The summer after Shao Xue graduated from high school, she gained eight pounds. After receiving her university acceptance letter, her days were spent eating, sleeping, and occasionally meeting up with her high school friends for gatherings—where she ate even better than at home.
Zheng Su Nian, in contrast, was even busier in college than in high school. In his second year, he joined a studio, and in the second semester alone, he had to draw a hundred detailed bird illustrations, to the point that seeing feathers made him dizzy. His holiday assignment was to complete fifty album leaves and twenty full-sized paintings, which he barely finished before Shao Xue’s school year began.
On the first day of school, Yu Dong Ge packed Shao Xue’s luggage one more time. The 26-inch suitcase stood upright, reaching Shao Xue’s waist. She squatted at the doorway, groaning, “It’s only twenty bus stops. Are you sending me to the North Pole?”
“You’ve never lived in a dorm,” Yu Dong Ge said, stuffing a few rolls of toilet paper into Shao Xue’s backpack. “Given how often you lose things, I have to pack extras of everything.”
Downstairs, a car honked a few times. Shao Xue darted to the balcony and saw Zheng Su Nian leaning out of the window, looking up at her. “Ready?”
“Almost, almost!” She tossed the phone charger into her backpack, grabbed her suitcase, and headed out the door. Zheng Su Nian was waiting on the second floor, and seeing her struggle, he reached out to take the suitcase from her.
"Su Nian," Yu Dong Ge called out, peeking halfway out the door in her pajamas, hesitant to step outside. "Aren't you coming in for some water? Thanks for picking her up."
"No problem," Zheng Su Nian replied, but by the time his voice reached her, he was already gone. Yu Dong Ge hurried to the balcony, just in time to hear the "thud" of the trunk closing.
"Drive slow!" she called out worriedly. Shao Xue stuck half her body out of the window, energetically waving goodbye. "Mom, I'm leaving!"
Yu Dong Ge sighed, torn between laughter and tears. "Don't stick your head out! If things don't go well, just come home. We're close by, after all."
Zheng Su Nian started the car, reached out, and pulled Shao Xue back inside.
A few years ago, Zheng Jin bought a car, but Zheng Su Nian always felt awkward borrowing Pei Shu's. This summer, he finally learned how to drive himself. On the day school started, both Yu Dong Ge and Shao Hua had to work, and not wanting Shao Xue to struggle with her luggage, Zheng eagerly volunteered to drive her. Navigating through the maze-like new community, Zheng, still a novice driver, kept a calm front despite his inexperience.
Shao Xue, unconcerned, paid no attention to his awkward shifting and braking. Instead, she focused on figuring out the car’s audio system. Within five minutes, she managed to get a song playing.
The car stopped and started, and sweat began to form on Zheng's palms. Finally, they reached the Foreign Language University, but the cars dropping off new students had backed up for three blocks. After finding a parking spot, he turned off the engine and got out to help Shao Xue with her luggage.
Since Zheng was a student at the Fine Arts Academy, he was unfazed by the scene of a university filled with girls. Still, he couldn't help but notice that the girls studying languages had a distinctly different vibe from the ones in art school—enough for even someone like him, who rarely looked at girls, to recognize the difference.
Once inside the gates, bright red banners welcomed the students, and the seniors helping out were full of youthful energy. Shao Xue led Zheng through the crowd, and after a few twists and turns, they found the small table for the Italian Language and Culture Department.
The girl ahead of them had just finished registering. As the senior behind the table looked up, Shao Xue’s heart skipped a beat. Just one year of studying here had transformed this senior—perfect red lips, delicate eyebrows, makeup flawlessly applied, with "future elite" practically written on her face.
Compared to her, Shao Xue felt like a schoolgirl.
After filling out the paperwork, another senior came to lead Shao Xue to the dorm for further registration. There were very few people in the Italian department, leaving the sophisticated senior and Zheng Su Nian standing awkwardly with the luggage.
"You're not here to register, right?" the senior asked.
Zheng, ever honest, replied, "No."
"You're here to drop off that freshman?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Are you her brother?"
"No."
The senior gave him a skeptical look. "Then are you her boyf—"
"No, no!" Zheng quickly denied, realizing where the question was going. "Not that either."
The senior nodded, but still wasn’t convinced. "High school classmates? You don't seem like a freshman yourself."
Zheng’s temples throbbed as he stood there, speechless.
What exactly was he to her?
A friend? That seemed too shallow.
Family? They weren’t related by blood.
As for being lovers—that thought had never even crossed his mind.
Rubbing his temples, completely flustered, he finally said, "We... we just know each other."
Well, there it was—eighteen years of friendship reduced to "just know each other."
When Shao Xue returned after finishing her dorm registration, she saw the awkward expression on Zheng Su Nian’s face. She patted the suitcase and said energetically, "All done! I'm on the third floor. Let’s move my things up."
After taking a few steps, she turned back, unable to resist adding, "By the way, Senior, you're really beautiful."
That hit the senior's weak spot. The "future elite" persona melted away, and she smiled warmly. "I'm Qin Simu, a second-year in the Italian department. If you ever need anything, feel free to come find me."
