When Wen Jueli was a child, he lived abroad with his foster parents.
They were both good people.
However, in his memory, his foster father seemed to be someone who had a strong attachment to the family. Even when he left, he held Wen Jueli’s hand and talked about “family”: “Xiao Li, I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a happy and fulfilling family in the end. I won’t even be able to see you get married and establish a family.”
“In the future, I hope you can find something you love to do and build a family with someone you love to spend your life with.”
Something he loves to do? Someone he loves?
Wen Jueli wasn’t clear about this concept. He just thought that perhaps it was because of what his foster father said that, at the age of eighteen, he had agreed to an arranged marriage with the young master of another family.
His foster parents hoped he would marry and settle down early, and the legally recognized relatives also hoped he would agree to the marriage. Why did Wen Jueli not agree at first?
Life is short, and Wen Jueli doesn’t believe he can find this so-called “someone he loves”.
His foster father died in a rainy summer.
After returning to his home country, he lived with his foster father’s family. Like everyone else, Wen Jueli called them “grandfather,” “uncle,” “aunt”…
Perhaps Wen Jueli’s personality was a problem from the start. He didn’t come across as particularly likeable, but he was cautious and reserved, keeping his distance from everyone, as if he couldn’t get close to anyone.
Before he came of age, he was enrolled in a local private school, with a dedicated driver to pick him up and drop him off every day.
This kind of life continued for a while, until a heavy rainstorm heralded the arrival of summer.
Outside the school building, the sky was covered with a dim gray veil as far as the eye could see, and distant thunder rumbled. The entire sky seemed like a terrifying beast ready to devour people.
The rain was pouring down continuously, with no sign of letting up.
The driver sent a message saying he would be there soon.
Wen Jueli slung his backpack over one shoulder and stared at the puddles forming on the ground with cold eyes. On a whim, he replied, “No need, I’ll go home by myself.”
He hoisted his backpack and ran out of the school in the rain, then followed the sheltered corridor away from the school.
The driver usually took care of picking him up and dropping him off, so Wen Jueli wasn’t sure how to get home on his own. He stood under a platform at the school gate, looking around.
Before long, he noticed a bus stop not far away, crowded with people. It was as if someone was calling him to go over there. Wen Jueli had a sudden thought and, for no apparent reason, ran toward the bus stop and got on the crowded bus.
Some people got on, and some got off the bus, so it wasn’t too crowded inside. However, due to the weather, it felt extremely stuffy inside the bus. Wen Jueli had been sprinkled with rain, so he went to sit in the third-to-last row where there was no one and opened a small window slit.
“The light rain will turn into a shower… today until tomorrow…”
The bus driver was listening to the weather broadcast, and a lady in the front seat was complaining to someone, “This darn weather, wasn’t it sunny earlier? I haven’t even taken in my laundry at home yet!”
“As soon as they say it’ll rain, it immediately pours. I still have to pick up my grandson later.”
The bus moved smoothly through sections of road in the rain. Wen Jueli didn’t know where the road would lead, but he just didn’t want to go home for some reason. He didn’t care where he went.
The bus stopped at a station, and there were several schools nearby. Wen Jueli saw many young passengers getting on, wearing at least three different school uniforms.
They filed in, and Wen Jueli quietly put away his backpack. As each passenger passed by, he noticed that the empty seats had quickly filled up, leaving only the one next to him.
As the bus was about to start, Wen Jueli was just about to put his backpack back when he heard a clear and pleasant voice say, “Great! There’s a seat over there!”
“Hello, classmate, may I sit here?”
Wen Jueli looked over and saw a fair-skinned youth. He didn’t say anything but nodded, placing his backpack at his feet.
The young man had just been caught in the rain, and he was soaking wet, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. His pupils were large and black, and he smiled and thanked Wen Jueli.
Very polite.
The young man and the two people sitting behind him were probably travelling together. After the young man wiped his face with a tissue, he turned to them and said, “If my mom asks about this later, you can’t betray me!”
His classmates were puzzled, “Why don’t you just be honest with your mom? Your parents love you so much. It’s just participating in the school drama performance. There’s nothing to hide.”
The young man shook his head with a deep grudge, “You don’t understand. Because of what I did before… Well, you can’t let it slip! My mom doesn’t like me doing dramas. If she finds out, I’m in big trouble!”
Wen Jueli’s three young classmates next to him chatted for a long time about various topics related to their age, such as studies, games, and their crushes. They didn’t pay much attention to whether Wen Jueli was listening to their conversation.
Later on, Wen Jueli would always carry a folding umbrella in his backpack. When it rained, he would choose to take the bus home. Perhaps by luck, the same bus he accidentally took before turned out to be the one he needed to take home.
After that, Wen Jueli would occasionally meet the chatty young classmate and his friends on the bus again. Sometimes he was alone, leaning against the window, dozing off in exhaustion. Other times, he would have a Chinese textbook in one hand and a script in the other, reciting lines, or engaging in casual conversations with strangers, like elderly passengers.
Later on, Wen Jueli began acting in films.
He gradually forgot about the young classmate on a rainy day when he had asked if he could sit beside him, gasping for breath while smiling.
But when he met his arranged marriage partner for the first time, Wen Jueli remembered him.
His name was Yan Qing.
However, Yan Qing didn’t remember him.
