In her memory, it was likely a weekend during the first semester of 10th grade.
Wen Yifan forgot why she had gone out that day, only remembering that she was shopping when suddenly a little girl ran up to her, saying she wanted to treat her to ice cream.
After a while.
As if remembering her purpose, the little girl soon added a sentence.
“Big sister, I can’t find my brother.”
Wen Yifan was stunned: “Did you get separated from your brother?”
Sang Zhi tilted her head and reluctantly mumbled an affirmative.
Wen Yifan: “Where did you get separated?”
Hearing this, Sang Zhi turned around and pointed at the tree behind her: “Over there.”
Wen Yifan looked in that direction but didn’t see anyone. She put down what she was holding and took out her phone from her pocket: “It’s okay, do you remember your brother’s phone number?”
Sang Zhi shook her head: “I don’t remember.”
“…”
“But he should be over there,” Sang Zhi took the initiative to hold her hand, her round eyes blinking, “Big sister, can you take me over to find him? I’m a little scared by myself.”
Wen Yifan smiled gently: “Of course.”
The sun was scorching that day, even the breeze across her face was hot.
Wen Yifan opened her parasol, being led forward by little Sang Zhi. She was short with small steps, but walked very quickly, skipping along, seeming to be in high spirits.
Sang Zhi pulled her straight towards the tree she had just pointed at.
It wasn’t until they were almost at the tree that Wen Yifan gradually felt something was off.
She felt the child had a very strong sense of purpose.
It seemed she was very certain that her brother was there.
Wen Yifan was just wondering if she had encountered some kind of child trafficking ring using children as bait.
The next moment, Sang Yan’s tall, slim figure came into view.
In an instant, a certain guess flashed through her mind.
But Sang Yan, who should have looked guilty, appeared calm.
He stood in the shade of the tree, tilting his head to look at her, his features carrying the innate advantages of youth.
“What a coincidence?”
…
Just like Sang Yan’s expression now when he heard Sang Zhi’s words.
Sang Yan seemed completely unbothered about being exposed. He carried the things towards the kitchen on his own. As he passed by Wen Yifan, he glanced at her lightly, the corner of his mouth curling up, looking extremely arrogant.
As if saying:
— So what if it is?
“…”
Wen Yifan also silently entered the kitchen.
After all, this incident happened seven or eight years ago.
His personality had always been like this, never hiding what he had done, so blatant that it could make the other person feel like they were the one who had done something wrong.
She opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of yogurt.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the things Sang Yan had bought back. By the looks of it, he seemed to be planning to have a hot pot at home.
Wen Yifan looked away and left the kitchen.
Noticing that Sang Zhi was only wearing socks, Wen Yifan thought for a moment and walked to the entrance. She took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and said with a smile: “I have an extra pair of slippers here, you can wear them if you don’t mind.”
Sang Zhi immediately said: “Thank you, big sister.”
“Have a seat, feel free to take whatever you want to eat,” afraid that her presence might make Sang Zhi uncomfortable, Wen Yifan added, “Most of these are your brother’s things.”
–
After Wen Yifan returned to her room.
Sang Zhi opened the TV cabinet and looked at the snacks inside.
Sang Yan happened to come out of the kitchen.
“Brother,” Sang Zhi was a bit hungry and reached for a bag of chips, “Why are you living with a roommate? And a female roommate at that. Did you tell mom and dad? Do they know?”
Noticing her action, Sang Yan snatched the chips back and threw them back into the TV cabinet.
“Mind your manners.”
Sang Zhi was puzzled: “Aren’t these yours?”
“You know that and still touch them?” Sang Yan said lazily, “Do you think I bought them for you?”
“…” Sang Zhi thought he was being petty, but she wasn’t particularly interested in the chips anyway, so she chose to swallow her frustration, “Then hurry up, I need to go back and do practice questions after eating.”
“It’ll take another half hour, go write first, make the most of your time,” Sang Yan jerked his chin towards the dining table, “Just sit there, or you can go to my room to write if you want.”
Sang Zhi picked up her schoolbag and walked towards the dining table, asking again: “So why are you living with a roommate?”
