Zhuo Yingjing was completely stunned. Her eyes uncontrollably moved to look at the young man’s legs.

For a brief moment, she thought Pei Chuan was playing a prank, like all those teenage boys in their early teens who enjoyed teasing girls.

“You think I’m joking?” Pei Chuan lowered his voice, his tone cold and mocking. “My calves were amputated when I was four years old. Now I only have two stumps fitted with prosthetic legs. Want to take a look?”

The sounds of classmates playing and fooling around at the back of the classroom suddenly felt distant. Zhuo Yingjing was pressed by this oppressive and lightly sarcastic questioning, her face turning deathly pale as she retreated a step. She didn’t dare even glance at Pei Chuan, stumbling as she ran to the storage area at the back of the classroom to get a cloth.

Zhuo Yingjing’s hands trembled as she wiped the windows. Standing outside on the balcony, she watched Pei Chuan through the transparent glass.

The young boy bent over, holding a mop and mopping the floor along with everyone else.

Dust filled the air in the classroom. His face was expressionless, unlike the other students who chatted and played while sweeping. He repeated the monotonous motions, quiet and silent, as if those extreme and malicious words just now hadn’t come from him but were her own delusion. Zhuo Yingjing found it absurd and terrifying.

Her face pale, she finished wiping the windows. Finally, she couldn’t resist trying to verify whether this was a terrible joke.

Zhuo Yingjing grabbed a female classmate returning from the bathroom and asked in a low voice, “Do you know about our classmate Pei Chuan’s legs…”

The girl looked at Zhuo Yingjing with surprise, remembering that Zhuo Yingjing was Pei Chuan’s new deskmate. The girl’s gaze became uncomfortable for two seconds, looking at Zhuo Yingjing with what seemed like sympathy mixed with a sigh, then similarly lowered her voice and said, “Him? He doesn’t have calves. I heard he has prosthetic limbs fitted. If you look carefully at his walking posture, it’s different from normal people.”

Zhuo Yingjing felt thunderstruck. She never imagined that the indifferent and aloof boy had such a terrifying disability.

~

On the road out of the middle school campus was a basketball court. As Pei Chuan walked past carrying his backpack, a basketball flew directly toward him.

He raised his hand and steadily caught the ball that had nearly hit him.

The boys over there broke out in a cold sweat. A boy retrieving the ball said, “Sorry, sorry! We didn’t do it on purpose. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Your reflexes are really fast, and your skills are good too. Play basketball with us sometime.”

This was the first time Pei Chuan had heard such praise. He found it ironic and funny. He didn’t respond, just walked away from the basketball court carrying his backpack.

Pei Chuan was very unhappy.

Actually, he hadn’t expected that the thing he was most sensitive about would one day be spoken by himself in such an extreme way. However, Pei Chuan was calmer than he had imagined. He could almost guess Zhuo Yingjing’s mental journey—she would seek confirmation from other classmates, then gradually distance herself from him.

If it was serious…

If it was serious, she would ask the teacher to change desk partners.

Winding around the twisting little path, there were a few pomegranate flowers. They had already passed their blooming season, showing signs of withering decline in autumn.

Deep among the flowers, Bei Yao sat on a rock hugging her knees, her backpack held in her arms.

She wore a red and white school uniform. As soon as she saw Pei Chuan passing by, she quickly followed him.

“Pei Chuan.” She hugged her backpack. “I didn’t understand the last math problem Teacher Qin explained today. Do you know how to do it?”

He remained silent, eyes looking straight ahead: “No.”

“Then when I understand it at home, can I explain it to you?”

“No need.”

“Are you angry?”

“No.”

She bit her lip, couldn’t help but laugh: “Pei Chuan, you could change your name to ‘Pei Not Happy.'”

Pei Chuan was extremely annoyed. He couldn’t even explain what he was angry about, and in her eyes it probably seemed childish and without reason. “Pei Not Happy” kept a cold face, his pitch-black eyes glancing at her once.

Bei Yao said, “Don’t be unhappy. I’ll give you my nine-ring puzzle, okay?”

She lowered her head and took out an exquisite nine-ring puzzle from her backpack. Bei Licai had specially bought this for her. Bei Yao hadn’t had the heart to play with it yet—it was supposedly very difficult to solve.

She smiled and shook the nine-ring puzzle, making it jingle.

Pei Chuan took it with a cold face. Under her astonished gaze, he solved it ring by ring. The entire nine-ring puzzle was solved in no more than two minutes.

He stuffed it back into her hand and walked forward without a word.

Bei Yao held the neatly solved nine-ring puzzle, stunned for a moment before following him again. The autumn wind blew the young man’s black hair. As she walked, she lowered her head and scrambled the nine-ring puzzle.

Bei Yao tried to solve it herself but couldn’t figure it out.

Bei Yao wasn’t angry at his coldness. Walking beside him, she hummed a song softly. She was singing from Joey Yung’s new 2003 album “My Pride.”

“Pride in your eyes

Rewriting the second half of my life for me…”

Bei Yao’s voice was light and soft. She sang beautifully.

