The fruit platter held slices of blood orange, navel orange, and mango, with apple slices arranged into a Rose pattern, drizzled with peach jam, and sprinkled with a few plump pomegranate seeds for garnish.
The fruits’ warm gradient colors resembled dusk.
Ruan Xi pulled back the hand Cheng Daichuan had touched, feigning casualness as she tidied the stray hairs by her ear.
At the neighboring table, diners were discussing the Theater performance—starting at 10:45 a.m. and lasting about an hour.
Cheng Daichuan asked Ruan Xi, “Do you want to go?”
Ruan Xi was distracted, replying without much thought, “I want to.”
Cheng Daichuan watched as she scooped up a wonton, set it down, and then scooped it up again.
There’s really nothing to eat at the Theater.”
Ruan Xi hid an unspoken reluctance, disparaging the small bowl of fresh wontons.
She said they didn’t suit her taste, that she couldn’t eat any more.
Cheng Daichuan propped his head with his hand, thinking for a few seconds. “Want to eat somewhere else after?”
He said, if she didn’t like the wontons, they could skip them, and the pizzeria next door had some well-reviewed pizzas. “Want to go try some?”
Her stomach was stuffed with restless thoughts.
Even if it were gold dust and jade shavings, dragon liver and phoenix marrow, she still couldn’t eat it.
So she said, “Just some fruit is fine.”
Cheng Daichuan squinted and nodded slightly. “Alright, if you get hungry later, I’ll find you something to eat.”
Cheng Daichuan always seemed very indulgent toward Ruan Xi—
After their unhappy parting that winter, Ruan Xi returned to her hometown and received a video call from Cheng Daichuan at home.
Cheng Daichuan was also at home, sitting on the bedroom bed, looking like he’d just showered.
He was towel-drying his damp hair, frowning. “Ruan Xi, be honest. Have you been unhappy at all since you came back this time?”
Ruan Xi shook her head.
Ais crept over, placing his big paws on Cheng Daichuan’s shoulder, sniffing his face.
Cheng Daichuan ruffled Ais’s head and surprisingly started explaining.
He said Chen Tang was rarely back in the country, and although they were close as kids, they hadn’t lived together for a long time, so it wasn’t easy to find things to talk about.
That dinner… the topic about Chen Tang and the past was a bit too much.
Cheng Daichuan said, “Sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable.”
Ruan Xi felt ashamed.
They had already talked about introducing Chen Tang to her, and she had nodded in agreement.
Shi Chao confidently predicted, “Xi Zi and Tang Tang will definitely become especially good friends!”
Ruan Xi hadn’t expected that when the opportunity finally came and they enthusiastically introduced an old childhood friend, she would act so cold, awkward, and disappointing.
She concealed her disappointment at Cheng Daichuan’s mother: “No, no, Cheng Daichuan, what are you thinking? It’s just that the barbecue was so delicious, I barely had time to open my mouth…”
She changed the subject, “By the way, did you guys have the tomato hotpot base?”
“Yes.”
Cheng Daichuan’s voice was calm. “And you, did you have fun with your friends?”
Ruan Xi recalled what Zhang Xu had said, forcing a smile. “Yeah, that friend is really interesting.”
She lied through her teeth, “He’s so funny, almost made me die laughing. My stomach hurt on the high-speed train ride back.”
Cheng Daichuan’s voice was unreadable. “Is that so.”
A few days later, Ruan Xi’s birthday arrived.
At midnight, three messages arrived punctually in the “Xixi Chuanchuan Chaochao Qun” group chat.
Birthday wishes from Cheng Daichuan, Shi Chao, and a reluctantly drawn-out “Meow—” from Ais.
That afternoon on her birthday, Ruan Xi was changing into the new sweater her parents had given her.
The doorbell rang, “Ding dong—.”
She struggled to pull her head out of the turtleneck, tidied her messy hair, opened the door, and received the birthday cake Cheng Daichuan had ordered for her in another city.
Her mother asked, “Xixi, who is it?”
Ruan Xi hugged the cake box, her heart pounding, blushing deeply as she awkwardly omitted his name. “It’s… a cake!”
She called Cheng Daichuan to thank him, but Shi Chao answered, saying they were also eating birthday cake.
She was puzzled, “Why do you guys have a cake too?”
Shi Chao said, “Boss Cheng bought it for you.”
It turned out that on the day Ruan Xi went to see the stage play, Cheng Daichuan and the others had played indoor football, eaten hotpot, and searched almost all the cake shops in the district.
They finally found a shop that could customize flavors according to preference.
They ordered an orange and osmanthus-flavored cream cake to celebrate Ruan Xi’s birthday.
Shi Chao smacked the cream. “Expensive for a reason, this cake is really delicious—sweet but not greasy. Xi Zi, it would be such a pity if you took it home.”
Cheng Daichuan’s voice cut in, “Ruan Xi?”
Shi Chao replied, “Ah, Xi—”
Ruan Xi interrupted, suppressing the fluttering in her chest, “Cheng Daichuan, thank you!”
Cheng Daichuan said, “Happy birthday.”
Because of Cheng Daichuan’s gentleness, Ruan Xi had kept herself busily occupied throughout the semester.
She suppressed the wild growing admiration and longing in her heart, filling her schedule to the brim. One day volunteering, another event the next day, refusing to rest even on weekends.
Even Ruan Xi’s roommate remarked: Ruan Xi really has so much energy, it’s enviable.
