For most of the following two weeks, everyone was preparing for the final exams sprint. Each day, there was so much homework that it seemed impossible to finish. Students in the classroom complained incessantly, but after complaining, they could only continue to bury their heads in their assignments.

Even the previously lively school forum quieted down, entering a period of hibernation.

Days passed quickly, and soon it was time for final exams, which would last three days. After that would be winter vacation.

Seats were arranged according to the rankings from the previous exam. As usual, Shi Niannian was first, and Jiang Wang second.

This Chinese language exam covered a wide range, including texts studied in the first year of high school. Shi Niannian had misunderstood the scope earlier and only found out two days before. She was still memorizing texts in the ten or so minutes before the exam began.

She lowered her eyes to study her textbook earnestly when suddenly her cheek felt warm.

The young man stood beside her desk, holding a small hot water bag, stretching out his hand to press it against her cheek. He had just refilled it with hot water.

Shi Niannian was afraid of the cold, and her hands easily got cold in winter. This was something Jiang Wang had only recently discovered.

“Is it too hot?” he asked.

She smiled: “Mm.”

“Aren’t you wearing gloves?”

“I need to write,” she asked. “Have you memorized everything?”

“No,” Jiang Wang said lazily. “I’ll rely on luck.”

Compared to his science scores, his Chinese was indeed not good. Shi Niannian had seen his papers later; in the classical poetry fill-in-the-blank section, he lost half the points.

She placed another Chinese textbook on the desk in front of him, urging: “Hurry up and memorize.”

Jiang Wang flipped through it casually and remarked: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll surpass you?”

“It’s fine.”

Jiang Wang curved his lips.

The first day of exams ended.

During the three days of final exams, there was no evening self-study at school. When she returned home, the housekeeper had just finished making dinner, and as soon as she opened the door, she smelled the aroma of dishes.

“How was it? Did you do well on the exam?” her aunt asked as soon as she came in.

“Pretty good.”

The final exams were city-wide standardized tests. The questions weren’t difficult, much simpler than the monthly tests created by No. 1 High School itself, so there was less wailing and crying after the exams.

“Anyway, whatever exam our Niannian takes, she’ll do well,” her aunt said with a smile. “Wash your hands and eat first, to replenish your energy.”

“Okay.”

Shi Niannian went to her bedroom to put down her backpack, not noticing that her aunt wiped her face and quickly put away the newspaper on the table, pressing it under a pile of magazines.

At the dinner table, her uncle and aunt were talking, their expressions quite solemn. Shi Niannian didn’t understand, assuming it was about her uncle’s company, so she didn’t ask.

After dinner, she returned to her bedroom, took out her books, and focused on reviewing for tomorrow’s exam subjects.

After reading for a short while, her phone rang.

She was startled when she saw the caller ID—Mom.

Since the last time her mother came to take her brother to see a doctor, they hadn’t spoken on the phone.

It had been several months.

She answered: “Hello, Mom.”

“Niannian, after a while, Mom and your brother might come to see you again.”

“For medical treatment?” she asked.

The woman hesitantly said: “I suppose so, and also to see you, since it’s almost New Year.”

Shi Niannian was stunned for a moment, then smiled: “Good, when will you come?”

“It’s not decided yet, probably after your winter vacation starts.”

“I’ll be on winter vacation the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, about that time.”

Xu Ningqing was also approaching his first university final exams. After entering university, he didn’t live as carelessly as he did in high school. Plus, with student union affairs, he was busy every day.

Just as he was leaving the faculty building, he received a call from Fan Mengming.

“No time, go play by yourself,” he answered lazily.

“It’s not me,” Fan Mengming panted, his voice coming through amid noise and chaos, interspersed with a few curses. “It’s Wang. Damn, he ran into Gao Sheng.”

Xu Ningqing’s smile faded as he asked: “Where?”

Fan Mengming mentioned a place name, then added: “I think Wang’s emotions are quite unstable. Why don’t you call your sister to come?”

“She’s just a little girl, what’s the point of her coming?” Xu Ningqing frowned and cursed, hesitating for two seconds before asking: “There’s no more fighting there, right?”

“No, that bastard is even planning to call the police.”

“Fine, keep an eye on him. I’ll bring Shi Niannian over.”

Xu Ningqing had the closest relationship with Jiang Wang, but even he didn’t know much about that incident. Jiang Wang’s personality meant he wouldn’t actively tell him, and for such a private matter, Xu Ningqing couldn’t be bothered to ask.

