The phone was growing warm in her hand. Lin Zhixia tightened her grip on the phone case and said softly, "Saturday morning at eight, at the school gate. Be there or be square."
Jiang Yubai replied, "See you on Saturday."
Lin Zhixia suddenly remembered how, back when they were desk mates, they often bid each other with "see you tomorrow"—that was several years ago now, and she felt a wave of nostalgia.
On Saturday morning, a light rain fell.
Though the rain was light, the wind was strong. Lin Zhixia hurried to the school gate and spotted Jiang Yubai at once. He was holding a black umbrella, his slender fingers wrapped around the handle. He looked clean and immaculate, and even though the misty drizzle had dampened his clothes, he remained a striking figure in the rain.
Lin Zhixia called out cheerfully, "Good morning!"
"Good morning," Jiang Yubai greeted her, then slightly lifted the edge of his umbrella.
Lin Zhixia understood his meaning. She slipped under his umbrella and added, "Jiang Yubai, I feel like you've become more mature."
She expected him to say "thank you," but he remained silent. He simply turned his head to look at her, prompting her to ask immediately, "Why are you staring at me?"
He explained, "It's been a long time since we last saw each other."
His words were perfectly reasonable.
Lin Zhixia took a step forward. The slanting raindrops brushed against the umbrella and streaked across her sleeve. The umbrella in Jiang Yubai's hand tilted toward her—she noticed this. Without hesitation, she grasped his wrist and gently turned it, straightening the umbrella handle in his palm.
"You..." he managed only one word.
Lin Zhixia finished for him, "Can't I touch your hand?"
"Of course not," Jiang Yubai said frankly. "You certainly can."
Even so, his demeanor remained reserved. He wouldn't initiate closeness with Lin Zhixia, always maintaining a subtle distance between them intentionally or not. He was polite, noble, and unapproachable—a far cry from the Jiang Yubai she knew at nine years old. The present Jiang Yubai was much more complex and difficult to understand.
He piqued Lin Zhixia's curiosity.
After they got into the car, Lin Zhixia hugged a soft pillow with her left hand and extended her right index finger, resting the tip on the back of Jiang Yubai's hand.
Jiang Yubai clenched his fist, the knuckles prominent. Lin Zhixia traced along the raised bones, her fingertip circling back to his hand and touching a clearly visible vein.
She focused intently on his hand, pressing slowly on the vein, then releasing, then pressing again—like a kitten toying with a mouse.
Jiang Yubai said nothing. He turned his left hand over, palm up.
Lin Zhixia suddenly asked, "Do you remember in elementary school, how our classmates liked reading palms and telling fortunes?"
"I remember," Jiang Yubai described. "The class monitor often said that the palm contains lines for career, marriage, and life."
Lin Zhixia murmured softly, "Now I'm going to read your palm. Please call me Master Lin."
Jiang Yubai played along perfectly, "Master Lin."
Lin Zhixia drew a circle in his palm. He closed his fingers as if grasping something intangible in the air. "Are you divining my career, marriage, or life?"
Lin Zhixia laughed. "Which one do you most want to hear?"
Jiang Yubai answered truthfully, "Career."Lin Zhixia put on a thoughtful expression. She traced a line in his palm, her fingertips moving up to the base of his fingers, where she lightly tapped before saying, "Prosperous and flourishing, great fortune in career, smooth path to wealth, skilled in money-making."
"Thank you for your guidance, Master," Jiang Yubai politely accepted her verdict.
Lin Zhixia was overjoyed: "I acted very convincingly, didn't I?"
Jiang Yubai suddenly turned the tables and caught her hand: "Master Lin, could I trouble you to divine my lifespan and marriage prospects once more? I know very little about these things and have never consulted anyone before."
Role-playing was Lin Zhixia's favorite game in life, and Jiang Yubai had always played along perfectly with her. They had grown up playing together since childhood, especially during Chinese literature and history classes in middle school, where they had reenacted nearly all the famous scenes from their textbooks.
