AFTER TRYING ROUTE upon route upon route, Xue Meng and the little candle dragon came to a realization: Perhaps the problem wasn't that Mo Ran was gay, but rather that on every branching path of his life, he would always meet and fall in love with Chu Wanning.
The two stood in Chief Jiang's office, giving their mission report.
"Instead of wracking our brains trying to introduce the right girl to Mo Ran, we'd be better off killing Chu Wanning," the candle dragon concluded.
"Or changing Chu Wanning's sex," added Xue Meng.
"Or Mo Ran's."
"Regardless, there's nothing to be done. No matter how we play the game or how many romanceable female characters are available, Mo Ran always ends up with Chu Wanning."
Chief Jiang Xi glowered as he listened to these two underlings' excuses. Cheek propped in one hand, he flipped through the thick report. These pages detailed the outcomes of Mo Ran's routes with each of the different female leads. The conclusion was the same for each: He and Chu Wanning always ended up together.
"I thought this was a dating sim with lots of different routes," said Xue Meng, his expression every bit as dour as Jiang Xi's. "Who'd've thought it's the most boring kind, with only one possible ending? Chief Jiang, have you ever played The Legend of Sword and Fairy? Even in 1998…or was it 2001…I can't remember. Anyway, even that ancient RPG had a hidden storyline where the doomed protagonist Lin Yueru survived."
He bit his bottom lip, downcast. "Mo Ran's entire life is worse than Sword and Fairy 1 from 1998. He doesn't even have a hidden storyline."
Jiang Xi's young underling rambled on and on, standing in front of his desk with his arms crossed. Chief Jiang didn't say a word in reply. As he skimmed that report of failure after failure, his scowl deepened.
"We don't have to limit ourselves to this lifetime," Jiang Xi said at last, glancing up. "Have you looked into Mo Ran's other incarnations?"
"'Course we have," Xue Meng answered. "We looked at the Republican era, future timelines… We tried everything we could. Look—just keep reading."
The second half of the report was devoted to possible female pairings from many of Mo Ran's other incarnations.
"The Republican-era timeline was the most depressing," the dragon said, piping up. "In that one, Mo Ran was the son of a rich landowner. When he was little, his father betrothed him to the daughter of another family in town. As soon as the girl was old enough, Mo Ran was supposed to marry her and bring her into the family."
"Oh?" said Jiang Xi. "And that didn't work?"
The dragon was caught between laughter and tears. "Sure didn't! Before the girl came of age, Mo Ran left home and joined the Nationalists. He announced he wanted the freedom to choose his own future, so he rejected the marriage arrangement."
"And then what?"
"Then fighting broke out, first with the Japanese, then the civil war. The Nationalists sent him to infiltrate the Communists as a spy." Xue Meng heaved a sigh. He reached over the desk and flipped the pages to the section about the Republican-era timeline. "This photo here. The rascal looks all neatly turned out, doesn't he—you can't tell he's a wolf in sheep's clothing. So everything was going fine in the beginning."
Jiang Xi could already see where this was going. He asked drily, "How did Chu Wanning show up this time?"
"I'm getting there," said Xue Meng, waving a hand. "He was the commander of the unit Mo Ran infiltrated. During an ambush, Mo Ran took a bullet and passed out from blood loss. It was Commander Chu who carried that Nationalist spy off the battlefield and into the safety of the trenches."
Jiang Xi blinked.
"Chu Wanning nearly died saving him," the candle dragon added helpfully.
Jiang Xi sighed. "So after Mo Ran woke up, he betrayed the Nationalists and gave up being a spy. He became fully committed to Chu Wanning's side."
He didn't even phrase it as a question. Through the gun smoke and the gore, he could almost see Mo Ran's transformation in that other timeline.
"Yeah," said Xue Meng, rolling his eyes. "And then they fell in love. They turned down all the lady comrades people tried to introduce to them. They'd fought side by side; they'd lain in the same trench, hugging their rifles, staring up at the stars. They exchanged bullets as tokens and wore them as matching necklaces tucked beneath their clothes. After the Communists won, they moved into the same compound—those two confirmed bachelors made thousands of girls lose their minds. They folded dumplings together, rode their Phoenix bikes together, went to the photo studio together to take colored photographs, went to the supermarket together to get paper bags full of maltose candies."
Xue Meng ran through these sepia-toned stories in a rapid-fire barrage. Although the anecdotes flew by faster than shooting stars, Jiang Xi could easily imagine each and every one of these scenes. The pale smoke, the tattered uniforms. Deep in the trench forged from clay and blood, two young men kept watch, their backs braced against one another's. Their long lashes glimmered with the light of the stars above. In the distance, one of their fellow soldiers played the harmonica, the plaintive melody floating into the wispy clouds. There was no battle tonight. The only sign of unrest was the faint, persistent haze and the dusky stubble that dotted these two young men's chins.
