Charlotte Lee looked over in surprise. That chubby, ordinary-looking girl still faintly resembled her childhood self between her brows. She ran over to the girl, stared at a certain sparkling pendant in the Swarovski counter, and smiled good-naturedly: “Mine was only 20 yuan, I bought it when I went to Huanglong, it’s fake, how could it compare to this?”

“Fiona James?”

Fiona James turned her face, looking at her inquisitively: “You… do we know each other?”

Charlotte Lee shook her head: “No, I mistook you for someone else.”

Fiona James smiled, and there were still two shallow dimples on her face. She had cut her hair short, looked calm and content, and was pulled away by a few friends to sit on the escalator, slowly heading up to the second floor. As she rose into the air, she glanced back at Charlotte Lee in confusion, tilted her head, still a bit like the little “Swallow” on stage who used to pretend to be cute as a child.

But no one called her “Little Swallow” anymore.

Once, when Charlotte Lee was riding high, how she had laughed at Fiona James and Zoe Young for not being able to learn Olympiad math!

And how she had boasted to Charles Johnson, saying their future would be tough, that “a bright child may not grow into a great adult,” that these were girls with no long-term plans—just watch, Charles Johnson, in the future they’ll just be ordinary people…

Zoe Young took a detour and ended up back at the same starting line, side by side with her.

But Fiona James had withdrawn from the competition, contentedly huddling with a few girlfriends in this building to keep warm and laugh together on a freezing winter day.

Ordinary people. She laughed at Fiona James for being ordinary, but forgot that happiness always belongs to the ordinary majority.

Zoe Young never told Andrew Lane anything about Ray Cindy. She just insisted that she believed Charlotte Lee didn’t cheat.

Andrew Lane nodded: “I know.”

No one answered the phone at Charlotte Lee’s house. Andrew Lane called his own parents, intending to ask for Charlotte Lee’s father’s number, but before he could explain, his mother started screaming.

“You actually skipped the exam?!”

Andrew Lane quickly hung up and gave Zoe Young an embarrassed smile: “She’s… going through menopause lately.”

Zoe Young gently tugged Andrew Lane’s sleeve: “Is it really okay for you to skip the exam?”

Andrew Lane smiled: “What’s the big deal? If I can’t get a recommendation, I’ll just take the exam myself. Since you’re fine, there’s no way I’d have a problem!”

Zoe Young shook her head: “We’re not the same. You still carry so many expectations.”

Another line that sounded so familiar. But it seemed Andrew Lane would never again be swayed by Zoe Young’s assertions.

“You talk too much.” He was now tall enough to rub Zoe Young’s head from above. The gesture was so familiar that Zoe Young suddenly felt a warm current in her heart, but it wasn’t because of Alan Carter.

“Andrew Lane?” Zoe Young called his name instinctively.

“What?”

She smiled: “Nothing.”

This person was Andrew Lane.

Charles Johnson insisted on going out to look for Charlotte Lee himself. Zoe Young and Andrew Lane paired up, first searching all around the school, and finally, the newsstand owner—who always liked to chat up pretty girls—after listening to Andrew Lane’s jumbled description, slapped his forehead: “Oh, there was a girl, not wearing a coat, carrying a bag, who took a bus from here. But I really don’t know which route…”

Andrew Lane spread his hands at Zoe Young: “What do we do now?”

Born from obsession, for all beings. Zoe Young looked at the bus stop: “If I were her, I’d just get on any bus. So logical reasoning is useless, we can’t find her.”

Andrew Lane scratched his head: “It’s definitely too late to go back for the exam now. What are we even doing?”

But there wasn’t a trace of annoyance or doubt in his tone.

Zoe Young tilted her head at him: “Even if it’s useless, we have to look. Even if it’s ridiculous, we have to look. If you just sat in the exam room pretending to care but did nothing, I think you’d never forgive yourself. And this is really important for Charlotte Lee too.”

To let her know that someone still believes in her, that someone thinks her existence is more important than their own recommendation.

Charlotte Lee, stripped of her halo, is still loved.