Sang Yan: “Do I need to report to a little brat like you about what I do now?”
“Oh.” Sang Zhi looked towards the master bedroom, understanding, “You like that big sister?”
“…”
“Forget it, brother. It’s not that I don’t want to be on your side.” Thinking of Wen Yifan’s appearance, Sang Zhi sighed, “But we should have some self-awareness.”
“…” Sang Yan laughed angrily, “Self-awareness?”
“Yeah.”
“Kid, get this straight,” Sang Yan took out the hot pot seasoning he had casually stuffed into the cabinet last time, saying leisurely, “It’s other people who need to consider that word when they set their sights on me, understand?”
“…”
Sang Zhi thought he was shameless and didn’t want to waste any more time talking to him.
She sat down at the dining table, took out several test papers from her schoolbag, and started focusing on her work.
Half an hour later.
Sang Yan brought out the pot on time and said lazily: “Go to the kitchen and bring out the side dishes.”
Sang Zhi responded with an “Oh.”
The meat and vegetables just bought from the supermarket had all been washed, cut, and arranged on plates by Sang Yan. Sang Zhi could carry a few plates at a time, so after going back and forth a few times, she prepared a bowl of dipping sauce for herself.
Returning to the dining table, Sang Zhi had just sat down when she suddenly remembered: “Brother, aren’t you going to invite that big sister to eat with us?”
Sang Yan didn’t say anything, taking a bottle of beer from the refrigerator.
“You aren’t planning to call her? It’s New Year’s,” Sang Zhi couldn’t believe it, thinking he was too inconsiderate, “Since you two are roommates, you should get along well.”
Sang Yan glanced at her: “What’s it to you?”
Sang Zhi was very unhappy: “She even specially got slippers for me and told me to help myself to anything I wanted to eat. Wasn’t she being nice to me? Shouldn’t you at least be polite and invite her to come out and eat together?”
“She was nice to you,” Sang Yan smiled, “What does that have to do with me?”
Sang Zhi: “…”
Sang Yan couldn’t be bothered with her: “If you want to call her, go call her yourself.”
Sang Zhi stared at him for a while, deciding not to meddle in affairs that weren’t her business, after all, it wasn’t her roommate. She picked up her chopsticks again and put some vegetables in the pot to blanch.
Not long after, Sang Yan suddenly said: “You’re quite conscientious.”
Sang Zhi: “?”
But he didn’t continue speaking.
Sang Zhi immediately realized he was being sarcastic, mocking her for only talking about how nice others were to her, only asking others to reciprocate on her behalf, and doing nothing but talking.
“…”
Then, Sang Yan leisurely picked up his chopsticks, clearly not wanting to bother with anything, looking particularly irritating.
Sang Zhi held back for a moment, then got up and walked towards the master bedroom.
…
Meanwhile.
Wen Yifan finished watching the latest episode of a drama series, glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of her computer, and was about to go back to bed for a while before taking a shower when there was a knock on her door.
She got up and went to open it.
Sang Zhi was standing outside.
The young girl was slightly shorter than her, with two small dimples at the corners of her mouth when she smiled. She invited warmly: “Big sister, come out and eat with us. It seems like you haven’t had dinner.”
“No need,” Wen Yifan smiled, “You two enjoy your meal.”
Sang Zhi thought she was just being polite and said directly: “Big sister, you might not know.”
“Hm?”
“My brother and I eating alone will never be enjoyable.”
“…”
In the end, Wen Yifan was still pulled out by the extremely enthusiastic Sang Zhi.
At the rectangular white dining table, Wen Yifan and Sang Zhi sat on one side, while Sang Yan sat alone opposite them. Seeing them come out, he merely raised his eyes slightly, not saying a word.
Wen Yifan’s hair had grown quite long, and she hadn’t trimmed it for a while, now reaching her chest. She tied all her hair up with a hair tie, revealing her clear forehead. Even with a bare face, she still looked as beautiful as if she were wearing makeup.
Her fox-like eyes sparkled, her skin was as white as porcelain, and her lips were red without any lipstick.
Sang Zhi couldn’t help but look at her a few more times.
