Zhou An and Xu Zhou went back and forth, trading reassurances one after another, and the effect was remarkable. Meng Bai truly felt comforted.
She had assumed most people couldn’t accept it—at least in this remote small town, a woman liking another woman would surely be seen as disgusting.
But Zhou An didn’t feel that way. Neither did Xu Zhou.
“You… don’t think I’m weird?” Meng Bai’s voice still held a trace of uncertainty.
“What’s weird about it?” Zhou An replied first. “I’ve always hated men, especially ones like my dad. I’m not marrying one, that’s for sure.”
Xu Zhou chimed in at just the right moment. “Women are great, in my opinion. If I were going to date anyone, it’d be a woman.”
Zhou An shot Xu Zhou a glance, her expression peculiar, as if silently asking when she’d started liking women.
Meng Bai pondered for a moment and shook her head. “That’s not the point. The point is, I scared Miao Bai off.”
Zhou An was still visibly shocked. “You told her you like her?”
“No, I didn’t say I liked her. I was going to say I missed her a lot, but she wouldn’t let me.”
Standing there in the midst of the bustling crowd, the three of them realized a sentence or two wouldn’t cut it.
Zhou An suggested they find somewhere to sit and talk.
They spotted a quiet flower bed and settled on the stones along its edge, chatting idly.
Discussing something like this with close friends felt strangely wondrous—especially for Meng Bai. Before Miao Bai had come into her life, love was a topic they scarcely touched.
But it was a relief. Zhou An was always in Meng Bai’s corner, and Xu Zhou always seemed aligned with Zhou An.
In that sense, the three of them were in the same boat.
Perhaps it was her low mood, with all those pent-up emotions needing release, but Meng Bai felt an unusually strong urge to pour her heart out that day.
She recounted everything about Miao Bai, step by step.
She began with the day Zhou An had gone missing—how she’d first encountered Miao Bai, then sought her out on purpose, entered her Old Courtyard, and now, how they’d spent night after night sharing the same bed.
When she marveled at Miao Bai’s astonishing divine powers, Meng Bai took pains to stress that it wasn’t just the powers drawing her in.
Invisibility was impressive. Flying through the sky was incredible. The ability to induce hallucinations was downright mind-blowing.
But Meng Bai put it this way: “Whenever I think of her, those superhuman feats don’t even cross my mind. It’s just her—only her—filling my head. Even if she were an ordinary person, I’d probably still miss her.”
Zhou An listened, a little baffled. She didn’t feel that way herself.
Xu Zhou spoke up. “Sounds like you just like her.”
Zhou An jabbed Xu Zhou’s arm. “What would you know!”
Xu Zhou’s tone was resolute. “I know.”
Zhou An shuddered, goosebumps prickling her skin. “Yeah, right~~~”
With the conversation at that point, something seemed to click in Zhou An’s mind. She turned to Meng Bai. “Do you have any physical desires for her? Beyond just missing her, I mean. That could tell if it’s friendship or love!”
Physical desires.
The term was all but foreign to Meng Bai—maybe a 0.01 probability of ever appearing in her vocabulary—but she paused on it now.
And naturally, those desires centered on Miao Bai.
Meng Bai remembered last night’s dream. The whole night had left her drenched, the details hazy, but she’d craved Miao Bai’s touch. When the dream turned to them kissing, Meng Bai had jolted awake in shock and fear.
She’d woken to morning light.
She’d nearly forgotten the dream until Zhou An brought it up. It was mortifying to admit, but to get to the truth, Meng Bai blurted it out:
“Does kissing count? I dreamed about kissing her last night.”
Zhou An’s eyes went wide. “!!!! You dreamed that?!?! Weren’t we supposed to become nuns together?!?!”
As they went back and forth on the topic, Meng Bai brushed against her true feelings.
So this was what it meant to like someone…
The conversation naturally shifted to why Miao Bai hadn’t wanted to hear it.
Meng Bai figured it was her gentle way of turning her down.
Zhou An and Xu Zhou disagreed.
