Tao Zhiyan's heart suddenly clenched.
Standing by the door...
Had he been waiting for him?
"That boy was stubborn, too. No matter what anyone said, he wouldn't listen," the owner recalled. "We cooked a pot of tangyuan that day, and all the children were happy to eat them."
"Except him. The moment he saw the tangyuan, he smashed his bowl. What a temper."
Tao Zhiyan lowered his eyes.
Perhaps Feng Ze had hated him back then, too.
"But I heard his dad came looking for him later." The owner chuckled at the memory. "Apparently, his dad was someone important. I imagine that boy's doing pretty well now."
Tao Zhiyan pressed his lips together and nodded. "He seems to be doing all right."
The owner looked shocked. "You two are still in touch?"
Tao Zhiyan smiled. "We are."
"Oh, you two really must be meant to cross paths," the owner said in surprise. "The Imperial Capital's so big, and you still managed to find each other again?"
"That couldn't have been easy."
Tao Zhiyan nodded. "It wasn't."
It had been far more than merely difficult.
It had been incredibly hard.
When Tao Zhiyan left, the owner even gave him a portion of little tangyuan, telling him to take them to Feng Ze to try.
Tao Zhiyan thanked him, then suddenly took a deep breath as he walked outside.
He turned to look at the tangyuan shop. Seeing him look back, the owner waved.
Tao Zhiyan smiled and waved back.
Since he had already known how Feng Ze felt, Tao Zhiyan hadn't expected much.
But the people he had met today, the things he had heard-every single one had gone beyond anything he could have imagined.
So what if he already knew? Feng Ze always found ways to surprise him.
The man