The rain was still falling. Chen Mo's fingertips traced the blurred tear stains on his diary, and he suddenly felt his eyes welling up. He remembered that autumn three years ago when Ah Yu suddenly called him and said she was going to Shenzhen. "I want to try design," she said, her voice tinged with hesitation and anticipation. "The job at school is too stable; I'm afraid I'll regret it."
He was on a business trip out of town at the time. Facing the noisy conference room, he only said, "If you've thought it through, then do it. I support you." After hanging up, he felt empty inside, as if a piece of him had been ripped out. He actually wanted to say, "Don't go, stay," but in the end, he didn't say it. He knew Ah Yu's personality; she seemed gentle, but deep down she had a strong will, and once she made up her mind, she wouldn't easily change it.
When he finished work and rushed home, Ah Yu was already gone. Her rented apartment was mostly empty, with a few posters still hanging on the wall, posters for her favorite band's performances. On the table was this leather notebook and a jar of his favorite preserved plum candy, with a note at the bottom saying that she would come back and treat him to a seafood feast when she made something of herself.
He sent her countless WeChat messages and called her again and again, but all his messages went unanswered. Her WeChat Moments stopped updating on the day she left; the background was a train station sign, and she was wearing a yellow hoodie, smiling to reveal her two little tiger teeth. He often stared at that photo, imagining her life in Shenzhen. Was she still secretly sketching little patterns on her design drafts when she worked late into the night, just like before? Did she sometimes think of the mung bean popsicles under the old locust tree, or the fried skewers outside the school gate?
Chen Mo got up and walked to the window. Through the rain, he could vaguely see the shadow of the old locust tree across the street. Last spring, he had picked up a new leaf under the tree, intending to take a picture to show Ah Yu, but after hesitating for a long time, he ultimately didn't send it. He always felt that some waiting was like the rings of the old locust tree, hidden in unseen places, yet growing circle by circle in his heart.
He remembered last winter when he went to the elementary school where Ah Yu used to work on some business. Passing by the classroom she had taught, he heard children laughing inside. He stood outside the window for a long time, watching the sunlight stream through the glass onto the desks, just like the scene she had described in her letters years ago. When school let out, he saw a little girl with a ponytail skipping and hopping out of the school gate, holding a string of candied hawthorns, her smile revealing two small tiger teeth. At that moment, he suddenly thought of Ah Yu, and of those times that could never be returned to.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text message from an unknown number: "Amo, I'm back. Waiting for you at the usual place."
Chen Mo's fingers tightened abruptly, almost causing his phone to slip from his grasp. He grabbed his umbrella and rushed outside, the raindrops hitting his face with a familiar coolness. The motion-activated lights in the hallway flickered on and off behind him, like a hurried farewell.
The streetlights on the corner came on, casting a dim yellow glow. Under the old locust tree stood a girl in a yellow sweatshirt, tiptoeing and peering into the intersection, the ends of her braids swaying gently with her movements. She was a little thinner than three years ago, and there was a hint of weariness in the corners of her eyes, but she was still the same girl he knew.
He suddenly remembered that when he was fifteen, Ah Yu stood under the tree waiting for him in the same way, holding two mung bean popsicles in her hand. When she saw him running over, she smiled and shouted, "Ah Mo, the popsicles are melting!"
The rain was still falling, but Chen Mo felt something inside him warming up little by little. He quickened his pace and ran over, calling out from afar, "Ah Yu!"
The girl under the tree turned around, her eyes curving into crescents, just like that summer many years ago when she smiled at him, holding an ice pop. "Chen Mo," her voice trembled slightly, yet remained clear, "I'm back."
He ran to her, panting, looking at her rain-soaked bangs, wanting to say something, but found his throat felt blocked. A thousand words welled up at his lips, but in the end, they only turned into one sentence: "Welcome home."
Ah Yu smiled, but her eyes were red. She took a small box out of her bag and handed it to him: "This is for you, the first design sample I made in Shenzhen."
Chen Mo opened the box, inside was a small wooden carving of two stick figures holding hands, one with a ponytail and the other missing a front tooth, just like the two stick figures in the diary. A line of small characters was engraved on the base of the carving: "Ah Yu and Ah Mo will be best friends for life."
The rain continued to fall, and the leaves of the old locust tree swayed gently in the rain, as if applauding this belated reunion. Chen Mo gripped the small ornament in his hand, suddenly feeling that some waits were worthwhile, just as a clear sky would always appear after this long rainy season. He took Ah Yu's hand, turned, and walked towards home. The space under the umbrella was small, but it was enough to hold their past and their future.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
