Chapter 136 Ren Xiyao's Suitcase Arrives...
Ren Xiyao's suitcase arrived very slowly.
She felt that trench coat looked familiar. In fact, she had been feeling strange gazes on her for the past two days.
The suitcase rolled out with a clatter, startling Ren Xiyao, who was staring thoughtfully at the retreating figure. Coming to her senses, she picked up the suitcase and walked towards the station without looking back.
Ren Xiyao squeezed in before the subway doors closed.
Through the glass, she finally recognized the person stopped on the platform as Kwon Ji-yong, dragging his wheeled carry-on suitcase. He opened his mouth and said something, his lips forming what sounded like "See you in Nishimura."
Ren Xiyao turned her head, but just as the train started moving, she saw him take out his phone and type rapidly in the reflection of the glass.
Her phone vibrated; she received his message on WeChat for the first time in seven years.
You have a commemorative badge from the Ice and Snow World hanging on your suitcase.
She didn't reply, but simply put her phone back in her pocket, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the key to her rented apartment. She inexplicably remembered it wasn't brass, but it was quite old. Her slightly upturned lips were reflected in the train window.
Ren Xiyao stopped in the corridor on the fifth floor.
A Starbucks paper bag was hanging on the doorknob of apartment 502 next door. Inside was a cold Americano with a crooked star drawn on it with a marker.
She stared at the star for two seconds, took out her keys, opened her front door, and slammed it shut.
Five minutes later, the doorbell rang.
"Coffee," Kwon Ji-yong's voice muffled through the door, "with a sugar syrup. I haven't been able to find hot lemonade around here yet."
Ren Xiyao narrowed her eyes slightly and opened the door.
“Your fridge is definitely empty.” He handed me the bag: “Make do with this for now.”
Ren Xiyao didn't answer: "How did you know I live in 501?"
“The landlady told me,” Kwon Ji-yong blinked. “She said there was a ‘pretty Asian girl’ living next door who seemed to have a bad temper.’”
Ren Xiyao finally took the bag: "Come in." There were no pleasantries, it was just a natural conversation, as if their tacit understanding and familiarity stemmed from not seeing each other for only a few days.
Upon entering, Kwon Ji-yong glanced around the room, noting that it hadn't been tidied up much. It wasn't large, but it was clean enough. Seeing the pile of things on the sofa, he chose to sit cross-legged on the carpet, watching Ren Xiyao crack an egg into her instant noodles.
"Chopsticks." She reached out her hand without looking up.
Ren Xiyao subconsciously grabbed his hand and examined it under the lamp: "You weren't this clumsy before."
“I wasn’t this nervous before.” Kwon Ji-yong let her pinch his fingertips: “In Seoul in 2014, at that barbecue restaurant…”
Ren Xiyao let go of him: "Eat your noodles."
A brass key, its surface oxidized and blackened, is tied with a faded red string.
Ren Xiyao's chopsticks stopped in mid-air.
“Actually, I took it with me to the military.” Kwon Ji-yong pushed the key with his fingertip: “I put it in a compartment in my backpack. When they asked me, I just said it was my house key.”
In August 2016, when everything was in turmoil and instability, Ren Xiyao had already hidden his birthday present: a key to his childhood home in the top cabinet of his apartment's kitchen. Underneath the key was a note: "Happy 28th birthday, may you have more freedom."
Kwon Ji-yong looked into her eyes: "I want to pursue you again."
Where to begin?
“Too old.” Ren Xiyao interrupted him: “I know someone who is 28 years old, which would be more suitable.”
Kwon Ji-yong laughed, and for a moment it seemed nothing had changed: "That one was exaggerating." He suddenly became serious: "Now this one really has autonomy. You really don't need to report to anyone when you're dating."
In that instant, it was as if the boomerang under the dazzling lights of the Bund had returned to their hands.
Ren Xiyao snorted and said, "Childish."
After pausing for two seconds, he continued stirring his instant noodles while looking down, adding, "I was too young back then."
Kwon Ji-yong suddenly grabbed her wrist: "And now?"
The lamplight cast dappled shadows on his eyelashes. From the moment they met until now, Ren Xiyao had noticed that he always wore the dark jade ring she had given him years ago. In fact, Lin Shan and Li Enjing had both mentioned, intentionally or unintentionally, that the ring was present nine times out of ten in every appearance GD had made over the years, whether in fan-taken photos or public events. At this moment, this silent declaration gave Ren Xiyao courage once more. She thought, it's time.
“Now…” She withdrew her hand and pulled a velvet box from the side pocket of her suitcase: “Long time no see.”
It was a slightly worn silver key, gleaming with a cold, silvery light.
“The apartment key,” Ren Xiyao pushed the key over, “for backup.”
