"I was in charge of the banner for the welcome show. It was enormous, with gold lettering on a red background: 'A warm welcome to the incoming class of XXX.'"
"I watched the print shop staff work on it for ages, making sure every character was perfect. A few hours before the show, I carefully laid it on a table backstage, ready to hang up later."
"But just as I was about to change into my host's gown, I went back backstage, and I was completely stunned."
Wei Zijin's voice trembled slightly, as though she had returned to that moment of despair.
"I don't know who did it, but someone spilled an entire cup of iced cola over the banner. The dark brown liquid soaked into the gold lettering, leaving it blurred and crumpled. It looked awful."
"My mind went completely blank. The show was about to start, and all the administrators, teachers, and new students would be watching from the audience. There was no time to get another one printed."
"I was beside myself, with tears welling in my eyes, but I fought to hold them back. I knew crying wouldn't solve anything."
"All I could do was find our student adviser and tell him what had happened, my voice shaking. I thought he'd give me a furious scolding. After all, I'd failed in my responsibility."
"But he didn't."
"He just patted my shoulder and said, 'Don't panic. Go change and get ready to go onstage. I'll handle this.'"
"I was already at a complete loss, so I could only do as he said and stumble off to the changing room in a daze."
"When I'd changed, touched up my makeup, and returned backstage, I saw something I still remember vividly to this day."
"I saw a boy, a boy in a white shirt and jeans, lying on the cold floor."
"A long strip of clean white paper was spread out in front of him, with an ink dish beside it."
"He held a calligraphy brush and was writing on the paper, stroke by stroke."
"It was dark backstage, with only a dim work light shining on him. His head was bent low, and he was so focused that all the noise around him seemed to have nothing to do with him."
"I went a little closer before I could make out what he was writing."
"'A warm welcome...'"
"His handwriting... was so beautiful. It was the most beautiful brush calligraphy I'd ever seen. The strokes were strong and graceful, their power seeming to pierce the paper."
"Every stroke felt as though it had been carved into my heart."
Wang Xiaoliang's mind went blank with a boom.
That boy...
That boy lying on the floor, writing...
It was him!
It had been him!
How could he have forgotten? On the afternoon of the welcome show at the start of his freshman year, a teacher had rushed into their dorm and asked each of them, "Who knows brush calligraphy? Who has good handwriting?"
His roommates had exchanged bewildered looks.
Wang Xiaoliang's father had forced him to practice calligraphy since childhood. Though he was no calligrapher, his brushwork was certainly respectable.
So he had raised his hand.
Then he had been taken backstage at the auditorium.
A teacher pointed to a pile of paper and ink and rapidly explained that something had happened to the original banner. They needed him to write a replacement immediately, and time was tight, so he had to hurry.
He hadn't thought much of it then. He had simply seen it as a chance to bring credit to his class.
And a chance to make himself look good.
Without another word, he had taken off his jacket, lain down on the floor, and set his brush to work.
All he remembered was the chaos backstage, with people coming and going. He had focused entirely on his writing, terrified of getting even one character wrong.
By the time he finished the last character, he was drenched in sweat.
The teachers had thanked him profusely, brought him a bottle of water, and arranged a seat near the front for him.
Afterward, he hadn't given the incident much thought.
Nor had he noticed that while he was bent over his writing, a girl in a host's gown had stood only a few meters away, quietly watching him.
So...
So that was when she had first come to know him.
Wang Xiaoliang felt as though his heart had been immersed in warm water. An indescribable blend of bittersweet ache and sweetness enveloped him.
Wasn't that also the day I truly came to know her and remember her?
When the show began and the spotlight fell on center stage, that radiant girl in a long white dress had opened her mouth, and the whole world had fallen silent.
Wang Xiaoliang's secret crush had begun at that very moment.
He had thought it was a story in which he alone played a part.
He had thought he was merely one of the countless people in the audience gazing up at her.
He had never imagined that before he saw her, she had already seen him.
"Back then, I thought that boy was like a hero who'd dropped out of the sky."
Wei Zijin's voice pulled Wang Xiaoliang back from his thoughts.
"He solved my enormous problem, saved my first time hosting, and might even have saved the entire beginning of my college life."
"After the show, I looked everywhere for him. I wanted to thank him in person. But there were too many people backstage, and I couldn't find him."
"Later, I quietly asked our adviser about him. That's how I learned his name and which class he was in."
