Lin Zhixia wasn’t wrong. Nie Tianqing was indeed planning to raid Group A’s base.

This was because Group A had collected far more bubble balls than Group B.

Nie Tianqing said to Ding Yan: “Group A has several times more bubble balls than us!”

However, Ding Yan only replied: “I’m not going to Group A.”

Ding Yan and Gan Shuli had already given up the struggle. The two of them had returned to a peaceful life, bending down to pick up balls like diligent farmers. If Ding Yan could pick up more than one bubble ball at once, his face would light up with the joy of harvest.

Ding Yan was no longer the same person who had shouted about fighting and killing.

He seemed to have seen through the conflicts of the world. He vowed to no longer be a bandit or a highway robber. Ding Yan’s sweat would flow only for himself!

So, Nie Tianqing had to fight alone.

Nie Tianqing quietly infiltrated a pipe and headed toward the slide. With lightning speed, he suddenly descended into the castle. Dong Sunqi, who was guarding the base, was startled and roared: “Who are you!”

Nie Tianqing answered: “I’m Nie Tianqing from Group B!”

Dong Sunqi spread his arms, resolutely blocking his way: “Nie Tianqing from Group B! I am Dong Sunqi from Group A! I warn you! If you want to steal the bubble balls! You’ll have to step over my body first!”

“We’re neighbors, we’re good friends,” Nie Tianqing looked at him, “for a few bubble balls, you…”

Jiang Yubai stood at the bottom of the castle stairs, shouting upward: “No! Those aren’t just bubble balls, they’re the justice we protect in our hearts!”

“Right! It’s justice!” Dong Sunqi raised his arm high and shouted.

Lin Zhixia was also waving the flag and cheering: “It’s justice! We fight for justice, for the glory and dignity of Group A! For Group A’s long-lasting prosperity, for Group A to never be invaded by Group B! At this critical moment of life and death, facing Group B’s sneak attack, we never retreat, never fear! Never give up an inch of territory, never willing to be weak slaves! We don’t fight alone! Behind us, we have the bubble balls, the embodiment of justice! Charge forward, my companions! The horn of victory will sound for the brave, and the dawn’s sunlight will eventually shine in all directions!”

These shouts brought tears to Dong Sunqi’s eyes.

Nie Tianqing was shocked and tried to win Dong Sunqi back: “Don’t get too into character, we’re not filming a war movie.”

“Ah!” Lin Zhixia exclaimed, “Nie Tianqing from Group B! He’s using a divide-and-conquer strategy against us!”

“How despicable!” Dong Sunqi loudly condemned. He had completely forgotten who had brought Nie Tianqing over as a guest today.

Lin Zhixia commanded: “Class Monitor Dong, go protect the bubble balls quickly, I’ll handle Nie Tianqing from Group B!”

But Dong Sunqi said: “I’m the class monitor! The monitor can only leave last!”

The chandelier cast white light down, shining on his head. His figure was thin, but his shadow loomed large.

At this moment, Jiang Yubai even thought of the Anglo-French allied forces’ Dunkirk evacuation. The fierce German army bombed repeatedly, pressing step by step, while the allies’ hope for survival remained in the English Channel to the west.

Jiang Yubai took three steps at once, leaping toward the top of the castle: “Nie Tianqing! Come at me! Don’t hurt my companions!”

Nie Tianqing also got into character: “Too late, Jiang Yubai from Group A! You’re too late!”

Jiang Yubai trembled and stepped back: “Impossible!”

Not just Jiang Yubai, Nie Tianqing was actually quite surprised too. Just as Jiang Yubai was going upstairs, Nie Tianqing and Lin Zhixia played a round of rock-paper-scissors, and Lin Zhixia lost.

Lin Zhixia lost!

How could Lin Zhixia lose?

To the left of the pipe slide, on the castle floor covered with soft padding, Lin Zhixia stood motionless. She said: “Everyone, don’t be sad for me. My spirit is with you. Facing powerful enemies, we never retreat.”

Dong Sunqi shouted: “Never retreat!”

He reached out his right hand toward Nie Tianqing: “Rock-paper-scissors!”

Dong Sunqi clenched his fist, while Nie Tianqing opened his five fingers.

Dong Sunqi lost! He stood frozen in place, sadly roaring towards the sky: “Why! Why doesn’t heaven give our Group A a way out?”

His cry even reached Group B’s base.

Ding Yan and Gan Shuli both leaned over the terrace railing. They watched as Nie Tianqing defeated Lin Zhixia and then defeated Dong Sunqi, both feeling it was incredible.

The sun and moon chandeliers hung in the middle, and Nie Tianqing’s gaze passed over them. He looked at Ding Yan from afar and shouted: “I’ve defeated Group A!”

