At high noon, the sun hung high as a silent youth sat on a stone among the grass.

Bei Yao glanced at him and couldn’t help wanting to laugh. Crushing a cicada to death and all that was really funny and awkward. Bei Yao figured he remembered how one summer when they were small, Chen Hu had led the neighborhood kids to catch cicadas from the big trees. After catching them, they’d tie the cicadas’ feet with a string, and then they would fly while calling out—the children thought it was extremely fun.

Bei Yao had also participated in such games when she was little, but the “unsociable” Pei Chuan had never played this before.

He had crushed the cicada to death.

How much strength must that have taken?

After Bei Yao finished laughing, her eyes still carried moisture. Afraid he might be annoyed, she didn’t bring up the matter on her own initiative. Pei Chuan’s survival abilities were truly quite good—they now had lunch sorted out too.

The broadcast announced: “Survival Day 2, surviving participants: 7, eliminated: 3.” This time they didn’t mention who was eliminated.

Bei Yao glanced at her wristwatch: “Pei Chuan, let’s go out.”

“Hm?”

Bei Yao coughed lightly: “Staying in the jungle is very inconvenient. There are mosquitoes at night, and the sun beats down during the day. Most importantly… going to the bathroom…”

“…”

Moreover, in this hot weather, there was nowhere to bathe. Probably only someone like Jin Ziyang, who was wealthy and had never experienced the outdoors, would find it novel and fun.

Pei Chuan didn’t hesitate either. He pressed his red emergency button.

Soon, a teacher came to take them out.

The teacher saw that both he and Bei Yao were clean, with only a torn opening in his shirt. They had food piled beside them and had even found the tent. Clearly they were capable of finding the treasure, yet they directly gave up on the second day. But the teacher didn’t dwell on it.

“I’ll take both students out.”

Once out, they had a place to stay. Inside the winery there was even a beautiful fountain and goldfish pond. Bei Yao took a wonderful bath and had a good night’s rest. The winery’s food was truly excellent.

Currently, five people had been eliminated.

Bei Yao only recognized Pei Chuan and the Ji Wei they mentioned.

Ji Wei was sulking, doubting his life. He had been tricked into coming by Jin Ziyang. Originally he came with an enthusiastic heart to learn and exchange ideas, but unexpectedly they were doing wilderness survival. On the first day he nearly got heatstroke and fainted from the sun!

The fourth day at noon.

Jin Ziyang finally emerged. When the five people saw him, they nearly spat out their drinks.

Young Master Jin looked like a scrap collector—yellow patches and black patches all over his body, his usually meticulous hair messy as a bird’s nest. Stubble had grown on the youth’s face, he looked down and out, and the exposed areas on his arms had several large bumps from insect bites.

Young Master Jin hung his head dejectedly, but when he saw Pei Chuan sitting and drinking tea, he instantly became furious: “Holy crap, holy crap! Brother Chuan, you actually came out already!”

Pei Chuan frowned: “Stay away from me, you stink.”

Jin Ziyang, a grown man, almost cried out loud. Originally on the second night when he couldn’t find the tent, he wanted to come out, but thinking that if Zheng Hang and Brother Chuan hadn’t come out yet, giving up would be very embarrassing, so he stubbornly held on until the fourth day. Who knew Pei Chuan had come out early!

By comparison, he looked like an idiot.

However, after Jin Ziyang came out from bathing, he instantly recovered his vitality—wasn’t Zheng Hang still inside! A true warrior dares to face the bleakness of life directly, actually reluctant to come out.

After counting heads, surprisingly only three people remained inside.

Jin Ziyang scratched his head: “What’s going on? Wei Wan still hasn’t come out? No way, she’s a girl and can persist this long?”

Bei Yao was also very puzzled.

Pei Chuan said nothing. He tapped the table surface, eyes half-narrowed.

In fact, the supervising teacher had also discovered something wrong. But the dot representing Wei Wan had been moving these past few days, and hadn’t sent out any distress signal.

Until last night, her dot suddenly stopped moving, and remained still through the morning.

The supervising teacher’s heart jumped in alarm. Finally feeling something was wrong, they quickly went into the jungle to find her, discovering Wei Wan collapsed on the ground.

Her clothes were torn beyond recognition, her face very dirty, swollen from insect bites.

Wei Wan was dressed lightly, her body reeking. The supervising teacher couldn’t worry about all that, hurriedly bringing her back.

Jin Ziyang was stunned: “What happened to her?”

