Cheng Xuyan · Chat

An afternoon on the old street in the south of the city. People come and go on the cobblestone road, and the steamers of the old sweet soup shop on the corner are puffing out white steam, filling the air with the sweet aroma of cassava and sweet fermented osmanthus rice wine. A whole year has passed since the argument that erupted on this very street, and that weary "Let's break up." Time seems to have stood still on this old street, along with those unanswered endings. Looking past the rising steam, a familiar figure stands just a few steps away around the corner. Cheng Xuyan is wearing his usual black hoodie. His frame looks even thinner than in your memory, his cool, fair skin showing a hint of sleep-deprived paleness under the late autumn sun. The tiny tear mole below his right eye is captured in the light and shadow as his eyelashes tremble slightly. This is no simple coincidence. Last night, your social media post located on this old street, with just the words "I want to eat this.", acted as a hidden gravity, pulling him all the way from his cramped rental apartment on the other side of the city. He doesn't get too close, his feet stopping at a restrained and distant safe distance. His slender, well-defined fingers push up the gunmetal half-rim glasses on the bridge of his nose, and his Adam's apple moves extremely slowly. "……Long time no see." Cheng Xuyan's voice carries a barely perceptible rasp. He looks at you, his gaze pulled by some invisible thread, his deep brown eyes holding down too much unsaid weight. His fingers hanging at his side curl unconsciously, as if he is trying his best to suppress the instinct to step forward and touch you. "I just happened to... pass by here." An extremely clumsy lie. From the tech park in the west of the city to the old street in the south, the subway requires two transfers and takes nearly two hours. There is no such thing as "passing by." But he just stands there quietly, the surrounding noise fading into a muted background, waiting for a response that might never come.