Is it just a possibility?

The two of them chatted as they ate, the atmosphere as warm and gentle as spring.

Halfway through the meal, Liu Xiaomei suddenly asked the waiter for a bottle of beer. After filling two glasses, she clinked glasses with Zhang Pa and said, "Let me tell you a secret. Actually, I saw you quite a long time ago."

Zhang Pa took a sip of his beer and asked, "How long ago?"

"Listen to me." Liu Xiaomei poured Zhang Pa another glass. "Last summer vacation, when the students were away, I hadn't been back for long and often went out for walks. One day, at the bus stop, I saw a long-haired weirdo selling a book—just one book. Right as a bus arrived, an elderly woman got off and suddenly collapsed, whether from a fall or something else, I have no idea. By that time, the bus had already driven away. Everyone else just stood around watching, and nobody went to help. Then that long-haired weirdo went over, helped her up, and started shouting to call the police and an ambulance. Later, when the police arrived and were looking for the person who made the call, the long-haired weirdo suddenly vanished, disappearing along with his book."

Zhang Pa let out a chuckle. "That was me."

"Of course it was you. I saw you run away, clutching a box of books and running so fast. Were you afraid of taking responsibility?" Liu Xiaomei asked with a smile.

"Nonsense! What if she tried to extort me?" Zhang Pa retorted.

Liu Xiaomei smiled and continued, "I've seen you four times in total. That was the first time. Later, I saw you twice outside the conservatory—once at noon and once at night. One of those times, your head was shaved bald, just like it is now." She smiled at this. "Did you shave your head because you were afraid the police would come looking for the long-haired guy?"

Zhang Pa nodded very seriously. "That was the exact reason."

Liu Xiaomei laughed. "I couldn't believe it when I first saw you today... Do you know why I was able to recognize you?"

Zhang Pa said he had no idea. "Maybe because I'm too handsome?"

"Not handsome. There's a kind of melancholy temperament about you. How should I put it? Think of a movie star, like Tony Leung—that kind of vibe. I can't quite describe it, but it's similar. It's a feeling deep in your bones, as if you were meant to be this lonely, meant to be this melancholic." Liu Xiaomei added, "And your eyes. They're especially bright and very large. Anyway, I remembered them the moment I saw them."

Zhang Pa said, "Your eyes are the ones that are truly beautiful."

Liu Xiaomei smiled and went on, "The second time I saw you, I was still doubtful. Could it really be you? Could it be such a huge coincidence? I even walked deliberately close to you—about four or five meters away. But you didn't look at me at all. You were straddling a bicycle with one foot on the ground, staring straight at the gates of the conservatory. You watched for quite a while, then pedaled away, completely ignoring the existence of a great beauty like me."

"Ah? Did that really happen? No way! How could a wolf like me ever miss the chance to admire a beauty?" Zhang Pa said.

"Of course it happened, and twice at that," Liu Xiaomei said. "A little over a month later, during the coldest part of winter, I was heading home to my parents' place. When I came out to hail a cab, I saw you straddling your bicycle again, staring at the conservatory gates. I got curious—what on earth was so interesting about those gates? I turned back and looked for a long time, but I couldn't figure it out. When I turned back around, you were already gone." She shook her head. "I appeared right in front of you twice, and you completely ignored me, never even noticing me! It was a huge blow to a beauty's self-esteem."

Zhang Pa chuckled. "I confess. Back then I was blind; it was only after an operation that I regained my sight and could finally see you."

Liu Xiaomei raised her glass. "To your complete oblivion to the world, cheers."

Zhang Pa hurriedly clinked his glass with hers.

After finishing their beer, Liu Xiaomei continued, "The first time I saw you selling books, I thought you looked lonely. The next two times, you looked practically drowning in melancholy. With people coming and going in front of the school gate, you just stood there alone, lost in a daze. Later on, I went to the school gate often, but sadly, I never saw you again."

Zhang Pa asked, "When was the fourth time?"

Liu Xiaomei replied, "The fourth time was when I saw you get into a fight, around late spring and early summer of this year. You were wearing the exact same outfit you had on when you were selling books last summer. It must have been the same clothes; I remember it was a white shirt, right?"

Zhang Pa said yes.

Liu Xiaomei said, "Well, even if it wasn't, it doesn't matter. I already had your face memorized."

Zhang Pa thought for a moment and asked, "Who was I fighting?"

"Urban management officers," Liu Xiaomei said with a smile.

Zhang Pa let out an "ah," then laughed along. "So you witnessed that too."

"I was so shocked at the time. To think someone would openly defy the law," Liu Xiaomei giggled. "You were so cool, fighting a whole squad of urban management officers all by yourself. Two of their vehicles were chasing you, yet you managed to knock down all six of them before sauntering away in style. My jaw dropped watching it, especially since one of them was a female officer, and you treated everyone with absolute equality... Couldn't you have shown a little mercy to a woman?"

Zhang Pa said, "When it comes to the noble profession of fighting, there is no distinction of gender."

Liu Xiaomei smiled as she looked at him, her eyes filled with gentle warmth. "I've seen you four times, and every time you were so striking. But most importantly, not once did you notice me... I want to ask, am I really that unremarkable?"

Zhang Pa coughed and lowered his voice to explain, "It's not that you were unremarkable. I was just tangled up in other matters at the time and didn't have the chance to look at you."

Liu Xiaomei said, "Seeing you four times over the span of half a year made me feel like your life was truly fulfilling. Unlike anyone I knew, you must have lived very happily—so why did you always carry that air of melancholy? During a few boring moments, I even wondered if I'd ever get to see you a fifth time."

