After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 4
Chapter 4: First Meeting
◎ Love at First Sight ◎
Dinner was casually settled near the school gates.
After finishing her meal, Chen Mengyin bought two cups of milk tea and walked side by side with Xie Zhirou along the Huai River to digest.
The Huai River flowed quietly. Even after 5 p.m., the summer air was still hot. The sun hung high in the sky, its warm orange light casting over the river like scattered gold dust, shimmering brightly.
Chen Mengyin took out her phone and snapped a few photos.
“Why didn’t I notice how beautiful the Huai River was before?” she admired the shimmering river and the sunset in her gallery, glowing like a soft orange egg yolk.
Xie Zhirou helped her hold the milk tea, glanced at her photos, and lied through her teeth, “It is beautiful.”
The river was just the river, and the sun was just the sun.
There was no composition, just pure personal aesthetic.
“Beautiful views are meant to be shared.” Chen Mengyin whistled and posted the pictures she just took to her social feed, along with an earlier photo of her and Xie Zhirou showing only their milk teas.
After posting, she held Xie Zhirou’s hand and continued strolling along the boardwalk.
Perhaps because of years of playing the piano, Xie Zhirou’s fingers were slightly longer than average. Holding her hand, it felt slender and distinct, surprisingly soft, and not bony at all.
“I wish my hands looked as pretty as yours,” Chen Mengyin said with envy.
Xie Zhirou turned her hand palm up and examined it. “I think your hands are prettier.”
“Really?” Chen Mengyin was half-convinced.
“Of course,” Xie Zhirou replied seriously.
Her fingers weren’t too long, soft flesh wrapping around the bones. The joints weren’t prominent, the nails were neatly trimmed, and her fingertips had a healthy rosy glow.
Soft and squishy to the touch.
Chen Mengyin didn’t mind Xie Zhirou playing with her hand. What’s a little hand-play between good friends? She’d touched Xie Zhirou’s hand before—but today’s touch felt a bit… weird.
Why was she kneading and squeezing it like that?
Suppressing the odd feeling in her chest, Chen Mengyin swallowed hard as she looked at Zhirou’s elegant hand. Truth be told, she had a secret—something Xie Zhirou didn’t know:
She liked Xie Zhirou. The kind of like that made her want to get married.
Because of that little crush, even when her legs grew weak from all the squeezing, she didn’t stop her.
When she was five, the moment Chen Mengyin first saw Xie Zhirou—standing nervously at her front door, scared but bravely smiling with the support of her parents—she fell for her, hard.
She was just too cute.
Back then, Zhirou’s parents were in a critical phase of starting their business, constantly juggling between work and home, hardly finding time to stay with her.
Weekdays were fine because kindergarten was in session. But on weekends, with no time to watch her and no desire to leave her alone with a housekeeper or dump her in tutoring classes, they were at a loss.
Leaving her like that at such a young age felt cruel.
When Chen Mengyin’s mom, Li Ran, heard about it, she warmly invited Zhirou over to their place for the weekends. Her daughter, Mengyin, was active and energetic, the complete opposite of the quiet and well-behaved Zhirou. Maybe they could balance each other out.
At first, Zhirou’s mom, Tang Jingxue, hesitated, feeling bad about imposing. But Li Ran scolded her—asking if she wasn’t planning on being friends anymore, since she was hesitating over something so trivial.
Terrified, Tang Jingxue quickly apologized.
That Saturday morning, she and her husband brought little Zhirou to the house and rang the doorbell.
It was Mengyin who answered.
The five-year-old little bean dashed to the yard with her stubby legs and peeked out. Seeing two unfamiliar adults at the gate, she wasn’t scared at all and sweetly asked, “Auntie, uncle, who are you looking for?”
Tang Jingxue’s heart melted instantly.
She crouched down and asked, “I’m looking for Li Ran. What’s your name, sweetie? How old are you?”
