Anyone up for Happy 100 tonight?
Me! Me!
That night, the cycling group had planned a night ride.
They rode for hours and talked late into the night.
He saw her back to campus.
Neither of them knew then —
how far this ride would take them.
After that night, they talked every single day.
June 10: after work, he met her on the footbridge by her campus.
- June 12: their first date.
- An old packing factory, a ferry across the Yangtze, a second-hand bookshop.
The next day: plum wine and soju by East Lake.
June 18: the graduation show at the Academy of Fine Arts.
At dusk, the sunset from his rooftop.
From then on, they rode together almost every day.
He longed to take her riding in Shennongjia. She hesitated for a long time.
One rainy night, she finally said yes —
and that same night, she crashed her bike.
After midnight, he took her to the campus clinic to get patched up.
The next day, she came down with a high fever.
It looked like the trip was off.
On July 9, she went to Shennongjia anyway.
Her leg hadn't healed, so she couldn't ride.
So she followed the group and handed him water all the way.
Their first trip together.
July 16: in his rented flat, they made wontons together for the first time.
From that day on, they cooked together and ate together.
Him · Wuhan
Her · Yantai
2022.08.12 · WuhanSummer break: she went home to Yantai. They video-called every day.
August 12: she came back to Wuhan, and he met her with flowers.
She brought crabs back from Yantai, and they had friends over for dinner.
The day she fell ill, he learned to make egg pancakes.
She said her mom made them whenever she was sick as a kid.
He said, “Now it's my turn.”
She loved leathercraft, so he cut leather with her; she loved cake, so he learned to bake.
Night rides along the river.
Autumn: riding Route 77.
Sunflowers by East Lake.
October: COVID locked down her campus. They could only meet through the fence.
He worked until ten every night, then rode an hour to see her.
After a few visits through the fence, he decided to go over the hill behind campus — Yujia Mountain.
Through a graveyard and over a hilltop, just to see her for a while on the other side.
13 km each way. 26 km round trip.
Always with a bag full of fruit.
“He was actually really scared back then, but he still came over that hill to see me every day. Every single day.”
— Jihui, looking back
November 17 — the 24th day of the tenth lunar month: his birthday.
She secretly gathered his friends and threw him a surprise party.
She drew the poster herself.
When COVID swept through, she ran a fever — and so did he.
He came to see her with a box of strawberries.
After Spring Festival, they cycled around Hainan Island.
They set off from Haikou, from a hostel with their university's alumni sign by the door.
- Ten days by bike, all the way around Hainan.
- Her tire blew out; he knelt down and fixed it.
Carrying two big bags, she pedaled on, day after day.
Seaside roads under coconut palms, whole days in the saddle.
In Haitang Bay, a guesthouse covered in bougainvillea.
Cheering each other on, they finished the whole loop.
February 2023: their first home together.
Friends came for the housewarming.
A dog joined the family. They named him Erxin.
The same “Xin” as in Yixin.
Forest Apartments: the two of them, plus Erxin.
Her first visit to his company — for the staff fun run.
Her birthday: two pots of flowers, a home-cooked dinner, and cake.
April: his parents came to Wuhan. She met his family for the first time.
On May Day, her family came too.
June 11: they rode up Jiugong Mountain together — the first of the mountains and seas.
On the climbs, he pushed her all the way up.
This photo of them riding side by side has been their phone wallpaper ever since.
- Summer 2023: his first trip home with her to Yantai.
- The whole family drove to Qingdao, Weifang and Zibo.
Her mom had a whole table of seafood waiting for him.
August 22: Qixi, the Chinese Valentine's Day.
September: a MONO concert — he loves rock.
- Mid-Autumn 2023: her first visit to his home — Shijiazhuang, then Baixiang.
- The next day, his family drove her all the way to Longkou —
- and the two families met for the first time.
They each visited the other's primary school.
Both families together at the Nanshan Buddha and by the sea.
Before moving out, a friend took one last photo of them at Forest Apartments.
October 27: they moved into a village inside the East Lake scenic area.
On the wall: her academic poster and his band poster.
Late autumn: riding to campus to see the ginkgo trees.
Winter: rides around East Lake on his little e-scooter, her on the back.
A circle drawn with a sparkler — she stepped in, and so did he.
Spring Festival 2024 in Yunnan: e-motorbikes beneath Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
Rapeseed flowers by Erhai Lake.
It was the last Spring Festival
before the Southern Hemisphere.
- March 11, 2024: she left for a visiting scholarship at the University of Sydney.
- He left his familiar life behind and went with her — working remotely, by her side.
Touchdown in Sydney. 388 days began here.
Day two in Sydney, bright and sunny.
Her host faculty: the Faculty of Education.
After his rides, he'd come find her still in his cycling kit.
Home was in Glebe.
“That home was so beautiful.”
— Jihui, looking back
She cycled to class; he worked remotely from home.
Weekends were markets and ferries to the beach.
May 2024: she volunteered at Vivid Sydney.
He even worked a shift alongside her.
Southern autumn: every weekend, off to the mountains or the sea.
