The August summer blazed, the sun burning like fire, cicadas chirping incessantly.

Lin Zhexia curled up on the sofa with a bag of chips beside her. The room was dark except for the faint glow from the projector in front of her. The movie had reached an intense moment—the screen suddenly brightened as a ferocious ghost lunged forward with bared teeth—

The room abruptly lit up, revealing partial furnishings through the projector’s light.

The entire room was excessively tidy.

On the desk sat several volumes of “Competition Practice,” a black alarm clock, and a few black pens.

Besides these, there was nothing extra.

The only things that looked somewhat untidy and out of place were the snacks scattered about.

Lin Zhexia would watch the movie for a bit, then pick up her phone to send a few messages in a chat window—

Scam—

A scam—

The year’s most terrifying movie isn’t scary at all; it deserves to be reported to the National Anti-Fraud Center.

Ten minutes later—

Whoa—

But this ghost’s cry is unique—

Whoa whoa whoa.

Another ten minutes later—

It’s been half an hour—

You still haven’t replied to me—

Are you hanging out somewhere

Lin Zhexia lowered her head, typing the last sentence with particular care, character by character: and having so much fun that you’ve forgotten about me, your dad.

Within seconds after sending this message, there was finally movement from the other side.

At the top of the chat window labeled “Take Meds,” a line appeared: [Typing…]

A moment later, a few lines of text that exuded arrogance even through the network appeared on the chat interface—

Yes, hanging out, very busy—

As for not replying to you—

Don’t feel like chatting with someone who can’t get relationships straight.

Before she could reply, the other side sent another message: Where are you watching the movie?

Lin Zhexia looked around the room. It was completely different from her own room’s style, clearly a boy’s room with a projector installed in the living room. This was the main reason she had brought snacks and come here today.

But she felt a bit embarrassed to say it directly, so she replied with just three characters: Movie theater—?

Realizing that there were no horror movies currently showing in theaters, Lin Zhexia changed her answer: …Private cinema—

Oh

Lin Zhexia knew this person wasn’t so easily fooled. Sure enough, the next message after “Oh” was: Take a picture and show me. I’ve never been to a private cinema in my life, let me see what it’s like—

…

Where was she supposed to take a picture from?

There was no hiding it anymore, so she could only answer honestly: Your place. Didn’t you just buy a new projector? But then you went on a trip right after buying it, so I’m testing it out for you to see if it works well.

The other side seemed to have anticipated this answer.

After a few seconds, another arrogant message came through:—

So, who’s the dad?

…—

You.

Lin Zhexia’s fingers tapped on the screen, skipping even the struggle and smoothly surrendering:—

I didn’t get the relationship straight—

Daddy.

The conversation was interrupted by a phone call.

The familiar voice of Lin He came through the phone: “Xiaxia, it’s almost time for dinner. When are you coming home?”

“I forgot to check the time,” Lin Zhexia fumbled to pause the movie. “I’ll be right back.”

Lin Zhexia returned very quickly.

After hanging up, Lin He had just placed the dishes on the table when Lin Zhexia arrived at the door: “Mom—I’m home.”

Lin He glanced at her: “You came from Chi Yao’s place, right?”

Lin Zhexia was surprised that her mother guessed correctly: “You should change your job to fortune-telling.”

“Do I need to guess?” Lin He could estimate her daughter’s movement patterns based on time. “You came back so quickly, you couldn’t have been just walking around the neighborhood. But isn’t Chi Yao away during the break? Something about visiting relatives because of some family matter? If he’s not home, what were you doing at his place?”

Chi Yao.

Her childhood friend.

The arrogant person from the chat earlier.

They had known each other since they were very young.

The Chi family lived in the building across from hers, less than three minutes away.

She could even see his curtained windows from her bedroom window.

Lin Zhexia slowly stuffed food into her mouth, genuinely embarrassed to admit she had gone to test Chi Yao’s new projector on her own. Plus, staying at home during the break often meant enduring various lectures from Lin He, so she made up an excuse: “He… he said he left in a hurry and couldn’t remember if he closed the windows, so he asked me to check.”

Lin He didn’t suspect anything.

As a “soon-to-be high school freshman,” Lin Zhexia was enjoying her break quite freely.

She had done well on her high school entrance exams, graduated from middle school, and naturally had no homework during the break.

Lin He clearly couldn’t stand seeing her daughter so carefree: “I bought you some high school textbooks. Start studying from this summer break, so you won’t fall behind after school starts.”

“…” Lin Zhexia swallowed her food. “High school… textbooks?”

“The early bird catches the worm, you should understand this principle.”

Lin Zhexia defended herself: “I got into the district’s key high school, the same as Chi Yao. I’m not exactly a slow learner.”

The results had already been released, along with each school’s admission score requirements.

Lin Zhexia’s previous mock exam scores had been fluctuating: rocketing up when she encountered suitable exam papers and remaining average with unsuitable ones, making it impossible for anyone to predict her final score until the very end.

Fortunately, the final exam paper suited her well.

Lin He concluded: “That was just an exceptional performance, a chance event.”

“Besides, how dare you mention being in the same school as Chi Yao?”

Lin He spoke slowly, with a hint of disbelief in her tone: “Although you’re in the same school, you barely made it past the admission line, while he exceeded it by over ninety points.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia felt the food in her mouth becoming difficult to swallow.

“But it’s strange,” Lin He changed the topic, “with such a high score, he could have gone to No. 1 High School. Why would he stay here?”

No. 1 High School was Lianyun City’s key high school.

Lin Zhexia hadn’t applied to the city’s school, firstly because she couldn’t get in, and secondly because it was too far from home.

Mainly because she couldn’t get in.

