Shu Yuwei dreamed all night.
She dreamed she went to a concert by her favorite band.
She had the best seats in the stands. As she listened to the energetic live performance, she smiled more brightly than anyone.
At the same time, a man held her hand tightly.
Shu Yuwei strained to see who the man holding her hand was.
Just then, a spotlight shone down from the stage.
She saw her boss’s flawless profile, perfect from every angle.
He looked over at her, lowered his head, and planted a light kiss on her cheek.
Shu Yuwei: “?!”
Shu Yuwei jolted awake.
“Awake?”
Fu Rongzheng’s voice suddenly sounded. He was standing beside the bed, looking at her.
Shu Yuwei came to her senses. “Boss!”
“You’re… you’re up?”
“Mm.” Fu Rongzheng asked, “What were you dreaming about? One minute you were laughing in your sleep, and the next you woke up startled.”
“N-nothing.”
Shu Yuwei would rather die than tell him she’d dreamed they went to a concert together and that he kissed her.
How mortifying. Why would she dream something like that?
Was it because they’d been spending so much time together lately?
Shu Yuwei shook her head, got out of bed, and went to wash her face to wake herself up.
When she came out of the bathroom, Fu Rongzheng took breakfast out of a bag.
“Eight-treasure porridge. Is that okay?”
Shu Yuwei nodded.
She loved eight-treasure porridge, but one can cost four yuan and wasn’t very filling, so she rarely bought it.
What she bought most often was the large two-yuan-and-eighty-fen bags of instant noodles.
“Boss, did you go out to buy this so early?”
“Mm. There are little bread rolls in the bag, too.”
“Okay. Have you eaten, Boss?”
“I have.”
“Oh.”
They chatted on and off for a while.
Shu Yuwei opened the curtains and the window.
She didn’t have to go to work, and her phone had no signal or internet.
Sitting on a little stool, Shu Yuwei took her time eating breakfast for the first time.
It hadn’t rained this morning, and the village air was lovely—not too cold or too warm.
When she finished eating, she gazed out the window and let her mind wander for a while.
Her phone alarm went off. She turned it off, then looked back and realized her boss was no longer in the room.
Where had he gone now?
Wondering, Shu Yuwei got up and looked around.
Fu Rongzheng was in the courtyard, absorbed in drawing on a set of blueprints.
It was a powertrain model for a new-energy vehicle.
Shu Yuwei stopped and watched him for a little while.
She didn’t disturb him. Instead, she turned and went outside.
Xiaoyunduo had just come out, and they ran into each other.
“Good morning, big sister!”
“Good morning, Xiaoyunduo’er!”
Shu Yuwei pinched her cheek.
Xiaoyunduo hugged her. “Big sister, let’s go play for a while!”
“The power’s out, so I can’t watch TV. I’m so bored!”
“Sure!”
Shu Yuwei smiled. “But there are puddles everywhere, so we can’t go far. Let’s stay outside the house, okay?”
Then she suddenly thought of something.
“Oh, right! I have a bubble machine. Want to play with it?”
“A bubble machine?” Xiaoyunduo tilted her head. “What’s that?”
“You’ll see in a minute.”
Shu Yuwei ran back inside and rummaged through her suitcase.
She found it quickly and brought it out.
“This is it!”
Shu Yuwei opened the packaging and fiddled with it for a moment.
Once it was ready, she held the bubble machine and pressed the button. A flurry of colorful, dreamy bubbles floated into the air and scattered in every direction.
“Wow!”
Xiaoyunduo cupped her face, eyes full of wonder. “So many pretty bubbles!”
“Here, you can play with it.”
Shu Yuwei put the bubble machine in Xiaoyunduo’s hands.
It was the Pro version and quite large, so Xiaoyunduo had to hold it with both hands.
But she was delighted, laughing as she carried it around beneath the eaves.
Then she called her younger brother and sister over.
“Xiaonian! Xiaogao! Come play with the bubble machine!”
“It can blow out so many bubbles!”
The twins heard her and soon ran outside. When they saw all the bubbles, they cheered excitedly and chased after Xiaoyunduo.
The children ran and jumped among the bubbles, laughing nonstop.
Shu Yuwei watched them quietly.
She’d bought the bubble machine on a whim while on a business trip.
It was something she’d longed for more than anything when she was a child.
But now that she’d finally bought one, she could no longer feel the same joy she’d felt back then.
She’d become a dull, exhausted adult.
That was why the bubble machine had stayed tucked away in a corner, never even unpacked.
But seeing the children having such a wonderful time, Shu Yuwei still felt it had been well worth buying.
Their happiness had rubbed off on her, too.
It felt as though some of the things she’d lost had been made up for.
How wonderful.
Shu Yuwei smiled.
Just then, Xiaonian came running over on her little legs and threw herself into Shu Yuwei’s arms.
“Thank you, pretty big sister!”
The five- or six-year-old girl kissed her on the cheek, then looked at her shyly.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart!”
Xiaonian was so adorable that Shu Yuwei couldn’t help being charmed all over again. She picked her up and spun around with her.
Xiaonian giggled happily.
“Xiaonian, you can’t sneak a kiss from big sister!”
Xiaoyunduo spotted them and ran over, too. “Big sister, Xiaonian kissed you. Can I kiss you, too?”
“Of course!”
“Me too! Me too!”
Soon Shu Yuwei was surrounded by the children.
They kept her so busy her head was spinning.
“All right, all right. No need to rush!”
“Once you’ve kissed her, then it’s your turn…”
“One at a time…”
…
Shu Yuwei played with the children for a long time.
Only when they were tired out—and she was completely spent—did she bring the bubble machine back.
She paused at the doorway and glanced inside.
Her boss wasn’t there.
Shu Yuwei went to the back courtyard.
Fu Rongzheng was still there, though he’d stopped drawing. He was looking at something on his phone.
Perhaps she’d spent so long with the children that a playful impulse had taken hold of her.
She peeked over and saw that Fu Rongzheng hadn’t noticed her.
Then she moved a little farther away, hoisted the bubble machine, and aimed it at his back. She blinked.
Hehe. Boss, take this!
Shu Yuwei pressed the button, mimicking the motion of firing a gun.
Bubbles burst out at once, swirling through the air.
Fu Rongzheng turned around and saw a mass of pink bubbles floating everywhere.
A familiar figure darted away through the shower of bubbles.
“Childish.”
Fu Rongzheng said the two words, then chuckled softly and reached out to catch one of the pink bubbles drifting toward him.