Rain streaked down the wide glass panes of Chen Rong's law office, smearing the gray outline of the city beyond. It was nearly dusk, the kind of hour when everything looked softer and lonelier. Mei sat in the visitor's chair, hands folded neatly on her lap, her wedding ring glinting faintly under the desk lamp. The steady ticking of the wall clock filled the silence between them.
Chen Rong leaned back, studying her. "You've been quiet for ten minutes, Mei. Why don't you tell me what's going on?"
Mei's voice came out softer than she expected. "I… I think something's wrong with Li Hao."
Rong's brows lifted. "Wrong as in work problems, or wrong as in you don't trust him?"
Mei's eyes flickered up. "Doubt him? Never. Of course not."
Rong gave a dry little laugh. "What? Never?"
"Because he and I…" Mei's words trembled for a second before settling into something rehearsed, something old. "You should know. From the moment we met on that day, ten years ago. Always."
Rong's smile faded as Mei's gaze drifted toward the rain-washed window. The office blurred away. The sound of rain became the memory of cicadas. And she was seventeen again.
*****
Suzhou High School — Ten Years Ago
The air smelled of dust and summer leaves. The last bell had rung, and the courtyard was almost empty except for two girls crouched beneath the banyan tree near the west gate.
"Honestly, Mei," Chen Rong groaned, brushing her knees as she bent over the grass. "How can you be so clumsy? You lost it again?"
Mei's hair was tied loosely, a thin ribbon slipping free from behind her ear. "I'm sorry! It should be around here somewhere." She pushed aside the fallen leaves, searching for the thin silver bracelet her mother had given her. "It must've fallen when we were walking back from the art room."
Rong sighed dramatically. "You really treat that thing like it's made of air."
"It's special," Mei murmured.
A male voice interrupted them. "Hey! Excuse me!"
Both girls turned. A boy in the school's white-and-blue uniform came running toward them, panting slightly. His short hair stuck to his forehead, and in his outstretched hand gleamed something silver.
"Did you lose this?" he asked, catching his breath.
Rong's eyes brightened. "Oh, that's it!"
But Mei barely heard her. Her gaze was fixed on the bracelet in his palm—and then on his face. He was a year above them, she thought. She had seen him once or twice near the basketball courts.
"That's mine," she said, standing quickly. "I've been looking for it since yesterday." Her fingers trembled as she took it back. "But… how did you know it was mine?"
The boy, Li Hao, scratched the back of his neck, shyly smiling. "You always keep it like you cherish it."
Mei blinked, surprised. "Eh? You… noticed me before?"
Li Hao hesitated. "We… well…" He stuttered, cheeks coloring. "For some time, I thought you were cute."
Rong giggled, hand covering her mouth. "Cute? Oh, I see how it is." She turned toward Mei, teasing. "I just remembered I have a date. I'll be going now!" Before Mei could stop her, she darted off down the walkway, her laughter echoing behind her.
"Didn't you say you broke up with him?" Mei called after her. "Hey—!"
But Rong was already gone.
When Mei turned back, Li Hao was still standing there, awkward and smiling. He stepped closer, holding out the bracelet again. "May I?"
She hesitated, then extended her wrist. His fingers were warm as they brushed against her skin, closing the clasp gently. For a moment, the noise of the schoolyard disappeared. The air thickened with something unspoken, young and fragile.
"There," he said quietly. "Now you won't lose it again."
Mei's heart fluttered so hard she thought he might hear it. She opened her mouth to thank him, but words refused to come. Instead, she smiled. It was small, uncertain, but real. It was the first time anyone had looked at her like that.
*****
Back in the present
Mei's voice softened. "That was how it started. Just a bracelet and a summer afternoon."
Rong's pen stopped tapping. "You still remember every word."
"How could I forget?" Mei whispered. "It was the moment everything in my life began to shine."
She looked down at her hands again, now older, lined faintly at the joints. The bracelet still hung from her wrist, though the silver had dulled. "He used to polish it for me every month," she said. "Said it was good luck."
Rong leaned forward, her tone gentler now. "And now?"
"Now he doesn't even notice if I wear it." Mei laughed softly, but it wasn't amusement. It was rather disbelief at how things could go this way so quietly. "He used to come home and kiss my forehead."
The rain outside turned heavier. A flash of headlights crossed the window, slicing through her reflection were two faces were overlapping. One the hopeful girl she was and other the weary woman she had become.
Rong finally spoke. "Mei… you didn't come here just to reminisce, did you?"
Mei shook her head. "I thought if I talked about how it began, I'd understand how I ended up here."
"You think he's cheating."
"I feel he's changed." Mei's voice cracked slightly.