Everyone needs a dream

We dragged our suitcases outside, leaving that mortifying scene of public humiliation behind under everyone's solemn gaze.

Little Bun looked every bit as gleeful at my misfortune now as she had been envious of me earlier.

Ah, how the tables turned!

Fortunes never stayed the same forever!

Once we were out of the departure lounge, Little Bun and I started chatting on and off.

She said she was going to Singapore to work. She had already passed an interview for a job as a server at a café.

With a dreamy look on her face, she pictured herself in an upscale café so clean it gleamed, enjoying the air-conditioning and soft music, surrounded by the aroma of coffee, serving cultured office workers and professionals. Maybe she would even run into her Prince Charming...

Everyone needed a dream. What if it came true?

I was looking forward to my own journey studying abroad, too. What people would I meet? What sights would I see...?

The future seemed so wonderful.

Boarding time was approaching, so Little Bun and I started heading back.

At the boarding gate, I spotted an impeccably put-together woman.

She was the kind of woman you could pick out of a crowd at a glance.

She had a model's figure: tall, slim, fair-skinned, and straight-backed.

There was an aloofness about her that seemed innate.

Her medium-length hair fell in loose waves, and her makeup was exquisite.

It wasn't just her beauty that caught my attention. She also had two children with her.

One was four or five, not even as tall as the suitcase. Dressed in a neat little suit without a thing out of place, the child looked like a little young master.

The other was even younger, still small enough to be carried. The woman wiped the little girl's mouth while putting away a baby bottle, getting ready to board.

I had seen plenty of mothers with their hair flying every which way, looking grubby and disheveled, as though they had just lost a fight.

I was curious how this woman managed to look so polished and elegant with two children, bags of every size, and a suitcase to wheel around.

Little Bun noticed my distraction and followed my gaze.

Then she curled her lip, probably thinking I was shallow for getting so caught up staring at a pretty woman.

I couldn't be bothered to explain and kept gazing at her.

There was something noble about her beauty, as though she radiated a sacred light. She only had to stand there quietly, and her majestic presence was enough to make every living soul bow before her.

I wanted to go over and help, but I was afraid of sullying that pure, indescribable beauty.

Once she had packed away the baby's things, she set her bag on the suitcase, holding the baby with one arm and pulling the suitcase with her other hand.

The older child cleverly stepped forward at once, holding on to the suitcase and walking with Mom toward the boarding gate.

She hadn't said a single word the whole time. She was as lovely as a mysterious painting.

Little Bun nudged me with her elbow. "Are you coming or not?"

My wandering soul tore itself away from that ethereal painting and returned to the ordinary world.

I smiled at her and began going through the boarding procedures.

Although we were on the same flight, our seats were quite far apart, and different agents would be picking us up after we landed. We probably wouldn't see each other again before getting off the plane, so Little Bun and I exchanged contact details.

We would need to switch to local phone numbers once we reached Singapore, so we added each other on QQ instead.

I saved her under the note "Singapore café Little Bun Shanghai airport."

That way, I wouldn't get everyone mixed up later.

The plane raced faster and faster down the runway, then lifted off with a whoosh and slowly climbed into the sky.