Putting Yourself in an Envelope

A black Mercedes-Benz drove slowly down the street ahead, pausing briefly at the mouth of an alley as if blocked by something. Its sleek, magnificent black body gleamed in the setting sun, while the pitch-black windows shut out the view from outside, making it impossible to see within.

Inside the backseat window, Shen Mo, who had turned her head inadvertently, froze in place. She stared dazedly at the familiar yet unfamiliar boy and girl holding hands as they walked out of the alley, bathed in the twilight halo.

The hazy interplay of light and shadow blurred her vision, making the scene before her look like a fleeting glimpse from a dream.

Only the people were different.

The man-powered tricycle blocking the way moved aside, and Shen Chengli restarted the car. Shu Mei was chatting with her husband when she caught a glimpse of her daughter in the backseat lying down. She turned back and asked with concern, "Momo, what's wrong?"

"A little sleepy."

Shen Mo slumped in the backseat, her face indistinct, and her voice muffled, seemingly still carrying a nasal tone.

Shu Mei asked, "Is the air conditioning too cold?"

Shen Mo replied in a muffled voice, "No, never mind me."

Shu Mei turned the air conditioning up a bit higher and said with amusement, "You only finished your exams this morning. Your dad and I both suggested coming tomorrow, but you insisted on coming today, and you even dressed like this. Now that we're here and almost home, why are you unhappy again?"

"I'm not unhappy."

"You're still not unhappy? As your mother, how could I not know whether you're happy or not?"

Shen Mo stopped talking.

Shu Mei added, "It's all your father's fault; he managed to take a wrong turn while driving."

Both the county town and the city were located to the east of the town. Normally, they should have turned left onto the provincial highway north of the town to enter directly, which would lead straight to the homes of Shen Baoguo and Shen Chengyan. However, just now at the intersection, Shen Chengli had forgotten to turn and driven past it, which was why they ended up circling around here. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have needed to pass through this area at all.

Until the car stopped in front of Shen Baoguo's house, Shen Mo remained motionless, slumped in the backseat. Although Shen Chengli and Shu Mei found it a bit strange, they assumed she had fallen asleep and didn't call out to her.

The car stopped in front of the door, and Shen Mo seemed to sense it, shifting her body and sitting up. Shu Mei said, "We've arrived. Get out first."

"Okay," Shen Mo nodded and gave a soft reply.

The courtyard gate was unlocked. Shu Mei got out of the car first, opened the gate, and turned to see her daughter also getting out, looking rather glum. Just as she was about to speak, her gaze paused. She walked over, rubbed Shen Mo's head, and said with a soft smile, "Why were you crying?"

"I wasn't!"

Shen Mo lifted her small face, flashed a brilliant smile, and then said with a hint of embarrassment, "I must have been too sleepy just now and rubbed my eyes red."

Shu Mei was about to say more when Shen Baoguo and Peng Shouyu came out from the house to welcome them. Shen Mo's smile grew even brighter as she trotted over, calling out cheerfully, "Grandpa, Grandma, I'm back!"

————

"Still not letting go?"

On the street rendered golden by the setting sun, Wang Ke noticed that Fang Chang'an was still holding her hand tightly. Fearing someone might see and tell his mother, she said in a shy, quiet voice.

"Oh, I forgot."

Fang Chang'an feigned amnesia with a righteous air, gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and then reluctantly let go.

While Wang Ke had been at a loss for words when he held her hand, she was equally at a loss for where to put her hand now that he had released it, feeling that no placement was quite right. She stole a sideways glance at Fang Chang'an, only to find him looking right back at her. Her face turned red, and she quickly averted her gaze.

Knowing she was shy, Fang Chang'an let the matter drop and changed the subject. "Shen Mo should be back soon."

"Mm."

Wang Ke gave a soft hum, then shot him a sideways glare and murmured, "You're looking forward to her coming back that much?"

"Of course."

Fang Chang'an answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "That way it proves I really didn't forget her just because we haven't seen each other for two years, and by the same token, even if we aren't in the same high school or the same class, I won't forget you just because I can't see you every day."

Wang Ke felt something was a bit off about this. Although she didn't have time to ponder it deeply, she felt somewhat unhappy inside and pouted without speaking.

