In early February, Ruchuan City entered deep winter.

Shu Nian had a weak constitution; once winter arrived, her hands and feet would become cold. She was afraid of falling ill, which would affect her voice, so she deliberately wore more clothes.

For the sake of recording quality, the recording studio didn’t have air conditioning, nor did they have the funds to install ultra-quiet air conditioners.

After staying there for a long time, Shu Nian was so cold that her hands lost feeling. Taking advantage of the break time, she went to the lounge to drink a cup of hot water and took out a heat pack from her bag to stick on her body.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed the box Xie Ruhe had given her. Shu Nian paused, then took it out.

Shu Nian wanted to see if there was anything inside, so she turned it on and plugged the earphones into the MP3 player. She lowered her eyes and browsed through it; apart from hundreds of songs, there were no other files.

Those songs, Shu Nian had some impression of them.

They seemed to all be Xie Ruhe’s songs.

She casually clicked on one of the songs.

As she listened, Shu Nian felt the song was somewhat familiar, but also felt something wasn’t quite right. She suddenly remembered something, looked at the song name again, and then took out her phone to search for the song online.

It was indeed a song written by Xie Ruhe, but it was one he had written for someone else.

Yet the voice singing this song in her earphones was Xie Ruhe’s.

Shu Nian had thought he had just put his version on it, but after searching online for quite a while, she couldn’t find a version sung by him. She picked up the MP3 player again and, licking her lips, clicked on another song that Xie Ruhe had written for others.

—It was still Xie Ruhe’s voice.

Shu Nian’s heartbeat inexplicably quickened, and she took off the earphones. She suddenly understood that Xie Ruhe’s gift to her was perhaps not the MP3 player in her hand, but what was inside it.

He had sung all of his songs with his voice and given them to her.

It was something even more precious.

Shu Nian put the MP3 player back in the box, feeling a bit dazed. She suddenly recalled the first birthday she had spent with Xie Ruhe after they had become close friends.

It was during the winter vacation of her first year in high school.

That year, her birthday happened to fall on New Year’s Eve, the day before Spring Festival.

Shu Gaoli had returned from the city and brought her a birthday present, which was a ukulele. Afterward, Shu Nian had dinner with her parents at her grandparents’ house, and by the time they got home, it was already past ten.

Shu Nian always went to bed promptly at nine-thirty, and by now she was so sleepy that her eyelids kept drooping. Her family never had the tradition of staying up all night on New Year’s Eve. After taking a shower, Shu Nian said “Happy New Year” to Deng Qingyu and prepared to go to bed.

She returned to her room, yawning while using the hairdryer to dry her hair.

The sound of the hairdryer was howling in her ears, deafeningly loud, drowning out all other sounds around her.

Shu Nian did things slowly and meticulously; she dried her hair at a snail’s pace as if counting each strand one by one. After a long while, she put down the hairdryer, turned off the light, and quickly slipped into the bed beside her.

At the same time, she heard a light tapping sound from the window.

At first, Shu Nian thought she had misheard, but then a second tap came. She sat up, puzzled, rubbing her eyes, and jumped out of bed to pull open the curtains.

Through the glass, she saw Xie Ruhe’s face, pale from the cold.

Shu Nian was stunned, her sleepiness instantly vanishing: “Why are you here?”

Xie Ruhe slowly placed the small cake he was holding on the windowsill and said in a hoarse voice: “Happy birthday.”

Shu Nian stared at his face, still feeling as if she had already fallen asleep and was currently in a dream. She licked her lips and asked softly: “How long have you been out here?”

Xie Ruhe seemed to be extremely cold, his lips purple, and he didn’t answer.

Shu Nian grabbed his wrist and said: “Come in.”

The sound of Deng Qingyu’s voice came from outside the room: “Nian Nian, are you asleep?”

Shu Nian didn’t respond, but Xie Ruhe immediately pulled his hand away and turned to hide behind the wall. After a while, Shu Nian whispered: “My mom’s gone, come in quickly.”

