The Alley Was Always This Long – Chapter 76

After the Date

“Am I sleeping at your place tonight?”

[A crack opens in the proud ice field, as if pulling out one’s own ribs to let the world’s flowers bloom in.]

            

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“Do you want to hear it?”

“Only if you want to tell me,” Cheng Xiang said, taking a bite of her waffle and pretending to be casual.

When it came to why Tao Tianran liked her, Cheng Xiang realized she had never dared to ask before.

            

After all, she and Qin Ziqiao had initially suspected it was a pig-butchering scam¹, right? A wealthy, talented, cold yujie² just happened to take a shine to her and her alone—no matter how she looked at it, it seemed completely bizarre.

Sometimes, she chalked it up to her own good luck.

Xiangzi had always been quite kind-hearted growing up, helping elderly ladies cross the street and feeding any stray cats she came across. She felt that having Tao Tianran like her was like winning the lottery; burying her face in her arms, she’d quietly giggle to herself.

            

But deep down, she still wanted to ask.

Now that she had, her heart started thumping again. She quickly swallowed a large bite of her waffle, using the sweet honey to coat her racing pulse and maintain her nonchalant facade.

If Tao Tianran couldn’t give a convincing answer, she’d feel as though Tao Tianran’s affection for her was entirely illusory.

            

Back in middle school, she had studied classical Chinese, which described how “at night, ghosts and gods pass through the sky, the sounds of horses, carriages, people, and livestock each clearly distinguishable.” It was so vividly real, and yet it was what the ancients called a mirage³.

Tao Tianran’s reflection on the glass window also resembled a beautiful mirage.

In the face of her question, Tao Tianran didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she raised her thumb and gently brushed the corner of Cheng Xiang’s lips.

            

“Hmm?” Cheng Xiang held her breath slightly.

“You’ve got some honey on you.”

Her instinct was to stick out her tongue to lick it off, but she was wary of the tingling sensation from the pad of Tao Tianran’s thumb. The late-night coffee shop was empty, save for a vinyl record player softly spinning a track of old jazz.

            

Tao Tianran pulled her hand back. Just as Cheng Xiang was about to pull out a tissue to hand to her, Tao Tianran lowered her eyes, brought her thumb to her own lips, and gently swiped her tongue across the tip.

Her long eyelashes swept down with her eyelids, as if she were savoring the bit of honey on her thumb.

Or rather, as if she were savoring Cheng Xiang.

            

Thankfully, I washed my hands right after we walked in, Cheng Xiang thought.

It seemed that only by thinking of random nonsense could she suppress her heart, which had begun racing again from that single, tiny gesture of Tao Tianran’s.

Under the warm light, the two tiny ink-black moles at the corner of Tao Tianran’s eye seemed to flicker with life. She asked Cheng Xiang, “Shall we go?”

            

Ah? They were leaving just like that? Was she really not going to answer?

“Sure, let’s go.” The honey she had just eaten felt as if it were burning in her stomach.

After getting into Tao Tianran’s car, Cheng Xiang covered the corner of her lips and kept her eyes fixed outside the window.

            

Wait… how did they end up at Tao Tianran’s apartment?

Cheng Xiang didn’t say anything either, simply following Tao Tianran inside. As Tao Tianran handed her a pair of slippers, she asked, “Do you want to take a shower first?”

The weather was gradually warming up. After spending the day outside, a thin layer of sweat clung to her skin.

            

But the subtext behind this question was—Cheng Xiang’s tongue tied itself in a knot. “Yo-you mean, I’m sleeping at your place tonight?”

“Is that alright?” Tao Tianran leaned down to place the slippers on the floor, her gaze lingering on Cheng Xiang’s slender, fair ankles.

“…Alright,” Cheng Xiang finally said.

            

While Tao Tianran went to get her some toiletries, Cheng Xiang made an emergency call to Qin Ziqiao. “Yeah, just say I’m staying at your place. I was already having an argument with her anyway, so she’ll definitely assume I went to cry on your shoulder.”