"Eventually, they got old," Xue Meng said flatly. Now that the sentimental part of the story was over, he slowed down. "Even the Cultural Revolution couldn't pry those two geezers apart."
The cloying sweetness of love lingered even beyond death.
Jiang Xi was silent for a long while. Then he closed the report and massaged his temples, as though he had a headache.
Some said couples were like birds in a forest—when calamity struck, each flew their own way. But if the two old coots could stay together even through that decade of strife, Jiang Xi really didn't know if it was possible to turn Mo Ran straight merely by shoving a nice girl into his arms.
Maybe it wasn't necessarily that Mo Ran was destined to be gay—maybe he was simply fated to have Chu Wanning in his life.
The end of the work day had arrived. As "Going Home" played in the background (Jiang Xi's predecessor Chief Nangong's favorite song), the CWPB's workers trickled from the building.
Some lived in the cultivation world and could ride their swords home without a second thought. Others lived among commoners. Since most ordinary citizens of the world no longer believed that gods, demons, and immortals coexisted alongside them, these cultivators concealed their abilities. Some rode the bus or the subway, while others drove, each disappearing into the brightly lit night.
"I don't think there's any point in continuing," Jiang Xi said, his back to Xue Meng and the candle dragon. He looked out of the floor-to-ceiling window at the traffic streaming by below. "Let's leave it be."
It took Xue Meng a moment to understand. "Huh?"
Arms crossed, Jiang Xi glanced back at him. "What I mean is, your assignment's over."
No matter what they tried, the game ended the same way. Unless the cultivation world came up with a totally new research strategy, there was no need to keep running more experiments.
"Go home," said Jiang Xi.
It was the first time Xue Meng had failed an assignment. Really, it was none of his business—but there was something that still weighed on his mind. He scraped the tip of his shoe against the carpet, then said cautiously, "I have a question."
Jiang Xi turned to face him. Leaning back against the spotless window, he raised his lashes and looked appraisingly at Xue Meng. "Go on."
Xue Meng took a deep breath. "When the simulation showed me his childhood, I realized he was probably around my age."
"So?"
"So why don't we just find him and ask him if he'll cooperate with our research?"
Jiang Xi was quiet for a beat, then snorted. "Genetic research is risky. The modern world isn't like the one you learned about in your history classes. These days, the cultivation world doesn't do things in such a crude and ignorant way. We'd never subject a free individual to something like that."
Xue Meng was silent.
"It doesn't matter if he's a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast or not," Jiang Xi continued. "Wake up, kid. That dog-eat-dog world is a thing of the past."
In the cool light of the chief's office, Xue Meng's face turned faintly pink. "That's not what I meant," he mumbled. "I just… I just didn't know…"
Jiang Xi swept his papers into an even pile, then looked up at Xue Meng. "I know that's not what you meant," he said. "But I'll remind you now—it doesn't matter who your dad is, kid. It doesn't matter how good your grades were, how many scholarships you won, how many shiny trophies are displayed on your mommy's bookshelf."
Xue Meng's face went redder and redder. Before, he was embarrassed; now he was angry.
"I don't care how good a little worker bee you were under Chief Nangong. How many papers you stamped, how many projects you reviewed."
Jiang Xi ignored Xue Meng's growing fury. He locked the files in his drawer, then straightened his dark-green silk tie with slender fingers. "Under my leadership, you still have plenty to learn."
With that, Xue Meng's overbearing manager strode past him and out the door.
Xue Meng was shaking with anger. At last, he couldn't hold himself back. "Jiang Xi!"
Jiang Xi only paused for a second at the threshold. He glanced back at his underling, mouth pressed into a thin line. "Turn off the lights when you leave."
Xue Meng was so mad he couldn't speak.
It was seven o'clock when the last light went dark in the CWPB's office building. Of late there had been no unrest to combat or any major projects with looming deadlines; no one was working overtime. Everyone had somewhere to be, whether it was meeting with friends or going on a date with their partners. Married couples curled up on their sofas, watching the flashing blue light of their TVs with a bowl of popcorn. Tall young lads put on their aprons and helped their parents put dinner on the table. They all had their own lives.
Jiang Xi might've been an agent of chaos, but he spoke the truth. There was no such thing as a perfect world without injustice or flaw, but the world they lived in today was undeniably better than that of the past. They were many generations removed from those tumultuous days of old—so much so that many of the figures and events of those eras had been submerged in the river of time, and countless souls had been reborn many cycles over.
You might not be the person you once were, just as I might not be the person I once was either. But even so, we can be together.
The young would grow old, just as what was fresh would rot, and the living would be felled to time. But the souls that intertwined with one another so closely would always be gifted new forms of flesh and blood. Those attachments, undiluted through each cycle of reincarnation, would make themselves known. Lovers would find themselves in each other's arms, in the past and in the future, entangled in each and every lifetime.