Climbing. One for him, one for her.
He went with her to the university's welcome fest too.
- A Queensland road trip, starting from Townsville,
- first to Paronella Park, a castle in the rainforest,
- then Millaa Millaa, staying with friends,
- Cairns, and back to Townsville.
- And before leaving: Magnetic Island.
August 8: setting off from Townsville with their friend Bill.
First night at a roadside motel, the Milky Way right overhead.
Day two: Paronella Castle in the rainforest.
Staying at a friend's home in the rainforest.
Millaa Millaa Falls.
At their friend's blacksmith workshop, she put on a leather apron too.
Cairns: rainforest gorges.
On the way back, a detour to see the castle lit up at night.
Before leaving, feeding rock wallabies on Magnetic Island.
Spring: jacarandas bloomed all along their street.
Cycling over the Harbour Bridge. Christmas was coming.
Little Bay, by the sea south of Sydney.
December 20, evening — Long Reef, on Sydney's northern beaches.
The tide went out, and the water on the rocks turned into a mirror.
He got down on one knee.
New Year's Eve fireworks.
Spring Festival 2025: he flew home alone. Their first time apart.
“Without you, I don't even want to go out.”
— Yixin, 2025.02.05“The day I see you again — that will be my Valentine's Day.”
— Jihui, 2025.02.13
February 24: together again.
- In early March he went back first; they agreed to meet in Kuala Lumpur.
- He flew from China, she flew from Sydney.
“I'm never going to be apart from you that long again.”
— Jihui, 2025.03.04
“Because I could talk to you, the flight didn't feel long at all.”
— Jihui, 2025.03.04
At night, on a rooftop facing the Petronas Towers.
Off to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, zipping around town on a scooter.
“The lightest currency, exchanged for the heaviest sunset.”
— Yixin, his post “Sunset Paddleboarding in KK”
Next day, out to sea. A parasail lifted them both into the sky.
Underwater, a heart made with their hands.
“Isn't the point just eating with you?”
— Yixin, 2025.03.18
March 14: paragliding off a seaside cliff.
The next day, white-water rafting, laughing their heads off.
Snorkeling off Nusa Lembongan, Mount Agung across the water.
Their last two weeks in Sydney.
At every academic event she attended, he was there.
The 29th day of the second lunar month: her birthday.
April 2: the Sydney home was nearly empty.
Together they held up a big red 囍 — “double happiness”.
- The next day, they flew home together.
April 5: back in her hometown, watching the sunset from Jiuzhang Cliff on Changdao.
Home.
Before the engagement, she came to his hometown.
May 1: both families explored the Kongshan Baiyun Caves together.
May 2: both families waving from the ancient Zhaozhou Bridge.
May 3, Baixiang: the engagement.
Once again, he got down on one knee.
Two families around one big round table.
That night, the two of them cruised around town on a motorbike.
“When you were here we just wandered around together every day. It felt so ordinary — but it was actually precious.”
— Jihui, 2025.05.16
“Every day with you is a holiday.”
— Yixin, 2025.05.19
Flower fields in May; summer nights riding around East Lake.
June: three years since they met, celebrated in Chongqing.
Engraved on a keychain: June 05.
- June 26: setting off from Shijiazhuang, heading north.
- The Grassland Sky Road, the Bashang plateau, Arxan.
- “Every trip is a wedding photoshoot.”
- Manzhouli, Ergun, Shiwei.
- Mohe, and the “5201314” love coordinates.
- Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian.
- A ferry from Lüshun across the Bohai Sea, back to Shandong.
A trunk packed to the brim. Off we go.
Day one, straight onto the Grassland Sky Road. That night: molten-iron fireworks in Zhangbei.
Arxan.
Hulunbuir: he leapt into the air on the grassland.
In front of the Wedding Palace in Manzhouli, she put on her veil.
Sunset over Ergun.
52°13′14″ N — the love coordinates.
By the volcanic lakes of Wudalianchi, he jumped again.
Last stop: the sea at Dalian.
She carried the veil the whole way, and wore it wherever they stopped.
“I think I can't be without you anymore.”
— Jihui, 2025.09.11
“You're not spending the National Day holiday with me? I can't be apart from you again — I lose weight when we're apart.”
— Jihui, 2025.09.17
“Lu Yixin, I love you like a mouse loves rice.”
— Jihui, 2025.09.26
The day before her defense, he called her “baby”.
“I love it when you call me that. Every time I hear it, I know you're saying I love you.”
— Jihui, 2025.10.22
October 23: her PhD thesis defense.
She passed. He stood beside her, holding flowers.
The defense was done.
Next: where to work?
- November 2025: almost graduated, she rented a car — travelling and job-hunting at the same time.
- Dabie Mountains: thick fog on the switchbacks of the Martin Road.
- Anqing, Jingdezhen, Fuzhou.
- Ganzhou: an interview at Gannan Normal University, with him by her side.
- Changsha, Yueyang, and back to Wuhan.
Dabie Mountains: a misty lake ringed with red leaves.
November 13, Ganzhou. She went to the interview; he went with her.
