When A-Heng returned home, or rather to Yan Xi’s home, she found herself smiling without realizing it.

In front of the white building, a small garden plot had been enclosed with wooden fencing. The winter had long since withered the plants, making it impossible to tell what had been planted. A small shovel and bucket lay carelessly strewn about the garden, appearing untended for some time, yet there was an inexplicable charm when viewed from afar.

A-Heng teased him: “Are you planning to become a farmer?”

Yan Xi replied with complete seriousness: “Daughter, why don’t we plant… pork ribs together?”

A-Heng looked down at the withered grass traces and said: “It’s just weeds. Yan Xi, you must have abandoned it right after fencing it off.”

Yan Xi shrugged carelessly: “Well, now that you’re back, you can watch over the planting.”

He let out a sharp whistle, and Lu Rou Fan and Xiao Hui came bounding out of the house, drooling and staring at Yan Xi with gleaming eyes.

A-Heng couldn’t bear to look: “Just how long have you been starving them?”

Yan Xi pulled some canned meat and a large piece of bread from his pocket, tossing it to them while grimacing: “You don’t know how big their appetites are.”

A-Heng said gently: “I know.”

I’ve always known. Because I was the one who raised them.

Upon seeing A-Heng, Lu Rou Fan’s little eyes darted about. Instead of eating the bread, it circled her, examining her thoroughly before suddenly crying out sharply: “A-Heng, A-Heng!” Like a bomb, it shot straight into A-Heng’s arms, appearing extremely excited with its head feathers all standing up.

Xiao Hui, however, remained dazed, focused only on licking the canned meat.

Yan Xi looked embarrassed and kicked the now much-rounder little dog. Xiao Hui didn’t react, its tail raised high in the air as it ate joyfully.

A-Heng gently soothed Lu Rou Fan while watching Xiao Hui with a smile: “It seems it doesn’t remember me anymore.”

Yan Xi coughed dryly and patted Xiao Hui’s head, glaring: “I’ve spoiled you for nothing! Your mother comes back and you don’t even react!”

A-Heng smiled sweetly: “It’s fine, it’s fine. I left when it was still small, too young to remember people.”

Xiao Hui shook its head in confusion, wearing a vermillion butterfly bell around its neck that jingled with a clear, crisp sound.

A-Heng crouched down. There were several characters carved into the bell – though elegant, they weren’t in Yan Xi’s seal script style.

“Never lose, never forget.”

Signature: Chu Yun.

A-Heng’s finger paused slightly, but her expression remained neutral as she stood up with a smile.

Yan Xi awkwardly began: “Chu Yun, you know her, right? She’s—”

A-Heng finished his sentence: “Height 163cm, weight 45kg, joined B City TV Station in 2002, started behind the scenes, caught management’s attention during an accidental screen test, and was promoted to evening news anchor. Popular due to her fresh, natural hosting style and beauty, she’s remained successful to this day. Loves animals, particularly butterflies, passionate about charity work, and has publicly stated her ideal type is a man like a sunflower.”

Complete.

Yan Xi twitched: “How do you know even more than I do?”

A-Heng smiled lightly as a breeze: “I had to know if she was kind, if she was beautiful, and whether you… were worthy of her.”

Lu Rou Fan perched on A-Heng’s finger, fluttering its little wings and giggling.

Yan Xi’s mind heated up, and he became defiant: “I’m more than worthy of her!”

A-Heng glanced sideways: “Where is she then?”

Yan Xi: “Uh, we broke up. But, we separated amicably.”

He emphasized the word “amicably” uncomfortably.

A-Heng: “Oh, so she dumped you.”

What she wanted to know was whether they had held Xiao Hui together watching the sunset, whether they had shared earphones listening to the same song, whether they had suddenly embraced for no reason, whether he had drawn her features with half a pencil, whether he had put white toothpaste on his mouth to pretend to be an old man to make her laugh, whether he had suddenly looked at her and just smiled…

But it seemed she had no standing to ask such detailed questions.

Yan Xi crossed his arms behind his head and looked at the sky, his big eyes watching the soft, fluffy clouds, pretending not to hear. After a while, he looked at A-Heng pitifully and said: “Daughter, I’m hungry. The hospital food isn’t fit for humans – not even a piece of pork rib. I stayed with you for three days, three whole days.”

A-Heng lowered her head to play with Lu Rou Fan: “He’s annoying, isn’t he?”

Always so annoying, isn’t he?

But ultimately, she gave in to his request and made a full table – braised pork ribs, clear-stewed pork ribs, winter melon with pork ribs, and steamed pork ribs with rice powder.

