In the afternoon, the two took a nap at the hotel. After briefly freshening up, Uncle Qin took them to tour the Eight Great Hutongs. Uncle Qin’s hometown was in Shandong. He moved to Beijing in his twenties and settled down there. He said: “When it comes to touring Beijing, my son is the expert. He’s a native Beijinger who’s been wandering around with his classmates since he was little. I’m not bragging, but my son has a great personality, and he’s about the same age as Lele. You two should have plenty to talk about.”

The last sentence was directed at Cheng Lele. She was spacing out, and after being called on, she showed a polite smile: “That sounds good.”

At dinner, this son with the great personality appeared. Taking after Uncle Qin, Qin Rui was tall and sturdy. Seeing her, he said enthusiastically: “Oh, it’s a beautiful younger sister. Greetings, sister.”

He even imitated the Qing Dynasty queue hairstyle, bowing slightly.

Cheng Lele came from a modest household and didn’t quite understand, so she stiffly stood up: “Hello, older brother.”

Ye Xiaomei was very satisfied with this address of “older brother” and pulled her to sit down, preparing to pour her a drink.

Qin Rui grabbed the beverage bottle and said: “On such a good day as this, how can we drink beverages? Sister, you’re of age, right? Want some baijiu?”

Uncle Qin said: “Baijiu is too strong. Let’s have some red wine.” He then called the waiter and ordered a bottle of red wine.

Qin Rui took over the waiter’s job, stood up and personally poured a round of drinks. When he got to Cheng Lele, he asked: “I heard sister just finished the college entrance exam. Where are you planning to apply?”

Cheng Lele didn’t like getting too familiar with strangers. Holding her glass with both hands, she said: “I don’t drink alcohol.”

“Can’t you make an exception for us just this once?”

Cheng Lele said: “My Little Bro doesn’t let me drink.”

“Your Little Bro?”

Ye Xiaomei smoothed things over: “A neighbor we’re close to. Lele can drink juice, okay?”

Qin Rui wasn’t very satisfied but didn’t insist on pouring wine. He asked again: “Which school do you want to apply to, sister?”

“Haven’t decided yet. We’ll see after the scores come out.”

“Are you studying humanities or sciences?”

“Humanities.”

“I also studied humanities. I’m at X University now. I have classmates at all the universities in this area of Beijing. If you’re applying here, you can ask me. Of course, if you’re aiming for Peking University or Tsinghua level, pretend I didn’t say anything. Haha.”

Cheng Lele responded modestly: “I’m not that capable. My grades are just so-so.”

Ye Xiaomei raised her glass: “Ruirui, Auntie doesn’t understand these school matters either. When the scores come out, please help Lele out more. Auntie thanks you in advance.”

Qin Rui clinked glasses: “You’re too polite, Auntie. We’re family—no need for such formality. Lele is like my own sister. I guarantee I’ll be even more attentive than if it were my own business.”

This statement put Ye Xiaomei in high spirits. She nudged Cheng Lele’s arm and gave her a look.

Cheng Lele quickly stood up, raising her glass and saying: “Thank you, older brother.”

Qin Rui said: “Sister, you’re being too formal, too formal.”

The meal exhausted Cheng Lele. She drank several glasses of juice until her stomach was bloated. Midway through, she excused herself to the restroom and sat on the toilet, leaning against the partition to catch her breath.

It was clearly their first meeting, yet with all the “older brother” this and “younger sister” that, it made her dizzy and nauseous.

Rubbing her temples, she thought: I don’t want to be anyone else’s younger sister.

At this moment, she especially missed Chen An. She took out her phone and sent him a text: “I still prefer my Little Bro.”

Only after sending it did she realize what it sounded like. The message was confusing and suggestive, especially given their current unclear situation. How could she have been so muddled as to write and send that!

What to do?

Her head hurt.

Before long, Chen An replied with a text.

“I also like my Lele.”

Cheng Lele’s scalp tingled reading it. Foolishly, she added: “My ‘like’ is the kind of like a younger sister has for an older brother.”

After sending it, she felt it was wrong again. The attempt at explanation was too obvious, and the implication was very clear too.

She hastily turned off her phone. She hadn’t drunk any alcohol today—why did she feel drunk?

Over the next few days, Uncle Qin and Qin Rui took the two of them around Beijing. Cheng Lele held her DSLR camera, framing and taking photos.

“Sister, why do you only photograph scenery and not people?” Qin Rui nagged endlessly.

Cheng Lele said reluctantly: “Then I’ll take a group photo of you all.”

“You come join us too.” Qin Rui called over a passing tourist. “Excuse me, could you take a photo of the four of us?”

Ye Xiaomei smoothed out her skirt and tidied Cheng Lele’s windblown hair before saying: “Okay, you can take it now.”

The tourist raised the camera: “That little beauty, smile a bit. One, two, three, cheese.”

The four took a group photo.

Cheng Lele took back the camera. Ye Xiaomei leaned over to look: “How did it turn out?”

Cheng Lele said: “Pretty good.”

Ye Xiaomei enlarged the photo, carefully examining each person’s expression, and said with satisfaction: “Not bad.”

Cheng Lele watched her mother’s attentive manner and felt a bit annoyed. She wanted to go home. Taking out her phone to look, Little Bro had replied to her—three simple words: I know.

The five-day trip ended, and mother and daughter boarded the flight back to Taixi with the farewells of the Qin family.

On the plane, the two tacitly avoided mentioning the Qin father and son. Upon arriving home, Cheng Lele transferred the photos from the camera to the computer and began editing them. She selectively skipped over those four-person group photos, but Mom came to ask about them several times and took all the raw four-person group photo files.

A few days later, the school’s graduation trip was finally confirmed. The destination was changed to Kunming. Cheng Lele had been only mildly interested, but she was a bit afraid Mom would suddenly come in to have a deep conversation with her, so she eagerly signed up.

After returning from Kunming, she went camping with Chen Xiaomu and Zhong Ming without stopping. At home, Mom always looked at her as if wanting to say something but hesitating. She just wanted to escape to lively places.

Cheng Lele had grown up. She was no longer like before, when it took her dozens of days just to figure out why Chen An applied to Z University. Now she could think three steps ahead. Ever since her mother put that four-person group photo in her wallet, she knew that this brief period of happiness was like the last burst of energy before death. Soon, she would face complete darkness.