What kind of twelfth birthday present?

Jiang Yubai guessed, “Handicraft.”

Lin Zhixia nodded, “Jiang Yubai is so smart!”

She took out a metal box from her backpack, which, as always, had a red satin ribbon and a strawberry greeting card attached to it. Inside the box was a stack of wooden bookmarks she had made herself. She had drawn pictures on the front of all the bookmarks and written a self-composed poem on the back. Each poem began with “Jiang Jiang Jiang Jiang Yubai” and ended with “Lin Lin Lin Lin Zhixia.”

Jiang Yubai saw the number of bookmarks clearly—31 in total.

The raw material for this batch of bookmarks was a thin board of cherry wood. With her father’s help, Lin Zhixia cut the board into 31 pieces, followed the lacquer painting technique to coat, color, and write on them, then polished and waxed them, drilled a round hole at the top, and threaded them with beautiful tassels.

Lin Zhixia told Jiang Yubai, “Each bookmark has a number in the bottom right corner, starting from 1 and ending at 31. A month has at most 31 days, so these bookmarks can accompany you through each day of every month.”

Jiang Yubai looked at Lin Zhixia for two seconds before saying, “Thank you.”

Lin Zhixia jumped on the spot, “You’re welcome.”

Jiang Yubai unzipped his backpack, put the metal box inside, and took out a small plush dog toy. He introduced it, “Swiss mountain dog.”

Lin Zhixia remembered that Jiang Yubai had told her he was going to Switzerland for vacation this summer. Every time he traveled abroad, he would bring back a gift with local characteristics. This time, he had chosen a Swiss mountain dog plush toy.

Lin Zhixia accepted the plush dog with both hands, “I know, this breed is a Swiss mountain dog… actually, it’s just a local dog from Switzerland, like the Chinese rural dogs we have here.”

Jiang Yubai asked her, “Do you like rural dogs?”

“I like them!” Lin Zhixia laughed, “I like them.”

Lin Zeqiu, who had walked up behind his sister, happened to hear her say: I like them, I like them.

Lin Zeqiu immediately sensed something was very wrong.

He raised one hand and placed it on his sister’s shoulder, “What are you saying, Lin Zhixia?”

Lin Zhixia looked up at him, “Rural dogs.”

Lin Zeqiu could hardly believe that his sister would dare to call him a rural dog in public.

All the blood in his body rushed to his head, making his face turn pale and then red. Suppressing his towering anger, he said in an icy tone, “I am your full-blooded brother. If I’m a rural dog, so are you.”

Lin Zhixia’s eyes became bewildered. Jiang Yubai came to her rescue, “Lin Zhixia and I were discussing Swiss mountain dogs. Swiss mountain dogs are native dogs in Switzerland. When you just asked Lin Zhixia what she was talking about, she merely answered your question. She had no intention of insulting you. Calm down.”

Lin Zeqiu stood directly in front of Lin Zhixia, extremely close to Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai didn’t step back. He faced Lin Zeqiu’s scrutiny directly. He also said, “You are Lin Zhixia’s brother. You shouldn’t get angry with her so casually.”

“You’re quite nosy,” Lin Zeqiu remarked.

Jiang Yubai solemnly introduced himself, “I am Lin Zhixia’s best friend.”

“Yes!” Lin Zhixia confirmed, “Brother, Jiang Yubai is my best friend.”

As if to prove her words were true, Lin Zhixia quickly ran over and hid behind Jiang Yubai.

Lin Zeqiu’s breath caught in his lungs. At the same time, Lin Zeqiu noticed a subtle detail—Jiang Yubai was protecting Lin Zhixia in a guardian’s posture. When speaking with her, he was measured in his advances and retreats, polite, indeed more pleasant to deal with than Lin Zeqiu.

Lin Zeqiu put both hands in his jacket pockets and walked toward the high school section without looking back.

Lin Zhixia called out to him, “Brother!”

He replied loudly, “Come with me!”

But Lin Zhixia said, “I need to go to the ninth-grade teaching building!”

On the first day of school, the campus was packed with people coming and going. The autumn sky was vast and distant, white clouds extending to the horizon. Lin Zhixia raised her head and saw her brother walking farther and farther away.

She felt somewhat puzzled. Her brother had always been against her contact with Jiang Yubai. Why hadn’t her brother grabbed her today for a new lecture on proper thinking?

“He’s gone far away,” Jiang Yubai suddenly said.

Lin Zhixia turned her head, “Let’s go to the classroom, Jiang Yubai.”

