That evening, when they parted ways, he felt distinctly for the first time that their trio, their unspoken alliance which had seemed so unshakable to him, stood on a slippery, sloping path. He watched his friends walking away — each in their own direction — and realized that Wenbo was already mentally there, across the ocean, Xiangliu — here, in her world of the restaurant and filial duty, and he… he remained alone
