Ye Minglang had flown all the way from the UK, bringing nothing with him but himself and a bouquet of flowers he'd picked up on the way from the airport. Cheng Yi could hardly believe someone could be so wilful. She gave up all protest and, the next day, dragged him out to buy some clean clothes.
Ye Minglang had worked briefly in Hong Kong before, but he'd never been to Z City, just a two-hour drive from Hong Kong. Everything fascinated him. As an American-born Chinese, he'd always longed to experience the legendary sea of bicycles in China. However, last night's journey from the airport had given him a cold dose of reality—he was greeted not by a flood of bicycles, but by a never-ending procession of cars, which welcomed him with a traffic jam that lasted over an hour on the way to the city centre.
Last night, Ye Minglang had been tempted to drag Cheng Yi out of the city, but today, as they passed through the old streets on their way to the shopping centre, his curiosity was piqued by the arcade buildings blending Lingnan and Nanyang styles, the local dialect that reminded him of Chinatown, and the Cantonese opera tunes wafting from the alleyways.
After they bought some clothes at a century-old shop, Cheng Yi took him next door to a traditional dessert shop for a bowl of double-skin milk. They then stood by a street stall, enjoying skewers of braised beef offal and radish. By the time they were done, Ye Minglang had made up his mind—he wasn't going anywhere.
The fact that Ye Minglang planned to stay was a serious problem.
Cheng Yi, now his tour guide, suddenly found herself very busy, being dragged around the city by him, visiting every attraction. From the rich Lingnan culture to the city's latest landmarks, and sampling every culinary delight the city had to offer, they explored it all. In those few days, Cheng Yi reacquainted with the city that had raised her.
Finally, Ye Minglang decided that he would set up an office here—meaning not just for a short stay, but he intended to stay long-term, which left Cheng Yi with a bit of a headache.
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"Yi, I've heard this university is quite famous. Shall we have a look?"
（The subtleties of the Chinese language can be profound; Cheng Yi didn't expect Minglang, who had just begun to speak Chinese fluently, to understand the nuanced difference between "shall we" and "let's." So, when he walked straight onto the campus, Cheng Yi wasn't surprised at all and just followed him.)
Sitting on a bench beside the law school at Z University,
They ended up sitting on a bench beside the law school at Z University, surrounded by students coming and going.
For three years, she had come here nearly every day. There was no need to notify him in advance; outside of class or mealtimes, he could always be found in the library. Whenever she had no classes, she would go there to spend time with him, and they'd eat together in the canteen.
Looking back now, it seemed unbelievable,how her whole life had once revolved around him, never once considering what she could do on her own.
For someone as ordinary as her— how could she not have known that even companionship demanded its own kind of worth?
He was dazzling, surrounded by admiring girls at University. Some were talented and beautiful, others came from wealthy families, and some had both—like Hu Yali.
"You really think you're good enough for him?"
She'd always known she wasn't good enough for him.
Not from talent, not from background, she had to put in extra effort just to keep up with him.
But one day, it hit her like a cold slap:
Some things don't bend to effort.
And some people, no matter how hard you chase them, were never meant to stay.
She had given it her all and only managed to get into a Lower-ranked university near his. Naive as she was, she spent the entire summer feeling joyful. The two universities were so close, she could be with him every day. She even dreamed that they would graduate, work hard together, and eventually settle down and start a family.
But one day, that dream came crashing down, and she became an obstacle in his life.
And so, the decision he had to make eventually fell upon her.
She recalled what Aunt Mei had said:
"Yi, you can't hold my son back."
Perhaps the domestic life she had yearned for—the simple days of cooking and chores—had also dampened his ambitions, leading to his eventual outburst.
"This is real life, not some fairy tale. You think life is just about dinner plans and outfits?"
"What was the point of working so hard all these years—just to end up here?"
"I didn't study law all these years just to rot away in some tiny office, churning out contracts. Do you know how many more contracts we'd have to draft just to afford a place of our own?"
"I have to get out of here. I need a bigger stage."