Chapter 1: Cruise Ship

The dock was bustling.

Someone was handing out flyers to tourists, promoting: “Fifteen days and fourteen nights, departing from summer, heading to another kind of summer.”

It was Ruan Xi’s first time here. She held up a piece of local Old Bread with two bites taken out, slowly making her way through the crowd.

Just as she lifted her hand to press down the brim of her hat, a sharp-eyed Seagull swooped in and snatched a small crumb of bread from her hand.

Other Seagulls also set their sights on Ruan Xi’s bread, puffing out their snowy white chests, greedily flapping their wings, trying to get closer.

Her nervousness was interrupted by these brazen little “thieves”. She smiled and raised the bread to feed the Seagulls, catching a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of a brightly colored Cruise Ship Poster on the advertising board.

This was a Port City, with no famous historical landmarks or trendy social media attractions. The most well-known thing here was the Cruise Ship travel.

Before coming, Ruan Xi had seen some brief introductions online— probably just like the kind on the Poster.

Printed on the Poster was a beautiful, giant Cruise Ship, with a fresh white and blue color scheme, and an impressive tonnage. It was said to be able to carry more than five thousand passengers.

More than five thousand people…

Ruan Xi remembered the breathtaking scene when the leads boarded the Titanic with her friends.

Thinking of that, it was only natural to recall the friends she watched with back then.

And thinking of her friends, of course, brought Cheng Daichuan to mind.

The first time Ruan Xi met Cheng Daichuan was in the spring, just before the start of the second semester of her first year in high school.

At that time, Ruan Xi’s parents were being transferred at work.

After much discussion, the family decided to move to the city where her parents were assigned, so Ruan Xi had no choice but to follow them to this unfamiliar place.

Ruan Xi didn’t like moving, nor did she like transferring schools.

Saying goodbye to the familiar environment she had lived in since childhood, saying goodbye to relatives and friends— it was hard for her to feel any excitement for this new life.

She sat gloomily in the car stuffed with packing boxes, watching as the car followed the navigation, heading for a city further north.

It wasn’t just Ruan Xi who felt down. Her parents discussed work transfers in the car, their words tinged with the complicated sighs of an uncertain future.

The night before leaving her hometown, Ruan Xi messaged her soon-to-be-separated friends until dawn. She was exhausted, clutching her phone as she dozed off.

The car drove along highways around several cities, and she listened to the shared playlist with her friends over and over.

Ruan Xi finally couldn’t hold on; her eyelids closed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

She was tangled up in her dreams, vaguely feeling a cool breeze, and then her mother’s voice.

Half-awake, Ruan Xi heard her mother say, “This neighborhood looks pretty nice.”

Ruan Xi’s father said he’d asked a colleague to check it out before.

It was an older residential community with convenient amenities, close to both their workplaces and Ruan Xi’s new school.

The only downside was there was no elevator, so she and her mother would have to climb stairs every day.

“How many floors?”

“Room 201 in the building up ahead, two floors.”

Ruan Xi’s mother laughed, “Just two floors, and you’re worried about climbing?”

Ruan Xi struggled to wake up, rubbing her eyes as she looked out the car window:

Ahead, unfamiliar streets were lined with small, brick-red Western-style buildings, about five or six stories high.

Among the buildings were planted Pear Trees, arranged beautifully, their branches full of blooming white pear blossoms.

Red buildings and white flowers, complementing each other perfectly.

But no matter how nice, they couldn’t compare to the Four-Seasons Osmanthus Grandmother grew on her old balcony. And the little brick-red houses couldn’t compare to her old home.

The large furniture had already been arranged for delivery by a moving company. The car was filled with personal belongings and odds and ends.

Ruan Xi’s father parked the car under a Pear Tree by the entrance, told Ruan Xi to watch the car, then opened the trunk and carried two suitcases upstairs with her mother.

Ruan Xi had already been sitting in the car for seven or eight hours and felt stiff all over, so she jumped out to stretch her muscles.

She was stretching under the Pear Tree, arms raised high, when she caught a glimpse of a speeding bicycle out of the corner of her eye. Instinctively, she turned her head, her neck—

A slightly chubby boy in a full soccer uniform braked with his foot, his black sneakers skidding on the dry spring concrete, kicking up a swirl of dust.

The boy barely slowed down, wiped sweat from his forehead, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Cheng Daichuan, Cheng—Dai—chuan—”

His voice was incredibly loud, carrying the kind of easy familiarity that came from living here a long time.

It made Ruan Xi, who had just left home, glance over more than once.

Maybe sensing Ruan Xi’s gaze, the boy stopped, looked at her, then at the Red Sedan behind her packed with boxes, and actually greeted her: “Hey, new here?”

A strange place, strange people.

Ruan Xi nodded shyly.

The boy didn’t say anything else, just continued shouting upstairs: “Cheng Daichuan—”

Ruan Xi looked up at the building too.

Their rental was supposed to be 201 in this unit?

She searched with her eyes—

201… That should be those windows on the left?

As Ruan Xi pondered, a boy’s figure appeared behind the floor-to-ceiling window directly above 201.

The branches full of snowy white pear blossoms blocked the view, but the boy who had been called out seemed quite tall— taller than the stacked washer and dryer on her family’s balcony by a good bit.

