In the distance, Wei Wan watched with a face alternating between ashen and flushed. Her tent remained untouched. Originally, watching Pei Chuan set up his tent efficiently, she had planned to go ask for help after he finished. She hadn’t expected him to directly help Bei Yao set hers up.

Thinking about it, she felt unwilling no matter what. She abandoned her tent and walked directly over there.

Wei Wan wore a summer short skirt: “Pei Chuan.”

Pei Chuan’s hands didn’t stop moving, and he didn’t look up. The youth was covered in sweat—the summer’s lingering heat was unbearable.

Wei Wan said with difficulty: “I don’t know how to set up a tent. Can you help me?”

Pei Chuan finished securing the tent and said coldly: “No.”

Wei Wan looked at Bei Yao standing to the side, somewhat bewildered. Being directly refused, her face showed extreme embarrassment. Wei Wan almost instinctively blurted out: Why can you help Bei Yao but not help me?

However, she ultimately wasn’t completely brainless. Bei Yao’s face showed no secret delight or pleasure—she was also puzzled about why Pei Chuan was helping her. Moreover, the way Bei Yao looked at Pei Chuan was very pure. It wasn’t that kind of adoration a young girl has for a young man, but merely trust and familiarity.

At that moment, a crazy thought emerged in Wei Wan’s mind: Could Pei Chuan have a one-sided crush?

Wei Wan froze, shocked inside.

She looked at Pei Chuan setting up the tent indifferently, then at the exquisitely beautiful and innocent young girl beside him. The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. What’s more, that girl called Bei Yao was completely unaware of Pei Chuan’s affection!

After figuring this out, Wei Wan was furious to the point of exploding. She was also the type who had been doted on since childhood. The first time she wanted to please someone, that person was indifferent and cold to the extreme—that was one thing. But he had fallen for another girl, yet didn’t even dare confess, and that girl remained innocently oblivious!

What she couldn’t obtain might be effortless or even unwanted in another girl’s eyes.

Wei Wan’s expression was extremely ugly.

She said nothing more and went back. Zheng Hang and Jin Ziyang had finished setting up theirs together.

Jin Ziyang said: “I’m so damn awesome, I’m in love with myself.” He raised his arms in a cheer: “Sisters, who needs Young Master Jin’s help? Raise your little hands!”

One of the girls raised her hand graciously with a smile: “Thank you, Young Master Jin!”

“Don’t mention it!”

Wei Wan had originally wanted to raise her hand, but seeing someone beat her to it, she became even angrier.

Zheng Hang walked over and said: “I’ll help you.”

Wei Wan suppressed the anger in her heart: “Alright.”

She set up the tent together with Zheng Hang, staying very close. Wei Wan asked him: “Zheng Hang, did Pei Chuan know that girl called Bei Yao before?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what their relationship is?”

“Not too clear. I haven’t heard Brother Chuan mention it before.”

Someone he wouldn’t even mention?

A light flashed in Wei Wan’s eyes.

~

In the summer field, insects chirped from time to time. The ground beneath wasn’t soft. Pei Chuan pillowed his arm, the tent opened a crack. The night breeze blew the cloth curtain. Not far away came the sound of Jin Ziyang and the others playing poker.

Normally he would go. Tonight he didn’t.

The cloth curtain was lifted, and Pei Chuan looked up to see a delicate little face peeking in.

He met her clear almond eyes. Bei Yao said cheerfully: “Guess what I brought?”

He looked at her unparalleled beauty in the night and said in a low voice: “Can’t guess.”

The young girl produced a bottle of floral water from behind her back.

Bei Yao said: “There are so many mosquitoes here, and they’ll even drill into the tent. There’s no light inside the tent, so you can’t swat them. Luckily I brought floral water. Do you want to spray some?”

He didn’t say yes or no. His jet-black eyes looked at her: “Bei Yao.”

“Mm?”

“Back then.” His voice paused. “I deceived you. So much time has passed, and I’ve become what I am now. How can you still interact with me as if nothing happened?” Just how much did she not care about him to completely fail to store any of his matters in her memory?