What her roommate didn’t know was that Ruan Xi often got lazy on weekends, sprawling over piles of assignments, clutching a carbon pen, lying like she had no bones on Cheng Daichuan’s desk.
She dawdled for a long time and still couldn’t finish a single reading comprehension question.
Cheng Daichuan tapped her homework, signaling that it was time to get serious again.
Ruan Xi leaned on her arms sideways. “Cheng Daichuan, why don’t you do it for me?”
Cheng Daichuan chuckled and flipped to the takeout app. “Ah, and I’ll eat the beef noodles for you too?”
Shi Chao laughed mercilessly, “Hahaha!”
Ruan Xi buried her head in her hands, overwhelmed. “But the homework is too much! I’ll never finish it in my lifetime!”
Shi Chao chimed in, “Yeah, not even in ten lifetimes!”
Ais, annoyed by the human noise, let out a disgruntled “Meow.”
Ruan Xi was jealous of Ais.
She flipped through the towering assignments, unable to bear the sight of Ais lounging comfortably on the soft sofa, licking his paws.
Ruan Xi, like a mischievous relative, poked Cheng Daichuan’s arm, wickedly egging him on: “A kid staying home all the time isn’t good. You should get Ais enrolled in school.”
Later, during a phone call with Cheng Daichuan, she had already forgotten her own mischief.
She casually asked, “What’s Ais up to?”
Cheng Daichuan teased, “He’s going to school.”
Ruan Xi couldn’t help but laugh, then happily said, “Boss Cheng, come downstairs and help me carry the supermarket bags! We bought drinks, and they’re really, really heavy!”
Cheng Daichuan held up his phone as he went downstairs, and Ruan Xi encountered the familiar Golden Retriever belonging to the fruit shop owner.
Ruan Xi had a psychological shadow about unfamiliar long-haired animals and found it hard to get close.
The Golden Retriever blocked the door, wagging its tail and trying to approach Ruan Xi.
Ruan Xi froze, too scared to move.
Cheng Daichuan walked over, took her by the arm, hiding her behind himself, and took the heavy supermarket bags from her hands.
He gently reassured her, “Don’t be afraid, it won’t bite. I’ll take it back to the fruit shop first, wait for me.”
Whether in the past or now, Cheng Daichuan was always so gentle, which was why Ruan Xi could never break free from her secret crush.
Like an addiction she couldn’t quit.
The more carefully she avoided it, the more it took root and grew wildly in the shadows.
During the nearly half a year they hadn’t seen each other, Ruan Xi had managed to restrain herself by keeping busy.
Every time they chatted in the group, did video calls, or talked on the phone, she tried to maintain the image of good friends after the past, never showing the slightest hint of feelings.
Today, however, things felt different.
Just like now, Cheng Daichuan was wearing that short-sleeved shirt stained with her accidentally smudged lip tint.
He propped his head up and looked at her.
Ruan Xi suddenly felt a surge of impulse.
She even wanted to ask him what type of girl he liked, what kind of girl he wanted to date in the future…
Was it that Ruan Xi had let go, had been careless?
Or was there some other reason…
Maybe because the cruise ship restaurant’s standards were strict, and the servers were always overly attentive.
Ruan Xi held a small gold fork, just picking up the last piece of fruit when the server came over.
The server took away the empty plate and politely asked if they wanted anything to drink.
The table by the floor-to-ceiling window had a great view.
They could see the sparkling sea under the bright morning light and the seagulls resting with eyes half-closed on the railings.
It was still early, and there was some time before the dance performance. They could certainly order a drink and sit by the window to enjoy the ocean view.
If she had the focus to carefully look at the drink menu, perhaps Ruan Xi would have made a different choice.
But she just couldn’t muster the interest to think about food or drink and, as usual, held the fruit fork, pursed her grapefruit-colored lips, and chose her old favorite: “Just… orange juice, thank you.”
The server nodded. “Alright, ma’am. Sir, would you like some juice?”
Cheng Daichuan seemed lost in thought. “Grapefruit.”
Ruan Xi always thought grapefruit had a bitter taste and had never seen Cheng Daichuan eat grapefruit before.
After the server left, she asked him, “Is grapefruit juice good?”
Cheng Daichuan said, “I don’t know.”
“Then how did you…”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I ordered wrong.”
Ruan Xi gave an “oh” in confusion.
Cheng Daichuan sat across from her, eyes lowered, glanced at his collar, and suddenly asked, “Your lip tint is grapefruit color?”
Ruan Xi’s restless little heart fluttered uncontrollably.
It was like a static shock—tingly.
How was she supposed to control this?!
She chewed on a piece of sweet and sour orange and suddenly looked up, glaring at Cheng Daichuan with a wronged expression.
Cheng Daichuan caught her look. “Hmm?”
Ruan Xi swallowed the orange, shook her head, and said nothing.
Before the dance performance started, Ruan Xi went to the medical room to have her ankle rechecked.
At the medical room door, Cheng Daichuan tugged her wrist.
She turned around. “What’s up?”
He teased, “How are you going to explain this to the doctor today?”
Ruan Xi was momentarily confused.
Cheng Daichuan pointed at the lip prints on her collar. “Not even dating, and it’s like this?”
Sunlight filled the corridor outside the medical room, streaming through the window.
She could see the blue and white Dusk flags fluttering in the wind on the railing, making her heart feel light and floaty.
The consequences of not having breakfast properly hit her.
Ruan Xi felt she might just be imagining things—
Cheng Daichuan seemed, perhaps, maybe, possibly, to like her just a little bit?