Not knowing whether Sang Zhi’s invitation for her to join them for dinner had Sang Yan’s approval, Wen Yifan tried to minimize her presence, quietly eating a few meatballs.
Sang Zhi, on the other hand, kept offering her food, frequently asking if she wanted to eat this or that.
After a few minutes, Sang Zhi remembered something: “Big sister, what’s your name?”
“Wen Yifan,” Wen Yifan added, “The ‘Yi’ from ‘before’, and the ‘Fan’ from ‘ordinary’.”
“Oh, then can I call you ‘Sister Yifan’?” Sang Zhi was particularly drawn to attractive people, and her impression of Wen Yifan was very good, so she became even more enthusiastic, “My name is Sang Zhi, the ‘Zhi’ from ‘childish’. You can call me Zhizhi, that’s my nickname.”
“Alright,” Wen Yifan smiled, “Your nickname is quite cute.”
Hearing this, Sang Yan suddenly let out a light laugh.
Sang Zhi immediately looked at him, displeased: “What’s wrong with her praising my nickname as cute?”
Sang Yan’s eyes lifted slightly, still smirking, ignoring her.
“…”
Wen Yifan pressed her lips together, strangely feeling that his laugh was mocking her.
Because when Sang Yan first learned her nickname, he had laughed just as maliciously as now. Later, he even said, “Why does your nickname sound like a servant girl’s name?”
Wen Yifan thought he was being quite childish, so she pretended not to hear and continued Sang Zhi’s conversation.
“It is cute.”
Sang Zhi blinked, and under this differential treatment, decided to thoroughly treat Sang Yan as if he were invisible.
The two chatted casually for a while longer.
“By the way, Zhizhi, why did you come here today,” Wen Yifan found it strange and casually asked, “Isn’t it the third day of the New Year? Why aren’t you staying at home?”
“My parents went to visit relatives, and I didn’t want to go. Plus, I’m about to take the college entrance exam,” saying this, Sang Zhi’s voice softened a bit, “I want to spend more time studying, afraid I won’t do well in the school exams when classes resume.”
“You’re in your senior year of high school?” Wen Yifan asked, “Do you have any universities in mind?”
Sang Zhi fell silent.
It was just casual conversation, so Wen Yifan didn’t press further.
But soon after, Sang Zhi picked up a piece of meat, and while chewing, mumbled: “I haven’t decided yet, I’m torn between Nanwu University and Yihe University.”
Wen Yifan was stunned for a moment: “You can get into both?”
Sang Zhi: “Barring any accidents.”
Wen Yifan’s grades weren’t very stable back then, and before the college entrance exam, she wasn’t confident about getting into either of these universities. Now she felt like she had met a top student: “Your grades must be very good then.”
Sang Zhi: “I’m just afraid I won’t perform well.”
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
“Okay.”
“Both universities are quite good, so it depends on which one you prefer, or you can look at the rankings of the major you want to choose at each school,” Wen Yifan said, “Also, Yihe is quite far from Nanwu, and the climate is different from here. It took me quite a while to adapt when I first went there. You should consider these points too.”
Sang Zhi nodded rapidly like a little chick pecking at rice, then realized: “Sister Yifan, did you graduate from Yihe University?”
Wen Yifan: “Yes, I did.”
Sang Zhi: “What major did you study?”
Wen Yifan: “Network and New Media.”
“Ah,” Sang Zhi was taken aback for a moment, then hesitantly said, “I have a classmate who wants to apply for this major too, so I’ve heard a bit about it. The Network and New Media major at Nanwu University seems to be more famous than at Yihe University.”
Wen Yifan paused.
Sang Zhi asked: “Sister Yifan, why did you choose Yihe University?”
Before Wen Yifan could speak, Sang Yan suddenly put down the beer in his hand on the table.
Making a “clunk” sound.
Following this noise, both of them looked over at him.
“Why are you looking at me?” Seeing their gazes, Sang Yan leaned back, saying casually, “Go on.”
“…”
Sang Yan’s eyes were dark, his smile seeming shallow: “I’d like to hear the reason too.”