The young girl looked at his eyes, seeming very puzzled. He heard her say softly: “But you’re Pei Chuan.” The Pei Chuan who grew up with me, who would willfully draw dividing lines, who would bring an extra bottle of water every summer, the youth who walked the road home with me countless times.

His fist suddenly clenched tight. Clearly knowing she didn’t mean it that way, his heart nearly uncontrollably constricted and then released.

His voice was low: “Give me the floral water.”

“Oh.”

Pei Chuan got up and casually sprayed a few times, then handed it back to her. The rich fragrance of the floral water spread through the narrow tent.

She said: “Pei Chuan, see you tomorrow!”

It wasn’t until the tent closed that he laughed softly. Because he was Pei Chuan—what a ridiculous and lovely reason. Yet she had never truly understood Pei Chuan.

~

Early the next morning, after all ten team members surrendered their phones, they were separately led randomly into the jungle. Bei Yao had a cluster of brilliantly blooming summer flowers beside her. She changed into long sleeves and walked into the jungle.

A broadcast from the trees said: “Students, the first day of survival is about to begin. Current survival count: 10 people. Eliminated: 0 people. Everyone hurry and find lunch, or you’ll go hungry.”

Bei Yao stared at that broadcast for a while. So the survival count would be announced.

Honestly, she felt this kind of survival summer camp was wealthy people with nothing better to do looking for entertainment—really unsuitable for her. However, since she was already here, she wasn’t someone who liked to give up easily. Bei Yao spread open the map and began looking for survival points marked on it.

A small light on the back of her collar blinked on and off. In the sunlight, its glow was extremely faint.

Bei Yao couldn’t see it herself.

On another side of the jungle, Pei Chuan frowned looking at his locator.

Bei Yao was very far from him.

They had almost been separated to opposite ends of the jungle. That small light blinked on and off, working hard to find a path.

Pei Chuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. Actually, this wasn’t auspicious. Even with random allocation, she and he were at the furthest distance. There had never been any fate between them, but so what?

Pei Chuan walked in Bei Yao’s direction.

The first person he encountered was Jin Ziyang. Jin Ziyang was completely confused, wandering around: “What the hell is this place? Didn’t I just come through here? Did I? Probably not.”

Pei Chuan’s face was expressionless. He went around him and walked on alone.

Because the jungle had tall trees, and the trees all looked the same, it was easy to get lost. He didn’t go looking for the so-called lunch supply point. He kept walking toward the small dot on the locator.

“Pei Chuan!” Wei Wan’s eyes lit up. She ran over from about ten meters to the side: “Wait for me.”

She ran until she was out of breath, but Pei Chuan’s steps didn’t stop.

Wei Wan finally caught up with him with great difficulty: “Huff… I can’t find the way. Following the resource points marked on the map, I just can’t find them. Pei Chuan, can I team up with you?”

“No.” His voice was indifferent. “Get lost.”

The smile on Wei Wan’s face disappeared too. She murmured: “You’re going to find Bei Yao, aren’t you? You like her, right?”

Pei Chuan’s steps paused: “None of your business.”

“But she doesn’t like you!” She said with some malicious pleasure, sharply: “I’m also a girl—I can tell! She doesn’t have those kinds of feelings for you at all.”

Pei Chuan suddenly turned around. Those black pupils were cold and angry.

Wei Wan saw him this angry for the first time. Although she was afraid in her heart, she also thought that what she said was fact. Let Pei Chuan humiliate her repeatedly! Now he should also taste the feeling of being rejected by the person he likes.

Wei Wan stepped back: “She doesn’t like you, but I really do like you! Can you look at me?”

Seeing that the cold anger in Pei Chuan’s eyes still hadn’t disappeared and he was unmoved by her confession, Wei Wan said: “You still don’t believe she doesn’t like you? You can directly ask her! Or I’ll go ask!”

“You dare!”

For that instant, Wei Wan felt tremendous anger from him.

Why would he be afraid of Bei Yao knowing?

Wei Wan’s mind turned: “Be with me, and I won’t tell her.”

Was this threatening him? Wei Wan had been doted on by Zheng Hang for a year, doted on until she forgot her own status, actually thinking she was something special.

