By the time Zhou Wan ran home, the rain had stopped, but she was completely soaked.

Several neighbors were chatting under a tree in the garden outside the complex. Seeing her drowned-rat appearance, they immediately exclaimed, “Oh my! Wan Wan, did you fall in a river!?”

Zhou Wan smiled: “Forgot my umbrella.”

“You should’ve waited for the rain to stop.” As she spoke, the woman cursed the weather, then handed over a kraft paper bag from the table, “Take this home to share with your grandmother.”

Inside were still-warm mung bean cakes.

Zhou Wan tried to refuse, but the woman forcefully pushed it into her hands: “They’re still warm, hurry home and eat them, they’re not as good when they’re cold.”

This was an old residential complex of nearly thirty years, where all the neighbors were ordinary people who knew each other and always exchanged greetings.

Naturally, they all knew about Zhou Wan’s family situation. Zhou Jun had been helpful when alive, so now the neighbors often helped out where they could, considering it repayment.

Zhou Wan thanked them and walked inside.

Behind her came the women’s sympathetic discussions—

“Poor child, I hear she’s especially good at school. If Old Zhou were alive, she could have grown up without worries.”

“Who told her to end up with such a mother, an ungrateful wretch, completely worthless! Pah!”

“No use cursing her now, she’s flown up to become a phoenix, almost forty, and landed such a wealthy man.”

“You think rich people are stupid? Maybe it looks good on the surface, but I don’t believe wealthy men are foolish enough to marry that kind of woman.” The woman’s tone was full of contempt, “Besides, the Lu family’s son isn’t someone to be trifled with.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you understand? The Lu family only has one son, such a large family fortune will all go to him in the future, only a fool would let their father marry a poor woman.”

…

The stairwell light was broken.

Zhou Wan climbed the stairs in darkness, fumbling with the key at the lock for a while before managing to open it.

“Grandmother.”

“Ah.” The white-haired elderly woman was in the kitchen, smiling kindly, “Wan Wan’s home.”

Zhou Wan dropped her backpack on the table and ran to the kitchen: “Grandmother, I told you to rest early.”

“I’m making you a bowl of wonton soup.” Grandmother smiled and patted the back of her hand, “Look, they’re floating now.”

“Let me serve it.” Zhou Wan took out a bowl and brought the wontons to the table outside.

She took out the medicine from her backpack and poured a glass of warm water: “Take your medicine first.”

“Alright.”

Zhou Wan sat down to eat the wontons, watching her grandmother across the table take her medicine, and noticed her constantly scratching her skin.

“Itchy again?” Zhou Wan asked.

One symptom of uremia was dry, itchy skin.

This manifested particularly severely in her grandmother.

Her arms were already dry, and now covered in white scratch marks and dense, granular red spots.

Zhou Wan quickly finished her last wonton and brought the medicinal cream.

“I can apply it myself.” Grandmother said, “Go rest, you have school tomorrow.”

“I’ll go to sleep after I apply this for you.”

Zhou Wan spread the cool cream on her grandmother’s arms, bending down to carefully smooth it out, then blew on it, “Still itchy?”

“Not itchy anymore.” Grandmother smiled, “Quick, wash your hands and go to bed.”

Zhou Wan knew that if the cream were truly effective, her grandmother wouldn’t be kept awake scratching for several nights in a row, with several spots where she’d scratched through the skin.

Only one lamp was lit in the bedroom.

Zhou Wan took out her homework; she’d been busy working part-time and going to the hospital over the weekend and still had some test papers to complete.

As she wrote, the scene from the street earlier floated back into her mind.

In her ears was the sound of her grandmother’s coughing from the next room, coming from deep in her lungs, each cough so heavy it seemed like her internal organs might come up.

Her nose caught the unique dampness of rainy days.

A sudden, dark thought pushed its way into Zhou Wan’s mind—

What if, she could prevent Guo Xiangling from getting married?

No, not just prevent the marriage, but make her leave the Lu family, unable to enjoy that wealth and luxury. She had betrayed Dad, abandoned her, and watched Grandmother suffer without helping – what right did she have to enjoy life without guilt?