Not until he opened a window, hunched his back a little, and leaned his arms on the windowsill did she see clearly:

He had a head of tea-brown curls, his shoulders just wide enough to fill out a loose T-shirt, fair skin, and a pair of black over-ear headphones hanging around his neck.

The shadow of the Pear Tree fell on him. With a teasing smile at the corner of his mouth, he looked down lazily, “Would making a phone call kill you?”

“It wouldn’t.”

The chubby boy on the bike craned his neck, “Forgot my phone. Climbing stairs really would kill me…”

But when he saw the boy upstairs raise his hand and pop half a popsicle in his mouth, he still abandoned his bike and dashed into the stairwell, muttering, “Damn. Why didn’t you say we had popsicles at home…”

He almost bumped into Ruan Xi’s parents, who were coming downstairs after checking the apartment.

The two boys’ interaction was just like how Ruan Xi and her friends acted at home— casual and comfortable.

Later, Ruan Xi learned that the chubby, loud boy on the bike was Shi Chao, and he and Cheng Daichuan, who lived above her, were childhood friends— same class or same school all through elementary, middle, and high school.

That day, after nearly running into Ruan Xi’s parents in the stairwell, Shi Chao kept apologizing, but didn’t slow down at all, rushing up to the third floor to get a popsicle from Cheng Daichuan.

Upstairs, Cheng Daichuan glanced indifferently in Ruan Xi’s direction, popsicle in mouth.

Because they were strangers, their eye contact lasted only a moment.

The wind picked up. As Cheng Daichuan closed the window, it made him squint.

Petals fell like snow, fluttering down. He lowered his head, shook a pear blossom petal from his hair, and shut the window.

They lived in a world they knew well, at ease with everything around them, full of energy and life.

They could fully enjoy “ten thousand trees in bloom,” enjoy the vibrant spring break.

It was exactly the kind of life Ruan Xi, who had left her hometown, envied most.

Her parents came downstairs, satisfied with the new rental.

Ruan Xi sighed silently in her heart and followed along to move in.

Moving was exhausting. Just a few hours ago, the three of them had stuffed all the boxes into the car.

Now, after the long journey, they had to unload and carry everything up to the new place, trip after trip.

By the time they’d nearly finished, it was already dusk. The gentle rays of the setting sun spread out, and the Pear Trees were tinged with flecks of gold.

Ruan Xi stood at the door of their new home, gulped down half a bottle of water, smoothed her messy hair, and was about to go downstairs again.

Her mother called, “Let your dad get the rest.”

Ruan Xi didn’t even look back: “It’s only two floors, I can do it.”

But actually, it was a struggle.

It was the largest flower vase from her old home, the kind they used to grow Fortune Bamboo in during the New Year. Half-filled with water, it was really heavy.

The vase was filled with lush Four-Seasons Osmanthus.

It was a cutting Grandmother had given her before they left, along with a thick Red Envelope.

She hadn’t taken the Red Envelope, secretly slipping it under Grandmother’s pillow.

Ruan Xi picked up the jacket she’d left on the back seat, then struggled to lift the vase. Before she even entered the stairwell, she heard Shi Chao’s voice.

Shi Chao was shouting, “Auntie, we’re heading out now!”

Then came the sound of a door closing and “thud-thud-thud” footsteps.

Probably passing by the open door of Ruan Xi’s new home, Shi Chao said, “Did you see? You have new neighbors.”

A lazy male voice retorted, “Who did you just see?”

“You know… When I was calling you downstairs, the girl standing next to me.”

“Mm.”

“She looks so well-behaved, so quiet.”

Ruan Xi ran into them at the stairwell landing.

Shi Chao probably didn’t expect to bump into the person he was just talking about and looked a little embarrassed, scratching the back of his head, “Hey, need any help?”

Ruan Xi shook her head, shifting the vase in her arms and motioning for them to go ahead.

Amid Shi Chao’s thumping footsteps, she didn’t notice something falling out of her jacket sleeve.

After climbing two steps, Ruan Xi was called back.

Shi Chao had already dashed out of the stairwell— the one who called her was Cheng Daichuan.

“Hey, new neighbor.”

Cheng Daichuan was holding a Red Envelope that Ruan Xi recognized. “This is yours, right?”

When did Grandmother slip the Red Envelope into her jacket?

She missed Grandmother even more.

Ruan Xi stared at the Red Envelope, spaced out for a couple of seconds, then nodded quickly.

She carefully set the vase down on the step and thanked him earnestly, “It’s mine, thank you so much.”

Cheng Daichuan said there was no need to thank him.

The golden light of dusk slid through the window into the stairwell, lingering in his eyes.

That was Ruan Xi and Cheng Daichuan’s very first conversation…

Her phone vibrated in her bag, bringing Ruan Xi back to herself.

The bread in her hand was almost gone, eaten by the Seagulls. She answered her mother’s call.

Her mother said, “Xixi, we’ve picked up your Shang Auntie and Cheng Daichuan.”

The nervous feeling returned.

Or maybe it was even more complicated than nervousness— something hard to describe.

Ruan Xi wondered, did the last time she met Cheng Daichuan count as a falling out?