Yan Xi’s “Morning Sun” was complete.

Then, he sealed it away in the small attic upstairs.

“What are you doing, warding off evil spirits?” Ah Heng smiled.

Yan Xi shrugged: “That painting… it turned out strange like it missed the point.”

At that moment, their new guest Little Hui was sleeping on Ah Heng’s slippers as sunlight filtered through, making everything bright and clear.

Little Hui was just a tiny bundle that, when curled up, looked like a washcloth. He liked Yan Xi and would always sneak into the young man’s bedroom. When Yan Xi woke up early, he’d open his eyes to find himself staring at that ugly little thing. Then would come the stiffening, the screaming, and the desire to flip the entire roof.

Afterward, the washcloth-like Little Hui would be thrown out with tearful eyes while Lu Rou Fan wore a schadenfreude expression.

Bang! The door locked.

“Ah Heng, control your dog!”

Ah Heng couldn’t help but sigh as she picked up Little Hui: “He doesn’t like you, yet you keep approaching him. Ah, silly dog…”

Some days had passed since Yan Xi’s birthday. When Ah Heng returned home, Si Wan mentioned: “Ah Heng, you were too impolite to Aunt Lin that day.”

Ah Heng squinted, puzzled: “What did I say?”

Si Wan smiled: “It’s precisely because you said nothing that it wasn’t good. Don’t you think your hostility toward her was too obvious?”

Ah Heng played dumb: “My Mandarin isn’t very good, I was afraid of offending Aunt Lin.”

“Ah Heng, you only mention your poor Mandarin when situations aren’t favorable to you.” Si Wan laughed, handing Ah Heng an apple she had peeled in one continuous strip. “You might not know, but many of grandfather’s former subordinates who left to go into business… their enterprises are deeply intertwined with the Lu family. Uncle Lu passed away early from illness, and now Aunt Lin manages the family…”

The hint was subtle yet clear. She only thought about how grandfather had been upright and honest all his life, yet still couldn’t avoid such considerations. But how could any person be completely free of desires? Moreover, after their grandfather’s passing, he still had to consider the future of the Wen family.

Ah Heng took the apple, nodding slightly.

“Compared to Er Er, you’re more suited to be the Wen family’s daughter.” Si Wan’s tone was calm.

Was this… because she accepted certain impure things too readily and obediently? Was it praise or disapproval?

Seeing Ah Heng lost in thought for a while, Si Wan worried she might overthink and realize something, so she smiled and said: “Since you don’t get along with her, just minimize contact in the future. Aunt Lin is a busy person anyway, we don’t have much interaction with her, to begin with.”

“What would Er Er do?” Ah Heng had been thinking this but accidentally spoke it aloud.

“What?” Si Wan was surprised.

“To people she doesn’t like.”

Si Wan looked at Ah Heng, somewhat uncomfortable: “Er Er? If she doesn’t like someone, she shows it very obviously.”

“Oh.”

Very obviously, like how she treated her and Yan Xi?

She never understood why Er Er disliked Yan Xi so much, just as she couldn’t understand why Yan Xi always indulged Er Er to the point of pampering.

In August, even in the North, the rainfall was abundant.

That evening had been sultry, but the weather changed in an instant – dark clouds gathered, strong winds blew, and soon heavy rain poured down.

Ah Heng had gone to the bookstore to buy review materials but got caught up browsing some interesting novels. When she looked up again, the floor-to-ceiling windows showed a completely different scene – raindrops hammered down, flowing in streams, the outside world dark and gloomy.

This area was so remote that taxis were rare even on normal days, let alone in the rain.

This was troublesome, how to get back…

Checking the time – just past seven, still early. She had already prepared dinner before leaving, so returning a bit late shouldn’t be a problem, at least Yan Xi wouldn’t go hungry.

Ah Heng thought for a moment, picked up the book she was reading, and continued, deciding to wait until the rain stopped before heading back.

The bookstore was playing Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone.” Ah Heng hummed along for a few lines, feeling quite content.

Heavy rain, the scent of books, love songs – what kind of solitude could be more comfortable than this? Hehe, if only there was some Biluochun in a purple clay teapot, her taste would have been spoiled by the fine tea Grandfather Yan left behind. That fellow Yan Xi was probably playing games again, relying on his big eyes and not worried about nearsightedness.