Zhang Pa smiled. "Of course there was a fifth time, and I appeared before you in such a striking way, boldly telling you I wanted to get to know you. Cool and handsome enough, right?"

"Not bad," Liu Xiaomei said. "I thought you were quite genuine, different from other men, otherwise I would have chased you away long ago." With that, she suddenly fell silent, not saying a word for quite a long while.

Zhang Pa asked, "Are you competing with me to see who is more melancholic?"

Liu Xiaomei gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile. "I was originally so happy and glad to have met you, but I never expected that I'd end up bringing you trouble instead. I'm sorry."

Zhang Pa quickly said, "Don't scare me like that! What do you mean by 'I'm sorry'? Are you trying to kill me off?"

Liu Xiaomei raised her right hand, palm up, and reached it toward Zhang Pa. Zhang Pa looked at it for a moment, then placed his right hand over hers. Liu Xiaomei then covered his hand with her left hand, gently stroking the scars. "I know you can fight, and I know you're daring enough to take on so many urban management officers. But Wang Zhongxing is different from them. I've been thinking about it—should I just quit my job? How about the two of us go to another city? We can rent a small apartment and slowly build our lives together, what do you think? Or we could go back to your hometown. Hehe, I think that would be nice."

Zhang Pa gave a light cough. "Is this a confession?"

Liu Xiaomei let out a soft huff. "In your dreams! I look at you like a comrade..."

"Whoa, stop right there. I like women," Zhang Pa hastily interrupted.

Liu Xiaomei laughed. "Let's just say I look at you as a business partner. We have that kind of pure, platonic relationship—no funny business allowed."

Zhang Pa asked, "What kind of relationship is 'that kind of relationship'?"

"A comrade relationship. You told me not to use the word 'comrade,' but I don't know what else to call it," Liu Xiaomei replied.

Zhang Pa rubbed his temples. "Talking to you really fries my brain. If my reactions are just a split second slower, I have no idea how to respond."

Liu Xiaomei suggested, "Let's head south, down to the seaside. I can open a dance studio, and you can keep being a writer. Whenever you have free time, we can go hang out on the beach. You know, I've seen those foreign photographs online—the ones where people eat right by the ocean with the dining tables set in the water. The seawater is crystal clear, the tables and chairs are right in the waves, you have the sandy beach beneath your feet and a sun umbrella overhead. Eating a meal in a setting like that during summer... how romantic would that be?"

Zhang Pa gasped. "How is that the exact same as what I was thinking? I've also wanted to have a meal like that. Though we can skip the Western food—I think barbecue would be best. With the blazing sun above us, sitting right in the seawater and munching on meat skewers, it would be nothing short of a heavenly luxury."

Liu Xiaomei smiled. "Alright, settled! We'll go eat barbecue in the sea just like you said." As she spoke, she pulled back her right hand and said, "Pinky swear."

Zhang Pa hurriedly hooked his pinky with hers. "It's a deal."

Liu Xiaomei asked, "So, when are we leaving?" Without waiting for Zhang Pa to answer, she muttered, "There's still some lingering business at the school; resigning requires paperwork. And then there are the little kids in my dance class... Am I being a bit irresponsible?"

Zhang Pa asked, "Why would you think that?"

"I'm teaching them the fundamentals. I should make sure they've mastered the basics solidly before letting go and leaving," Liu Xiaomei said. "Right now is probably not a good time to keep changing teachers frequently."

Zhang Pa smiled. "The pinky swear just now was to record our shared dream, nobody said we were leaving tomorrow." He repeated emphatically, "I'm serious, the matter with Wang Zhongxing is already resolved. Really."

Liu Xiaomei said, "But I want to go south with you."

Zhang Pa said, "Everyone has things they want to do. Wanting to do something means you can't do it right now, otherwise there'd be no need to just dream about it. Let's make a plan. Sometime in the not-too-distant future, we will definitely go eat barbecue in the ocean."

Liu Xiaomei thought about it for a moment, said "Okay," and then added, "Let me tell you another thing—I've read all your stories."

"Ah?" Zhang Pa smiled and said, "Didn't make you throw up, did it?"

"You need to have some confidence in yourself," Liu Xiaomei said with a smile. "When I first saw you helping and trying to save that old lady, I went to check what was inside your box, and it turned out to be stacks of the exact same book with such a bizarre title, so I remembered it. Later, when I saw you twice outside the conservatory, I got a bit curious about you, so I looked up your books online. At first, I couldn't get into them at all—no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't read past the first few chapters. But then, after I saw you fight the urban management officers, I realized you were truly no ordinary person, so I forced myself to read it. After that, I ended up finishing it and have been following it ever since."

Saying this, she gave a playful smile. "You haven't updated your chapters for today yet. Are you skipping it?"

Zhang Pa replied, "They're on my flash drive. I'll just find an internet café and upload them in a bit."

Liu Xiaomei glanced at the time. "Will there be enough time?"

"Should be plenty," Zhang Pa answered.

Liu Xiaomei urged, "Then hurry up and eat so you can go post your chapter."

Zhang Pa told her not to rush, then asked, "What do you think of the stories I write?"

Liu Xiaomei blinked. "I'll tell you later."

Zhang Pa smiled. "And here I thought we didn't know each other back then, often asking myself how I could be so lucky to meet such a great beauty and talented woman. Turns out you'd already seen me long before that."

"I've seen plenty of people in my life, but very few leave an impression. Being able to remember you just proves that you're outstanding enough," Liu Xiaomei said.

Zhang Pa remarked, "You don't need to comfort me. I know I'm eccentric enough—only by being weird enough can you leave an impression on others."

"Well, I remember you anyway," Liu Xiaomei said with a smile. (To be continued.)