Catching Goldfish and Peaceful Days

Dania had eaten half the cotton candy in her hand, and pink strands of sugar clung to her cheek. Zhou Yu was still holding her other hand tightly.

They walked side by side, the warmth of their interlaced fingers shutting out the noise around them.

Her gaze was drawn to a goldfish-scooping stall by the path.

More than a dozen red-and-white koi crowded the pool, circling lazily under the lights.

Dania slowed to a stop beside the pool and crouched down, her eyes fixed on one with an especially beautiful tail.

Zhou Yu glanced at her.

"Want to play?"

Dania nodded vigorously.

"I do!"

The stall owner was a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap. He deftly handed them two paper nets.

"Ten star coins a try. Whichever one you catch is yours."

Dania took a paper net and carefully lowered it into the water.

She aimed for the prettiest koi, held her breath, and slowly moved closer.

The moment the paper net touched the water, a great hole popped open in the middle.

Refusing to give up, she tried again.

This time she moved even more gently, skimming the net almost flat across the surface.

The result was the same.

The koi flicked its tail, sending up a little splash.

After five or six tries and three paper nets, the best she had managed was to touch a fish's scales.

Dania grew a little anxious, and a faint redness crept around her eyes as she crouched there, picking at the edge of the pool with her fingers.

Zhou Yu watched from the side for a long while before finally stepping up to the stall.

He rummaged through his canvas bag but found no tools. In the end, he pulled a folded document from an inside pocket and unfolded it.

If Linnai had seen it, she would have recognized it as the "Material Procurement Inspection Certificate" used during the handover at the Logistics Department warehouse.

Zhou Yu placed the sheet against the edge of the pool and smoothed down all four corners with his hand.

The stall owner frowned.

"What are you doing, young man? There's a fine for putting up flyers."

"This isn't a flyer."

Zhou Yu pointed solemnly at the red heading on the document.

"Game equipment quality must meet factory standards."

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint light flashed along the edge of the paper net in Dania's hand.

The paper, which had been soggy and soft, instantly became tough. Droplets rolled off it without leaving the slightest trace of moisture.

Zhou Yu turned and tipped his chin toward Dania.

"Try again."

Dania lowered the paper net into the water.

This time, the paper net slipped through the water and securely scooped up the prettiest koi.

The fish flopped wildly in the net, but the paper did not budge.

She let out a cheer, lifted the fish from the water, and excitedly shook the net.

"Zhou Yu, look, I caught it."

The stall owner's jaw nearly dropped. He reached over to feel the paper net and tugged at it, but the paper was tougher than the canvas canopy.

Then he looked again at the inexplicable certificate stuck to the edge of the pool. Its red heading and official seal glimmered eerily under the lights.

The stall owner rubbed his eyes.

Zhou Yu took fifty star coins from his pocket and put them on the table.

"We've been at it for so long, so call it double. Keep the change."

He paused, then added:

"Just making the little girl happy."

Money in hand, the owner watched Zhou Yu help Dania put the goldfish into a small plastic bag filled with water. He remained dazed for a long time.

You could play it like that?

Dania carried the little plastic bag in one hand and held Zhou Yu's hand again with the other. She swayed as she walked, as happy as if she had been given the whole world.

The two sat down on a bench in the shade of a tree.

The amusement park lights mingled with the sunset glow in the distance, and the horizon was a gentle orange-pink.

Zhou Yu unscrewed the thermos, poured a cup of warm water, and handed it to her.

"Here, have some water. The cotton candy was too sweet."

Dania took the cup and drank in little sips, never taking her eyes off the little goldfish swimming back and forth in the plastic bag.

After watching it for a while, she looked up at Zhou Yu's profile, haloed in the soft light of the setting sun.

His eyelashes were long, his nose had a high bridge, and his lips were pressed together.

"Zhou Yu."

She called him softly.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Yu turned his head.

"If there were no Aleph One and no Lahai-Roi Defense Line, would you have met me?"

Her voice was very quiet, tinged with uncertainty.

Zhou Yu looked at her but did not answer immediately.

His gaze passed over her, toward the slowly turning Ferris wheel in the distance and the sunset glow beyond it.

A few seconds passed before he drew his gaze back to her face.

"That question is meaningless."

Dania's eyes dimmed.

"Whether or not those messes existed,"

Zhou Yu said, looking into her eyes, his tone as even as ever.

"As long as you were still in this world, sooner or later I'd find you and take you out for something delicious."

The setting sun cast long shadows across his face.

In the distance, the Ferris wheel had just reached its highest point.