Chapter 2 – To Meet Once Again (1/2)

Chapter 2 – To Meet Once Again

Nie Yan increasingly neared the pharmacy. However, as he was crossing the road, as if by some supernatural occurrence, he tripped and fell hard onto the pavement.

When one reaches the peak of happiness, sorrow is soon to strike.

「Ssssss…ah.」Nie Yan hissed in pain. His hands felt numb from breaking the fall, and his knee was bleeding from scraping off the pavement.

Nie Yan sat up with great difficulty; his knee had been badly cut open, exposing raw flesh and blood.

At that time, a pink hovercar happened to be passing through the area. It halted, not far from where Nie Yan had fallen. The hovercar was of top quality, truly a rare sight in this peaceful little town. It appeared to be a limited edition hovercar, valued around ninety million dollars—something an ordinary family certainly couldn’t afford.

A young lady in a white skirt appeared, stepping out after the car door was opened. Urgently, she ran over to where Nie Yan had fallen.

“Fellow student, are you alright?” A clear and pleasant voice appeared to be deeply concerned as it passed through Nie Yan’s ears.

Hearing this voice so familiar to his heart, his soul began to tremble. He turned his head to look; if the person appearing before his eyes wasn’t Xie Yao, then who else could it be?

She was wearing a white dress dotted with pink lace, her hair was tied behind her back as her clear and charming eyes gazed on with concern. Her cheeks, appearing still somewhat childish, were brimming with youth and life. She was still as beautiful as ever.

Nie Yan absentmindedly recalled the high school reunion that had occurred six years after his graduation. At that time, Xie Yao had become a successful businesswoman. She had worn a beautiful and enchanting OL dress.

Time was indeed a wondrous thing—changing a pure and innocent young girl into a charming and beautiful woman… and at present, once again changing her back.

After a whole lifetime, I’ve met you again… Perhaps this is fate, our destinies rewinding like magnetic tape, placing us two once again at where we first encountered. Melodious music slowly began playing in his soul; every single note so pleasant and beautiful to listen to.

Nie Yan still kept the memories of the day he and Xie Yao had first come across each other; it had mirrored this exact scene. His eyes were moist, Xie Yao… I haven’t seen you in such a long time. Are you still doing fine? In this lifetime, I’ll never let you go again…

“Ah! Your knee is badly scraped, and it’s bleeding badly!” Xie Yao called out in alarm. After recalling that the first aid kit in her car still had a few bandages, she quickly ran back to retrieve them.

Nie Yan watched as Xie Yao returned to her vehicle. During his senior year, what he loved to do the most was follow her elegant little figure with his eyes. Glancing at her seductive figure, her knee length skirt revealed snow-white skin that resembled exquisite jade. On that topic, Nie Yan’s appearance also couldn’t be considered too bad. Following his father’s success, his financial circumstances had also become pretty good; he wasn’t the least bit inferior to Xie Yao. However, when facing her, he could never rouse up enough courage to interact with her.

His state of mind during senior year was odd and hard to fathom. Looking back as an adult, he felt he truly was too immature at the time.

Xie Yao grabbed the bandages and walked over to Nie Yan’s side. She then began disinfecting the wound with antiseptics. Moving with extreme care, she picked off the tiny bits of gravel with her delicate fingers.

“How can you cry? You’re already a grown boy. How could a little wound like this cause you to tear up? It’s not a very good appearance, you know!~”Xie Yao smiled teasingly while using her thumb to massage Nie Yan’s bruised knee.

When she smiled, the corners of her mouth exposed her slight dimples, revealing a type of indescribably bright charm.

“When I fell, there was just a little dust that got into my eyes.” Nie Yan’s cheeks became a little red as he absentmindedly replied with an excuse. The real reason he had cried wasn’t due to the injury on his knee in the slightest. It was Xie Yao’s appearance which caused him to feel as if boiling hot water had been poured over his head. His state of mind was in a chaotic mess: an overwhelming amount of bitterness and joy mixed together wanted to surge out of him.

Xie Yao’s attention was singlemindedly focused on Nie Yan’s bruised knee.

Nie Yan raised his head and gazed at Xie Yao’s face as she leaned in towards him. Her skin, like flawless white jade, was tender and supple. A strand of black hair hung down as he gazed at the beautiful earrings that hung from her earlobes.

In the past when he and Xie Yao were deskmates, he always liked to secretly peek at her during class time. Though no matter how much he looked, he felt he could never look enough.

Xie Yao was without a doubt the prettiest girl in their class; however, other classes had very pretty girls too. Nie Yan, on the other hand, firmly believed Xie Yao was the most beautiful girl in the entire school.

After their first encounter, Nie Yan had never forgotten her. Later on, when he entered his senior year of high school, he was surprised to discover the both of them were in the same class. Not only that… but they were also deskmates as well. He came to believe this occurrence was predestined. It wasn’t until ten years later that he came to understand… even if two people were fated to be together, if one didn’t properly seize their opportunity, they would miss their chance. By the time he became aware of this, it was already too late.

“How could you come here all by yourself!? This is a really dangerous area where a lot of criminals operate!” Nie Yan said in a genuinely concerned tone. It truly was an area occupied by many criminal organizations. An especially dangerous place for a beautiful young girl like Xie Yao to be alone.

“Don’t underestimate me! I’m a third level black belt in taekwondo! After I turn twenty-one, I’ll be able to advance onto the fourth level. If you don’t believe me, then let me show you!” Xie Yao took up an open stance, then suddenly halted as her face turned dizzily red. She stalled and said, “Actually, nevermind… I’m wearing a skirt today, but I really am super strong!” Xie Yao said innocently without the slightest trace of scheming.

Nie Yan replied with a laugh, and after chatting with Xie Yao for a while, he confirmed that this young lady in front of him was indeed Xie Yao—the girl who was so sincere, lovable, lively, and carefree. Yet after graduating university and meeting up once again, that sort of lively innocence soon became something he could never see again. It turns out going through a stressful period of time would indefinitely change anyone…

Xie Yao began sizing Nie Yan up a bit. Compared to herself, he seemed to be younger than her by a few years. His height was also roughly the same as hers, appearing to be only around a hundred seventy centimeters in height. The clothes he wore were a little dirty, possibly from falling over just now. Appearance wise—although he couldn’t be regarded as handsome—he was passable. Only, she didn’t seem to know why, but she felt an indescribable sort of familiarity and closeness towards Nie Yan. Unknowingly, they ended up chatting for quite a while.

“What school are you from? From your appearance… it looks as though you should be studying in middle school, right?” Xia Yao felt Nie Yan was a little bit foolish and empty-headed, so silly it was slightly adorable. Not minding the ground while he was running, many boys from middle school are foolish like this. They become a lot more mature by the time they reach high school though.

Although Nie Yan was eighteen years old right now, he had the wisdom of a twenty-eight-year-old. When he met with Xie Yao once again, Nie Yan was no longer the confused, ignorant little boy he had been in the past. His spirit had been refined and tempered by the passage of time; he had become calm and collected.

“Who said I’m in middle school? If it weren’t for the country’s child policy, my son would already be old enough to buy groceries himself!” Nie Yan replied jokingly. As a person, one shouldn’t be so deadpan and boring.

“Your son? Buying groceries himself? Stop joking around!” Nie Yan’s words had caused Xie Yao to burst out into laughter, causing her to giggle nonstop.

“I’m eighteen.”

“Are you really eighteen? You don’t look like you’re around my age,” Xie Yao said in surprise.