Paperplane

  Caron_

  “Nothing happened.”


  After Ji Yi sent out that text, she continued to type on the keyboard: “Yuguang Ge, I got a call from Cheng Weiwan a few days ago. She invited me to take part in the audition for “Three Thousand Lunatics”, and said that someone recommended me……”


  Ji Yi clicked the “send” button a second time.

  She didn’t wait for He Yuguang to reply before she sent a third text: “Yuguang Ge, aside from you, nobody else knew that I’m interested in “Three Thousand Lunatics”, so are you the person who recommended me?”


  She wasn’t sure if it was too late, or if He Yuguang was already asleep, or if he was busy with other things, but Ji Yi waited for a reply for a long time. So much time had passed that she thought He Yuguang wouldn’t text her back. But then, her phone lit up again and she saw that He Yuguang sent her a simple message of just one word: “Mmhm.”


  The last time she saw him, he didn’t say anything more about the show and left.

  At the time, she didn’t think too much about the conversation but simply thought he was just asking casually about the TV series. She never imagined that as soon as he turned around, he would actually silently help her fulfill her wish.

  It was just like when they were young. When she casually complained about how hard senior high was, later that day, her textbook would be covered in highlighted key studying points. If she mentioned that she wanted to eat cake on impulse, a cake would appear on her desk the next day……

  Ji Yi stared intently at the “Mmhm” on the screen as though the text was a thousand words long. In an instant, her heart became eminently soft.

  After a while, Ji Yi snapped back to her senses, lowered her head, and saw that there was another message on the phone. It was from Yuguang again. “It’s so late, why are you not sleeping?”


  “I’m about to sleep. Yuguang Ge, good night,” replied Ji Yi in a hurry. Ji Yi then swiftly added the message: “Thank you, Yuguang Ge.”


  He Yuguang only replied with one word: “Goodnight.”


  Ji Yi then put down her phone. Under the dim bedroom lights, she laid on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. For some reason, she started to think about that night when she had a fever and how he stroked her hair. Even though it happened days ago and she was delirious from her fever, she could still clearly recall the care and tenderness of his fingers.

  On top of it all, when she brought him a cup of hot tea the next evening, he was playing videos of her younger self……

  An indescribable warmth coursed through Ji Yi’s entire body.

  Her fingers couldn’t help but clutch onto the sheets tightly.

  In the lonely night, she felt her heart race faster, little by little.

  –


  He Jichen stared at the chat log on the phone screen for a long time. The more he read it, the more stifled he felt inside, and he instinctively reached for another cigarette.

  His fingers fumbled around the pack of cigarettes for a long time, until he caught sight of the ashtray full of cigarette butts of different sizes. He realized they were all from when he received Ji Yi’s message to He Yuguang with the words “Are you the person who helped me?” By the time he thought of how to reply, he had already finished a whole pack of cigarettes.