Occasionally she would be startled by booming thunder, looking up to see the rain growing even heavier outside the window.

This scene repeated several times, and night had fallen completely. Ah Heng frowned slightly, realizing she had miscalculated.

After waiting much longer, the bookstore’s wall clock struck eleven times.

“Boss, are there any hotels near here?” she asked the bookstore owner as she paid.

Bang! A huge noise came from behind.

Ah Heng jumped in fright and turned around to see a youth drenched in rain. At his feet lay an umbrella he had angrily thrown down.

“Yan Xi?” Ah Heng was confused.

Why were his eyes so wide? Who had angered him?

“Ah, Yan Xi, was the pork ribs I made tonight too salty?” she blurted out, feeling somewhat guilty. She had been in a hurry to leave earlier, and might not have gotten the seasoning quite right while cooking.

He glared at her coldly, rainwater constantly dripping from his black hair. His pink T-shirt was stained dark and light by the rain, and his white canvas shoes were splattered with mud. In his arms, he tightly held a clean umbrella, looking quite ridiculous.

Yan Xi turned around and said flatly: “Let’s go home.” He didn’t look at her, just handed her the clean umbrella while silently bending down to pick up the mud-covered one he had thrown in anger.

Ah Heng followed behind him, quietly gazing at the youth’s somewhat lonely figure, and called out: “Yan Xi.”

Yan Xi didn’t turn around: “Shh—”

He walked in front, she behind, moving silently through the rain.

Ah Heng looked down, only watching Yan Xi’s canvas shoes, so white – she had scrubbed them for so long. Why did he wear them knowing it would rain?

She even clearly remembered what she had said when Yan Xi thought the shoes were too plain and wanted to add some color: “Yan Xi, do you know how long I spent scrubbing these shoes?”

Scrubbed for so long, it was only after such hard work that she restored their original appearance.

She sighed slightly. Everything in his life – she kept restoring, he kept disrupting. With her usual temperament, how much longer could she keep suppressing herself…

Rain filled her eyes and ears, its drumming stirring up many things in life, tempting release, but ultimately pushed back bit by bit, carefully sealed away.

When they got home, under the street light by the door, Yan Xi used his right hand to wipe the rain-blurred face of his electronic watch on his left wrist, stared at it for a few seconds, and let out a small sigh of relief: “Good.”

“Hmm?” Ah Heng frowned at him.

“Hasn’t reached midnight.” Yan Xi muttered, innocence in his eyes.

He reached out his hand, roughly wiped it dry on his pants, and with wide eyes, seriously patted her head, looking fierce: “Ah Heng, Cinderella must return home before midnight, understand?”

“Why?” she smiled, gently removing his hand.

Between her and him, there was only a six-centimeter difference in height.

“Tch, didn’t the Brothers Grimm say that if you don’t return home by midnight, you’ll turn from a princess into a coal-covered servant girl?” He spoke faster, his voice carrying a righteous sulkiness.

“I become a coal-covered servant girl because of a controlling stepmother, not because of time changing.” Ah Heng smiled, rubbing her rain-stung eyes, and opened the door.

Yan Xi sneered: “If I’m the stepmother, then you should learn to be Cinderella’s evil sister instead. Because no stepmother would fucking run around for four hours in the rain looking for a coal-covered servant girl.”

He deliberately spoke venomously, put away his umbrella, changed his shoes, and walked straight to the bathroom.

Ah Heng relaxed, sighed, and gently rested her head against the snow-white wall, closing her eyes. After a while, she slowly maintained a faint smile.

When she reached the dining room, Ah Heng found the dinner dishes untouched.

When Yan Xi came out after his shower, he smelled the aroma of food.

Ah Heng sat in the dining room, saw him come out, and smiled in greeting: “Yan Xi, let’s eat.”

Yan Xi’s expression wasn’t great, but he didn’t say anything, just sat down, scooped up rice, scooped up pork ribs, and stuffed his mouth full. Though his expression remained blank, he ate every grain of rice.

Finally, he deliberately wiped his mouth with the sleeve of Ah Heng’s freshly washed pajamas, childishly glared at her once, and went upstairs.

Ah Heng laughed for a long time, lying on the table almost getting a stitch in her side, but when she calmed down she became bewildered, not knowing what she had just been laughing about.

