Gu Yuanting woke up feeling a throbbing pain in his temples and a bit of a headache. He sat up, pressed his fingers against his temples, and rubbed them. His mind felt a little blank — he couldn’t remember what happened last night.

After a moment, the memories of last night slowly returned to him. Gu Yuanting recalled everything, and his body stiffened. Slowly, he turned his head toward the nightstand.

On the nightstand, the photo frame was standing upright, facing the bed. In the photo, the original owner seemed to be quietly looking right at him.

Gu Yuanting: “…”

Even though he knew the original owner was long gone and didn’t exist anymore — that it was all just his own imagination — recalling what happened last night, after the excitement faded, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that… the original owner had seen all of Ranran.

Gu Yuanting’s face darkened. He wished he could go back in time and beat up his drunken self from last night. He reached out and slammed the photo frame down, “pa” — face down on the table.

Was he sick in the head?

Gu Yuanting felt like he was just giving himself trouble for no reason, sitting there sulking at himself.

If it weren’t for the fear that Ranran might get angry and question him, he would have torn the photo in half — shredded the original owner into pieces.

“Ting-ge, you’re awake?” Su Yiran walked in from outside. Seeing that Ting-ge was awake, he went over and gently touched his forehead. “Does your head hurt? You were drunk last night.”

“A little,” Gu Yuanting answered gloomily, holding Ranran’s hand and kissing it.

Su Yiran ruffled Ting-ge’s hair and kissed his forehead. “Mom made some hangover soup. Get up and have some.”

When Gu Yuanting heard that Su’s mother had specially made it for him, he quickly agreed and got up to wash. Still, a bit of doubt lingered in his mind — his alcohol tolerance wasn’t low. Although he’d drunk quite a bit last night and did get tipsy, it shouldn’t have been bad enough to give him a hangover headache the next morning.

But the thought only flashed through his mind and he didn’t dwell on it.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

During those days, Su Yiran and Gu Yuanting spent their time either helping at home to prepare for the New Year or visiting relatives in the village, wandering around the mountains, the fields, and their small family-run livestock farm.

Su Yiran noticed with concern that Ting-ge was often quiet, and sometimes his mood would suddenly become unstable. His gaze toward him was growing darker and deeper, as though he was brewing something terrible.

But whenever Su Yiran asked and tried to communicate, Gu Yuanting would just say he was fine and refuse to cooperate. Not daring to press too hard, Su Yiran had to drop the matter.

Su Yiran also contacted Dr. Sun and described Gu Yuanting’s current condition. Dr. Sun was surprised — returning to his hometown had not helped Yuanting relax; in fact, his condition seemed to have worsened.

Dr. Sun asked Su Yiran a few serious questions, but some things couldn’t be clearly explained over the phone. He said they’d need to meet in person, and suggested that right after the New Year, Su Yiran should take Gu Yuanting back to City A for treatment. In the meantime, for the remaining days in the hometown, he should chat with Yuanting more, show more care, and encourage him.

Su Yiran had already planned to return to City A soon, so he readily agreed.

Two days before New Year’s Eve, Su’s mother gave Su Yiran and Gu Yuanting a shopping list, asking them to go to the market in town to buy some couplets and the missing New Year goods.

It took only about ten minutes by car from the village to town. After parking, they walked hand in hand into the market.

With the New Year approaching, the town was bustling — almost every student and worker from out of town had returned home. The market was packed with people. Both sides of the main street were lined with stalls — selling couplets, fireworks and toys, vegetables, handmade brooms, and little wooden stools. The shops played festive music, adding to the lively atmosphere.

With so many people around, Gu Yuanting held Ranran’s hand tightly, eyes fixed on him, afraid the crowd might separate them.

“Let’s buy the couplets first. We need three for the main doors and the small doors…” Su Yiran stopped at a stall selling couplets and asked, “How many small doors were there again?”

