Lu Xixiao raised his eyebrows, repeating in surprise and amusement: “You’re taking me out to play?”

Zhou Wan hesitated, shrinking back slightly: “Um… if you don’t want to…”

“Let’s go,” Lu Xixiao said.

When Zhou Wan was young, Zhou Jun was always busy teaching graduating classes. He often finished work very late, and when he wanted to take Zhou Wan out to play, there weren’t many places to go.

So back then, they frequently visited an open-air amusement park in the suburbs.

It was a public facility that only required a citizen card, with no entrance fee and no closing time. People could visit and play anytime.

Zhou Wan hadn’t been there since Zhou Jun passed away.

When they arrived at the amusement park, Zhou Wan discovered it had been renovated, and there were still a few scattered visitors at this hour.

“What do you want to ride?” Zhou Wan asked.

“Whatever.”

“Then let’s go on the Ferris wheel,” Zhou Wan pointed to the distance. “When you reach the highest point, you can see Lake Pingchuan. The night view is beautiful.”

She used to ride it often as a child.

When they reached the Ferris wheel, someone had just gotten off. Zhou Wan ducked into the cabin, and Lu Xixiao followed. The cabin swayed briefly before steadying.

The Ferris wheel slowly ascended, and the city’s night view gradually emerged before their eyes.

Zhou Wan always felt that riding the Ferris wheel produced a sense of happiness.

It was as if you could temporarily escape from being small and ordinary, standing high above to overlook the entire city, becoming slightly different.

“Lu Xixiao,” she leaned against the window, “look, that’s Lake Pingchuan, sparkling at night.”

Lu Xixiao didn’t respond.

Zhou Wan turned to look at him.

She saw him sitting opposite her, brows slightly furrowed, looking uncomfortable, his eyes half-closed.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Wan asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Without even lifting his eyelids, he gave a deep “mm” in response.

Zhou Wan thought it might be because of his cold and drinking, so she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead but found his body was very cold, and even his lips had lost their color.

Zhou Wan paused, then hesitantly asked: “Are you afraid of heights?”

He responded hoarsely.

“Why didn’t you say something before we got on?”

Lu Xixiao shot her an unfriendly glance before closing his eyes again.

This was the first time Zhou Wan had seen him afraid of something. She found it surprising, and looking at his expression, she also found it somewhat amusing – clearly afraid of heights yet still trying to act tough.

She pressed her lips together, wanting to hold it in but couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.

Lu Xixiao opened his eyes and raised his hand to pinch her face: “What are you laughing at?”

Zhou Wan immediately closed her mouth. He was pinching hard, so Zhou Wan had to lean in closer to ease the pressure, mumbling: “It hurts.”

Lu Xixiao didn’t let go: “Apologize.”

She good-naturedly and gently said: “I’m sorry.”

Only then did he release her.

Zhou Wan took advantage of him closing his eyes to press her lips together again, suppressing her smile before speaking: “Just hold on a bit longer, we’ll be down soon.”

When they stepped out of the cabin, Lu Xixiao’s face was still pale, one hand resting heavily on Zhou Wan’s shoulder.

Zhou Wan had to wrap her arm around his waist to support him: “Are you okay?”

Lu Xixiao cursed in displeasure.

They sat down on a nearby bench, and Zhou Wan went to the mini-mart to buy a bottle of mineral water, which she opened and gave to him.

He took a sip of water, finally managing to suppress the nausea.

Zhou Wan looked at his expression and asked: “Is your fear of heights very severe?”

“It’s fine.”

“…”

Oh.

Because of his fear of heights, many other rides were off-limits. After resting, Zhou Wan took Lu Xixiao to the bumper cars.

Bumper cars were a favorite among children and the most popular attraction in this amusement park. Even at this hour, there were still people playing.

In the two-seater bumper car, Lu Xixiao drove while Zhou Wan sat beside him, both fastening their safety belts.

An eight or nine-year-old child, seeing the older brother and sister come to play, got excited and drove over, challenging them in a childish voice: “I want to duel with you!” The mother sitting beside him laughed: “How old are you to be challenging big brother and sister to a duel?”

Zhou Wan’s eyes curved as she smiled too.

The little boy, sensing he was being underestimated, became unhappy, but Lu Xixiao lifted his chin: “Bring it on.”

The little boy immediately got excited.

For someone like Lu Xixiao who was used to racing tracks, how could bumper cars be difficult? Especially when his opponent was just a child.

At first, the child was enthusiastic about racing with him, but later was completely dominated, with his car trapped in a corner unable to move, having no chance to enjoy the game.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

A loud cry erupted in the amusement park.

Lu Xixiao:?