“You’re wrong,” Jiang Yubai promptly replied, “Group A still has me.”

He walked toward Nie Tianqing.

He was 9 years old, and Nie Tianqing was 13.

Nie Tianqing was several centimeters taller than Jiang Yubai, and Jiang Yubai had to look up at him. This feeling wasn’t pleasant. Jiang Yubai was determined to grow taller and taller, to become as tall as his father.

“Make your move,” Nie Tianqing said.

Jiang Yubai waved his hand, and Nie Tianqing responded. In this round, Jiang Yubai showed scissors, and Nie Tianqing showed paper.

“Victory!” Lin Zhixia applauded on the spot, “Justice is the ultimate reward, unity is our medal!”

Nie Tianqing glanced at her: “What… kind of books do you usually read?”

Lin Zhixia asked back: “Which subject?”

Nie Tianqing hesitated: “Language arts?”

Lin Zhixia continued to explore: “Literature or linguistics?”

“You’re only 9 years old,” Nie Tianqing frowned and said, “you look like 9, yet not like 9.”

Lin Zhixia lazily replied: “You’re 13, do you look like a 13-year-old every day? What should a 13-year-old look like, and who defined it? Must you comply?”

Nie Tianqing remained silent.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the main entrance of the amusement park, and a doorbell rang. Jiang Yubai immediately responded: “Please come in.”

The main door opened wide.

The butler entered with two uniformed staff members. The three of them pushed a stainless steel food cart loaded with snacks, fruits, bread, and hot drinks.

Jiang Yubai tidied his clothes and led his classmates to the door. He said: “Usually when I get tired playing here, my mother sends me food.”

Lin Zhixia happily exclaimed: “Strawberries!”

She took a sip of hot milk and then ate a strawberry.

Everyone gathered around the food cart, sitting on the floor, and only then realized how quickly time had passed.

This afternoon’s battle between Group A and Group B had drained the classmates’ energy. Ding Yan devoured a slice of ham sandwich, drank a glass of juice, and contentedly lay down on the floor.

“The sun is setting,” Nie Tianqing looked outside, “time to go home.”

Jiang Yubai had originally wanted to play the piano for Lin Zhixia, show her his family’s garden and private museum, but now it was clear there wasn’t enough time.

Then again, it was probably better they didn’t go. Jiang Yubai occasionally got lost in his own family’s garden. If he got lost while leading Lin Zhixia around, wouldn’t that be embarrassing? Understanding this point, Jiang Yubai walked to the door and politely said: “I’ll have the driver take you all home. After you get home, give me a call or send a message.”

Ding Yan pointed at Jiang Yubai: “Jiang Yubai, you’re very different now compared to before.”

Lin Zhixia asked him: “How is Jiang Yubai different?”

Ding Yan put both hands behind his head, resting on the soft carpet. Not knowing how to describe it, he said: “Just a feeling. Jiang Yubai is different in front of adults.”

Before the classmates left, Jiang Yubai gave everyone a tote bag.

“There are gifts inside,” Jiang Yubai said.

Dong Sunqi opened his bag on the spot and found a set of compasses and a fountain pen. He immediately hugged Jiang Yubai: “Thanks, buddy! So formal! Just in time, my compass broke.”

The others all received the same gifts.

But Lin Zhixia’s gift was different. Lin Zhixia felt her bag was very heavy, definitely more than just a fountain pen and a set of compasses. She stood on the marble steps, making eye contact with Jiang Yubai for a moment.

The sunset was sinking, its remaining light dyeing the lawn red.

Jiang Yubai waved to her: “See you tomorrow.”

Lin Zhixia nodded and also said: “See you tomorrow.”

*

Near evening, Lin Zhixia returned home.

She stepped out of a black Porsche and quickly ran into Ancheng Residential Complex. She could smell the aroma of food, hear the sound of spatulas stirring in pots, and every household had its lights on. She hugged the tote bag Jiang Yubai had given her, wondering what he had sent.

What did he send?

She pondered and speculated.

“Lin Zhixia!” Her father’s voice suddenly reached her ears.

Lin Zhixia stood at the entrance of her family’s supermarket and called out: “Dad.”

There were still customers in the supermarket. Her father couldn’t get angry in front of others, so he called Lin Zhixia into the back room. Lin Zhixia noticed her mother sitting next to the cash register with a stern face, also looking angry.

In the Lin family’s living room—if such a narrow area could be called a living room—Lin Zhixia’s father sat on a plastic chair. Her brother stood nearby with his arms crossed.

A one-meter-long incandescent light hung on the wall, its bright light shining directly on her father’s head. Her father questioned: “Where did you go today?”

Lin Zhixia obediently answered: “I went to a classmate’s home. I told you beforehand.”

