chapter 3

“I sometimes play tennis on weekends when I’m under a lot of pressure. Do you… want to join me tomorrow?” he suddenly offered as an explanation.

I paused for a moment, then shook my head.

“No, I have plans. I’m going on… a blind date.”

This wasn’t a lie. Although my mother had been extremely sensitive to any signs of me dating back then, she was now incredibly anxious for me to find someone.

I spent almost every weekend on blind dates.

“A blind date, huh…” he said softly.

“What kind of person are you looking for?” he asked again.

Someone like you.

I really wanted to say it as a joke, but after thinking about it, I couldn’t bring myself to.

The overwhelming urge to confess that had surged before Lin Shanshan’s call seemed to have died down the moment I heard her voice.

Reason ultimately triumphed over everything.

“Just someone to live a quiet life with,” I said after a moment’s thought. “I don’t have any special requirements.”

When we reached the entrance of his apartment complex, I pulled over, preparing to say goodbye.

“I tried to add you on WeChat, but I couldn’t find you through the group,” he said suddenly.

“After I went to the States, I even sent you a postcard. Did you ever receive it?” he asked.

I stared at him blankly and shook my head.

I had never received any postcard.

He smiled and didn’t say anything more. He simply scanned my WeChat QR code and got out of the car.

“Thanks for today. Drive safe on your way home,” he leaned down and waved his phone. “Let me know when you get back.”

After driving all the way home, I sat in the living room in a daze for a while before finally dialing my mother’s number.

My mother must have already been asleep. She asked groggily, “What did you say? A postcard?”

She thought about it for a long time. “Oh, right. I think there was a postcard for you during the first semester of your senior year.”

“It was from America. I saw the name; I think it was that boy, Lu… something…”

“Where’s the postcard?”

“Oh, you were about to take your first mock exam then. I was afraid it would distract you from your studies, so I threw it away.”

“Mom!” My voice carried an urgency I hadn’t even noticed. “Did it say anything on the postcard?”

“What did it say?” My mother let out a yawn. “I forgot. It seemed to be a passage in English, and I didn’t understand it anyway, so I just tossed it…”