It was past nine when Cen Jin finally returned home with Li Wu.

After changing their shoes, just as the young man was about to head straight to his study sanctuary without looking back, Cen Jin hurriedly called out to him.

Li Wu turned around.

Cen Jin felt inexplicably anxious, her hand touching her shoulder bag: “Are you free the day after tomorrow?”

Li Wu thought for a moment and said, “I can be.”

“What do you mean ‘can be,'” Cen Jin was exasperated by this straightforward youth, “That day is your birthday.”

Li Wu froze for a moment, as if he had long since put this matter out of his mind: “Oh.”

Cen Jin was amazed at his indifferent attitude toward such an important day: “You haven’t forgotten your birthday, have you?”

Li Wu said, “I remember.”

Cen Jin asked, “Did you celebrate it before?”

“Yes.”

“How did you celebrate?”

Li Wu replied, “We would buy some meat and eat together with grandfather.”

Cen Jin felt like crying: “Besides that, do you have any other expectations? Like what gifts you want to receive, or what plans you’d like to make?”

The young man lowered his eyes, considering it like a problem of the century for a long while.

Cen Jin’s patience ran out. She pulled a blue ticket from her bag’s inner compartment: “Would you like to watch a soccer match?” She highlighted points that might spark his interest: “A football game. With Real Madrid that you were interested in before.”

But Li Wu seemed uninterested, merely glancing at what was in her hand, and asked: “Will I be watching alone?”

“Of course not,” how could she feel at ease letting him go alone to such a crowded public place: “I’ll go with you.”

Suddenly, light appeared in the young man’s eyes, though his attitude remained tentative: “Do you want to watch it?”

“Don’t ask about me,” Cen Jin was nearly driven to anger by his excessive caution: “It’s your birthday, if you want to watch it, we’ll go. If not, we’ll make other plans.”

“I want to watch it,” he blurted out.

Cen Jin was stunned for a moment, then held out the ticket: “Good.”

Li Wu didn’t take it, only saying: “You keep it,” worried that she might suddenly have something come up and he’d end up going alone, he improvised an excuse: “I’m afraid I’ll lose it.”

Cen Jin thought it made sense and put the ticket back in her bag.

After watching Li Wu enter the study and close the door, Cen Jin finally let out a breath.

Somehow, planning this child’s birthday made her more nervous than celebrating Wu Fu’s thirtieth birthday.

In previous years, she clearly understood Wu Fu’s interests and the items she purchased generally suited his tastes. But Li Wu was a person of few words, and even after living together for three months, she still couldn’t quite figure out what he liked.

The first step is always the hardest.

Once she figured it out this year, next year probably wouldn’t be so worrisome.

Cen Jin comforted herself with this thought as she went to her room to wash up and change.

After removing all the complex makeup, Cen Jin finally felt refreshed. She tied her hair in a loose bun and returned to the living room to message Chun Chang.

The woman’s tone was as excited as if breaking a record: Chang! I gave him the ticket!

Chun Chang: …You sound like a girl experiencing first love, plotting to ask a guy out.

Cen Jin scolded: Get lost, men are much easier to deal with. But how to get along with a younger brother, I’m indeed troubled, completely clueless.

Chun Chang: Your parents know you’ve accepted him as a brother?

Cen Jin replied: They don’t. But my dad will support me.

Chun Chang sighed: Well, okay. Lost a husband, and gained a brother, I guess you’ve managed a seamless transition. Seriously though, facing this young, fresh, beautiful, pure, and unrelated flesh every day, don’t you have even the slightest thought of taking advantage?

Cen Jin smirked: You think I’m like you? Always in heat.

Chun Chang righteously declared: I’m a woman with normal physiological needs, aren’t you?

These words were too inappropriate to hear. Cen Jin was tired of Chun Chang’s nonsense and closed the chat window.

She turned on the TV, flipping through several channels, all showing similar New Year’s Eve galas.

She selected one of them, turned the volume to a minimum, and started watching.

The program was quite engaging at first, and Cen Jin watched with interest, but later she grew tired, her thoughts becoming distant, hazy, and wandering… Her head tilted to one side as she fell into sweet slumber.

―

Li Wu had set an alarm for himself, so he could rush to give Cen Jin New Year’s greetings at the first moment.

