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Autumn Wind hurriedly shopped for some food in the supermarket, dragging her painful backside, and then rushed back to the hotel. By the time she had eaten, drunk, and rested, it was already dark. She couldn't help but stare out the window, thinking how early the night came in Jinan.
Jinan is after all her hometown, and compared to Hangzhou, Autumn Wind naturally felt a resonance with this city. Yet, she couldn't help but feel melancholic.
She felt like a girl who had run away from home, wanting to reach a certain place but not knowing why she chose to leave her original home.
In her own room, Autumn Wind could carelessly toss her clothes around without worrying about someone like Shaolan popping up to accuse her of taking up her space.
But Autumn Wind soon realized that the clothes she brought from Taiwan were of no use at all; Jinan's winter was too cold. The nighttime temperature dropped to minus eight or nine degrees Celsius, making Autumn Wind feel as if she might turn into an ice cream.
Autumn Wind opened her app and messaged Qiu Feng: "What are you doing? I’m at Ziwai Gege's grandma's house. It's so boring! Come video chat with me!"
Coincidentally, Qiu Feng was online. She already knew that Zhou Ringuo had arranged for Autumn Wind to return, but she was unaware that Autumn Wind had not gone back to Taipei but had gone directly to Jinan. When Autumn Wind told her she was in the hometown of Summer Rain Lotus, Qiu Feng started to get anxious on the video call, looking completely frantic. "Are you crazy? How are you going to explain this to Kai? What’s going on?"
Seeing Qiu Feng so frantic made Autumn Wind laugh. In her mind, a true friend is someone who can express their chaotic emotions fully, like Leo or Fish; they would never be like Qiu Ruolan, who always talked about money.
Autumn Wind didn’t respond to her words; she just smiled and picked up the phone that Zhou Ringuo had given her. With a gentle twist, the Hangzhou SIM card fell out. She replaced it with the SIM card she bought at the hotel entrance and typed eleven digits onto the screen, speaking into the microphone with Qiu Feng: "This is my new Number. I’ll activate it tomorrow; call me if you need anything!"
Qiu Feng pouted, "You’re insane; I really think you’ve lost it!"
Autumn Wind continued, "Just let me know how things are with Brother Kai. I’ll be back soon!"
Qiu Feng, holding her head in frustration, said: "No way! You have to talk to him yourself; this is tricky! What will you do later? When will you come back?"
Actually, without needing Qiu Feng's reminder, Autumn Wind had already made arrangements for herself. A third of her three-month Taiwan Compatriot Permit had already passed; she could only stay in mainland China until Spring Festival. Autumn Wind really wanted to find a job just for a taste before returning to Taipei.
She knew that in her mind, she still regarded Taipei as her true hometown because that’s where her friends were. Jinan, though marked as her birthplace, held no one related to her.
Just then, she received a message from **@Autumn Wind**. Looking at the content, it turned out to be an embarrassing photo of Zhou Ringuo: lying on the table with rice grains all over his face.
Autumn Wind expressed a desire for feedback, but she found it quite amusing. However, her mind was filled with excitement about arriving in Jinan, so she only sent an emoji.
Before replying to Autumn Wind, her mind quickly processed all the information related to Jinan: her parents, friends from the orphanage, and classmates. But she soon realized that those memories were almost non-existent; aside from remembering Guan Xiu, everything else seemed to have been blown away by the wind.
A long time ago, Autumn Wind had heard a saying: do not adopt children who have memories. Now it seemed true; just like herself, she foolishly hoped to trace her roots. Would any relatives allow outsiders to adopt them?
The first half of this saying was something Autumn Wind heard from a doctor specializing in infertility, while the second half was a heartfelt confession from Qiu Ruolan when she was drunk.
In other words, she had no relatives in Jinan. What about her classmates? Autumn Wind felt reluctant and asked how she could find her classmates online.
He humorously replied: find people, find stories, just go to Renren. Following his advice, Autumn Wind quickly registered on the site, and at that moment, she reclaimed her original name: Guanqing.
The internet is a magical thing. After registering, it recommended many familiar faces to her. Upon seeing the second person's profile picture, Autumn Wind nearly vomited the food she had just eaten; this was the guy who had bumped into her and kept apologizing.
What stung her eyes even more was the name: Li Gu.
Li Gu was Autumn Wind's best friend during school. Now seeing him again and not recognizing him made Autumn Wind chuckle foolishly as she clicked to add him as a friend.
Every girl has likely fixated on a boy like him during their school years—he was the prince of the school, excelling academically, cheerful in personality, with a bright smile and skilled at basketball... Perhaps he was our first crush. But everything succumbs to time and ultimately fades into memories that linger as a bittersweet longing.
For Autumn Wind, this bittersweet feeling was Li Gu.
Yet now, this feeling had become her only reason for staying in Jinan.
