Fated to Cross Paths
1542 Words
The little boy rolled his eyes in exasperation and, as he shrank back, heard Ying Xia ask, "What did you just call me?"
"Big sister," he replied.
"Pfft…" Ying Xia, who had been crying uncontrollably a moment ago, suddenly laughed again. She turned to the man sitting next to her and asked, "Do you happen to have any tissues?"
The man shook his head, pressed the service button, and the flight attendant quickly arrived. "Hello, Mr. Shen.
How can I assist you?"
"Tissues, please,” the man said, turning to glance at the still weepy and now smiling Ying Xia. He added, “Please bring a lot.”
The tissues were piled high in a plastic bag, and after Ying Xia had cried her fill, she went to the bathroom to wash her face before returning to her seat.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You're welcome.”
Only then did Ying Xia listen more carefully. The man's voice was deep and pleasant, and she couldn’t help but look at him. Unfortunately, he was wearing a mask, so she could only make out his lowered eyes and the sharp line of his nose.
Even so, it was enough to tell that he was extraordinarily handsome, the kind of handsome that stood out from the crowd. There was something familiar in his features, but she couldn’t quite place who he resembled.
When the plane landed at the airport, the man put on a hat, and a crowd of people followed closely behind him as they disembarked.
Ying Xia grabbed her luggage and stepped out, only to be met by a throng of excited people charging toward the exit, clogging up the doorway.
The air was filled with screams and cries. Unable to bear it, Ying Xia put on her headphones and lowered her head, squeezing her way out.
This was her first day apart from Lu Jin Chuan, a simple, ordinary moment in the hustle and bustle of daily life.
The man in the mask, with his hands in his pockets, was surrounded by his assistant as they walked out of the airport. When they reached the car, he pulled his hand out of his pocket, and something small was pulled out along with it.
It was a small mint candy.
He remembered how it came to be there...
On the plane, the woman beside him, who had been crying, had tricked the child in the seat ahead into giving her two candies. In the end, she even managed to get him to call her “sister” with a few more words of coaxing.
The mysteries of a woman’s sorrow and joy were truly endless.
He tossed the candy to the boy beside him. “Here, take it back.”
The little boy stared at him in shock. “Why is the candy I gave to my sister with you?”
The man ruffled the boy's hair and let out a soft laugh. He too was curious how that candy ended up in his pocket.
……
Ying Xia once had a dream—to travel the famous mountains and rivers. Of course, in this dream, Lu Jin Chuan was by her side. But now, with the two of them separated, the dream remained a dream, with Lu Jin Chuan no longer part of the plan.
She traveled for three months, from the south to the north, from west to east, from early autumn to deep winter. She visited all the scenic spots, and during this time, she got a new phone. That number never once turned on.
The winter in the northern city was bitterly cold, with a wind that seemed to pierce through to the bone. When she returned home, her unheated apartment felt like a basement.
The first thing she did was put her old SIM card back in her phone. Nonstop messages arrived from before she even entered the bathroom, continuing to ring until she finished her shower.
There were messages from her best friend, coworkers, and acquaintances, but there was not a single one from Lu Jin Chuan.
She called her best friend, Tan Fei. “Hey, I’m back.”
“Oh, so you’re back now? I thought you’d gone off the deep end. Had enough fun yet?” Tan Fei’s voice came through, loud and shrill.
Ying Xia set her phone to speaker and put it aside while she applied skincare. “Not enough fun, but I had to come back. The novel I wrote before got picked up by a film company for adaptation.”
Tan Fei screamed on the other end. “Ahh, baby, you’re amazing!”
“By the way,” Tan Fei seemed to recall something, “I ran into Lu Jin Chuan once. He asked me if I knew where you went. You’ve been all over the place, how would I know? Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell him.” There was an undercurrent of displeasure in her voice.
Ying Xia’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Lu Jin Chuan’s name. “So, what happened?”
"What happened? I told him I didn’t know, and he left. Probably just asked casually."
Ying Xia couldn’t help but ask, "Is Lu Jin Chuan with Zhao Ruyi now? Are they together?"
"I wouldn’t know."
Ying Xia responded with a quiet “Oh,” not sure how she felt. She occasionally checked entertainment news, but the only thing she had seen about Zhao Ruyi was a story about her taking a short break. No news of a wedding or anything else had come out.
"Xia Xia, you’re not still hung up on him, are you?" Tan Fei’s voice carried a hint of concern.
Ying Xia’s hands froze mid-motion.
Was she still in love with him? Ten years… if only she could forget in three months. But to her, it seemed more like a residual habit—time would slowly wear it down.
Even if she couldn’t forget, it would remain buried deep inside her heart.
She could never let it resurface and cause more pain.
After hanging up, Ying Xia thought for a moment, then scrolled through her contacts to find Lu Jin Chuan’s number. Her finger hovered over the screen for a long time, but she couldn’t bring herself to tap it. Eventually, the screen turned black.
She just wanted to ask him why he was looking for her, but when she saw the message history, she gave up. If he truly wanted to find her, there were a hundred ways to do so. It definitely wouldn’t be like this—random and half-hearted.
Her two-bedroom apartment had been left to her by her mother when she moved away from the northern city to live with her grandmother.
It had been years since anyone had lived there, and the furniture was a bit worn. The next day, Ying Xia went to the furniture market to order some new pieces, and also bought a few household items from the mall.
She hadn’t expected to run into Lu Jin Chuan in a place like that. He saw her too, and they locked eyes from a distance.
The moment she saw him, Ying Xia wanted to turn and flee. But then she stopped herself. There was no need to run now. They were no longer involved in each other’s lives.
He still looked as good as ever, dressed in a well-tailored suit with a coat over it, exuding an aura of restrained discipline. His face usually carried an expression of “don’t approach,” and now, with a faintly cold demeanor, he looked even more unapproachable.
Ying Xia stood still, until he walked swiftly toward her.
“Where have you been all this time?” His tone was neutral.
Why do you care?
But the upbringing she had made her force a smile. "Long time no see."
Lu Jin Chuan didn’t respond. He stared at her with an unreadable expression, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Ying Xia’s smile gradually faded under his gaze, and she felt an uncomfortable tightness in her chest. Just as she was about to turn and leave, someone appeared behind Lu Jin Chuan, and she stopped dead in her tracks.
It was her—Zhao Ruyi.
She was wearing a hat and a mask, but Ying Xia recognized her immediately.
Back in high school, Lu Jin Chuan had introduced her: “Ying Xia, this is my childhood friend, Zhao Ruyi.”
On their wedding night, Lu Jin Chuan had called her name: “Ruyi…”
Zhao Ruyi’s name had become the nightmare that had woken Ying Xia from countless dreams.
How ridiculous. After all these years, he had never forgotten her, and yet here she was, remembering everything so clearly.
"Xia Xia?" Zhao Ruyi widened her eyes, looking at Ying Xia. Her expression was a little stiff. “What a coincidence, running into you here.”
What coincidence? This was clearly fate playing tricks and spirits lingering.
Ten years, and yet Zhao Ruyi still had a knack for messing up Yingxia's life.
Her gaze shifted downward, landing on Zhao Ruyi’s slightly rounded belly. Yingxia's head rang with a loud thud, and everything around her fell into a dead silence.
- Writer