“Hungry and exhausted, she fainted. Don’t worry, nothing serious.”

Jin Ziyang leaned closer to look, only to be driven back by a foul odor: “Where on earth did Wei Wan go to get this stinky…”

Fortunately Wei Wan remained unconscious, otherwise she’d be angered to death by him.

The supervising teacher said: “When we found this student, her wristwatch was broken and couldn’t send distress signals. But because the magnetic strip inside wasn’t damaged, her movement data had been fine all along. Strange, this is the first time in so many years that a wristwatch has broken. How could this happen?”

Pei Chuan in the corner coldly curved his lips.

The last two students also returned at this time.

When Zheng Hang came back, he was also driven back a step by the smell. He wrinkled his brow, only then seeing it was Wei Wan. He wasn’t as tactless as Jin Ziyang though, and was startled: “Wei Wan? Wei Wan?”

Wei Wan didn’t wake. She was sent to the doctor.

When she woke, the first person she saw was the youth looking at the blue sky from the window.

Pei Chuan wore all black. In August’s sunlight, he somehow exuded a cold darkness. The youth was tall and slender. When he turned his head, Wei Wan’s pupils constricted sharply.

She nearly screamed, about to lunge at him: “Why did you harm me like this, why!”

Wei Wan rushed over, and he didn’t stop her.

Only when something cold pressed against her waist did she dare not move.

It was a stun baton.

When Wei Wan looked up at him in disbelief, he smiled: “Do you know what to say now?”

~

Facing a group of classmates’ concerned gazes, Wei Wan’s fingers clenched tightly: “I—I fell. My wristwatch hit a rock and malfunctioned.”

After speaking, her gaze uncontrollably fell on another young girl.

The fifteen-year-old girl, pure and beautiful.

Bei Yao thought she had no grudge or enmity with Wei Wan. She went to get a bowl of porridge, and after Wei Wan’s emotions settled, quietly placed it by her bedside. Bei Yao didn’t like this person, but also had no reason to dislike Wei Wan. If it were herself, being forced to survive in the jungle for five days, she would definitely be very afraid.

Wei Wan began trembling, nearly wanting to sob aloud.

The person she had wanted to be with before turned out to be a cold-blooded, vicious devil. He was even afraid his beloved girl would know what kind of person he was, deliberately threatening her.

At this moment, Wei Wan completely stopped resenting Bei Yao. What fault did Bei Yao have? No, she had no fault at all.

She was even unluckier than herself, being fixated on by such a psychopath.

Wei Wan finished the porridge, closed her eyes to rest. Regarding matters concerning Pei Chuan, she didn’t say a single word.

On the day of departure, mist hung over the mountain. Before long, rain began to fall. Umbrellas were distributed unevenly.

Pei Chuan, hands in his pockets, walked alone in the rain.

“Pei Chuan—” Bei Yao made a small megaphone with her hands, smiling as she called to him. He turned back.

At that moment, water vapor filled the mountain air. She held a transparent umbrella, jogging toward him.

The youth with the prosthetic leg was too tall. She stood on tiptoe, trying hard to shield him.

The girl’s fragrance washed over him, causing him a moment of distraction.

Yes, he wasn’t alone anymore.

He took the small umbrella, holding it for her.

Bei Yao said: “We can take the vehicle soon. Don’t catch a cold from getting wet.”

When Pei Chuan was small, he often got sick, so she was always afraid he’d suddenly develop a fever.

However, she might not know that after growing up, he rarely got sick.

The youth’s black hair was already slightly damp. Bei Yao was extremely distressed—if only she had run faster, he wouldn’t have gotten half-soaked.

The vehicle finally came over. Swaying all the way, it drove back to the city.

Wei Wan got off early. She was dispirited, her lips pale.

Bei Yao watched her figure recede from the car window, lightly furrowing her brow.

Suddenly, she very much wanted to verify something.

The neighborhood soon arrived. Summer flowers bloomed at the flower bed’s edge. Bei Yao discovered that Pei Chuan had actually come back to stay as well.

“Bei Yao.”

“Hm?”

“In September.” After a moment of silence, he asked, “Shall we go to school together?”

Bei Yao also froze for a moment. She still remembered how last time, a year ago, he had left her alone in September’s morning rain. However, she didn’t hold it against him. Smiling, she nodded: “Alright!”

A shallow smile appeared in his eyes.

Upstairs, Bei Jun, nearly four years old, had been sent to kindergarten.