Xie Ruhe shook his head: “I’ll just stay outside.”

“It’s too cold outside,” Shu Nian disapproved. “You’ll catch a cold like this.”

But no matter how much Shu Nian tried to persuade him, Xie Ruhe wouldn’t listen and only said: “If your mother finds out, you’ll be scolded.”

Shu Nian was still trying to persuade him earnestly: “My mom won’t come in. She thinks I’m asleep. If you’re still worried, I can go lock the door.”

Xie Ruhe still wouldn’t listen.

Shu Nian didn’t get angry. She thought for a moment, walked to the wardrobe, put on two sweaters, wrapped herself in a big coat, and then took out another, larger coat.

She walked back to the window and handed the coat to Xie Ruhe.

Xie Ruhe took it and asked, puzzled: “What are you going to do?”

Then, Shu Nian climbed up to the window on her own. It was her first time doing something like this, and with all the clothes she was wearing, she did it clumsily and awkwardly, like a ball rolling onto the windowsill and then onto the ground.

Xie Ruhe was afraid she might fall, so he stood beside her for her to lean on.

“If you won’t come in, then I’ll come out,” Shu Nian said matter-of-factly after landing. “I can’t let you stand outside in the wind alone. We’re friends.”

“…”

“Why is it so difficult for us to just be friends?” Shu Nian sighed deeply, suddenly seeming like a little old man. “It’s perfectly proper behavior, yet we have to act like we’re—”

Shu Nian paused, unable to recall the word: “I forgot how to say that word.”

Xie Ruhe didn’t understand and asked blankly: “What word?”

“Oh, right,” Shu Nian remembered. “Like we’re having an affair.”

“…” Xie Ruhe almost choked, his expression indescribable. “What did you say?”

“Having to be all secretive,” Shu Nian was very dejected and unhappy. “Why does my mother never let me play with you? How old am I now? She still treats me like a child, controlling even who I can be friends with.”

Xie Ruhe didn’t know what to say and handed her the coat.

Shu Nian blinked and said: “That’s for you to wear.”

“…” Xie Ruhe directly draped the coat over her. “I can’t fit into it.”

Shu Nian pushed the coat back into his hands: “If you can’t wear it, you can use it like a blanket and cover yourself.”

Xie Ruhe frowned and once again draped the coat over her.

Shu Nian also set her face, at an impasse with him.

In the end, Xie Ruhe conceded, putting the coat over his back, looking somewhat comical.

Shu Nian squatted down, placed the cake box on the ground, took out the small cake, and then put the cake on top of the box. She curled up into a ball, her fluffy coat making her look like a little furball.

Xie Ruhe also squatted down beside her.

Shu Nian, sniffling, carefully stuck candles into the cake and asked casually: “Do you have a lighter?”

“Yes.” Xie Ruhe instinctively felt his pocket, took out the lighter, and said, “Let me light it.”

Hearing this, Shu Nian paused and looked up at him: “Why do you have a lighter?”

“…”

Shu Nian asked suspiciously: “Do you smoke?”

Just as Xie Ruhe was about to deny it, Shu Nian began to lecture him seriously: “You shouldn’t smoke. Smoking at such a young age is wrong. Don’t listen to what others say, thinking that smoking is cool. It’s not cool at all.”

“I don’t smoke,” Xie Ruhe’s voice was calm as he bent down to light the candles. “I brought it to light the candles for you.”

Shu Nian paused, feeling guilty, and gave a vague “Oh,” mumbling: “I’m too tired.”

“Hm?”

Shu Nian added quietly: “My brain isn’t working properly, and I’m not very lucid.”

Xie Ruhe kept his eyes down, his tone suggesting he was smiling: “I understand.”

The wind outside was strong. Each time Xie Ruhe lit a candle, it was immediately extinguished by the cold wind. After trying more than ten times, Shu Nian simply removed the other fifteen candles, leaving only one.

She protected it with both hands, and Xie Ruhe lit that single candle.