When Tao Tianran returned with a bath towel, Cheng Xiang hurriedly hung up.

“I’m going in, then.”

            

Just as she was about to walk toward the guest bathroom, Tao Tianran’s voice sounded from behind her: “Use the master bathroom upstairs.”

When the hot steam had covered half of the glass shower stall, Cheng Xiang heard the click of the door being unlocked.

Cheng Xiang crossed her arms and shrank back under the showerhead. “Do you need to grab something?”

            

“Yes,” Tao Tianran’s voice came through the hazy water vapor.

The bathroom was spacious enough. After a few footsteps from her slippers, the glass door of the shower cubicle was pushed open. Cheng Xiang’s question of “What are you looking for?” died in her throat.

Because Tao Tianran was wearing absolutely nothing.

            

She looked like a mermaid. Because of her exceptionally slender frame, certain curves appeared strikingly full, swaying with her steps. Cheng Xiang’s gaze, along with the steam, clung to her body, watching her step under the stream of the shower. The hot water drenched her long, straight black hair as she cupped a handful of water and splashed it onto her face.

Her voice sounded wet as well. “Together?”

“O-o-of course you can! This is your bathroom anyway, hahaha.”

            

Cheng Xiang didn’t even know what she was laughing at. She was nervous to death.

She only dared to look down, watching the steam swirl around Tao Tianran’s body. Then, she noticed a tiny crimson dot resting right above the hourglass curve of her lower back.

She pressed the pad of her finger against it.

            

She rubbed it, but it didn’t fade.

“Is it a birthmark?” she asked softly.

“Mm.”

            

With the water on her skin wiped away, the deep crimson dot was exposed. On someone who was normally so cold and detached, it possessed an almost bewitching vulnerability. Cheng Xiang looked at the mark, swallowed hard, and felt that the water was getting a bit too hot.

Tao Tianran turned back and cast a glance at her.

She raised her hand and pressed the pad of her thumb against Cheng Xiang’s lips, which had been coated in honey earlier.

            

It was as if she suspected some honey still remained.

Cheng Xiang laughed at first, but then closed her eyes as she felt the wet, massaging pressure of her thumb. Her eyelashes, weighted down by a layer of fine mist from the shower, grew heavy. She felt Tao Tianran’s thumb slip past her lips.

She sucked on Tao Tianran’s finger, her eyes fluttering open, her gaze already growing unfocused.

            

Yet Tao Tianran stared straight at her.

Her thumb toyed with her lips and tongue, and the water from the showerhead slid down the corner of her mouth, trickling into her throat.

Tao Tianran squatted straight down.

            

Looking down, Cheng Xiang first saw the slight protrusion of her spine at the back of her neck, her wet black hair hanging over her shoulders like a mermaid’s. Cheng Xiang was barefoot, her slender ankles standing on the non-slip tiles. Tao Tianran reached out and gently grasped one.

Realizing what Tao Tianran was about to do, Cheng Xiang panicked. “Wait…”

Tao Tianran looked up and asked, “Can’t I?”

            

Cheng Xiang bit her lip and said, “I’m the gong⁴.”

Tao Tianran was also barefoot, looking up at her from her squat on the floor, her silhouette radiating a restrained allure. Evening her breathing, Cheng Xiang reached out and very gently pressed the back of Tao Tianran’s head.

Tao Tianran leaned closer.

            

Almost instinctively, Cheng Xiang’s slender back pressed against the shower stall’s glass. She wanted to close her eyes, but she forced them open through the steam, looking down. What threw her breathing into disarray in an instant was not so much the intense sensation, but the visual before her.

Even while doing something like this, Tao Tianran’s shoulders and spine still exuded a sense of detachment. It reminded Cheng Xiang of how she usually looked in her white shirts—aloof, dignified, and reserved, the two tiny moles at the corner of her eye like drops of ink on Xuan paper.

Yet, Cheng Xiang could feel a certain scorching rhythm from her, burning her over and over. Her lips parted slightly, and the heat in the bathroom felt overwhelming. Her hand rested on the back of Tao Tianran’s head, and she couldn’t tell whether she wanted to push her away or press her closer.

