Even as she grew older, Jiang Mu’s picky eating habits hadn’t improved much. With vegetables especially—bell peppers, chrysanthemum greens, celery, and carrots were all firmly off-limits. She wouldn’t eat lamb or goose meat either. She wouldn’t spit watermelon seeds, found grapes too troublesome, got an itchy throat from kiwis, only ate crisp apples, and wouldn’t touch mealy ones at all.

This had earned her no shortage of scolding from Jiang Yinghan since childhood. When she got older, though Jiang Yinghan no longer strictly forced her to eat those unpalatable foods, she would often say, “Who would dare marry you in the future? You won’t eat this, won’t touch that—how could anyone live with you?”

Jiang Mu hadn’t thought about such distant matters, always dismissing them with, “Then I just won’t get married. Living with you forever would be fine too.”

But when she said those words, she never imagined that one day her mother would be the first to marry and leave her behind.

Jiang Mu finished her bowl of rice quickly, though she hadn’t eaten much of the dishes—from the stewed pot, she’d only picked out the potatoes to eat. By the time she put down her chopsticks, the others hadn’t even properly started.

Seeing she had finished, Jin Chao stood up and went to the back room, returning shortly with a bag which he handed to her: “See if these fit you.”

Jiang Mu opened the bag to find the affiliated middle school’s uniform. She took out the clothes—a deep red and white striped top with the school emblem embroidered on the chest. The uniform was clean with a faint scent of laundry detergent, like new.

Seeing this, Xiao Yang chimed in, “This is my master’s treasure. I thought he was keeping it for a class reunion—almost threw it in the washing machine with his work clothes.”

Jiang Mu inhaled the fresh detergent smell and said, “It’s fine, it’s very clean.”

Xiao Yang replied, “Of course it’s clean—my master hand-washed it separately.”

Jiang Mu paused slightly and looked at Jin Chao, who was holding a beer, his expression indifferent.

San Lai laughed, “So that’s why! I saw the uniform hanging at the door the other day and felt nostalgic, wanted to try it on, but your master scolded me, saying my hairy body shouldn’t touch his things. Turns out it was meant for someone else.”

Then San Lai smiled at Jiang Mu and said, “Take good care of this uniform. You Jiu never had the chance to wear it himself. It’s the only one. By the way, I forgot to tell you—I also graduated from the affiliated school. By seniority, you should call me Senior San Lai.”

Before Jiang Mu could react, Jin Chao spoke up: “Go home early after you eat.”

Jiang Mu carefully folded the uniform back into the bag and looked up at Jin Chao, “Can I finish my homework here before going back?”

Jiang Mu couldn’t discern any emotion in Jin Chao’s eyes—this was the biggest difference she’d noticed since meeting him again.

The Jin Chao from before had bright eyes; through those windows, she could feel his colorful personality, whether passionate or dejected, his emotions were always vivid. But now, the light in his eyes had vanished. Whenever she looked at him, his gaze held only a bland expression, as if his entire life experience was hidden beneath those dark pupils, without ripples, impenetrable.

Jin Chao just stared back at her, disheveled and aloof. Jiang Mu didn’t flinch at all, the two seemingly engaged in a silent battle of wills.

Xiao Yang and Iron Rooster couldn’t quite read the situation. They thought Jiang Mu was You Jiu’s sister, but now it seemed You Jiu was reluctant to let her stay, so they didn’t dare say much. Only San Lai maintained a mocking smile while quietly drinking his beer.

After a while, Jin Chao spoke first, his tone casual: “Call home and let them know.”

Jiang Mu nodded and walked toward the repair room. San Lai finally spoke up to ease the atmosphere: “Even the cats in my shop eat more than her.”

Jin Chao turned his head to look at her small frame, his eyes darkening slightly.

Jiang Mu called Jin Qiang, telling him she was doing homework at Jin Chao’s shop. Jin Qiang asked why she went to Jin Chao’s place, and she said she’d been hungry after school and came to eat. Jin Qiang didn’t say much more.

Since coming to Tonggang, every day had been just school and returning to that house. Today, Jiang Mu wanted to go back later. It wasn’t that Zhao Meijuan treated her badly—in fact, she wasn’t sure how Zhao Meijuan felt about her. You couldn’t call it warm, but you couldn’t say she was unwelcoming either; she would heat water for Jiang Mu’s bath. Her attitude remained puzzling, leaving Jiang Mu uncertain about how to interact with her.