Afraid that the candle would go out again, Shu Nian didn’t even have time to sing the birthday song. She quickly said, “I want to become a very skilled voice actor,” and immediately blew out the candle.

An extremely simple wish.

Xie Ruhe wasn’t very satisfied and was thinking about whether to make up for the birthday song.

The next moment, Shu Nian suddenly remembered something and felt a bit guilty: “I didn’t even buy you a cake on your birthday… Did you eat cake that day?”

Xie Ruhe didn’t know how to answer and didn’t want to lie to her.

Shu Nian immediately understood his meaning and said in a low voice: “I’ll buy you one this year.”

Then, Shu Nian changed the subject and told him: “By the way, my dad came back today. But he’s not staying here; he’s at my grandparents’ place.”

Seeing how happy she was, Xie Ruhe’s expression also softened, and he gave a sound of acknowledgment.

“He gave me a musical instrument,” Shu Nian poked the small dimple on her face. “But I don’t know how to use it.”

“What instrument?”

“I think it’s a guitar…” Shu Nian couldn’t quite remember. “Let me go get it to show you.”

Shu Nian had been squatting so long that her legs were numb. She stood up and stamped her feet, looked at the window, and suddenly stopped moving. After a while, she looked at Xie Ruhe hesitantly: “Maybe you should go in. I’m too short; it’s too difficult for me to climb.”

Xie Ruhe agreed and began to take off his shoes.

“You don’t need to take off your shoes,” Shu Nian said. “It’s on that cabinet next to the bed.”

But Xie Ruhe still took off his shoes and easily entered the room through the window. He placed the coat he had been wearing on a nearby chair, took the ukulele from the bedside table, and jumped back out the window.

Shu Nian was cutting the cake and looked up at him: “That’s it.”

Xie Ruhe strummed it a few times but stopped quickly, afraid of making too much noise.

Shu Nian asked curiously: “Do you know how to play it?”

Xie Ruhe nodded: “A little bit.”

Shu Nian’s eyes widened slightly: “You know how to play instruments?”

“Mm.”

“Do you play the piano too?”

“A little.”

“What about the violin?”

“Yes.”

“…” Surprised, Shu Nian’s mouth was half-open as she exclaimed, “How do you know how to play everything?”

Xie Ruhe said casually: “My mother taught me.”

Shu Nian asked: “So are you going to study music in the future?”

“I don’t know,” Xie Ruhe’s voice was soft. “If I can, I will.”

Shu Nian hadn’t asked much about his family situation. She licked her lips and changed the subject: “What do you want to do in the future?”

Xie Ruhe replied without hesitation: “A composer.”

“You mean writing songs?”

“Mm.”

“Why don’t you sing them yourself?” Shu Nian handed him a piece of cake. “You sing very well.”

Xie Ruhe took the cake: “I’m interested in this.”

“Then if you become a composer in the future,” Shu Nian said happily, “you should sing all your songs for me to hear, and I can also voice act all my clips for you to listen to.”

“The songs I write for others won’t necessarily be sung by me.”

“But we’re best friends,” Shu Nian felt something was off about his words. “After you write them, shouldn’t you sing them for me first?”

“…”

Seeing his expression, Shu Nian thought she had said something wrong: “Is that not right?”

Xie Ruhe was silent for a moment: “…It is.”

The sound of fireworks came from somewhere, crackling loudly, celebrating the arrival of the new year.

Shu Nian bit into the cake, her voice soft and tender: “It seems like it’s midnight. Did we just stay up for the New Year?”

“Mm.”

“For your birthday this year, I’ll buy you a cake,” Shu Nian said. “And next year on my birthday, let’s set off fireworks. I was at my grandfather’s house today and wanted to play with fireworks, but my mom wouldn’t let me.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, and Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year.”

When Shu Nian finished at the recording studio, it was just past eleven at night. Outside, the sky was pitch black, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the road. She sent Xie Ruhe a WeChat message and stood in place waiting for his reply.

She quickly received his response: [Look to your right front.]

