“Old lovers are always the best,” Ji An said.
Upon hearing this, she almost spat out her coffee. Ji An was both amused and exasperated. It took her a moment to recover, and then she beamed at him, complimenting, “Ji An, you're getting better at charming women.”
Ji An smiled and replied, “But you haven’t changed at all, showing your emotions so openly.”
They exchanged a knowing smile.
She felt slightly more at ease, realizing that this meeting was likely a spur-of-the-moment whim on his part, asking her to join him for a casual chat. She had sacrificed her lazy weekend morning to get all dressed up for this. Her friend Pan Xi even teased her, saying, “Off to a blind date?” To which she playfully winked and replied, “No, meeting an old lover.”
Lovers, with their picturesque romance and tangled emotions—add the word "old" to it, and it turns into a tale of having weathered the storms of life, with countless twists and turns along the way.
In truth, they hadn’t been in touch since they broke up. When she saw Ji An walk into the office that Friday morning, she was so shocked that she nearly screamed, thinking she was dreaming.
On her first day after switching jobs, she suddenly discovered that her new boss was her old lover—a plot twist straight out of a cheesy romance novel. How could such a scene actually play out in broad daylight?
Ji An smiled at her, pulling her out of her daydream, and she coyly said in her most flirtatious voice, “Ji An, take me shopping.”
It was clearly a deliberate challenge, but to her surprise, he agreed. Graciously, he let her take his arm as they strolled through the boutiques, listening to the sales clerk’s smooth-talking sales pitch.
She eventually picked out a dress—the white he used to love, paired with the black she now adored. The stark contrast of black and white, cold and sharp, made her look striking. Standing before the large glass mirror, they gazed at each other, and he nodded slightly, saying, “It looks great.”
“Buy it!” She instinctively reached for her credit card, but Ji An was quicker, handing his to the clerk. “Use this one,” he said.
“What are you doing?” Before she could even arch her eyebrows in protest, he lowered his voice and said, “Allow me this honor.” She turned cold and distant, asking, “Sir, may I have your name?”
With just one sentence, she distanced herself from him, turning him into a stranger.
He remained calm, took the shopping bag, and knowing she was no match for him, she silently conceded and followed him as they continued to wander around.
They didn’t exchange another word until lunch, when he ordered her an extra-large banana split. Only then did she smile faintly and say, “I haven’t eaten ice cream in ages.”
“Afraid of gaining weight?”
“No.” She gave him a teasing look. “Afraid it will remind me of you.”
He nearly burst out laughing. They resumed their lighthearted banter, reminiscing about that street near their old school, where they used to eat their way from one end to the other—lamb skewers in winter, banana splits in summer. Back then, she had been slightly plump, but no amount of dieting could make her resist the lure of a banana split. After finishing, she’d drag him along for a walk, circling the track under the moonlight.
“You’ve lost weight,” he noted.
“Yeah, work is stressful. You capitalists squeeze every last drop of labor out of your employees. That’s why you all get rich and fat.”
Clicking his tongue, he realized she was still as sharp-tongued as ever, each word biting with precision.
“After lunch, I need to go. The one-day tour with my old lover is coming to an end.”
He feigned shock. “Oh no! After such a wonderful day, you have no intention of rekindling our relationship?”
“Pah, pah!” she scoffed. “We’re not worthy of a ‘rekindled romance.’” Trying to play word games with a Chinese literature graduate like her was like showing off your skills to an expert.
He smiled. “So what should we call it? Reigniting an old flame?”
She smiled too. “More like rekindling new grudges over old wounds.”
Puzzled, he asked, “Even if old love has turned into hate, what’s the new grudge?”
Smiling, she scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and said, “The new grudge is that your current girlfriend is so beautiful she makes me feel inferior.”
He chuckled softly, and she continued eating her banana split, savoring its rich, fragrant taste. It brought back memories of sitting under that little shelter outside the school gates during summer, thinking that the greatest happiness in the world was the large banana split in front of her.
When she returned to her apartment, it was already dusk. Pan Xi glanced at her and casually asked, “Did things not end well with your old lover?”
How could that be? They had parted on friendly terms.
But as she looked back on it all, it felt like a lifetime had passed.
[The End]
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