Pei Chuan laughed. He walked close to her, the cold anger receding from his face, his smile carrying a trace of wildness: “You really like me?”

“Yes.”

He gripped her right wrist, his eyes and brows carrying a trace of unruliness and languidness.

This was the first time Pei Chuan had touched her. Wei Wan’s heart pounded wildly, made somewhat dizzy by the youth’s roguish and unrestrained temperament: “You… you agree?”

“Mm? What do you think?” He moved closer to her. Pei Chuan was tall, his features cold and stern.

Wei Wan’s face slowly turned red: “I didn’t mean to threaten you. I just… like you.”

He laughed lightly, with mockery: “What a pity. I feel disgusted the moment I see you. You dare try going to find her?”

Having said this, he suddenly threw off her right wrist. Wei Wan’s wrist hurt, but she could only watch helplessly as Pei Chuan left.

Wei Wan was furious: “That hurts.”

She lowered her head to look at her reddened wrist, feeling extremely aggrieved inside. But when her gaze moved up a moment later, Wei Wan froze.

Her help bracelet had gone dark…

Wei Wan nearly went crazy. What did the bracelet going dark mean! It meant that if she couldn’t find food and shelter, she couldn’t even find someone to save her life.

She frantically pressed those two buttons, but there was never any response.

Had Pei Chuan gone mad? How could he do this to her?

~

Pei Chuan didn’t encounter anyone else. After all, the jungle wasn’t small. He walked from early morning until afternoon before finding Bei Yao in front of a tent.

The sun had already set.

Following his method, she was setting up her own tent. Hearing footsteps, Bei Yao turned around alertly. She still had a piece of bread clamped in her small mouth.

Seeing Pei Chuan, joy first appeared in her almond eyes, then she awkwardly took down her bread.

“Pei Chuan, what a coincidence to actually meet you. I walked for so long and didn’t encounter a single person.”

“Mm, what a coincidence.”

The youth was covered in sweat, sweat soaking his black T-shirt, yet his gaze was extremely calm. The sixteen-year-old youth’s solid arms exposed outside were covered in sweat beads.

Pei Chuan’s T-shirt was a dark patch. The sun had gradually begun to set.

How far had he walked?

Bei Yao stopped setting up the tent. She looked at the silent youth and walked to his side: “Did you find food at noon?”

He looked at Bei Yao’s gentle, bright eyes and answered honestly: “No.” He hadn’t gone looking at all.

Bei Yao knew food was hard to find. She had also walked for a long time before finding food at noon, then walked for ages before finding a tent.

Afraid she wouldn’t find food at night, she had divided the noon food into two portions, eating the boxed meal and keeping the rest. After finding the tent, she immediately set to work setting it up—it would be too late after dark.

The youth made her heart ache terribly. Bei Yao crouched down, searched in her bag, and handed him a bottle of milk, a sausage, a box of crackers, and a small cake.

“Eat.”

“What about you?”

Her eyes carried a gentle smile: “I already ate. I’m not hungry.”

In fact, she hadn’t eaten dinner. However, didn’t she still have a bread she’d put her saliva on in her hand? She sat together with him, gnawing on the bread in her hand. Bei Yao was hungry and could eat anything.

Pei Chuan inserted the straw into the milk and handed it to Bei Yao.

He picked up the opened mineral water bottle beside her, unscrewed the cap, and gulped down two mouthfuls.

“Hey…” Bei Yao was dumbfounded. “That’s mine…”

“Mm?”

“Never mind.” Bei Yao deflated. She had wanted to say that was water she’d drunk from, but if she said it out loud, wouldn’t he be embarrassed?

Bei Yao said: “Eat quickly. After we eat, we’ll look around some more.”

Unfortunately, the supplies were far from as “abundant” as the teachers had said. They weren’t able to find a second tent.

Bei Yao was somewhat disappointed. Pei Chuan said: “You sleep. I can just make do for one night.”

Having said this, he directly lay down next to her tent, using his backpack as a pillow. His posture was extremely casual. Bei Yao had no choice. She thought about it: “You need to apply floral water.”