Fang Chang'an asked again, "Don't you want to see her?"

"No, I do."

Although Wang Ke and Shen Mo hadn't exchanged letters as frequently as Fang Chang'an and Shen Mo over the past two years, Fang Chang'an would sometimes show her letters when Shen Mo mentioned her. She had also peeked at some on her own, including writing a few letters to each other separately. She had even met Shen Mo once during the summer vacation of the previous year, though they hadn't told Fang Chang'an. There was still a lot of affection between them.

"I want to see her too, but isn't she coming back tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

Fang Chang'an was stunned. "Didn't she say after filling out the college application choices?"

Wang Ke then realized she had let slip a secret and hurriedly tried to patch it up. "Then I must have remembered wrong. It must be after filling out the choices."

"Still trying to trick me?"

Fang Chang'an turned to look at her. "Tell the truth, have the two of you been keeping in touch behind my back?"

"What do you mean behind your back?"

Because they had just been holding hands, Wang Ke was still a bit shy, but she finally managed to shift her attention away from the hand-holding incident. She muttered with dissatisfaction, "Our keeping in touch is entirely open and aboveboard."

"She told you she's coming tomorrow?"

"Mm."

Wang Ke hesitated for a moment before confessing, "She purposely didn't tell you because she wanted to give you a surprise."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"I accidentally let it slip."

Perhaps because they had just held hands, their relationship had progressed to another level. As the young girl spoke with a mix of resentment and shyness, there was a hint of coquettishness to her tone. "But when you see Shen Mo tomorrow, you aren't allowed to say you knew in advance, or she'll definitely blame me."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely act with flawless perfection."

"Shen Mo is back, are you very happy?"

"Aren't you happy too?"

Wang Ke shot him a sideways glance and gave a light hump. "Not as happy as you."

"You're not me, how do you know I'm happier than you?"

"You're not me, how do you know I don't know you're happier than me?"

"Hey, you've learned to talk back, haven't you?"

Fang Chang'an made a motion to tap her head. The young girl opened her bright eyes, raised her pretty face to look at him, with an expression that seemed to say, "Hit me if you dare."

Fang Chang'an smiled and said, "What's this? You think I can't bear to do it?"

Wang Ke's face flushed red again from his phrasing. She lifted her small face and remained silent. Fang Chang'an smiled, reached out, and pinched her cheek. The young girl hadn't expected him to dare touch her again, and blushing furiously, she quickly pulled away. She whispered in explanation, "There are too many people on the street... what if Auntie hears..."

She meant she was afraid someone would see and tell Cong Rong.

"It's fine even if my mom knows. At worst, I'll just tell her the truth."

Fang Chang'an wasn't afraid of his mother knowing, but he himself had acted on impulse. Holding hands, touching cheeks, or even engaging in more intimate actions—he wouldn't mind any of it, but he was afraid Wang Ke would demand to officially define their relationship, which would be rather troublesome. Therefore, he deliberately said this, firstly to coax her and show his sincerity, and secondly, knowing she had a thin skin, he figured she would surely refuse once he put it that way.

"No..."

True to form, Wang Ke grew shy. Fearing he would misunderstand, she cast a quick glance at him and whispered in explanation, "We're still young. If we tell Auntie now, she definitely won't agree."

Sensing something amiss with her words and not daring to answer too directly, Fang Chang'an vaguely replied, "Then let's wait. Our primary focus should still be on our studies. No matter what happens, let's wait until we're in university. That's the responsible way for both of us."

"Mm."

Wang Ke turned to look at Fang Chang'an. The setting sun cast its lingering glow across her bright and moving profile, making her entire body seem bathed in a golden halo. Her eyes were shimmering like water, and she nodded vigorously, her joy overflowing and evident to all.

When they reached the shoe store, Wang Cheng and the other hadn't arrived yet, so Wang Ke had no choice but to wait there. Having just held hands with Fang Chang'an, she inevitably felt a bit guilty upon seeing Cong Rong. Fortunately, they merely made casual small talk, and she managed not to give herself away.

"Could there really be something going on between them?"