Shu Nian looked up and only then realized that Xie Ruhe’s car was parked nearby. She got into the car and habitually greeted both of them.

After half a day, Fang Wencheng’s spirit had inexplicably become negative, as if he had suffered torture.

Xie Ruhe’s expression, however, was quite good.

Shu Nian asked: “Where are we going?”

Xie Ruhe thought for a moment: “Let’s go to the area below your apartment.”

Shu Nian was confused: “Didn’t you say you wanted to take me somewhere?”

“Mm.” Xie Ruhe didn’t hide it and honestly said, “To set off fireworks with you.”

Shu Nian reminded him: “Fireworks aren’t allowed in the urban area.”

“The small kind,” Xie Ruhe didn’t know what to call them and suddenly fell silent as if thinking.

Shu Nian understood: “Sparklers?”

Xie Ruhe nodded: “Mm.”

“That sounds great,” Shu Nian’s lips curved upward, looking very happy. “I haven’t played with those in a long time.”

Fang Wencheng drove the car into the residential community where Shu Nian lived, and took Xie Ruhe’s wheelchair from the trunk, along with a box of fireworks. He quickly set up the wheelchair and placed it near Xie Ruhe’s position.

Xie Ruhe got out of the car, stood up, and sat in the wheelchair.

No longer like before, when he could only move using the strength of his arms.

Seeing this scene, Shu Nian felt a strange mix of emotions.

She went over to push him and asked: “How’s your rehabilitation going recently?”

“Pretty well,” Xie Ruhe said. “At this rate, it should be about two more months.”

Shu Nian didn’t understand: “What’s in two months?”

Xie Ruhe wasn’t entirely sure himself, just repeating what the rehabilitation doctor had told him, his tone a bit hesitant: “If I keep up with the training, in two months, I might be able to walk like a normal person.”

“…” Shu Nian’s footsteps stopped. “Really?”

“Mm.”

Shu Nian’s eyes curved with happiness, clearly delighted for him: “Can you walk now?”

Xie Ruhe said: “I can walk for a while with crutches.”

Shu Nian was surprised, counting on her fingers: “I think it’s only been… five or six days since I last visited you. How have you progressed so quickly?”

The corners of Xie Ruhe’s lips turned up.

The two walked in front, with Fang Wencheng quietly following behind them.

Shu Nian led them to an open space in the residential area, just behind her building. This open space was at the very edge of the community, next to a large patch of grass. Because of its remote location, few people came here; it was mostly children who came to play.

There were only two street lamps, hanging over two community benches.

Fang Wencheng placed the box of fireworks on the bench, and then Xie Ruhe suddenly remembered something and called out to him: “Fang Wencheng, go buy some water nearby.”

Shu Nian asked: “What do we need water for?”

Xie Ruhe said: “For setting off fireworks, to have some water on hand just in case.”

“My home is just upstairs,” Shu Nian suggested. “Why don’t I just go up and bring down a bucket? The nearest convenience store is a bit far away; there’s no need to go that distance.”

Fang Wencheng volunteered: “Then I’ll go up with you.”

Shu Nian hesitantly looked at Xie Ruhe: “Will you be okay alone here?”

“Mm.”

It was nearly midnight now, and the surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.

The other street lamp seemed to have malfunctioned, flickering every few seconds.

For some reason, Shu Nian couldn’t help feeling uneasy. Thinking that there was nothing in her apartment to hide, she hesitantly handed the key to Fang Wencheng: “Maybe you should go. I live on the second floor, there’s only one unit. Once you go in, the first room straight ahead is the bathroom; there’s a bucket in there.”

Fang Wencheng agreed with an “Okay”: “You two start playing then.”

The two waited for Fang Wencheng to bring the water, not rushing to light the fireworks.

Shu Nian rummaged through the box; there were many types of fireworks, some she had never seen before. Her interest was immediately piqued, and she was about to say something to Xie Ruhe.

Suddenly, she heard some movement from the grass not far away.

Shu Nian initially thought it was a stray cat running past, hitting the nearby bushes. But then, she heard a woman’s extremely faint whimpering, as if pleading.

