Running away from the Love-Brain

Springtime Illusions

An old lady with a cane passed Cui Xijin for the third time on this stretch of road.

Earlier, this old lady had stopped once to rest her feet and carefully selected a box of strawberries from a roadside truck. During that time, a slow-moving electric tricycle with a brand sticker of alpaca pink stopped nearby, and a man in dark blue work overalls poked his head out from a narrow window, grinning as he asked them, "Where are you headed?"

By then, Cui Xijin was already seated in the wheelchair, with Chi Buyu pushing her. They had both seen the old lady scrunch her face at the sourness of the strawberries she bought, and when the man tried to offer them a ride, Cui Xijin politely lifted her leg to show she could stand, while Chi Buyu added that they were just out for a walk.

The man glanced strangely at the wheelchair, shook his head, and drove away. When the old lady passed them for the third time, there was still a wobbly bag of strawberries hanging from her cane.

Chi Buyu, pushing the wheelchair, commented, "That old lady must really love strawberries."

Cui Xijin, impatient, replied, "If you push any slower, we might not make it off this road by the end of today."

Chi Buyu sluggishly replied with an "Oh," then added, "She probably loves walking too."

...

It felt like two people from different planets were having a conversation.

Cui Xijin rubbed her forehead.

As if the old lady heard their exchange, she even turned back, glanced at Cui Xijin in the wheelchair, and with a nod, tapped her cane on the ground and said, "You two aren't so bad yourselves~"

Strangely enough, despite being drunk, Chi Buyu seemed to be on the same wavelength as the old lady. She grinned and pointed at Cui Xijin, saying, "She came out to watch the rain. She loves the rain."

Cui Xijin smiled and nodded to the old lady, resigning herself to being at the mercy of the drunken Chi Buyu.

In truth, Cui Xijin's back was almost fully recovered. Walking that distance earlier had left her only mildly sore.

But halfway through the walk to take Chi Buyu home, Chi suddenly remembered her "duty" and stubbornly insisted that she needed to finish her last shift. Unable to argue with a drunk, Cui Xijin reluctantly sat back down in the wheelchair, though she wasn't entirely convinced.

At least Chi Buyu didn't cause any more trouble.

Except for how slow she was pushing.

At least this time, there was no additional embarrassing moment to add to Cui Xijin's already lengthy list of cringe-worthy memories. In some sense, this was the last time Cui Xijin would ever let herself be pushed in a wheelchair.

It was an experience she definitely didn't want to repeat.

But tonight, this last stretch of the road, although slow, didn't make her feel an urgent need to jump out of the wheelchair.

With candy hanging from the handles of the wheelchair and the faint scent of alcohol in the air, Chi Buyu's steps were unsteady, her breath hazy. Cui Xijin suddenly had an odd illusion—the asphalt road ahead, overgrown with weeds, seemed to melt like alcohol-filled candy.

Maybe it was just a springtime illusion, with the season's early arrival.

It brought a bizarre thought to mind—if this road had no end, would they eventually walk past the Tropic of Cancer? People say that when you reach the tropics, you become more carefree.