Just by thinking a little about the connection between Jiang Wang’s mother’s death and Gao Sheng later on, he could roughly guess.

Every family has its difficult pages.

By the time he rushed home, it was already dark. Shi Niannian had just taken off her pajamas and was preparing to take a shower when she saw him hurriedly push open the door.

“What’s wrong?” she was puzzled.

“It’s Jiang Wang.”

Xu Ningqing briefly told her what had happened.

When Shi Niannian heard the name “Gao Sheng,” her arms instantly broke out in goosebumps.

The image of Jiang Wang coldly slamming Gao Sheng against the railing, looking cold and brutal, was vivid in her mind.

The evening when the young man sat on the stadium stands, casually piecing together that terrible, fragmented story for her, was equally fresh in her memory.

When they arrived, they saw Jiang Wang sitting on the edge of a flower bed.

It had been too long since she had seen Jiang Wang truly angry. In her eyes, Jiang Wang was usually lazy and casual, playful, but he trained seriously, had good grades, made light jokes—he was a typical teenage boy, an exceptionally outstanding one.

But now Jiang Wang sat there, his lips drawn into a straight line, his brow ridge firm, his eyes cold and dark, emanating an especially chilling aura.

In that moment, Shi Niannian felt the hardships he had deliberately downplayed in his narrative.

The time after losing his mother, the struggle of losing his hearing, and those six months in prison—all were substantively written in his eyes, forming a coldness incomprehensible to most teenagers.

She got out of the car and ran over, standing in front of him, softly calling his name: “Jiang Wang.”

He looked up, his eyes reddened with anger, flickering when he saw her. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

“Why did you come?”

She didn’t answer this question, but knelt in front of him: “Are you hurt?”

“No,” he raised his hand to rub his eyes, his voice heavy with fatigue.

This time, the incident really couldn’t be blamed on Jiang Wang. He didn’t start it; Gao Sheng deliberately came looking for trouble, even bringing a group of people to ambush Jiang Wang. In the end, it was their group who got hurt.

Xu Ningqing perfectly played his role as a wealthy second-generation wastrel. He walked directly up to Gao Sheng, leaned in close, raised his hand in greeting: “Hi.”

Gao Sheng looked at him.

Xu Ningqing raised an eyebrow: “I heard you were planning to call the police?”

He took out his phone, dialed three numbers, and handed it over: “The store next door has surveillance cameras. One look will make it clear who started this. Still want to fight?”

In the end, the matter was resolved quickly.

Or rather, it wasn’t resolved at all; everyone just dispersed.

The sky grew increasingly dark.

Jiang Wang stood up, glanced at Xu Ningqing, and nodded toward Shi Niannian: “I’ll take her home later.”

“…”

This was a dismissal. Xu Ningqing was speechless.

With nowhere particular to go, the two wandered the streets.

The ground was wet, and the streetlights reflected bright, gleaming light in puddles. A gust of wind brought a chill, and Shi Niannian raised her hands to pull her zipper up higher.

Both were silent.

After a while, Jiang Wang spoke first: “Just now, did I scare you?”

“Mm.” She nodded with her head lowered. She was indeed frightened when her brother first told her at home.

“I didn’t want to fight,” Jiang Wang said.

Shi Niannian turned her head to look at a dessert shop window, her expression quite focused, and it wasn’t clear if she had heard what Jiang Wang just said.

She bought two cups of hot milk and handed one to Jiang Wang.

Holding the cup with both hands to warm them, she took a sip before slowly speaking: “Jiang Wang, tomorrow we still have exams.”

“Mm, I’ll take you home,” he said, reaching for her hand.

Shi Niannian held his hand in return but stood still. Jiang Wang looked up at her again.

The young woman stood calmly and gently on the steps, just at the right height to look him in the eye. Her pale pink nails clutched the milk cup as the wind blew, sweeping black hair across her face.

Like a feather brushing across the heart, stirring one’s soul, causing an itch.

“Don’t be like this anymore,” she said slowly. “I worry.”

He paused for two seconds, without further explanation, and said deeply: “Okay.”

Shi Niannian lightly jumped down from the steps and walked beside him toward home.

Jiang Wang discovered that when he was with Shi Niannian, his heart could become very still, so all his irritation seemed to be smoothed away.

It was quite magical. From the first time he saw her, his drifting and irritable heart had calmed down.

“Do you want to tell me,” she looked at him and asked, “about things from before?”

Not those shameful things you could tell me about, but the deeply buried things that are difficult to speak of, those things that truly left trauma in your heart.

