chapter 2
We were alone in the private dining room.
Xie Wang removed his mask, revealing the face countless magazines had voted the male celebrity women most wanted to kiss.
I stared at the menu while my heart pounded all over the place.
“Aren’t you going to order?” Laughter warmed his voice. “Can you fill up just by looking at me?”
My face flamed.
“How are you still so—”
“So what?”
After a long silence, I managed, “So shameless.”
He laughed and tapped the menu twice.
“Fish-fragrant shredded pork, sweet-and-sour tenderloin, stir-fried vegetables, and—”
He looked at me.
“The corn and pork-rib soup you used to love. This place makes it well.”
I stared. After all these years, he still remembered.
Silence settled over the room for a few seconds.
Xie Wang set down his teacup. “If it hadn’t been for you, I might never have made it this far.”
I looked at him, confused.
He spoke in that same lazy tone. “You lent me fifty yuan on graduation day.”
The memory surged back.
On the day we graduated, Xie Wang had received a last-minute audition notice. His mother opposed his acting career and had frozen his bank card.
He cornered me by the back door of the classroom and leaned down to meet my eyes. “Desk mate, lend me fifty yuan for a cab, will you? My card’s been cut off.”
Without hesitating, I dug four ten-yuan notes and two five-yuan notes out of a hidden compartment in my backpack. The bills were crumpled from being clutched too often.
He went still when he saw the loose change.
“This isn’t—”
“No. I have more.”
I cut him off and stuffed the money into his hand.
He did not ask again. He slung his bag over his shoulder, pinched the notes between two fingers, and waved them at me with a reckless grin.
“All right. I’ve got a train to catch. Next time we meet, I’ll pay you back five million.”
That night, I washed dishes at a restaurant until my wrists turned white from soaking in water.
Yet all I could think about was his smile before he left.
Four hours of washing dishes earned me forty yuan.
“So I’m here to keep my promise.” Xie Wang smiled and tapped his phone a few times.
My phone chimed.
Bank deposit received: 5,000,000.00 yuan.
“No! I can’t take this!”
My voice cracked as I shoved the phone toward him.
He glanced at it, then slowly pushed it back.
“Whether you accept it is your business. Sending it is mine.”
“But it’s too much—”
He had me so thoroughly cornered that I could not find a reply.
Before he could say anything else, his phone vibrated. He looked at the screen, a faint crease appearing between his brows.
“Sorry. It’s the production team. I need to take this.”
He left the room, closing the door behind him.
I sat alone on the sofa and stared at all those zeros.
Five million. Sent just like that.
A sudden cramp twisted through my abdomen. I grunted and doubled over.
With trembling hands, I pulled a pill bottle from my bag, shook out two tablets, and swallowed them with orange juice.
One lodged in my throat. Bitterness spread across my tongue, and I slumped against the sofa for a long while before it passed.
Another message from Xie Wang lit up my screen.
[Can I come see you again when I’m free?]
I did not reply.
I put my phone away and forced myself to stand. At the counter, I learned Xie Wang had already paid.
Outside the restaurant, another wave of nausea rolled through me. I crouched by the curb and retched until passersby began to stare.
I wiped my mouth and started toward the subway.
My phone vibrated again.
[Tell me when you get home.]
I typed, [I’m home.]
Then deleted it.
In the end, all I sent was [Okay.]
I could not sleep that night.
Eventually, I sat up, opened my laptop, and signed in to the writing platform.
More than a dozen private messages waited for me. The newest came from Moon Over Chang’an, a reader who had followed me for five years.
[Author, is this story about to end? Is it really going to be a bad ending? Why? QAQ]
I gave a faint, bitter smile and replied.
[They’re too far apart. They don’t belong together.]
The response came at once.
[But they’re both trying to move closer to each other. They’re becoming better people together. And in each other’s eyes, the other one is the best. Doesn’t that matter?]
I stared at those words for a long time.
[There are still a few twists left. No spoilers yet~]
A smiling face appeared.
[Please don’t break my heart! What’s wrong with a happy ending? By the way, I’m visiting a Buddhist temple soon. Can I send you a little surprise?]
A Buddhist temple.
My fingers stilled over the keyboard.
There was supposed to be a famous temple near the film studio outside Lin City, where Xie Wang was working.
I opened Moon Over Chang’an’s profile. The account had been registered five years ago—the very year Xie Wang debuted.
I stared at the page, then closed it.
I went back to writing.
When I finished, I read everything once and deleted it all.
By dawn, I had not kept a single word.