Chapter 19 – Parting is for a Better Reunion

Xie Qian left the room for Shi Zhen and booked another one next door for himself.

The entire night, neither of them disturbed the other.

The next morning, Shi Zhen woke up early. Holding her phone, she pulled out the room card and went downstairs.

It had to be said, the hotel’s location was excellent—on the right was a subway station, on the left the central plaza, and behind it was a decent-sized morning market.

At this time, the sun had just risen, and the morning light hitting her face made Shi Zhen squint slightly.

The market was already bustling with people, especially elderly grandpas and grandmas. The white puffs of breath they exhaled mingled in the cold air, forming a woven picture.

The small vendors wore thick, warm hats and were bundled up like zongzi.

Shouts, price inquiries, and bargaining mixed together into a lively scene.

Xie-ge would definitely like this, Shi Zhen thought, but it was a pity—he was leaving soon.

Well, after all, the coldest winter couldn’t stop a traveler’s steps, nor could it prevent a child from leaving home.

After buying soy milk, fried dough sticks, and tofu pudding, Shi Zhen went to the supermarket and bought two packs of Zhenzhen beverages, a bottle of Niulan Mountain liquor, and two bottles of mineral water.

Her hands were already full, but she was still thinking about getting Xie Qian something special from the Northeast to try.

When she reached the market entrance, she turned around and walked back.

She went to a nearby vendor selling frozen goods and bought a few frozen pears and frozen persimmons.

As she took her purchases, her eyes were drawn to a nearby stall.

It was a stall selling handmade crafts, filled with all kinds of adorable dolls and keychains.

One of the keychains was crocheted to look like a canned Zhenzhen drink bottle, with two small pearls hanging from it.

Shi Zhen couldn’t help but pick it up and look at it again and again.

The stall owner was a middle-aged woman wearing a sunflower fisherman hat she had knitted herself. It seemed she hadn’t officially opened for business yet.

Seeing that Shi Zhen was interested, she immediately praised her own goods. “Pretty girl, buy one! All handmade. Take a look and see which one you like.”

Shi Zhen shook the keychain in her hand and asked, “Sis, how much is this one?”

The woman beamed and said, “You’ve got a good eye, sweet girl. This one’s thirty yuan, but since you’re so sweet, I’ll give you a five yuan discount. Just twenty-five. Take it if you like it.”

Though it felt a bit pricey, Shi Zhen didn’t hesitate and paid for it promptly.

The woman smiled even more brightly and began promoting the other keychains. “Sweet girl, look at this little pig, little bunny. These sell really well. Want another?”

Shi Zhen waved her hand to decline. “I’ve already got quite a few at home. I’ll just take this one for now—maybe next time.”

With that, she turned and carried all her bags back to the hotel.

On the way back, Shi Zhen kept wondering—what if Xie Qian wasn’t awake yet? Should she wake him up for breakfast?

It didn’t seem nice to disturb someone’s sleep, but soy milk and fried dough sticks really didn’t taste good when cold!

She mulled over it all the way until she reached the floor and saw Xie Qian standing at the door, waiting for who knew how long. Only then did she feel relieved.

She raised the bags in her hands and smiled. “Xie-ge, time for breakfast.”

There was still a bit of worry left on Xie Qian’s face. He took the bags from Shi Zhen and said, “You scared me. I knocked for ages and you didn’t open. Thought you’d fainted inside or something.”

Shi Zhen laughed awkwardly and quickly opened the door. “Come on in.”

Once inside, she piled everything onto the dining table and said proudly, “Look, I bought so much delicious stuff. This should make up for yesterday, right?”

Xie Qian didn’t dare get annoyed. He obediently sat down and began eating. While eating, he praised her, “Tofu pudding should definitely be salty. Authentic!”

Seeing him enjoy the food made Shi Zhen happy too. She broke off half a fried dough stick and ate slowly.

“Xie-ge, how about I order some takeout for later and we have a drink together?” She pointed to the bottle of Niulanshan on the table. “I’ll drink that, and since you have a flight tonight, you can just use mineral water as a substitute.”

Hearing that, Xie Qian immediately objected. “A drink’s fine, but mineral water? Come on, are you looking down on me?”

“But you’ve got a flight to catch…”

“I can hold my liquor. I won’t get drunk and cause trouble to the point I get denied boarding,” Xie Qian said firmly.

“All right then.”

If he was willing, all the better. Drinking alone would’ve been dull anyway.

After breakfast, the two agreed to have hotpot for lunch as a farewell meal for Xie Qian.

“I’m going back to handle some work. I’ll be here at noon,” said Xie Qian.

Shi Zhen nodded. “Okay. But don’t you dare order food yourself—we agreed it’s on me!”

Xie Qian gave a wry smile. “Wouldn’t dare.”

After he left, Shi Zhen lay on the bed and refined her script, going through the plot from beginning to end.

At 12:30 p.m., the delivery guy set everything up and even helped install the two small pots. “You ordered two mini pots, plus a complimentary plate of dumplings. One tomato broth, one spicy broth. Please check if everything’s in order.”

Xie Qian couldn’t handle spicy food, so they ordered a tomato broth.

Thinking of that made Shi Zhen want to laugh. A big, burly man who couldn’t eat spicy food—felt like she’d discovered some kind of important secret.

She carefully checked everything. “Looks good, thank you.”

“Okay, I’ll leave then. After you’re done, you can call us, and we’ll come collect the equipment.”

By the time Xie Qian arrived, the pot was already bubbling with steam.

He pulled out a chair and sat down. Next to the plates and dishes, the wine glasses were already filled.

He leaned down and took a sniff. The smell of alcohol instantly filled his nose.

Xie Qian had drunk a lot of liquor in his life, mostly collectible Maotai-style spirits—the kind that got richer with age.

Back in middle school at Pingshan, Lan Zezhong hadn’t restricted him from making friends. He’d once gone out with some boys to a street food stall.

They ordered two bottles of a certain brand of cheap baijiu. It was, frankly, the worst liquor he’d ever had—terrible taste.

Since then, he’d avoided cheap alcohol, afraid of encountering another like that.

While reminiscing, his glass was tapped by another.

Shi Zhen raised her glass and downed it in one go. “Xie-ge, this one’s for you. Thanks for taking care of me these past few days. Also, I want to apologize for yesterday. I’m drinking this one; you can do as you like.”

Xie Qian was honestly surprised by the girl’s drinking ability. As a half-Northeasterner himself, he couldn’t back down. “You’ve got a strong tolerance. I’ll drink this too—as an apology for yesterday. I was too impulsive.”

He lifted his glass with one hand and also drank it in one gulp.

The taste was clean, not harsh on the throat. For the price, it was actually quite good.

After drinking, both of them put down their glasses and began adding food to the pot.

Xie Qian noticed Shi Zhen added a lot of shrimp paste. He used a spoon to scrape the whole plate into her pot. “You like this stuff?”

“Xie-ge, don’t give me all of it! You haven’t eaten yet,” said Shi Zhen.

“It’s fine. I eat everything, not picky.”

The steaming hotpot made both of them feel warm all over.

The rising steam floated upward like an invisible wall, hiding their faces.

Halfway through the meal, Shi Zhen took out the keychain she had bought from the stall.

She held it in her fist and raised it in front of Xie Qian.

When he looked up in confusion, she opened her hand. The red little can dangled slightly in front of him.

“A parting gift. Do you like it?” Shi Zhen asked.

Xie Qian paused, then slowly reached out to take the keychain. He squinted at the words on it and murmured after a moment, “Zhenzhen.”

“Yep,” Shi Zhen replied playfully.

Xie Qian smiled, but inside he couldn’t quite describe the feeling. He had experienced many goodbyes.

Leaving behind a painful adolescence had made him happy. Saying goodbye to close family had brought pain. Life was always about facing the next meeting through each farewell.

But none had ever left this kind of bitterness in his heart.

Why did it feel so bitter this time? Probably because after this parting, he and Shi Zhen would never meet again.

After all, their lives were never meant to intersect. Shi Zhen had her own journey to take, and he had his mission.

The Xie family was his sweet burden. For the rest of his life, he would probably remain in Shulin.

“Xie-ge, when I first entered college, I excitedly started a microfilm shooting group.”

Before Xie Qian could respond, Shi Zhen spoke up.

She spoke calmly about her past experiences, and Xie Qian listened attentively.

“At our first team dinner, a sophomore senior girl was thrilled to find out one of the guys in the group had actually been her online friend for two years.”

“Back then, I was really surprised. We were clearly at the same school, so close to each other—how could we still be just online friends after two years?”

“Later, after going through some things, I gradually understood. We had grown up, we each had our own lives, and finding time to meet an online friend became the very last thing on the to-do list.”

“So, I’m really grateful that you came to meet me—your online friend.”

After saying this, Shizhen poured herself a glass of liquor. “Because of you, my life will always have this exciting chapter.”

She raised her glass, gave Xie Qian a small nod, and then tilted her head back and drank the entire glass in one go.

Xie Qian was someone who felt deeply, and just a few words from Shizhen were enough to make his eyes redden.

He was silent for a while, as if he had suddenly thought of something, and then brought up a new topic: “Let’s not talk about that. Didn’t you invite me yesterday to be your very first audience member? I wonder if that still counts.”

Hearing this, Shizhen’s eyes lit up. “You want to watch it now? I’ll go grab my laptop!”

The laptop was in the bedroom, and Shizhen quickly brought it out.

“The screen is a bit small—how about projecting it onto the TV?” Xie Qian suggested.

Shizhen gave him a thumbs-up. “Great idea.”

With that, the two of them moved the liquor bottle and small hot pot over to the coffee table and projected the contents of the Word document onto the TV screen. Shizhen acted like a tour guide leading visitors, chattering non-stop as she explained her creative process.

“Brother Xie, can you guess why they won’t admit they know each other?”

“This part—I planned to bury a hint. Later, when the male lead sees this thing, it’ll remind him of the female lead.”

“This side character—she’s no random extra. She’s actually really impressive. You’ll see later.”

“Isn’t he scummy? At this point, the male lead is a total jerk!”

“Hmph, just reading it makes me angry. Looks like I really nailed his character design.”

…

Xie Qian responded to Shizhen here and there while they drank through almost the entire bottle of baijiu, leaving only the bottom.

By the time they got to the ending, it was already getting dark. Xie Qian had been completely drawn into the story.

“Do they end up together in the end?” he asked.

Shizhen pretended to be mysterious. “What do you think?”

Xie Qian thought for a moment and said, “I don’t think so. If I were the female lead, I definitely wouldn’t forgive that guy.”

Shizhen raised her eyebrows. Looks like Brother Xie is really serious when it comes to feelings—he doesn’t tolerate a single grain of sand in his eyes.

“Everyone sees things differently,” Shizhen replied.

Xie Qian picked up a meatball and, after finishing it, said, “How about you give me the script? I promise I’ll get it filmed.”

The Xie family had connections in the entertainment industry too, just not as their main business.

“No way!” Shizhen refused without hesitation. “I want to get it submitted on my own. I can’t rely on you for everything, Brother Xie.”

So what if you rely on me for everything?

That sentence suddenly popped into Xie Qian’s mind, and it even startled him a bit.

But he had long since gotten used to his own odd thoughts and quickly returned to normal.

Although Shizhen’s script progressed a bit slowly, the emotions were rich and well-developed. It fit market trends well and likely wouldn’t get rejected.

With that in mind, Xie Qian didn’t press her further.

He had booked an 8:00 PM flight, and it was about time to head to the airport.

Since he came alone, there wasn’t much to take back. Holding just his phone, he said his goodbyes to Shizhen.

Shizhen called him back, then bundled him up in a scarf, gloves, and earmuffs without missing a single item.

Then she stuffed the drinks and frozen pears she had bought into his hands. “These are all local specialties. You can’t get them in Shulin. Take them with you.”

She pointed at Xie Qian’s coat on the sofa. “I’ll mail this coat back to you tomorrow.”

Xie Qian wanted to refuse, but when he saw the expectant look in Shizhen’s eyes, he just couldn’t bring himself to say no.

In the end, he nodded. “Alright.”

At 8:30 PM.

A plane took off from Xiaoshan’s airport, heading 3,220.9 kilometers away to Shulin.

On the plane, Xie Qian slowly took something out of the pocket of his down jacket and held it in his hand, staring at it for a long, long time.

A tiny pearl swayed in the air, and the little red bottle swung along with it.

Xie Qian placed it in his palm and slowly closed his hand around it.

He turned his head to look out the window. Everything was covered in white snow. White clouds floated leisurely, and not a single shadow of dark earth could be seen.