Xu Baimei had a lovely voice. Xu Changqing had always suspected this was the only reason she could tolerate the girl's endless, chirpy chatter back when they were young.
Her hands were full of things from the roast duck restaurant, making it inconvenient to continue browsing Dashilan. It was midsummer, so the days were long; though it was already past five, the sky was still bright.
Xu Changqing took a detour through the hutongs. Whenever she found herself alone around a corner in a deserted alley, she would stow the bags of takeout roast duck and side dishes into Changqing Garden.
Just as she circled back to the Dashilan commercial street with her hands now empty, intending to wander around some more, she heard a familiar voice amidst the sea of Beijing accents.
Xu Changqing subconsciously furrowed her brow before looking in the direction of the familiar shout. Unsurprisingly, standing in front of a pharmacy was someone she had no desire to see.