Yet never before had Jiang Yubai held her wrist like this without letting go. She sat perfectly still, feeling as if a lake had formed in her heart, ripples spreading in circles one after another, with Jiang Yubai's reflection gradually emerging from the shimmering water patterns.
She didn't want to feel shy at this moment. Maintaining a calm tone, she said: "Alright, let me divine your lifespan... Not bad at all. Blessed with both happiness and longevity, happiness as vast as the Eastern Sea, longevity comparable to the Southern Mountains."
Jiang Yubai let out a faint laugh: "Why do you only say nice things?"
Lin Zhixia stubbornly insisted: "I only speak the truth." Then she challenged him: "Are you doubting my abilities? The Lotus Sutra says that all living beings possess the wisdom and virtue of the Tathagata..."
Before Lin Zhixia could finish, Jiang Yubai moved an inch closer to her. For some reason, she suddenly didn't dare look into his eyes, her gaze dropping abruptly to linger on his collarbone. He usually dressed as if wanting to button his collar all the way up, maintaining a proper, dignified, and conservative style year-round. But after turning fifteen, his personality had loosened up a bit.
Lin Zhixia genuinely believed that Jiang Yubai and her brother should have plenty in common and could get along well. If given the chance in the future, she would try to mend the relationship between Jiang Yubai and Lin Zeqiu.
While Lin Zhixia's mind was filled with random thoughts, Jiang Yubai reminded her: "You haven't divined my marriage prospects yet."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Jiang Yubai felt he had been somewhat abrupt. He just wanted to know what Lin Zhixia would predict, since that was something far in the future. Resting his hand on the armrest, for some reason he suddenly remembered Li Bai's poem "Ballad of Changgan," which is the origin of the phrase "childhood sweethearts." The poem reads: "You rode a bamboo horse, / Came tossing green plums. / We lived near each other / On Riverside Lane, / Two children without / A doubt or a stain. / At fourteen I became / Your young wife, / So bashful that I / Could never show my face..."
He retreated to the corner of his seat.
The distance between him and Lin Zhixia grew wider.
This only made Lin Zhixia more captivated.
Just why did Jiang Yubai keep moving closer then farther away?
What was going through Jiang Yubai's mind?
How far would Jiang Yubai go along with her when playing games?
These three questions all fell within Lin Zhixia's research scope.
With great interest, Lin Zhixia said: "I can divine marriage prospects too! I've met your uncle's wife. You'll probably turn out similar to your uncle - you'll have a beautiful and lovely wife. You'll have a harmonious marriage, prosperous family business, and a happy life."Jiang Yubai silently wondered to himself: Could she imagine him developing a family-like relationship with another girl? She didn't seem to mind at all.
He couldn't help but feel uncertain about his future.
Noticing his complicated expression, Lin Zhixia immediately asked, "What are your requirements for your future girlfriend?"
Jiang Yubai responded evasively, "Can you calculate where I might meet her?"
"That I don't know," Lin Zhixia said with feigned profundity. "You have to grasp your own fate."
Jiang Yubai fell silent.
Lin Zhixia deliberately probed further: "In a few months, you'll be going abroad for university. Maybe at Cambridge you'll..."
"Won't happen." Jiang Yubai stated with absolute certainty.
The car slowed down and stopped on the long road before a mansion's gate.
The rain curtain blotted out the sky and swallowed the clouds, showing no signs of letting up. Jiang Yubai opened an umbrella and got out first. Standing by the car with the umbrella raised, he completely sheltered Lin Zhixia when she emerged. Mist gathered in her eyes as he simply said, "It's quite cold today. What would you like to eat?"
"Shrimp dumplings," Lin Zhixia replied.
The butler pushed open the main door for them, and Jiang Yubai handed the umbrella to him. Outside, the rain continued while wind howled, but indoors it was warm and tidy, creating an extremely comfortable environment.
