The FBO at H City Airport is not as noisy and bustling as a regular terminal.
It was so quiet here, like an aquarium with all noise blocked out by glass; even the wheels of a suitcase seemed to tread carefully over the marble floor.
Lynn stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the Bombardier Challenger 300 getting closer and closer in the sky.
The price of this plane was probably enough for him to buy three houses in H City, but he looked at it without any emotional reaction.
He had long since lost the mystique surrounding the Leo family's wealth.
In fact, he has demystified many things.
But today is different.
He specially asked Leo to prepare a proper outfit for him today.
A dark blue knit sweater, sharply tailored black trousers, and a pair of gleaming derby shoes.
He even combed his hair, though it was still a bit messy, but at least he didn't look like a homeless person who had crawled out of a garbage dump.
Leo was clearly taken aback when he saw him like this:
"Why did you suddenly get it today, our Lin Daizi?"
Lynn ignored him.
He couldn't explain why he had this impulse.
When he woke up this morning, that long-lost feeling of being alive kept throbbing in his veins.
It wasn't the kind of half-dead "living" he experienced in H City for several months in a daze; it was a bright sense of hope that life had suddenly become.
During the wait for his flight, his heart was beating faster than usual.
"You've never even met my sister, and you're already like this!"
Leo leaned back on the sofa in the waiting room, legs crossed, twirling a cup of Americano in his hand, his gaze like a searchlight interrogating a criminal.
"What, you've met somewhere else?"
Lynn did not answer the question because he couldn't explain it either.
All he knew was that when Leo uttered the name " Rena " yesterday, something in his mind suddenly clicked.
It wasn't a revival of memories, but more like a long-dormant organ suddenly coming back to life.
That feeling is like you've always thought you're missing a piece of a puzzle in your life, and you've been searching for it for a very, very long time, so long that you've given up looking for it.
Then one day, that puzzle piece appeared in your hand by itself.
"Are you nervous?" Leo asked.
"No."
Your palms are sweaty.
"It's hot."
The air conditioner is set to 16 degrees Celsius.
Lynn stopped arguing and simply looked away from the plane, gazing at the distant horizon outside the window.
Leo didn't ask any further questions.
He knew his brother's temperament; if Lynn didn't want to talk about something, you couldn't get it out of him no matter how hard you tried.
But Leo was happy.
This was the first time in three months that he had seen a light in Lynn's eyes, even though he himself couldn't explain where that light came from.
The sound of airplane engines could be heard in the distance. The Bombardier Challenger 300 landed smoothly on the runway.
The aircraft slowed down and taxied, coming to a stop at the FBO's designated parking spot.
The hydraulic system of the hatch hummed as it opened to one side.
Lynn's breath hitched.
He didn't know why he was holding his breath.
In that instant, he felt an indescribable sense of familiarity rising from the depths of his soul.
The gangway was lowered.
A woman stepped out of the cabin.
She was wearing a long black trench coat, the hem of which fluttered gently in the afternoon breeze.
Sunglasses and her flowing hair covered most of her face, revealing only her sharply defined jawline and pale lips.
Her long purple hair cascaded over her shoulders. It wasn't the gaudy purple from hair dye, but a deep purple that was almost natural, like the refracted light from some rare mineral.
Lynn stared at her intently.
He wasn't looking at her appearance, although he admitted that even without seeing her face clearly, her figure was enough to make every fashion magazine editor in H City kneel down and beg her to shoot a cover.
He looked at her as if she were a shadow emerging from the deep sea.
He didn't know why he had this feeling, but every step and every subtle movement of the other person felt incredibly familiar to him.
He seemed to know her.
It seemed like he had known her for a very, very long time.
Leo had clearly noticed Lynn's condition.
He looked at Lynn with a "bro, you're hopeless" expression and teased in a low voice:
"You're just staring at her like that? Sigh, no offense intended..."
He took a sip of coffee, cleared his throat, and struck a pose as if he were a storyteller:
"Although you're not bad either, you're far inferior to my cousin."
My cousin is a child prodigy who entered the University of Science and Technology of China's Junior Class at sixteen, transferred to MIT at nineteen, and graduated with a PhD at twenty-five. She holds two international patents and is the youngest director of the family foundation.
To be honest, if you can win her over, I'd be happy to give you my Pagani as a wedding gift.
He shook his head, as if lamenting Lynn's inevitable tragic end.
"Of course, that's impossible."
Lynn did not reply.
Just as Leo was saying those words, the purple-haired woman who was walking down the gangway stopped in her tracks.
She stood at the very bottom of the gangway, her gaze behind her sunglasses passing over Leo, over the empty tarmac, over the slightly warm afternoon air, and landing precisely on Lynn's face.
She was stunned.
That kind of stunned silence wasn't the usual staring as if you were "seeing a stranger," but rather like being gently bumped in the chest by something.
Her body froze, and she even forgot to continue walking.
She then took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of beautiful purplish-black eyes.
Those eyes were fixed on Lynn, filled with some indescribable emotion.
Confusion, hesitation, and a touch of sadness, like a whiff of something from a very, very far place.
She walked towards Lynn on her own initiative.
"Hello, may I ask...?" Her voice was cold and clear, with a slight tremor.
Have we met before?