            

When she was on the verge of losing her breath entirely, she cried out, “Tao Tianran.”

It was as if she were her oxygen. Just calling her name could pass oxygen to her.

Tao Tianran nudged her knee with the back of her hand and whispered, “Relax a bit. You’re pressing against me.”

            

When she raised her face, Cheng Xiang suddenly averted her eyes.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at those glistening lips.

She stood up, washed her face first, and then pulled Cheng Xiang over to stand under the shower to wash her hair. She peered at Cheng Xiang from the side. “Why do you keep your head down?”

            

A drop of shampoo suds dripped down and clung to Cheng Xiang’s eyelashes. Tao Tianran wiped it away with her wrist, and Cheng Xiang quickly wiped her face again with her own hand.

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

“You don’t know?” As Tao Tianran pulled her hand back, she gently cupped Cheng Xiang’s chin.

            

“Maybe… I’m embarrassed.” Cheng Xiang’s eyelashes remained lowered.

It wasn’t just simple embarrassment either, but she couldn’t put it into words. What Tao Tianran had just done for her… felt like the cold, distant moonlight bowing its head to accommodate a single flower in the mortal world.

As Tao Tianran rinsed the foam from the top of her head, Cheng Xiang sneaked a glance at her.

            

Sensing her gaze, Tao Tianran blocked her eyes with her palm. “Why are you opening your eyes? Aren’t you afraid of getting soap in them?”

After leading her out of the shower stall, she took a large bath towel and began drying Cheng Xiang’s fine, soft hair.

Tao Tianran’s long hair was much more of a hassle to deal with. While she was blow-drying it, Cheng Xiang put on a pair of pajamas first and walked out. After a couple of steps, she retraced her path and knocked on the bathroom door. “Tao Tianran, your pajamas are too big for me. The fabric is so silky that even if I roll them up, they just keep sliding down.”

            

“Then… would a shirt be alright?”

“Sure.”

“Open the wardrobe. On the left side, pick one with softer fabric.”

            

Cheng Xiang walked over and slid the wardrobe open.

She had seen Tao Tianran’s wardrobe once before. It was as meticulously organized as the woman herself, with everything from shirts to trousers hung in categories by season, and not a single color out of place.

Cheng Xiang ran her fingers through the row of white shirts.

            

She lowered her head and took a sniff.

Tao Tianran didn’t use perfume, but her shirts had taken on her crisp, cool scent over time. Pulling one out, Cheng Xiang glanced down at the label on the back of the collar. It was a French brand she didn’t recognize, and for a split second, she wanted to look up what brand it was.

Never mind, never mind. Cheng Xiang stuck her tongue out. She was afraid that if she looked up the price, she’d be terrified out of her wits and wouldn’t even dare to wear it.

            

Unbuttoning the shirt, she slipped it on and then neatly folded the pajamas she had just taken off.

She didn’t know what material the shirt was made of, but it felt cool and soothing against her skin. Her pores, which had just been opened by the hot water, felt as if they were breathing in the cold air of a mountain ravine. As Cheng Xiang stood by the bed, looking up at the massive world map, she heard footsteps approaching from behind.

Staring up at the map, she felt Tao Tianran slide up behind her.

            

She pointed a finger at a spot on the map. “The Kara Sea we saw today should be right here.”

“Mm.” Tao Tianran wrapped an arm around her waist.

The room was dimly lit, the glow incredibly low, resembling candlelight from before the invention of electric bulbs, illuminating old, hidden thoughts.

            

Cheng Xiang actually found it strange. Tao Tianran’s skin was clearly so thin that even the pale blue veins along her neck were visible, yet despite taking a hot bath, her skin didn’t show any redness at all. It remained a chilly, snowy white, even when she was doing that for Cheng Xiang.

Cheng Xiang figured most of her embarrassment stemmed from this.

Tao Tianran simply looked too calm.

