Ch 51: Text Messages Across Time

Ten minutes later, the two of them arrived at an old, well-established noodle shop. It was peak mealtime, so after looking around, they found a window seat and sat down.

“Hello, what would you like to order?” the server came over.

Lin Wu handed the menu to Qin Weidong. “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine.” Qin Weidong placed his suit jacket on the chair beside him and rolled up his shirt sleeves. The shop wasn’t large, but it had a clean, natural wood aesthetic.

“Two bowls of beef noodles, one side dish, and two tea eggs,” Lin Wu ordered for them.

“Any dietary restrictions?” the server asked while noting it down.

“No chili. And one bowl without cilantro,” Lin Wu said precisely.

“You don’t eat cilantro?” Qin Weidong asked, a little surprised after the server left.

“I can eat it or not. I just feel like you probably don’t eat cilantro.” Lin Wu smiled.

“How did you know?” Qin Weidong was taken aback. He really didn’t eat cilantro. It wasn’t that he couldn’t, it was just that when cilantro stuck to the noodles it felt oddly unpleasant. He often forgot to mention it when ordering, and would just eat it awkwardly.

“Just a guess.” Lin Wu didn’t elaborate, but his thoughts drifted back to 2004—

“You forgot to say it again. They chopped the cilantro too finely this time.” At a noodle shop near No. 1 High School in 2004, Qin Weidong looked helplessly at the cilantro in his bowl. He could eat it, but hated when it clung to the noodles.

“You don’t eat cilantro?” Lin Wu had asked curiously.

“I can.” Qin Weidong exhaled, setting aside his chopsticks, ready to just deal with it.

“I’ll take that bowl then.” Lin Wu pulled the noodles over from across the table without hesitation.

“Huh?” Qin Weidong blinked.

“I don’t have any restrictions.” Lin Wu smiled, then called to the owner, “Boss, don’t put cilantro in mine.”

“Got it!” The noodles had been made one after another. The owner had just happened to serve Qin Weidong first.

Soon, the second bowl arrived, and once again it was placed in front of Qin Weidong.

As Qin Weidong picked up his chopsticks, he glanced at Lin Wu.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Wu asked, looking up.

“Nothing.” Qin Weidong watched him eat the cilantro-covered noodles. The steam had made Lin Wu’s lips slightly red. For a moment, he felt that cilantro noodles weren’t so unpleasant after all—though only when they were in Lin Wu’s bowl.

That had happened when they had just met. After that, every time they went out for noodles, Qin Weidong would “forget” to say no cilantro, and Lin Wu would remind the owner for him every single time, never missing once.

Back in the 2024 noodle shop, their bowls arrived quickly.

“You were away on a business trip recently?” Qin Weidong asked as he picked up his chopsticks, casually shifting from “Mr. Lin” to “you” to close the distance.

“No. I went home for a bit. The neighbors next door have been renovating lately, it’s too noisy. I stayed there for two days and moved out again,” Lin Wu replied.

“I see…” Qin Weidong felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

Half a month ago, when he had planned another “coincidental encounter,” he learned that Lin Wu had already checked out.

“Help me find out which hotel Mr. Lin is staying at,” Qin Weidong had told the hotel manager.

The manager checked, but Lin Wu wasn’t staying at any hotel under their company. It wasn’t appropriate to investigate other hotels.

“I understand.” Qin Weidong didn’t pursue it further. He felt that the frequent encounters earlier might have pressured Lin Wu.

They had met in a hotel lobby, and now both had returned to their own lives. He didn’t want to trouble him, but every time he passed through the lobby, sat in his office looking down, or went to the hotel restaurant, he would unconsciously look for a certain figure.

He was thirty-seven now, not seventeen. He more or less understood why he wanted to find Lin Wu. To him, it was a strange, stirring, almost unbelievable feeling.

Whatever it was, aside from exchanging greetings, they were still strangers.

He had thought they would never meet again—until a week ago, when he happened to drive through the city and saw Lin Wu walking out of a hotel, dressed casually, heading into a nearby supermarket.

He quickly made a U-turn at the next intersection and parked about thirty meters from the store.

Three minutes later, Lin Wu came out. Qin Weidong drove up as if by chance—

“Mr. Lin, long time no see.”

That time, it wasn’t planned. It really was a coincidence.

After that, they returned to their previous pattern of frequent encounters. He didn’t dare push things too far. Each time was just a casual meeting, a greeting, and a parting. He had no next step planned, only feeling that seeing him once a day was enough.

“When will your neighbor finish the renovation?” Qin Weidong asked now.

“They said before the end of next month.”

“So you’ll stay until then?” Qin Weidong asked as if casually.

