As the high-speed train pulled into the small Jiangnan city, the evening glow was casting a gentle amber hue over the platform. Lin Shen stood before the glass doors, the rumbling sound of his suitcase wheels against the ground echoing a certain morning from his memory. He gazed at the surging crowd at the exit, his fingertips instinctively rubbing the faded movie stub in his pocket—the ticket from his first date with Shen Nian'an seven years ago.
In the midsummer of seven years ago, Lin Shen, having just passed the college entrance exams, dragged his luggage out of the station and bumped straight into Shen Nian'an, who was wearing a ponytail. Holding a sign that read "Freshman Reception," she let the sunlight pierce through her flying strands of hair, casting speckled patches of light onto the back of his hand. "Classmate, need any help?" Her voice was as sweet and crisp as iced soda, completely unsettling the young wanderer's heart.
That was the first time Lin Shen had left his secluded small town, while Shen Nian'an was a girl who had grown up in the city. She took him to explore every avenue and alley of the city, eat grilled skewers at the night market, watch fireworks by the river, and share the same bucket of popcorn at the cinema. Lin Shen always said he was like a clumsy snail, and Shen Nian'an was the light that led him to explore a new world.
Chapter 197