Watching him eat like a child with puffed cheeks, A-Heng unconsciously smiled again, her eyes crinkling as she shoveled rice into her mouth.

The wound on her back had just scabbed over, wrapped in white bandages from her ribs to below her left chest. Changing the dressing was inconvenient, and if she wasn’t careful, the wound would tear and ache for half a day.

Yan Xi said: “A-Heng if you don’t mind, I can help you.”

A-Heng blushed, inwardly furious, and threw a cushion at him.

He thought she had just returned from a journey and become moody after coming home. How could he know that A-Heng was just sad that in his eyes, she was always someone whose gender could be ignored?

Perhaps A-Heng could be a woman, could be a man – whether male or female, as long as it was A-Heng, that was enough.

Yan Xi was at a loss, so A-Heng bought a box of chocolate milk and changed the subject with a dark face, asking him how long it had been since he’d cleaned the refrigerator.

Yan Xi complained: “I don’t know how to cook.”

A-Heng stared at him blankly, suddenly smiled, and sighed: “Oh, you.”

That person only thought that with A-Heng’s return, everything could be relaxed, and the world couldn’t be more perfect.

But truly, heaven have mercy, let this youth grow up quickly.

Si Wan and Si Er came to visit A-Heng on their mother’s orders, and tactfully asked her: “When are you going back home?”

It happened to be after the eighth day of the lunar new year, and Yan Xi was out at the radio station for his evening shift.

A-Heng smiled: “Oh, so this is someone else’s home.”

She looked at them steadily and sighed, “What’s the point? Going back would only cause… her more trouble. I’ll be returning to school in a few days, and I won’t be staying at the Yan house… for long anyway. She needn’t worry about people’s gossip.”

Si Er mocked: “You certainly have a clever mind.”

A-Heng smiled faintly: “It’s quite fair, isn’t it? The Wen family has someone in the Yan family, so naturally the Yan family also has someone in—”

Before she could finish, Si Er stormed out in a rage, slamming the door.

Si Wan narrowed his eyes: “When did you find out?”

A-Heng said: “When Wen Si Er told me two years ago that her surname was Yan, how else would I have known?”

Si Wan pondered, remembering something, and asked her quietly: “Your month-long illness back then was because of this matter, not because Yan Xi went to America?”

A-Heng smiled and said: “Yan Xi is such a sensible, such a sensible child.”

Si Wan asked uneasily: “What do you mean?”

A-Heng sat on the sofa, with Lu Rou Fan clinging to her again. She affectionately smoothed its wings and spoke softly: “To repay the debt to his sister, he treated someone else’s sister so well.”

Si Wan slumped: “When you were sick, I asked what was troubling you, but you never would say. Why wait until two years later to finally speak!”

A-Heng seemed not to hear his words, lost in deep memories as she spoke tenderly: “He couldn’t stand to see you bully me, thinking that if not for his sister, we siblings shouldn’t have been like that; he couldn’t bear to see Si Er being unkind and willful to me as if by making up for my grievances, I could recover the proper appearance of a Young Miss Wen, proud and unrestrained like Si Er.”

“You know, Yan Xi is such a clear-cut person, never willing to owe anyone anything. And unfortunately, in his eyes, I was that person who had been wronged.”

She said: “Si Wan, guess, if not for this debt, how much attention would he have paid to me from the beginning?”

A-Heng gazed at the white walls, where the once vibrant photos were gradually fading.

Years ago, when she first saw them, they were still so beautiful.

She didn’t even know why she had come back.

If it was longing, then this longing included even a vague hatred that she didn’t want to acknowledge.

She said: “How I wish everything could be perfect, pretending I had never discovered anything.”

Si Wan sighed wistfully: “When Aunt Yan was pregnant with Yan Xi, Uncle Yan had an affair. Er Er is Uncle Yan’s illegitimate daughter; her mother died after giving birth to her. At the time, Yan Xi’s parents were having serious divorce troubles. Grandfather Yan couldn’t bear to see his flesh and blood abandoned, so he begged our grandfather to take her in. Just then, mother had given birth to you, and grandfather, to repay Grandfather Yan, made the hard decision to send you to grandmother’s hometown in Wu Shui, without telling father and mother.”

A-Heng asked him: “What did Grandfather repay Grandfather Yan for? What relationship did my birth parents and grandmother have?”

Si Wan avoided the main point: “Your foster mother was the daughter of grandmother’s old friend. As for what was being repaid, I… don’t know exactly.”

A-Heng’s finger fell to the sofa as she smiled: “Si Wan, I’ve come this far, I won’t quibble over anything anymore.”

When Yan Xi reunited with her, he protected and spoiled her, often treating her like an infant.

