“If you could go back in time, which day would you most want to return to?”

“September 20th, when I was 1x years old.”

“What happened that day?”

“The first night Feng Ning rejected me.”

“What would you want to do?”

“The instant she rejected me, I’d give up on her.”

But time cannot flow backward, and things that have happened cannot happen again. This night was still this night; the moon wasn’t especially round, nor especially bright.

Jiang Wen finished his hysterical shouting, and his entire body froze in place, suddenly plunged into dead silence.

Feng Ning’s face still held the expression from the middle of her own outburst.

Her mouth had fallen slightly open into an O shape. She didn’t speak right away; her mind spun rapidly for a moment—she truly hadn’t anticipated things could develop into something this absurd.

The look on his face, turned to the side, eyes red with anger—this was absolutely not the look of someone joking. That put Feng Ning in a rather awkward position, unable to back down easily.

Even someone as hard-hearted as her didn’t know how to handle this situation for a moment. Before, she’d always managed to stay indifferent, unbothered. After all, if other people liked her, what did that have to do with her?

But… but right now… there were too many feelings, hard to put into words.

After a long while, Feng Ning looked at him and said, “You—”

Noisy voices drifted over. Some man shouted at the top of his lungs, “Little sister, did you lose anything else?”

From the distance came the wail of a police siren. Soon several officers jumped down from their vehicle, dispersing the onlookers who’d stopped to watch, coming this way.

After getting a rough picture of the situation, Jiang Wen and Feng Ning were taken along to the police station.

The phone in her pocket buzzed again. Unable to reach Jiang Wen, Jiang Yuyun called Feng Ning directly. “Is Xiao Wen with you? Why can’t I get through to his phone?”

“We just ran into a robbery, and someone called the police. We’re about to go to the police station with them.” Feng Ning gave a rough account of what had just happened.

“You were robbed?!” Jiang Yuyun was startled, saying anxiously, “Are the two of you alright?”

“We’re fine, we’re fine. It shouldn’t take too long.”

Jiang Yuyun relaxed a little. “Alright. Is Jiang Wen next to you? Let me have a word with him.”

“He’s here.” Feng Ning agreed, and handed the phone over.

She didn’t know what was said on the other end. Jiang Wen lowered his eyes, gave a couple of perfunctory replies, and hung up the phone.

Taking the phone back, Feng Ning happened to glance at him and noticed his cheeks were flushed in an unusual way.

Only then did she remember that Jiang Wen’s fever had only just broken. In this cold weather, he’d been frozen outside for so long, wearing only a thin suit jacket and a shirt—not even so much as a warm coat.

Feng Ning leaned toward the front seat and said sweetly, “Officer, could you turn up the heat in the car a little? My friend has a cold.”

“Why is he dressed like that in the dead of winter?” The officer in the passenger seat leaned over to adjust the air conditioning, glanced at Jiang Wen in the rearview mirror, and seemed on the verge of asking something. “Is he a celebrity?”

Jiang Wen didn’t say a word. Feng Ning explained on his behalf, “Not a celebrity, not a celebrity—he’s just a bit too handsome.”

The police station was nearby, only a ten-some-minute drive. Perhaps because everyone was trying to hit year-end targets, they worked quite efficiently.

While taking their statements, one of the older officers said, “The man who just robbed you was released from prison only a few months ago—he’s got several priors. New Year’s is coming up, and things are unsettled everywhere. Just yesterday a candy shop owner was robbed and killed, stabbed to death right on the street. This society is complicated. You two are students—if this happens again, remember to call the police first, don’t try to be brave.”

The longer the old officer talked, the darker Jiang Wen’s face grew.

By the time they left the station, it was already fully dark. Jiang Yuyun had sent a driver to pick up Jiang Wen.

The streetlights on both sides stretched on, lamp after lamp, as if they had no end. The two young shadows, one ahead of the other, kept a slight distance between them.

Feng Ning tried several times to speak, but each time Jiang Wen looked away. She cleared her throat, making conversation for the sake of it. “I’ll forget everything about today.”

“Forget what,” Jiang Wen said coldly.

