Time slipped by in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, I’d entered my senior year of high school.

Breaks at school shrank from once every two weeks to once a month.

The time I got to spend with them grew even shorter.

The one bright spot was that the doctor said Mom Zhou’s depression was nearly cured.

She rarely sat by the door staring blankly at the osmanthus tree anymore. She said the wind there was too strong and the sun too harsh, and she didn’t know what there was to look at. She also rarely got up in the middle of the night to hang wind chimes and dance beneath the tree anymore—she said she’d forgotten how the dance went.

She’d even stopped burying herself in books, choosing instead to go out and get some exercise like the doctor recommended, occasionally joining in on square dancing or going out shopping. Every time I came home, there’d be new clothes waiting for me that she’d bought.

As for Zhou Haiyan—I found myself both worrying he might come to like someone else, and worrying someone else might come to like him.

That daily sense of yearning and anticipation had become something I was almost addicted to.

One night, home for a break.

I sat beside Zhou Haiyan as usual, studying, while he gave a client a tattoo.

The only thing different this time was that the client was a very pretty woman with short hair.

She wore a black spaghetti-strap top, an ink-wash style iris tattoo covering half her collarbone, her exposed waist hinting at defined abs, her whole presence confident and striking.

And she clearly knew Zhou Haiyan well—there was something unmistakable in the way they talked.

I kept my head down, pretending to do homework, while my ears practically strained toward the ceiling trying to listen.

Zhou Haiyan asked her what design she wanted.

She pulled out her phone, swiped a couple times, and pointed at a male celebrity on the screen.

“Whatever, just tattoo someone handsome.”

“You sure?”

She quirked her red lips into a smile. “Or you could tattoo yourself, actually. I think you’re way better looking than any of them.”

I instinctively looked up.

Zhou Haiyan glanced at her, his face unreadable, saying neither yes nor no.

I quietly gripped my pen tighter.

“Silence means yes, doesn’t it?”

Suddenly, she looked over at me. “Little sister, do me a favor and take a photo of the two of us together.

“If we’re going to do it, might as well go big—just tattoo both of us on there.”

The pen slipped from my hand, clattering to the floor and rolling a couple of times.

Zhou Haiyan set down the design book, leaned back slightly, and said, unhurried, “You’d better actually be brave enough to go through with it.”

Her eyes flickered, and she scoffed. “What wouldn’t I be brave enough for? You’re the one who seems reluctant—afraid your girlfriend might get the wrong idea?

“Oh wait, I forgot, you don’t have a girlfriend. Guess it’s your crush you’re worried about, then.”

As she said it, she gave me a knowing smile.

That look in her eyes—I couldn’t shake the feeling she’d figured something out.

Seeing Zhou Haiyan ignore her.

She got up and sat right down next to me, draping an arm around my shoulders.

Warm, familiar, instantly friendly.

“Zhou Haiyan’s not exactly likable, but his little sister here is the exact opposite. With a face this cute, first-love material for sure, you must have plenty of boys chasing after you at school, huh? Water shouldn’t flow into other people’s fields—I’ve got a little brother your age. What do you say, little sister, want to think it over?”

“……”

I was just about to decline when I felt a light nudge against my arm.

Our eyes met, and my heart raced—I suddenly seemed to understand what she meant.

I pretended to be shy, lowering my head, saying nothing.

“The hell you’ll think it over.”

Zhou Haiyan let out a cold laugh, picked up his phone, and made a call, his tone irritated. “Where the hell are you? Do you still want your girlfriend or not?”

On the other end came Officer Fu’s breathless voice. “Don’t let her run off—I’m almost at the door.”

Me: “……”

So this pretty woman was Officer Fu’s girlfriend?

Had the two of them had a fight?

The woman beside me zipped up her jacket and rolled her eyes at Zhou Haiyan.

Less than a minute later, Officer Fu came charging in like a whirlwind.

He crouched down in front of the pretty woman.

Gently coaxing, he said, “Didn’t you say last time it hurt too much and you’d never get another tattoo?”

She said, expressionless, “What’s it to you?”

Officer Fu coaxed on, softly. “So what do you want to get this time, then?”

“Me—me and your girlfriend, in a photo together.”

Zhou Haiyan fanned the flames, clearly enjoying the chaos far too much.

Officer Fu froze for a moment, then nodded.

“Fine. Give me one too, then. Tattoo Little Sister Tang on me.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Zhou Haiyan’s face darkened instantly. “Is something wrong with you?”

……

Afterward, the pretty woman was hauled off bodily by Officer Fu, and as she passed me, she still didn’t miss the chance to whisper, “Little sister, you’ve got a shot. It’s a sure thing.”

“……”

My thoughts turned over, again and again.

Egged on by her, I found myself wanting to test the waters.

I crouched down, clutching my stomach, and looked up at Zhou Haiyan with teary eyes. “Brother, my stomach hurts again.”

My period really had come, but the cramps I faked.

Without a word, he turned to go make brown sugar water in the kitchen.

I shook my head. “Brother, I want to rest.”

He carried me back to my room, and, as he used to, propped himself up on one arm, half-lying beside me, his burning palm pressed against my stomach through the fabric of my pajamas.

The warmth spread through me like creeping vines, quickly wrapping around my whole body, my ears and neck flushing hot with it.

I buried my face in his chest and mumbled, muffled.

“Zhou Haiyan.”

“Hm?”

“I’m not going to fall in puppy love. Will you not either?” I couldn’t stop myself from biting down on my lip.

“Okay.” He agreed, surprisingly compliant.

But greedy for more, I took his concession as an opening to push further.

“Then—will you wait for me?”

He rested his chin on top of my head, and after a long moment, said quietly.

“Okay.”

Something had passed silently between us.

As if there were things that didn’t need to be said aloud, because both of us already knew.