The road was neither short nor long, and Lu Nian hadn’t walked such a road in a long time.

As dusk fell, she finally saw the gate of the Xie family’s estate, her entire face flushed red.

Qin Si now lived in the building where Xu Ruohai lived, which was in a different direction from where Lu Nian lived.

She thought that if she went back like this, Zhang Qiuping would probably be surprised again, and then she would have to drink various kinds of medicine and undergo checks from Lu Zhihong at night.

She didn’t really feel like going back now; just thinking about it made her feel suffocated.

Sometimes Lu Nian also imagined how pitiful the old Lu Nian was, being locked in a room alone for years, without a friend, taking all sorts of nasty medicine and injections from early in the morning, seeing mostly doctors.

She felt a bit sorry for herself, not like a person, but like a canary trapped in a cage.

Seeing Qin Si heading towards the building where Xu’s family lived, Lu Nian remembered that he should be living on the second floor of Xu’s house.

“Can I come to your place and play for a while later?” Lu Nian ran after him, hesitated, and then asked cautiously, “I won’t stay too long.”

Lu Nian was actually a bit afraid of loneliness.

In her past life, she had many friends and loved going to their homes to play.

Now that she had been here for so long, she was surrounded by a bunch of adults or, if not, by Lu Yang.

She didn’t have anyone to talk to, and she was actually a bit lonely.

Qin Si’s steps halted.

He suddenly stopped, and Lu Nian almost bumped into his back.

She rubbed her nose and looked up at him, a little dazed.

Qin Si remembered the attic where he lived.

It was so dark and cramped, covered in dust, with no decent furnishings inside.

The bedding had holes, and there wasn’t even a proper chair.

That place.

Like him, dark, dirty, and never seeing sunlight.

And the girl in front of him was oblivious to the situation.

Her eyes were clear and transparent, revealing everything.

She was clean and delicate, like a glass doll.

He could see that she was sincere, but that only made him more angry.

The boy’s ears turned slightly red, and he looked at her angrily, but he couldn’t explain exactly why he was angry.

A gust of cold winter wind blew, and his feverish cheeks slowly cooled down, as if being drenched from head to toe with a bucket of snow, instantly sobering him up.

Lu Nian saw his beautiful black eyes, and for the first time, she saw a real emotion in them.

She heard him ask coldly, “Are we very familiar with each other?”

Lu Nian was confused by his sudden change in attitude.

She looked disheartened, like a wilted flower, and said softly, “Oh, well, maybe we’re not very familiar after all…”

After all, they had only known each other for a short time and hadn’t exchanged many words.

Perhaps today, Qin Si pulled her out of the ditch, reluctantly took her home, and carried her bag all the way, leading her to have some unrealistic misunderstandings, thinking that their relationship had improved.

In reality, there hadn’t been any change.

But it’s really hard to understand what boys are thinking, especially when one moment he’s voluntarily carrying her bag, and the next moment he’s saying they’re not familiar.

Lu Nian really couldn’t understand what Qin Si was thinking.

Seeing the girl standing there dumbfounded, unable to hide her grievances, Qin Si pursed his lips, looked away, and turned to leave.

“Stay away from me in the future.” Before leaving, the boy stopped for a moment, with his back to her.

Lu Nian couldn’t see his expression.

His voice came, “I don’t want to see you again.”

When Qin Si returned to Xu’s house, the Xu family of three was having dinner on the first floor.

Qin Si was as silent as usual when he entered, and his back seemed even more gloomy than usual.

Qin Si’s whereabouts were usually unpredictable, and no one cared where he went.

If he didn’t show up at mealtime, the Xu family would never save him any food.

Qin Si also didn’t like to eat with them, so except for the holidays when he had to stay at home, he ate all his meals at school.

It wasn’t vacation time now, and Qin Si came back so early, which surprised the Xu family of three.

Xu Ruohai usually didn’t pay much attention to Qin Si, but thinking of the sudden change in Lu Nian’s attitude towards him that day,

Xu Ruohai greeted him with a kindness he had never shown before. “Qin Si is back? It’s cold outside. Auntie has saved you some food. If you haven’t eaten, come and eat with us.”

Qin Si replied, “I’ve eaten.”

The Xu couple looked at each other and could only smile awkwardly.

Xu Hui quickly finished the remaining rice, tossed his chopsticks aside, and chased after Qin Si’s figure upstairs. “Hey, you came back with Nian Nian just now, right?”

Qin Si remained silent, continuing on his way.

Xu Hui caught up, wanting to grab him. “What did you do to Nian Nian?”