Zhou Wan: “…”

“Lu Xixiao.” Zhou Wan patted his arm, “Stop first.”

Lu Xixiao moved the car to the side.

Zhou Wan immediately got out and went to the little boy’s side. She crouched down and said softly: “I’m sorry, little one, big brother didn’t mean to.”

The boy’s mother quickly said: “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

The boy, unable to win and feeling his pride severely wounded, turned the tables and accused the big brother of cheating.

Lu Xixiao clicked his tongue.

He didn’t go over, his long legs awkwardly confined in the narrow bumper car, watching Zhou Wan.

The young girl, crouching down, looked small herself, her profile gentle and beautiful, her eyes bright, the wind blowing her loose hair messily across her temples, making her look fluffy.

Lu Xixiao watched, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, before looking away and standing up.

Zhou Wan felt in her pocket and fortunately found two fruit candies from the arcade.

She took one out and gave it to the boy: “Big brother was wrong, will you forgive him?”

The boy took the candy and finally stopped crying with a few sniffles.

The mother apologized to Zhou Wan again before picking up the little boy and leaving.

Zhou Wan stood up. Lu Xixiao had already gotten out of the bumper car and was standing in the darkness not far away. She walked over: “You scared the little kid to tears.”

Lu Xixiao said flatly: “He was the one who wanted to duel with me.”

Zhou Wan wanted to laugh: “He’s just a child.”

Lu Xixiao snorted: “You’re quite good at comforting people.”

He was in a mood, so Zhou Wan stayed quiet.

Lu Xixiao started messing with her again, pinching her face, picking at her earlier words: “So, it was my fault?”

“…”

Zhou Wan felt somewhat helpless, having just comforted one and now having to comfort another.

“He was crying, so I just went along with it.”

“Hmph.”

“…are you upset?”

He didn’t speak.

Zhou Wan paused, then offered him the remaining candy from her pocket: “Want one?”

He raised an eyebrow: “Think I’m begging?”

“…”

Just as Zhou Wan was about to put the candy back in her pocket, he suddenly reached out and took it from her hand, immediately popping the fruit candy into his mouth.

The orange flavor spread through his mouth.

Zhou Wan checked the time; it was already past midnight.

She had gotten up early today and was feeling tired, her eyelids drooping involuntarily as she couldn’t help but yawn.

Lu Xixiao crunched the candy: “Ready to go back?”

“Mm.”

He hailed a taxi, and they both sat in the back seat.

Lu Xixiao had many messages on his phone. He glanced at them – all birthday wishes. Just as he was about to swipe them away, he accidentally tapped a voice message, and Jiang Fan’s penetrating voice came through, wailing happy 18th birthday to him.

Zhou Wan paused, then turned to ask: “Today is your birthday?”

“Mm,” he said quietly.

“Happy birthday, Lu Xixiao,” Zhou Wan immediately said seriously.

Lu Xixiao tugged at the corner of his mouth, letting out a laugh.

“I didn’t know before, so I couldn’t prepare a gift for you.”

Lu Xixiao didn’t care about these things at all.

He truly felt birthdays weren’t worth celebrating.

Moreover, he was someone who didn’t lack gifts – many girls would stuff presents into his desk drawer, and he couldn’t even match names to faces. In the end, those gifts ended up who knows where.

Lu Xixiao turned his head to look at her for a while, then said: “I’ll give you some time to prepare, I’ll come get the gift tomorrow night.”

Zhou Wan paused, then smiled softly: “Okay.”

The taxi stopped at Zhou Wan’s house.

Away from the busy districts, the residential area was even more silent in the late night, with even the sound of shoes stepping on fallen leaves seeming particularly sharp.

Zhou Wan avoided stepping on the leaves.

“I’m here.”

“Mm.”

“Happy birthday,” Zhou Wan said again. She turned around, looking up into Lu Xixiao’s eyes, “Were you happy today?”

Lu Xixiao raised his eyebrows: “Not bad.”

“That’s good.”

“What?” he laughed deeply, “Wanted to make me happy?”

Zhou Wan nodded, speaking seriously: “Mm.”

Lu Xixiao paused.

The young woman before him wore a faint smile, but her eyes seemed to melt, her two dimples filled with honey, her shoulder-length hair softly framing her fair neck, both delicate and resilient, fragile yet strong.

She blinked at him, her eyelashes fluttering.

Lu Xixiao’s heart felt as if it had been tickled by those long, thick eyelashes.

His voice was somewhat hoarse: “Go on in.”

Zhou Wan waved to him: “Goodbye, Lu Xixiao.”

His hands stayed in his pockets, not taking them out, just lifting his chin in acknowledgment as he watched her walk into the building entrance.

