Seven Days of Love

Jin Lan’s phone buzzed again.

He glanced at it, ready to turn it off: “I’ll walk you up.”

I turned my back to him and quickly wiped away my tears: “No need.

“Go take him home; the child is still in the car.

“And Li Qiu is in such a rush to find you.”

Jin Lan paused.

“When are you two holding the engagement party?” I asked, feigning a casual tone to change the subject.

Jin Lan: “Next month, I suppose.”

My feet felt ridiculously light, and I steadied myself against the stair railing.

“Oh, well then, congratulations in advance on your upcoming marriage.”

Jin Lan seemed annoyed by the topic: “Right, go on up then.”

When the phone rang again.

He turned around to answer it.

I watched him walk toward the car step by step, his figure swallowed by the night.

I stood there for a long time, as if trying to etch the image of him and Tuotuo into my mind one last time.

I remembered back in college, when Jin Lan would walk me back to my dorm.

At the very end, he would always look back.

But now, he had finally learned not to.