“Really? I didn’t want to go at first. He waited downstairs at my house for a long time.”
“Oh…”
The girls giggled ambiguously, and Lizi’s face showed a satisfied joy.

Looking at their beautiful clothes and their privileged backgrounds, Qianye couldn’t help but feel jealous. The teenage girls were beginning to mature, their figures becoming more graceful. She had often wondered, if Lizi’s clothes were on her, would she look as beautiful?

On a Saturday holiday, Qianye went alone to the city’s department store. It was the first time she had seen so many beautiful clothes, and they were not cheap. She had never had anything for herself openly. She always tried to save as much as she could because she wanted to bring as little burden as possible to her grandfather.

Qianye’s hand brushed against a dark blue knitted dress. The hem of the skirt had exquisite lace patterns, both restrained and elegant without being dull. Her heart raced. “Miss, if you like it, you can try it on.” Qianye blushed and entered the fitting room.

When she came out, she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was tailored to fit at the waist, accentuating her slim figure. Qianye wasn’t exceptionally stunning in appearance, but after dressing up, she looked quite charming. At that moment, she felt like the most beautiful version of herself she had ever seen in her life.

“Miss, this dress suits you perfectly. It’s on sale today—20% off,” the saleswoman said with a pleasant smile. Qianye lowered her head, glanced one last time at the person in the mirror, and went back to the fitting room to change into her old, faded shirt. She quickly escaped from the store.

It felt like a dream. Qianye gazed at the autumn clouds drifting like cotton, trying to calm her heart. It wasn’t the right time yet; what she wanted wasn’t just this. It would come eventually.

Later, Chiba often reflected that the hunger for clothes she had experienced in her youth would extend throughout a woman’s life. Once she had the means, she would pursue it even more relentlessly.

She had to work harder than anyone else to study, get into the best high school, and then a prestigious university. When the girls around her talked about the boys they liked, she never showed any interest. Perhaps it was life that had made her rational and mature earlier than others. The boys at the private middle school were beneath her consideration—mostly they were shallow, from wealthy families, but knowing nothing about life.

The kind of love she imagined in her heart was like Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü’s—a love that, even after sixteen bustling, noisy years in the world, never extinguished its devotion. No matter what happened around them, they remained each other’s most peaceful and immovable corner.

Her grandfather grew old and passed away, leaving this world. Holding her grandfather’s cold hand, the last relative in her life was gone. Qianye’s eyes were dry; true sorrow was without tears. She felt the coldness around her, like a thousand-year-old frozen pond. Looking out the window at the crowds of people passing by, the entire world was warm, but she couldn’t feel any of it.

Like a puppet, Qianye was taken to Uncle Zhao Qidong’s home and registered for day school. She began to live with their family of three.

Zhao Qidong was the dean of a local university, and Zhou Wen was a university professor. Coming from an intellectual family, they treated Qianye fairly well. But she understood that some things had nothing to do with education or manners. It was like when guests first arrived, the host was enthusiastic and attentive, but after a while, they became weary.

At first, Qianye was terrifyingly silent. If no one asked her, she wouldn’t speak. Later, as Qianye gradually recovered from the grief of losing her grandfather, she tried to get Zhao Nanzhuo’s parents to accept her from the heart.