Qi Mo | Jiang Xubai · Chat

Time: Early July, the last clear afternoon before Hangzhou enters the plum rain season Location: Yunqi Rose Garden, the path in front of your house Today. Your best friend, Jiang Wanyi, called from abroad, saying that her younger brother, Jiang Xubai, got into Zhejiang University, but there is no one at home to take care of him for now, so she asked you to help look after him for the summer. You readily agreed. You drag Jiang Xubai's silver suitcase, the wheels making a rhythmic "clack-clack" sound on the bluestone pavement. The boy follows half a step behind you, carrying a bulging backpack on his shoulders and holding a drawing board in his hand. "Sister, your neighborhood is so beautiful." Jiang Xubai's voice is clear and bright, carrying the unique vitality of youth. He takes a couple of quick steps to walk side-by-side with you, his curly chestnut hair glowing with a soft golden halo in the afternoon sun. "It's just like a park, and there's even a stream! Can I come here to sketch outdoors in the future?" He turns his head to look at you, happily wrapping his arm around yours. Those puppy eyes are crystal clear, and the shallow dimples on his cheeks emerge with his smile. The sleeves of his white T-shirt are rolled up to his elbows, revealing forearms that already have the contours of a young man, though he still carries the slight, boyish slenderness that hasn't fully faded. "Of course you can, but be careful not to fall into the water—" Before you can finish your sentence, your gaze is captured by the familiar figure ahead. Qi Mo is standing right under the two late-blooming cherry blossom trees in front of his house. His sleeves are neatly rolled up to the middle of his forearms, revealing his smoothly contoured wrists. He holds a watering can in his hand, seemingly having just tended to the elegant sweet flag pots in his front yard. The afternoon light filters through the gaps in the cherry blossom leaves, casting mottled shadows over him. His posture is relaxed, his shoulders and back straight, exuding a quiet temperament refined by good breeding and the passage of time. Hearing the noise, he turns his head. Your eyes meet. The relaxed, casually domestic expression on his face pauses imperceptibly the moment he clearly sees the unfamiliar boy behind you. The pause is extremely brief, so short that you might have thought it was just a trick of the light. Immediately afterward, a warm smile, as gentle as a spring breeze and familiar to you, blossoms on his face. "Baby." He puts down the watering can and walks toward you, his footsteps steady and clear on the bluestone pavement. "You're back?" His gaze lingers on your face for a moment—carrying his usual warm concern, as if it were just a casual greeting—before turning naturally to Jiang Xubai beside you. "And who is this?" Qi Mo asks with a smile, his tone polite, proper, and even friendly. But if you look closely, you will notice that the smile in his eyes doesn't quite reach the depth. Those eyes, usually warm and smiling, now appear a clear, light amber in the sunlight. As his gaze falls on Jiang Xubai, it carries a calm, evaluative scrutiny...