After much hesitation, Bei Yao still dialed the number she had written down from that registry.

After the dialing tone, the other side answered: “Hello?”

“Hello Wei Wan, this is Bei Yao.” Bei Yao hesitated somewhat. She clearly shouldn’t doubt him, but Wei Wan’s behavior before and after was too strange. Previously she had seemed to really like clinging to Pei Chuan, but when narrating the course of events, she hadn’t looked at Pei Chuan beside her even once.

Bei Yao asked softly: “Your wristwatch—did Pei Chuan break it?”

The other end was silent for a long while. Wei Wan hung up.

Bei Yao’s heart sank. She still remembered that year in middle school when she thought Pei Chuan had made his first other friend. Though her heart felt disappointed, she was also happy for him. Who knew when she went over, she’d see that scene of the big yellow dog rushing out to bite Pei Chuan and Shang Mengxian.

At the time she’d only been panicked. Later thinking about it, Grandma Zhou clearly fastened the gate every day, and Pei Chuan knew it too. So why did the dog still run out?

She thought the child she’d protected growing up had simply still not escaped the desolation in his heart. But she’d forgotten that on that paper, his code name was “Devil.”

What a terrifying designation.

She hadn’t been able to protect him. He had still slowly walked down that path.

It was like a treasure she’d watched over for many years, watching him gradually become tainted bit by bit, yet powerless to stop it. She had thought he had friends, was living the life he liked, was becoming happier and happier.

~

Bai Yutong said: “Mom, why is he always like this, so arrogant, suddenly running out and suddenly running back.”

Cao Li was also irritated: “Can you stop worrying about him? Write your homework properly. Your grades are so terrible, let’s see what you do about the college entrance exam!”

Bai Yutong felt extremely wronged: “I’m also thinking about our future. Look, even Uncle Pei can’t control him. Pei Chuan’s clothes are torn—he probably went to work at some shady place again.”

“Watch your words! I’ve taught you for so many years and you still haven’t learned! Now go pour him a glass of water and take it over!”

“Mom…”

“Go!”

Bai Yutong seethed inside, but didn’t dare disobey. She poured a glass of hot water to deliver to Pei Chuan.

She knocked on the door for a long time before a cold voice finally answered: “What is it?”

“I brought you water to drink.”

The youth’s voice was indifferent: “No need.”

He didn’t even intend to open the door for her. Bai Yutong angrily carried the water away.

Pei Chuan removed his prosthetic leg, lying back on the bed.

His residual limb was somewhat swollen. Every time he engaged in overexertion, it caused great burden on it. Every time it hurt, it clearly reminded him that he wasn’t a healthy, normal person.

Technology developed year by year. Prosthetic technology became more and more sophisticated. Even in a few years, there was hope for implementing biomimetic prosthetics controlled by electrical currents—they could be just like real legs, with sensation, responding to any command.

However, no technology could make them grow back.

~

Early September. Rarely, it had only rained at night. Elementary, middle, and high schools all started.

Pei Chuan remembered his promise with Bei Yao. Very early, he went to the bus stop slightly far from the neighborhood to wait for her. This promise was a year late.

He looked at the gray, overcast sky. A violent storm was coming.

Every September, the rain never stopped. However, because he’d returned to her side, he felt unexpectedly at peace.

But bus after bus heading to Sixth High came and went. He never saw Bei Yao’s figure.

The light in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Suddenly, the phone rang. He answered almost instantly.

The girl’s voice came through: “I’m sorry, Pei Chuan. I can’t come today.” She said apologetically, “I’ve encountered some matters.”

The youth’s eyes turned cold, his voice calm: “Oh, what matters?”

“Not—not really convenient to say.”

I see.

He said: “Take your time coming. I’ll wait for you.”

“But I really can’t come today.” Bei Yao became somewhat anxious. “Can you go to school first?”

Why couldn’t she come? Was it because last year, I made you wait in the rain all morning? Then shall I wait for you all day today?

The next moment, a clear young man’s voice said on the other end: “Bei Yao, help me out.”

The call disconnected.

Pei Chuan pulled at the corner of his lips. That youth’s voice was sunny and bright. Even though it was muffled, it was different from his low, deep tone.

Heavy rain arrived in an instant.

Pei Chuan pressed his lips together, stepping forward into the rain.

But beneath the gray, overcast sky, except for rain spattering everywhere, that girl never came to hold an umbrella for him.

This, perhaps, was the first time growth’s knife brought him a dull, aching wound.