Pei Chuan slowed his pace, walking shoulder to shoulder with her. The girl’s steps were light and quick. Though it was autumn, she brought the gentleness and vitality of spring.

“Pei Chuan, do you think the Chinese teacher is pretty?”

Pei Chuan paused: “Not pretty.”

“Oh.” Bei Yao was somewhat disappointed. The Chinese teacher was a pure and charming woman. In Bei Yao’s memory, when she slimmed down in the second year of middle school, she had roughly this kind of temperament. So Pei Chuan must also think she wouldn’t be pretty in the future.

“Pei Chuan, let’s make up.”

He pressed his lips together.

“Grandma Zhou’s new little dog keeps barking when it sees me. I’ve been scared going home these past few days.”

Pei Chuan suddenly turned around, looking down at her. He enunciated each word: “So, my purpose is to chase away dogs for you.”

Her almond eyes reflected his current appearance, then those eyes slowly curved up, like the most moving peach blossom color that once filled the skies and fields: “No, when you’re here I’m not afraid. If it rushes over, I’ll protect you.”

The balloon swelling in his heart seemed to be pricked by a needle, suddenly deflating.

When they got home, she asked him hesitantly, “Pei Chuan, have we made up?”

He said, “Shut up. Go home.”

Bei Yao understood his meaning and smiled happily.

~

Pei Chuan felt he was particularly spineless. He clearly hadn’t planned to forgive Bei Yao so easily, but somehow they had made up again for no reason.

Zhuo Yingjing went to the teacher asking to change seats. She stammered, not daring to state the reason, so in the end the seat change didn’t happen.

In the spring of the second semester of first year, a big event occurred for the children in the neighborhood—Fang Mingjun’s family bought a house in the city center, and after the New Year the whole family would be moving out of the neighborhood. This was exactly the same as in Bei Yao’s memory. Fang Mingjun’s family would gradually become wealthy because in a couple of years housing prices would rise.

A large group of teenagers reluctantly watched Fang Mingjun get on a motorcycle. Bei Yao also went to see her off.

Bei Yao in first year wasn’t very tall yet and could only stand at the back of the crowd. She had saved a month’s worth of allowance to buy Fang Mingjun a little rabbit coin purse.

The proud Fang Mingjun accepted everyone’s gifts, then raised her chin and nodded.

Pei Chuan watched coldly from a distance, seeming completely out of place with them. Pei Chuan knew Bei Yao had been saving her allowance—she hadn’t bought a single candy or any bottle of drink for an entire month.

Bei Yao waved her hand vigorously: “Minmin, you have to come back and visit!”

Fang Mingjun looked at the boys and girls behind her. Besides the full joy of moving to a new home in her heart, she finally felt a bit of melancholy. She squeezed the coin purse, looking at Bei Yao with complex emotions. Fang Mingjun had competed with Bei Yao for over ten years. She didn’t like Bei Yao, but she couldn’t bring herself to dislike her either.

Bei Yao was like a gentle little moon, without a trace of sharp edges.

However, looking at Bei Yao’s delicate features that still carried baby fat, Fang Mingjun almost instinctively felt a sense of crisis rising in her heart.

The current Bei Yao looked like a cute child, but what if one day she became a beautiful young woman? Then she would lose the only thing she had over Bei Yao.

“It’s okay, I’ll still be attending the same school as you all.” Fang Mingjun waved her hand and left on the vehicle.

In late spring, Chen Hu and Li Da were digging out an ant nest. Pei Chuan passed by the corner on his way downstairs to throw out garbage.

Li Da said with a grin, “Chen Hu, you’ve been unhappy these past few days. Is it because Fang Mingjun left?”

“No.”

“Stop lying to me. You like her, don’t you?”

Chen Hu’s ears turned red: “Bull-bullshit, no I don’t.”

“If you like her, go tell her, or walk her home after school.”

Chen Hu said sullenly, “I want to, but my cousin said ‘distance creates beauty.’ Girls don’t like clingy boys. If you get too close, they’ll treat you like a brother. When I become tall and handsome, I’ll go find Minmin.”

Pei Chuan gripped the plastic bag tightly. After they left, he walked out and threw away the garbage.

The next day after school, Bei Yao discovered that Pei Chuan, with whom she had made up, didn’t wait for her and left by himself.

Bei Yao had been feeling a strong sense of crisis recently, because in her memory, Pei Chuan’s parents had already divorced during middle school, but now it seemed they hadn’t yet.

The second year of middle school was approaching, and many major events would happen in the second year.

For instance, Pei Chuan’s personality would change dramatically.

For instance, Fang Mingjun’s appearance would begin to change, and Hong Kong star Chang Xue would fall from grace due to being involved in someone else’s family.

And Bei Yao… she finally had memories of her first year of high school.

She looked at her fair and soft little face in the mirror.

In her memory, after this winter… she would begin to transform like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon.

The memories were too vague and distant. Bei Yao even doubted—would she really become the stunning school flower of the high school division?