Tan Xingwei first met Su Xu at her own eighteenth birthday party. It was during the summer vacation after the college entrance exams. She had binge-read several romance novels in retaliation, and her girlish heart was stirred, so she dedicated her third birthday wish to falling in love.
In the quiet, dark atmosphere, Tan Xingwei’s cheeks were flushed red by the candlelight. She silently said in her heart, she wanted to fall in love with a super beautiful older sister!
The next second, she opened her eyes. The second after that, she blew out the candles.
And the second after that, just as the ceiling lights turned on, a person appeared before her eyes.
That person was Su Xu.
That day, Su Xu wore a lotus-pink shirt, her long, black hair resting on her chest. She sat beside Tan Yinqing and smiled gently at Tan Xingwei.
She said, “Happy birthday, Little Sister Xingxing.”
The memory was a bit distant. Tan Xingwei had been drinking that day and didn’t quite remember the specific details. She only knew that Su Xu was late because of traffic and had come because of Tan Yinqing’s enthusiastic invitation and the fact that her workplace happened to be nearby.
In truth, the event didn’t have such a strong visual impact at the time. It was her eighteenth birthday, during the summer vacation after the college entrance exams. She had gotten into her dream university, and her parents had invited some close relatives and friends. Tan Xingwei had also invited many of her classmates. The scene was incredibly lively, and a whole crowd was there when she blew out the candles.
Tan Xingwei could remember Su Xu because she was indeed the person who had appeared before her eyes after she blew out the candles, and also because Su Xu was truly too beautiful.
But this very ordinary scene was no match for Tan Xingwei’s later embellishments. For a long time after this birthday, Tan Xingwei mentioned Su Xu’s appearance many times—to friends, classmates, online friends, and roommates.
When she lost a game in university, in her mind before falling asleep, when ordering at a coffee shop.
She blurred out everyone except Su Xu, made the scene feel more intimate, transformed the hotel’s fluorescent lights into a soft, pale, warm glow, and changed Su Xu’s blessing, which had been mixed in with the crowd’s voices, into Su Xu smiling gently at her as if no one else existed, saying “Happy birthday.”
Tan Xingwei was well aware of the power of a first impression and also wanted to convince herself that her feelings for Su Xu might be entirely due to her own imagination. But frustratingly, in the days that followed, every time she saw Su Xu, she found something new to admire about her.
Su Xu was gentle, Su Xu was generous, Su Xu was interesting, Su Xu was steady, Su Xu…
Su Xu was very beautiful, Su Xu had great fashion sense, Su Xu was very smart, Su Xu was liked by many people, Su Xu…
Su Xu, Su Xu, Ah Xu, Ah Xu…
She wanted to marry Big Sister Ah Xu!
“Take the expressway?”
The driver asked Tan Xingwei.
Tan Xingwei grunted in acknowledgment and pulled her gaze back from the window. “Take the expressway.”
The driver: “You’ll have to pay the toll, okay?”
Tan Xingwei: “Okay.”
Yes, she was at the airport.
On the way here, Tan Xingwei had wanted to give up 100 times, but because she had persuaded herself 101 times to just go, just go.
And so, an hour later, she was at the airport.
It was so far.
It was better in the car. After getting out and approaching the exit, Tan Xingwei’s heart was pounding frantically, and she couldn’t tell if her unease was from nervousness or something else.
Her palm was so sweaty she was clutching a piece of tissue. The real-time flight tracking app was constantly being refreshed.
She watched as the flight status changed from “Estimated arrival in 30 minutes,” to “Estimated arrival in 20 minutes,” to “Arrived.”
Right now, the only way she could calm her emotions was to take deep breaths. For a moment, her mind seemed to be racing with thoughts, and the next, it felt numb and empty, telling her that it was still not too late to leave.
But in reality, she remained standing motionless in the same spot.
A continuous stream of people walked out from inside. Some were traveling light with just a backpack, some were alone with a lot of luggage, there were elderly people, and there were children.
The police officer maintaining order at the exit had been on the left when Tan Xingwei arrived; now he was standing on the right.
A cleaning lady accidentally bumped into someone and said “sorry” twice.