Zheng, lost in a moment of confusion, didn’t have the energy to comment on the peculiar social dynamics between the two women. The confusion persisted as they made their way back to the car. When Zheng started the engine, there was a jarring screech.
Great. The car had scraped against the wall, peeling off some paint.
Shao Xue, still excited about her new school life, showed no sign of slowing down. She joined a bunch of clubs and even signed up for the External Relations Department, where Qin Simu was the head. Whenever she called Zheng, it was all “Senior Simu this” and “Senior Simu that,” driving him crazy.
He was genuinely afraid of that girl. Just a few words from her had left him unsettled for over a month.
As if dealing with external issues wasn’t enough, problems cropped up at home too. On the second day of National Day, Zheng woke up early with one nagging thought:
He had been tricked into coming here!
Pei Shu had taken off too fast. Zheng lunged forward, grabbing Bai Yun Sheng by the collar.
“You didn’t have any projects lined up for National Day?”
Bai Yun Sheng, dressed immaculately, lost all his composure with that one pull. He swatted Zheng’s hand away and said smugly, “You have no idea how much I made on my last design project, do you?”
By the time their third year rolled around, many students at the Fine Arts Academy were already taking on freelance jobs outside of school. Bai Yun Sheng had started working in commercial design early on, balancing both his coursework and some major projects through connections with professors and outside companies. With that experience, he had built a network. Now that he had money, he carried himself with more confidence, no longer nitpicking over every little thing.
Still, Zheng Su Nian couldn’t quite understand why buying a train ticket to Dali seemed like a good idea.
It had all started with Pei Shu. He’d gone to the train station to pick up a friend and, while standing under the departure board, noticed a K-train heading from Beijing to Kunming. A transfer to Dali would take a total of forty-four hours, and with the National Day holiday approaching, Pei Shu was suddenly filled with excitement at the thought of a spontaneous trip.
After settling his friend at the hotel, Pei Shu rushed back to the dorm. Bai Yun Sheng had just woken up from an all-nighter, and as soon as Pei Shu saw him, he asked, “How about we go to Dali for National Day?”
Zheng Su Nian somehow ended up outvoted.
Zheng had a more laid-back personality. He liked to plan things in advance—booking accommodations, packing carefully, and organizing his itinerary. But that night, Bai Yun Sheng and Pei Shu had cornered him, stuffing a few clothes and toiletries into a backpack, and by 5 a.m. the next morning, they were up and rushing to catch the train.
Ah, youth. The spontaneity of it all, jumping into an adventure without worrying about consequences, and still being able to physically handle the long journey. Their train compartment had four beds, but one of the middle-aged men sharing their space snored so loudly that only Pei Shu managed to sleep. The other two barely managed to get any rest.
Zheng Su Nian managed to drift in and out of sleep until about three in the morning. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that Bai Yun Sheng’s bed was empty.
The man’s snoring hadn’t let up. Zheng quietly pulled on his jacket and slipped out of the compartment, finding Bai Yun Sheng sitting in the corridor, smoking a cigarette.
Outside the train window, the landscape of rolling mountains unfolded under a starry sky, with the faint outlines of the horizon visible in the dim light. Wrapping his jacket tighter, Zheng sat next to Bai Yun Sheng, rubbing his temples.
“You couldn’t sleep either?”
“Not really,” Bai Yun Sheng replied. “I wasn’t really asleep in the first place.”
“Pei Shu’s sleep quality is really something to envy,” Bai Yun Sheng glanced back at their compartment. “I’ve taken plenty of trains, but I’ve never experienced something like this.”
“You’ve had to do overnight trips from Suzhou, right?”
“Yeah. Once, during the Spring Festival rush, I could only get a standing ticket, so I stood in the aisle for a full day and night. Train rides are exhausting, but Yun Jin insists on coming to visit at the end of the year.”
“Enough already,” Zheng laughed, giving him a playful shove. “You’ve been talking about her visit since September, and she’s not even coming until December. Where’s she going to stay? Don’t tell me you’re putting her up in the empty bed in our dorm?”
“Of course not. There’s a hotel near the school; she can stay there.”
The moment Bai Yun Sheng mentioned Gu Yun Jin, his eyes softened like they were filled with sugar. Zheng, thinking about Shao Xue’s start of school, suddenly grew curious.
“Hey, how did you and Gu Yun Jin meet?”
Bai Yun Sheng thought about it for a moment, realizing it was a long story. He lit another cigarette.
“She was learning how to make qipao dresses at the time. My family was really struggling back then. When my sister got married, she didn’t even have a decent dress. I saved up some money to get her a qipao made, but it wasn’t enough. Yun Jin was just an apprentice back then. She sneaked one of her master’s old qipao patterns and helped me make the dress. She got in trouble for it later.”
“That sounds like something out of a TV drama,” Zheng said, amused. “When did you realize you liked her?”
“At first, I didn’t. Guys are slow to figure these things out.” He smiled, remembering. “After she finished her apprenticeship, she opened her own qipao shop in the southern part of the city. There was this red qipao she made—it was beautiful. I asked her to wear it for me, and I guess that’s when I realized I liked her.”