More often than not, watching Zhao Meijuan, Jin Qiang, and Jin Xin, she felt they were the real family.

All these years, her mother had raised her alone, while her father had already built a new family. The picture that had existed only in her mind before was now frequently laid out before her, vivid and real, making her feel out of place.

On the other hand, the future her mother was rushing toward made her depressed, worried, and anxious.

She didn’t know how Jin Chao had faced all this before. Facing Jin Qiang building a family with another woman, facing once-familiar family members growing distant—did he feel uncomfortable? Did he ever feel as dejected as she did at some point?

She couldn’t investigate, only wanting to escape briefly, just sitting in the messy break room doing her problems. Occasionally looking up through the glass, she could see Jin Chao and the others drinking and chatting casually at the shop entrance, filling her heart with a sense of lively warmth. At least in this unfamiliar place, she felt less of the loneliness of being adrift.

They drank until almost nine o’clock. After cleaning up, Iron Rooster left. Xiao Yang stayed with Jin Chao in the repair room doing some final work. They didn’t enter the break room to disturb Jiang Mu; through the glass window, they could see her constantly bending over her work, occasionally flipping through test papers.

Around ten o’clock, San Lai knocked twice on the glass from outside. Jiang Mu heard the sound and looked up to see San Lai holding two ice creams, raising them as he called out, “Come out and have some ice cream, don’t study yourself silly.”

Jiang Mu put down her pen and opened the door to go out. San Lai handed the ice cream in his right hand to Jiang Mu, saying, “Only one chocolate flavor, it’s yours.”

Jiang Mu asked in surprise, “How did you know I like chocolate?”

“You Jiu told me to get it.”

Jiang Mu turned back to look for Jin Chao but found he wasn’t in the repair room. She couldn’t help asking, “Where is he?”

San Lai said casually, “Probably busy in the back. Want to come play in my shop?”

Jiang Mu didn’t refuse. She unwrapped the ice cream and followed San Lai to the pet shop next door. As soon as the door opened, the cats and dogs went crazy, all making various strange noises together. Jiang Mu watched as San Lai stopped in his tracks, and raised his arm high like an elegant conductor.

The key point was that his appearance and demeanor weren’t elegant at all—he was even wearing blue and white slippers, making the scene look particularly like a street hustler.

Surprisingly, his move was very effective; the pet shop returned to complete silence, and all the little creatures stopped making noise.

Jiang Mu asked in amazement, “How did you do that?”

San Lai turned around, covering his heart as he told her, “As a king, juggling is an essential skill.”

“…You play too many games, don’t you?”

San Lai smiled and said, “Business isn’t good these days, of course, I need to play more games to pass these boring lonely days. Look around freely.”

Jiang Mu walked to a glass cabinet. The shop had quite a few common cat breeds—several Russian Blues, Bi-colors, American Shorthairs—though all the cats here were sprawled out lazily, looking professionally jaded. No matter how Jiang Mu pressed against the glass to tease them, they didn’t seem interested in responding.

She finished her ice cream, and San Lai beckoned to her from inside: “Come look at this.”

Jiang Mu saw an enclosure inside. She walked over and peeked in—inside lay a golden retriever, the Miss Xishi they had been discussing during dinner.

Xishi had four tiny puppies drinking milk in front of her. The strange thing was, though the mother was a golden retriever, the puppies were spotted, grey, various colors—there was even a pure black one.

Perhaps because it looked too different, the pure black one was always pushed to the outside by its siblings. The golden retriever’s mother also seemed to dislike it. The little black puppy made several attempts to reach its mother, but its little feet were too weak and unstable, causing it to fall over with all four paws in the air—both pitiful and amusing.

Jiang Mu pointed at the little black one and asked, “Why doesn’t its mother care for it?”

San Lai glanced at it: “Even humans can’t treat everyone equally, let alone dogs. This black one stopped breathing right after birth, and Xishi carried it to the shop door. I picked it up and managed to save it.”

Jiang Mu crouched down to look at it: “Poor thing.”

San Lai bent down and scooped up the black puppy. Xishi just gave a lazy look, showing no protective instinct. Jiang Mu came closer, and seeing her interest, San Lai handed the puppy to her: “Want to hold it?”