Cong Rong was also inwardly harboring suspicions. She was naturally observant, and Wang Ke was not someone with a particularly strong psychological resilience; she blushed just by meeting Fang Chang'an's eyes, and her guilty look was practically glaring. How could Cong Rong possibly miss it?

It was just that Cong Rong hid it better. Wang Ke didn't realize that Cong Rong had noticed, and thus thought she hadn't exposed herself at all.

Fairly speaking, Cong Rong really liked Wang Ke—she was well-behaved, sensible, good-looking, and had excellent grades. What more could anyone want in a daughter-in-law?

However, both of them were far too young, having just graduated from junior high school. Moreover, her son was going to the municipal No. 1 High School. Although Wang Ke's grades were good, getting into No. 1 High School still seemed a bit difficult... They couldn't possibly start a long-distance relationship right in high school, could they?

"Hey, look at what those two are wearing, don't they look pretty?"

To do her part for the countless exam-takers, the shoe store had specially launched a 30% discount promotion, offering bargains to anyone presenting an exam admission ticket. Having just finished the exams today, business in the shop was quite good; even though the sun was setting, there were still people trying on shoes inside.

Wang Ke looked at the two girls trying on shoes and spoke quietly to Fang Chang'an, keeping her voice at a volume just loud enough for them to hear.

The two girls were already quite satisfied, and upon hearing this, they looked at each other and said, "Then I'll take this pair."

"Me too, I'll take this pair."

They then came over together to pay. Both pairs of shoes were priced at 19.9, and with the 30% discount, they came to 13.93. Logically speaking, it should have been rounded to 14, but Cong Rong, having tasted the benefits of .9 pricing, rounded it down to 13.9 instead. She gave the two girls their change, stamped their loyalty cards, and noticing that one of the girls already had four stamps on her card, she smiled and said, "If you buy again next time, you can get a pair free."

The customer was a regular buyer of shoes here and had been waiting precisely for the free pair. Hearing this, she beamed and said, "Right, I'll come back to buy again next time."

"If they don't fit or if there are any quality issues, you can bring them back to exchange."

"Okay, goodbye, Auntie."

"Goodbye."

Cong Rong watched the two girls leave, then glanced at Wang Ke and smiled. "Smooth talker."

"I was just telling the truth."

Wang Ke felt a bit shy. Fearing Cong Rong would keep praising her, she hurriedly changed the subject. "I heard from Fang Chang'an that you're going to open a branch store. Is that true?"

The idea of a branch store was merely a suggestion put forward by Fang Chang'an; neither Cong Rong nor Fang Lujun quite agreed with it. Not expecting him to have already bragged about it to a young girl, Cong Rong couldn't bear to let her son lose face, so she vaguely replied, "We're still considering it, nothing is finalized yet."

Wang Ke said, "I think opening a branch store is a good idea too. Lots of students have to walk a long way just to buy shoes at your place. If there could be one closer by, business would definitely be even better."

Cong Rong and Fang Lujun were the type to be easily content with modest wealth, never aspiring to great riches. Opening the shoe store two years ago had already been an extreme gamble in their eyes, and now that they had won that bet, they simply wanted to live out their days in peace and stability. Yet they were saddled with such a good son who was constantly cracking a whip behind them, urging his parents to keep moving forward.

Now it seemed the son wouldn't rest, and the future daughter-in-law had pretty much the same disposition...

Cong Rong muttered inwardly while keeping a calm expression on her face. She nodded and sighed, "We'll see. We'll think about it more."

Just as they were talking, the sound of bicycle bells came from outside, and Wang Cheng's voice shouted, "Fang Chang'an, Wang Ke..."

Seeing that people had arrived, Wang Ke first glanced at Fang Chang'an with a lingering look of reluctance, but she stood up anyway and said to Cong Rong, "Auntie, I'm heading home then."

"Alright, take it slow on the road and be careful."

"Okay."

Fang Chang'an followed her out of the store. Wang Ke got on her bicycle, waved at him without a word, and Fang Chang'an smiled and waved back, saying, "Off you go."

"Mm."

