The night of Cen Jin’s 29th birthday became an unforgettable moment in her life, though seemingly uneventful on the surface.

Even though both she and Li Wu kept silent about what happened in the following days, those few minutes in the bathroom, when she fell into the youth’s eyes, remained weightless and surreal for Cen Jin. It felt like sinking into warm water, wave after wave washing over her head—this kind of romantic stirring, whenever she recalled it, always created ripples in her heart.

Cen Jin admitted to herself that she was somewhat moved.

But the origin of these feelings wasn’t pure. She hadn’t been in such proximity to a man for so long that she’d grown barren and desolate, lacking the spark of attraction or the gentle nurturing of spring rain.

Yet it was also because of this night that Cen Jin lost her confidence, realizing she couldn’t maintain proper boundaries.

Worried about more potentially inflammatory situations, Cen Jin decided to minimize her time alone with Li Wu.

Fortunately, the young man had started learning to drive and spent most of his day away from home. She could also walk and take care of herself now, gradually returning to work, no longer idle with wandering thoughts all day.

Li Wu’s reaction matched hers—he stopped disturbing her frequently, no longer popping into her room for any and every reason like before.

Cen Jin guessed that her rejection that night had hurt him, along with her intentional and unintentional distancing lately. Li Wu had always been a sensitive boy, keenly aware of changes in his environment and responding most appropriately.

Their dynamic reverted to that of their middle school weekends—they would talk, but both carefully avoided intimate glances and touches.

Pandora’s box had barely cracked open before their relationship, after reaching a peak, subsided—or rather, was deliberately sealed shut.

Cen Jin wasn’t skilled at ambiguous relationships, and neither was Li Wu.

They were both hard-shelled creatures with strong self-defense mechanisms, only trusting in the sufficiently gentle yet perilous intimacy of full vulnerability.

The sudden progression in their relationship had backfired—unexpected, yet somehow predictable.

Regardless, Cen Jin felt ashamed. She had spoken big words first and lost composure first; she felt sorry.

After passing his Level 3 driving test, Li Wu was approaching the start of university. Unable to maintain his presence before Cen Jin, he grew anxious to the point of losing sleep and appetite.

The night before leaving for university, he couldn’t sit still and sent her a WeChat message, asking with unusual directness: “Do you still let me like you?”

When she received the message, Cen Jin’s heart caught, then filled with tender pain: “Our one-year agreement hasn’t ended yet.”

They both still felt awkward about that night: “I didn’t mean to that night on your birthday.”

Cen Jin stared at these words for a long time before responding frankly: “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not angry about it.”

Li Wu said: “But I feel like you don’t want to talk to me anymore.”

Cen Jin apologized: “I just don’t know how to handle it properly. I’m sorry.”

Li Wu asked: “You still see me as a little brother, right?”

Cen Jin sighed: “I promised you, not just as a little brother.”

The youth wasn’t foolish. Within seconds, he pointed out mercilessly: “But as soon as there’s any hint of crossing boundaries, you withdraw.”

Cen Jin was moved and replied honestly: “Yes, I’m a bit like a snail.”

Li Wu asked: “Is it just with me, or are you like this with all men?”

Cen Jin didn’t hide anything: “I don’t know.”

After all, Li Wu was the only man she’d had more than a normal relationship with since her divorce.

But this answer made Li Wu slightly agitated: “You still think I’m too young, don’t you?”

Cen Jin thought for a while, mind blank: “Maybe.”

The chat interface fell silent for a long time.

The youth was utterly frustrated: “Cen Jin, no one could be more hurtful than you, giving me a chance then pushing me away. This summer, I’ve been nothing but a joke.”

Suddenly hearing him call her full name, Cen Jin’s heart tightened: “Without you this vacation, I might have fallen into depression.”

Li Wu asked: “So I was only valuable to you this summer?”

Cen Jin denied: “It’s not like that.”

He seemed to completely ignore her reply, as if he’d been holding back for a century, venting one message after another in the chat box: “I’m starting university, I can’t do anything about it, won’t be able to see you anymore, and you’ll be taken away by someone else.”

The youth’s sudden emotions were like a midsummer downpour, too intense and suffocating. Cen Jin was at a loss, only able to try to comfort him: “I’m not some object that can be taken away, and you don’t belong to me either. You’re just having pre-university anxiety. Please calm down?”

Li Wu stopped responding.

Looking at the dead silence of the WeChat interface, Cen Jin grew restless. She had wanted to let Li Wu calm down on his own, but she discovered that this self-restraint only made her more anxious. After glancing at the wall facing Li Wu’s room for the fifth time, Cen Jin got out of bed, grabbed her crutches, and slowly made her way to his door.