After midnight, thunder began to rumble, deafening. Ah Heng was sleeping hazily but subconsciously remembered something and woke up startled from her dream.

Opening her door, she walked to the neighboring room’s door, hesitated for a long while, then Ah Heng gently pushed open the door. Grandfather Yan had once asked her, if possible, not to leave Yan Xi alone in a dark room on rainy days.

“Yan Xi?” She walked over, but the bed was completely flat.

Looking around, she somewhat hesitantly walked to the corner.

In the darkness, it was just a black mass, silently staying there, having not moved, and strangely buried under a blanket.

Ah Heng reached out and gently lifted the blanket.

That youth was sitting in the corner, arms wrapped around his knees, feet bare, eyes tightly closed.

“Yan Xi?” She gently crouched beside him, unsure if this youth had accidentally fallen asleep there.

He showed no movement, his breathing still faint, barely perceptible.

She reached out her hand, carefully exploring forward, but halfway there was caught by a slightly cool hand. He opened his eyes.

That was the first time Ah Heng saw such an expression in Yan Xi’s eyes.

Empty, painful, desperate, and an endless tearing black hole.

Those eyes looked at her, struggling to recover their usual gentle arrogance, but upon meeting her eyes, instantly filled with tears.

“Ah Heng, next time you must return home before midnight, understand?” He choked, with childlike indisputability.

Ah Heng quietly looked at him.

“Hmm?” He seriously looked at her, wanting to hear her say okay.

The youth’s black hair had somehow become completely soaked with sweat.

Ah Heng’s eyes held the gentleness of accumulated landscapes. She suddenly reached out and fiercely hugged him, burying his eyes in her shoulder, calmly speaking: “It’s not a big deal, Yan Xi, nothing in this world is a big deal.”

“No matter how dirty it is, it doesn’t matter.” She heard the huge suppressed pain in his throat, each word pronounced clearly, “In this world, with me here, nothing is a big deal.”

She knew Yan Xi could understand.

Even though she didn’t know what had happened two years ago, no matter what, he could no longer turn back, even if the wound would seep blood, he could only look forward.

“But, Ah Heng, one day, you will also leave me.” He was at a loss, yet whose shoulder did his tears scald?

Ah Heng stared at the corner in the darkness, not knowing what words would have strong consoling power.

“Ah Heng, even you don’t know that you will leave me.” He spoke with mockery, “But you see, I know, I can even predict all of this.”

“If I leave, can’t you try to keep me from going?”

Yan Xi gave a bitter laugh: “Cinderella’s stepmother is only Cinderella’s, not her two sisters’.”

Keep her from going, how could he… bear to?

“Yan Xi, I don’t like… glass slippers.” She smiled and sighed, gently releasing her hands, but not daring to look back.

Whether being Cinderella or the evil sister, she didn’t like those fragile, foot-blistering things.

“Yan Xi, if I leave, I will say sorry to you.” Ah Heng thought for a moment, frowned, and concluded.

“Ah Heng, the first time someone said ‘sorry’, I thought the person who would never leave me in this life, left me.” Yan Xi tilted his head back, falling onto the textured floor.

“Then, how about ‘thank you for taking care of me’?” She still faced the wall.

“The first time someone said ‘thank you’, I felt like I had almost disappeared from this world.”

Ah Heng put her hand on his neck, smiling as she wiped away his tears: “When I leave, it must be because someone a thousand times better than Wen Heng is by your side; or, even with me by your side, you still feel lonely, then my departure would only be a relief for you.”

She said: “Yan Xi, when I was four, Father sent me alone to buy salt. At that time, I also felt this world was very frightening, with strangers everywhere, when adults would loudly spit, I would tremble for ages. Later when buying vinegar, I could drink it all the way home, and even felt the journey was too short. Yan Xi, fear is a human instinct, but when you’ve been afraid too much, you instead discover there’s nothing left to fear in this world.”

Yan Xi held her hand, discovering those hands were covered in calluses big and small. Gently placing it on his face, he murmured: “Ah Heng, we all owe you too much. Before paying it back, I will try to control myself, not to…”

He pulled the blanket over both of them, clearing away his previous gloom, and smiled faintly, resigning himself: “Ah Heng, you will eventually grow up, and will also understand what is the right thing to do.”

And I, though not knowing when I’ll stop growing when you forget me, I will also rejoice in celebration.