Jiang Mu carefully took the little black puppy, cradling it in her palms. She had never held a two-day-old puppy before, and touching this little creature made her heart melt. The black puppy was so soft, and as soon as it made contact with Jiang Mu, its little head kept searching, sniffing all over her—adorable. Jiang Mu was tickled by it, and couldn’t help but smile and gently nuzzle it.

She remembered something and said to San Lai: “When I was little, I also met a black puppy in my neighborhood. It followed me all the way home, but my mom wouldn’t let me keep it.”

Jiang Mu only told half the story. The other half was that she and Jin Chao had come home all dirty with a stray dog, and Jiang Yinghan was so angry she told them to get rid of it.

Jiang Mu had cried and clung to Jin Chao, but Jin Chao couldn’t decide the puppy’s fate either. He said he would take Little Mu downstairs to release the puppy, but instead, they found a cardboard box and hid the puppy under the bridge behind the neighborhood. Every day after school, the two would mysteriously buy hot dogs from the store and run to feed the puppy. They even gave it a name—Lightning—thinking the name was cool at the time. However, after feeding it for just a few days, the puppy disappeared, and they never saw it again.

San Lai suddenly smiled and said, “Want to keep it? It’s yours.”

Although Jiang Mu had always liked animals, she had never properly kept one as a pet. In middle school, she had brought it up with Jiang Yinghan, but her mother had flatly refused. Jiang Yinghan was an extremely particular woman who wouldn’t allow pet hair or odors in the house, so keeping pets was never within her realm of consideration.

Now she was living in Jin Qiang’s house, and in some ways, she felt like an outsider herself. How could she bring a pet back? She said to San Lai, “Thank you, but I have nowhere to keep it.”

She gently placed the black puppy back beside its mother, but something strange happened—as soon as Jiang Mu put it down, the black puppy stumbled and crawled back toward her, surprising even San Lai.

Jiang Mu extended a finger toward it, and the little creature immediately rested its head on her finger. The soft-touch reached deep into Jiang Mu’s heart, stirring her compassion.

Two knocks sounded on the pet shop’s glass door. They both turned to see Jin Chao had already packed Jiang Mu’s things into her schoolbag and was standing at the door, holding it as he said to her, “Let’s go.”

San Lai suddenly bent down and said quietly beside Jiang Mu, “If you want to keep it, there is a place—to talk to You Jiu about it.”

Jiang Mu looked up at San Lai, who smiled and winked at her.

When Jiang Mu left the pet shop, she found the garage’s roller door had already been pulled down. Jin Chao put her schoolbag in a car and drove her back.

On the way, Jiang Mu glanced at Jin Chao several times, not knowing how to start the conversation. Before she could gather her thoughts, they had already arrived at Jin Qiang’s neighborhood.

Jin Chao drove into the complex, parked near the building, turned off the engine, and said, “You’ve been looking at me the whole way—say what you want to say.”

Jiang Mu began circuitously, “I just saw the golden retriever’s puppies at Brother San Lai’s shop.”

“Mm.”

“They’re quite cute.”

“…” Silence.

“There’s this black puppy that Brother San Lai said stopped breathing at birth, and he saved it. For some reason, Xishi doesn’t seem to like it much.”

“…” More silence.

Seeing Jin Chao’s lack of response, Jiang Mu could only mutter, “Don’t you think it’s pitiful?”

Jin Chao suddenly spoke up: “He makes up a random story and you get all emotional? Why don’t you ask San Lai how he saved it—mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?”

Jiang Mu hadn’t thought about that. Jin Chao turned to look at her directly and said flatly, “You want to keep it?”

His seeing through her thoughts made Jiang Mu too embarrassed to look at him. She nodded and asked softly, “Can I?”

Jin Chao got out of the car, and Jiang Mu followed. They stood on opposite sides of the vehicle. Jin Chao lit a cigarette under a withered tree trunk. In the cold moonlight, his figure appeared distant. His voice came from neither near nor far: “Of his four puppies, two decent ones are already reserved. He’s giving you one of the two that won’t sell, letting you ask me to keep it at my place. He gets someone to split the cost of dog food and grooming. Are you stupid?”

Jiang Mu paused, truly not having realized this scheme. She put on her backpack, holding the uniform bag in her hand.

Jin Chao seemed to have no intention of going upstairs and just threw the house key across the car. Jiang Mu caught it and asked, “When should I return it?”