“You know… that thing, your bathing photo. I really was too perverted,” Feng Ning reflected on herself. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“How many more times are you going to bring this up,” Jiang Wen’s face darkened.

As it turned out, the two of them simply couldn’t stay peaceful for long.

Feng Ning cut back in, speaking as if scolding an ignorant younger sibling. “And another thing—next time you have a meltdown, don’t go smashing your phone. Throwing a tantrum like that is such a luxury. If you’re really angry, wouldn’t it be better to smash something cheap?”

“I went through so much trouble to get your phone back for you, and you should be thanking me profusely. I really can’t understand what goes through your head—is your brain broken?” Bringing this up again, the pain of it still lingered in her heart.

Jiang Wen’s mocking expression returned. “Who wants your profuse thanks? If something had happened to you, I’d be the one dragged into it too. Simple-minded, all brawn.”

“My brain is simple?” Feng Ning smugly held out her hand in front of him, making a six with her fingers, then a nine, then finally an eight. “See that clearly? That’s the score I got on my finals. Did you beat me? Eternal runner-up!”

He grabbed her wrist.

The back of her hand had several dirty-looking wounds.

Feng Ning pulled her hand back. “Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Given up on the innocent act and turned to hooliganism now?” If he could, Jiang Wen genuinely wanted to sew her mouth shut.

He took a deep breath, his face looking terrible, and said with restraint, “There’s a medical kit in the car.”

“It’s just a little scrape, nothing worth treating.” Feng Ning didn’t care in the least, but there was nothing she could do—held firmly, she couldn’t shake her hand free.

Not caring whether she was willing or not, Jiang Wen dragged her toward where the car was parked.

Because they needed to apply medicine, they turned on the overhead light in the back. To avoid affecting the driver at night, they pulled down the partition. In the small compartment of the car, it grew so quiet you could hear each other breathing. With nothing else to do, Feng Ning started counting his eyelashes.

One by one, curling up slightly at the ends, like little slides.

The car suddenly hit a bump, poking at her wound; she hissed in pain and sucked in a breath.

Jiang Wen immediately raised his eyes.

At such close distance, each of them could see their own reflection in the other’s eyes. They stared at each other, dazed, for a few seconds, and a strange kind of intimacy suddenly arose.

Feng Ning spoke teasingly, “Were you confessing your love to me again, out on the street just now?”

Jiang Wen’s hand holding the cotton swab trembled; his face grew hot, and he snapped irritably, “Shut up!”

She sat up straight, putting some distance between them, but she didn’t shut up. “I won’t beat around the bush with you anymore. Even though we’re always bickering and insulting each other, actually, since that night in the hospital, I’ve already thought of you as my—Feng Ning’s—friend.”

The word “friend” sounded like an explanation, but also like a way of drawing a clear line.

In any case, it grated on Jiang Wen’s ears unbearably. He’d known it would come to this.

“You’re an excellent person. Don’t trap yourself in this spot forever.” Her voice was steady.

Jiang Wen’s expression changed abruptly, cutting her off. “You don’t need to say any more.”

Ignoring his reaction, Feng Ning persisted earnestly, “No, I do need to say this. I can tell you—I have two completely different attitudes toward my pursuers and toward my friends. I can give you a little more time to think it over clearly—whether you want to be the former, or the latter.”

She was always like this. She held herself so low, yet at her core she was harder to get close to than anyone.

Jiang Wen stared at her fixedly.

Looking at her, committing this earnest, ruthless look of hers permanently to memory, so he could finally, completely give up.

They arrived at the destination. The car stopped, the engine cut off. Feng Ning tucked her bag under her arm, turned to say goodbye to him. “Alright, I’m going. Bye. I’ll be looking forward to your answer.”

She paused, then added with composure, “Remember—friendship is what lasts forever.”

“……”

If not for the last shred of his self-control, Jiang Wen’s hand would already have gone around her neck. He gave a cold laugh.

Feng Ning raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Go to hell with your ‘lasts forever.'”

—These were the last words Jiang Wen said before slamming the car door shut.

“I suspect he’s a masochist.”

“Whenever the two of us are together, it’s either fighting or working against each other.”