Jiang Yubai walked with her. The two passed through a pebble path covered with tree shadows, talking about their summer vacation experiences. Listening to Jiang Yubai’s travel stories, Lin Zhixia recalled their previously forced-to-end museum tour and felt it was a great pity. She couldn’t help secretly wondering when they would have another chance to go out and play together.

The opportunity came quickly.

A few days after school started, Teacher Zhang told the class that the ninth grade competition class would organize an autumn outing activity at the city’s largest amusement park… As soon as Teacher Zhang finished speaking, Class 9(17) erupted in loud cheers.

Duan Qiyan slapped his desk, howling loudly.

Lin Zhixia followed suit, also slapping her desk. She was very excited because she had never been to an amusement park before. Whenever her parents took her out and asked where she wanted to go, her first choice was always the provincial library or University Town.

And now, she could visit the city’s largest amusement park with all the students of Class 9(17)!

What an exhilarating group activity!

Through Lin Zhixia’s persistent efforts, she had earned over ten thousand yuan in scholarships, most of which she had given to her mother. She secretly kept about a thousand yuan for herself to cover her daily expenses.

For this autumn outing, Lin Zhixia took out two hundred yuan from her small treasury. She carried a small basket and shopped in her family’s supermarket, filling the basket with potato chips, oatmeal cookies, strawberry cake rolls, and Want Want mini buns. Then, she took the basket to the checkout counter to find her father for payment.

Her father asked with confusion and surprise, “Xia Xia, what are you doing?”

“Buying things,” Lin Zhixia answered somewhat shyly.

Her father closed his newspaper, “Just take what you want, Xia Xia. Dad will let you have it.”

Lin Zhixia shook her head, “I have money. I can afford it.”

She placed a hundred-yuan note in front of her father.

Her father frowned slightly, holding up his newspaper, “Where did you get a hundred yuan?”

“From the Romanian Masters scholarship. I secretly kept a little bit for myself,” Lin Zhixia revealed to her father.

Her father drew in a light breath, “Don’t let your mother know.”

“Mm-hmm, Dad, don’t tell Mom,” Lin Zhixia nodded. “I work hard to save money because I don’t want to always ask Mom for money.”

Her father had almost no requirements for Lin Zhixia. His daughter hiding money from her parents, in his view, was also a sign of her intelligence. His daughter was incomparably smart, unmatched by anyone; what was wrong with saving a hundred or so yuan? He agreed to keep Lin Zhixia’s secret.

Her father also praised Lin Zhixia, saying she was cute, kind, had great wisdom, and was considerate of her parents. She was Dad’s little angel, and Dad couldn’t take his little angel’s money.

Lin Zhixia was overjoyed by her father’s praise and no longer insisted on paying. She took the snacks home.

Early the next day, Lin Zhixia shouldered a backpack full of snacks and eagerly rushed to school. Two school buses from Provincial No. 1 High School took all the students from the ninth-grade competition class to the provincial amusement park. On this sunny Thursday morning, the competition class students received permission from their teachers to freely explore the amusement park.

Teacher Zhang held up a megaphone and announced loudly, “Students of Classes 17 and 18, pay attention—you cannot leave the amusement park, you hear me? Cannot leave the amusement park! If anyone encounters problems or feels unwell, come find a teacher immediately, either me or Teacher Wang! The autumn outing is an activity for everyone to relax, but you must remember, your safety is most important. Don’t go to places with few people!”

The competition class students responded in unison.

After Teacher Zhang said “Dismissed,” more than seventy students immediately dispersed in all directions.

Lin Zhixia tugged on Jiang Yubai’s backpack strap, “Let’s go ride the roller coaster, Jiang Yubai!”

Shen Fuxuan, following behind Jiang Yubai, agreed, “The roller coaster is fun. Let’s ride the roller coaster first, then the drop tower!”

Jiang Yubai looked back at Shen Fuxuan. In Jiang Yubai’s impression, Shen Fuxuan’s physical condition wasn’t very good. After each 1000-meter physical test, Shen Fuxuan would collapse on the ground like a soft pancake.

Given that, why did Shen Fuxuan dare to ride the roller coaster and even the drop tower?

Jiang Yubai raised his head and looked at the distant roller coaster.

The car was filled with adult visitors. They were shouting at the top of their lungs, screaming with expressions of fear and trepidation on their faces. This made Jiang Yubai involuntarily ponder: if he showed a trace of nervousness while riding, with his hair blown into a mess by the strong wind, his image in Lin Zhixia’s mind… might be greatly diminished. He absolutely would not allow that to happen.

So he refused, “I won’t ride the roller coaster.”

The concise and forceful refusal contained many of his considerations.

However, Duan Qiyan ran over like a mad dog, enthusiastically greeting them, “Hey, you guys, come ride the roller coaster with me?”

