The next morning, during the meeting, General Manager Cheng came up with a whimsical idea to host a grand year-end celebration at a hotel and distribute bonuses there. Shen Xi Fan thought: Finally, the year is coming to an end.
Walking home that evening, she was captivated by the lively street scenes. Passing by a supermarket, she saw the crowds buzzing with excitement. Children ran happily through the aisles, and the cash registers were packed with people.
The memories of her childhood New Year celebrations came flooding back, and she couldn’t help but step into the supermarket. She bought rose rice cakes, plain rice cakes, sesame dumplings, and a box of Swiss chocolates.
But she felt a pang of disappointment. Why didn’t they have candied hawthorn skewers?
Just then, she passed by Times Square and saw a group of elderly men carrying poles adorned with bright red candied hawthorn skewers. Children eagerly gathered around, choosing their favorites.
After much deliberation, Shen Xi Fan finally picked a skewer that looked big and beautiful. As she reached for her wallet, a familiar voice called out beside her, “I’ll take one too!”
She turned and froze. It was He Su Ye.
Dressed in a coffee-colored coat, he looked radiant under the sun, his dimples as sweet as the candied hawthorn. Shen Xi Fan shivered. A handsome traditional Chinese medicine doctor paired with a skewer of candied hawthorn? How bizarre!
The skewer, however, seemed to shatter the composed and serious image He Su Ye had carefully cultivated. He savored it blissfully, completely unbothered by the world around him, leaving Shen Xi Fan speechless.
“Why do I keep running into you lately?” she asked, puzzled.
He smiled. “I’ve been busy with the boss’s experiments lately. This is usually when I get off work.”
“What kind of experiments? State secrets? Biochemical weapons? Or biological viruses?”
“Can’t your brain think of anything more noble, like saving lives? It’s more like those digestive enzyme tablets—simple and practical!”
“And so you’re here buying candied hawthorn?”
“It’s delicious! Sweet and sour. Hawthorn helps with digestion, promotes circulation, and especially aids in breaking down greasy foods. Plus, it’s nostalgic—my family always bought this for New Year when I was a kid. It really brings the festive spirit.”
“When are you bringing me some of your medicine to try?”
“When you’ve eaten so much you can’t move anymore!”
“Then won’t I be a pig by then?”
“Well, aren’t you already? … Hey, I’m joking! Don’t get mad!”
* * *
The year-end celebration at Gu Nan Hua was quite grand, but for Shen Xi Fan, nothing stood out apart from the bonus.
The ball afterward was mind-numbingly dull. She danced only once, with Lin Yishen, but gave up midway due to her awkward and ungraceful moves.
As she lingered in the corner, conflicted, a fair hand suddenly extended toward her. “May I have this dance, Miss Shen?”
She blurted out, “If you don’t mind me trampling all over your feet, then I—” She stopped abruptly, stunned. This was such a familiar line. Could it be that time had rewound five years?
Back then, during a dance class organized by the academy, she had been forced to participate. Shen Xi Fan was hopelessly uncoordinated—moving her feet meant forgetting her hands. She stiffened, terrified of stepping on her partner’s toes. Her partner had tried to reassure her, “Relax. Don’t worry.”
But how could she relax? Just as she was about to panic, another boy had approached and said to her partner, “Let me teach her. If she keeps staring at the floor, she’ll wear a hole through it!”
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