Wang Ke gave a soft hum and rode away on her bicycle. After pedaling a short distance, she turned back to look, and Fang Chang'an smiled and waved again. A radiant smile bloomed on her face, but her bicycle suddenly veered to one side. She hurriedly concentrated on steering, wobbling until she stabilized. Figuring Fang Chang'an was bound to laugh at her, she didn't look back again, pedaling straight ahead for a long way before sneakily glancing back once more.

Under the twilight glow, Fang Chang'an stood outside the store entrance and waved from afar.

Enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, Fang Chang'an slept in the next day and didn't get up until mealtime. Fang Changming and Fang Yanran had been on vacation for the past few days and had started school today. Seeing their older brother able to sleep in, they felt extremely unbalanced. One chimed in, "Big brother is getting lazier!" and the other echoed, "That's right, that's right!"

"When you two finish your senior high school entrance exams, you can sleep in too!"

Cong Rong scolded them irritably. "Eat your meals quickly, and go to class when you're done."

After finishing breakfast, Fang Chang'an walked alone toward Shen Chengyan's house. As he approached the turn in the alley, he saw a black Mercedes-Benz driving out, its right turn signal blinking as it headed north.

Fang Chang'an found it vaguely familiar, faintly recalling that it seemed to be the exact same car he had seen yesterday afternoon when walking out of the alley with Wang Ke. In this day and age, BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes were rare sights in the town; although he hadn't paid much attention at the time, he retained some impression of it.

Without thinking much further, Fang Chang'an turned into the alley and found Shen Chengyan's house, where both Shen Chengyan and Cheng Mengfei were sitting inside.

Before he could even greet them, Shen Chengyan slapped his thigh upon seeing him enter and said, "You're late! Momo just left with her parents!"

"When did she get here?"

Fang Chang'an was stunned. Didn't they say she was coming today? What time was it, why was she already leaving?

"She arrived yesterday evening. Originally she said she was going to stay a few days, but for some reason, she suddenly refused to stay. Last night she made a fuss about going back, stayed the night, and left this morning right after breakfast."

Over the past two years, Fang Chang'an and Shen Mo had maintained close contact, causing both Shen Chengyan and Cheng Mengfei some quiet suspicion. But two years had passed, and the two kids hadn't even laid eyes on each other once during that time, so naturally the couple no longer suspected them of puppy love.

Still, having watched them grow up together, and knowing the two kids had always been close—with a high probability of attending the same high school—Shen Chengyan still hoped the two of them would maintain a good relationship and not grow distant just because of a two-year separation.

"Oh."

Fang Chang'an felt as though he had realized something, yet could not quite piece it together, nor did he know what to say. He simply sat down on the sofa first.

"That child Momo, she's about to start high school and still hasn't grown up."

Seeing that he seemed somewhat unhappy, Cheng Mengfei smiled and brought up an amusing anecdote about Shen Mo to comfort him. "You have no idea, when she came back yesterday, in this scorching weather, she was still wearing a trench coat—tan-colored with a plaid pattern. She looked like she was wrapped up in an envelope..."

Hearing this, Fang Chang'an felt a jolt in his chest, as if a streak of lightning had torn through the fog, and he finally grasped the key point.

For Shen Mo to dress like that must have been because of what he wrote in his very last letter, telling her to "mail yourself over." That was probably the surprise Wang Ke had mentioned.

In such blistering heat, she had gone to considerable lengths and spared no effort. So why had she left unannounced?

He recalled walking out of the alley holding Wang Ke's hand yesterday, as well as the Mercedes-Benz he had seen upon arriving just now. Instantly, a sense of guilt washed over him, and he asked cautiously, "When I was coming over just now, I happened to see a Mercedes-Benz drive by with two sixes at the end of the license plate. Is that Shen Mo's family car?"

Shen Chengyan said, "It should be."

Cheng Mengfei also smiled and said, "You ran into it? Did you speak to them?"

"Too far away."

Inwardly, Fang Chang'an felt bitter, both depressed and heartbroken. Shen Mo had rushed over full of excitement, only to witness that scene before even reaching her destination—she had probably cried in secret for who knows how long.

And to make matters worse, other people were already crossing oceans hand-in-hand, while he hadn't even stepped onto the boat yet! He had merely held a hand, and the whole ship had capsized just like that?