The winter of 2020 seems to have arrived late. He noticed that by this time in previous years, it was already the season for wearing jackets.

Last year's beginning of winter, he went to see "Weathering with You."

This year's beginning of winter, he came to see her on a sunny day.

"Have you taken the subway?" he tentatively asked the girl standing next to him, who attended the same high school as he did.

"No."

"The buses in Yantai charge by distance, you know."

"Uh-huh."

"......"

Two lines that were originally parallel finally changed direction and intersected in this warm early winter. In the nervousness of their first meeting, they transferred to another subway line, heading towards a bustling street, just like elementary school students on their first day of school. He felt a bit unreal; before this, he hadn't even heard her say a word.

It had been a long time since he felt the breath of winter. The warmth of the city, the sensation of the girl's body, the faint fragrance of shampoo, the cold wind of early winter, the ethereal longing, and the long dream he had when he woke up in the early morning.

The girl quietly swiped her phone screen while he just stood there quietly, letting the wind in the tunnel brush against his cheeks.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked as they navigated through the crowded crowd.

"To buy something to drink," he said. "What do you like to drink?"

"I'll drink whatever you drink."

She quickly paid for their order.

"It seems we need a little more time. Look, there's a MINISO over there."

"Let's go."

"I like browsing MINISO; there's always something,"

"Strange little things."

"Yes, strange little things. For example, last time I bought a cup that had a beer-like liquid in its inner layer; drinking from it felt like having beer," he said with a smile.

The girl occasionally picked up her phone to scroll through the screen. When they stepped into the store, she turned off her phone.

"I want to buy a cup," he said.

"I want to buy a mirror," she replied.

He didn't know when he started to enjoy reading, perhaps out of a longing for the life of eighteen or nineteen that he had never experienced. He especially loved youth literature. For example, Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood," "Kafka on the Shore," "Hear the Wind Sing," and Osamu Dazai's "No Longer Human." He took her to a bookstore.

The boy, like a gold miner, occasionally bent down to browse through books.

The girl, like a supermarket guide, just followed along and watched.

"Don't you like reading?"

"I do."

When they left the bookstore, he bought two blind boxes—magic boxes that would randomly reveal some small trinket for himself and her.

The girl said she was worried he would be bored, and he was also worried she would be bored.

The girl often mentioned other boys.

"Before, a senior asked his brother's girlfriend to get my QQ."

"During winter break? I'm having a breakup with my boyfriend... he's in a vocational college."

"Someone on the wall asked if anyone knew me..."

"..."

He just calmly offered occasional honest opinions. He didn't understand why the girl was so enthusiastic about it; that was fine, he thought, at least she had something to talk about.

The girl often swiped her phone screen, and he worried she wouldn't see the obstacles ahead, so he would occasionally pull her back.

The warm winter sunlight dimmed and gradually faded away. The night in Chengdu changed to a new scene.

"Can you really go back by yourself?" he kept asking.

While crossing the street, their hands casually brushed against each other, but they quickly let go.

She walked out of the subway, and he watched her leave.

She turned back, and they waved goodbye.

She slowly became smaller in the crowd, turned back again, and their eyes met once more. In his eyes, she became a silent movie scene.

The train doors emitted a sharp warning sound.

She slowly faded into the crowd. Finally disappearing behind the platform's pillar.

The noisy crowd fell silent.

As the train started moving, he looked at her one last time; she looked back at him. After the train entered the tunnel, he rarely took out his phone, filled with anticipation.

The train quickly climbed onto the elevated track, and the night quieted down again.

Only the sound of the wind remained.