Zoe Young and Andrew Lane spent the whole afternoon going to every place Andrew Lane thought they might find Charlotte Lee, but found nothing.

To avoid his mother’s endless calls, Andrew Lane turned off his phone. After several twists and turns, a strange number called Zoe Young’s phone.

“Hello?” Zoe Young answered.

“Hello, I’m Andrew Lane’s mother.”

The heavy anger in her voice made Zoe Young a little nervous.

“Is this Zoe Young? Are you with…”

Zoe Young immediately interrupted her softly: “Please hold on.” Then she handed the phone to Andrew Lane.

Who knows how Andrew Lane’s mother managed to track down Zoe Young as a lead. Andrew Lane was caught red-handed—

Both for skipping the exam, and for Zoe Young.

Andrew Lane answered lazily the whole time, but his temper was actually pretty good.

“Mm.”

“I had to come out and look for her. Otherwise, what kind of person would I be?”

“I’m not mad at you, I’m being very polite. Besides, it’s too late to go back and take the exam now anyway, just let me focus on finding her.”

“Mom, please talk to Charlotte Lee’s mom. No matter how much Charlotte Lee pretends in front of me and Charles Johnson, we both know her crazy mom—okay, okay, I respect my elders, I respect my elders. Anyway, all the pressure on Charlotte Lee is her mom’s fault… Fine, I won’t talk nonsense, I respect my elders…”

Zoe Young couldn’t help but want to laugh as she listened. She liked seeing Andrew Lane’s laid-back attitude, as if they were back in childhood.

Suddenly, Andrew Lane fell silent for a long time, his expression growing serious.

The silence lasted a long time, until they had reached the end of the road.

“Mom, this is my business, my choice. Right or wrong, I’ll bear it myself.”

He hung up, and once again gently rubbed Zoe Young’s head, full of comfort and protection. For the first time in so long, Zoe Young looked at him seriously and without prejudice. She had always thought he was just a boy full of sunshine, carrying the hopes of his parents and everyone around him, self-assured and smooth-sailing. But now she realized, there was something in his tone breaking through the surface, not about excellence, just about time.

“What were you two… talking about?”

Andrew Lane grinned, showing his white teeth: “You.”

You. My business, my choice. Right or wrong, I’ll bear it myself.

Just then, Zoe Young suddenly got a call from Michael’s father.

Michael had suddenly fallen into a coma this morning and was still being resuscitated.

Andrew Lane and Zoe Young spent the whole afternoon and evening in the hospital. Another long corridor, cold plastic chairs. Zoe Young leaned the back of her head against the wall, and suddenly wasn’t so afraid of hospitals anymore.

She had experienced her first encounter with death in a hospital, listened to the saddest memories, and received the most desperate news.

Maybe this is just a transit station. Their vision isn’t long enough to see the world beyond it, but maybe that world is beautiful too.

To Zoe Young, Michael was a sign. She dared to spend the last few years of her life pretending nothing was wrong, happily going to school, getting into trouble, Cosy, swearing, arguing with the dean, and even in the hospital, she could nonchalantly eat apples while teaching Zoe Young how to peel them. When Zoe Young’s clumsiness made her angry, she’d throw a pillow at the head nurse—when Zoe Young asked why she’d throw a pillow at the nurse for her own mistake, she just grinned and said, “I thought years ago that nurse had something going on with my dad. I’m giving my dad a chance to apologize to her. Matchmaking is better than building a seven-story pagoda…”

She had never seen Michael cry, never seen her mope around and complain about trivial troubles and setbacks like everyone else. When everyone played Cosy together, she’d point at her own sunken, scary eye sockets and volunteer to play L from Death Note, as if her illness gave her a unique advantage.

Strength and optimism can be faked, but Michael’s happiness was never forced.

Andrew Lane gently held Zoe Young’s hand.

“I wrote so many practice papers for her for nothing, and she still hasn’t done what she promised me. Even if she wants to run away, I won’t let her,” Andrew Lane tried to sound relaxed, “Trust me.”