Chapter 1: A Meeting in the Rain
by HaOn a late afternoon at the end of June, the city was suddenly drenched in rain.
Lâm Hạ Vy stood under the awning of an old bookstore, hugging a folder of documents to her chest. She had just come out of an interview. Her long hair was tangled by the wind, and her high heels were soaked through.
Today had not gone well from the start.
In the morning, the bus she usually took was nearly twenty minutes late.
At noon, she got a message from her old company saying there was a problem with her handover documents.
And in the afternoon, the interview she had pinned so many hopes on ended with a single sentence:
“We’ll be in touch.”
Hạ Vy knew exactly what that meant.
She sighed, looking at the white sheet of rain in front of her.
“What a day. Not one good thing.”
“What did you say?”
A deep male voice sounded beside her.
Hạ Vy turned, startled.
A man was standing less than a step away.
He wore a white shirt and black trousers, and held a gray umbrella. His face was calm, his features sharp but not cold. What caught Hạ Vy’s attention most were his eyes.
Very calm.
So calm that whoever met them found themselves wanting to look a little longer.
“Nothing.”
Hạ Vy was a little flustered.
The man looked at the folder in her hands.
“Job hunting?”
“Mm.”
“Not going well?”
She laughed.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Pretty obvious.”
“Then I must look awful.”
“No.”
He answered quickly.
“You’re just trying hard to look like you’re not disappointed.”
Hạ Vy fell silent.
His words caught her off guard.
Because they were true.
It was a habit of hers.
Even when something went wrong, she never wanted anyone to see her falter.
“You really pay attention to people.”
“Occupational habit.”
“What do you do?”
The man didn’t answer right away.
He checked his watch, then looked at the rain.
“Do you need to go somewhere?”
“The metro station.”
“I’ll walk you there.”
“That’s okay.”
“Do you have an umbrella?”
Hạ Vy looked down at her empty bag.
“No.”
“Then let’s go.”
He opened the umbrella.
Hạ Vy didn’t move.
“We don’t even know each other.”
“True.”
“Then why are you helping me?”
He looked at her for a few seconds.
“Because I once stood under an awning just like this one.”
It was a simple answer.
But for some reason, Hạ Vy couldn’t say no.
They stepped out from under the awning.
The umbrella wasn’t big.
Now and then their shoulders brushed.
Hạ Vy tried to walk on the outside, leaving the dry side for him.
But after only a few steps, the man switched places.
He walked on the outside.
She was on the inside.
“What are you doing?”
“Walking.”
“You’ll get wet.”
“It’s fine.”
Hạ Vy looked at his shoulder.
Part of his sleeve was already soaking through.
She was about to say something, then didn’t.
At the next corner, she suddenly spotted a convenience store.
“Wait for me a second.”
She ran inside.
A minute later, Hạ Vy came out holding a brand-new umbrella.
“For you.”
The man looked a little surprised.
“I don’t need it.”
“You helped me.”
“You don’t have to pay me back.”
“I’m not paying you back.”
She held the umbrella out to him.
“It’s a thank-you.”
He looked at the umbrella, then at her.
“What’s your name?”
“Hạ Vy.”
“Lâm Hạ Vy?”
She froze.
“How do you know?”
He looked at the folder.
Her name was printed clearly on the cover.
Hạ Vy laughed.
“Oh.”
She was a little embarrassed.
“And you?”
“Cố Thừa Phong.”
The name quickly vanished into the rain.
Hạ Vy didn’t think she would ever see him again.
Still less did she think that just three days later, she would walk into the conference room of a big company and see him sitting at the head of the table.
She stood in the doorway, holding her documents, her whole body stiff.
The man looked up.
Their eyes met.
Thừa Phong recognized her first.
The corners of his lips curved slightly.
“Lâm Hạ Vy?”
The whole room turned to look at her.
Hạ Vy pulled herself together.
“Hello.”
“You two have met?”
Someone in the room asked.
Thừa Phong closed his file.
“Yes.”
He looked at Hạ Vy.
“Three days ago.”
Hạ Vy immediately wanted to find somewhere to disappear.
The head of recruitment spoke up:
“Ms. Hạ Vy is the final candidate for the project assistant position.”
Thừa Phong nodded.
“She starts tomorrow.”
Hạ Vy was stunned.
“Tomorrow?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No.”
She answered quickly.
“No problem.”
The meeting ended.
People left one by one.
Hạ Vy gathered her papers, deliberately taking her time.
She didn’t want to walk out with him.
But just as she reached the door, Thừa Phong’s voice came from behind her.
“Lâm Hạ Vy.”
She turned around.
“Yes?”
“The umbrella from that day.”
“You still have it?”
“I do.”
He looked at her.
“But I haven’t used it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I want to keep it.”
Hạ Vy didn’t understand.
“Keep it for what?”
Thừa Phong was silent for a few seconds.
“To remember someone.”
Her heart fluttered.
But right after, he said:
“The person who gave it to me.”
Hạ Vy laughed.
“Do you always talk in a way that makes people misunderstand?”
“Misunderstand what?”
“Nothing.”
She turned to leave.
“See you tomorrow.”
“See you.”
The door closed.
Thừa Phong sat alone.
He opened the drawer of his desk.
Inside was a pale blue umbrella.
On its handle was a small slip of paper.
A name written in beautiful handwriting.
Lâm Hạ Vy.
He had kept it for three years.
She just didn’t know.
Because their meeting in the rain today wasn’t the first time he had seen her.
Three years ago, that summer, he had been standing on a train platform.
A girl in a white dress had handed him half of her bread roll and said:
“Just take it. I’ve got money to buy another.”
Back then, he only had time to ask her name.
“Hạ Vy.”
Then she was gone.
He looked for her for a long time.
No information.
No address.
No way to reach her.
Until, three years later, she appeared in front of him in the rain.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
And this time, he decided he would not let her walk out of his life again.
But what Hạ Vy didn’t yet know was that the job she had just been given was no coincidence.
And the man in front of her was no stranger.
He had been waiting for her for a long time.
She had just never known.
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