At this point, Wei Zijin smiled a little shyly.
"After that, I always found myself paying attention to him, whether I meant to or not."
"I noticed he didn't really mix with people and was always on his own. He sat in the corner during class, didn't leave with his classmates afterward, and ate alone too."
"He really liked peace and quiet."
"One day, I happened to see him in a little park off campus. He was sitting on a bench with headphones on, staring into the distance."
"After that, I'd give myself half a day off every Saturday afternoon and go to that little park."
"I found that he was there every time."
"I'd find a seat not far from him and sit down to read, or stare into space like he did. I didn't dare disturb him. There was something so lonely about him that I didn't dare intrude on his world."
Wang Xiaoliang was utterly stunned.
He had gone to that little park just once, and on that very visit, he had encountered her.
Afterward, he had gone there every Saturday afternoon, simply because he wanted to watch her from afar.
Those unspoken dates had actually lasted four years.
"Later on... I heard some bad rumors about him from other people."
Wei Zijin's voice grew quieter.
"They said he spent every day playing games in his dorm, had failed loads of classes, and had completely abandoned his studies."
"At the time... I was pretty upset. I didn't know what had happened to him, but I always felt that the boy who'd stepped forward in a crisis and written such beautiful calligraphy shouldn't have ended up like that."
"I felt it was such a shame, and I worried about him too."
"Until I ran into him again at the Library a little while ago."
"I saw him sitting by the window with a book open in front of him. The sunlight fell on him, and he really was reading intently."
"In that moment, I was truly... so happy."
"You know, Wang Xiaoliang," Wei Zijin turned to look at him earnestly, "my teenage years weren't like everyone else's. While other people were discovering those confusing feelings, those fluttering hearts, and secret crushes, I was dealing with losing my family and worrying about tuition and living expenses."
"I didn't have the time, or even the luxury, to think about romance."
"But the image of him from that college welcome show stayed in my mind. I couldn't shake it."
"That day at the Library, watching you read so intently, I suddenly felt that it was time."
"It was time to finally do something about these feelings I'd kept so carefully hidden for four years."
"So I gathered my courage, walked up to you, and introduced myself."
Wang Xiaoliang's brain had stopped functioning.
He felt as though he were in some grand, absurd dream.
So... the girl he had secretly loved for four years had felt the same way about him, perhaps even more deeply.
The yellowed Book of Fate that had appeared out of nowhere flashed through his mind.
If that Book of Fate hadn't appeared, he would probably still have been lying in that filthy dorm, staring at his computer screen and playing pointless games.
He wouldn't have decided on a whim to clean the dorm.
He wouldn't have decided on a whim to make that "Three-Wash Pavilion" door curtain.
He wouldn't have received public recognition from the university for it.
He wouldn't have resolved to take his makeup exams.
And he certainly wouldn't have stepped into the Library, which he hadn't visited in three years.
If he hadn't gone to the Library, Wei Zijin wouldn't have struck up a conversation with him.
They wouldn't have pretended to be a couple today.
And he would never have heard this sweet secret.
He was certain that his fate had changed beyond recognition from the moment he received the Book of Fate.
The radiant, unattainable goddess in his heart had actually had eyes only for him since freshman year.
There could be no better example of the butterfly effect.
Wang Xiaoliang looked at Wei Zijin, at the foolish version of himself reflected in her clear eyes.
He felt as though a volcano were erupting inside his chest.
Shock, ecstasy, tenderness, disbelief-all his emotions tangled together, nearly overwhelming him.
He opened his mouth, only to discover that he couldn't get a single word out.
Seeing his dazed expression, Wei Zijin suddenly burst into a giggle, breaking through the overwhelming emotion.
"Hey, what's with that reaction?"
"Did I scare you?"
Wang Xiaoliang abruptly came back to his senses. He looked at the teasing smile on her face and those beautiful eyes, astonishingly bright beneath the dim yellow light.
At last, he found his voice, though it was a little hoarse.
"I..."
He managed only that one word before he could go no further.
What was he supposed to say?
That I've liked you for four years too?
That we were actually going to the same park?
That I was watching you from the audience that night too, thinking you looked like a fairy descended from heaven?
No, none of that was enough.
Not nearly enough.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing heart. Then he looked into her eyes and spoke slowly and distinctly.
"Wei Zijin."
He merely said her name.
But those three syllables held so very much emotion.
Before you continue