Looking back now, the young Lin Zhexia had once been briefly captivated by that face.

But the captivation didn’t last more than ten seconds.

Ten seconds later, this person spoke in a tone that seemed ready for a fight.

“You,” he said with lowered eyes, “are in the way.”

“…”

“Move.”

Lin Zhexia instantly felt that this face wasn’t that good-looking after all.

Her personality back then was very different from now; she was exceptionally sharp.

If this person had spoken nicely, she would have felt embarrassed about sitting there blocking someone’s path.

But obviously, this person was just short of saying the word “scram.”

Lin Zhexia didn’t give him a pleasant look either: “Don’t you know how to speak properly?”

That boy: “Can’t you understand human language?”

“I can understand human language,” Lin Zhexia said with a stern face, “but I don’t understand dog barking from earlier.”

Since Lin Zhexia also had an attitude of “you’re asking for a beating,” the two fell into a standoff at the building entrance.

“I’ll say it again, move aside.”

“I won’t. If you’ve got the ability, step over me.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Be careful, then, I bite people when I go crazy.”

…

Her first meeting with Chi Yao was not pleasant.

The two childishly argued for more than ten minutes until Lin He noticed the situation and called out: “Xiaxia, what’s wrong? Come over, we can go inside now.”

Lin Zhexia responded.

After responding, she felt this matter couldn’t just end there, so before leaving, she coldly said: “Let’s fight.”

“Tomorrow at twelve noon, I’ll wait for you here,” Lin Zhexia very coolly used her childish voice to imitate people in TV shows issuing challenges, “If you don’t come, you’re a dog.”

Later that day, the weather suddenly changed as a typhoon passed through.

Fortunately, this strong wind came quickly and left quickly. By early the next day, the sky had cleared.

Lin Zhexia waited very solemnly until noon the next day.

Before keeping the appointment, she even ate half a bowl of extra rice.

“Good appetite,” Wei Ping said with a smile, “Uncle was worried you wouldn’t get used to things here.”

Lin Zhexia pushed away her rice bowl and said, “I’m full. I’m going out for a bit.”

“Where are you going?” Lin He asked.

“…To get some sun.”

Lin Zhexia sat at the entrance of her building, watching the building across the street.

Noon.

No one entered or exited the building across the street.

Twelve-thirty.

Still no one.

One o’clock in the afternoon.

The door opened, and an elderly man walked out.

She waited until evening but never saw the boy come to meet her.

Lin Zhexia hadn’t expected that he truly didn’t want to be human.

He was just a little dog!

In the evening, the elderly man went out again to throw away garbage and quickly returned. Lin Zhexia seized the opportunity to ask: “Grandpa, is there a boy in your building about my height with very pale skin? May I ask if he’s at home today?”

At that time, Grandpa Wang was still very healthy and readily answered the little girl’s question: “You mean that handsome little boy?”

To find him, Lin Zhexia forced herself to nod: “Yes, he’s somewhat decent-looking.”

“That would be little Yao. He lives across from me,” Grandpa Wang said, “He’s in the hospital now.”

Lin Zhexia: “Huh?”

She hadn’t even fought him yet; how was he already hospitalized?

Grandpa Wang immediately explained: “Wasn’t there a typhoon yesterday? Seems like he caught a chill.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia found it very hard to imagine that scene.

The boy who had been so arrogant in front of her yesterday, who seemed like he could take on five people at once, had gone out, been blown by the wind, and overnight, had fallen ill.

What kind of sickly child was this?

Lin Zhexia was just about to secretly mock him in her heart.

Then she saw Grandpa Wang shake his head, saying with some pity: “That child is quite pitiful. At such a young age, his parents are often not at home, and he lives alone.”

“His health isn’t good either. He goes to the hospital every few days. I don’t know what his parents are thinking, how they can be so at ease… No job is more important than a child…”

Hearing this, Lin Zhexia suddenly felt like letting him off the hook.

Her second encounter with Chi Yao was a week later, when she was returning from the supermarket with Lin He.

After a week, she still wasn’t quite adjusted to life in her new home.

She was carrying a bag of snacks when she saw a somewhat familiar figure in the distance.

The boy’s silhouette was thin. Although it was summer, he was still wearing a black windbreaker and was opening the building’s entrance door.

Lin He went into the house first, and Lin Zhexia thought for a moment before running toward the building across the street.

She called out to him: “Hey.”

The boy’s hand, which was opening the door, paused briefly. There were clear needle marks on the back of his hand.

Lin Zhexia took out a packet of her favorite milk-flavored cookies from her snack bag and stuffed them into his hand: “For you.”