“Keep going — my little train just passed you.”
— Jihui, 2025.11.15 · Changsha- Late November: a bullet train to Yichang, and a rental car.
- Along the G348, past the Three Gorges Dam and Xingshan,
- all the way into Shennongjia — where they had cycled three years before.
Xiling Gorge: arms wide open, he shouted into the valley.
The G348, lined with golden ginkgo trees.
Eagle's Beak Rock: sitting on the cliff edge, the Yangtze below.
Shennongjia, at the source of the Xiangxi River. Snow began to fall.
The 24th day of the tenth lunar month: his birthday.
“Today was a super happy day. We were glued to each other all day.”
— Yixin, 2025.12.13
The next day, beneath Canton Tower.
“My first photoshoot as the star.”
— Yixin, 2025.12.17
Her two favorites.
December 27: she graduated with her PhD.
January 8: a beautiful sunset, together.
- January 10, 2026: he went with her to an interview in Zhanjiang.
- Lingnan Normal University.
She interviewed; he worked from the hotel and waited for her.
They didn't know yet —
that this would become home.
After the interview he went back to Shenzhen first. She chased after him —
“Then I'll cross Nanshan to come get you.”
— Jihui, 2026.01.15“Caught you.”
— Jihui
January 17, evening: a show together.
After the show, a red-eye to Bangkok.
Settling in for a while in Pattaya.
A boat to Koh Larn. Snorkeling — she was right in the middle of the fish.
On the hilltop of Koh Larn, the sun set right between them.
Back in China, he went home with her to Longkou first. It snowed.
February 10: he went home to Hebei for the New Year.
Two people, two homes.
- “Missing you while cooking, missing you at mahjong — I just want to see you.”
- February 23. He boarded in Shijiazhuang; she set off from Longkou.
- “I'm so close to you now. We're running toward each other — from different directions, to the same place.”
“Two yuan saves five minutes.”
— Yixin, 2026.02.23 · on his way to her
Baotu Spring — “the finest spring under heaven”.
March: cherry blossoms in Wuhan.
Riding out to the rapeseed fields.
On the road to Zhejiang, they met a curly little pup.
“Erxin?”
— Jihui
March: another interview, in Taizhou. They stayed about ten days.
Sunset at Shenxianju.
Then half a month in Hangzhou.
April 16 — the 29th day of the second lunar month: her birthday.
A wall covered in banners.
This time, she was the one to ask.
“Lu Yixin, shall we get married?”
— Jihui“Yes! Yes!”
— Yixin
Family and friends were all there.
April 22: flying to Singapore together.
“It only means something with you. You're the reason I want to see the world.”
— Jihui, 2026.04.24“Long-distance? Not anymore.”
— Jihui
Gardens by the Bay: the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest.
Chinatown, the streets, the Merlion.
A canopy walk through the rainforest.
- After a round of interviews, they chose Zhanjiang.
- She joined Lingnan Normal University, and he moved to Zhanjiang with her.
- Home, settled in Zhanjiang.
May 12: her first day at work.
Zhanjiang's sea and mangroves.
“I can hear your bike — you're downstairs, aren't you?”
— Jihui, 2026.06.02
In Zhanjiang he was back on the bike — still in his HUST cycling jersey.
“Getting married in Xinjiang is my most important plan this summer.”
— Jihui, 2026.07.15“I've kept the first flowers you gave me all these years.”
“We have a car now — we can go so many places.”
— Jihui, 2026.07.22- “Let's see places we've never been.” “All of China.”
- July 25: she drove from Longkou to Shijiazhuang to pick him up.
- Westward: Pingyao, Shapotou, Zhangye, Hami, Yining…
- August 6: Sayram Lake.
His parents came along on this one.
August 4: the red-background marriage photo.
August 6: the marriage registry at Sayram Lake, Xinjiang.
Officially married.
The 囍 they held up in Sydney more than a year before — this time, it was real.
- Then, south.
- Nalati, Korla, the Emerald Lake at Mangnai, a pass at 4,445 m,
- the Tagong grasslands, Kangding, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guiyang, Nanning,
- all the way home to Zhanjiang.
- One summer, one full circle.
September: her parents visited Zhanjiang, and they celebrated her dad's birthday by the sea.
He rode across the Bay Bridge with a Zhanjiang cycling club.
- National Day holiday. September 30: setting off from Zhanjiang.
- That night, they slept in the car at a service area near Chongzuo.
- Sandieling Falls, Funing, Babao.
- Puzhehei.
- Mile, Fuxian Lake.
- October 5, Kunming: wedding portraits.
- Luliang, Baise, and home to Zhanjiang.
- Every road we've ridden, taken, flown and driven
- was a road toward each other.
Last summer she carried a veil and a tripod, taking their photos herself.
This time, in Kunming, she wore the gown.
October 5, 2026. Kunming.
From that night ride on June 5, 2022, to November 7: 1,616 days.
That night, the cycling group had planned a night ride.
They rode for hours and talked late into the night.
He saw her back to campus.
Next stop: forever.
