The next morning arrived without rain, but the air still carried the faint scent of last night's storm. Sunlight slipped through the curtains and rested gently across my room, yet I stayed wrapped in my blanket, half-awake and unwilling to leave the comfort of sleep. It was Sunday, the one day when alarms held no power over me.
When I finally opened my eyes, the clock showed eleven. I stretched lazily and sat up, my mind still drifting between dreams and reality. The building outside was unusually quiet, as if the entire world had decided to move slower for a day.
A sudden knock on the door broke the silence.I blinked in confusion. No one usually visited me unannounced. Without thinking much, I walked to the door exactly as I was, hair slightly messy, eyes barely open, still caught in the softness of sleep.
When I opened it, my breath paused.
It was him.
He stood there neatly dressed, holding a small wrapped present in his hands. The corridor light framed his calm expression, making him look composed and formal, almost as if he belonged to a different world than the quiet one inside my apartment.
"Hello," he said politely. "I'm your new neighbor. This is a small gift. Please take care of me in the future. My name is Shen Yuming… you can also call me Mr. Shen."
For a second, I forgot how I must have looked standing there half-asleep. Embarrassment slowly replaced surprise, and I quickly introduced myself. "I'm You Menglong… nice to meet you."
A faint smile appeared on his face, subtle but warm, like sunlight touching water. He gave a small nod, then turned and walked back to the flat opposite mine. The corridor returned to silence, yet something felt different now.
I closed the door softly and looked at the small present in my hands. It was such a simple gesture, yet it stirred an unfamiliar restlessness inside me.Outside, the sunlight grew brighter, but inside my thoughts, the memory of a rainy night and a quiet neighbor had already begun weaving themselves into the pages of a story I didn't yet know I was writing.