Zhou An was blunt. “I haven’t met that so-called opera-singing woman, but looks-wise, you’re second to none! How do you know she only goes for one type? If I liked women, I’d pick you—because you’re gorgeous! Maybe she bolted because it caught her off guard?”
Xu Zhou coughed beside her, but Zhou An tossing out cheeky lines like that was par for the course.
Xu Zhou thought it over and offered a more persuasive take. “If I were Miao Bai, I’d have walked too. You’re way too young—there’s like a seventy- or eighty-year gap. How’s that supposed to work?”
Meng Bai snapped back to reality. “I haven’t even thought about dating. We’re just figuring out if I like her or not.”
“You like her!”
“You like her!”
Zhou An and Xu Zhou spoke as one. Meng Bai’s behavior lately made it obvious to them.
The awkward look on her face whenever Miao Bai came up said it all.
“Little Meng! Face it—you’ve fallen head over heels!”
Fallen head over heels.
Meng Bai mulled that over for the rest of their time together.
“Come on, snap out of it! Let’s play some more first!”
~~~
They didn’t head home until six, worn out from all the fun.
Too tired to bike, Meng Bai let Xu Zhou take the pedals.
They retraced their path from earlier.
Twilight had fallen, the autumn evening carrying a chill. The breeze kissed their faces, sending Meng Bai’s bangs dancing and tickling her cheeks.
She gazed at the old-fashioned buildings around them, their cobalt-blue glass windows catching the clouds in the sky—simple colors, but soothing all the same.
Unfamiliar streets scrolled past, frame by frame. Meng Bai’s mind wandered until she tilted her head to the dusky heavens.
Had she really been up that high?
Had she truly touched the clouds that night?
Was Miao Bai nothing but a fantasy from start to finish? Had she never existed at all?
It was a terrifying notion.
The kind that made her wonder if she was the crazy one.
Meng Bai nudged Zhou An’s arm and shouted over the wind. “Zhou An, that night—you and Xu Zhou really saw someone come through the wall, right?”
“Yeah! We did! Why?”
“Nothing. Just checking.”
Meng Bai let out a breath, deciding she was being overly jumpy.
“By the way, do you think she’ll disappear? Is she going to exist forever?” Zhou An’s voice drifted into Meng Bai’s ears.
“Ah?”
“Her—Miao Bai.”
“She probably will.” The wind whistled past their ears, and Meng Bai began pondering some very distant matters. If she remembered correctly, Miao Bai had said she would disappear from this world sooner or later—perhaps after this autumn, or the next.
“Then you’ll still like her?”
“Yes.”
Up ahead, Xu Zhou sped up the bike, and the rush of wind drowned out all conversation.
No one said anything more.
By the time they got home, night had fallen. Lin Li had prepared four or five dishes and invited Zhou An and Xu Zhou to stay for dinner, but unfortunately, Carpenter Zhou showed up at the door and dragged Zhou An straight back home.
With Zhou An gone, Xu Zhou felt too awkward to stay, so she left too.
The birthday dinner was down to just the three of them.
It suited Meng Xingzhong perfectly. He’d even bought a bottle of baijiu for the occasion and sipped it slowly. Lin Li brought him a dish of peanuts, then ladled a bowl of soup for Meng Bai.
Meng Xingzhong tossed a few peanuts into his mouth and chewed as he spoke. “So, how is it? Good to ride?”
“It’s great—really fast.”
Meng Xingzhong nodded with a smile. “That’s perfect. Oh, and by the way, I have some good news for you today.”
“What good news?”
“Our town’s getting demolished too! After next summer, all these old earthen houses will be torn down to make Tourist Attraction District 2. We’ll get to live in those new relocation apartments!”
Meng Bai’s heart skipped a beat. There was no joy in it, not like she’d imagined. “Demolition? The whole town?”
“Yeah, all of it. Not a single house left.”
Those words sent Meng Bai’s mood plummeting to rock bottom.
Next summer, everything would be demolished—including that Old Courtyard? Even a place that remote would be included?
