The reflection on the glass was translucent, swaying gently.
The indoor lighting was dim, casting a faint glow through the window that barely illuminated half the street. By that light, she saw a massive dark shadow fall from across the road, crashing onto the roof of a sedan.
An alarm blared instantly.
“What was that sound?” a voice asked over the phone.
“A tree snapped and hit a car,” Yin Guo said, covering her left ear to hear her friend over the raucous music. “This blizzard is terrifying. Do you know what the temperature is right now? Minus twenty-five.”
“Who told you to go in the winter? I warned you,” Zheng Yi said, yawning while still finding the energy to tease her. “Blizzards are common in New York during winter. You’re on your own.”
Yin Guo didn’t even have the strength to complain. “I haven’t showered in three days and nights. You have to help me secure a hotel tonight.”
“Wait a bit longer. I’m still checking.”
The call ended.
Exhausted, Yin Guo returned to her cousin, Meng Xiaotian. “Wait a while. Zheng Yi is looking for a hotel; she said she’d give me an update soon.”
Meng Xiaotian was having the time of his life, completely unbothered. “If all else fails, we can just stay here all night.”
She didn’t have his energy. Slumping dejectedly against the bar, she glanced out the window.
Who would have thought she’d run into the strongest blizzard in a decade?
First, her flight was delayed for ten hours at the capital airport before finally taking off across the vast ocean toward New York. Because of the blizzard, the plane couldn't land and circled for over two hours before being diverted to Chicago.
That night, every hotel in Chicago was fully booked, and the airline was unable to arrange accommodations.
The two siblings spent the night in the departure lounge—one on a bench, the other on the floor—waiting for the next day’s flight alongside a crowd of stranded passengers. The next morning, they freshened up in the airport restroom and prepared to leave, full of hope. Instead, they waited from dawn until dusk before finally being placed on a flight to New York.
This time, luck was on their side, and they finally landed.
But as soon as the plane came to a halt, the flight attendant informed everyone that there were no available gates in New York. No one could disembark; they had to wait for the airport’s instructions.
The group, who had already spent a night sleeping in an airport, went right back to sleep on the plane.
After six hours of sleep, they were woken by an announcement. With bloodshot eyes and slumped shoulders, they lined up to get off the plane.
After disembarking, Yin Guo sat on a luggage trolley and fell asleep again while waiting for their bags. By dusk, the luggage finally emerged from the conveyor belt. She thought she saw a glimmer of hope, only to receive a call from the hotel: because they hadn't checked in on time, both rooms had been canceled.
Standing at the arrivals gate at that moment, she had almost burst into tears.
Fortunately, a Chinese girl who had also slept at the Chicago airport stopped her after passing through customs. The girl said her family was picking her up by car and told Yin Guo that trying to get a taxi in this blizzard would be harder than climbing to heaven. She suggested Yin Guo hitch a ride with her to Manhattan first, as it was better than staying at the airport.
Thanks to the help of that kind stranger, Yin Guo and her cousin were dropped off here.
Even though the blizzard raged outside, at least they had drinks and food.
Behind her, someone pushed open the frozen glass door.
A merciless cold wind swept across the back of her neck. Yin Guo shivered and pulled up the collar of her down jacket.
Meng Xiaotian also wrapped his coat tighter. “This is total crap. I feel like I’ve stepped into *The Day After Tomorrow*.”
It really did feel like it.
The movie was set in New York—the frozen Statue of Liberty, the tanker washed up in the streets, the library where everyone was saved... Yin Guo loved disaster movies and had seen that one nearly twenty times. She never expected to find herself in a real-life recreation of it.
Right now, her phone showed an outdoor temperature of -25°C. With the wind chill, it felt like -40°C. They had worn their thickest down jackets, but they were no match for the outdoors in this weather.
Just moving their luggage from the car a moment ago had nearly frozen them solid.
Yin Guo placed her phone on the bar in front of her and told Meng Xiaotian to keep an eye on it so they wouldn't miss Zheng Yi’s message. After giving her instructions, she pulled up her hood, rested her hands on the edge of the bar, and leaned her head on them to rest her eyes.
“It’s really so cold,” Meng Xiaotian muttered beside her like a mantra.
Drowsy, Yin Guo caught the scent of roasted chicken wings. She wanted to eat, but she was too lazy to move.
The band on stage began playing an old song. The melody was melodious and bright, like blazing sun, like a clear sky, like every image associated with summer. In a lull between verses, the lead singer whispered in English that he was singing for a girl he admired. He was deeply attracted to her, hopelessly captivated, head over heels in love, yet he was timid and shy, hesitating and unsure of how to approach—
It was *Yellow*.
“Sis,” Meng Xiaotian called her.
“Mhm,” Yin Guo grunted in response.
“Xiao Guo.” Meng Xiaotian tapped her, sounding like he actually had something to say.
Yin Guo used the last of her strength to lift her head and open her eyes.
In her blurred vision, something unfamiliar appeared: a glass of alcohol.
And, of course, the man behind the glass.
He was a young man. He wore a black winter jacket and a black hat. She couldn't tell how long his hair was, but it definitely wasn't long. His pupils were pitch black. His skin was fair, his face lean with a sharp chin, and while his nose wasn't as high as a Westerner's, it was still quite prominent.
Asian? He looked it.
Chinese? She couldn't be sure; he hadn't spoken yet.
“This is for you,” the man said.
Oh? He was Chinese.
Yin Guo pulled down her hood and sat up straight. Just as she was about to speak, another man with a Chinese face and glasses leaned over, placing a second glass in front of Meng Xiaotian. “This one’s yours.”
“Oh, you shouldn't have,” Meng Xiaotian said with a silly grin.