Tan Xingwei tried her best to empty her mind, focusing her attention on meaningless things happening around her.
The phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated. Tan Xingwei numbly took it out and opened the message.
It was a message from Tan Yinqing, a screenshot from their small group chat of four.
Three minutes ago, Su Xu had said: 【I’ve arrived】
Immediately after, Su Xu’s next message quoted Chen Jing’s line: 【Is Xingxing going to pick up Ah Xu?】
—Su Xu: 【Really?】
The next line was Tan Yinqing’s reply. She said: 【Hard to say, she’s not home. Don’t know where she went. Ah Xu, look carefully when you come out】
Tan Xingwei was already nervous, and seeing this screenshot felt like the sky was falling.
She knew Tan Yinqing was joking. Tan Yinqing probably never imagined that her little sister was actually at the airport right now.
Tan Xingwei, it’s really not too late to leave now.
Tan Xingwei wanted to retort to Tan Yinqing, but she was afraid of missing the person she was waiting for if she replied, so she put her phone away and continued to stare at the exit.
As the arrival time neared, more and more people gathered at the exit. People waiting to pick someone up stood scattered outside the barrier. Some were empty-handed, some held signs, some had brought bubble tea, and some held flowers.
So once again, Tan Xingwei extinguished the thought of leaving.
It’s just picking someone up. How are you any different from these people?
Tan Xingwei wasn’t in the front row. After waiting for so long, she no longer felt the same way she had at the beginning. Her current calmness was either the result of her tense emotions reaching their limit or her having come to terms with it.
Every extra moment she stayed was another moment of torment. Behind that wall with the picture full of Haicheng’s local flavor, every time a girl walked out, Tan Xingwei’s heart would lurch.
Finally, after waiting for who knows how long, a girl pushing a luggage cart walked out from inside.
Tan Xingwei’s gaze was immediately drawn to her, and alarm bells went off in her nervous system.
The newcomer wore white sneakers, jeans, and a loose, dark gray sweater under which one side of a white camisole was faintly visible. She had black-framed glasses and slightly curly long hair.
First, she was beautiful. Second.
It was her.
The familiar face appeared just like that, and all Tan Xingwei could feel was her heart pounding violently. Without thinking, she took a step back, hiding herself further in the crowd.
Su Xu walked with large strides, glancing at her phone as she moved, then looking up again.
Her gaze drifted past the crowd and fixed on the signs above.
Tan Xingwei clutched the bouquet tightly, her legs feeling as if they were filled with lead. Right now, besides staring at Su Xu, she didn’t know what to do.
They hadn’t seen each other in four years. She seemed to have changed a lot, yet she also seemed not to have changed much. In the past, Tan Xingwei had only ever seen Su Xu with long, straight hair; today’s large curls made her look much more mature.
But she was still her. When she was puzzled, she would gently purse her lower lip. Her glasses couldn’t hide her beautiful eyes, and her high-bridged nose looked good from any angle. When she lowered her head, her hair covered her cheeks, but you could still see the small, sharp point of her chin. When she pressed her lips together, faint, almost unnoticeable dimples appeared beside her mouth.
The familiar feeling washed over Tan Xingwei, and without realizing it, she grew calmer.
I guess this counts as picking her up, she thought. I brought flowers and watched her walk out from inside.
Maybe this is enough.
Tan Xingwei watched Su Xu without making a single move, watching her walk around the barrier, away from the crowd, find the right sign, and stride forward.
The area around Tan Xingwei was still bustling. She stood with her back to the crowd, watching as Su Xu brushed past her.
Today’s mission was about to end right here. Tan Xingwei suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation. Her heart was already churning with a thousand waves called “let’s just leave it like this, this is good too.”
Just as she was about to watch Su Xu leave, suddenly, the person she was watching stopped in her tracks.
Up ahead, Su Xu stopped her cart and stood still.
After two seconds of inaction, Su Xu turned around with clear purpose.
Her feet were pointed directly at Tan Xingwei, her direction precise.
In the middle of the crowd, Su Xu met Tan Xingwei’s gaze.