Two years of middle school life had worn away Duan Qiyan’s former identity as “the First Warrior of Normal Attached Primary School.” He was no longer that proud, unique, self-reliant first warrior; he had thoroughly integrated into the collective. Normally, he would find someone to accompany him, even to go to the men’s restroom during breaks, let alone ride a roller coaster.

He expectantly put his arm around Jiang Yubai’s shoulder, “Jiang Yubai, let’s go ride together?”

Jiang Yubai was about to flatly refuse when he saw that Lin Zhixia and Shen Fuxuan had already bought tickets and were heading toward the roller coaster entrance. Jiang Yubai’s competitive spirit was immediately ignited, burning like a raging fire. Unwilling to be left behind, he changed his attitude and said, “Okay.”

Duan Qiyan asked again, “Hey, Jiang Yubai, are you afraid of riding the roller coaster?”

Jiang Yubai scoffed, “I wish I could ride it every day.”

“Let’s go!” Duan Qiyan shouted excitedly.

Jiang Yubai caught up with Lin Zhixia’s train. While waiting in line for ticket checking, he asked Lin Zhixia, “Are you afraid of heights?”

Lin Zhixia shook her head. Then she asked him in return, “Guess, is the front row more thrilling on a roller coaster, or the back row?”

Jiang Yubai replied without hesitation, “The front row.”

Lin Zhixia pointed to the back seats, “I read an article where simulation results showed that the back row is more thrilling than the front row, mainly at the highest point and on the descending sections. The vertical acceleration in the back row brings greater excitement. The front row feels more uncomfortable during the uphill sections [1]… Jiang Yubai, let’s sit in the first row!”

Each row had only two seats.

Jiang Yubai agreed with her. He slowly sat down in that position, fastened the safety restraints, and locked the safety device. Shen Fuxuan and Duan Qiyan sat right behind him. Before the roller coaster even started, Duan Qiyan asked, “Will you guys scream?”

Lin Zhixia honestly said, “I’ve never played before, so I want to try. I don’t know if I’ll scream.”

After Lin Zhixia finished speaking, the roller coaster started. They slowly climbed along the track, rising higher and higher until they reached the peak, then suddenly plunged downward. The intense feeling of weightlessness from the high-speed rush made Jiang Yubai feel like he was soaring through the universe. He heard Shen Fuxuan’s heart-wrenching shouts, and even Duan Qiyan was saying, “I don’t want to ride anymore, let me off, where are the staff…”

Jiang Yubai turned his head to look at Lin Zhixia. She had her eyes closed, teeth clenched, shrinking in her seat. She regretted it just like Duan Qiyan; she just didn’t express her feelings out loud like he did.

The wild wind poured into Jiang Yubai’s collar, and his hair was messed up. He shouted, “Don’t be afraid!”

Lin Zhixia opened her eyes. As the air rushed past her ears, she answered, “Jiang Yubai! Are you talking to me?”

The roller coaster slowly rushed toward another peak. Jiang Yubai tried his best to encourage her, “Lin Zhixia, don’t be afraid, you’re experiencing vertical acceleration…”

“I’m not afraid!” Lin Zhixia tried hard to convince herself, “I’m not afraid at all!”

Finally enduring until the last moment, the roller coaster returned to its starting point. A gentle breeze caressed Lin Zhixia’s cheeks as she walked out of her seat, pale-faced and weak-kneed, one step at a time. As she stepped down the stairs, Jiang Yubai reached out to help her. He looked as if nothing had happened. Lin Zhixia’s heart was filled with admiration.

Duan Qiyan recovered and stood near a bench, stretching his limbs.

Lin Zhixia looked around and asked, “I see the amusement park’s small shop. Would you like something to drink?”

“I’ll go buy drinks,” Jiang Yubai suggested. “You sit here; I’ll be back soon.”

With that, he walked toward the shop with his backpack.

Two girls from Class 18 ran toward him from the opposite direction and walked alongside him, matching his pace. He glanced at them. He had some impression of the students from Class 18, but he wasn’t familiar with them. He didn’t quite understand why these two female classmates were following him—it surely wasn’t to rob him. In broad daylight under the clear sky, and as fellow competitive class schoolmates, they wouldn’t engage in robbery.

Just as Jiang Yubai was guessing their motives, one of the girls from Class 18 suddenly urged, “Lu Wei, hurry and take out the letter…”

The other girl, her face blushing with shyness, handed a pink envelope to Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai opened the envelope in front of them, and then he froze in place. He saw written on the letter: Jiang Yubai from Class 17, I am Lu Wei from Class 18. Let’s be friends. What’s your phone number?