The city at night was a tapestry of distant, shimmering lights from Yuxi's small apartment window. But she wasn't looking at the view. She was holding a single, slightly crumpled origami star, its paper faded with time. It was a relic from a different life, a token from a sun-drenched afternoon that felt both a lifetime ago and just like yesterday.
Her thoughts were a quiet, familiar hum—a mix of contentment for the life she'd built and a soft, persistent ache for a connection that felt… destined. She had her work, her independence, but her home, much like her heart, often felt too silent.
The vibration of her phone on the windowsill was an intrusion into the stillness. Her mother's name glowed on the screen. She never shows anyone her sadness, she make herself smile
"hello Māma" Yuxi asked, she put the phone on speaker , her fingers still tracing the points of the paper star.
" Yuxi," her mother's voice was gentle, but there was an undercurrent of something else. Excitement? Nervousness? "I just had a conversation with Mrs. Ren. You remember her? Her family is… very well-respected."
Yuxi hummed in acknowledgment, her gaze still lost on the city's glow. "I think so. She lives in the old estate with the willow trees, right?"
"Yes. She has a grandson." Her mother paused, the silence heavy with meaning. "Ren Shu."
The name meant nothing to Yuxi. It was just a name.
"He is… a very successful man. Focused on his work. But he lives alone. Keeps to himself." Her mother's words were carefully chosen, dancing around an unspoken truth.
Yuxi's brow furrowed slightly. "Okay…?"
Another pause, longer this time. "His grandmother… and we… think it would be a good match. For you."
The words hung in the air. An arrangement. The concept was so archaic it was almost jarring. Yet, it didn't shock her. Because it was her own doing.
FLASHBACK
The air was thick with the scent of blooming jasmine and damp earth from a recent rain. Thirteen-year-old Yuxi and Ruan Wan were sprawled on the grass of their secret spot, a hidden clearing behind their school, their heads close together as they sketched their futures in the clouds.
"I don't want a boring proposal," Ruan Wan declared, her voice full of the dramatic certainty of youth. She held up a paper star she'd just folded. "I want it to be magical. I want him to bring me a bouquet of these. A thousand paper stars, all folded by his own hands. That's how I'll know he's patient. That he'll love me with effort, not just words."
Yuxi laughed, the sound light and carefree. "A thousand? His fingers will fall off!"
"Then he's not the one!" Ruan Wan countered, her eyes sparkling. She turned onto her side, her expression softening. "What about you, Yuxi? How will you know?"
Yuxi thought for a moment, watching a cloud shaped like a rabbit drift by. "I don't know "
Ruan Wan said , " listen do the same like me"
Yuxi , " ok , until we get married let us give eachother the bouquets , I will stop when you found the one " Ruan Wan said " hao "
Both Yuxi and Ruan Wan giggled
"Okay," Ruan Wan said, linking her pinky with Yuxi's. "Then it's a promise. we will get the ones that is made for us . And we'll both be the happiest brides in the world."
Both laughs under the big tree
They sealed it with a laugh, a promise woven between two young hearts under the vast, hopeful sky.
END FLASHBACK
The memory faded, leaving a familiar hollow ache in Yuxi's chest. Ruan Wan was gone. The promise was a bittersweet echo. And here was her mother, on the phone, holding her to the other half of that childhood vow.
"Yuxi? Are you there?" her mother's voice pulled her back.
"I'm here, Māma."
"We would never force you," her mother said quickly, her tone shifting to one of maternal concern. "We just… we met him. There's a depth to him, even if he is quiet. And his grandmother is a kind woman. She believes you could be good for him. We can say no."
Yuxi looked down at the origami star in her palm. A promise for a promise.
She thought of her quiet apartment. Her silent dinners. The empty space beside her.
She took a slow breath, the weight of the decision feeling both immense and strangely peaceful.
"No," Yuxi said, her voice clear and calm in the quiet room. "It's okay. Tell them I agree."
The words were simple, but they felt like the first fold in a new, unknown future. She had no idea who Ren Shu was, but she had made a promise long ago under a jasmine-scented sky. And perhaps, just perhaps, her parents had found him.
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