She knocked once, and without waiting for a response, said softly, “It’s me.”

Hurried footsteps immediately came from inside, and the door quickly opened. She met his deep black eyes, like a patch of starry night that one could easily lose their footing in.

Seeing her condition, the youth’s seemingly gloomy expression instantly softened, like a crumpled paper smoothing out. He moved closer to her, giving her no chance to react before his arms went under her armpits, lifting her off the ground.

Bang! The crutches crashed directly onto the floor, extremely loud in the quiet night.

“What are you doing?” Suddenly lifted off her feet, Cen Jin let out a startled gasp.

“Watching you walk like that hurts,” the youth replied in a muffled voice, then made no further movement, just setting her down to sit on his bed before going back to retrieve the crutches, grumbling: “Been hurting for a month.”

Cen Jin felt a lump in her throat: “I’m recovering very well, I’ll be able to walk normally in three months, back to being a normal person.”

Li Wu sat down beside her, elbows resting on his legs, saying nothing and not looking at her, just staring at the floor, or his shoes.

Cen Jin was all too familiar with his withdrawn state. She couldn’t help but laugh, looking around for conversation topics.

She noticed the suitcase by the wall and asked, “Got everything packed?”

Li Wu: “Mm.”

Cen Jin turned to look at him, her expression gentle: “College student, can you stop sulking? Why are you regressing? You weren’t like this before.”

Li Wu’s Adam’s apple bobbed: “I want to go back to how I was before too.”

Cen Jin asked: “How were you before?”

“Before you knew I liked you when I just liked you without expecting anything in return.”

Cen Jin’s eyelashes lifted slightly: “Oh? So now you want something in return?”

“Yes,” he looked at her with burning eyes: “I want you to like me too.”

He was too honest, and Cen Jin laughed: “If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t even talk to you.”

Li Wu turned his head away, his voice muffled: “Not the sister-brother kind of like.”

Cen Jin stared at his thick black hair, full of vitality at the back of his head, somewhat amused: “What’s the rush? I’m almost thirty, and I’m not rushing. Why are you, an eighteen-year-old, in such a hurry?”

Li Wu’s shoulders tensed: “I’m afraid once I go to university and I’m not by your side, you’ll get a boyfriend.”

“We agreed that day,” Cen Jin carefully watched his expression: “Just this one year, we’ll continue as we are, and you’ll go experience your new environment, and new relationships. Don’t be so anxious.”

Li Wu took a deep breath, turning to look at her: “You’re not worried at all about whether I might like other girls in university. You don’t care at all.”

Cen Jin was stunned: “That’s not it. It’s just that you haven’t met other girls yet. If you find someone you like, I’ll be happy for you.”

“That won’t happen,” Li Wu faced forward, refusing to let the woman read his emotions: “And I don’t want your blessings.”

Just thinking about the possibility that Cen Jin might be with someone else during this year made him feel sick with jealousy to the point of madness.

Cen Jin also leaned forward, trying to find his sulking face, wanting to pinch it, and commented: “Little brat.”

Li Wu said coldly: “A little brat couldn’t carry you.”

He suddenly turned back, his pupils bright as stars with testing: “What would have happened if I had kissed you that day?”

Cen Jin froze slightly, shaking her head: “I don’t know either.”

Li Wu sat up straight, his eyes filling with sadness: “You never even considered that possibility.”

“In that situation, yes,” because she cared, Cen Jin had to be honest with him: “Or we could have developed a relationship without emotional involvement, would you want that? You’d be the one losing out. Calm down, Li Wu.”

Li Wu clasped his hands together as if having nowhere to direct his energy: “I can’t calm down.”

“You can’t calm down because I’m right here beside you now, and you have nothing else to do,” Cen Jin stared at him intently, suddenly lost in thought, as if seeing through him to reflect on herself. What was she recalling? Her eighteen-year-old self? What was she like then? Was she also this passionate and fearless, with only one person filling her thoughts?: “Once you’re in university, busy with coursework and having your social circle, I won’t occupy your thoughts anymore. You might even find it annoying when I try to talk to you.”

He seemed to only hear the last part: “You’ll still talk to me?”

Cen Jin replied: “Of course.”

He said: “I’ll talk to you every day.”

Cen Jin nodded: “Welcome, but I can’t guarantee instant replies. Once I go back to work, I’ll be busy too, just like before.”

Li Wu said: “I know, but I’ll still message you.”

His serious expression while emphasizing and promising was too cute. Cen Jin chuckled: “I’ll go with my dad tomorrow to send you to university.”