With fifteen minutes left until midnight, he was already getting restless, checking his phone every thirty seconds on average, afraid of missing the perfect moment.

Finally, he simply canceled the 23:58 alarm, put his phone back in his pocket, and quickly walked out of the study.

Outside was dark and quiet, with only very faint human voices and singing.

They flowed from the TV at the end of the hallway, along with brilliantly changing lights.

As if by intuition, Li Wu unconsciously lightened and slowed his steps as he turned into the living room.

As he expected, Cen Jin was dozing on the sofa.

This time, she had wrapped herself tightly in a blanket, showing only her sleeping face, white and still, like thin snow on a winter night.

Li Wu stood still across the coffee table, watching her, his breathing barely audible.

After an unknown time, from the screen behind him came the excited reminder of the approaching new year.

Li Wu paid no attention.

The hosts shouted together, full of joy:

“10――”

“9――”

“8――”

Perhaps the noise was too loud; the woman’s eyelashes trembled slightly, showing signs of opening.

Li Wu snapped out of his trance and immediately turned around, ready to flee.

“7――”

“6――””5――”

After just a few steps, a sudden call came from behind: “Li Wu?”

The slightly hoarse voice was soft, tinged with confusion.

Like a soft needle, it effortlessly pinned the young man in place. His heart thundered as he realized he had been watching her for far too long.

“4――”

“3――”

“2――”

With the countdown echoing in her ears, Cen Jin was still a bit dazed, her hand on the blanket, somewhat unsure of where she was, just drowsily staring at that tall shadow in the darkness.

“1――!”

“Ah!” Cen Jin suddenly awoke, springing up, panicked into a flustered shout: “Li Wu, Happy New Year!”

At that moment, the screen was filled with golden snow, and everyone cheering.

Cen Jin secretly smacked her forehead but still didn’t make it… She put her hands in her pockets and leaned back into the sofa.

Although the woman’s words came out so fast they were barely distinguishable, Li Wu heard them crystal clear.

His ears grew warm, and his lips curved into a smile.

He controlled his emotions, turned around, and said earnestly: “Happy New Year, Sister.”

Cen Jin pressed her lips together for a moment, and wrinkled her nose in disappointment: “We both missed it.”

Li Wu made an “mm” sound.

Cen Jin guessed: “Did you come out wanting to countdown with me? But I fell asleep?”

He again: “Mm.”

Cen Jin regretted: “Next time, please wake me up.”

Li Wu said: “Okay.”

“Stop writing, come sit and watch some TV,” Cen Jin lifted the blanket, turned on the light, and went to the fridge to look for drinks.

With her upper body buried in the fridge, she asked: “Have you heard this saying? However you spend New Year’s, that’s how you’ll spend the whole year.”

Li Wu listened intently, his thoughts racing, quickly concluding. At New Year’s, he was by her side, face to face.

He wanted to smile again.

Cen Jin held two cans of soda, turning to face him: “One peach flavor, one grape flavor, which do you want?”

Li Wu looked at her: “Either is fine.”

Cen Jin was annoyed at his noncommittal answer, coldly quirking her lips: “Then drink them both.” Li Wu: “…”

She did throw both cans at him. Li Wu caught one, and the other came flying in his face.

He held one in each hand, staring at Little Purple and Little Pink for a few seconds, before placing them both back on the coffee table.

He even adjusted their angles, ensuring they stood parallel, with their logos aligned identically.

Cen Jin stood across from him, watching him meticulously arrange the two sodas, her eyes full of disbelief.

Unbelievable.

Such a kid.

The gala was nearly over, and Cen Jin picked up the remote and started changing channels. Li Wu also turned to watch the screen.

Knowing Li Wu’s “go with the flow” style, she didn’t ask anymore and chose her favorite movie channel, turned off the ceiling light, and sat back on the sofa hugging her legs to watch.

It was an old comedy, with a plot so vulgar it was funny. Cen Jin laughed a few times before remembering there was someone else sitting beside her.

Worried that Li Wu might look down on it, she glanced sideways to check his reaction.

The young man sat as if listening to a lecture, his eyes gleaming with an almost liquid radiance from concentration, and the light and shadow carved his nose bridge straight and steep.

