Qi Shaobai glanced at the time.
8:25 PM.
There were fewer and fewer people at the movie theater entrance.
Almost everyone had already gone in to check their tickets.
But Wei Zhaonan still hadn't arrived.
He called Wei Zhaonan's phone, impatiently urging:
"Where are you?"
On the other end of the phone, Wei Zhaonan's voice sounded a little weak.
"I'm still in the bathroom, I'm afraid I won't make it in time..."
Qi Shaobai: "You..."
"Sorry sorry! My bad, my bad!"
Wei Zhaonan thought Qi Shaobai was going to get angry, so he quickly apologized.
But unexpectedly, Qi Shaobai held back his anger and didn't get mad.
His impatient tone carried a caring sentiment, as he asked:
"Is it serious, do you need your dad to come take a look?"
Wei Zhaonan: "It's not serious, just a minor flesh wound, no worries. The movie's about to start, go on in, don't worry about your boy."
Hearing that Wei Zhaonan could still joke around, Qi Shaobai didn't chat more. After a couple words of advice, he hung up.
He started walking towards the theater entrance.
Fiddling with the two tickets in his pocket, he felt a slight regret.
Wasting one ticket.
As he walked, his head hung down, not looking left or right, just at the ground beneath his feet.
Suddenly, he heard someone nearby talking on the phone, very close to him.
It was a pleasant female voice.
"Yeah, didn't run into him."
"I thought there might be last-minute ticket scalpers, so I came to try my luck."
The girl sighed, "Director Qiu's films are so popular, I should've known no one would be selling extra tickets, oh well."
Qi Shaobai casually glanced to the side.
He saw that the person next to him wore white sneakers, her calves fair and smooth, with elegant lines.
Qi Shaobai politely averted his gaze, lightly glancing up.
Right at that moment, the girl had also just hung up with her best friend. Her somewhat deflated expression happened to meet Qi Shaobai's glance.
Sensing his gaze, Chi Xia looked up at just the right time.
Her bright limpid eyes blinked, long lush lashes fluttering gracefully through the air.
Both of them froze for a moment.
A breeze blew by.
The light wind lifted the hem of the boy's t-shirt and the girl's skirt.
Although he wore a mask and hat, Chi Xia still recognized him just from the aloofness in the boy's eyes.
Chi Xia couldn't remember anymore how many times this was.
Ever since he had kindly shown her the way after the high school entrance exam rally at No.1 Middle School in Beijing, they kept running into each other in many places.
She didn't know if he had noticed her.
But Chi Xia had noticed him every time.
He didn't talk much, his eyebrows and eyes were cold and piercing, with a hint of defiance in his demeanor.
When he had no expression, his face looked quite unpleasant.
When chatting with his lively good buddy, he would force a perfunctory smile.
The first time was at the bookstore she frequented.
They were four or five shelves apart.
She stood in front of the math study guides, while he was near the English listening materials.
She recognized him and was about to go over to thank him again for helping with directions last time. But she saw him sling his backpack over one shoulder and head downstairs.
The next time was when she and her bestie happened to enter a cafe.
As soon as they walked in, she saw him sitting in the corner with two boys wearing their middle school uniforms.
He lazily leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed, eyes half-closed, brows slightly furrowed.
The two boys next to him were discussing basketball, but he wasn't participating, seeming uninterested.
Chi Xia heard his companions call him Qi Shao.
She couldn't help but laugh softly.
Qi Shao, what a strange name.
Does it have anything to do with being awesome?
The cafe was bustling, no empty tables downstairs, so she and her bestie sat upstairs.
As soon as they went upstairs, her bestie tugged her sleeve, extremely excited as she asked if Chi Xia had seen that handsome guy sitting in the corner downstairs.
Chi Xia nodded, "He's the one I told you about before, who helped give me directions after the entrance exam rally."
Upon hearing this, her curious and thrilled bestie said, "It's fate, Xiaxia!"
Fate? Doesn't seem like it.
It was just a coincidence!
After listening to Chi Xia recount their few chance encounters, her bestie's expression grew more and more convinced.
"Xiaxia, your meet-cute backstory and frequency of chance encounters could practically be written into a novel!"
"Maybe that gloomy guy is your crush preordained by the heavens."
At the time, Chi Xia just smiled amusedly, "Don't spout nonsense, we don't even know each other."
Moreover, that guy didn't seem gloomy at all.
Her bestie emphatically declared:
"Things happen in threes. If you run into each other again, it would definitely be fate, do you believe it or not?"
She stirred the ice cubes in her cup with a straw.
Did she believe it or not?
On a summer night transitioning into early autumn, the air had shed its sweltering heat.
The clear, refreshing breeze blew between the two of them.
Qi Shaobai halted his steps, his gaze sweeping over the girl's pure and fair face.
He recognized her.
It was her.
That directionally-challenged girl.
He had run into her again.
Including today, it was the fourth time.
He still remembered the previous two scenes.
Once was at the bookstore.
He was selecting English listening materials.
There weren't many people at the bookstore late at night.
It was easy to spot her standing in front of the math study guides.
Qi Shaobai's hand gripping the English listening book paused.
For some reason, although he had only seen this girl once before.
Being seen out buying materials after evening self-study somehow seemed too much like a failing student.
Spurred by some inexplicable psychology, he turned and headed downstairs.
The next time was at the cafe.
Wei Zhaonan and Li Wei from the class next door were discussing the NBA preseason, talking about which new rookies the famous Eastern and Western teams had added.
Wei Zhaonan was a Miami Heat fan, Li Wei was a diehard Denver Nuggets fan. As they chatted, they started boasting about their own teams.
Afraid of rekindling his basketball obsession, Qi Shaobai responded halfheartedly with his arms crossed, only interjecting here and there.
In the end, he simply closed his eyes to listen to their discussion.
Just then, the wind chimes above the cafe door jingled out a crisp ring as the door was pushed open.
Qi Shaobai opened his eyes and glanced towards the sound. His eyes subtly tightened.
"Qi Shao, who do you think will do better this year, the Heat or the Nuggets?"
Wei Zhaonan suddenly asked him.
"Either is fine," Qi Shaobai lazily responded. He actually thought the 76ers were the best.
His gaze shifted away. Unintentionally, he saw the girl's eyes curve into a smile.
He didn't know what she had heard that amused her.
