Junior Li Xiaona

"Waiter, bring me a few of your house specialties, and a pot of tea."

"Please wait a moment, honored guest. I'll have the kitchen start on your dishes right away."

After ordering, Ye Feng quietly watched a beautiful woman with a graceful figure playing the guzheng in a corner. She wore ancient-style dress: a plain, light-green gauze gown and a white gauze veil that brought out her delicate beauty and air of mystery.

Pouring a cup of tea and listening to the beautiful music was pure enjoyment. No wonder the ancients so often lingered over wind, flowers, snow and moon, poetry, books, wine and tea.

Gradually, the restaurant filled up, and a long line formed outside.

"Senior Ye Feng, over here." A voice caught his attention. He looked in its direction and saw a sweet-looking young woman in a white T-shirt and blue jeans waving at him. He thought for a moment, but still didn't recognize her.

Seeing Ye Feng look over, the girl pulled a slightly plump girl with glasses over to him.

"Senior Ye Feng, I'm Li Xiaona, a sophomore at Demon City University, and this is my roommate, Shi Nan. Hehe. When we enrolled, you gave the speech to us freshmen as a representative. Your passionate speech made you an idol to so many of us." Li Xiaona looked nervously at Ye Feng. Back then, he had been drawn to Ye Feng's bearing and manner of speaking, but after learning that he had a girlfriend, she had hidden those feelings deep in her heart. When she recently learned that Ye Feng had broken up, she could no longer contain her burning feelings, but she had searched for him at school for ages without finding him.

"Oh, juniors, what can I do for you?"

"Senior Ye Feng, we came a little late, and we'll have to wait a long time for a table. Do you think... we could... share yours?" Li Xiaona looked at Ye Feng expectantly, her expression saying she would cry if he refused.

"Don't just stand there. Have a seat. Your senior will treat you to a meal today," Ye Feng said with a smile. He saw a bit of his younger sister, Ye Lin, in Li Xiaona. Both were equally mischievous and clever.

Delighted, Li Xiaona pulled Shi Nan down to sit. "Server, two more place settings, please."

"Huh? Why is no one answering me?"

Ye Feng explained with a smile, "This is an ancient-style restaurant. You have to speak like the ancients."

Li Xiaona looked thoughtfully at Ye Feng. "Waiter, two sets of bowls and chopsticks."

"Right away, honored guest."

"Senior Ye Feng, this restaurant is so interesting. I love it."

The three happily enjoyed their food, and Ye Feng was very fond of the relaxed, easygoing feeling.

"Senior Ye Feng, I know there are things I shouldn't ask, but I still want to know: did you and Senior break up?" Li Xiaona clenched her fists and stared intently at Ye Feng. She was nervous, hopeful and afraid. She was nervous that Ye Feng would get angry, hopeful for an answer, and afraid that her chance would slip away once again.

"Those who abandon me and depart leave yesterday beyond my grasp; those who trouble my heart fill today with endless sorrow. Those meant to leave cannot be kept, and the sorrows meant to come cannot be avoided." Ye Feng sighed. More than three years of love couldn't be put down just because he wanted to, but he couldn't accept betrayal. If she didn't love him, she could have said so instead of betraying him.

"Love arises from no known source, yet grows ever deeper; hatred meets no known end, yet vanishes with a smile. Senior, this is something everyone must go through in life. Try to take it in stride. Time is the best medicine: it can help you forget, and it can also help you meet someone." Looking at the figure deep in her heart, all she felt at that moment was heartache.

"Among the three thousand ailments of birth, aging and illness, only lovesickness cannot be cured," Ye Feng murmured.

"Two taels of nine-leaf Paris and one mace of winter-solstice cicada pupae, decocted in snow from the previous year, can cure the world's bitter lovesickness," Li Xiaona argued.

"Paris has seven leaves and one flower. Where would you find pupae at the winter solstice? How could you gather snow from the previous year? How could lovesickness be cured?"

"Self-heal is nine-leaf Paris; dig three feet into the earth and a cicada appears. Snow falling at midnight on New Year's Eve lands in the next year. Once the time of parting has passed, lovesickness, too, can be cured."

"But if lovesickness has not sunk into the bones, why seek medicine for it? If this medicine is no more bitter than lovesickness, how can it cure lovesickness's poison?"

"You two great scholars, how did you go from breaking up to lovesickness? You're getting off topic. Could you talk about something this humble girl can understand? Spare a thought for a poor student's feelings too. Hehe." Seeing the conversation drift further and further afield, Shi Nan hurried to pull it back. That Li Xiaona was such a worry. She clearly liked Senior Ye, yet she insisted on talking about lovesickness. What a silly girl.

"Haha, was my act just now convincingly lovesick? What's past is past. I'm not that fragile, so there's no need to comfort me, junior." Ye Feng laughed heartily, sweeping away the gloom that had hung over him. He hadn't expected to talk so much today with a junior he had only just met.

"Senior, can I add you on WeChat? Today we not only took your seats, but also let you treat us to a meal. I'll treat you another day. Hehe." Li Xiaona smiled happily. She could have split the bill, but if she let Senior treat her this time, she could ask him out alone next time. Just thinking about it made her happy.

Ye Feng opened his WeChat QR code, and after Li Xiaona and Shi Nan added him as a friend, he went to pay. Once he had received the cashback, he saw that it was getting late and said to the two women, "Juniors, are you going shopping, or heading back to school?"

The two discussed it and said, "Senior, we'd better head back to school. It's getting late."

"Then I'll take you back." With that, Ye Feng led them out of the Phoenix Cry Pavilion.

When they reached the G-Wagon, Li Xiaona looked at Ye Feng in surprise.

"Senior, is this your car?"

"Yes, I just picked it up today."

"I heard..."

"That's right, I was dumped because I was poor. Hehe, maybe that's fate."

In the car, all three were silent. Li Xiaona watched Ye Feng's profile reflected in the window, and for a moment she felt a little dazed. Her thoughts seemed to return to their first meeting. That young man, always smiling, had been so youthful and sunny that being around him was like basking in a spring breeze. Now his smile had faded, and he was gradually becoming resolute. Perhaps this was what growing up meant.

After the three said goodbye at the school gates, Ye Feng didn't leave. Instead, he returned to the dormitory he hadn't visited in a long time.

"Fourth Brother, what brought you back? Got something on your mind? Come on, tell your Brother Chao and give me a laugh," Wang Chao teased as he looked at Ye Feng, who hadn't returned to the dorm in ages.

Cheng Wen also sat up and looked at Ye Feng. "Wait, Fourth Brother, did you win the lottery? You're wearing designer brands from head to toe! That stuff isn't cheap!"

Wang Chao also noticed the change in Ye Feng. After looking him over, his eyes fixed on Ye Feng's wrist.

"Holy crap, a Patek Philippe! Fourth Brother, you've struck it rich! Tell me, did some rich lady take a fancy to you? Introduce me to one too," Wang Chao teased.

"Get out of here. What rich lady? I was just walking along when it fell out of the sky. Haha."

"Foster Father, you've learned some bad habits. I just looked it up, and that Patek Philippe of yours costs seven million. Tell us what's going on. If you don't, Fengxian's long blade will have to drink blood."