“2018.01.06 Light Snow”
Wish you happiness, even at the cost of my unfulfilled wish.
—Excerpted from Tao Shuran’s Diary
She followed Liang Yuanjing slowly back.
She watched him roll up his sleeves, pull down the shutter door, insert the old key, twist it once, glance around, then skillfully stuff it into the gap behind the air conditioner bracket.
How do you write the word “crazy”?
Tao Shuran had long forgotten the answer to that.
Half-jokingly, Liang Yuanjing turned back and asked her, “Afraid?”
The streets at dawn were extremely quiet, and the shops on both sides of the road had long since closed their doors.
Tao Shuran hugged her arms and shook her head as she looked at him.
The girl’s brows and eyes were clean and gentle, her gaze toward him unguarded and clear.
Liang Yuanjing chuckled to himself, a bit helpless as he said, “Good thing I’m also at Qing University.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He just thought it was fortunate he was also at Qing University. Otherwise, this girl was so gullible; if she ran into something, she would go out in the middle of the night to clear her mind.
Zhongshan Mansion wasn’t far from West Kang Road—just cross the street.
Liang Yuanjing greeted the security guard at the gate, scanned his face, and pulled her inside.
It was Tao Shuran’s first time entering such a private villa district. The roads on both sides were lined with several lush podocarpus trees, looking exceptionally verdant.
She hesitated at the entrance.
In a small voice, she asked, “Is anyone home at your place?”
Liang Yuanjing chuckled lightly. “Do you hope someone is there, or no one?”
“Or maybe I should just go home.” The courage she had gathered was exhausted by then, and now she wanted to run.
Liang Yuanjing hugged his arms, standing lazily and improperly in front of her, drawing out his ending tone to tease her on purpose.
“Teasing me, eh, classmate Tao Shuran.”
Tao Shuran immediately shook her head again.
Liang Yuanjing asked her, “So, is anyone home at your place, or no one?”
She shook her head honestly.
Liang Yuanjing glanced down at the time. It was dawn; if he sent this girl back so late, it wouldn’t matter for him, but going back and forth might be seen by some neighbors.
Stirring up rumors wouldn’t be good for a girl.
He lifted his chin, took a step forward, and gestured for her to follow.
“A few friends are inside watching a movie. Want me to find a girl to keep you company? Fang Qingyi?”
Tao Shuran hadn’t expected guests at his place so late. She took a deep breath; not being the only guest eased that awkward feeling in her heart quite a bit.
So she said, “No need to trouble anyone.”
“I’ll do some homework and head home soon.”
Liang Yuanjing lay on the sofa, arms spread out supporting him, far from her. The light from the chandelier on the ceiling melted into his eyes like scattered gold fragments, yet without a trace of warmth.
He said lightly, “I guess Fang Qingyi wouldn’t think it was any trouble.”
He had seen through it too?
Tao Shuran’s face showed shock. She hadn’t expected his insight to be so sharp, seeing through the crush hidden beneath layers of emotions at a glance.
She couldn’t help but ask, “What about me?”
“What?”
Liang Yuanjing didn’t react at first, then understood the question she wanted to ask. His eyebrows rose slightly, his tone carrying a bit of surprise.
“Can’t guess. You hide it well.”
Tao Shuran couldn’t smile at all.
She wondered if she hid it too well, or if he simply didn’t care about her at all.
A wave of discomfort surged in her heart, mixing with the argument with her parents tonight, the overwhelming emotions making it hard to breathe.
She hadn’t been there long when urgent car horns sounded outside Zhongshan Mansion.
The person hadn’t arrived yet, but Zhao Zhengnian’s rough voice came first. As he reached the door, he glanced down and spotted a pair of pink-and-white canvas shoes in the entryway, and his voice cut off abruptly.
“Yo, girl’s shoes. A Jing, what are you up to?” Zhao Zhengnian walked in grinning. “Let me guess who—Fang Shiyue?”
Once he clearly saw the person on the sofa, Zhao Zhengnian shouted in disbelief.
“Tao Shuran?”
His face was full of incredulity. “Liang Yuanjing, even a rabbit won’t eat the grass near its burrow.”
Tao Shuran jumped at the sudden loud voice, her body instinctively tilting to one side.
Liang Yuanjing had already prepared himself, covering his ears with both hands. He shot over a somewhat speechless look, and once the voice died down, he casually steadied the nearly toppling Tao Shuran.
He turned on the TV absentmindedly, lifted his eyelids, and looked over with a hint of warning.
“Zhao Zhengnian, keep talking nonsense, and see if I don’t kick you out.”
“My bad, okay?”
Zhao Zhengnian shut up immediately and trotted over. “A Jing, I’ve been craving your latest game console for ages. Tonight, I gotta play till I’m satisfied.”
After saying that, he smacked his forehead. “Damn, forgot there’s still someone in the car.”
Just as he finished, Fang Qingyi stormed out of the car in a fury.
She wore a full set of fluffy pajamas, her hair half-wet and draped down, a sheet of hydrating face mask still on her face. She looked like she’d just been yanked out of bed.
Just as the young lady’s temper was about to flare, Zhao Zhengnian quickly tossed the hot potato away.
He said, “Liang Yuanjing told me to bring you over.”