Her breath caught, and she looked in the direction of the sound.

It was pitch black, and she couldn’t see anything.

Xie Ruhe had heard it too: “Over there…”

Before he could finish, Shu Nian interrupted him, her voice very soft: “Is there someone over there?”

“…” Xie Ruhe wasn’t sure. “I don’t know.”

“We should go check,” Shu Nian’s breathing became a bit rapid, as if overly nervous, and she muttered to herself, “I’ll go take a look.”

After hearing the tone of that voice, Xie Ruhe felt that nothing serious was happening over there. But Shu Nian’s reaction was excessive; he worriedly grabbed her wrist and looked at her steadily: “I’ll go with you.”

There was only one sound, and then that area fell silent again. The slight sound they had just heard seemed to have been only their imagination. Shu Nian lowered her eyes and said softly: “Maybe we heard wrong…”

Xie Ruhe felt something was off about her: “What’s wrong?”

Shu Nian’s face turned pale. Not just the wrist he was holding, but her entire body seemed to be trembling. Her eyes were vacant, and she forced a smile: “Nothing.”

At the same time, a woman walked out from that dark area, holding a phone to her ear, appearing to be on a call, with tears in her eyes: “Please, I don’t want to break up…”

Seeing people here, the woman quickly wiped her tears and walked in another direction.

Shu Nian watched the woman’s retreating figure and suddenly asked: “Did I just say—”

Her reaction left Xie Ruhe at a loss: “What?”

“Did I say I heard wrong?” Shu Nian licked her lips, her eyes beginning to redden. “But I heard a sound. I was too scared; I didn’t dare to go over…”

She repeated herself over and over, speaking more to herself than to him.

“Shu Nian,” Xie Ruhe’s brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“…” Shu Nian came back to her senses, her voice slightly hoarse. “I want to go home.”

Xie Ruhe didn’t understand why her reaction was so strong. He grabbed her wrist again, his movements careful, as if comforting her: “I’ve told you before, if you want to help others, the premise is that you must first ensure your safety.”

“…”

“It’s normal to be afraid.”

But Shu Nian wasn’t listening. She forced herself to say: “It’s too late today. I’ll set off fireworks with you another day.”

Fang Wencheng happened to return at this moment. Shu Nian went over to get the key from him.

Fang Wencheng was still holding a bucket of water, and he walked toward Xie Ruhe in confusion: “Young Master, aren’t you setting off fireworks anymore?”

Xie Ruhe stared in Shu Nian’s direction and said softly: “Take her back, and don’t return until you see her enter her home.”

Shu Nian’s emotions were off, and Fang Wencheng didn’t want to disturb her. He could only place the bucket at her doorstep, and then drive back to pick up Xie Ruhe.

Fang Wencheng didn’t know what had happened and didn’t ask further.

The atmosphere suddenly became dim and low-spirited.

Xie Ruhe sat quietly in the back seat, staring out the window, his entire being sunk in darkness, with alternating light and shadow. His mood also seemed very poor; the brightness from earlier had vanished in an instant.

After a long while, Xie Ruhe suddenly said: “Something doesn’t seem right.”

“…What?”

“Something’s off.”

“Huh?”

But Xie Ruhe didn’t speak again. He lowered his eyes and lit up his phone.

Fang Wencheng looked at him through the rearview mirror, not knowing whether to speak. After hesitating for a few seconds, he decisively opened his mouth: “Young Master, when I went to Shu Nian’s home just now, I saw something.”

“…”

“Please don’t be angry, it was the bookshelf, right next to the corridor. I saw it at a glance; I wasn’t deliberately looking,” Fang Wencheng said anxiously. “I don’t know if I’m overthinking it, but I originally thought that since Shu Nian is a voice actor, the bookshelf should be filled with books about voice acting…”

Xie Ruhe looked up: “What was it then?”

Fang Wencheng found it strange: “Psychology-related books. More than half the bookshelf was filled with psychology books.”