He wanted to say, “Take it back.”

Lin Zhexia said with a stern face, “I heard you were sick. Get better quickly, otherwise I won’t be able to defeat you fair and square.”

He hadn’t expected her to come up with such a reason and was momentarily stunned, which meant he didn’t immediately return the cookies to her.

A month after moving to Nanxiang Street.

Lin Zhexia got into a fight with someone.

This fight was quite sensational, instantly making her famous in the neighborhood and earning her a severe scolding from Lin He. However, her opponent wasn’t Chi Yao but He Yang.

That day, she was wandering around the neighborhood.

Lin He had found a new job nearby and had left early in the morning for work. Wei Ping was off that day.

She didn’t want to stay with Wei Ping, so after eating, she said: “Uncle Wei, I’m going out for a walk.”

Wei Ping was also at a loss. He had never had children and didn’t know how to deal with them or how to gain Lin Zhexia’s favor: “Then… be careful, don’t leave the neighborhood. It’s dangerous outside.”

Lin Zhexia nodded: “Mm, I know.”

There was a simple basketball court in the neighborhood. Older people usually came to play basketball in the evening, gathering after work or after school.

At this afternoon hour, the court had more children her age.

At that time, He Yang was a chubby little boy with a domineering personality who considered himself the “big boss of this neighborhood.”

Perhaps because he was sufficiently juvenile and childish, there was indeed a group of little kids who followed him and recognized him as their boss.

“Boss, you can throw the ball so high.”

“Boss, your shots are so accurate.”

“Boss! Let’s go to the store and buy popsicles!”

“…”

Lin Zhexia, sitting on a swing nearby, thought these people were very childish.

She sat for a while, but the sun was too hot, so she prepared to go home. Then she heard someone finally break free from the “boss” sentence pattern and say: “Look—isn’t that Chi Yao?”

She looked in that direction and saw a face she had only recently encountered.

The sickly boy with his pallid complexion was carrying something, passing by the path outside the basketball court.

He Yang, a troublemaker at that time, took pleasure in mocking others: “Call him over, let him play basketball with us.”

Someone said, “He can’t handle the ball.”

Someone else said, “He’s always sick, he can’t play with us.”

The group burst into laughter.

He Yang stood with his hands on his hips, arrogantly shouting: “I just want to see him make a fool of himself. He definitely can’t play basketball. Let’s see what he does. Call him over.”

Then they threw the ball at him—

With a “bang,” the ball hit the sickly boy directly.

Chi Yao at that time did indeed look somewhat “frail.”

Wearing a jacket in the height of summer, with sickly eyes.

Although this person seemed to have a temper that wasn’t easy to provoke, it still didn’t prevent people from wanting to bully him because of his weak constitution.

He Yang: “Hey, you always-sick guy, come play basketball. Can you play basketball?”

This scene of bullying the “weak” was too much.

Lin Zhexia immediately exploded at that time.

When she was little, she had no gender awareness, didn’t know how to spell the word “restraint,” and didn’t know fear. She acted purely on instinct.

So after He Yang finished speaking, before Chi Yao could take any action, a girl they hadn’t seen before walked out from the side.

That girl of the same age shielded Chi Yao behind her, then picked up the ball from the ground and without a word threw it back at them.

There were many of them, so randomly throwing would hit someone.

—This unlucky person was He Yang.

He Yang covered his face, almost crying from being hit.

Considering his dignity as the boss, he endured the burning pain on his nose bridge: “Who are you? Why did you hit me?”

Lin Zhexia pointed to the sickly boy behind her: “I’m his big brother.”

“If you want to fight him,” Lin Zhexia said coldly and seriously, “you have to get through me first.”

He Yang was confused by this relationship: “Since when did he have a big brother?”

Lin Zhexia: “None of your business.”

“You’re a girl.” He Yang, though troublesome, wasn’t completely unreasonable. “My mom says we shouldn’t hit girls. Step aside.”

Lin Zhexia: “If you can’t win, just say you can’t win. Don’t make excuses.”

“…”

That evening, Lin Zhexia was sent out of the house by Lin He for fighting.

She stood hungry at the entrance of the building as punishment.

Wei Ping kept pleading for her: “It’s so hot, she’s been standing for an hour already. Let her come in.”

Lin He’s voice became sharp: “Let her stand! Who taught her to fight with people?”

Lin Zhexia stood for an hour until her legs were numb.

After Lin He’s voice had quieted down, she thought Lin He might not be watching her anymore, so she took a bit of a break and sat down on the steps.

As she massaged her legs, she sighed about the difficulty of being a “big brother.”

