Until the steaming, fragrant vegetarian noodles arrived. Only then did she settle down properly and hand him chopsticks. “Try it quick—see if the noodles I ordered are good.”
Fang nodded with a smile.
“I remember you saying you’d be around here for about a week, right?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“When do you leave?”
Li Xia did the math. “It’s Monday today—flight on Sunday.”
“Then it looks like I have a chance to make up for six more meals.”
He said it so casually that Li Xia paused mid-bite, chuckling. “Who said anything about eating with you every day?”
“I did.”
“Well, that depends on whether I feel like it.”
“You don’t want to?”
His eyes held stubborn expectation and sincerity, giving the illusion that he’d seize every chance to see her. But that wasn’t true—he’d known she was in Nanlin early on and hadn’t pushed to meet. Li Xia didn’t quite get it. She smiled faintly, picking at the mushrooms in her bowl, mumbling evasively, “Depends on my mood.”
She thought it might turn awkward, but Fang just said, “Okay.”
The noodles were delicious, the broth rich and savory—Li Xia ate contentedly. Near the end, Fang ordered a pot of warm water, took her cup, filled it, and slid it back. Without looking up, in her peripheral vision, she saw only a pair of beautiful hands—clean fingertips, defined veins—entering and leaving her sight.
No wonder she fell for him at first sight.
Li Xia thought to herself, even his hands matched her aesthetic perfectly.
Feeling playful, she looked up and said, “Your hands are nice-looking too, Teacher Fang.”
Her tone was flirty, but Fang was rising to grab something. He reached out and lightly knocked her forehead. “Talk properly.”
Li Xia dodged back, blinking rapidly with a cheeky grin. “I am talking properly.”
“It’s a fact.”
He’d grabbed tissues and mint candies, placing them neatly in front of her before sitting back down. He looked straight at her. “I thought maybe after meeting your online friend, you’d be a little disappointed.”
“Nope.”
“Really?”
“Have I stopped smiling?” Li Xia said.
Li Xia found it hard to put into words the keen insight in his eyes when they weren’t crinkling with laughter. She took a sip of water and popped a mint candy into her mouth, only to notice that F was still gazing at her, as if he could peer right through her every thought.
“So, Teacher Lizi… are you at least somewhat satisfied with me?” he asked directly.
Perhaps growing accustomed to his straightforwardness, Li Xia dropped the pretense. “You want the honest truth?”
F nodded. “Yeah. If you’re not upfront, I’m afraid you’ll secretly dock points from me. Then how am I supposed to treat you to six meals?”
Li Xia let out a soft chuckle.
People always fell into certain patterns when interacting, and in that moment, Li Xia realized hers with F was one of brutal honesty—online and in person alike.
Sincerity required no masks, no second-guessing. It wasted no time.
She was undeniably fortunate. F was clearly on the same wavelength, even giving her the courage to reciprocate with her own honesty.
And so Li Xia spoke slowly. “I’ve actually been a bit puzzled. You knew I was in Nanlin as of Friday, but you only showed up today without any prior notice.” She paused, her gaze lingering on his eyes across the table. “I don’t quite get it.”
She didn’t quite get whether he truly wanted to see her.
Did he feel the same anticipation about meeting as she did?
Today had already upended her original plans; she wasn’t even wearing her nicest outfit. Was his visit just a casual drop-in squeezed between other obligations?
But the moment the words left her lips, Li Xia realized that raw honesty laid one’s vulnerabilities bare.
“You’re thinking I didn’t come to see you right away.”
F phrased it like a question, but it neatly captured her unspoken concern.
Li Xia sipped her tea and fell silent.
“We finished our call on Friday pretty late, and you had an early start the next morning. Saturday night, you had that dinner with friends. As for Sunday,” he paused for a beat, “I did come to see you, but you didn’t notice me.”
Li Xia’s eyes flew wide open, her mouth agape in shock.
He had come to see her?
“That’s not my fault. You said you had important work and needed to memorize your script, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”
With that, F scratched his head instead, looking somewhat helpless. “I kept feeling like I couldn’t pick the right moment to show up. I really wanted to join you on your trip, but I had a meeting with a collaborator scheduled for this morning, so I couldn’t promise anything ahead of time. That’s why…”
He went on explaining at length, each word like a tuft of soft cotton stuffing her heart until it felt full and secure.
It was still raining outside, but her impulsiveness and worries seemed to have been dried out by the sun.
“Oh—”
Li Xia picked up a piece of pastry and took a bite, the sweetness seeping straight to her core.
She couldn’t help her curiosity. “Where did you spot me yesterday?”
F said he’d tell her later.
He sighed again. “Working overtime tonight too. So busy, Editor Li.”
Li Xia lowered her gaze with a smile. “If you didn’t know where I was, no matter how busy you got, you’d always make time to see me.”
F grinned. “A little time wouldn’t be enough, would it?”
Li Xia’s eyes curved into crescents, dimples forming faintly as her amusement bubbled over. “So greedy.”
F arched a brow lightly, neither confirming nor denying it.
“What about you?” he asked suddenly.
“What?”