            

Now, as Tao Tianran held her, her skin felt as cool as the shirt. Leaning close to Cheng Xiang’s ear, she whispered, “I washed my hands very thoroughly.”

“What?” Cheng Xiang watched their shadows, stretched by the dim light, projected onto the wall as massive silhouettes.

With the slightest movement, every action seemed magnified tenfold.

            

Pressed against her ear, Tao Tianran’s breath caused the shadow on the wall to waver. “Can we do it without them?”

“…Mm.”

In the next second, Cheng Xiang’s legs immediately gave out, and she pressed the heel of her hand onto the bedside table. Tao Tianran held her waist from behind, her hand never stopping for a moment.

            

Cheng Xiang could feel that Tao Tianran was different tonight.

Tonight, Tao Tianran carried a certain aggressiveness. She spoke very little, but her gaze held an unmistakable possessiveness. Her fingers moved with familiar expertise, finding her mark directly.

Just moments ago, when Tao Tianran walked out of the bathroom, she had caught sight of Cheng Xiang’s back.

            

Wearing her white shirt, which looked somewhat oversized on her, the hem draped past her upper thighs, exposing two slender, straight legs. Her damp hair tips brushed against the shoulders of the shirt, leaving wet patches behind.

Tao Tianran had walked over and leaned her head to sniff at her neck.

She didn’t find it fragrant, only soft.

            

Tao Tianran hadn’t originally intended to be like this; in terms of their dynamic, she was perfectly fine with Cheng Xiang taking the lead. But as she touched upon a certain familiarity, she recalled Cheng Xiang standing on her tiptoes to kiss her in the exhibition hall.

Only then did she realize that the seeds of possessiveness had already taken root and sprouted in her heart.

When did it start?

            

Was it from the moment that truck almost hit Cheng Xiang at the highway service area? Or was it when Cheng Xiang softly asked, “What do you like about me?”

She desperately wanted to feel Cheng Xiang’s warmth, to feel Cheng Xiang taking her in, drawing her inside.

Pressing the heel of her hand onto the table, Cheng Xiang suddenly turned her head to look at Tao Tianran.

            

Her gaze was already hazy, but she suddenly wanted to see if Tao Tianran’s skin was still a chilly white. Her shirt buttons had come undone, and her back could feel the sweat on Tao Tianran’s skin. Within her lowered field of vision, she saw the flushed base of Tao Tianran’s neck.

She lifted her gaze higher.

Tao Tianran’s entire face was flushed with crimson, and a misty pool of water shimmered in her eyes.

            

Cheng Xiang realized that what truly made her lose control was not so much Tao Tianran’s movements, but Tao Tianran’s reaction. She just turned her head and stared at Tao Tianran until she melted entirely into her embrace.

“Do you want to take another shower?”

Cheng Xiang actually had very little strength left.

            

But Tao Tianran said, “I think you need to.”

Why did she have to say it so directly? By the time she lay back down in bed, Cheng Xiang could barely keep her eyes open. Tao Tianran’s bedding had a muted grey tone, soft and rumpled. The first time she had seen it, she had thought it looked incredibly comfortable to sleep on.

Tao Tianran lay on her side next to her, reaching her hand out from under the blanket to brush over her eyelashes.

            

“Liking you is colorful,” Tao Tianran said softly.

Cheng Xiang was on the verge of falling asleep. Through the dim light, she heard Tao Tianran’s voice whispering, and she realized Tao Tianran was answering her earlier question.

“Liking you feels soft and fuzzy.”

            

“I like your eyelashes.”

“I like the way you look when you smile.”

Cheng Xiang let out a tiny yawn. “Is it because it looks cheerful? My mom always says that if a girl smiles more, it brings better fortune to the household.”

            

“No. It’s because when you smile, you raise your eyebrows so vividly.”

“I like your knees.”

“I like your chaotic, colorful T-shirts and sweaters.”

            

“I like how your face blushes.”

“I like the tone of your voice whenever you say ‘hi’ and ‘Tao Tianran’.”

Cheng Xiang gave a lazy laugh. “What are you talking about? You’re just making things up.”

