When Bright Moon Encounter the Dark Clouds

After he brought a glass over, I reached over the railings and took it to pour him some wine. As he lowered his head, he appeared fixated on something. I had no idea if he was staring at the wine or something else. Noticing a few calluses on his fingers and wet ink on his wrist, I suddenly found this guy somewhat cute.

His eyebrows relaxed after tasting the wine.

I asked, “It tastes good, right?”

He answered, “It’s very good.”

With a hint of joy, I said, “This is my mother’s brew, an exclusive and unique brew.”

A gentle look appeared on his face as he said, “No wonder, cheers.”

I felt like he was a pleasant guy to be around.

I refilled our cups—both halfway to the top—after he gulped down his first cup. Clouds quickly gathered around the sun to cover it, providing us with shade. We leaned on the railing and slowly enjoyed the wine as a breeze blew over us.

He asked, “Did you come with friends?”

I answered, “No, I came alone.”

He looked shocked, probably because he rarely came across girls that traveled alone.

After finishing his glass of wine in one go, he gazed at the sea while rubbing the wine glass with his finger before asking, “Since you came alone and need to have dinner afterward, would you mind if… we sat together? We can talk more at dinner.”

Even though I had only spent half an hour with him, my heart gently and briefly pound against my chest when he asked me that.

It was not that I had not been hit on before; it was just that those previous guys were average.

Looking at the waters as well, I replied, “Sure.”

He smiled. I have to say, the way he looked down and smiled was very moving. A bright and clean smile that seemed like wind blowing through a bamboo forest. To my surprise, my face felt warm so I had no choice but to turn my head away. Pretending to look at some scenery, pretending to be a mature and calm woman when faced with this kind of situation.

Yet, I saw a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. This made me think that he did not hit on women often. That was what my instincts told me.

“Shall we meet at the restaurant entrance at five-thirty?”

I felt my heart tremble slightly as I said, “Sure.”

“I still don’t know what your name is.”

I looked him in the eye and said, “I’ll tell you when we meet later.”

After going through what to wear in front of the mirror, I ultimately picked a goose yellow dress. My mind kept replaying the moment when we were together, thinking about all the little details and every word he said. I could not help but mentally rehearse the things I would tell him when we met his evening.

My name is Tan Jiao. It's the Tan with the radical Yan, while Jiao is the character for bright.

[TL note: The character for Tan is written as 谭; the radical Yan refers to the left of the character for speak 言]

What do you do? Hold on, let me guess.

And me? I’m a web novel writer. Have you heard of this profession? Since we don’t know each other that well, I won’t tell you my pen name.

……

This was the first time I had such feelings about a man.

My time on the ship felt slow and dull while I waited for five-thirty to come. Soon, I decided to go out for a walk.

Even though it was cloudy now, the picturesque scenery on both sides of the straits was still beautiful. Occasionally, I would come across guests that were taking pictures in the corridor. A well-dressed server smiled and nodded as I passed him. Walking with a spring in my step, I quickly took a few pictures on the deck before entering the restaurant.

After the welcoming party ended, there were still some guests who stayed behind, chatting and taking pictures in groups of threes and twos. After finding an area without anyone, I sat down.

I like to observe the people I encounter when I am bored. This is probably a habit I picked up as a writer.

For example, the young couple in front of me, likely a couple because they had their fingers interlocked, and they had similar-looking rings on their ring fingers. The woman’s dress and shoes were brand new. Even though I could only see the sides of their faces, I could still determine that the man was the dominant one in this relationship. From the man’s calm and indifferent smile to the woman’s longing look, all of these signs indicated what kind of relationship they had.