“Jiang Wen is really shallow. He just likes that I’m pretty.”

“Actually he should thank me. Teacher Feng gave him a lesson through personal example, so he’d know that pretty women are all liars, and nothing they say can be trusted.”

“I’m confident that after this experience, Jiang Wen will never fall for it easily again where women are concerned.”

Shuang Yao couldn’t stand listening anymore—how could anyone be this shameless? She put down the novel in her hand. “You’re the biggest scam Jiang Wen will ever fall for in his entire life.”

Feng Ning sat in front of the space heater at the foot of the bed, drying her hair. The warm light cast a faint yellow glow across her brows, lips, and nose, making her look both clever and delicate. Just from her looks alone, no one could imagine she actually had such a bitch-ish soul.

“I really am!” Feng Ning cried out. “I’m so troubled!”

Shuang Yao stared wordlessly at her back.

A thought suddenly popped into her head. Worried, Shuang Yao asked, “Feng Ning, you don’t happen to like women, do you?”

“?”

“I genuinely can’t imagine what kind of boy could conquer you.”

Feng Ning zoned out for a moment, then said rationally, “Actually, it’s not that I have absolutely no feelings for Jiang Wen. At the very least his looks are very much to my taste—that fresh, tender face of his dazzles me quite often.”

“Ha, he’s the famous, renowned handsome boy of Qide, and you really don’t need to put on this reluctant act, as if you’re wronging yourself.”

Shuang Yao gave her a look that said she’d seen through her long ago, saying sharply, “At the very beginning you kept saying you didn’t like getting used to other people, yet you went and shamelessly flirted with him anyway—I guessed right away that you absolutely were just attracted by his looks.”

Feng Ning nodded in agreement, taking the criticism gracefully. “Go on.”

Shuang Yao knelt on the bed, gently tugging at her ear. “What else is there to say—you have no conscience whatsoever. You flirt with people and then have no intention of taking responsibility. The moment things look bad, you want to pat your butt and walk away. And you even forced him into being ‘friends’ with you. God, I’m starting to feel sorry for Jiang Wen. Such a fine campus prince, living his good life, and then he had to run into a freak like you.”

Feng Ning pried her hand away, thinking seriously. “But I really do think being friends suits us better. I’ve handed the choice over to Jiang Wen today. If he insists on not wanting to be friends, and absolutely must interact with me with the goal of dating, then I…”

“Then what will you do? Will you distance yourself from him completely? Never say another word to him again?”

“Honestly, I don’t know either.” Feng Ning’s face scrunched up in a knot. “I’ll have to wait until he makes his choice.”

Shuang Yao had been brainwashed and bullied by Feng Ning for years, so she saw things more clearly than most people would.

She shook her head. “Feng Ning, you were never this indecisive with the other boys who pursued you before. There have been plenty more persistent than Jiang Wen, and you always dealt with them decisively and cleanly. Why has this one dragged on so long, so tangled and lingering, without any resolution?”

Having said her piece, Shuang Yao added, “Compared to Jiang Wen, I think you’re the one who really needs to think this through carefully.”

“At least he dares to face his own heart honestly. You might not.”

——

It had snowed heavily the night before, and the snow on the ground still hadn’t melted. Zhao Binlin and Xi Gaoyuan had arranged to come to Jiang Wen’s house to play games with him.

Jiang Wen had run a high fever again after getting home that night, and it had only broken this morning; he’d been in low spirits all day.

While the game loaded, Zhao Binlin brought up a novel that had recently become popular, aimed at male readers. “It’s really good—this novel has had me so absorbed I can’t eat or sleep properly.”

Xi Gaoyuan’s interest was piqued, and he agreed to read it that evening. Zhao Binlin turned, enthusiastically trying to sell Jiang Wen on it too.

Who knew he’d respond coldly, “Not into that kind of thing.”

Zhao Binlin pressed on, undeterred. “Then what type do you like? I’ll recommend something for you.”

Jiang Wen, wrapped in a blanket, picked up the game controller and said, lifelessly, “Novels where the female lead doesn’t love the male lead—that’s the only kind I can find any resonance with.”