Zhou Wan harbored hatred for Guo Xiangling.

Usually, it was manageable, but in the exhausted deep night, this hatred grew like vines from the bottom of an abyss, wrapped in dark mist, completely entwining her heart.

Even now, she still remembers her father’s memorial service on the twenty-first day after his death.

Many neighbors came to pay respects and help, giving as much funeral money as they could.

That day everyone wondered, where was your mother?

Guo Xiangling wasn’t there all day.

Until late at night.

Zhou Wan pulled back the curtain and saw a man dropping her off downstairs, both laughing and chatting happily.

When Guo Xiangling came up, she went straight to the closet and took out a suitcase, packing her clothes into it.

Zhou Wan pushed open her bedroom door, what used to be her parents’ bedroom, and stood in the doorway watching her mother, incomprehensibly asking where she was going.

Guo Xiangling only said, Wan Wan, I’m going out for a few days.

But Zhou Wan seemed to understand, and she desperately grabbed Guo Xiangling’s wheeled suitcase, crying and begging her not to leave.

That ten-year-old girl, having just lost her father, was terrified of her mother’s departure, humbling herself to dust, refusing to let go, crying and clinging, her voice going hoarse, her legs rubbed raw on the floor.

The Zhou Wan of the past had begged and pleaded with Guo Xiangling like this.

But it hadn’t stopped her from leaving.

Almost unconsciously, Zhou Wan forcefully wrote three characters on the paper—

Guo

Xiang

Ling

How could she take revenge on her?

Then, Zhou Wan wrote another three characters—

Lu

Xi

Xiao

*

“Wan Wan.” Gu Meng turned around from the desk in front, “Did you do the physics paper?”

Zhou Wan: “No, which question are you stuck on?”

“I can’t do any of it.” The homework check was coming up soon, and Gu Meng just wanted to quickly copy it, then turned to ask Zhou Wan’s desk mate, “Jiang Yan, Jiang Yan, did you do it?”

Jiang Yan beside them pushed up his glasses: “No, the physics competition is coming up soon, and Teacher Hu said we only need to do the competition papers.”

Gu Meng pouted: “Oh.”

She turned back and went to ask others for the paper.

Jiang Yan asked Zhou Wan: “Are you ready for the competition?”

Zhou Wan shook her head: “Isn’t there still a month?”

“A month goes by quickly, in the blink of an eye.” Jiang Yan twirled his pen, “I’m a bit nervous. If we can successfully make it to the national competition this time, there’s hope of getting a ticket to Huaqing University’s summer camp.”

Zhou Wan smiled at him: “Good luck, with your grades, you’ll make it.”

Jiang Yan looked at her, surprised: “You’re not nervous?”

“I’m okay.”

“It’s too hard to get into Qing University now just with test scores.” Jiang Yan said, “Don’t you want to try for it in the future?”

Zhou Wan lifted her lips slightly, speaking mildly: “I haven’t thought about it much, just going with the flow.”

But Jiang Yan shook his head: “Zhou Wan, in China, no other school can compare to Huaqing University. Getting into Qing University means an easier future.”

Zhou Wan didn’t respond, turning to look out the window.

Blue sky, white clouds, heaven high and earth wide.

Like a boundless future.

But what about her future?

Zhou Wan couldn’t imagine it.

She was like a young eagle with growing wings, originally meant for the high skies, free and unfettered, but now restrained by an invisible thread, unable to fly far or high.

*

Near home was an old movie theater with a game arcade underneath. After school, students often came to play, and business was fairly good.

This arcade was owned by Zhou Jun’s friend, who later moved the whole family away from Pingchuan City. The arcade was then entrusted to Zhou Wan’s care – though called an entrustment, it was just an excuse to help look after his friend’s daughter, giving Zhou Wan a monthly salary.

Every day after school, Zhou Wan would come to the arcade for her shift.

“Little Boss.” A beautiful, bright girl ran over, placing both hands on the counter and leaning forward, her voice clear and crisp, “Give me a hundred game tokens!”

Zhou Wan looked up from her homework: “With a hundred yuan you can get a card, future token purchases will be 5% off.”

“Okay, I’ll get a card then.”