It was too fast, too sudden. A year was just the blink of an eye.
What about Miao Bai then? What would happen to her?
Meanwhile, Meng Xingzhong let out a breath and spoke earnestly. “These houses, handed down from our ancestors—they’re hard to part with. But we have to keep up with the times. Once the tourist district goes up, we’ll get plenty of houses and cash. No more scraping by on farming. With all those visitors, we can sell souvenirs, run guesthouses—it’s a great opportunity.”
“Mm.” Meng Bai was only half-listening.
“So what I’m saying is, don’t worry about school. We’ll support you no problem. Finish undergrad, then go for grad school!” Meng Xingzhong furrowed his brow, searching his mind for the word. “After that, a PhD! Yeah! You love books—Old Meng here will back you all the way, however far you want to go!”
Meng Bai gave a helpless smile. “Dad, I don’t love studying quite as much as you think.”
Lin Li chimed in. “He’s right—school’s good, but you should try other things too. After you graduate, keep going if you want, or do something else if that’s your heart.”
“Alright, let’s eat. We’ve been yapping nonstop—the food’ll get cold!”
Looking at the dishes on the table, Meng Bai thought that Meng Xingzhong and Lin Li were frugal when it came to themselves, but never stingy with their child.
Five dishes—not insignificant, all made by Lin Li.
Sometimes Meng Bai couldn’t fathom why Lin Li was so good to her.
She always made a point of picking out the best morsels for Meng Bai’s bowl. It had become second nature.
Meng Bai resolved that when she grew up and started earning money, she’d treat them even better.
Meng Xingzhong said, “The only bummer is we couldn’t get a birthday cake today. When I went to the Cake Shop, it was closed—the owner was off in the city restocking.”
Meng Bai nodded. “It’s fine. Zhou An and the others got one for me already.”
Meng Xingzhong breathed a sigh of relief. “Perfect~”
After dinner, Meng Bai helped clear the table. She didn’t want Lin Li and Meng Xingzhong doing all the work, so she headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Standing there, her mind wandered as she replayed the entire day.
It had been a perfect day. Turning eighteen felt different. These activities might seem ordinary to others, but to Meng Bai, they were deeply satisfying.
Her friends had been wonderful to her. Her family too.
And Miao Bai—Miao Bai had given her a birthday gift.
She was content.
Just… if only Miao Bai could have stayed a little longer.
Meng Bai washed the dishes in a daze as that faint, wistful longing welled up from her heart once more. Her emotions seemed to drip into the soapy water; she stirred it into a murky froth to conceal them.
If only Miao Bai could have lingered a bit longer—just a little would have been enough. If she’d known Miao Bai was leaving, she never would have said those things that afternoon.
When would they meet again?
She didn’t have the courage yet to go to the Old Courtyard and seek her out. So Miao Bai probably wouldn’t come looking for her either.
“Sigh—”
Even alone, she couldn’t help but sigh.
After that, Meng Bai dragged through her routine like a deflated balloon—slowly tidying up, then showering at a snail’s pace and washing her clothes. By the time she finished, it was around eight or nine.
Exhausted from the long day, she decided to turn in early.
Tonight, she’d be sleeping alone.
She shuffled along in her flip-flops, her steps drawn out as if playing a lingering note on the violin, her whole body limp with fatigue.
It wasn’t until she reached her bedroom door that her feet paused. For the first time, sleeping alone felt like pure torment.
Meng Bai thought she was being overdramatic—a little silly, even absurd.
How strange.
She pushed the door open a crack. The dark little room was empty.
What had she been hoping for?
Nothing. Miao Bai hadn’t come.
Meng Bai flicked on the bare bulb and shuffled to the bedside on weary legs. She sat down and suddenly felt utterly lost.
In the midst of her melancholy, the next instant, her ankle brushed against something. Looking down, she spotted a large cardboard box.
A note was boldly stuck to the top:
【Of course an eighteenth birthday gift can’t just be a watch. Open it up—I hope you like it.】