“Have you never thought about us meeting up?”
His question was so direct that if there were a little bell inside Li Xia, F might have heard it jingling from her quickened heartbeat.
Yet she loved that directness.
So she answered, “I have.”
“But I couldn’t very well ask you out the moment you got back to the country.”
F smiled. “What’s wrong with that?”
Li Xia’s face stayed cool and composed. “Don’t you know? I’m a shy, reserved kind of girl.”
“Alright, stop right there.”
“Hahaha…”
…
By the time they headed down the mountain, the rain had eased up a bit. With her daily step count hitting twenty thousand, Li Xia’s legs felt wobbly on the stairs. She stopped and started frequently, moving slowly. F shifted to her other side, lifting his forearm slightly in invitation. “Here, hold onto me like this.”
“That wouldn’t be appropriate.”
After hesitating for a couple of minutes, Li Xia placed her hand on his forearm anyway. Through the layer of his shirt fabric, her fingertips twitched, realizing she couldn’t even wrap her hand fully around it. Whenever she pushed down for support, F would brace upward with that arm, and she’d feel the flex and strain of his muscles.
She didn’t let go until they reached the bottom.
That section of his shirt was thoroughly wrinkled from her grip.
They took the tourist bus to the parking lot at the base of the mountain; it was nearly six o’clock by then. Neither had much appetite for dinner. Li Xia said she needed to head back to her hotel, so F offered to drive her. He had a sleek black coupe, two doors. Li Xia remarked that it was a nice car. F didn’t respond, just opened the passenger door for her.
Glancing at it again as she got in, something about it struck her as familiar.
“Yesterday…”
“Yeah.”
“That was really you at the convenience store?”
“Yeah.”
No matter how stunned Li Xia’s expression or tone, F just smiled.
“Why didn’t you get out?” she asked urgently, twisting in her seat to face him fully.
“I wanted to see you. I’d finally pinpointed your location and rushed out in a hurry—threw on whatever, hair all messy.” He glanced her way. “Then I thought showing up like that might not be great, especially since you were busy anyway.”
Li Xia covered her mouth, laughing.
She deliberately eyed him up and down. “Well, you look pretty good today, that’s for sure.”
Pinkish sunset light bathed the car the whole drive, enveloping Li Xia, her heart, her cheeks.
“Do you really have to go back to the hotel right now?”
As they neared it, F asked again.
Li Xia drew out her words playfully. “Teacher Fang, you’ve asked me that twice already.”
“Have I?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe I haven’t heard the answer I want yet.”
Li Xia smiled and leaned her face toward the window. The car wasn’t going fast, and a cool breeze rushed in through the half-open window—refreshing. So refreshing that she wished the road would stretch on a little longer, letting her savor it more.
“I’ve got a book event tomorrow. I’m giving a talk—it’s important.”
She said it for F’s benefit, and her own. Nights like this, with him beside her, made it all too easy to get lost in the moment. But tomorrow’s event was on behalf of the publishing house; she couldn’t drop the ball. She still needed to run through her script a few more times. This tender trap—she’d have to pull herself out.
The car fell quiet, save for F’s soft “Mm.” “Can I come to your event tomorrow?”
Li Xia whipped her head around to look at him. “You want to?”
“Is that okay?”
Li Xia pressed her lips together, a touch of nervousness rising unbidden. “Sure. There’s a book giveaway segment, actually.”
“Good.”
No matter how leisurely F drove, the coupe crawled along like a bicycle, but the hotel loomed ahead all too soon.
The car pulled to a stop, but Li Xia didn’t hurry to get out.
Outside, the rain had stopped earlier, the sunset faded, and the sky at the horizon took on a hazy Klein blue. Sitting there in the car, she reflected on the entire day and glanced at the man beside her. In the dim interior, F’s profile and features stood out in sharp, striking relief. Perhaps her stare was too obvious; after killing the engine, F turned to her.
“Why do you keep looking at me?”
Li Xia’s eyes darted away. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
Without meeting his gaze, Li Xia murmured, “It’s just… it doesn’t feel quite real.”
His sudden appearance, him right there beside her now, the deepening twilight, the rising moon—it all felt unreal. Just one extra person, and yet it was like stepping into a whole new world. One that stirred her because of him, one she was reluctant to leave because of him.
In the quiet car, the air thickened, and Li Xia felt herself warming up. Fortunately, she got out.
F followed behind her, seeing her all the way to the hotel entrance. After a few steps, Li Xia turned and said it wasn’t necessary.
But his stride didn’t falter.
Until they stood face-to-face.
Behind him stretched the vast night sky, and he stood straight as a little poplar tree. “Since it doesn’t feel real to you, how about we make it real starting right now?”
Li Xia looked up, puzzled, into his deep, earnest eyes.
Then she saw F extend his hand toward her—
“Fang Zeqing.”
Li Xia blinked for a second, then broke into a smile.
Without hesitation, she grasped his hand, her fingertips brushing his warm palm.
F gripped back promptly, enveloping her hand in his.
In this summer night as fervent as her name, she tilted her head up, her voice clear and bright—
“Li Xia.”