“Don’t mention it,” the man in glasses said. “We’re fellow countrymen, after all.”
Meng Xiaotian immediately introduced Yin Guo. “This is my sister.”
Did they know each other? How was that possible? This was Meng Xiaotian’s first time in New York.
Yin Guo looked at her cousin.
“They came in while you were on the phone and sat at the table next to us,” Meng Xiaotian explained. “I heard them speaking Chinese, so I just casually asked what was good to drink here.”
Yin Guo understood.
The man in glasses asked with a smile, “You two couldn't find a hotel? Are you stranded?”
In this weather, no one would be in the mood to hang out at a bar with three large suitcases still bearing fresh luggage tags. It was a reasonable deduction that the siblings were stuck.
“Yeah, we had a hotel booked, but it was canceled. Now we’re waiting for a friend to find us another one,” Meng Xiaotian volunteered. “Hopefully she finds something. If not, we can just wait here until morning. At least there’s food and drink.”
The man in glasses smiled. “He called a car. If you can confirm a hotel, we can drop you off first.”
The “he” the man in glasses referred to was, naturally, the man who hadn't said much.
“That would be amazing!” Meng Xiaotian was moved to tears.
“Wait until you’ve booked it,” the man in glasses said with a laugh. “If it’s early enough, you can go with his car. If not, I’ll take you. The subway here goes everywhere; it can get you pretty much anywhere you need to go.”
Meng Xiaotian happily raised his glass. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem.” The man in glasses clinked his glass against his.
The two of them chatted away.
The other man sat at the small round table next to them, having ordered some snacks. He sipped his drink slowly while watching the band perform.
Yin Guo wasn't as outgoing as her cousin. She looked down at her drink to pass the time.
Her cousin’s drink was milky white, while hers was clearly a cocktail made for a lady—orange, with small pieces of fruit. She sniffed it curiously; the smell of alcohol wasn't strong. She stirred it with a straw, examining the liquid closely.
Suddenly, she noticed the man glance at her with a hint of amusement.
It was as if he were saying: *Are you afraid there’s something in it?*
Yin Guo let go of the straw and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear to hide her embarrassment, playing dumb.
Her phone vibrated; a WeChat message from Zheng Yi popped up.
Thank god. It was a screenshot of a hotel booking and a contact number, followed by a message: *There aren't many rooms left in Manhattan, and they’re insanely expensive. I booked you a place in Queens. It’s the last room. Get there fast; they only promised to hold it for two hours.*
Yin Guo nudged Meng Xiaotian’s arm with her elbow and showed him the phone.
“Awesome!” Meng Xiaotian said joyfully to the man in glasses. “We’re all set.”
“That was fast,” the man in glasses praised. “Your friend seems reliable. Where’s the hotel?”
Meng Xiaotian handed the phone to the man in glasses.
The man in glasses shook his head and placed Yin Guo’s phone right under the other man’s eyes. “How long until your car gets here?”
“Ten minutes.”
The man spoke his second sentence of the night.
“That’s soon then,” Meng Xiaotian said, putting down his glass. “I’m going to hit the restroom first.”
“I’ll go with you.” The man in glasses led Meng Xiaotian away.
Now, only Yin Guo and the man remained.
Yin Guo kept her head down, messaging Zheng Yi. she reported that she had met two Chinese men who seemed friendly, had bought them drinks, and offered them a ride. Although she was grateful, she was also worried about safety. She quietly discussed with Zheng Yi whether it might be dangerous. Zheng Yi’s judgment was that in this hellish weather, even scammers wouldn't be working—but who was to say they hadn't run into a psycho with a gentleman's face?
Zheng Yi: *You should still be careful. Try to find out more about them.*
Yin Guo locked her phone.
Holding her straw, she slowly stirred her drink and looked at the man at the next table, who was barely a step away.
A moment later, the man sensed her gaze and looked back.
“Are you an international student?” Yin Guo asked politely. “Or do you work here?”
“International student,” the man said.
“NYU?”
The man shook his head.
Seeing the flicker in Yin Guo’s eyes, he guessed her anxiety. “Afraid I’m a bad guy?”
Yin Guo smiled sheepishly, not denying it.
The man pulled a wallet from his jacket and took out a Chinese ID card, placing it on the bar in front of her. Then, he took out a magnetic card and placed it next to the ID.
“This is my school ID,” he said, pointing to the name on it. “You can cross-check them.”
Then he pointed to his own face, letting her compare the real person to the photos.
He didn't usually carry his ID card, but he happened to need it during the day, and he hadn't expected it to come in handy here.
Yin Guo’s gaze dropped, first seeing the magnetic card.
Georgetown University? Zheng Yi had one just like it; she’d seen it before. He was an alumnus of the same school as Zheng Yi?
Yin Guo remembered that Zheng Yi’s school was in a prime location—an elite, expensive university in a wealthy area of Washington, D.C. This card didn't look fake. The ID card looked real, too.
The photo on the school ID matched the one on the national ID, and the names were the same.
Should she verify this with Zheng Yi? How? By taking a photo and sending it?
That would be too disrespectful. She decided against it.
Yin Guo stacked the ID and the school card together to return them to him, but the man reached into the inner pocket of his winter jacket again—
What else was he taking out?
Under Yin Guo’s puzzled gaze, the man pulled out his phone, unlocked the screen, and opened his photo album. Quickly, he turned the screen toward her. Facing Yin Guo was the information page of his passport. The name was the same:
Lin Yiyang.
LIN, YIYANG
***
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Amidst a Snowstorm of Love | Chapter 1 | A Drink in the Storm | Novela.app | Novela.app