Li Wu stared at her, “You seem like you’re trying to get rid of me.”

“Bullshit,” Cen Jin nearly picked up her crutch to hit him: “I can barely walk properly, yet I’m personally seeing you off to university. Is this how you get rid of someone?”

Li Wu responded without hesitation: “I can carry you.”

“What do you want your roommates to think? And my dad will be right there.”

“I don’t care.”

“I’m telling you you’re growing backwards. How are you any different from a ten-year-old now?”

Li Wu pressed his lips together, “Being mature and steady doesn’t help at all. You’re still willing to talk to me more when I’m like this. This is the first time this summer you’ve come to my room.”

“Huh,” Cen Jin widened her eyes in feigned amazement: “So now you’ve got me figured out, huh? Aren’t you afraid of going too far?”

Li Wu fell silent, just gazing at her deeply: “Sister.”

Cen Jin responded with a “Hmm?”: “Not calling me Cen Jin anymore? Weren’t you quite bold in WeChat just now?”

His tone was utterly serious: “Put me in first position, can you?”

He knew he couldn’t stop Cen Jin from meeting and being known by more people—after all, she was so excellent and wonderful. He could only reserve his seat first, becoming option “A” among her choices. Not necessarily the correct answer, but an irreproachable one. When she made her choice, she would inevitably see him, see that he remained there, unwavering.

Cen Jin laughed: “First position? Are you inheriting some throne?”

Li Wu didn’t answer, just pressed: “Will you?”

Cen Jin found herself compromising and yielding step by step, feeling surprised but already giving her word, “Alright—I promise you, okay?”

Like sunshine after rain, the youth finally smiled: “Okay.”

Cen Jin settled her heart: “Get some rest early, you need to get up early tomorrow.”

When didn’t he get up early? Li Wu stood up, “I’ll take you back to your room.”

Just as Cen Jin was about to decline politely, she heard him say “I won’t be able to carry you after tomorrow,” and the arm that was reaching for the crutches leaning against the bedside table suddenly moved back, extending toward Li Wu: “Carry me then.”

Li Wu looked down at her: “Which way do you want to be carried? Like before, or like tonight?”

Cen Jin recalled tonight’s method—if her leg wasn’t injured, she might have ended up wrapping her legs around his waist in panic. Her face inexplicably warmed up, and she said irritably: “Like before.”

Li Wu obediently bent down and picked her up in a princess carry.

Li Wu looked down at her; the woman’s arms were as awkward as ever, folded with nowhere to place them. He curved his lips, reminding her: “If you have nowhere to put your hands, you can put them behind my neck.”

Smack! What he got in return was another palm to his chest.

—

The next day was scorching hot.

Despite her father’s persuasion, Cen Jin insisted on going together to send Li Wu to F University. After signing in at the Physics Department, the three of them went to the dormitory.

When going upstairs, because Cen Jin’s father was watching, the “siblings” didn’t dare to be presumptuous. Li Wu just carried Cen Jin on his back to the second floor.

They weren’t among the earliest to arrive; two other male students were already in the dorm, along with their respective parents.

When they saw the new classmate entering with someone on his back, the previously noisy dormitory suddenly fell quiet. Everyone looked at this oddly matched pair with striking appearances, their expressions varied.

As soon as the beautiful woman was set down, she started clarifying: “Don’t stare, I’m not disabled, my leg will be fine next month.”

They all laughed together, and one crew-cut student looked at Li Wu, extending his hand in self-introduction: “I’m Xu Shuo, from Suzhou Province.”

Li Wu put down his suitcase, shook his hand, and gave a faint smile: “Li Wu.”

The other bespectacled student joined in: “I’m Zhong Wenxuan.”

The three young men chatted briefly before returning to their own business. Li Wu handled everything independently, methodically, and efficiently. Cen Jin’s father couldn’t help at all, basically just standing there. Midway through, worried that Cen Jin and their uncle would be bored, Li Wu even washed two apples for them to pass the time. The other parents clicked their tongues in admiration, looking at their family of handsome men and beautiful women, noting they didn’t seem like a poor family’s child who had to grow up early. They kept asking Cen Jin’s father how he raised such a child, how he achieved such good grades and such strong self-reliance skills. Their words were filled with such envy that they almost wanted to send their sons back for a do-over.

Cen Jin’s father didn’t know how to respond and could only laugh awkwardly at the praise.

Cen Jin rested her elbow on the chair back, unconsciously lifting her chin, glancing at Li Wu’s solemn face as he moved back and forth. She couldn’t help but smile lazily with pride:

Heh, who would believe that this “other people’s child” whom everyone admired was still acting spoiled with her just last night?