Xue Meng said his goodbyes to the candle dragon and walked out into the night. Snowflakes drifted down from the dark sky and scattered in the golden lights of the bustling city. He had no umbrella, so he turned up his collar and sped toward the nearest bus stop. His breath misted out in clouds of white.
Alongside him, in this city veiled by night and beyond, countless fates interwove and overlapped—
The old man running Li-shifu's Pan-Fried Buns was closing out the register. He was a good man and honest with his customers, and business was booming. He counted his bills with a smile, making plans to buy the Ancient Sword Forms box set from the bookstore on his day off. He loved inscrutable old books like that; even if they were mystifying, he adored reading them.
The daughter of the Luo family was turning twenty-six in a few hours. She'd just gotten her master's in agriculture and forestry, and she was now in a taxi heading to a club downtown for her birthday. She didn't know she was about to reunite with her childhood sweetheart, the older boy who'd lived next door then moved away, at the party her best friend was throwing her. Soon she would receive the love that was fated to be hers.
Mrs. Sun beamed and clicked her bright nails against the table as she watched patrons betting big in the glittering casino she owned. How nice it was to be rich.
Miss Ye and her fiancé sat in a bridal shop, having already spent half an hour arguing seriously over the placement of one particular pearl on the gown. It was like that pearl was the most important thing in the world, and all their worries would disappear the moment the position of this little bead was finalized. What a sickening pair of lovebirds—their only disagreement was about the placement of a pearl on her wedding dress.
And what of another couple, three streets over? Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, living their lives peacefully in this world. They weren't simulations or a game. They weren't Xue Meng's mission. But unsurprisingly, they were together yet again.
The happy couple was currently fighting over something completely insignificant.
"Can't you pick a manlier movie, the kind that gets your blood pumping?"
The fight had started because Mo Ran wanted to see a romance starring the famous actress Xun Fengruo, while Chu Wanning preferred the action movie with kung-fu lead Zhen Congming.
Chu Wanning was glaring at his boyfriend, eyes narrowed dangerously. Though Mo Ran was half a head taller than him, Chu Wanning's aura was imposing. If not for the softness of his lashes, fluttering like flower pistils beneath the streetlights, he would've looked even more intimidating.
"Every time we go to the movies, it's either a comedy or a love story—listen to yourself." Chu Wanning ground his teeth. "The Husky and His White Cat Shizun? Do you have slop for brains? That has to be a cartoon, right? Won't the posters say 'a family-friendly romp'?"
Mo Ran gave his furious boyfriend his most pitiful puppy dog eyes. He tried to speak up for the equally pitiful film The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, but Chu Wanning cut him off.
"I can't handle your taste in movies anymore."
Mo Ran swallowed back his words.
"I told you I was done last time after Teletubbies vs. Voldemort and Captain America vs. The Powerpuff Girls. You're never, ever, ever, going to convince me to watch trashy movies like that with you again!"
It seemed Chu Wanning had been holding this in for quite some time; a wave of furious scolding burst from his mouth, his rage making his objections sound totally nonsensical. "I'm a cop, Mo Ran. I'm still a cop once I clock out and take off the uniform; I can't keep losing brain cells all the time when I'm with you… Why are you looking at me like that?"
Mo Ran still said nothing.
"You think I'll give in if you look at me like that? Please, you're a grown man—you're not embarrassed to go up to the box office and ask the lady for two tickets to The Husky and His White Cat Shizun?"
Mo Ran kept looking at him with those woebegone eyes. Uncharacteristically, he contradicted him: "My coworker told me it's not a cartoon. I don't know if it's good, but I swear, it really is a serious drama…"
Chu Wanning finally lost it. "No serious movie would have such a dumbass title!"
With that parting shot, he sped ahead like a shooting star. Upon realizing Mo Ran hadn't followed him, that he was standing there watching him walk off, he grew even angrier. "None!" he threw over his shoulder.
Mo Ran bit his lip and looked back at him in silence.
If Chief Jiang Xi of the CWPB had been there to witness their fight to this point, he surely would have sighed and said—Look how boring modern society is. There's no hope for these dumbfucks so down bad for one another. Why do they have to watch the same movie? Can't they buy separate tickets and each watch the film they want, then regroup? What's wrong with that? Are they two little girls who have to go to the bathroom holding hands between classes?
Jiang Xi would think that way. After all, he was the high and mighty big-brained Captain Jiang.
At that moment, Chu Wanning was stewing in silence, hands shoved in the pockets of his black wool coat as he strode down the street. He shook off every attempt his boyfriend made to take his hand.
"Wanning…"
Silence.
