The moment he heard those words, Yue Zhishi's nose suddenly stung, as if someone had pinched it, and the tears he had held back for so long couldn't help but surge forth.

He first stubbornly wiped away the tears with one hand, then used the other, and finally, both hands couldn't wipe them clean as the tears flowed more and more. He simply turned around and pushed Song Yu until his back was facing him, then pressed his forehead against it and cried, his shoulders trembling slightly. When the crying became too intense, he buried his head in the pillow, forcing himself not to make a sound.

Song Yu remained silent, letting him cry. Later, as if his patience had run out, he turned around, took off Yue Zhishi's eye mask, and pulled him into his arms, his tone not at all comforting.

"You won't be happy until you get my bed dirty, will you."

Yue Zhishi retorted with a sob in his voice, "You're the one who made me cry."

Song Yu didn't speak, still looking as if he was terrible at comforting people. Yue Zhishi buried his head in the crook of his shoulder, not daring to wipe his runny nose now, and asked intermittently between hiccups, "Won't your clothes get dirty?"

You really love asking questions.

Song Yu said in a deep voice, "If it gets dirty, you wash it."

At that, Yue Zhishi began to cry without restraint, his sobs as loud as they were when he was a child. Song Yu lay there quietly, his gaze vacant. This scene was a little unfamiliar to the two teenagers, but they had often hugged like this as children. To the young Song Yu, Yue Zhishi was a noisy little toy, following him around as if wound up, just like that little duck in Tom and Jerry that could never be shaken off. But with just one hug, he would calm down and quickly fall asleep.

Once asleep, he became very well-behaved, just as the adults described, like a doll.

The grown-up Yue Zhishi, when awake, seemed as if he were asleep—very well-behaved, never crying or making a fuss, sensible and endearing. Teenagers are all ashamed to cry their hearts out, as if their troubles don't deserve to be called troubles, not worth mentioning, insignificant, as if even speaking of them would seem like a pretentious display of sorrow. Only in front of Song Yu could Yue Zhishi let go without any burden.

His crying subsided a little. Yue Zhishi kept sniffling, and a tacit understanding made Song Yu guess he was about to speak, so he paid attention. Who would have thought that he would actually find Song Yu's arm, pull his hand onto his back, and make a small, nasal request, "Can you pat my back?"

Song Yu didn't refuse, raising his hand to pat him gently once. Yue Zhishi looked up at him. "When I said 'pat,' I didn't mean just one time."

"Mm." Song Yu responded, his hand starting to pat gently. He asked, "Still feeling wronged?"

Their understanding of each other was seamless. Yue Zhishi quickly understood and gave his answer, "I don't feel particularly wronged. What he said was also true. He probably can't even figure out why I hit him." At this, Yue Zhishi actually broke into a smile through his tears. "But bullies deserve to be beaten. You don't know, he kicks other people with his feet."

The corners of Song Yu's mouth tightened. "Don't get involved in this kind of thing again."

"Oh." Yue Zhishi closed his eyes again, as if burrowing into a warm cocoon, and emptied his mind. He spoke softly, "Actually, I almost can't remember what my parents look like anymore."

Song Yu patted him. "Don't you have a photo on your bedside table?"

"Photos don't move. Real people are different from photos." Yue Zhishi asked, "Have you met them?"

"I have." When Song Yu thought of their names, the first thing he recalled was their wedding. It was on a beach, with a small archway woven from flowers. There weren't many guests, and he was one of the flower boys. He shouldn't have been old enough to remember things, but unexpectedly, the impression was very deep.

That was his very first impression of a beautiful marriage.

It's just that most beautiful things are fragile.

"They were very good people." Song Yu patted Yue Zhishi's thin back. "Your mother was very beautiful, and her macaroni was delicious. Her voice was very gentle, and she could speak a little Chinese. Your father was very witty. The birthday gift he gave me was the most special one I've ever received."

Yue Zhishi nuzzled against his shoulder, his tone a little muffled, as if he was about to fall asleep. "What gift?"

"A hand-drawn map with all the places he had been to marked on it." Song Yu said, "He said that one should see more of the world."

He also said they could go to the other marked places together in the future.

"He never drew one for me." Yue Zhishi hugged him tighter.

He probably planned to draw one for him after unlocking a new achievement, Song Yu thought, perhaps after climbing that peak. But he couldn't bring himself to say it. Patting him like this, Yue Zhishi gradually fell asleep. Song Yu tried to loosen his embrace, but as if sensing something, Yue Zhishi would nuzzle back into his arms even if he moved back just a little.

He was already so big, yet coaxing him to sleep was still such an arduous task.

Yue Zhishi slept soundly. When the alarm went off, he was the only one in the bed. The lunch break was very short; a look at the clock showed that only ten-odd minutes had passed, but it felt as if he had been fully recharged. He lay in Song Yu's duvet, dazed for a while, then rolled half a turn with the duvet, wrapping himself up, before rolling back to unwrap himself.

So comfortable.

Two knocks came from the door. Yue Zhishi lifted his head and saw Song Yu, who had changed into another school uniform, standing at the door. He deftly tied his uniform's tie with both hands. "Let's go."

"Oh, right away."

Standing at the entryway, Yue Zhishi deliberately checked his appearance in the mirror. His eyes were indeed swollen. Luckily, they were big enough, or they would definitely look ugly. The corner of his mouth seemed a little better than before. Yue Zhishi licked it.