            

“Then I won’t say any more.”

Under the blanket, Cheng Xiang searched for Tao Tianran’s hand, interlacing her fingers with hers one by one. “Don’t, Tao Tianran. Keep going, I want to hear.”

“I like how you always slurp the bottom of the bottle when you drink yogurt.”

            

“I like how you swing your arms when you run.”

“I like how stray cats wrap their tails around your slender, fair ankles.”

“I like how the light from the streetlamps dapples across your face when you brush back your bangs.”

            

“I like that you like me.”

Liking you is like liking this vibrant world… liking me. Liking you liking me is like liking this vibrant world.

I have spoken of so many, many kinds of liking.

            

So what I want to say is—

Cheng Xiang had already fallen fast asleep, still holding Tao Tianran’s hand. Her cheek was buried in the pillow, her plump lips parted slightly.

Tao Tianran whispered, “I love you.”

            

Even when the Earth’s multiple ice ages have melted away, and when the world’s youngest Kara Sea emerged, Xiao Xiang, I love you very much.

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Qiao Zhiji sat on the long bench facing the Amandah Sea.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she felt that the seawater possessed a shade of deep blue that could never be replicated. It was said that “Amandah” meant “love” in the ancient, mysterious Hermes language.

            

She pulled out her phone and checked it, its screen casting a brief flash of pale white light. The time was 10:35 PM; she had been sitting here for an hour and fifty-five minutes.

Meanwhile, at the bar.

“Why is the birthday girl so distracted?” A girl came over to toast, wrapping an arm around Yu Yusheng’s shoulder.

            

“Am I?” Yu Yusheng curled her lips in a smile, gently pulling her curly hair free from the girl’s arm.

“How about we open another bottle of Louis XIII? It’s to celebrate your birthday, and we know you’re the most generous.”

“Sure.” Her response was equally listless.

            

“Awesome!” The heavily made-up girl raised her arms in cheer and went over to get someone to open the bottle.

Left alone, Yu Yusheng sank back into the sofa, her expression wearing a sort of vacant exhaustion.

One corner of the massive double-layered cake had collapsed, and confetti from the party poppers lay scattered over the frosting. The fruit platter had oxidized over time, turning a rusty yellow that seemed to infect the lifeless nuts beside it.

            

The makeup on all the girls dancing with drinks in hand on the dance floor had begun to smudge.

Yu Yusheng stood up and grabbed her bag. Curling her index finger, she swept away the confetti that had fallen onto the cake, scooped up a bit of cream, and popped her finger into her mouth to suck it clean.

Walking out of the bar, the late-night air felt lonely and quiet.

            

Her phone was silent. Even though the celebration was held in her name for her birthday, no one had noticed her early departure.

Once the designated driver arrived, she gave the address of the Yu family estate. Leaning against the back seat, she gazed out at the flashing neon lights of the night.

Suddenly, she leaned forward and tapped her knuckles against the back of the driver’s seat.

            

“Excuse me,” she said with a smile. “Could you take me somewhere else instead, please?”

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After Cheng Xiang fell fast asleep, Tao Tianran gently pulled her fingers free from her grasp.

She got out of bed and quietly pulled the bedroom door shut.

            

Heading downstairs, she pulled a well-aged bottle of red wine from the cabinet. Not bothering with a decanter, she poured it straight into a glass and walked over to the window, holding it by the stem.

Earlier at the exhibition hall, Qiao Zhiji had said to her, “Thank you.”

A single, quiet phrase, yet it had struck a chord in her heart.

            

Because Qiao Zhiji’s tone had been incredibly certain.

She knew that now that Qiao Zhiji had found Yu Yusheng again, she would never let go, no matter what. Just like how she herself would never let go after finding Cheng Xiang.

If Qiao Zhiji and Yu Yusheng reconciled…

            

If Yu Yusheng was healed and no longer threw away her own life…

Would this mean that the events that were originally meant to happen on the timeline had been rewritten once more?

And what kind of changes would that bring for her and Cheng Xiang?

