Winter winds rose; snow of the year drifted down.

Near the end of the month, Xi City welcomed the first snowfall of winter amid a sweep of biting cold. Flakes fell in thick, sweeping waves, and the whole city was dressed in silver overnight — icicles, crystal-clear and glittering, hung from the eaves at every street corner and alleyway.

Lin Tao woke early and saw a vast white expanse beyond the window. Snow and white mist mingled and swirled together; pedestrians in the alley below came and went in a steady stream, all moving in a hurry.

She stood at the window for a little while, then pulled the curtains fully open and left a small crack in the window. Afterward, she gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom.

Once ready, Lin Tao stuffed all the books and practice papers scattered on her desk into her schoolbag in one sweep, casually fished two chocolates from the tin box on the desk, and pulled the door open — just as Jiang Yan, living across the hall, emerged from his room with his backpack already on.

“Morning.” Jiang Yan closed his door, stepped forward, and naturally took Lin Tao’s bag from her. “Let’s go — breakfast.”

Lin Tao smiled and linked her arm through his. “Sure.”

The internet café in the early morning was completely quiet. At the rows of computer desks in the main hall, people were draped over the counters in sleeping heaps. The few who hadn’t slept were bleary-eyed and yawning, barely holding on to consciousness.

At the reception counter, one of the two front-desk attendants was face-down on the desk, fast asleep; the other was on his phone playing a game. Hearing the sound of someone coming downstairs, he looked up, saw it was Jiang Yan and Lin Tao, exchanged a greeting, and dropped his head back down.

Lin Tao followed Jiang Yan out the door.

As soon as the door opened, a sharp gust of cold air hit them full in the face. Lin Tao quickly buried her entire face in her scarf and pulled the hood of her down jacket over her head, leaving only her eyes visible. Her voice came out muffled: “It’s so cold.”

Jiang Yan, by contrast, had no equipment beyond a decent down jacket — his pale, slender neck left completely exposed to the air.

Just looking at it made Lin Tao feel cold on the inside. She asked quietly, “Don’t you have a scarf?”

“No, I’m not cold.” Jiang Yan took her hand and tucked them both into the pocket of his jacket, his voice clear and warm. “What do you want to eat?”

“Let’s go to Old Granny Liang’s for wonton soup.”

Old Granny Liang had originally lived in Apricot Blossom Alley, same as Zhou Ming and Zhou Yue, the two siblings.

Shortly after Zhou Yue’s accident, Old Granny Liang had fallen gravely ill from overwhelming guilt, spending nearly half a month in the hospital.

The aunts and uncles from the alley had originally wanted to pool some money to send her to a care facility once she recovered — it would have proper staff to look after her around the clock, surely better than relying on neighbors who couldn’t always be watchful.

But Old Granny Liang couldn’t bear to leave Zhou Ming and Zhou Yue behind, so she turned down the neighbors’ well-meaning offer and decided to move back to the alley.

When she regained some of her strength, she set up a small wonton stall near the entrance of a nearby alley — partly for income, and partly to make it easier to take care of and keep an eye on Zhou Yue.

Most people in the alley knew the reason Old Granny Liang had opened the stall. There was no stopping her, so they could only make a point of giving her their business regularly.

That said, Old Granny Liang’s wontons — from the wrappers to the filling — were all made by hand, the flavors refined and delicious, and she always served generous portions. After being open this long, she had attracted quite a few loyal regulars.

By the time Lin Tao and Jiang Yan arrived, a small crowd had already gathered in front of the stall.

In this cold weather, business had been better than usual. The aunties and neighbors from the alley, worried that Old Granny Liang couldn’t manage alone, would stop by whenever they had free time to lend a hand.

Lin Tao and Jiang Yan were familiar faces to these elders, who would exchange a greeting whenever they ran into them.

“Auntie He.” Lin Tao smiled at the figure bustling about at the stall. “Two servings of the small chicken broth wontons, please.”

“Oh my goodness!” He Xiling recognized Lin Tao and Jiang Yan, set down her pot and utensils, and said, “You two should have said something before coming! Let Auntie get your order started right away.”

“It’s fine, we’re early today, no rush.” Lin Tao pointed to an empty table at the back. “We’ll go sit over there. Sorry to trouble you, Auntie.”

“Aiya, no trouble at all, no trouble! Hurry and go sit, I’ll have it ready for you in no time.”

“Thanks, Auntie.”

Lin Tao led Jiang Yan inside to sit.

Before long, He Xiling brought over two fresh bowls of wontons, smiling as she said, “Here, you two eat up.”

They chatted for a few minutes. Old Granny Liang came back from dropping Zhou Yue off at school and, seeing Lin Tao and Jiang Yan, came over to exchange a few words as well.

It wasn’t until some customers arrived that the two elders smiled their goodbyes and moved away.

Lin Tao took the soup spoon Jiang Yan handed her and watched the figures at the stall, a feeling of quiet wonder rising in her. “Looking at things now, it seems like everything is moving in a good direction.”

Thinking back to when Zhou Yue’s accident had first happened — everyone in Apricot Blossom Alley had worn the same expression of worry and grief. Who could have imagined things would look this way now?