Such a bitter medicinal taste.

Song Yu gave him a ride to school. On the way, the aroma of roasted chestnuts wafted far and wide. While waiting at a red light, Yue Zhishi jumped off the bike and bought a large bag, eating them with relish on the back seat. When they reached the school gate, Song Yu parked the bike, and as soon as he turned his head, he saw Qin Yan, who had also just parked his bike, with a roguish grin on his face. The other boy shook his head and clicked his tongue, as if he had caught them in the middle of something.

"You brat, you stood me up again for your little brother."

"Shut up." Song Yu turned to leave, forgetting that Yue Zhishi was next to him, and bumped right into him. The impact made Yue Zhishi take half a step back, and the bag of roasted chestnuts in his hand was almost knocked away, but he managed to catch it tightly.

"It hurts." Yue Zhishi clutched his elbow, which was still bruised from the fight earlier in the day.

Qin Yan came forward as if he'd seen a treasure and held Yue Zhishi's shoulders. "Aiyo, let me see our Lele's glorious battle record. So amazing! I didn't believe it at first when they told me."

Yue Zhishi looked up at him and said seriously, "This is nothing to be proud of."

"Pfft." Qin Yan couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the more he laughed, the harder he went. "Your little brother is so straight-laced, he even knows fighting isn't a good thing."

Song Yu couldn't be bothered with him and said to Yue Zhishi, "After evening self-study, don't stay in the classroom by yourself. If you need to do homework or memorize vocabulary, come to our Fifth Floor Activity Room."

The Senior High Division had an activity room on every floor, specially prepared for students who wanted to study or recite texts during self-study time.

"Really?" Yue Zhishi got carried away with delight. The moment he grinned, the corner of his mouth hurt so much that he quickly covered it. "Can I go?"

"Of course you can, just mention my name..." Qin Yan tried to sling an arm around Yue Zhishi, but Yue Zhishi ducked away and returned to Song Yu's side, causing Qin Yan's arm to grab at empty air. "Eh?"

Song Yu glanced at him. "You can go in."

Yue Zhishi nodded and obediently walked through the school gate. After a few steps, as if remembering something, he turned back, shoved the paper bag of roasted chestnuts into Song Yu's hands, heard Song Yu say "Wait for me after school," hummed in agreement, and left with a quick "I can't finish them all" before walking away.

The bag was heavy. Song Yu opened it and saw that it was full of shelled chestnuts, golden-yellow, plump, and still warm.

"Aiyo, having a little brother is really..."

"Shut up."

-

Probably because he knew he could go to the fifth floor across the way after evening self-study, Yue Zhishi was in a good mood the entire afternoon, even though more than five people came over to express their sympathy for his face.

As soon as evening self-study ended, he started packing his schoolbag, which was not what Jiang Yufan had expected. Jiang Yufan quickly grabbed his bag and ran to the fourth row, "You're not staying here to do homework tonight?"

"Mm."

From this "mm," Jiang Yufan detected a very obvious emotion. It was like the "ang" that some people like to use in online chats; Yue Zhishi's tone was currently just like that, rising and slightly nasal.

"Then let's go back together. I'm hungry and want to eat some hot dry noodles. I wonder if the stall is open today."

"But I'm going to the Fifth Floor Activity Room across the way to study." Yue Zhishi had an apologetic expression on his face. "We can walk over through the corridor together."

So that was why.

Yue Zhishi bounded up to the fifth floor. The activity room was right next to Song Yu's classroom. Coincidentally, the third-years were also on a break, and many people were standing in the hallway. Yue Zhishi's Junior High Division uniform was particularly conspicuous.

"Hey, isn't that Song Yu's..."

Having been recognized, Yue Zhishi suddenly remembered that his eye was bruised. He lowered his head and walked over quickly, slipping into the activity room without even glancing into Song Yu's classroom.

The activity room wasn't large. It had eight desks, two small sofas, and a whiteboard. To Yue Zhishi's surprise, there was another girl inside wearing the same Junior High Division uniform as him. She looked familiar, seeming to also be in her third year of junior high. Just as Yue Zhishi picked a spot by the window and sat down, he saw Qin Yan walk in, carrying a pile of small snacks in his hands, which he placed on his desk with a clatter. "Lele, have some if you're hungry."

"Thank you, Brother Qin Yan."

Before they could exchange more than a few words, the bell rang, and Qin Yan swiftly returned to his classroom. Yue Zhishi looked at the snacks on the desk and once again spotted that carton of cheese-flavored yogurt. He didn't eat anything else, just poked open the yogurt and took a big sip.

"Classmate."

Hearing someone speak, Yue Zhishi looked up. It was the junior high girl he had noticed earlier. Yue Zhishi raised his eyebrows. "What is it?"

"You're Yue Zhishi, right?" The girl ran over, clutching her vocabulary notebook. She seemed to have a very outgoing personality. "You stood up for Cheng Mingming from our class this morning. That was so cool."

Yue Zhishi was a little embarrassed and leaned back in his chair. "Actually, it wasn't..."

"Don't be so modest. You're famous now. A lot of girls in our class are praising you."

Seeing that she seemed ready to keep talking, Yue Zhishi tried to change the subject. "Why are you here? Aren't you going home?"

The girl laughed. "Me? I'm studying here and waiting for my boyfriend to finish class."

B-Boyfriend?

Seeing Yue Zhishi's wide eyes, the girl asked, "What about you?"