After I accidentally friend-zoned my eighth blind date, my mom finally couldn't take it anymore. She set me up with a guy who was mute. When I got there, I realized he wasn't just anyone. He was my old high school classmate—the one who rejected my confession senior year. ... 1 My dad died young, leaving my mom to raise me and my brother alone. We both graduated and established successful careers, but when it came to our love lives, we were both hopelessly single. My mom started to panic. Every holiday, she'd scramble to set us up on blind dates. At first, I was resistant. The idea of marrying a stranger sounded insane. But my brother was different; he embraced it quickly. At his peak, he’d go on three dates a day—breakfast date, lunch at home, then back out for more. I didn't get it. It was baffling. "How do you do it?" I asked him. He smirked. "You don't get it. At our age, how many people are actually doing this voluntarily? We add each other on WeChat, go through the motions, and as long as we hit our KPI, our parents stop nagging." As he spoke, he was mass-texting those girls. I looked closer. He was asking if they wanted to buy insurance. "Master," I said, "I am enlightened." 2 Watching my eighth blind date turn into another insurance lead for my brother, my mom couldn't sit still anymore. She sat down next to me, peeling a tangerine, and started her pitch: "Auntie Liu recommended a guy. Heard he started his own company. Parents are professors. Very easygoing." "I've seen his photo. Looks bookish and handsome. You should meet him tomorrow." I didn't take it seriously at first. I considered myself a veteran of blind dates. But when she promised this would be the last one, I agreed immediately. Mom's frown turned into a beaming smile instantly. She shoved the peeled tangerine into my hand. "But Auntie Liu said the boy has a disability. He's mute. You talk a lot, so watch your mouth." Mute. Suddenly, I thought of someone. My brother, lying on the sofa next to us, burst out laughing first. Mom slapped him. "What are you laughing at? If you try to sell insurance to this girl tomorrow, I'll break your legs." He begged for mercy, still laughing. Mom turned back to comfort me. "Just get to know him first. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But I heard he went to No. 1 High School too. Maybe you were schoolmates." I ate the tangerine silently. My brother perked up. "No. 1 High? What's his name?" Mom thought for a while but came up blank. "Sigh, I forgot. Why do you ask?" "Just asking. What if he's our Hannah's first love?" I kicked him. "No love happened. Don't talk nonsense." 3 Caleb Chen. 4 Outside, the night was quiet except for the wind rustling the leaves. It was already autumn in Riverdale. I suddenly remembered that Caleb Chen had transferred to our class during an autumn just like this. No. 1 High was a key provincial school, strict about grades. The "Rocket Class" (honors class) constantly shuffled the top fifty students. People dropped out, people moved in; every major exam brought new faces. But Caleb was special. He couldn't speak. So the homeroom teacher sat him next to me. Her reasoning: I talked too much, he talked too little—we'd balance each other out. I thought it was interesting. Back then, I was young and energetic, bursting with 800 random thoughts a second that I needed to share. And Caleb was the only one who would quietly listen. He was always patient, always accepting. If I leaned in slightly, he knew I was about to speak and would turn his face to listen earnestly. I still remember his smiling eyes every time we made eye contact. Thinking of this, I unconsciously smiled. When I snapped back to reality, my phone screen had already jumped to the chat history with "Good Luck Charm." 5 "Good Luck Charm." That was the nickname I gave him. I swore back then that it would bring him better luck. I wondered if he had indeed become luckier over the years. The chat history stopped on the Dragon Boat Festival, where he sent me a "Happy Dragon Boat Festival." Looking back, our conversations over the years were pitifully sparse. Mostly him sending generic holiday greetings. Sometimes I replied with a "Same to you." Or I was too lazy to reply at all. I stared at his profile picture for a while, then backed out. Why open the chat? To tell him, "My mom set me up on a blind date today, and he reminds me of you. I thought of you again."? Crazy. 6 The date was set at a dessert shop in an alley. It was a bit secluded and hard to find. But I loved this place; I was a regular. Unexpectedly, my date had similar taste. On the phone, Mom was still nagging anxiously: "He's wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, has bangs, no glasses, sitting by the window." I turned the corner, about to walk to the front door. Suddenly, I froze. Through the glass door, an all-too-familiar figure sat there. For a moment, my heart seemed to skip a beat. I asked my mom, "Mom, what's my date's name again?" She thought for a moment. "Caleb Chen." Caleb Chen. 7 Getting set up with the boy I liked in my youth... I didn't know if I should call myself lucky or unlucky. When I pushed the door open, Caleb looked up. I raised an eyebrow, sat down in front of him, and asked the obvious: "Long time no see. What are you doing here?" Sunlight hit Caleb, making him seem to glow. He paused, then subconsciously signed a few gestures at me. Short, looked like a brief sentence. Before I could ask "What does that mean?", he realized his mistake and pulled out his phone to type. His fingers were long and slender, tapping quickly on the screen. He paused to think, deleted some words, and typed again. Finally, he showed me a very polite sentence. "Long time no see. Heard from Auntie Liu that you like this shop, so I picked it." I glanced at him and couldn't help but laugh. "Caleb, Auntie Liu doesn't care what shop I like." 8 Auntie Liu lived in the same building as us, practically a neighbor. When she came to find my mom, I was in my room flipping through a dusty sign language book. I had taught myself sign language for a while. And since I have a good memory, I quickly found the meaning of the signs Caleb made at noon. He said: "I was waiting for you." The night light by my bed flickered softly, illuminating the page. I was silent for a few seconds, then couldn't help but laugh out loud. Can't speak, but sure knows how to lie.
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