            

As Tao Tianran stood by the window holding her wineglass, a faint patter of footsteps echoed behind Qiao Zhiji inside the exhibition hall.

Qiao Zhiji didn’t turn around, seemingly quite certain of who had arrived.

Yu Yusheng leaned against the glass wall behind her. “When I came in just now, there was no ticket collector at the door. You knew I would be late, so I didn’t even need a ticket?”

            

“No.”

“Then why?”

“You only need to say you are Yu Yusheng, and you can enter and leave this exhibition hall as you please.”

            

Qiao Zhiji stood up, picked up her bag beside her, and began walking toward the exit.

“Wait.” Yu Yusheng called out to her. “Didn’t you ask me to come?”

Qiao Zhiji didn’t slow her pace.

            

Yu Yusheng lowered her eyes. Just as Qiao Zhiji was about to step out of the exhibition hall, she suddenly said, “It has been eight years. Won’t you wish me a happy birthday one more time?”

Qiao Zhiji paused. Without turning back, she simply said, “I promised to show you the sea. I’ve done it.”

With her bag in hand, she departed.

            

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When Cheng Xiang woke up the next morning, she found the side of the bed empty.

She reached out, pulled Tao Tianran’s pillow over, and hugged it in her arms as she rolled from left to right twice. Hearing movement near the door, she hurriedly put the pillow back and patted its wrinkles flat.

Tao Tianran stepped inside. “Rise and shine, little pig⁵.”

            

Cheng Xiang scrambled out of bed in an instant. “You’re insinuating something!”

Tao Tianran walked over to the bed, her breath carrying the clean, fresh scent of mint. “Do I?”

As she leaned down, Cheng Xiang quickly covered her mouth.

            

“What are you doing?”

“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

Tao Tianran merely nudged Cheng Xiang’s forehead with the tip of her nose. “Then get up, brush your teeth, and come downstairs for breakfast.”

            

“You made it, Tao Tianran?” Cheng Xiang jumped out of bed.

As she brushed her teeth in the bathroom, she leaned one hand on the sink and laughed. No, really, she was just wondering how on earth people managed morning kisses. Did they all sneak out of bed to brush their teeth and then crawl back under the covers to pretend they were still asleep?

Pfft, that was hilarious.

            

She ran down the stairs with a patter of quick footsteps. Tao Tianran was sitting at the dining table, which was set with two portions of breakfast: orange juice, toast, and scrambled eggs.

Cheng Xiang sat down. “I have a slightly impolite question to ask.”

“Mm.”

            

“This isn’t your first time scrambling eggs, is it?”

Tao Tianran raised an eyebrow.

“Wow, am I really that honored?” Cheng Xiang picked up her fork, scooped up a bite of the eggs, and popped it into her mouth.

            

She chewed and chewed. Well… She marshaled every ounce of her emotional intelligence, trying to figure out what face she should make.

“Aren’t you a jewelry designer?” She blinked at Tao Tianran.

Tao Tianran stared back at her.

            

“Can a designer’s handiwork really be this bad?”

Tao Tianran reached out to pinch her waist. Laughing, Cheng Xiang dodged. “No, I didn’t mean anything else! I’m purely talking about the eggs! Just the eggs, okay?”

Before heading to work, Tao Tianran drove Cheng Xiang back.

            

Cheng Xiang acted incredibly sneaky. “Um, park a bit farther away from the alley entrance. I’m afraid I might run into my mom.”

After getting out of the car, she waved at Tao Tianran, ran a couple of steps, and then spun back around.

Tao Tianran rolled down the window.

            

Cheng Xiang approached with her hands clasped behind her back. Smiling, her eyes crinkled into sweet crescents. “I don’t think the trees are all that sorrowful after all.”

“Hmm?”

“Look, it can sing.” Cheng Xiang pointed toward the alley entrance and took a step back. “Alright, hurry up and head to work.”

            

With a quick “Goodbye,” she slung her canvas bag over her shoulder and dashed off.

