It was eleven at night.
Zhuzhu and Xiaoqi had just finished dinner.
They parted ways in front of the restaurant.
Xiaoqi got into her own car.
Zhuzhu ordered an online taxi.
The ride to her apartment would take twenty-five minutes.
The streets were quiet.
Only rows of dim yellow streetlights stretched ahead.
Suddenly the driver slammed on the brakes.
Driver: “Whoa—!” Right in the middle of the road, under the glow of the headlights, a woman was crouching low.
Her whole body trembled as if she were freezing with fear.
The driver rolled down his window and called out: Driver: “Hey miss!
What are you doing?!
Go stand on the side!” Zhuzhu leaned forward and looked out.
Her blood ran cold.
Standing right before the hood of the car was a woman.
She wore a long white hanfu that trailed on the ground.
Her black hair fell loose and wild.
Her clothes were from an ancient time.
Her face was deathly pale in the harsh light of the lamps.
Driver: “Is this a cosplay or something?
In the middle of the night like this?” But the woman did not move.
She only stared straight toward Zhuzhu’s window.
Her eyes were empty.
Terrified.
As if she had never seen a car or electric light before.
Zhuzhu: “Sir, let me get down here first.
She might be hurt or lost.” Zhuzhu opened the door and stepped out.
The night wind cut straight through her clothes.
She walked slowly toward the stranger.
Zhuzhu: “Miss… are you all right?” The woman slowly lifted her face.
Everything went still for four long seconds.
Their eyes met.
The woman’s eyes flew wide open.
Tears spilled over instantly.
Her shaking hand reached out toward Zhuzhu’s face.
Her lips trembled.
No sound came out at first.
Then a whisper—so soft it was barely heard—meant only for herself.
Woman: “…Sister Xixi…” She clapped a hand over her mouth immediately.
As if terrified she had said it aloud.
Zhuzhu frowned, utterly confused.
Zhuzhu: “Sister Xixi?
Who is that?” The woman shook her head slowly.
Tears kept streaming down her cheeks.
She looked at Zhuzhu again—long and hard… as if she had waited a thousand years just to see that face.
Without another word, the woman turned and ran straight into the dark alleyway.
All she left behind was a single dried plum blossom petal lying on the asphalt.
Zhuzhu picked it up.
Her own hands were shaking.
“Who… are you really