Mengyin shook her head firmly, the little ponytail on her head swaying back and forth. “Mama said I can’t tell my name or age to strangers!”
Tang Jingxue chuckled, not expecting a kid to school her on safety.
She then asked, “Can you tell Auntie if Li Ran is home?”
“She is! Wait right here, Auntie. I’ll go get her!” Mengyin grinned.
Just as she turned, Li Ran was already coming out of the house.
“Sorry, I was a bit busy. Let me open the gate,” she said, walking over.
But Mengyin quickly slipped between her and the gate, shouting, “No, Mama! I heard the doorbell first. I should open the gate!”
Li Ran looked at Tang Jingxue, who wasn’t upset, so she let go and said, “Alright, go ahead.”
Satisfied, the little girl stood on her toes and opened the iron gate.
Tang Jingxue patted her head. “Your daughter’s so clever—she even knows not to tell her name to strangers.”
Naturally, Li Ran was proud. “This girl’s got a mind of her own—mischievous little thing. Oh, this must be Zhirou? She’s absolutely adorable!”
Little Zhirou wore a pink dress, her silky black hair tied in two pigtails resting on her shoulders. Her big bright eyes sparkled, and her blushing cheeks made her look like a living doll.
She shyly hid behind her dad’s leg, observing Mengyin.
But Mengyin stood there boldly, smiling and making faces to amuse her.
Before long, Zhirou was smiling too.
Sweetly. So sweet that Mengyin wanted to bite her to see if she was made of sugar.
Tang Jingxue took Zhirou’s hand, bent down, and said to Mengyin, “This is my daughter, Zhirou. She’ll be playing with you here for the next two days, alright?”
“Really!?” Mengyin gasped in delight.
She could spend two whole days with the cutie?!
“Yes,” Tang Jingxue chuckled. “But she’s shy and doesn’t have many friends. Would you be willing to be her friend?”
Looking at her adorable face, Mengyin nodded hard. “Yes! I’d love to!”
After some more chatting, Tang Jingxue checked the time and said, “We’ve got to go. Zhirou, go on inside and play with Mengyin, okay? Mama will come get you after work.”
Even at that age, Zhirou understood her parents’ hard work. She nodded obediently.
Without missing a beat, Mengyin grabbed her hand and dragged her into the house, excitedly introducing herself and complimenting Zhirou’s looks.
Seeing the girls getting along, Tang Jingxue felt relieved and left with a smile.
Looking back now, Mengyin realized she had grabbed Zhirou’s hand and rushed inside because she was afraid her mom might change her mind and take Zhirou away.
She turned to look at Zhirou beside her and broke into a silly smile.
Zhirou, baffled, asked, “Do I have something on my face?”
She raised her hand to touch it, but Mengyin caught her wrist and said, “Nope. You’re perfect.”
Zhirou rolled her eyes. “Then what are you smiling about, so silly?”
Leaning on the railing, Mengyin grinned wide. “I was thinking about the first time we met. Do you remember how I zoomed you into my house?”
Zhirou thought back and nodded. “Yeah. You ran so fast, even though your mom was shouting at you to slow down, you didn’t listen.”
“I was scared your mom would change her mind and take you away,” Mengyin laughed. “I really liked you from the moment I saw you and wanted to be friends. I couldn’t let her take you away.”
The last ray of sunlight bathed her face, casting a soft, warm glow.
Zhirou suddenly smiled and said, “She wouldn’t have.”
Even if her mom had tried to take her back to the office, she would’ve followed her heart, run to Chen Mengyin, and held her hand to go inside.
Because five-year-old Zhirou also liked the bright-smiling girl with the double ponytails the moment they met.
Hearing that, Chen Mengyin grinned even wider.
Zhirou tossed her empty milk tea into the trash and said, “Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s head back.”
“Okay!” Mengyin replied cheerfully.
The two walked back to campus under the sunset. The lights along the boardwalk flickered twice before illuminating the path under their feet.
The sun had set.