Fang Qingyi glared furiously.
Liang Yuanjing spoke flatly, “Grandpa Fu is hospitalized. Tomorrow’s Sunday; we’re planning to visit him.”
“Oh.” Miss Fang immediately said obediently, “Then I’ll go with you all tomorrow morning.”
“Huh? Ranran, how come you’re here too?”
Tao Shuran, who had been playing invisible in the corner, was once again pushed into the center. She smiled a bit helplessly and briefly explained tonight’s ordeal.
“Mom and Dad were fighting, so I went out to clear my mind. Forgot my keys.”
“So that’s what happened. Ahem, I thought…” Zhao Zhengnian stopped halfway, very familiar as he treated Liang Yuanjing’s home like his own.
“Since that’s the case, Tao Meimei, just crash at A Jing’s for the night. No big deal. Back when my old man chewed me out, I often hid here.”
“He loves a crowd.”
Liang Yuanjing loved crowds?
Tao Shuran glanced gently at him. Amid the bright and brilliant lights, Liang Yuanjing’s brows and eyes were indifferent, forming their own isolated shadow, like an unmoved mountain that no worldly emotion could stir.
He was very lonely.
The kind of loneliness hidden beneath glamour and bustle, another secret emotion beneath his carefree dissipation—the other secret about Liang Yuanjing that she had discovered.
“Really?”
Fang Qingyi asked casually, “Do you usually live alone?”
“A Jing’s parents are abroad year-round. I ran into Aunt Li before—A Jing’s mom—and she even wanted me to convince A Jing to study abroad.”
“So envious. If only my parents were abroad too, no one to boss me around.”
“I think if my parents were often away, I’d miss them a lot.” Fang Qingyi mumbled, unconsciously asking, “Liang Yuanjing, do you want your parents to come back?”
She asked out of pure curiosity, without much thought.
But Tao Shuran immediately sensed the sensitivity of the question. Just as she was about to say something to defuse it, Liang Yuanjing unexpectedly spoke up.
His tone sounded quite flat, like stating a fact.
“I don’t need them.”
Perhaps because they had the morning off tomorrow, or maybe the relentless studying for months had been too oppressive.
The four of them tacitly avoided any mention of sleep.
Liang Yuanjing’s living room was very large, with the central control system adjusting the room temperature to the most comfortable level.
They played a game of quizzing each other on memorized texts; the loser drank a cup of beverage. Before long, Tao Shuran started feeling drowsy.
Later, she didn’t know who shouted, “It’s snowing!”
She jolted awake, turned her head, and the long hair draped over her shoulder swayed. At that moment, Tao Shuran realized she had unconsciously sat beside Liang Yuanjing.
And because of dozing off, her head was nearly drooping onto his shoulder.
Her heart leaped up abruptly, and she instinctively sought his figure.
Liang Yuanjing had already stood up, one hand clutching a can of cola. Because of the warmth, he wore only a deep black base layer shirt, its V-neck design revealing a section of deep, pale collarbone.
He walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, slightly turned his body, and just quietly watched.
Fuqing didn’t get much heavy snow. When it did, it was near the end of the year, mostly sleet. After a night’s sleep, the eaves would melt into water.
As a true Fuqing local, Fang Qingyi was beside herself with excitement and dragged Zhao Zhengnian out to have a snowball fight.
“It’s pitch black out, and not much snow has fallen yet.”
Though he grumbled, Zhao Zhengnian still indulged her as she pulled him out. Her icy fingers pressed against his nape, but his exhaled breath was hot.
He deliberately scooped a small snowball and stuffed it into Fang Qingyi’s pocket, listening to her fume and chase him from behind.
Tao Shuran coughed lightly and stood up. The slightly oversized sweater draped down, the cuffs nearly reaching her fingertips.
Her sleepiness was gone now.
She stood not far away, tilting her head up slightly to look at Liang Yuanjing. He was always like this, standing alone in the corner, gazing at the lively, joyful crowds.
He craved happiness too, didn’t he?
“Not needing doesn’t mean not wanting.”
She reached out her hand, as if cupping snowflakes in her palm. Her gentle brows and eyes brimmed with soft light, watery as she looked at him.
“Liang Yuanjing, it’s snowing. You’ll definitely be happy in the future.”
Liang Yuanjing coughed lightly, seemingly unaccustomed to her sudden closeness.
He took a small step back, his voice a bit hoarse with a metallic magnetism.
“Thanks.”
Liang Yuanjing said, “Wish you have your wish fulfilled and find happiness soon.”
Tao Shuran smiled and said no more.
He didn’t know that watching a snowfall with the person she liked was happiness.
“I have a friend—”
Liang Yuanjing paused, then continued, “who said almost the same thing to me.”
Had he seen that email?
Tao Shuran’s heart skipped a beat, half guilt and half joy enveloping her. She lowered her head, listening to the wind and snow raging outside the window.
Her heart hung high.
After a moment, with careful probing, she asked, “So, am I your friend now?”
In the distance, thin clouds revealed traces of the moon. Liang Yuanjing stood with one hand in his pocket beneath the grand scene where snow met moonlight.
He suddenly turned around, hooked the corner of his lips toward her, and said resolutely.
“Yeah.”