Thinking of this made Autumn Wind feel a surge of gratitude towards Li Gu; this emotion welled up so fully from within that it left her heart feeling sour.
Li Gu was the class monitor in Autumn Wind's class. Ever since Guan Xiu passed away, Autumn Wind moved into the welfare home. Life there was oppressive, and during her developmental years, she began an inexplicable rebellion. The most typical manifestation of this was that after entering fourth grade, she started skipping classes intermittently, with Li Gu naturally taking on the role of her shield as class monitor.
Actually, Autumn Wind still hasn't found the answer. According to the logic of the students, shouldn't Li Gu have reported to the teacher? Autumn Wind thought that after contacting Li Gu, she must clarify this issue.
Li Gu quickly passed Autumn Wind's friend request. Autumn Wind carefully examined the photo he used as his profile picture, and her memory was triggered again. Autumn Wind was surprised to find that Li Gu in the photo hadn't changed at all; he still had that round face, only his eyebrows were thicker now, and his lips were even more vibrant than a girl's. The only thing that hadn't changed was the mole under his left eye.
Autumn Wind asked him: Is this your real profile picture?
He replied with a brief "k" and asked Autumn Wind: What about you?
Then Autumn Wind said: It's fake.
Li Gu asked again: How can you prove that you are the real Guanqing?
Autumn Wind responded: It's me, no need for proof.
After that, Li Gu didn't say anything else. Autumn Wind stared blankly at the computer. After a moment, she wrote: If you don't believe me, let's meet!
To her surprise, Li Gu directly agreed.
So Autumn Wind arranged to meet him at a fast-food restaurant near the square.
As soon as she entered the fast-food restaurant, Autumn Wind saw Li Gu sitting by the window, surrounded by the afternoon sunlight. At that moment, he also spotted Autumn Wind.
When he recognized that Autumn Wind was the girl he had bumped into yesterday, his mouth dropped open in shock. After a brief moment of surprise, Li Gu regained his composure.
He greeted Autumn Wind loudly and patted her shoulder enthusiastically: "You haven't changed at all!"
Autumn Wind sat across from him and tugged at her newly bought scarf: "Before judging others, take a look at yourself!"
Li Gu immediately took out a photo they had taken together in the past. He pointed at the girl who was almost squeezed together with the others and slapped his own head in frustration. "Look! Doesn't it look just like now? How come we didn't recognize you yesterday!"
Autumn Wind pointed at the boy with a flat top standing straight. "You still look the same as before!"
"I look the same? Then why didn't you recognize me? But you've changed so much! If someone had knocked you down back then, you would have eaten them alive!" Li Gu stared at Autumn Wind.
"That was ages ago! People change, right?"
Autumn Wind was unwilling to admit that fact: we often forget what we look like.
As Autumn Wind slowly flipped through the album, suddenly an image began to form in her mind. The Autumn Wind from that time looked just like Qiu Ruolan, who hung on Grandma's wall.
Autumn Wind couldn't help but shiver, quickly dismissing that terrifying thought.
So, she tilted her face up and smiled brightly at Li Gu. He still smiled shyly like a girl when he laughed.
Time does create a gap; despite how hard Autumn Wind and Li Gu tried to bridge it, the self-awareness brought by age regarding their genders could not be changed.
Autumn Wind thought to herself, no matter how good their relationship becomes in the future, it would never be the same as before when she was pulled into the boys' toilet by Li Gu because she needed to pee, nor would Li Gu ever eat ice cream that she had already tasted.
But one thing Autumn Wind was sure of was that both of them were honest and did not hide anything on the surface.
Autumn Wind told him she went to Taipei, and Li Gu seriously told Autumn Wind that he hadn't found a job after graduating from university.
He asked Autumn Wind, "Where do you live?"
"At a chain hotel over there. I'm currently a free wanderer. What about you?"
He was putting away the photos spread out on the table while occasionally glancing up at Autumn Wind. "I opened a copy shop near the university!"
Autumn Wind asked him, "So, you’re a boss now? Are you hiring anyone recently?"
A casual smile appeared on his face. "If you come to apply, I’ll hire you! And I’ll even provide accommodation!"
Autumn Wind slapped the table. "Then it’s settled!"
He stared wide-eyed. "Are you joking?"
"Of course I'm not joking. Whether you're joking or not, when facing the honest Li Gu, Autumn Wind must take it seriously!" Autumn Wind put on a delighted expression. "By the way, honest Li Gu, do you live with your girlfriend?"
His eyes blinked slightly, and his expression became serious as if he was contemplating. "I don’t have a girlfriend!"
"Then that means there shouldn’t be any taboos in my job!" Autumn Wind took a sip of the orange juice in front of him; it was refreshingly tangy.
Autumn Wind thought that he should be able to quietly enjoy a period of life belonging to Guanqing.
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