"Maybe." Zhong Hua looked away and saw a flower shop across the street with lilies of the valley in the window, as white as snow.
Four
When Zhong Hua encountered Lin Wanqing in the hospital corridor, she was staring blankly at her medical examination report. She was wearing a white coat, her hair was neatly tied up in a bun, and the nameplate on her chest was shining.
"Director Zhong?" She was clearly surprised as well, almost dropping the medical record folder in her hand. "What are you doing here?"
"Routine medical checkup." He folded the report, noticing a speck of iodine on her cuff. "You work here?"
“Yes, I’ve been here for half a year.” Lin Wanqing smiled, with faint fine lines at the corners of her eyes. “I’m in charge of public welfare medical projects, similar to what I did in Paris before.”
They sat on a bench in the rest area, and silence settled over them like a gentle stream. Zhong Hua counted the buttons on her white lab coat; the first one was a little loose, just like the white shirt she wore in college.
“Ah Yu said yesterday that you should find someone to take care of you,” Lin Wanqing suddenly spoke, sunlight streaming through the window and falling on her eyelashes. “He always felt that back then…”
“It has nothing to do with you,” Zhong Hua interrupted her, his voice a little hoarse. “It was my own choice.”
That year, he received a spot to study in Paris, and all the paperwork was completed, but he tore up his plane ticket the night before departure. Ah Yu stood outside his dormitory building in the rain all night, banging on his door and shouting, "What are you so afraid of?" He didn't dare open the door. Later, he heard that Ah Yu and Lin Wanqing went to Paris together, rented an apartment with an attic on the banks of the Seine, and filled the balcony with sunflowers.
“Su Rui is a good girl.” Lin Wanqing looked at him with gentle eyes. “I met her during our last project collaboration. She’s very sincere.”
Zhong Hua looked up abruptly, but she had already stood up and was tidying up the medical records: "People can't always live in 'what ifs,' Zhong Hua. Look at the people in this hospital, they're never praying to go back to the past, but to seize the present."
As the elevator doors closed, he saw Lin Wanqing's name tag. The photo showed her smiling brightly, and it slowly overlapped with the image of the girl in his memory who had cried at a charity event.
five
Su Rui gave him a photo frame on his birthday. It had a walnut wood frame and a movie ticket stub embedded inside, a replica of the old movie they had been talking about.
“I found this at the flea market last week.” She placed the framed photo on his desk. “The owner said it’s a record from a movie theater ten years ago.”
As Zhong Hua touched the faded writing on the ticket stub, he suddenly remembered the day he graduated from university. Ah Yu had stuffed three theater tickets into his hand, saying, "Wan Qing specially grabbed these to celebrate our liberation." However, he was called away by his advisor to revise his thesis, and when he arrived at the theater, he only saw Ah Yu draping her coat over Lin Wan Qing's shoulders in the crowd as the show ended.
"What's wrong?" Su Rui handed over a piece of cake. "Don't you like it?"
"No." He took a bite of the cake; the cream was a little sweet. "Thank you."
That evening, Su Rui sent him a message asking if he wanted to go to the wetland park on the outskirts of the city the next day. "I heard that the fireflies there have come out, like stars falling into the grass."
Zhong Hua stared at the screen when his phone suddenly vibrated. It was a text message from an unknown number containing only a photo. The Eiffel Tower was lit up in the night, and two blurry figures stood hand in hand beneath it. The sender was listed as "Ah Yu," followed by a smiley face emoji.
He jumped up, knocking over the chair. The rain outside started again, pattering against the glass like countless fingers scratching. At the very bottom of the drawer, the ginkgo leaf bookmark lay quietly, its edges already yellowed.
six
Zhong Hua ultimately didn't go to the wetland park. He drove to his alma mater at three in the morning. The security guard recognized him and said with a smile, "Director Zhong is here to reminisce again."
The camphor trees below the dormitory building were taller, their shadows swaying in the moonlight, like someone beckoning. He sat on the steps where Ah Yu used to get soaked in the rain, took out his phone, and scrolled to Su Rui's WeChat Moments. The latest post was from half an hour ago, a photo of swarms of fireflies with the caption, "The starry sky is beautiful even when you're alone."
He opened the chat window, typed "Sorry," then deleted it and replaced it with "I'll treat you to a movie next time." The moment he pressed send, his eyes suddenly felt a little hot.
My phone vibrated in my palm. It was a message from Lin Wanqing: "Ah Yu said he found a great Chinese restaurant in Paris. He'll treat you to hot pot when you come." It was followed by a location: right on the banks of the Seine.
Zhong Hua looked up at the night sky. The moon was half-hidden by clouds, like an uneaten mooncake. He remembered many years ago, when three boys lay on the playground looking at the stars. Ah Yu said, "We'll live together in the future, and put a big sofa in the living room. Whoever is heartbroken can curl up on it and cry." Lin Wanqing laughed and punched him, calling him a "jinx." He didn't say anything, but he secretly memorized that scene.
A breeze rustled through the camphor trees, carrying the aroma of oden from a convenience store in the distance. Zhong Hua slowly stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and noticed his phone screen was still lit up. A message from Su Rui popped up: "Okay, I'll choose the movie."
He put his phone in his pocket and walked towards the school gate. The streetlights cast his shadow long, like a road that had finally stretched out. Perhaps some regrets can never be filled, but at least at this moment, the wind was warm, there were lights ahead, and he knew which way to go.
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