"C'mon, don't walk so fast, let's talk things out…" Mo Ran lowered his voice, mumbling under his breath. "I swear it won't be worse than Teletubbies vs. Voldemort. That one wasn't even that bad. I actually want to see the sequel Sailor Hagrid when it comes out next year…"
Unfortunately, Chu Wanning heard him. He whirled, eyes huge with horror. "What did you say? Say that again… Never mind." He shook his head as if to banish the nightmarish image conjured by the movie title and swallowed. "Don't. I'll pretend I heard nothing."
"Okay." Mo Ran said dolefully.
Chu Wanning marched onward, coat flapping in the wind. He really didn't know what to say. Every time he thought he'd understood the depths of Mo Ran's terrible taste, Mo Ran would find an even trashier movie to push the limits of his imagination.
Mo Ran followed him, just a step behind.
They continued like this for several blocks before Mo Ran mustered the courage to speak again. "How about…we decide with a round of rock-paper-scissors? Or draw straws… Or roll some dice…"
His voice petered out. He pulled to a halt, having noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A lightbulb went off.
"Hey, Chu Wanning!"
Chu Wanning's tall and handsome boyfriend stopped on the side of the road. In the hazy yellow glow of the streetlights, he pointed to the right, where a baked sweet potato stall stood. The shopkeeper was yelling, "Sweet potatoes for sale, sweet potatoes!"
He tried again. "Hey. Chu Wanning."
Chu Wanning ignored him.
"Officer Chu." He bit his lip, hiding a smile. He knew Chu Wanning—what he liked to eat, how he liked to be addressed. They'd known each other too long for him not to.
As expected, Chu Wanning turned his head, though not the rest of him. His hands stayed in his coat pockets. He raised his chin and narrowed those lash-fringed eyes at the man under the streetlight.
Mo Ran met his gaze. He'd expected this, but still, it was hard not to laugh. He wasn't quite sure what to do next; he considered what to say. The fruit of all his effort was one simple sentence: "Want some?"
Chu Wanning stared at him.
He took off his hat and scratched his head. "Baked sweet potatoes in the winter," he said with a smile. "Aren't they your favorite?"
Chu Wanning didn't move.
"Look, they have the kind that's white on the inside. You like those best, and they're hard to find. Have one, won't you? Don't be mad anymore."
Finally, Chu Wanning's expression softened. He didn't look like a chunk of ice frozen overnight in the north anymore. He stood for a while, then turned with his cheeks still slightly puffed in indignance. After stalking back toward Mo Ran, he said, his voice toneless as if he wasn't tempted at all: "No. I'll have four."
"Whatever you want." His handsome boyfriend looked at him in fond exasperation. Seriously, this man used to act like a wild and untamable panther. Mo Ran's doting had softened him over the years. Now, he sometimes brought to mind a hissy little white cat—honestly he did. Mo Ran grinned. "Yep, have four. But won't you be too full for dinner?"
"Don't underestimate me. This is just an appetizer."
"Perfect, eat your appetizer, then we'll go have dinner and watch Zhen Congming's movie."
Chu Wanning accepted the piping hot sweet potato and took a bite. He shook his head, reining in the smile that threatened to betray him. "Or we can watch The Husky and His White Cat Shizun."
Mo Ran's eyes lit up. "Really?!"
"Mn. I'll lose brain cells with you again."
Mo Ran brightened in an instant; joy and fondness bubbled up like fizzy tablets dropped in water, transforming everything into sugary sweetness. "You're the best!" He paused. "Then, about Sailor Hagrid…"
"Don't even think about it."
Snow slowly blanketed the street. The lovers walked into the distance, leaving dark footprints, so very close together.
Xue Meng's bus stopped at a crosswalk; he stared at the thronging crowd and colorful streetlights without seeing them, focused on his music. He pressed his forehead to the chilly window, neon lights glittering in his dark eyes. Yawning, he failed to notice the pair crossing the street with baked sweet potatoes in their hands, arguing about Sailor Hagrid.
The traffic light turned green. The bus rumbled under him.
They'd passed each other by. Xue Meng hummed along to the song in his earbuds; he was off pitch, but why should that stop him? He was in a great mood. His phone had just buzzed with a text from his mom—his dad was home from his work trip, and she was making his favorite Sichuan boiled fish and chicken in spicy red oil for dinner. He'd hum if he liked. Even if the world was ending, he'd finish his fish first.
And wasn't it just like that? Life held infinite possibilities—a person might have a different career, birthplace, upbringing, and feelings; for a multitude of reasons, their appearance might have a million minor differences. But reincarnation couldn't change Xue Meng's love for Sichuan boiled fish, Chu Wanning's sweet tooth, or Mo Ran's infatuation with chili-oil wontons. Those things would never change. Their stories would lead to the same ending.
That was the compromise fate granted these insignificant beings who dared reach for the skies. After all their hardship and suffering had passed, they would—someday—have a happily ever after with the one they loved.
Those who loved deeply would always meet again.