Pei Chuan said: “Mm.”

After applying floral water, he opened the eyes he had closed. The moonlight in the sky was gentle. Very close to him, the young girl’s voice was soft, glutinous, and sweet, like the wind in March. She said: “Pei Chuan, this isn’t fun at all. Don’t participate in this kind of thing anymore, okay? It’s quite dangerous.”

“Mm.”

“I’m a bit scared. Originally I planned to leave the jungle on the second or third day.” It was too tiring, and besides, washing up and such were also problems. In summer with sweat all over, getting all dirty. Although Bei Yao was a lucky baby who found water and shelter, she really couldn’t understand the appeal of this kind of survival summer camp.

“Don’t be afraid.” He said in a low voice. “I’ll take you to find the treasure.”

She laughed: “You can’t even find food.” And yet treasure.

He said: “Yes, thanks to you, Bei Yao.”

The youth’s voice was low. He had grown up, his Adam’s apple prominent, his voice already a man’s voice. Bei Yao inexplicably felt somewhat embarrassed. She stopped talking: “Good night.”

At night, a remote-controlled small aircraft brought new supplies for replacement.

The broadcast voice was crisp: “Student Tao Hanhan has given up survival. Survival count: 9 people. Eliminated: 1 person.”

The next morning, Bei Yao handed Pei Chuan a wet wipe.

She hadn’t slept well—the ground was uncomfortably hard, and her small face showed some fatigue. But Pei Chuan, who had slept in the open, showed no signs of exhaustion on his face. He had a very good constitution—no matter how tired he was, closing his eyes for a bit would restore him.

Pei Chuan carried her small bag and, as promised, took Bei Yao to find food.

His sense of direction was extremely good. In less than an hour, he found their breakfast.

He casually took a cold sandwich and a bottle of mineral water: “Stay here and don’t move. I’ll look around.”

Before long he came back: “There’s a small pond. Want to go wash up?”

Bei Yao was extremely happy. They didn’t walk far before there really was a small pond.

Bei Yao said: “Do you want to wash up?” He had sweated even more than her—under the sun it was practically turning into salt crystals.

Pei Chuan paused: “You wash first.”

The small pond had accumulated from rainwater, about two square meters. Bei Yao moved a small stone to sit on and cupped water with her hands to wash her face. Much of summer’s irritability receded. This water was cool and refreshing, extremely comfortable. She didn’t want to leave.

However, mindful of Pei Chuan, she still washed her face efficiently.

Pei Chuan casually wiped his face a couple times. Then he said: “It’s not noon yet. Play in the water for a while—we’ll leave later. No rush.”

Her voice was crisp and she was incredibly happy: “Okay.”

In the jungle, bird calls chirped. Summer cicadas sang incessantly. The sun rose.

Pei Chuan caught a cicada from a tree. When he returned, she had taken off her shoes. A pair of tender little feet were so white they glowed in the sunlight.

She played with the water.

Pei Chuan didn’t go over. He leaned against a tree, quietly watching her.

Wei Wan had said: I can tell! She doesn’t have those kinds of feelings for you at all.

He knew. That’s why he had once given up. He didn’t want her pity and sympathy. He wanted to stand together with her as a man.

He had even hated her.

Before the first year of high school.

He thought: Why did she have to appear in his life? Because of kindness, she pitied him, and then he would have to watch her fall in love and get married, and still smile and bless her?

He hated that she would never like him. So he had once given up. Someone as disgusting and dark as him—better to live in her memories, at least that was pure land.

Yet he had been tempted again.

He became a devil and came back to take what he wanted.

The summer sunlight was gentle, not scorching. The young girl had rolled her pant legs up to her knees. Her calves were evenly proportioned and slender, her toes pink and adorable.

His black eyes were deep and heavy. The cicada in his palm couldn’t take it anymore and made a sharp, drawn-out “Zhiii—” sound!

She turned around in the sunlight. His heartbeat pounded against his chest so hard it hurt. For a moment, he was speechless.

“For you.”

Pei Chuan opened his hand. The cicada was dead.

“…”

“…”