Jiang Wang was a smart person and quickly understood what Shi Niannian was referring to, or rather, which matters.

He smiled: “I didn’t realize you were so nosy.”

Shi Niannian pressed her lips together, saying nothing.

After passing through this busy pedestrian street, it became much quieter. Young people rode bicycles through the empty streets, creating a crisp ringing of bells.

Jiang Wang sighed: “There’s a lot to tell. Let me think where to begin… I entered prison just after turning 18, locked up with people who had been in society for a long time.”

“A good half of my fighting skills now were learned there,” he laughed dismissively. “Newcomers had to be ‘initiated,’ so that period was quite difficult. It wasn’t about being beaten; I hardly got beaten at all.”

“You definitely can’t imagine what kind of people are in there.”

Jiang Wang raised his hand, ruffled her hair, his voice like a sigh.

Shi Niannian silently held her breath, feeling her eyes sting: “What kind of people?”

Depraved, chaotic, numb, dispirited, lifeless.

It was truly unimaginable that such a group could exist in the world, bad beyond imagination.

Sometimes when Jiang Wang recalled it, his hands would involuntarily turn cold.

It wasn’t fear, nor could it be called terror, but the bewilderment and helplessness of being in such an environment. Those people all formed a black wall in front of you, blocking you from seeing your path forward and hope.

Before that, he could be considered someone with an enviable life and talent.

The feeling was like falling directly from the clouds into a mud pit, unable to stand up, watching helplessly as you sank deeper without being able to struggle.

It was quite powerless.

An 18-year-old boy, brilliant yet arrogant and unyielding.

“When I was in there, I regretted it. How did I hurt that person so badly?” he said with a smile.

Shi Niannian felt a chill rise from the back of her neck, unable to imagine Jiang Wang staying in such a place for half a year.

“I saw you the day you were released,” she said.

Jiang Wang was surprised: “Hmm?”

“I was just returning home from evening self-study.”

He laughed and cursed: “What a coincidence.”

Chatting as they walked, they had almost reached the entrance to the residential area. Today, Jiang Wang didn’t insist on sending her to her doorstep, stopping at the security post and squeezing her hand: “You go in.”

“Mm.”

She had finished her hot milk, and Jiang Wang took the empty cup from her.

Having held it all the way, her palms were still warm. Shi Niannian rubbed her hands together, stood on tiptoe, and gently placed her hands on his cheeks.

They were somewhat hot.

Jiang Wang paused and raised his eyes.

“Is it warm?” she asked.

His Adam’s apple moved up and down: “Mm.”

“Jiang Wang.”

“…”

She didn’t dare look at him, lowered her eyes, took a deep breath, and said without stuttering: “I’ll be good to you in the future.”

Jiang Wang smiled, mimicking Fan Mengming’s way of addressing her.

“Alright,” he smiled. “Little Sister Shi will cherish me.”

In the winter night with the north wind howling, they didn’t linger much longer, and Shi Niannian prepared to go home. After a few steps, Jiang Wang called her back.

She turned around: “What is it?”

“There’s something I forgot to tell you. In a few days, I might have surgery,” he said casually.

Shi Niannian was startled: “What surgery?”

He pointed to his ear.

“Your ear?”

“Mm.”

Jiang Wang had just received the examination report today, which stated that surgery was feasible, though risks existed. The specific details weren’t clear and would only be known during the surgery process.

Fortunately, that doctor had handled many similar cases. At worst, if they discovered during the operation that the risk was too high, they would stop immediately, minimizing the risk as much as possible.

He hadn’t told Shi Niannian about going for the examination, nor had he told anyone else. Even he didn’t dare to hope.

Fortunately, he received positive examination results.

Shi Niannian’s eyes brightened: “Can it be cured?”

“If the surgery is successful, yes.”

“Then your swimming, will it be even better?”

Jiang Wang curved his lips: “Mm, next time I’ll give you a gold medal.”

Shi Niannian also smiled, her lips gently pursed, her eyes bright and beautiful.

This was perhaps the only good news of the evening that finally allowed one to breathe a sigh of relief. Shi Niannian exhaled lightly, and as if enchanted, approached him again.

She was too shy to hug him properly, just stepping forward with her arms hanging down and gently bumping her forehead against his chest, her breathing involuntarily slowing.

Jiang Wang saw all her movements, and his eyes filled with smiles.

He asked: “Do you want a hug?”

She made a very soft sound of agreement.

This was probably one of the rare times when she couldn’t resist wanting to be close to someone.

Jiang Wang let out a muffled laugh, bent down, and gathered her into his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder.