Lu Lingchuan calmly met her gaze, his eyes deep and somber.
Both of them were wearing masks, and Shen Nian was also wearing a hat, concealing most of her features. Yet just standing there, eyes locked, gave the impression that they were a perfectly matched pair.
The young lady glanced at Shen Nian, then at Lu Lingchuan, surprise flashing in her eyes. "I didn't expect you both to choose white."
It was utterly unexpected because her store offered more than three hundred different styles of envelopes and stationery, and couples usually chose envelopes or paper with cute patterns. The plain white ones without any prints were the least popular.
These two had chosen white stationery at the same time.
Their eyes didn't spark with dazzling fireworks; they simply gazed at each other, calm and serene.
"Can you tell me why you chose the white envelopes?" the young lady asked, immensely curious.
Lu Lingchuan looked at Shen Nian, and Shen Nian looked back at him. In unison, they said, "Starting from scratch, a blank slate."
Zero has no meaning, yet it holds infinite meanings. In Arabic numerals, it represents counting nothing; in Chinese, it signifies nothingness; in Taoism, it represents the realm of emptiness.
Zero represents nothingness, yet it is the beginning of everything.
As their words faded, both of them paused, then exchanged a smile.
...
Lu Lingchuan and Shen Nian chose a spot in the corner to sit down. For privacy, they sat back-to-back, with pens already prepared on the table.
Shen Nian picked up a pen, but when she saw the blank paper, her mind went blank, unsure of what to write.
What could she say to Lu Lingchuan...?
There was nothing left unsaid between them.
After a few seconds of contemplation, she still wrote something on the paper.
Once finished, she folded the letter and slipped it into the envelope, sealing it with glue.
As she stood up to put the envelope in the mailbox, Lu Lingchuan followed suit, rising from his seat.
There were a few other couples nearby, still writing intently. Lu Lingchuan and Shen Nian were the last to sit down, yet they finished within a minute.
A letter written in less than a minute... No matter how you looked at it, it seemed perfunctory...
Lu Lingchuan stared intently at the envelope in Shen Nian's hand, his gaze reproachful: "You didn't just write nothing and brush me off, did you?"
Shen Nian pursed her lips, tucking the envelope into her embrace, not letting him see. "No, I didn't."
"I don't believe you." The other couples were writing lengthy passages, their thoughts overflowing beyond a single page. But Shen Nian had stood up before her seat was even warm.
Shen Nian didn't want to reveal what she had written. Gazing at Lu Lingchuan, she said gloomily, "Well, you stood up right away too. Let me guess how many words you wrote. Ten? Five? Could it be that you didn't even write five words?"
"..." Now it was Lu Lingchuan's turn to feel awkward.
They walked towards the mailbox together, each carrying their own blame.
As Shen Nian was about to drop her envelope into the mailbox slot, Lu Lingchuan grabbed her hand.
She looked up at him questioningly. Without a word, he placed his envelope on top of hers, the two envelopes overlapping.
The mailbox slot was large enough for both envelopes to fit through side by side.
Lu Lingchuan allowed her to hold the two envelopes, then grasped her hand as they slipped the envelopes into the mailbox together.
...
In the days that followed, they adhered to their agreement, doing something special together every day.
They strolled the streets in matching couple outfits, took a pottery class, brushed each other's teeth and exchanged a kiss afterward, held hands while crossing the street...
They acted like an ordinary young couple, even sweeter than most.
Just like six years ago.
On this particular day, as soon as Shen Nian got off work, Lu Lingchuan took her to an amusement park, holding her hand as he walked ahead, while she followed behind reluctantly.
"Tomorrow's our day off. We could have come to the amusement park then."
What could they do by coming now?
But Lu Lingchuan was adamant. "I checked, and there's a fireworks show today."
This amusement park was renowned for its beautiful fireworks displays, though they were only held on special occasions or announced at the last minute. Lu Lingchuan had been monitoring it closely and immediately bought two tickets when he saw that there would be a fireworks show that evening.
The fireworks show was scheduled for around 8 PM, but it was only a little past 6 PM, meaning they would have to wait over an hour.
Shen Nian walked alongside Lu Lingchuan, her arm naturally linked with his. After spending so much time together, they had become quite attuned. "So how should we kill this hour?" she asked.
Just then, a piercing scream echoed from the nearby roller coaster. "Ahhhhh..."
Shen Nian looked at the twisting, turning roller coaster track and smiled mischievously. Pointing at the ride, she suggested, "Why don't we spend the next hour on the roller coaster?"
"No way." Lu Lingchuan slipped one hand into his pocket, coolly replying, "I'm afraid you'll cry."
Shen Nian wasn't convinced. "I won't."
She had never ridden a roller coaster before, but she had always wanted to try. Back then, Lu Lingchuan had insisted that roller coasters were too dangerous, with all those loops and inversions, so he forbade her from riding anything risky. In the end, he had taken her on the merry-go-round a few times instead.
In Lu Lingchuan's own words: "You're just sitting on a roller coaster, and you're just sitting on the merry-go-round. It's all the same, just riding something to satisfy the craving."
Shen Nian had immediately retorted: "Do you even know the difference between a watermelon and a cherry? They're nothing alike, and you don't just sit on a roller coaster - you're suspended from it."
Anyone who had ridden a major roller coaster knew that, except for the smaller ones, you were essentially hanging like a roasted duck on the larger rides.
In response, Lu Lingchuan had coolly given her a pointed look: "If you're going to sit properly, then sit. If you're thinking about being suspended, then no way."
And just like that, Shen Nian's roller coaster dreams were mercilessly crushed by Lu Lingchuan.
Recalling how arrogant Lu Lingchuan had been back then, Shen Nian felt resentful. She lowered her head and playfully bit his arm with a soft "woof."
Shen Nian didn't bite hard, so it didn't hurt. Lu Lingchuan only felt her small, sharp teeth grazing his arm.
He turned his head and tapped her on the crown.
"I don't care. You're only allowed to cry in one place, nowhere else."
"What?" Where was this sudden arrogance coming from?
Noticing the confusion in Shen Nian's eyes, Lu Lingchuan added matter-of-factly, "My bed."
"..." Taken separately, the two sentences seemed fine, no issue.
But put together...
Shen Nian's cheeks instantly flushed red, and she let out another yelp, biting down even harder.
About an hour before the fireworks display, Lu Lingchuan led Shen Nian into a store.
Looking at the rows of cute keychains hanging on the wall, Shen Nian seemed rather speechless: "Don't tell me you brought me here to buy these little things."
It was a gift shop, filled with plush toys.
