"You two are the perfect match. If I don't leave now, I'm going to get stoned by everyone here," the younger schoolmate beside him said with a faint smile.

  "Sorry—" he apologized sincerely, watching as she covered her face and ran off through the crowd.

  "Look here." He picked up the camera from the grass and pointed it at my tear-streaked face.

  "Go away!" I covered my face, refusing to let him take a picture.

  "I don't get it. One second you're telling me to get lost, the next you say you'll die if I leave, and now you're telling me to go away again." He ughed, wiping away his tears with his ughter.

  "I never said I'd die!" I sniffled and ughed.

  "Marry me!" he suddenly shouted.

  "No way!" I shouted back.

  "At least be my girlfriend! I haven't even held your hand yet!" Hooray! Hooray! he hollered joyfully.

  I turned my face away, but I couldn't hide the happiness in my smile.

  "Say yes!" A long-haired girl in a graduation gown wiped her tears and urged.

  "Say yes! Let me leave this graduation with an unforgettable memory!"

  A guy wearing his graduation gown all wrong, holding a basketball, yelled.

  "Say yes!" "Say yes!"

  "Say yes!" "Say yes!"

  He stood there, camera in hand, grinning mischievously, waiting for the moment he had dreamed of for so long.

  I wiped away my tears and finally spoke the words he had been waiting fourteen years to hear.

  "Fine. Girlfriend, it is."

  Click!

  Over the next four years, he finished his military service and found a job in Hsinchu, while I worked as a junior art editor at a publishing house. Between us, we shared another thousand cups of coffee.

  One weekend, he excitedly picked me up in his brand-new car—his first big purchase on an installment pn—and drove us to a resort in Zhudong's Guanwu. He even let me, someone without a driver's license, take the wheel for a short stretch. Thinking back, it was definitely a reckless thrill.

  (T/N: Zhudong's Guanwu (觀霧) is a scenic area in Taiwan, located in the mountainous region of Hsinchu County. It is part of Shei-Pa National Park (雪霸國家公園) and is known for its breathtaking cloud forests, high-altitude hiking trails, and diverse wildlife. The name Guanwu literally means "watching the mist," as the area is often covered in a mystical sea of clouds.)

  "Xiao Mi, do you like the coffee I make for you?" He suddenly asked me seriously while we were having dinner downstairs at the guesthouse.

  "Of course, I do! Even though I always say 'whatever' when you ask, it's only because you're the one making it. Hehe. Honestly, I'd rather drink pin water than take a sip of anyone else's coffee. Even my dad gets jealous because of you," I nodded as I answered.

  He ughed, a smile so bright that it was the happiest I'd seen him since our university graduation day.

  "Your coffee is too good! What if I can’t ever drink something this good again?"

  I mimicked the famous line from Stephen Chow's movie The God of Cookery.

  "If that day ever comes, I have a solution for you," he said with mock seriousness while spouting nonsense. "Just open a café and spend all day brewing a bunch of ridiculous, messed-up coffee concoctions. Call it 'The Boss Lady's Special Blend.' Every cup would be different, but the only thing consistent about them would be how unbelievably awful they taste. Then, you set a rule: only two cups of this disaster coffee will be avaible each day—one for yourself, and one for whoever orders the 'Boss Lady's Special Blend.' And if they do, they get to sit down and chat with the most beautiful woman in the world for as long as it takes to finish a cup of coffee."

  "That's so dumb! Who would order something like that? You'd ruin your café's reputation!" I burst into ughter.

  "It's not dumb at all. Because if there's someone who shows up every single day, rain or shine, even if they have to walk through a snowstorm, drive through a tornado, or cross a road split apart by an earthquake… Regardless of what happens, they knock on your door with a shy smile and say, ‘Boss Lady's Special Blend, two cups,’ then..."

  He grew more and more serious as he spoke, so much so that my nose started to sting.

  "Then, that person is your true love. When you meet someone like that, you must cherish them. Never let them slip away. Because that person will be carrying my wishes, my longing, my love for you."

  He smiled.

  And I cried. Then I pounded my fists against him, scolding him for saying such nonsense and making me cry during what was supposed to be a rexing vacation.

  That night, fine drizzles of rain floated through the mountain air. He stood at the door, inviting me for a nighttime stroll.

  Before stepping out, I gnced at the calendar.

  April 1st.

  "I'm warning you, if you propose to me on April Fool's Day, I'll be really mad," I knocked him hard on the head—even though I had already rejected his marriage proposal a hundred times.

  He just gave me a mysterious smile and opened the umbrel.

  "And then?"

  The high school student who always lost at rock-paper-scissors y slumped over the counter while his friends crowded around, forming a circle.

  At some point in the story, they had all leaned in.

  Even the "King of Random Orders" had moved his chair closer, ears perked up to listen.

  Sumatra had somehow ended up in the boss dy's arms, fast asleep.

  "And then, I stayed here, waiting for someone."

  The boss dy smiled—no tears, no sorrow.

  But I cried.

  I didn't know how to ask what had happened to him in the end.

  But I understood why she opened this quiet little café with seemingly nothing to do.

  Why the menu had a special item called "Boss Lady's Special Blend." That was enough.

  "Auntie, why don't you cry when you talk about these things?" the high school student asked.

  I had already noticed him secretly tilting his head just now, letting his unshed tears slide back into his eyes.

  "Memories are beautiful. Why would I cry?"

  The boss dy continued staring at her empty left-hand ring finger, smiling radiantly.

  "Besides, I'm not ‘Auntie.’ I'm the Boss Lady! Careful, or I'll have Albus put rat poison in your coffee!"

  She gred at the high school students, deliberately fierce.

  "Boss Lady, you turned into an old dy so young—we have to help you."

  A buzz-cut high schooler bravely decred, narrowly dodging the boss dy's karate chop.

  "Help with what?!"

  Her second chop missed too.

  "Help you put up posters!"

  The buzz-cut student caught her hand midair, like stopping a bde with his bare hands.

  "Put up posters? For what?" The boss dy chuckled.

  "Seeking brave souls who enjoy terrible coffee! Drink a hundred cups, and you can take home the world's youngest old dy as your wife! And at just 99 yuan per cup, it’s definitely worth a try!" Chimed in a high schooler who looked like a watermelon.

  "High schoolers these days are really getting on my nerves."

  The boss dy withdrew her karate chop helplessly—only to suddenly strike the watermelon-headed student on the head, making him yelp.

  I watched her.

  What a beautiful story.

  I felt honored to be working in this café.

  To wait alongside the boss dy for her destined one—who would one day come, carrying the blessings and mission of the one watching from above—to share cup after cup of awful yet love-filled coffee.

  And under the romantic history of this café, I, too, hoped to find that one special person in my life.

  "Ahem, I'd like to order a Boss Lady's Special Blend."

  The "King of Random Orders" straightened his clothes and approached with a deliberately mencholic air.

  We all rolled our eyes at him.

  He could only cough awkwardly, pretending he hadn't said anything.

  A fool will always be a fool—just trying to take advantage of the moment.

  Not the least bit worthy of sympathy.

  ----Hellowyellow note: If you like the story, the novel collection, and my transtion, please treat me to a cup of coffee. Thanks! ----