Kwon Ji-yong was stunned.
"Forget it." She made a move to take it back.
"I want it!" He snatched the keys, the metal chain rattling. "Where will you hide it this time? The microwave?"
Ren Xiyao kicked him: "Go wash the dishes."
As they approached the kitchen, Kwon Ji-yong turned back and asked her, "Did you know I was coming if you prepared a velvet gift box?"
Ren Xiyao didn't answer, and Quan Zhilong didn't press the matter. Because what caught his eye before he turned around was the determination and stubbornness on her face.
It was only now that I realized they had all been the same for the past seven years...
Just as dawn broke, Ren Xiyao was awakened by a knock on the door.
She opened the door, and Kwon Ji-yong stood there holding two cups of coffee, his dark circles under his eyes looking like he'd been punched twice.
"Good morning," he said energetically. "I checked the map; it's a 12-minute walk from NYU to the Tisch School of the Arts."
Ren Xiyao took the coffee: "So?"
“So…” Kwon Ji-yong pulled a brown paper bag out from behind his back: “I bought bagels to eat on the way.”
The paper bag is printed with "Russ & Daughters," which is said to be the hardest bakery to buy from in all of New York.
Ren Xiyao stared at the coffee stain on his shirt cuff: "What time did you get up?"
“Four o’clock.” He proudly waved his phone: “My landlady taught me how to read the subway map.”
Morning light filtered through the iron bars of the fire escape, casting dappled shadows on his face. Ren Xiyao suddenly reached out and brushed the morning dew from his hair.
"Fool." She turned and went back into the house. "Wait for me to change my clothes."
Kwon Ji-yong leaned against the doorframe and smiled, his fingertips tracing the new key. The brass and silver keys clinked softly in his pocket.
As Ren Xiyao stuffed her thesis into her canvas bag, a petal fell onto her shoulder.
"Does this count as snow in New York?" Kwon Ji-yong suddenly appeared from behind her, picking up a petal with his fingertips and pressing it to her nose.
She didn't look away, but simply looked up at him: "Are you done with your class?"
"What did you say?"
Kwon Ji-yong noticed the ring on her left hand. His eyes were fixed on it. He was overjoyed, but what he said was, "I need to ask my mirror first."
Ren Xiyao ignored his gaze and his almost arrogant attitude. She slammed her notebook shut: "Terrible plot."
Kwon Ji-yong sat beside her, unconsciously twirling the dark jade ring on his left hand. He truly felt they were a match made in heaven. To divert attention from his ever-widening smile, he changed the subject: "Why did you choose the key back then?"
Ren Xiyao gazed at Manhattan as it gradually darkened into the night: "Didn't I say that was the key to my family's old house? And what's special is that I wore it around my neck until I was ten years old?"
"Like a talisman?"
"I'm just afraid of losing it."
A soft chuckle came from beside him. It was indeed Ren Xiyao; she hadn't changed at all.
Ren Xiyao's lips curled up slightly. Then she spoke calmly, "Actually, now that I think about it, it's more like an anchor point." She turned her head, "I was afraid that one day I would slide too fast and not be able to find my way back."
“Now we have two anchor points.” He slipped the keychain onto his wrist, which strangely resembled the red thread of fate: “Harbin and New York.”
The night wind dispersed the clouds, and the Milky Way stretched across the sky. This unconsciously reminded Ren Xiyao of 2015 in western Sichuan, when Quan Zhilong looked up at the starry sky and asked her, "You can find all the skies. Where is Polaris?"
She grabbed his hand and used the Big Dipper to locate him: "Follow the handle of the spoon, the brightest one."
He's found it now, and he'll never lose it again.
The sky grew darker. The lights were still off. Ren Xiyao held his hand in the dim light, the blue diamond and black jade clinking together softly.
And so they walked hand in hand through the streets of New York. No one watched, no cameras captured them; it was just an ordinary, everyday scene.
As the morning light awakens the earth, yesterday's ink has dried, and new stories quietly unfold on red paper in the whispers of the wind and dew.
When Ren Xiyao got off at NYU station, Kwon Ji-yong was still sitting in his seat.
"You missed your stop." She knocked on the train window.
He smiled at her through the glass and mouthed, "See you tonight."
As the train started moving, Ren Xiyao took out her phone and sent him her first message since the breakup:
"I'll take your key."
Vibration resumes after three seconds:
"Next time I'll hide the microwave in advance as a surprise for you?"
Now, that man is riding the subway away, fading into the distance, and Zhang Yang is even more peaceful and warm.
As Ren Xiyao walked towards the teaching building in the morning light, a street musician played a saxophone version of "La Vie En Rose." She turned around and saw pigeons fluttering up at the end of the long-vanished subway tracks.
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