Just Like a Spring Breeze in the Night

(A slow-burn, feel-good story, part of the Happily Ever After series)

Cheng Xi returned to her hometown, a small city ranked in the fourth or fifth tier, carrying all her disappointments with her. She bought an old house, took in a cat with unusual markings, and made herself a home.

Two years later, she took in a man, too.

Before taking off his pants, Cheng Xi asked with feigned nonchalance, “What’s your name?”

“Shen Yi.”

Cheng Xi settled into a life where he did the domestic chores and she went to work. She worked during the day, then came home at night to pet the cat, and, oh yes, the man she’d taken in.

Her home began to feel more like home.

Cheng Xi used to stare out the window at the tree and daydream. Now she still liked to daydream, only Shen Yi sat by the window, close to the tree.

“You’re so handsome.” Cheng Xi stared at him, and accidentally let her secret slip.

“What’s so handsome?” Shen Yi asked. He watched as two blushes spread across Cheng Xi’s face, like the orange glow of the sunset, impossible to look away from.

In a panic, Cheng Xi pointed at the tree. “I meant this tree!”

Neither of them had ever imagined what parting would look like. One never brought it up, and the other never said a word. But Cheng Xi had known from the beginning that he would leave, and Shen Yi had never promised to stay.

That night, Cheng Xi held Mimi and couldn’t sleep.

She tried to convince herself that he was a giant fish from the sea and she was a little fish from the river; he had ambitions as vast as the sky, while she loved the simple comforts of everyday life. They had never been meant for the same path.

When Cheng Xi saw Shen Yi again, she was even more carefree than before. “I never refuse what fate has in store. This city is so big, and yet we still managed to meet. It really must be fate.”

Shen Yi smiled without replying. By then, Shen Yi was no longer called Shen Yi.

Cheng Yi, Cheng Yi.

Just like his true self