Across the alley, a busker tuned a battered guitar, and Ning paused as if the melody had tugged a thread inside her. That’s when she saw her — Ning Date — standing beneath a paper lantern, fingers stained with ink from sketching faces on napkins. The world narrowed to the space between them: the soft glow, the rustle of passersby, the suspended possibility of a moment unfolding into something more.