Elder Chief was getting on in years and had grown fond of lively atmospheres.
Jiang Yi and Gu Xici stood in front of the living room window, chatting away happily, while Elder Chief and Auntie Cui stood in the kitchen, feeling somewhat nostalgic.
As Auntie Cui made coffee for Gu Xici, she watched the silhouette in the living room and said, "Elder Chief, look."
Elder Chief followed the direction of Auntie Cui's finger and saw Gu Xici raising his hand to help sweep the messy hair from Jiang Yi's shoulder to the back.
The two interacted just as they had six years earlier, relaxed and natural as if time had rewound itself.
Elder Chief watched thoughtfully, feeling as though he had grown younger, and a smile gradually formed at the corners of his mouth.
Gu Xici declined Elder Chief's kind offer to stay for dinner, saying that he had already made promises to friends and couldn't go back on his word.
Elder Chief didn't insist and insisted on seeing him out himself.