Jin Chao took a drag on his cigarette and replied, “I won’t have time to come back recently. You keep it for now.”

Jiang Mu nodded and turned to leave. After a few steps, she suddenly turned back and asked, “If… I pay for all the dog food and grooming costs, and temporarily keep it at your place, would that work?”

Jin Chao turned his head and snickered, then faced her again, suddenly serious: “Then what about after you graduate? Are you planning to take the dog with you or abandon it?”

Jiang Mu didn’t answer, because even she hadn’t figured out where she would go after the college entrance exam.

Jin Chao continued slowly, “If you’re going to leave eventually, I advise you not to keep it. Getting emotionally attached would be troublesome.”

Jiang Mu stood there, her whole body burning—not because of the dog, but because of Jin Chao’s words. Was this his true thinking?

Since they had separated years ago, why have any more entanglements?

Since they weren’t siblings, why stay in contact?

More contact, more feelings, how troublesome?

Jiang Mu’s expression gradually cooled. She stopped insisting and just responded with an “Mm.”

She turned and strode toward the building without looking back, her chest feeling tight. Jin Chao called out behind her: “Hey.”

Jiang Mu stopped in her tracks and turned to shout at him: “Don’t I have a name? Why do you always call me ‘hey’? That’s not my name.”

Jin Chao looked at her flushed face through the night and pulled his lips into an amused smile: “Getting this angry just because I won’t let you keep a dog? You want that worthless mutt that badly?”

Jiang Mu declared righteously, “It’s not a worthless mutt, it’s a poor creature rejected by both father and mother.”

Jin Chao’s expression gradually turned cold until there was no warmth left. Jiang Mu felt a suffocating pressure and tried to avoid his gaze, wanting to flee. But before entering the building, she stopped again. She knew her words had touched the most sensitive part between them. Not daring to look at Jin Chao, she left a weak final comment: “I’m not disappointed in you. If I am disappointed about anything, it’s only that you cut off contact with me.”

After Jiang Mu’s figure disappeared into the building entrance, Jin Chao remained for a long while. Deep wrinkles gathered between his brows. Over the years, he had grown used to people’s disappointment in him. Almost everyone who knew him from before had undisguised mockery, pity, and disappointment in their eyes when they saw what he had become. He had become numb to it all.

He never expected someone would tell him they weren’t disappointed in him, or rather, that their disappointment had nothing to do with his current situation.

A bitter smile escaped Jin Chao’s lips as he took a deep drag on his cigarette. All those unspeakable memories turned to smoke in his lungs, the bitterness echoing in his chest.

Only much later did he drive back. San Lai was still playing games on a lounge chair outside his shop. Seeing Jin Chao return, he glanced over casually and said, “Gone that long?”

Jin Chao ignored him and walked over to toss him a cigarette: “When will the puppy be weaned?”

San Lai laughed, immediately quitting his game and sitting up straight: “One dog was enough to test you? How do you manage to return kindness for resentment? Little Sister got you wrapped around her finger with just a few words—I’m truly shocked.”

Jin Chao gave him an impatient glare: “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

San Lai tucked the cigarette behind his ear and kicked a stool toward him. Jin Chao sat several steps away from San Lai, his long legs bent casually.

He heard San Lai say: “I am bored out of my mind. Back then when they abandoned you in your time of need, if it were me, I definitely couldn’t have been so understanding and forgiving.”

Jin Chao looked down at his phone without responding. San Lai continued, “I didn’t expect your legendary little sister to be such a beauty—small nose, small mouth, bright eyes. No wonder you’ve been thinking about her all this time. She’s not related to you at all—if I were you, I’d make her mine just to spite her mother. Everyone’s got a bit of outlaw in them. If you can’t bring yourself to do it, I’ll handle it for you.”

Jin Chao’s eyes remained fixed on the blueprints on his phone, zooming in to examine a corner. His tone was casual but carried a hint of frost: “Try touching her and see what happens.”

San Lai lounged back in his chair, laughing exaggeratedly: “Fuck, you took me seriously? Am I stupid? Why would I turn her into one of us and lose a potential VIP card customer? Once the black dog is weaned, I’ll personally deliver it to you. Want to charge five thousand yuan for a premium VIP membership first?”

“Go cool off somewhere else.”

“…”