She had firmly applied to No. 2 High School. Though the two schools only differed by one stroke in their names, the score threshold differed by quite a margin.

Although she and Chi Yao were childhood friends, they had only attended the same elementary school. Back then, she always hung out with the boys, which made Lin He feel her personality wasn’t very girlish, so after elementary school, she was sent to an all-girls school.

Now that her all-girls school days were over, she would finally be attending the same school as him again after all this time.

Lin Zhexia thought for a moment: “Maybe it’s because it’s closer to home.”

After saying this, she tried to change the subject. Noticing only she and Lin He at the dining table, she asked: “Where’s Uncle Wei?”

The Lin family was a blended family. Lin’s father had left when she was very young, and Lin He had raised her alone with great difficulty. When she was seven, Lin He met Uncle Wei. It was also because of the family restructuring that Lin Zhexia had moved to this neighborhood at the age of seven.

“Your Uncle Wei has something at the company,” Lin He said, putting some food on her plate. “He’ll probably be back later.”

After serving the food, Lin He circled back to the previous topic: “Will three textbooks be enough? I heard high school is indeed much more difficult, and many people are hiring tutors.”

“Three books are… more than enough.”

“You have nothing to do during the break anyway; being idle is just being idle.”

Lin Zhexia held her rice bowl; the food had become too difficult to swallow—

In the days that followed, Lin Zhexia’s life became miserable.

The days of hiding in Chi Yao’s home to use his projector were gone forever.

Before her now were three textbooks: “Selected: Summer Enhancement Training,” “Early Entry to High School,” and “One Hundred Mental Training Questions.”

Twenty pages every day.

Every. Day.

555—

Life is pressuring me—

I’m suffering—

I can’t go on

During a break from her exercises, Lin Zhexia pressed her phone under the textbook and poked at the screen, typing character by character:—

I’m about to be crushed.

The person on the other end responded with his consistently arrogant attitude—

I’ll burn paper offerings for you at the Qingming Festival.

Lin Zhexia: “…”

After taking a deep breath, she exited the chat interface, clicked on the contact card, and changed Chi Yao’s nickname from “Take Meds” to “Chi Dog.”

The two characters “Chi Dog” weren’t satisfying enough.

But with her impoverished vocabulary and good personal qualities, she couldn’t think of other, more insulting words for now.

She decided not to chat with Chi Yao anymore.

She clicked a few times in her contact list and opened another chat window.

Then she typed rapidly—

Chi Yao—

You’re not human—

You’re a dog—

When you come back, I’ll beat you up.

The contact labeled “Da Zhuang” replied with a long string of ellipses.

Da Zhuang: …………

Da Zhuang: What conflict are you two having again?

Da Zhuang: Wait, you’re insulting him, but why are you telling me?

Lin Zhexia replied: That’s because I’m afraid I can’t beat him.

Da Zhuang: Noted.

There were many peers in the neighborhood, and Da Zhuang was also one of the group they had grown up with. Da Zhuang’s real name was He Yang; he was quite chubby as a child, hence the nickname “Da Zhuang” (Big and Strong).

After asking about the cause of the dispute, He Yang comforted her: Be grateful, he doesn’t even reply to my messages. Occasionally he’ll send two characters, just “read.” You got, let me count, six characters. In comparison, how enthusiastic my brother Yao’s replies to you are! I can’t help but feel jealous. You should secretly be happy.

Now it was Lin Zhexia’s turn to fall silent—

Thank you so much.

Lin Zhexia put down her phone and worked on a few more problems. As the clock passed eleven, just as she was about to rest, she suddenly remembered the pile of snacks she had left at Chi Yao’s place.

“I was originally going to leave them for you to eat, as a thank you for letting me use your projector,” Lin Zhexia poked the book page lightly with her pen tip, muttering, “but I didn’t expect you to be so inhuman.”

Thinking of this, Lin Zhexia made up her mind.

She dropped her pen, intending to retrieve her snacks.

As she hurriedly left, she didn’t notice that in the building across, a certain window that had been completely dark suddenly lit up.

After eleven o’clock.

The neighborhood was dark, with only streetlights still on.

Lin Zhexia, key in hand, ran into the opposite building, familiar with the way.

The reason she had Chi Yao’s house key was mainly because she had often gone to his place since childhood. The frequency was so high that Chi Yao got annoyed and tossed her the spare key so she could let herself in.

This key had been in her possession for many years.

Chi Yao’s parents were very busy with work, usually running their business outside, leaving just Chi Yao at home.

So when Lin Zhexia inserted the key into the lock, she didn’t notice if there were any sounds from inside.

She opened the door and found the lights were on.

Then she scanned the living room and saw a black suitcase.

She hadn’t seen this suitcase during her last visit.

She didn’t even have time to wonder who had returned.

The next second.

The bathroom door was pulled open.

The person who emerged wore a black T-shirt, his hair not fully dried, slightly long bangs hanging over his forehead.

He was very tall, still in his adolescent years, his frame seemingly not fully developed yet, giving the initial impression of a slim waist and long legs. Against the black clothing, his skin appeared excessively pale, even appearing somewhat sickly.

The young man had distinct features, his eyebrows and eyes as if heavily outlined, unruly, and casual. Currently, his eyes were downcast, their corners long and narrow, with deep double eyelids. Unlike his bold eyebrows and eyes, his pupil color was surprisingly light, carrying a hint of sharpness.

Chi Yao glanced at Lin Zhexia, who had just entered, and after a moment, said coolly: “Quite surprising, isn’t it?”

“?”

As if not noticing Lin Zhexia’s confused expression.

He dropped another line.

“Your daddy’s back.”