Everyone usually talked about Qin Si behind his back, calling him a wild seed.

He wasn’t a member of the Lu family, yet he lived with them, without parents to raise or teach him.

Xu Hui believed that someone like him should be treated like dirt underfoot, a world apart from Lu Nian.

Lu Nian should have looked down on him, but now, she had come looking for the wild seed herself one night, and today he even saw them coming home from school together.

And Lu Nian hadn’t even spoken to him.

Children are not good at hiding their emotions.

Xu Hui was jealous and angry, his face turning red. “You’re not worthy of carrying her shoes.”

He searched for harsh words from deep within, finally blurting out, “Let me tell you, if you dare to think about getting close to Nian Nian, it’s like a toad wanting to eat swan meat.”

Qin Si looked at him indifferently, his expression unchanged.

“Finished?” he asked calmly.

Qin Si was younger but taller than him. Before Xu Hui could answer, he was grabbed by the boy opposite him, forcefully pressed against the wall in the corridor, unable to move.

It was the first time Xu Hui realized how strong Qin Si was.

The slightly cold fingers gripped his throat tightly, and those calm black eyes stared at him without blinking.

Up close, Xu Hui realized how terrifying his gaze was.

The wild seed had a naturally cold and cruel appearance, from his delicate yet slightly childish features to his jawline, all exuding a chilling aura.

Even as he grew up, he could never become a gentle and normal man.

He would only turn into a more terrifying demon.

Fear crept into Xu Hui’s heart.

His voice seemed to be extinguished in his throat, breathing became increasingly difficult, he wanted to call for help, but the last vestiges of his dignity prevented him from making a sound.

“Whose room are you staying in now?” Qin Si asked Xu Hui, his voice low.

Xu Hui’s teeth were chattering, “You, you… my dad said that room is mine now, not yours.”

Qin Si’s lips twitched slightly, but there was no smile in his black eyes. “Good that you remember.”

He let go.

Xu Hui felt weak all over, almost collapsing to the ground, watching in fear as Qin Si walked away.

When he returned to the attic, the chattering voices were gone, and it was much quieter.

Qin Si thought.

Approach her?

He chuckled mockingly.

That little fool?

He would never have such thoughts about anyone in his life.

Precocious boys have a strong sense of pride, especially sensitive.

He tightly closed off his inner self, not trusting anyone, and would not reveal his emotions to anyone.

The attic light stayed on until late that day.

After finishing the book, he looked around the attic, which he had become accustomed to living in.

Due to his early life in the orphanage, Qin Si had very low requirements for living conditions, clothing, and food, never caring much as long as he could survive.

But now, he looked at the attic and suddenly found it somewhat displeasing.

The boy got up and rearranged the few furnishings, but there wasn’t much to rearrange.

The wooden floor was particularly cool in winter, the bed board was hard, and the whole room was dim and gray.

There were no chairs in the room.

Qin Si silently looked at the floor for a moment, then pulled out a mattress from the bed.

His mattress was actually made up of two thin quilts stacked together.

He removed the thicker layer and spread it out on the floor.

It was… just long enough for two people to sit side by side.

After staring at it for a moment, the boy finally came to his senses and realized what he was doing, his expression changing.

He angrily pulled back the blanket, and the thin quilt, pitifully, was thrown to the corner of the room by its owner, innocently wrinkled into a ball.

He lay back on the bed, and although he could have picked up the remaining thin quilt, he just left it there.

The bed board was especially cold, and the boy’s figure remained slim and delicate. His back was sore from being propped up, but he didn’t care at this moment.

He just turned off the light and lay back on the bed.

The window was not tightly closed. He glanced at it last.

The room was on the second floor, located at the heart of the estate.

He could see the room with beige curtains, still lit up.

It was like a sudden ripple of warmth on a long winter night.

A warm yellow halo seeped through the crack in the curtain, bright and soft. He stared at it for a few seconds, then quickly looked away.

After a moment, he tightly pursed his lips and forcefully pulled his own curtain closed.

This winter seemed particularly long, but even the longest night has an end.

He never went home with Lu Nian again.

Qin Si’s time at the Lu estate became less and less, and few knew where he went.

Regardless of his own wishes, the boy had grown a bit taller.

On winter nights, he still dressed lightly, indifferently crossing the snowy ground to see the brightly lit Lu estate in the distance.

Winter vacation arrived unexpectedly.

The children no longer had to go to school, and as the year-end approached, the Lu estate was adorned with lights and decorations, already beginning preparations for the New Year celebrations.

He calmly thought that his encounters with her should come to an end, and she would never look for him again.

After all, he had been spoken to so harshly.