Lu Xixiao stood there for a few more minutes before finally walking away.

Early the next day, after getting up, Zhou Wan first finished her remaining weekend homework. After eating lunch at home, she left.

She had thought all night about what birthday gift to buy for Lu Xixiao but still couldn’t decide.

Anything too expensive was beyond her means, and he seemed to lack nothing.

With no other choice, she could only browse outside to see if she could find a suitable gift.

Finally, she stopped in front of an accessories store.

Various photo frames were displayed on the glass counter. Among them was a very vintage-style hollow metal photo frame with carved flowers that would match perfectly with Lu Xixiao’s villa.

Zhou Wan remembered the wooden frame holding his mother’s photo that she had seen at his house last time. Perhaps because of too much rain that summer and the heavy humidity, it had already started fading and turning white.

This one would be quite suitable.

Zhou Wan decided on the gift and took it to pay.

“135 yuan,” the clerk said.

“That’s so expensive.”

“Little sister, you can see the craftsmanship is intricate and delicate. These days, it’s the handwork that’s expensive.”

Zhou Wan didn’t say more, choosing a simple gray gift bag and placing the frame inside.

Since Lu Xixiao said he’d come to get the gift tonight, he would probably come to the arcade.

Zhou Wan didn’t message him to say she had already bought the gift, feeling that would be too deliberate.

After dinner in the evening, Zhou Wan took the gift bag to the arcade.

Being the weekend, it was busier, and she only got a break after quite a while.

She had barely sat down when a young man suddenly approached: “Hello.”

Zhou Wan looked up: “Can I help you?”

The young man scratched his head, smiling brightly: “Miss, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Ah.” Zhou Wan was slightly stunned.

“When can I get your number?” the young man continued, taking out his phone, “I’m—”

Before he could finish, a cold male voice suddenly cut in from the side: “Zhou Wan.”

Lu Xixiao’s entire face was dark, his features and angles appearing even sharper. His long fingers snatched the other person’s phone and tossed it back to him.

The young man paused: “…Are you her boyfriend?”

Lu Xixiao turned his head, giving him a cold look.

The young man felt like he’d been cut by an ice blade. Being an easy-going person, he immediately said “sorry” and turned to leave.

Lu Xixiao narrowed his eyes, one hand lifting Zhou Wan’s face, looking at her for a while before curling his lips in an ambiguous sneer: “You’re quite popular.”

“…”

When he was displeased, his oppressive aura was extremely strong, even making the surrounding air feel thin and hard to breathe.

“I didn’t give him my number,” Zhou Wan explained slowly.

She could sense that Lu Xixiao had curiosity and interest in her, and from this interest stemmed a bit of affection and possessiveness.

Perhaps not much, but he was always casual and couldn’t be bothered to disguise it, directly showing his displeasure on his face, as if magnified a thousand times, making people misunderstand the depth of his feelings.

Lu Xixiao said flatly: “Where’s my gift?”

Zhou Wan took out the gift bag from under the table and handed it to him.

Lu Xixiao opened it, took out the photo frame inside, and raised an eyebrow: “Just a frame?”

Zhou Wan pressed her lips together: “Anything more expensive, I…”

Before she could finish, Lu Xixiao interrupted: “I mean, where’s the photo?”

Zhou Wan paused.

She had originally bought this frame thinking it could replace the moisture-damaged frame holding his mother’s photo, but knowing that mentioning his mother was taboo, she didn’t dare speak up.

Lu Xixiao looked at her for a moment, then took out his phone and directly took a photo of her.

In the dim arcade lighting, the flash automatically activated. In the captured moment, the young girl’s expression was startled, her eyes wide and round, like plump black grapes.

Lu Xixiao looked at the photo for a while and let out a light laugh.

“This one will do.”

“…”

Just then, Jiang Fan called, asking him to come out.

It was noisy here, so Lu Xixiao put it on speaker.

Lu Xixiao said flatly: “Not going.”

“You’re spending your birthday alone? Come out, we’ve got a group here.”

“Spend my birthday with a bunch of guys? Am I sick?”

At that moment, someone playing nearby suddenly triggered some surprise, and the game machine rang out with cheerful sounds. Jiang Fan heard it, paused, then understood, drawing out a long “Oh—”

Jiang Fan’s tone turned suggestive and ambiguous: “Well that’s not appropriate, you’re an adult now and should be doing adult things.”

Zhou Wan’s fingers holding her pen paused, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Lu Xixiao glanced at her expression, clearly seeing the blood color spread from her neck to her face.

He smirked, dropping a “get lost” before hanging up.