Jiang Yubai led Lin Zhixia upstairs. Their footsteps were quick, as if they were about to accomplish something important. Lin Zhixia asked him, "Have you ever picked out dresses for other girls?"
"Never," Jiang Yubai said. "You're the first."
"And the last?" Lin Zhixia pressed.
Jiang Yubai seemed to glimpse her true feelings. She wasn't as indifferent about their future as he had thought. The tension in his heart eased slightly as he said gently, "Yes."
Lin Zhixia was led by Jiang Yubai into a spacious room where a designer in her thirties stood with her female assistant in the center.
The designer greeted both Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia very politely, opening a catalog and inviting them to select their preferred dress styles. The designer sister said any style could be further modified according to Lin Zhixia's requirements.
Lin Zhixia flipped through the catalog, quietly admiring the contents. After looking at over a dozen dresses, she exclaimed, "So beautiful."
She settled on a wine-red V-neck dress with a fitted waist and flowing skirt that embodied the graceful beauty of ancient Greek style. After staring at it for a long time, Jiang Yubai suggested she shouldn't hesitate and just pick all the dresses she liked - he would buy them all at once.
Lin Zhixia concealed her surprise. Pointing at the red dress, she said, "This one is enough. Do you think it looks good?"
"It's beautiful," Jiang Yubai praised.
Lin Zhixia opened another catalog and began selecting shoes. Only then did she learn that crystal shoes truly existed in this world - genuine crystal shoes. But she wasn't interested in the Cinderella fairy tale. She remembered Cinderella was named "Cendrillon" - if she were to rewrite the fairy tale, she would have Cinderella become a queen, establishing herself as "Cendrillon I" and leading her people to initiate a glorious industrial revolution.
She turned past the crystal shoes page and selected a pair of black high heels with bows. The heels were about 4cm - not too high - something she could accept.Lin Zhixia returned the album to the designer sister. The designer and her assistant then took Lin Zhixia to another small room, where they measured various dimensions with a cloth tape. Lin Zhixia chatted with them, asking about their daily work routines and whether their jobs were demanding. They patiently answered all her questions, and the entire conversation was relaxed and pleasant.
The designer left a business card. She said that once the clothes and shoes were completed, they would have someone deliver everything to her doorstep. Since the garments were custom-made entirely by hand, the tailor would need approximately nine weeks.
Nine weeks.
Lin Zhixia calculated in her mind: nine weeks later, Jiang Yubai's graduation ball would begin, and her sophomore year of university would also be drawing to a close.
As the name suggests, a graduation ball involves dancing.
And Lin Zhixia knew nothing about dance.
Her university had held various balls, but Lin Zhixia never attended. She was absorbed in her studies and the Laboratory. In her free time, she rarely went out socializing, preferring to run on the school track with her roommate Feng Yuan. They ran four or five times a week, covering at least two kilometers each time—all to meet the physical education requirements for university.
Yes, Lin Zhixia could power through an 800-meter run and do sit-ups without stopping, but she had never danced a single step. Jiang Yubai told Lin Zhixia that his school had chosen the waltz and expected everyone to practice voluntarily—though it wasn't mandatory. Jiang Yubai himself wasn't very familiar with the music or dance steps either.
Lin Zhixia was skeptical of his claim.
Nevertheless, Jiang Yubai had indeed sparked Lin Zhixia's interest in dancing.
She always loved exploring unknown territories.
To free up time for practicing the waltz, Lin Zhixia decided to complete her "Software Engineering" group assignment early.
The front-end and underlying architecture of the software were already finished—these tasks had consumed a considerable amount of Lin Zhixia's time. She recorded a screen capture of the current progress and sent it to the teaching assistant. The TA praised Lin Zhixia's programming skills and mentioned that the university might be interested in purchasing the software to promote it across Beijing's higher education institutions.
The moment Lin Zhixia heard the software could be sold, she became instantly excited.
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