Coming to her senses, Tao Shu stepped up beside Wen Yanyu, hesitated, and finally asked.
"A dozen or so of our old middle school classmates are planning to get together at the nearby hot spring mountain for three or four days. Jian'an will be there too. Do you... want to join us?"
Wen Yanyu nodded stiffly.
Tao Shu, who had already braced herself for rejection, froze, then immediately rummaged through her bag for her phone.
They added each other as friends.
Tao Shu still looked as though she had something to say but could not get it out.
An inexplicable tightness filled her chest.
She wanted to say something.
After a long while, all she managed was, "Have you... been doing okay lately?"
Wen Yanyu gave a quiet hum of assent.
He could not find any words either.
The two stood in mutual silence for a long while.
Both wanted to speak, yet neither could.
"Well, I should probably head back." Tao Shu smoothed her hair, hesitated a moment, then finally raised her eyes to meet Wen Yanyu's.
"Long time no see, Little Fish..."
"Long time no see, ...Peach."
The girl left.
The aquarium hall was dimly lit in a deep blue, and the glass before him was so clear it seemed not to exist. Standing before the tank felt like being in the water.
A school of fish swam toward him, and Wen Yanyu instinctively reached out.
Only when he touched the cold glass.
Did he come to his senses.
"Mom! Do the little fish know they're inside a tank?"
A child's voice reached his ears.
Wen Yanyu glanced over.
Not far away, a mother and daughter stood before the tank. The little girl, who looked no older than four or five, chattered away with endless questions.
"Do the