“I might head back earlier. There’s a project at school.”

“I see…” Qin Weidong continued, just as casually, “I’ve been in Xuhu lately. I don’t really have friends here. If you’re free sometime, want to grab a meal together?”

“Sure.” Lin Wu agreed without hesitation.

“Oh…” Qin Weidong didn’t expect such a straightforward answer. He froze for a moment, then quickly took out his phone. “Add me?”

“Okay.”

They exchanged contacts. Lin Wu’s profile picture was a physics symbol. His posts were sparse, mostly official school articles. Qin Weidong’s was a casual landscape photo, and for work reasons, his feed was just as clean.

At 7:30, they finished eating, and Lin Wu paid the bill.

Qin Weidong didn’t argue. But that night at ten, just before Lin Wu went to sleep, he received a message:

“I’ll be passing by your hotel tomorrow at noon. Want to grab a meal? My treat, to thank you for today’s noodles.”

“What are we eating?” Lin Wu asked.

“There’s a hotpot place near your hotel…”

“Okay.”

Although Qin Weidong had said it was just to repay the meal, over the next week he asked Lin Wu to eat together almost every day. Aside from two times when Lin Wu had meetings, he agreed every time. Sometimes Qin Weidong paid, sometimes Lin Wu did. As if by keeping things unsettled, they gave themselves a reason to keep seeing each other.

They got along very well during that time.

“There’s a performance at Happy Valley the day after tomorrow. Want to go check it out together?” On December 7th, after dropping Lin Wu off at his hotel, Qin Weidong made the invitation. It was the first time they had planned something beyond just eating.

“What time?” Lin Wu asked after checking his schedule.

“Two in the afternoon. I’ll pick you up at the hotel?”

“Alright. See you the day after tomorrow.” Lin Wu smiled.

“See you then.” Qin Weidong left, full of anticipation.

…

“At your school the day after tomorrow, do you have extra classes in the afternoon? Want to go watch a movie together?”

At the same time, in 2004, inside the Lide dormitory, Qin Weidong carefully edited the message and sent it to Lin Wu.

They had been getting along well lately, but it was senior year. Lin Wu’s academic pressure was heavy, and aside from after school in the evenings, they barely had any chance to meet. Just now, Qin Weidong had gone through his chat history with the “unknown number.”

The other person had once asked whether Men in Black had been released yet. When they first met, it hadn’t been out. Now it only had five days left before leaving theaters. He wanted to watch it together with Lin Wu.

“No extra classes. What time is the movie?”

Lin Wu had just come out of the bathhouse and typed back.

“4:10!” Qin Weidong replied immediately.

No. 1 High School got out at three. He calculated it. He could wait at the school gate at three, then they’d take about fifty minutes to reach the cinema. The movie would end around six-thirty, and they could even grab dinner and stroll around afterward.

“Okay.” Lin Wu replied.

…

“What time did you get here?”

At 1:50 PM on December 9, 2024, Lin Wu had just come downstairs when he saw Qin Weidong. It was cold today. Qin Weidong wore a white down jacket and drove a blue sports car, still striking even in winter.

“1:47. I just got here too.” Qin Weidong opened the car door for him.

After getting in, Lin Wu noticed Qin Weidong kept glancing at him.

“What is it?” Lin Wu asked.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you wear white.”

Lin Wu usually wore dark colors, but today he had on a white down jacket with a camel-colored hoodie underneath, making him look more lively than usual.

“My mom and the neighbor aunt took me shopping.” Lin Wu sounded a bit helpless.

Yesterday afternoon, Hao Shuqin had suddenly called him—

“I’m at Xintiandi Plaza with your mom, we want to buy coats. Come help us choose!”

Wang Jiahui had been at work, Hao Shuqin couldn’t decide, and Luo Xiaorong thought everything looked good. Lin Wu wasn’t busy, so he took a taxi over. In the end, both women bought coats, and under their persuasion, he bought this white down jacket. It looked good, but he wasn’t used to light colors.

“Does it look awkward?” Lin Wu asked, even slightly regretting wearing it out.

“Not at all. It looks great. It makes you look really clean. You should wear lighter colors more often.” Qin Weidong praised sincerely.

“…Okay.” Lin Wu looked out the window, still not quite used to it.

At 2:20, they arrived at Xuhu Happy Valley, the largest amusement park in the city. There were regular tickets and VIP tickets, and VIP didn’t require waiting in line. They bought two VIP tickets and went in.

“Can you do high-altitude rides?” Qin Weidong asked after downloading the park guide.

“Not really.” Lin Wu could handle them, but found them boring. He preferred indoor VR attractions.

“Same.” Qin Weidong agreed and focused on the indoor experiences.

