Zoe Young suddenly laughed, her smile wicked to the extreme. In that instant, Andrew Lane remembered that mischievous little fox from elementary school—

How long had it been since he’d seen Zoe Young smile like this?

“That woman said…” Zoe Young glanced meaningfully at Andrew Lane’s pocket, “Sorry, your account balance is insufficient, please recharge; sorry, your account balance is insufficient, please recharge…”

“…Yu, Zhou, Zhou!”

Once Andrew Lane realized what was happening, he immediately reached out in exasperation to grab Zoe Young’s braid. She ducked her head, and he missed, but his foot slipped, and he lost his balance, falling right onto her back.

After a bit of flailing, he finally managed to grab her and barely steady himself, only to find that he’d ended up holding Zoe Young tightly in his arms.

Andrew Lane could hear the rush of blood pounding in his temples, but he still didn’t let go.

On the contrary, he lowered his head, gently pressed his lips to her cool hair, and held her even tighter.

The street was silent on a winter evening.

Bin? Laden, please, just blow up this city right now, let time stop at this very moment.

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7. Sincere Lies

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Zoe Young’s mind went blank.

The moment he held her tightly in his arms, the streetlights along that road seemed to light up all at once, as if by agreement. The orange glow created a small stage, with the two protagonists standing at the center, lost in their own play, unable to find their way out.

“Andrew Lane…” she finally called his name softly, her voice lacking confidence.

“Don’t move,” Andrew Lane’s voice was clear and gentle, with a cautious plea, “Zoe, don’t move, let me hold you for a while, just a little while, okay?”

Both of them were bundled up for winter, and Zoe Young’s face was pressed against Andrew Lane’s chest. The zipper of his down jacket was icy cold, making her a bit uncomfortable, but she didn’t move at all, nor did she pull away. Strangely, in no time, the parts of their coats that touched quickly warmed up.

The power of a hug is divine; it makes people feel whole and safe. Zoe Young suddenly felt that the gaping hole in her heart was suddenly filled—if only for these few short minutes.

It was as if she were immersed in a dream, warm and solid, unwilling to wake up.

Bit by bit, she tried, raising her hand to wrap around his waist.

Andrew Lane trembled slightly, then pulled her even closer, locking her firmly against his young chest.

Maybe they should have hugged each other long ago.

No one knew how much time passed before Zoe Young finally said, a little embarrassed, “Andrew Lane, my leg’s gone numb.”

Bravely and a bit clumsily, he slipped his right hand into the glove she wore on her left hand, then held her hand tightly.

He felt he should confess, but didn’t want to break the beautiful silence. He lowered his head, walking step by step, eyes straight ahead, but catching every subtle expression of hers from the corner of his eye, folding them away to keep safe in his heart.

Happiness comes unexpectedly. Andrew Lane was afraid he’d suddenly wake up and find it was all just a dream.

Zoe Young, however, spoke softly.

“Andrew Lane, your embrace reminds me of my mom.”

Andrew Lane didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, feeling both joy and sorrow.

Zoe Young didn’t notice that Andrew Lane’s budding sense of manly pride had been shattered to pieces by her words. She, born of obsession for the sake of all beings, told him earnestly, “It really is like my mom… so warm.”

The big hand holding hers tightened.

The joy that had seemed about to burst from his chest slowly calmed down. Zoe Young couldn’t sort out her thoughts; she didn’t even know what she was feeling. Just now, her mind had gone blank, instinctively craving that firmness and warmth, regardless of the consequences.

This warmth came too suddenly. Zoe Young didn’t need to wake up to know it was just a dream.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and saw it was a call from Charlotte Lee. She’d even forgotten that she and Charlotte Lee had exchanged numbers.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Zoe Young? Is Andrew Lane with you?”

Zoe Young actually felt a guilty panic, like a thief. She was silent for a few seconds. “Yes.”

“His parents can’t find him, and his phone is still off—I guess it’s out of battery. I figured you two were together, so I called you. Can you hand the phone to him?”

“Okay.”

Zoe Young handed the phone to Andrew Lane, then gently took off one earmuff with one hand, and tried to pull her other hand out of his, but he was holding on too tightly.

After hanging up, Andrew Lane looked at her in surprise. “Why did you take it off? Aren’t you cold?”

Zoe Young didn’t answer. “Your parents are looking for you?”

“Yeah, Charlotte Lee said my parents couldn’t find me. She told them she saw us walking together along Nanguo Road toward the district government, so they’re waiting for me in the car at the intersection ahead. Let’s head that way, I’ll walk you home first.”

Zoe Young seemed to have expected this. She stuffed the earmuff she’d taken off back into Andrew Lane’s hand, resolutely pulled her hand free, and took off her glove to return it to him.

“We haven’t gone far anyway. I’ll walk back to the bus stop and take the bus. If I see a taxi, I’ll take it. You should go find your parents,” she said.

Andrew Lane’s shoulders slowly slumped.

Zoe Young had already regained her calm. She shoved her hands into her pockets, nodded vaguely as a goodbye, and turned to leave.

“Zoe, don’t go.”

Andrew Lane’s breath, white in the cold, seemed to bridge the distance between them.

“I know, if we want to be together, there will be a lot of obstacles. I won’t make big promises, so… maybe not now, but I’ll wait. One day I’ll be strong enough to overcome those obstacles, I will…”

Andrew Lane’s tone was a bit anxious.

“Andrew Lane!” Zoe Young cut him off. “I never thought about being with you.

“Just now, I was… confused for a moment.

“Don’t come looking for me again, really, don’t. Live your life well, and let me live mine.”

She finished and left, not daring to look back, but the person behind her caught up.

“Didn’t you understand what I said?” Zoe Young’s face turned cold.

Andrew Lane didn’t seem flustered anymore; instead, he laughed.

“After all these years, after everything, if I still believed what you said,” he shook his head, “then I’d be a pig.”

“Andrew Lane…”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to ride in my parents’ car. I’ll walk you back to the bus stop, and I’ll leave after you get on.”

“Your parents are waiting for you at the intersection. If we do this, it’ll take another half hour.”

“Their car has heating, it’s warm.”

He put the earmuffs back on Zoe Young, then took her hand again—this time, his movement was much more confident and assured, so assertive that Zoe Young couldn’t dodge at all.

But, Andrew Lane, Zoe Young said in her heart, I already like someone else.

It had always been this way, ever since she was little. Zoe Young really wanted to know why it was that every time, only she knew the truth. Born of obsession for the sake of all beings, whether she chose to tell him or not, it was a serious kind of hurt.

She moved her lips, and the boy beside her had, without her noticing, already grown into a man, with a faint smile, bathed in orange light, as if walking step by step toward what he thought was happiness.

She still couldn’t say it. She thought she’d stopped caring long ago.

The steady warmth passing from his palm made her almost want to cry.

Andrew Lane, riding high on the spring breeze, had an extremely fulfilling winter break.

He needed to see Zoe Young, but didn’t want to meet under the pretense of “puppy love,” so he started getting up to run in the early winter mornings—he didn’t feel cold, because he was burning up inside. He’d run from his house all the way to the building where Zoe Young’s grandmother lived, stand downstairs for a while, use whatever he could find to mark tally marks on the old black wooden door, then run back.

Or he’d call her, always restraining himself from saying anything off-topic, discussing math problems with utmost seriousness.

Even this kind of pretense made him happy.

At the start of the new semester, Nathan Lucas and the others gradually noticed something was off with Andrew Lane. He actually took the initiative to rejoin the regular lunch group, and when they all thought he’d failed in his pursuit, he always wore a silly, blissful grin.