Fisherman's Fire

1.

At dusk, in a narrow old alley,

Bian Jin came face-to-face with three people who had just left the Chu residence.

The man walking in the middle wore a black baseball cap and a simple white T-shirt. The instant he raised his eyes, it was as if the evening sky's countless rosy clouds were reflected in them. The scene was so beautiful that she couldn't help but lose herself in it.

That evening,

Bian Jin recalled that moment of heart-fluttering attraction as she gazed at the stars scattered across the dark night sky outside her window, which seemed just like his light-brown eyes.

The girl rested her cheek on one hand and gave a faint, amused smile:

"The visual feast was so overwhelming that even that one moment of excitement has kept me hooked ever since."

2.

The bright office was filled with sunlight streaming unhindered through the glass wall to one side.

Curled up in her office chair, Bian Jin stared at the design drawings spread across her desk, her brows tightly knit as she habitually chewed on her pen cap.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in."

The next moment, the wooden door was pushed open from the outside.

A tall, slim man in a blue shirt followed the assistant inside. His eyes held a faint smile and shone like stars.

Bian Jin caught sight of him by chance and froze.

Her heart raced wildly in her chest. A few thoughts floated through her mind like scrolling comments:

"The second time."

"This must be what they call a girl's heart fluttering."

3.

Following the directions, she arrived at her destination. She rang the doorbell and waited almost a minute before the door opened from within.

A man in a silver-gray satin changshan sat on the sofa facing the entrance, playing with the bottom of a folding fan in one hand.

When he saw her come in, he tossed the fan aside and rose to greet her.

His movements were crisp and graceful, effortless and elegant.

Bian Jin instinctively looked away. At that instant, the taut nerves of her self-control snapped completely, marking the start of her fall:

"So that's how it is: when you fall for someone, it happens either zero times or countless times."

4.

At a gathering,

when they were alone, the man inadvertently backed her up against a wall. He lowered his head and looked into her eyes. His expression was stern, but nervousness seeped from his gaze, and a hint of unspoken irritation lingered between his brows.

His lowered voice carried a trace of anger:

"Still avoiding me?"

Bian Jin instinctively looked away. "No."

Hearing the vagueness in her evasive reply, Zhang Yunlei gave a low, knowing chuckle. "Finally figured it out?"

At that,

Bian Jin turned and stared straight into his eyes, a bashful irritation coloring her expression. "Are you ever going to stop?"

The space around them suddenly seemed much emptier. The man in her sight turned and walked away, as calm and carefree as he was whenever he left after a performance.

Only his clear voice, brimming with laughter, remained by her ear:

"Stop? How could we ever be over?"

Theme: So that's how it is: when you fall for someone, it happens either zero times or countless times