As Zhou Wan lowered her head to register the card, she heard the girl turn and excitedly call out: “Xiao!”

Zhou Wan’s fingers paused as she saw Lu Xixiao walking toward them.

The girl affectionately held his arm, acting coy: “I’ve been waiting for you so long!”

Lu Xixiao tugged at the corner of his mouth as a response, looking uninterested, and placed a hundred yuan on the counter.

With one arm held by the girl, he used his other hand to open a cigarette pack and put one between his lips, then took out a lighter.

A “ding” sound.

The flame rose but didn’t touch the cigarette.

His voice was a bit hoarse, nasal like he hadn’t fully woken up, casual and laid-back.

After a pause, as if remembering something, he asked: “Can I smoke here?”

Realizing he was talking to her, Zhou Wan answered: “Yes.”

She handed the card to the girl: “Here you go.”

“So I just need to swipe the card to play games, no need for coins?” the girl asked.

“Mm, that’s right.”

The girl nodded, her eyes bright when looking at Lu Xixiao: “Xiao, what do you want to play?”

He exhaled smoke: “Whatever.”

“Then let’s play basketball!”

Lu Xixiao wore all black, cigarette between his lips, his long fingers with distinct knuckles grabbing the basketball, shooting one after another. He shot very casually, unhurried, just playing around, but each shot went in.

A crowd gradually gathered behind them to watch.

This attention made Lu Xixiao’s girlfriend even more proud.

“Xiao.” The girl was practically clinging to him, “Can we play the two-player game next?”

“No.” He flicked ash into the trash can.

“Play with me.”

“Play by yourself.” Lu Xixiao grabbed the game card, swiped it, and directly pressed the start button for her.

New customers came, and Zhou Wan was registering a card for a couple when she suddenly heard the boy say: “Hey, what’s going on over there, are they fighting?”

Zhou Wan looked over.

Probably upset by Lu Xixiao’s attitude, the girl was frowning slightly, her eyes red, looking pitiful and wronged.

But Lu Xixiao just leaned to one side, looking down at her, showing no emotion, much less any sign of sympathy.

“Lu Xixiao, can’t you care about me a little more.” The girl complained, “I’m always the one finding you, and now you won’t even play games with me, is this how you date?”

“Xu Yixuan.” He looked down, his voice very faint.

Just these words and Xu Yixuan understood she couldn’t act coy with Lu Xixiao.

Lu Xixiao wouldn’t indulge her.

She’d gone too far.

He put out his cigarette, looking disinterested: “Let’s end it.”

She widened her eyes: “What?”

“Break up.”

Zhou Wan watched tears spill from Xu Yixuan’s eyes, such a beautiful and bright girl becoming so disheveled and pathetic in front of Lu Xixiao.

Many people were standing around, and Xu Yixuan couldn’t keep their face. Throwing out a tearful “jerk,” she turned and ran away.

This was just how Lu Xixiao was.

Everyone at school understood this since they could always see different girls standing by his side, but it still didn’t stop girls from pursuing him one after another.

Who knows what spell they were under?

After Xu Yixuan left, Lu Xixiao didn’t chase after her.

He went to the bathroom to wash his face, coming out with water droplets still hanging on his face, running down his sharp, clean-cut facial features.

He walked to Zhou Wan’s counter, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her desk: “How much?”

“Eighty.”

Lu Xixiao scanned the code to pay, glancing up at Zhou Wan with a pause in his gaze.

He seemed to find her somewhat familiar, carelessly asking: “Yangming High?”

Zhou Wan looked up: “Mm.”

He tore open the cigarette packaging, took out another one, lit it, and raised his eyebrows in the smoke: “What’s your name?”

“Zhou Wan.”

After a pause, she added, “The ‘Wan’ from ‘will draw a bow like the full moon.'”

Lu Xixiao raised his eyebrows, laughing meaningfully.

Under his laughter, Zhou Wan’s face began to heat up.

“Lu Xixiao,” he said.

“I know.”

He looked up.

Zhou Wan also looked up, meeting his gaze.

She had once read in a book that making eye contact twice with someone would make them remember you.

This was the second time.