“It’s all thanks to you, isn’t it, Classmate Jiang.” Lin Tao scooped the soft-yolk egg from her bowl and placed it in Jiang Yan’s. “A reward for you.”

Jiang Yan glanced up at her, his tone flat. “What does it have to do with me? Even without me, someone else would have come along. And besides —”

He paused and used his chopsticks to pick up the soft-yolk egg Lin Tao had just given him, and placed it back in her bowl. “Don’t give me things — I don’t really like that.”

“……” Lin Tao pressed her lips together. As if she’d been caught out in something, she said stubbornly, “Boyfriend, you have no heart.”

Jiang Yan smiled, and scooped up one of the glistening little wontons, bringing it to his lips. Steam rose softly, warmly. “Of course I have no heart.”

“?”

The white porcelain spoon touched against his reddened lips — a sharp contrast of colors. He bit into the wonton; broth glinted on his lips, rich with reflected light.

Jiang Yan set down the spoon, chewed two or three times and swallowed, then looked up and met her questioning gaze. His lips parted slowly, each word spoken clearly.

“My heart — isn’t it all yours already.”

Breakfast had eaten up quite a bit of time. Lin Tao and Jiang Yan hurried as fast as they could, but by the time they reached the school gate, it had already closed.

Blackie Li Kun was standing at the school gate with the class register tucked under one arm, hands clasped behind his back. A handful of late-arriving students were already lined up in front of him.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Jiang Yan and Lin Tao standing a short distance away. He cleared his throat, let a few seconds build, and then bellowed, “You two — what are you standing there for? Do you think I’m blind and can’t see you?!”

“……”

Lin Tao found it hard to understand. “How does Blackie manage to have such a booming voice every single day? I feel like once he opens his mouth, you can hear him for miles around.”

Jiang Yan smiled. “Maybe in his past life he was a horn gourd.”

“……”

In the end, the group of latecomers naturally received a thorough scolding and a mandatory eight-hundred-word written self-criticism before the matter was considered closed.

In the middle of the dressing-down, Li Kun singled out Jiang Yan separately. “This Jiang Yan here is in his third year of high school, a senior to most of you. The self-criticisms he’s written for me over the years could be bound into a book.”

“Pfft.” Someone nearby failed to suppress a laugh.

Jiang Yan turned to look. The boy who had laughed immediately pressed his lips together and pretended nothing had happened.

The school tyrant was still the school tyrant — when he struck, not even a crow made a sound.

Lin Tao, standing to one side, also couldn’t hold back a laugh.

Li Kun’s sharp eye caught Lin Tao quietly laughing. He pointed at her with the class register and blurted out, “And you’re laughing! Why don’t you manage him a little better?!”

“?”

I… what?

Lin Tao was utterly stunned by Li Kun’s move.

The others around her wore expressions that could only be described as “unspeakable” and “oh, so it’s actually confirmed.”

Li Kun seemed to sense, after saying it, that something wasn’t quite right. He waved his hand in a vague gesture and bellowed, “Alright, alright, everyone disperse — have your self-criticisms turned in to my office before noon!”

The group scattered in an instant.

Li Kun walked off, hands clasped behind his back, into the nearby security booth.

Lin Tao looked at Jiang Yan — wearing the same expression of stunned shock as hers — and felt that it was rather funny. “Blackie — did he just say something momentous?”

“……”

Sure enough, before the two of them had even made it to the classroom, the long-running post on Tenth Middle School’s forum — [The School Tyrant’s Secret Crush Thread], which had never stopped updating — had a new entry:

Passerby A: Holy cow!! CONFIRMED!! Who else can top this?! Who?!!!!

Within only a few minutes, a flood of comments demanding explanations poured in below:

Passerby A: Hold on, I’m also in shock — let me piece this together.

Passerby B: Sure, we’ll wait. [Behaved.jpg]

Passerby A: First, to be clear — I’m in second year. I’ve been following this thread since it started last year. If you don’t believe me, look at the tag after my username. I’ve been a loyal follower from day one. Believe what you will.

Passerby A: I was a bit late coming to school this morning because of the snow. At the school gate I got caught by Teacher Li. The school tyrant and Lin Seatmate were also late for some reason. A bunch of us were late altogether. Teacher Li was lecturing us. Then he suddenly called out the school tyrant, saying all the self-criticisms the school tyrant had written for him over the years could be bound into a book.

Passerby A: Of course we all thought it was funny — someone actually laughed out loud. One of the boys was probably laughing too hard, because the school tyrant heard it — turned around — don’t know if it was a warning or what, but he just looked at the boy!! Then!! Lin Seatmate was laughing too!!

Passerby A: Everyone!! Here comes the important part!!

Passerby A: After Teacher Li Kun saw Lin Seatmate laughing!! He said, right then and there — you’re laughing?! Why don’t you manage him a little better?!

Passerby A: Oh my god!! Is that not absolute confirmation?!!!

