A Toast to Fate

Su Yang sat in a soft, comfortable chair.

On the glass table beside him were two cans of his favorite iced cola.

The wooden floorboards beneath his feet reflected the warm light from the crystal chandelier overhead.

A warm mountain breeze brushed against Su Yang's face.

Behind Su Yang was a freshly made bed, with clean bedding that gave off a faint fragrance.

Ren Yexue's home was in the suburbs, so from the chair on her terrace, he could see the lights of countless homes in the distance.

Gazing at the lights in the distant night, Su Yang let his thoughts fly with the wind.

But the sudden aroma of fries behind him, followed by the soft sound of bare feet on the floor, interrupted his reverie.

"Ta-da! The fries are ready!"

It was Ren Yexue.

Su Yang turned around just in time to see Ren Yexue hop up behind him.

Ren Yexue held a bowl of freshly fried fries, and judging by the two little dimples on her face, she was in a good mood.

Ren Yexue set the fries on the glass table and sat down in the other chair beside Su Yang.

"Su Yang, what are you thinking about?"

"We agreed, remember? You broke my front door, so you have to protect me tonight!"

Su Yang nodded.

There was no helping it. He really had smashed the lock on Ren Yexue's front door.

The detached villa was in the suburbs, and it was so late that the locksmith couldn't come until tomorrow.

The main thing was that Ren Yexue was home alone and couldn't lock the door, so Su Yang had no choice but to serve as her bodyguard for the night.

Su Yang casually picked up a fry from the table and popped it into his mouth.

The fry was fragrant and crisp, fried just right. He hadn't known Ren Yexue had such a talent.

"Why are you home alone? Where are your mom and dad?" Su Yang asked casually.

Before coming to Ren Yexue's home, Su Yang had assumed it would be like the ones on TV, with nannies and maids for everything.

But in fact, there was no one in the house but Ren Yexue.

"Oh, my mom and dad!"

Ren Yexue picked up a fry from the table and popped it into her mouth too.

"My mom and dad passed away."

"Remember the earthquake in the southwest last year? My parents happened to be there on a business trip at the time."

Passed away?

Su Yang slowly stopped chewing.

"..."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know your parents..."

Su Yang was at a loss. He and Ren Yexue had only been deskmates for a little over a month, and he really hadn't known that her parents had passed away.

Ren Yexue shook her head, her tone unchanged.

As usual, her eyes were full of laughter as she looked at Su Yang.

"It's okay. That's fate for you! Nobody knows what'll happen tomorrow."

Fate?

Su Yang fell silent.

Maybe that was fate, like what had happened to Teacher Zhao.

Who would have thought that Teacher Zhao, who had been perfectly fine just a few days ago, would die at home today?

And then there was Su Yang himself. In a single day, he had joined the Soul-Reaping Bureau, and his life had been turned upside down.

Ren Yexue said nothing either, keeping her head down as she slowly ate her fries.

"Then what will you do from now on?"

"What do you mean?"

Ren Yexue looked up, her bare feet gently kicking at the hem of her skirt as the evening breeze stirred her soft, naturally wavy hair.

"I mean, what about your life from now on? For example..."

"Will you keep living here alone? Isn't there anyone you know around here anymore?"

Su Yang didn't know how to put it.

He wanted to ask Ren Yexue how she would get by in the future.

Who would give her money, who would help her when something happened, who could she turn to when she felt wronged, who would look after her when she was sick...

But those questions were a little heavy, and Su Yang couldn't bring himself to ask them just then.

Ren Yexue understood what Su Yang was getting at.

She smiled gently and picked up the iced cola on the table for a sip.

Droplets of condensation from the can clung to her hand, making her fingers look especially slender.

"Aren't I doing pretty well now? When I'm bored, I play the piano, and when I'm tired, I read."

"The money my parents left me is enough, too. I spend when I need to and save when I should. Sometimes I even travel by myself..."

Smiling, Ren Yexue told Su Yang about the little details of her life, one by one.

Su Yang listened quietly.

The ordinary little things Ren Yexue described sounded wonderful.

But Su Yang thought they would sound even better without the words "by myself" in front of them.

"It was just that things were really hard for a while after Mom and Dad first passed away..."

"Back then, I often hid away and cried by myself!"

Su Yang nodded and murmured, "Mm."

He understood Ren Yexue.

When his parents had first disappeared, Su Yang had felt as though the sky had fallen.

Countless times he had woken from dreams in the middle of the night, countless times he had cried in the darkness, countless times he had called a number he could never get through to...

Later, he had slowly grown used to it.

No matter how life changed, no matter what upheavals came, people would slowly adapt.

Ren Yexue had always struck Su Yang as a little girl.

The kind of carefree girl who spent all day acting spoiled in her mother's arms.

But he hadn't expected her to have suffered far more of fate's cruel tricks than most girls.

Seeing how lightly Ren Yexue spoke of it, Su Yang felt she didn't need his comfort.

"That's good."

"Right! I think so too."

Ren Yexue turned her gaze toward the countless lights in the city, a hazy gleam in her eyes.

Just as Su Yang had done earlier.

And she was looking in the direction of Muyang City's northern suburbs.

"The script we're given in this life and the stage we step onto aren't ours to choose."

"All we can decide is that five percent."

At that, Ren Yexue turned and smiled at Su Yang.

"But we have to use that five percent to move the ninety-five percent fate has already decided, don't we?"

Use his own five percent to move what fate had arranged?

Ren Yexue's soft voice at his ear touched Su Yang.

He turned to look at Ren Yexue beside him and saw her profile and the indescribable light in her eyes.

So this is how Ren Yexue thinks?

No wonder.

No wonder Ren Yexue was the first person to arrive in the classroom every day. No wonder she remained so optimistic after her parents died.

No wonder Ren Yexue had persisted for a whole year, traveling over ten kilometers to the market every day to buy that grandma's vegetables.

No wonder she had written down so many things she wanted to do with him in her little notebook...

"Ren Yexue, thank you."

Su Yang's sudden thanks puzzled Ren Yexue.

"What are you thanking me for?"

Su Yang smiled faintly, took a fry from the plate, and spoke lightly as he ate.

"Thank you for liking me. During my hardest days, you made me feel like the world hadn't abandoned me yet."

"Hahaha..."

Su Yang's words made Ren Yexue laugh.

She laughed with delight, clutching her stomach and giggling nonstop, her smooth calves kicking at the hem of her skirt.

"Then let's make a toast!"

Ren Yexue brushed back the dark hair her laughter had left a little messy and held out her cola to Su Yang.

"Cheers!"

"To the fate we're going to move!"