“Lin Zhixia, don’t lie to me,” her brother admonished, “this afternoon, someone came to our house and told Dad that you got into someone’s car at the entrance of the complex? Do you know how dangerous that is? Do you have a brain, Lin Zhixia!”

Lin Zhixia immediately defended herself: “That was my classmate’s family car, I triple-checked. Lin Zeqiu, don’t scold me for not having a brain, I’ll get angry!”

Lin Zeqiu slammed the table, burning with anger: “You’re arguing back? You’re my sister, what’s wrong with me saying a few words? You’re only 9 years old, do you think you’re 29 and can go wherever you want? You don’t have a brain!”

“You can go to other people’s homes to play, why can’t I?” Lin Zhixia angrily questioned, “I never went to kindergarten and had no friends. Finally, in elementary school, no one wanted to be my deskmate. Now I have a deskmate and friends, is it wrong for me to visit a friend’s home?”

Lin Zhixia indeed had never gone to kindergarten.

She grew up under the watchful eyes of her father, mother, and brother.

The nearest kindergarten charged exorbitant fees. Moreover, the teachers there might not be able to take care of every child. So, before Lin Zhixia turned six, she had never been to school. She always stayed at home. She learned things quickly.

The Lin family’s supermarket had a bookshelf where they collected second-hand books to resell to other customers. Lin Zhixia’s early education came from books found on that shelf. Before she was even as tall as the bookshelf, she learned to move a stool by herself, stand on it, and pick things from the shelf.

She could read ten lines at a glance and had a photographic memory.

She was like a hard sponge, and external knowledge was like dew. She absorbed desperately, still not quenching her thirst. College entrance exam study materials left behind by students had already been read repeatedly by her. Today, even university-level mathematics and physics textbooks no longer puzzled her.

She loved staying in libraries. She also used her father’s library card to regularly borrow books from the provincial library, always reaching the maximum borrowing limit.

Her parents had long discovered Lin Zhixia’s uniqueness but didn’t know how to guide her.

Lin Zhixia’s father had even specifically checked their family genealogy—their Lin family had been farmers who faced the yellow earth for eighteen generations, let alone geniuses, they hadn’t even produced a single scholar.

Lin Zhixia’s birth was an unexpected joy, and even more like incense smoke from the ancestral grave.

Her father spoke gently to his daughter: “Xiaxia, you don’t know how worried your father, mother, and brother were this afternoon. Your mother and I thought you went to Gan Shuli’s home. We called Gan Shuli’s mother and only then learned you went to Jiang…”

“Jiang Yubai,” Lin Zeqiu reminded.

Her father continued: “Yes, went to Jiang Yubai’s home. Didn’t Dad say not to play with boys? You should know this world is very dangerous, very cruel, very unsafe, especially for a little girl like you who has been especially beautiful since childhood…”

“I know,” Lin Zhixia coldly interrupted her father.

She said: “I understand what you mean. I also understand biology, and I’ve studied criminal psychology too. If you want me to develop in one direction, you should also give me some freedom, this is called the epsilon greedy algorithm strategy.”

Her father sighed: “You understand so much, but do you understand a parent’s heart?”

Lin Zeqiu was still scolding from the side: “She doesn’t understand a thing! She thinks she’s so smart, fears nothing! I just read in the newspaper yesterday about a girl who was put in a sack, thrown into a car, and sold deep in the mountains to be a child bride for an old man, only rescued ten years later!”

After speaking, Lin Zeqiu took a deep breath: “This afternoon, because of Lin Zhixia’s situation, I was terrified.”

Lin Zhixia asked back: “Then why can you go to other people’s homes, but I can’t?”

Lin Zeqiu was about to explode with anger: “I’m a boy, you’re a girl, why do you think you can’t? There are so many bad people in this world! Why don’t you understand what I mean?”

Lin Zhixia placed one hand on the wall, stood on tiptoe, attempting to reach her brother’s height. She looked up at Lin Zeqiu and told him: “Brother, you’re so naive, do you think boys don’t encounter bad people? You’re the one who truly doesn’t understand anything.”

She picked up her tote bag and ran into her bedroom, shutting the door with a “bang.”

The tote bag was thrown on the floor.

Two glass food containers rolled out from the bag.

Lin Zhixia squatted beside the containers, seeing one filled with strawberries and the other with osmanthus cake that she hadn’t tasted last time. She continued emptying the tote bag and also found an exquisitely crafted wooden box. Opening it, she found a deep blue fountain pen lying on pure black velvet.

Lin Zhixia paused in thought, immediately using her room’s landline to dial Jiang Yubai’s cell phone number. She planned to thank him and then consider how to achieve the “reciprocity” expected between classmates and friends.