily sketched Qi Shuo's lowered eyebrows, straight nose, tightly pursed thin lips, and his hands with distinct knuckles, which were holding a pen and taking notes.

Like a small animal hiding in a dark corner, long deprived of light, he finally glimpsed a sliver of light filtering through a crack and desperately tried to absorb that little bit of warmth and brightness to sustain himself as he continued to gasp for breath in the cold darkness.

Time flowed silently by, but to him it felt like stolen, precious moments.

As darkness fell completely outside the window, the lights in the library gradually came on. Qi Shuo raised his wrist to check his watch, closed the book, and began tidying up the notebooks and pens on the table.

Tan Huaiyu's heart tightened suddenly, and he subconsciously raised his head.

Qi Shuo finished packing his things, stood up, and his gaze inadvertently met Tan Huaiyu's raised eyes. Tan Huaiyu, like a startled deer, hurriedly tried to look away, but it was too late.

Qi Shuo paused for a moment when he saw the panic and attachment in his eyes that he couldn't hide. Then, he nodded to him again as a farewell.

Then, he picked up the book, turned around and walked towards the bookshelf, put the book back in its place, and his figure quickly disappeared at the door of the reading room.

Tan Huaiyu stood frozen in place, staring blankly in the direction where Qi Shuo had disappeared. After a long, long time, she slowly, very slowly, loosened her fingers, which had been tightly gripping the book pages and were slightly sweaty.

The corners of her mouth, uncontrollably, gradually curved upwards, outlining a tearful yet incredibly genuine smile.

He nodded at me twice today.

Does he... really not hate me that much anymore?

Qi Shuo walked down the library steps, and the evening breeze carrying the chill of late autumn hit him.

He walked to the parking shed, found his somewhat old electric scooter, took out his helmet, and was about to put it on.

Just then, a voice, trembling with fear and sobs, rang out from behind him, like a thin spider silk gently tugging at his nerves.

"Brother Qi Shuo..."

Qi Shuo paused in his action of putting on his helmet. That voice… he didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

It was Ning Wan.

It was Ning Wan, who had disappeared for nearly six months without a trace.

He was silent for a few seconds, then slowly put down his helmet and turned around.

Ning Wan stood a few steps away from him, the dim light of the streetlamp outlining her strikingly thin figure.

She had lost a lot of weight; her once slightly chubby cheeks were now sunken, making her chin appear pointed, and her complexion was an unhealthy pallor. She wore a rather thin beige knit sweater, which shivered slightly in the night breeze.

Those eyes, which were once always bright and full of smiles, were now red and swollen, brimming with tears, staring at him without blinking, filled with guilt, sadness, and an indescribable weariness.

She stood there like a reed trembling in the wind, about to break.

“Ning Wan,” Qi Shuo looked at her, a complex mix of emotions surging through his heart, but his voice remained calm, “Long time no see.”

This calm greeting seemed to shatter Ning Wan's last line of defense. Her tears instantly broke free, rolling down her cheeks in large drops.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but could only let out broken sobs.

She moved step by step to Qi Shuo, reached out, and gently and carefully grasped the corner of Qi Shuo's trench coat, as if it were her only piece of driftwood.

She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling violently, repeating the same thing over and over again, her voice indistinct:

"I'm sorry... Brother Qi Shuo... I'm so sorry... I'm really sorry..."

Qi Shuo didn't speak, just stood there quietly, letting her clutch his clothes and silently shed tears. The evening breeze stirred his clothes and her disheveled hair.

Between the two lies a vast chasm created by a seven-month gap in time, and countless unsolved mysteries.

After a while, Ning Wan's crying gradually subsided, turning into suppressed sobs.

She loosened her grip on Qi Shuo's clothes, hastily wiping away the tears on her face with the back of her hand, forcing a smile that was even more painful than crying, her voice still thick with nasal tone:

"Brother Qi Shuo, that rice bowl place we talked about last time... I heard it's really good. We... we haven't tried it yet."

She raised her wet eyes and looked at him with a humble plea, "Let's go...let's go eat together, okay?"

Qi Shuo looked at her forced smile, at the unfathomable sadness and timidity in her eyes, and remained silent for a moment.

He recalled the girl who used to laugh heartlessly at him in the library and chatter away in the ramen shop, and then looked at Ning Wan in front of him, who seemed to have lost all her vitality. He felt a mix of emotions.

Finally, he sighed almost imperceptibly and nodded.

"good."

He put down the helmet he had just picked up, locked the electric scooter again, then looked at Ning Wan and said softly, "Let's go."

A faint light suddenly flashed in Ning Wan's dim eyes, and she nodded quickly.

The two walked side by side in silence down the street as the streetlights began to twinkle. The two people who used to be able to talk about anything and get along comfortably now seemed to be separated by an invisible, heavy wall.

Six months of separation and the unknown barriers between them had robbed them of the ability to talk easily. All they could hear were the whizzing cars, the faint noise in the distance, and a heavy silence that was clearly audible between them.

Qi Shuo took off his trench coat and draped it over her shoulders. The trench coat, which was a good fit for him, seemed a lot too long on Ning Wan.

"It's windy, so I'll wear something warm."

Qi Shuo stopped looking at her and continued to watch the shadows of the two people at his feet.

Ning Wan paused slightly, then forced a smile and whispered a barely audible "Thank you."

Then, silence once again lingered between the two.

The road to the unknown restaurant seemed exceptionally long.