He didn’t use that earlier conversation to continue teasing Zhou Wan, instead taking his game card and going to play games.

Zhou Wan breathed a sigh of relief and buried her head to continue working on problems.

For the next few hours, Lu Xixiao stayed there playing games.

Meanwhile, Zhou Wan finished two sets of test papers.

Until eleven o’clock, Lu Xixiao brought another thick stack of point tickets for Zhou Wan to enter. He came to the arcade intermittently, but each time he could get quite a few tickets, and by now he had nearly 100,000 points.

Zhou Wan looked at the gifts available for 100,000 points, mostly things like rice cookers and juicers that Lu Xixiao definitely wouldn’t use, so she didn’t mention them, letting the points continue to accumulate.

The weather had turned cold again today.

Winter air was always poor, with barely any stars in the sky.

Taking a breath brought a shiver-inducing chill.

Zhou Wan put on the gloves she had gotten from Lu Xixiao’s friend’s supermarket last time, rubbed her hands together, and looked up at the sky.

“Wonder if it will snow this year,” Zhou Wan said.

Pingchuan City hadn’t seen snow for two or three years.

Even when it did snow, it was just sleet that melted as soon as it hit the ground.

In Zhou Wan’s memory, snow covering everything was from her childhood, when her father accompanied her building snowmen.

“It won’t,” Lu Xixiao said, “warm winter.”

The fallen leaves on the ground had been swept clean. The trees lining both sides of this road were cherry blossoms, now leafless in this season, leaving only bare, crisscrossing branches.

Zhou Wan let out a very light sigh.

Lu Xixiao turned his head: “You like snow?”

“Mm.” Zhou Wan nodded, “You don’t?”

“Too noisy.”

His description was strange, but Zhou Wan understood.

Snowy days were noisy. Every time it snowed in Pingchuan City, everyone would scream and cheer. There were always more people on the streets during snow, and even social media became busy.

Zhou Wan smiled slightly: “I think it’s clean.”

The world becomes pure white, very clean.

As if all the ugliness, darkness, crying, and pain no longer existed.

Even she seemed able to return to that childhood Zhou Wan who was simply happy and content playing in the snow and building snowmen.

“Then we’ll go see snow at the end of the year,” Lu Xixiao said flatly.

“But you said it won’t snow this year.”

Lu Xixiao gave her a look, the corner of his eyes lifting slightly, his voice carrying a hint of a smile and a bit of youthful boldness and unruliness: “If I say I can let you see snow, then naturally you’ll be able to see it.”

Zhou Wan paused.

She looked at Lu Xixiao a bit absently before withdrawing her gaze.

She thought, the end of the year.

New Year would be in early February, still more than three months away.

If Lu Xixiao would still take her to see snow at the end of the year, then this undefined relationship between them would last at least three months.

In that case, the previous threat to Guo Xiangling to give her the remaining 150,000 yuan in the next three months could be realized.

Grandmother should then have money for the surgery.

As Zhou Wan thought this, the next second, she deeply despised her thoughts.

Lu Xixiao asked: “How old are you?”

Noticing her distraction, Lu Xixiao tugged her ponytail back lightly, “I asked you something.”

“What?”

“How old are you?”

“16.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“March 25th.”

Lu Xixiao raised his eyebrows: “You started school early?”

“Mm, my father was a teacher, he arranged for me to start a bit early in primary school.”

This was the first time Lu Xixiao had heard her mention her parents.

They continued walking forward.

Lu Xixiao lit a cigarette, noticing her low spirits, like something was on her mind, though she had been fine earlier at the arcade.

He flicked some ash, asking casually: “What are you thinking about?”

Zhou Wan paused, looking up to meet his eyes.

His eyes were calm, yet understanding, as if he could see right through her, comprehending her emotions.

Sometimes, Lu Xixiao was indeed a very perceptive person. Although he rarely spoke about it, he understood many emotional changes intuitively.

This feeling was very strange.

Like another self in this world.

In other words, like a soulmate.

But Zhou Wan particularly couldn’t tell him what she was thinking about.

She shook her head: “Nothing.”

Lu Xixiao didn’t press, asking no more.

After sending her to her doorstep, Zhou Wan turned around, looking into his eyes and saying sincerely: “Lu Xixiao, happy 18th birthday.”

Her tone was earnest, as if laying bare her heart.

Lu Xixiao’s brow twitched slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“I hope you’ll always be free and uninhibited, doing whatever you want, becoming whoever you want to be.” Zhou Wan’s voice was soft yet firm.

The wind blew gently.

Carrying away her last words.

“May you always dare to love and hate, and may everything go your way.”

May you find the girl you truly like.

And may you be able to hate me openly and freely?