Heat Returning to the Lane

She looked up and saw Lu Chen standing across the street. He was thinner than she remembered, wearing a faded black T-shirt, but his shoulders were still straight, like a strip of iron that life had bent again and again only for him to bend it back. He held a plastic bag with several bottles of cold water inside, the condensation beading all over them. Xu Zhixia froze for two seconds before walking toward him. They stood less than five meters apart, but it felt like they were separated by a section of time someone had quietly edited. She had meant to say long time no see, but what came out instead was, "How did you know I was coming back today?"