Over the next hour, they played several classic attractions like “Crazy Idioms” and “Space Voyage.” The latter was especially fun, so they rode it twice.

At four o’clock, they walked out of a castle attraction called “Mystery World.”

“Want some cream egg waffles?”

There was a shop at the entrance, the waffles looked hot and delicious.

“Sure.” Lin Wu was a bit hungry. Even though they’d been doing indoor activities, the distance between attractions was long and physically tiring.

“What flavor?”

“Strawberry.”

“Got it.” Qin Weidong walked over and soon returned with two strawberry waffles.

“Thanks.” Lin Wu took one and was about to eat when a little boy wearing a toy hat ran past. He was going too fast and bumped into Lin Wu.

“Ah!”

Lin Wu stumbled, and the cream smeared onto his hand.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to!” the boy apologized quickly. His parents rushed over too.

“I’m sorry, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Lin Wu checked. The cream hadn’t gotten on his clothes, but his hand felt sticky.

“Didn’t I tell you not to run!” the parents scolded the boy while apologizing. The father, feeling bad, went to a nearby shop and bought tissues and two colorful lollipops.

“We’re really sorry. We’ll make sure he behaves.”

“It’s really fine.” Lin Wu reassured them. Still, they insisted on giving him the tissues and candy before leaving.

“You okay?” Qin Weidong asked after they left.

“I’m fine. Just sticky…” Lin Wu wiped his hand but still felt uncomfortable. Spotting a restroom nearby, he handed the waffle and lollipops to Qin Weidong. “Hold these for me. I’ll wash my hands.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

After Lin Wu left, Qin Weidong sat on a nearby bench with the waffles and candy. He set them down, watching Lin Wu’s figure disappear into the restroom.

Feeling bored, he picked up his own waffle and took a few bites when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Brother Qin, remember you asked me to look into Li Xin? I got in touch with her…”

It was Hu Wei, calling while organizing shelves at a supermarket.

“What did she say?” Qin Weidong straightened up.

A month ago, Hu Wei had said Qin Weidong had dated Li Xin in high school. Qin Weidong didn’t believe it, so he asked him to check.

“After graduation we all lost contact. She wasn’t even from our school. I wasn’t sure I could find her…” Hu Wei said.

“It’s fine. If you can reach her, great. If not, forget it.” Qin Weidong wasn’t trying to reconnect. He was just curious about that supposed relationship he couldn’t remember.

He hadn’t expected any results. But now there was an answer.

“I asked Zhao Ming, who asked Sun Peng. It was a whole chain. Anyway, I added her on WeChat. She said you two never dated. Back then she had a crush on her class monitor…

And she was shocked too—

‘Me and Qin Weidong? Impossible. I liked our class monitor in high school, and Qin Weidong didn’t like me. I’m married to that class monitor now.’”

From the tone of her messages, she was living a happy life now. At the end, she added that if there was time in the future, they could get in touch as old acquaintances and meet up sometime. Of course, that was mostly just the kind of polite small talk adults exchanged.

“Then who did I date in high school?” Qin Weidong asked.

“No idea…” Hu Wei also found it strange. “I can ask around, see if anyone else remembers?”

“No need.”

At that moment, Lin Wu came out of the restroom, and Qin Weidong stood up with the waffles in hand.

“Huh?” Hu Wei didn’t catch it clearly.

“No need to look into it. Whether it happened or not doesn’t matter.”

He didn’t remember ever liking anyone in high school, and even suspected Hu Wei had misremembered. Asking about Li Xin had only been a casual thought. Just as he said, it didn’t matter whether it had happened. Life moved forward, and right now felt just fine.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Lin Wu walked over.

“It’s fine.” Qin Weidong hung up and handed him the waffle.

It was cold today. Earlier at the amusement park entrance, they had each bought a fluffy white hat with rabbit ears. Qin Weidong wore one, Lin Wu wore the other.

As Lin Wu lowered his head to take the waffle, Qin Weidong lightly tugged one of his rabbit ears.

Nice texture.

They were both wearing white down jackets today. Somehow, he felt like they matched quite well.

…

At the same time in 2004, Lin Wu and Qin Weidong walked into the movie theater. It was a small screening room. Men in Black was already near the end of its run, and the showtime was off-peak, so aside from one young couple, there was no one else.

“Our seats are row seven, seats six and seven…” Qin Weidong held the popcorn, checking the tickets as he searched.

“They’re in the last row.” Lin Wu pointed.

“Let’s go!” Qin Weidong walked ahead, while Lin Wu followed behind with two cups of cola.

They quickly found their seats. There were three minutes before the movie started. The lights were already off, and from their position everything was dim except for the big screen playing ads.