Waking up in the middle of the night, wearing only his pajamas, he would hurry to her room, only feeling at ease after seeing she was still there. After closing the door, he would cry quietly outside.

Separated by just a door, she lay with closed eyes hearing everything clearly, and could no longer bring herself to hate Yan Xi.

Calming her emotions, she bit her lip and lowered her head: “About father’s death, blame me if you must. I truly was the one who caused his death.”

Father had rushed home from the Gu family by plane but had a heart attack. It was because she hadn’t followed her mother’s instructions that her father died.

Si Wan’s eyes filled with hidden pain: “That was deliberately planned by Mother and me to make you escape… but how much can you understand?”

A-Heng said nothing, trying to read the truth in his eyes.

But Si Wan just stroked her hair and forced a smile: “Girls grow up with such biased hearts. Fortunately, we share blood – I’m still your brother.”

Fortunately, not enemies.

At night, DJ Yan muttered quietly during his show: “If only I had a bowl of braised pork rib rice right now.”

Listeners called in to joke about bringing him some.

DJ Yan knew better and smiled: “Many thanks, but I’m quite picky – of the five tastes, I dislike three, so please don’t trouble yourselves.”

He didn’t like sweets, bitter flavors, or sour tastes – he could only eat spicy and salty foods.

A-Heng knew he hadn’t eaten properly that evening. Hearing the loneliness and regret in his voice, she found it amusing and went to the kitchen to make pork rib rice, packing it in a lunch box. Remembering how thinly Yan Xi dressed and how cold the nights were, she grabbed a thick coat and took the bus to bring everything to the radio station.

Reporters crowded the station entrance with microphones and cameras, forming an impenetrable wall.

A-Heng tried to go around but vaguely saw among the surrounded crowd a person with bright, beautiful eyes.

Oh, it was Chu Yun.

Chu Yun was also walking toward the station, with reporters chasing after her asking: “Are you visiting DJ Yan?”

A-Heng was pushed to the side, the lunch box tilting precariously, almost getting knocked away.

Chu Yun wore an official smile and said: “DJ Yan and I are just friends, don’t read too much into it.”

One sharp-eyed reporter noticed the lunch box in Chu Yun’s hand and exclaimed: “Could it be you’re bringing DJ Yan dinner?”

Chu Yun’s face fell as she denied it, turning to walk away quickly, her high heels swaying gracefully.

A-Heng stared blankly at the lunch box in her hands, something caught in her throat that she couldn’t express.

She sighed and sat at the station entrance, eating the rice and pork ribs bite by bite in the cold wind. By the end, both the rice and meat were cold, sitting uncomfortably in her stomach.

Looking at her watch, the hour hand was approaching twelve, and Yan Xi’s show was almost over. A-Heng put down the lunch box and took the coat up to the third-floor studio.

The staff asked what her business was.

She said she was looking for Yan Xi.

They asked what her relationship was with Yan Xi.

A-Heng hesitated before saying: “I’m his sister. It’s cold, so I brought him a coat.” She spread out the coat – it was the one Yan Xi often wore.

The staff finally let her through.

When A-Heng walked in, she was surprised not to see Chu Yun.

Her Mr. Yan sat inside the glass booth wearing headphones, and in a blue sweater, looking lazy and scattered, somewhat like his confused appearance at home just after waking up.

A-Heng held the coat and smiled.

Yan Xi looked up, saw A-Heng, froze for a moment, and then started smiling too, simultaneously counseling some lost soul on the other end of the phone while gesturing animatedly at her.

A-Heng sniffled and covered her eyes, feeling embarrassed.

She walked over and through the glass, where hot met cold creating fog, making Yan Xi’s face unclear.

His mouth opened and closed speaking some words that weren’t gentle yet remained soft, long since losing the nasal tone of his youth, clear and magnetic and very pleasant to hear, different from how he sounded on the radio.

She reached out, her soft fingers touching the glass, the fog dissipating in the warmth between her fingers.

Yan Xi looked at her, his eyes full of doting affection, and reached out his hand, from bottom to top, pressing his five fingers one by one tightly and deeply against hers.

Taking advantage of a break, he quietly mouthed: “Wait for me, baby.”

Word by word, silent.

Chu Yun, who had been waiting in the control room on the other side, saw everything. She smiled and asked a staff member nearby: “Sister, have you ever seen Yan Xi being this gentle?”

Pointing at those two shadows peacefully possessing each other in this way, she barely managed to hold back tears: “Sister, please don’t tell Yan Xi that I came.”

Why was it so unfair? When she came, he had no awareness at all.

So, your A-Heng has finally returned.