Sitting in her car, Tao Tianran gazed toward the alley entrance, where a phoenix tree grew. In early summer, the trees appeared lighter and more airy than in autumn or winter, their trunks bathed in a pale gold by the sunlight. Dappled shadows broke through the swaying leaves with a soft rustling sound, spilling the sunlight across the ground.

Tao Tianran drove to the office, and after wrapping up the tasks on her schedule, she headed to the vicinity of the Jianshi Law Firm.

            

At a coffee shop downstairs, she ordered an iced Americano and sat down to read a copy of 《Guide to Cosmic Spacetime Crossing》.

After an unknown amount of time, Qiao Zhiji pushed open the door with her phone in hand, ordering a quick light meal at the counter while talking.

Catching sight of Tao Tianran in the corner, she paused. Once she received her food, she walked over anyway.

            

“What a coincidence.”

Tao Tianran looked up. “Yes.”

“What brings you here?”

            

“I had some business nearby.”

Qiao Zhiji gestured with her meal. “Mind if I eat?”

Tao Tianran shook her head.

            

Qiao Zhiji unwrapped her sandwich and took large bites, chewing and swallowing. It was often said that the way a person ate was the truest reflection of their sense of security. The current Qiao Zhiji was efficient and confident, completely indifferent to what others thought of her. Having traveled so far across the world and returned, what she sought was precisely this kind of absolute certainty.

She wanted to face Yu Yusheng with absolute certainty.

While eating, Qiao Zhiji glanced at the book in Tao Tianran’s hands. “I wouldn’t have expected Teacher Tao to read this sort of book.”

            

“Is that so?”

“Nor would I have expected someone like you, Teacher Tao, to give me that kind of warning.”

Tao Tianran looked at her.

            

Qiao Zhiji asked, “Did she tell you about us?”

She didn’t say Yu Yusheng’s name.

Instead, she simply said— “she.”

            

Tao Tianran gently ran her fingernail across the cover of the book, merely replying, “She mentioned it.”

“Anyway, thank you.”

“President Qiao.”

            

“Hmm?”

“I actually wanted to ask you a question. As a lawyer, or simply as Qiao Zhiji herself—if you knew how a certain sequence of events would unfold, and it threatened someone or something you cared about deeply, what would you do?”

The question was broad.

            

Yet, her ink-black eyes shimmered with a shifting, uncertain light.

Qiao Zhiji fell silent for a moment.

Tao Tianran exhaled softly, lowering her eyes slightly.

            

The sunlight streamed through, casting a tiny, fuzzy patch of light on the table that danced with a vibrant warmth.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Tao Tianran’s mind.

She wanted to adopt a stray cat with Cheng Xiang—perhaps a white lion cat⁶.

            

Or raise a fancy rat together.

Or live in Iceland for a long time, spending the winter there; when the freezing wind howled outside, Cheng Xiang would embrace her every single second.

Simply put, she wanted to grow old with Cheng Xiang.

            

A doctor who had reviewed her medical report once predicted that she might develop arthritis when she grew old, because she had lived in a very damp place during her childhood. When she was hospitalized for treatment, Cheng Xiang would push her wheelchair and accompany her for walks in the garden. She would want to give her a piece of candy but worry it might interfere with her medication, so she would stuff the candy into her own mouth instead—and then start sobbing uncontrollably because Tao Tianran couldn’t have any.

The person she loved was just like that, possessing soft, sensitive antennae.

Even at sixty, she’d still shed tears just because Tao Tianran couldn’t eat a piece of candy.

            

Qiao Zhiji spoke, interrupting Tao Tianran’s train of thought. “If I were speaking as a lawyer, I would tell you that the law is always the supreme standard.”

“And as Qiao Zhiji?”

Qiao Zhiji cast a glance at her. “Then I would say: regardless of the consequences, at all costs.”

            

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The author has something to say:

Note: “At night, ghosts and gods pass through the sky, the sounds of horses, carriages, people, and livestock each clearly distinguishable,” is quoted from 《Dream Pool Essays》⁷.

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