Gu Yuanting did the math for him. “Six on the first floor, six on the second — twelve. We’ll put couplets on the first floor, just ‘Fu’ characters on the second.”

“Right, right. And the farm’s gate also needs one big couplet.” Su Yiran nodded, then suddenly frowned. “Wait, no — you counted wrong. There are fifteen small doors. There are three in the old house too.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

A twisted feeling welled up inside him. Slowly, he nodded. “Yes.” Soon, there would be no so-called old house.

He had already decided — after the New Year, he’d find an excuse to have a bulldozer tear it down.

After buying the couplets, they went to buy other goods. Besides vegetables, they needed seeds, fruits, candies, red envelopes, and other things for guests. Without realizing it, they had bought a large pile.

At a fruit stall, Su Yiran was picking fruit and discussing how much to buy with Ting-ge when a hesitant voice called from behind:

“Su… Yiran?”

Su Yiran turned to see a young woman in a wool coat. When she saw him look back, she smiled. “It really is you. Long time no see. You’re here for New Year shopping too?”

Gu Yuanting frowned at the girl. For some reason, she looked familiar — as if he’d seen her somewhere before.

Sensing his gaze, the girl noticed him, froze slightly, and nodded awkwardly. “Oh, Gu classmate, you’re here too.”

At first, Su Yiran didn’t recognize her. Then it clicked, and he smiled in surprise. “Wu Lanlan, long time no see.”

Wu Lanlan! Gu Yuanting’s pupils contracted — he immediately remembered who she was. After learning of her existence, he had investigated her and seen her photo.

Wu Lanlan — the girl who once wrote Ranran a love letter, suspected to be his first love.

Gu Yuanting tightened his grip on Ranran’s hand, interlacing their fingers. He shot Wu Lanlan an unfriendly glance and said to Ranran, “Let’s buy the fruit and go home.”

On Su’s mother’s shopping list, fruit was the only thing left.

“Lanlan, why’d you come here? I was looking all over for you.” At that moment, a young man carrying several shopping bags hurried over. Seeing Wu Lanlan, he sighed in relief.

Wu Lanlan smiled at him. “I came to buy some fruit, but then I ran into…”

She glanced toward Su Yiran and Gu Yuanting. The young man followed her gaze, froze, and blurted out, “Su Yiran? Gu Yuanting? It’s you?”

Su Yiran recognized him too — their middle school’s study committee member, the one who’d adopted the kitten. Surprised to meet two old classmates in a row, he smiled. “Wang Mingzhi, long time no see.”

Indeed, he hadn’t seen Wu Lanlan or Wang Mingzhi in ages. After Wu Lanlan transferred schools, she’d vanished without a trace. As for Wang Mingzhi, Su heard he’d gone abroad for university and then lost touch.

Wang Mingzhi smiled. “Yeah, it’s been about eight years, hasn’t it? I heard you two got married?”

Su Yiran nodded with a smile. “Yes.”

Wang Mingzhi and Wu Lanlan exchanged a knowing glance, then nodded. “Oh, of course, of course.”

Su Yiran sweatdropped — what did “of course” mean? He remembered at the last class reunion, all their classmates had been sure he and Ting-ge would end up married. Apparently, Wang Mingzhi thought the same. Feeling slightly embarrassed, Su Yiran glanced at Ting-ge.

Gu Yuanting also thought of this and felt another twist inside. “…”

After chatting for a while, Su Yiran learned that Wu Lanlan and Wang Mingzhi had gotten married early last year. He was surprised — back in school, the two had barely interacted, yet they ended up together.

Of course, Gu Yuanting already knew from his investigation that Wu Lanlan was married, but he still didn’t relax his guard. He didn’t want Ranran getting too involved with her.

After all, he himself had taken someone else’s spouse — deceiving and coercing until he ended up with the already-married Ranran. He had plenty of experience in such matters and knew all too well that marriage didn’t mean there were no possibilities.