Cen Jin discovered something different. She had always thought of Li Wu as just a little boy, but she had to admit, he looked more profound than his peers, with more depth to him. His youthful innocence had a kind of settled quality, like a lake with sand and stones at the bottom and sparkling light on top.

This perception was contradictory, yet harmonious.

Especially as it emanated from him.

Cen Jin couldn’t help but ask curiously: “Li Wu, do girls at Yi Zhong write you love letters?”

Li Wu thought he hadn’t heard clearly: “Huh?”

“Are there any girls at your school pursuing you?”

“No.” His denial came so quickly it seemed pre-prepared, his cheeks burning belatedly.

“Who are you kidding,” her gaze was piercing: “Just tell me, hasn’t our sibling relationship reached the level where we can share these things?”

The young man’s tone suddenly became more urgent: “Really, there aren’t any.”

Cen Jin hissed, changing her approach: “Actually, you’re quite good-looking, you know?”

This time Li Wu blushed from his face to his neck, saying nothing.

“Much better than when I first met you, you were still a short little thing then,” Cen Jin’s thoughts jumped, turning to reminisce. She took out her phone, scrolling back through her album while sighing: “Tomorrow you’ll be seventeen, a big boy now.”

Li Wu listened to her speak, his mind no longer able to process a single line from the movie.

“Found it, our photo from back then,” Cen Jin’s voice brightened: “I’ll send it to you.”

She enlarged the photo to admire it, but her finger suddenly paused, her expression dimming. After a moment, she said softly: “Wait.”

She opened a photo editing app and cropped out the man on the far left. The whole image suddenly lost 1/3, leaving only her and Li Wu.

Cen Jin hit save, switched to WeChat, and sent this incomplete photo to Li Wu.

Li Wu also took out his phone, and when he saw the full image, he froze, feeling a mix of emotions.

Cen Jin was still reminiscing about that photo, comparing their heights, teasing him: “You were short then, not even as tall as me.”

But Li Wu was looking at her, his eyes only on her.

The woman in the photo wore a faint smile, distant as if beyond the clouds. He had almost forgotten what she looked like that day because, for that entire day, he hadn’t looked at her or them. He knew clearly that many times, people like him were just a form of solace to them, a comfort, a vessel for manifesting kindness. They couldn’t understand what it was like, that kind of hope and despair of struggling to survive in the quagmire; that kind of hesitation, confusion, and anguish that had turned him into a lone beast licking its wounds.

When did he start looking at her?

At a certain moment, a certain image suddenly flashed through his mind.

That day, she descended from the heavens like a beam of light, illuminating the cramped house and his field of vision.

So it was that day, that glance, when he saw her for the second time.

He saw her clearly, and since then, could never erase her from his mind.

“Li Wu, let’s take another photo.” His thoughts were interrupted by Cen Jin. In his vision, the woman had already left the sofa and was running toward the study. She rummaged through drawers and found a long-unused Polaroid instant camera.

She pulled out the camera stand from the top of the bookshelf and brought it all out, setting it up properly by the coffee table.

Cen Jin lowered her head to adjust the camera, connecting it to her phone via Bluetooth: “Let’s take a photo together. To commemorate this New Year, 2020, both you and I are making a new start.”

Before Li Wu could react, she had already pulled his arm up and positioned him to stand right in front of the sofa: “Stand still, don’t move.”

Cen Jin ran back to the camera, carefully fixed it in place, and took two steps in three back to his side, stopping with a small gap between them.

She set the mode on her phone, and the camera began counting down.

She glanced at him sideways, seeing the young man still dazed, and fiercely prompted: “Smile for me!”

Li Wu was immediately amused, dimples appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Click.

The photo paper slid out, casually plucked by Cen Jin.

Seeing Li Wu’s intense curiosity, she handed the photo paper to him.

Li Wu’s heart was pounding as he looked at the product, but was met with a blank surface: “Why isn’t there anything?”

“It’ll appear in a moment.” Cen Jin stopped by the coffee table, picked up one of the sodas Li Wu had lined up, pulled the tab, and started drinking. After all that running around, moisture had appeared at her temples.

Li Wu sat back on the sofa, holding the photo paper in one hand, watching unblinkingly, patiently waiting for it to develop.

Soon, the woman and the young man slowly appeared.

In the photo, both their smiles were genuine. He pressed his lips together shyly, while she showed eight teeth, beautiful and radiant.