“Here.” Lin Wu handed him the cola.

“I’ll put this in the middle.” Qin Weidong set the popcorn between them.

Darkness amplified every sensation. The movie soon began. It was a large-scale sci-fi film with impressive visuals, though the plot was simple. After watching for a while, Qin Weidong noticed the couple in front sneak a kiss.

Embarrassed to look, he turned his head toward Lin Wu.

Lin Wu was watching the movie seriously. In the darkness, his pale skin stood out even more. His eyelashes were long, his eyes bright. Watching him, Qin Weidong took off his disposable glove and raised his hand, wanting to poke his cheek.

“What are you doing?” Lin Wu noticed. He was enjoying the movie, and there was an unintentional smile in his voice.

“There was a bug on your face. I was trying to flick it away,” Qin Weidong hurriedly covered.

“Where?” Lin Wu wiped his face. There was nothing.

“There was! There really was just now.”

People often exaggerate to cover embarrassment. So Qin Weidong actually reached out and poked his cheek.

“Stop it.” Lin Wu laughed and dodged.

“I’m not messing around, there really was!”

Qin Weidong kept poking, Lin Wu kept dodging, both laughing quietly. In the midst of it, Qin Weidong’s finger accidentally slipped into Lin Wu’s mouth.

His finger brushed past soft lips, touched teeth.

Both of them froze.

“Who told you to keep dodging…” Qin Weidong awkwardly pulled his hand back. Out of sight, his fingers rubbed together lightly. The spot that had touched Lin Wu still felt faintly damp.

“You already bit my hand, and I haven’t bitten yours yet. I’m the one at a loss!”

To cover the awkwardness, he started talking nonsense. It hadn’t even been a bite.

On screen, a fight scene was playing, the theater flickering with light and shadow. Lin Wu removed his glove, rested his hand on the armrest between them, and extended a finger, his eyes still fixed on the screen.

“Then don’t be at a loss.”

“What?” Qin Weidong didn’t understand at first.

“If you bite mine back, then you won’t be at a loss, right?” Lin Wu looked at him.

Qin Weidong met Lin Wu’s eyes. Maybe it was the dim theater lighting, but he felt there was something different in them compared to before.

His heartbeat quickened. Then he understood what Lin Wu meant—

“Then… I’m really going to bite you back?”

“Go ahead.” Lin Wu turned his gaze back to the screen.

Qin Weidong looked at the hand resting on the armrest between them. He had always thought Lin Wu’s hands were beautiful, pale, with well-defined joints. How could someone have hands that looked this good?

He glanced at Lin Wu. There was no reaction.

As if gathering courage, he carefully reached out and held Lin Wu’s hand, covering the back of it with his own.

He leaned closer, lowered his head, and gently bit down on Lin Wu’s fingertip.

They had both washed their hands earlier while waiting outside. Even though he had worn disposable gloves while eating popcorn, the sweet scent seemed to linger on Lin Wu’s fingers.

He bit lightly. Without thinking, his tongue brushed over the fingertip.

No reaction.

His courage grew. He moved his mouth lower, licked again, and finally took half of Lin Wu’s finger into his mouth, instinctively licking and teasing it.

All the while, Lin Wu kept watching the movie.

Qin Weidong licked his finger, and if he dared to shift his gaze even slightly, he could see Lin Wu’s profile and the pale line of his neck.

The movie scenes flickered by. After a long while, Qin Weidong reluctantly let go of Lin Wu’s finger, then took out a wet wipe and carefully cleaned it for him.

…

“See you tomorrow!”

“See you!”

At the same time, at six o’clock, in the second cafeteria of the Xuhu Steel Plant, employees finished their shifts and said their goodbyes.

Luo Xiaorong held a bundle of steamed buns and a large bag of beads from Qiu Yan’e as she walked toward the shuttle bus stop.

Last week, with Qiu Yan’e’s help, she had already bought a phone. She had hidden it in a box under her bed, planning to give it to Lin Wu on his birthday.

Qiu Yan’e had said no one ever thought money was too much. Lin Wu would need even more once he went to university, so she planned to keep stringing beads.

Full of that hopeful thought, she accidentally twisted her ankle. Half the beads spilled out, and one spool of thread rolled a short distance away.

She picked up the scattered beads, then stepped forward and crouched down to retrieve the spool.

Just as she was about to reach it, a pair of large hands picked it up first.

Luo Xiaorong looked up.

The man handed her the spool and smiled. “Here.”

She took it, then after a moment’s thought, just as her parents and others had taught her, she broke into a bright smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied with a smile.

✧˖°.──⋆⭒˚.⋆💌⋆⭒˚.⋆──✧˖°.