Zheng froze for a moment.
Something about that story overlapped with a memory of someone else. He rubbed his temples again, the smoke from Bai Yun Sheng’s cigarette irritating his throat.
“Put it out,” he said. “I can’t stand the smell.”
Bai Yun Sheng stubbed out the cigarette, giving Zheng a meaningful look.
“You want to ask me something, don’t you?”
Zheng sighed, returning the look with equal gravity.
“I feel like I’m going crazy. How do you know if you really like someone?”
“Who do you like?”
“None of your business.” He slapped Bai Yun Sheng’s face away as he leaned in. “I’m confused right now. I don’t even know what I mean to her.”
“That’s easy.” Bai Yun Sheng sat up straight, taking the conversation seriously. “I think the way a man knows he loves a woman is if he imagines her getting married.”
He continued, “In my neighborhood, all the girls wear qipao when they get married. So when I saw Yun Jin wearing that red qipao, I just knew I liked her.”
Zheng couldn’t help but doubt Bai Yun Sheng’s method.
“Can that really be right?” Zheng raised an eyebrow. “That sounds a bit too idealistic.”
“Can you stop turning everything into a philosophical debate about relationships?” Bai Yun Sheng gave him a frustrated look. “Just trust me. Close your eyes and think about it. Do you want to see this girl get married?”
Zheng decided to give it a try. The train rattled along the tracks, winding through the landscape like a river between heaven and earth. Leaning against the wall, he sat up straight and slowly closed his eyes.
Outside the window, the stars flowed like a river across the sky.
Bai Yun Sheng went to the restroom and came back to find Zheng Su Nian still sitting there with his eyes closed, as if resting. He nudged him and, feeling completely drained, stood up straight, muttering under his breath, "Damn, he actually fell asleep."
No one on the forty-hour train ride, except for Pei Shu, had gotten a good night’s rest. By the time Zheng Su Nian stepped off the train, he was desperate to find an inn and get some sleep. But just as he turned around, a commotion broke out behind him.
Bai Yun Sheng’s expression changed first.
“What’s going on here?”
A girl, seeing them as her saviors, rushed over and hid behind them.
“Why are you running?” A taxi driver with a sour expression approached. “I was just suggesting a different hotel. Did you really need to shout so loud that the entire platform heard you?”
Now that she was standing with three other guys, the girl felt more confident. “I said which hotel I wanted to go to. Why did you try to take me somewhere else as soon as I got in the car? If I hadn’t jumped out, you would’ve just driven off.”
Having lived near a tourist spot, Zheng had heard of such scams before. The moment the driver spoke, Zheng understood the situation. “You get a commission for taking people to specific hotels, don’t you? What kind of way is this to get customers?”
The driver’s face darkened. A nearby railway officer noticed the situation and took a few steps closer, which quickly deflated the driver’s aggressive stance.
As the taxi driver walked off, Bai Yun Sheng sighed deeply and turned to the girl. “You’re traveling alone? Why would you do that?”
Xue Ning grabbed the hood of his jacket, smiling mischievously. “Well, now that I’ve run into you guys, I’m not alone anymore.”
Pei Shu pulled Zheng aside, shaking his head in amazement. “That’s clever, really clever.”
Zheng asked, “Why did you run when you saw her? What’s wrong with you?”
Pei Shu sighed, “I’ve been burned by girls like her before. I’m scared.”
Before they left, Zheng had researched a few inns in Dali, made a reservation over the phone, and arranged for transportation. The person who came to pick them up was a young Bai man, with a friendly, honest appearance and pale eyes that sparkled with a mix of sincerity and slyness.
“I thought there were supposed to be three guys?” he asked as he helped them with their luggage. “Who’s the girl?”
“A classmate we met on the way,” Bai Yun Sheng said, resigned to explain the situation. His expression was clearly giving away more than he intended.
The inn was tucked away in a narrow alley of the old town. The walls were adorned with ink paintings of birds and flowers, and the courtyard was filled with lush greenery.
Zheng, being an artist, immediately noticed the sophistication of the brushwork on the walls. The young Bai man caught his look and explained with a smile, “These were done by one of the best painters in Dali Old Town. He’s quite old now and doesn’t paint anymore.”
“They’re beautiful,” Zheng said, smiling as his gaze shifted to the flowers and trees in the courtyard. “We used to live in houses like this.”
They took a three-person room, while Xue Ning stayed in a large room across the hall. Zheng was so exhausted that after a quick wash, he collapsed into bed and slept until midnight.
Pei Shu was sleeping soundly, but Bai Yun Sheng’s bed was empty again. Zheng got up, poured himself a glass of water, and glanced outside—there, in the courtyard, Xue Ning was leaning affectionately on Bai Yun Sheng’s shoulder.
It was a picturesque scene—talented man and beautiful woman under the moonlight—but to Zheng, it seemed to carry an air of helplessness.
The snow on Cang Mountain, the moon over Erhai Lake. The snow outside was pure and white, but who could really know what Bai Yun Sheng was thinking?
This trip to Dali had been weighed down with hidden thoughts.
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