As soon as the post updated, a massive wave of comments flooded in:

— Girl, you’re posting under your real name —

— Honestly, I don’t even think the confirmation matters anymore. I heard from my classmate in Class 18 that they’ve been together for a while now — just keeping it quiet —

— Excuse me??? For someone who claims to be low-key, that’s… quite a loose definition of the word —

— Totally confirmed —

— But doesn’t the school do anything about student relationships? And openly acknowledging it? —

— I don’t think there’s really a need? You probably don’t know — the school tyrant entered the national physics competition this year and is very likely to get a guaranteed admission. And Lin Seatmate is a fixture in the top ranks of the year group. Those two being together has no impact at all — in the teachers’ eyes they’re probably the perfect match, made for each other —

— ……Being good at studying really does make a difference —

— Those who got broken up by Blackie back a few years ago have only themselves to blame for not studying well [laughing and crying.jpg] —

— Not really though — some of the good students got publicly dealt with too. Wasn’t there a top-student couple in third year a while back who got made an example of? —

— That couple brought it on themselves! The girl turned up pregnant at a health check before the college entrance exam. That’s a much bigger problem than just a student relationship —

— Speaking as a Class 18 student — a classmate of the school tyrant and Lin Seatmate — let me say one thing: those two are genuinely different from other student couples. They really are low-key. Even in class there are no overly intimate gestures. Most importantly, Lin Seatmate’s physics isn’t great, and the school tyrant keeps pulling her into study sessions. These two are genuinely just trying to have a decent relationship while studying their hardest —

— Goodness… I’m envious —

— What kind of fairy tale romance is this…… —

— Just one last thing — they are dating, and all your evidence is real. Just don’t over-read into it, and don’t drag the actual people involved into it. I’d advise the original poster to delete the thread —

— Original poster?? Right — hasn’t the original poster been absent for ages? —

— It seems like the original poster disappeared right after making the post……

— Original poster! Calling the original poster! Come out!

……

The original poster, having furtively read through every single update in the classroom, guiltily pocketed her phone.

After much deliberation, Lin Tao nudged Jiang Yan’s arm and leaned in close, lowering her voice. “Hey — do you want to delete that forum thread?”

Honestly, Lin Tao had been wanting to quietly delete the thread ever since she saw the comment count climbing ever higher. But the problem was: as far as Jiang Yan knew, he believed the thread had been posted by him.

Lin Tao was worried that if she deleted it herself, it might give something away. If Jiang Yan found out she was the one who’d made the post, that would be horribly awkward.

So after careful consideration, Lin Tao decided to ask him first — as long as he agreed, she’d delete it in an instant.

That would be the correct course of events.

What Lin Tao couldn’t have anticipated was that this whole situation had long since taken a turn in a direction she never could have imagined.

“Hmm?” Jiang Yan looked down at her, a meaningful smile forming on his face. “Why the sudden interest in having me delete the thread?”

“I just checked the forum — the comment count has gotten really high. Quite a few people from our class are in there. Plus what Blackie said this morning is already been included, and everyone’s talking about the student-relationship thing. I feel like the impact isn’t great.”

Jiang Yan made a sound of acknowledgment, deliberately drawing it out, his tone unhurried. “Mm, I’ll think about it.”

“What’s there to think about — if you want to delete it, you could just—” Lin Tao stopped abruptly and quickly caught herself. “Wait — I mean, can’t you just delete it right now?”

Jiang Yan curved the corner of his lips, his manner casual and unhurried. “Do you really think I can just delete it right now?”

“……” Lin Tao felt a jolt of alarm. Involuntarily swallowing, she probed carefully, “What do you mean by that?”

“What else could I mean?” Jiang Yan could barely hold back his laughter. He pressed his tongue against his cheek, his expression full of unreadable suggestion, and said, “It’s just — I think the thread is…”

He paused on purpose.

Lin Tao felt as though her entire heart were in his grip. Her brow instinctively creased, her eyes filled with a panic she couldn’t hide.

Jiang Yan watched her fidget like a wound-up spring — wanting to laugh but not quite daring to — and pressed his lips together, working his cheek a little, barely suppressing it before continuing: “I just think the thread is a kind of memento of you and me being together. It feels meaningful. I don’t want to just casually delete it.”

Hearing that, Lin Tao let out a long, slow breath of relief. She had nothing more to say on the subject, and simply nodded along. “That’s fair — the thread really is meaningful. If you don’t want to delete it, then don’t.”

“Right.” Jiang Yan curved his lips and looked away.

Lin Tao, who had found him oddly off from the start, found him even more oddly off now. She couldn’t help asking, “Why do you keep laughing today?”

“No reason.”

Jiang Yan shook his head. But within a few more seconds — as though struck by something too funny to contain — he could no longer hold it in, and burst out laughing.

“……”

Lin Tao still wanted to ask what exactly was so funny, but Jiang Yan wasn’t giving her the chance.

He looked exactly like someone in a martial-arts drama who’d just had his laughter acupoint struck — he collapsed onto the desk, unable to stop, as if he was making up for every laugh he’d missed in the past decade or so.

Hu Hanghang, walking in from outside the classroom and catching sight of Jiang Yan laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking, stopped in his tracks, muttered to himself: “My brother laughing like this — don’t tell me he made it to third base last night?”

“……”