Sure enough, the boy leapt down again from the golden morning glow, looking irritated. “Stop yelling! You’re such a noisy little girl.”
I pouted and snapped back, “I’m not a little girl! My name is Zhang Hai Sheng, and I’m already sixteen years old!”
To my surprise, the boy burst into laughter.
Annoyed, I asked, “What’s so funny about that? Why are you laughing?”
He grinned. “So you’re only sixteen? I thought you were six hundred.”
At that moment, I finally started to understand why he could lie on the clouds.
I looked at him and asked, “Big brother, are you an immortal? Or a demon?”
The young man shook his head. “I am nothing at all. My name is Qiling.”
I asked, “Then what’s your surname?”
He shook his head again. “I don’t have a surname. I don’t have parents either.”
I said, “I don’t have parents either. We’re both equally pitiful. How about this—why don’t you take my surname and be a Zhang like me?”
The young man smiled, radiant as the morning clouds. “Alright, then I’ll be Zhang Qiling.”
After that, I often went to visit Zhang Qiling, and over time, I learned many things about him.
He had lived on Wang Bai Mountain for over ten thousand years. Because he was so old, his memory wasn’t very good—he often forgot things. He also loved hearing stories from the outside world. If I only told him a story once, he was sure to forget it, so I had no choice but to repeat them over and over.
My favorite stories to tell were about Mu Wang and his Eight Steeds conquering the world 150 years ago. I must have told Zhang Qiling these stories more than a hundred times. Even with his terrible memory, he still complained to me, “Mu Wang, Mu Wang… why are all your stories about Zhou Mu? I don’t like him. Stop telling them.”
Annoyed, I said, “I like telling stories about Mu Wang. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to listen.”
Zhang Qiling’s face turned red. “But… but I like listening to you tell stories. Could you tell me a different one? One without Zhou Mu?”
I sighed and asked, “Zhang Qiling, do you like me?”
His face turned even redder. “You… I…”
I said, “You’re over ten thousand years old. Don’t be so shy. If you like someone, just say it. If you don’t, then say you don’t.”
Zhang Qiling sighed as well and said, “I like you. Will you come home with me? And never go back to Zhou Mu?”
I replied, “But I don’t like you. The one I love is Mu Wang. Even knowing that, would you still take me away?”
Zhang Qiling’s face turned pale, then red again. “You like me too. That’s why you come to see me every day. You just haven’t realized it yet. You think you love Zhou Mu, but that’s not love—it’s just familial affection and dependence.”
I was indignant. “Who are you to judge my feelings? Do you even understand love?”
Zhang Qiling seemed to come to a firm decision. His gaze locked onto mine with unwavering certainty as he said, “Love isn’t something to understand—it’s an instinct.”
I wanted to argue further, but before I could, Zhang Qiling suddenly pulled me into his arms and placed a light kiss on my lips.
I widened my eyes, shoved him away, and ran.
It was strange. Zhang Qiling was over ten thousand years old. He could sleep on clouds, yet somehow, he couldn’t catch up to me.
Later, I asked him why he hadn’t chased me that day.
He only smiled slyly and didn’t answer my question.
I, on the other hand, was both embarrassed and angry after losing my first kiss. I ran straight back home, locked myself in my room, and fumed in silence.
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