Just as her mind wandered, suddenly, a very beautiful hand and a packet of milk-flavored cookies appeared in her vision.

The milk cookies were her favorite brand.

The sickly boy had a cold face and still spoke arrogantly, but this time he looked away, deliberately avoiding her gaze: “Returning them to you.”

It seemed she and Chi Yao gradually became familiar from this moment—at this very special turning point in her life.

The sense of unfamiliarity brought by moving began to settle down from this moment.

“Lin Zhexia,” she took the cookies and gave her name, “the name of your big brother.”

“…”

“Zhe as in ‘to fold,’ Xia as in ‘summer.’ What’s your name?”

The sickly boy held back, finally suppressing his reaction to the “big brother” title, and coldly tossed her two words: “Chi Yao.”

Lin Zhexia: “Have you ever considered changing your name?”

“?”

“Your health is already poor, and your name sounds like ‘eating medicine.’ It doesn’t seem very auspicious.”

“…”

From that day on, she started frequently going to Chi Yao’s home.

There was no one at Chi Yao’s house, no adults nagging in her ear.

Although Chi Yao had a dog-like temper, sometimes staying with him also made her angry.

After moving to Nanxiang Street, she transferred to another elementary school.

Most of the children in the neighborhood attended this school because it was close.

Coincidentally, she and Chi Yao were in the same class, while He Yang’s class was next door.

When she was young, her relationship with He Yang was very hostile.

Every time she saw He Yang, she would curse at him.

He Yang, with his group of little followers, also resented her.

Before the birth of the title “Xia-ge,” chubby He Yang called her “tigress.”

So she learned that Chi Yao sometimes didn’t even go to school, often stayed in the hospital, and people in the class barely remembered there was such a person.

Lin Zhexia’s grades were consistently in the middle range during childhood. Once, during Chi Yao’s hospitalization, she volunteered to explain problems to him.

“I scored 80 points last week,” third-grade Lin Zhexia said with her head held high. “The final exam is coming soon. I’m afraid you won’t be able to keep up, so I’ll reluctantly teach you.”

Chi Yao lay in the hospital bed, receiving an IV drip, and put down the book in his hand.

Lin Zhexia didn’t see what book it was. If she had looked more closely, she would have discovered it was a middle school textbook that she couldn’t understand.

She took out her little notebook.

And that test paper with 80 points, which she was quite satisfied with.

Noticing Chi Yao’s gaze falling on the 80 points, she said: “You don’t need to envy my score. If you work a little harder, you can also get 80 points.”

Her confidence was shattered when the final exam results came out.

The teacher smiled on the podium and said, “The first place in our class this time is still Chi Yao. He got full marks in every subject.”

Full marks.

Full. Marks.

Lin Zhexia, holding her 78-point test paper, which was two points lower than before, suddenly fell silent.

Where did she get the confidence to go to the hospital and explain so many problems to Chi Yao?

She was a big idiot.

…

She was getting closer and closer to the infirmary.

Lin Zhexia ran and gasped for breath, thinking these memories would gradually fade because they were too distant.

But they hadn’t.

Every event, every scene from nine years ago, she remembered very clearly.

She also remembered how Chi Yao’s health imperceptibly improved later. As he grew older, he no longer went to the hospital. Gradually, he grew taller than his peers. He started playing basketball.

After that, his physical condition even became better than his peers.

During flu seasons, when many people unfortunately caught colds and fell ill, he was always fine.

That sickly Chi Yao never appeared again.

…

She and Chi Yao also unknowingly, through fighting and more fighting, became friends with He Yang and the others.

Lin Zhexia pushed open the door of the infirmary, calling Chi Yao’s name with a choked voice: “Chi Yao—”

She pushed open the door and saw Chi Yao lying on the simple bed in the infirmary.

The young man had his eyes closed, no longer looking like his childhood self. He was wearing a T-shirt tucked into loose military pants, looking not so much like he was sick but more like an undisciplined student who had come to the infirmary to slack off and sleep.

Lin Zhexia, with red eyes, helplessly said: “I’m sorry. I should have just starved myself to death. I shouldn’t have let you run laps…”

“Please don’t let anything happen to you.” Lin Zhexia’s hands and feet went cold. “Medical science is so advanced now; no matter what illness, it can be actively treated. You’ll be fine.”

The person on the bed moved slightly.

This movement specifically manifested as the young man rather impatiently raising one hand and placing it over his ear.

“…”

The next second.

Lin Zhexia heard Chi Yao say, “I just sprained my ankle. I’m not about to be buried tomorrow.”