At Qin Si’s current age, if he wanted to find something to do outside, it would be impossible for him to work in any legitimate place.

So, he was left with some shady activities in the gray areas.

Qin Si was extremely familiar with the streets and alleys of Ancheng, remarkably intelligent, and although reserved, his character exuded a ruthless demeanor from his bones, causing many young people and adults who didn’t take him seriously to suffer losses now and in the future.

Ming Ge ran a cybercafe in Ancheng.

A year ago, during a street fight, when he was chased by seven or eight people trying to escape, it was this ghostly child who appeared out of nowhere and saved his life by leading him to safety.

Later, he opened a black cybercafe in Ancheng and was happy to hand over some small tasks to Qin Si.

He didn’t seem to care much about payment, only occasionally asking him to find a place to stay and have a meal at his place.

However, his visits had become less frequent in the past few months.

So, when Qin Si reappeared this time, Ming Ge was very happy.

He had always had high hopes for Qin Si and felt somewhat regretful that he hadn’t come for so long.

Many of Ming Ge’s acquaintances in the cybercafe also recognized this child.

“Kid, would you like to come and help me with something tomorrow night?” A man patted his shoulder. “Help me deliver something, and I’ll give you this amount as a reward, consider it an New Year’s gift from Uncle.” He gestured to Qin Si.

For some things, it was better for younger people to do them.

This man had a somewhat peculiar appearance, rough and fierce, but his face looked strangely like a marine creature, a flounder.

He couldn’t figure out the background of this child.

There was a strange aura about him that couldn’t be ignored.

He had seen Qin Si doing homework in the cybercafe before and had even accidentally glimpsed at his test paper, which was full marks.

But according to Ming Ge, this kid was obviously not a good student or a well-behaved child.

Seeing how he dressed, he didn’t look like a child from a wealthy family, so money should be quite tempting to him.

Qin Si had a very weak sense of morality. He had grown up in an orphanage, where no one would come specifically to teach him right from wrong.

He was a thorough pragmatist, with hardly any surplus emotions, only caring about whether he could achieve his goals, and didn’t care about the means.

The number the man mentioned was indeed very large.

He thought of the cold attic and her hands shrinking into her sleeves last time.

He asked, “What do you want me to do?”

Flounder was about to answer, but several customers in the cybercafe happened to get up and complained to their friends nearby, “Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, can’t go out, have to go home and have dinner with the family.”

Qin Si suddenly fell silent.

He shook his head at Flounder. “I’m busy tomorrow.”

Ming Ge laughed heartily, “The kid is going home for New Year, don’t look for him, find someone else.”

Flounder had no choice but to give up, smiling with regret a few times.

The New Year’s Eve came quickly.

Qin Si returned to the manor under the cover of night.

When he arrived, he habitually looked towards the room on the second floor of the Lu family’s house, but to his surprise, the lamp that used to be always on was now dark.

However, the Xu family of three unexpectedly gathered on the first floor, watching the New Year’s Eve Gala with a table full of New Year’s goodies, having a lively time.

When Qin Si came in silently, the Xu family was laughing heartily at a skit.

He approached silently, grabbed Xu Hui’s hat, and pulled it back.

Xu Hui was now afraid of Qin Si and dared not say anything.

He could only reluctantly put on his coat and follow Qin Si out.

Qin Si was succinct, pointing in the direction of the main house, “Where are they?”

Xu Hui muttered, “They went out.”

Qin Si asked, “Where did they go?”

Seeing his expression, Xu Hui suddenly felt proud and complacent. “Of course, they went abroad for vacation. You didn’t think…” .. that they would take you along

Qin Si nodded, turned, and left without intending to listen to the rest.

Xu Hui, seeing that Qin Si’s face showed neither shock nor disappointment nor surprise, felt somewhat disappointed and annoyed.

Qin Si didn’t stay downstairs for another second, heading straight upstairs.

Pushing open the door, he immediately felt something was off.

The room was much warmer than usual, and then he saw the interior, which had been completely refurbished, with so many extra furnishings.

The boy pursed his lips slowly.

He saw the neatly stacked packages in the corner of the room, clothes, food… and the note placed on the table.

He quickly picked up the note, the handwriting of a little girl, round and chubby.

…

One could almost imagine her expression as she wrote that note.

He looked at it for a long time, folded the note, and tucked it deep into the drawer.

When the New Year’s bell rang, the boy lay alone in bed, his arms crossed under his head, his big eyes dark and deep, thinking who knows what.

In the middle of the night, he turned over, and under his pillow, a corner of a white note was quietly exposed.

The room was unusually warm, and he hadn’t slept so deeply in a long time.

When he woke up the next day, the sky was already bright.

Lu Nian had a very difficult New Year, feeling very unhappy.

She didn’t want to go on vacation with the Lu couple, and she felt disappointed that Qin Si, whom she had promised to spend the New Year with, had gone abroad, breaking their appointment.

They didn’t consult her at all about this matter.

Lu Nian realized that in this family, they didn’t respect her wishes at all.

Her bad mood affected her health.

In the southern hemisphere, it was summer, and Lu Nian caught a cold after accidentally getting caught in the rain.

She developed a high fever due to being unaccustomed to the climate.

Lu Zhihong didn’t dare to let Lu Nian fly back immediately.

After all, the flight was over ten hours long, and he was afraid Lu Nian wouldn’t be able to handle it.

So she had to stay temporarily at the vacation spot.

After the New Year, her condition stabilized a bit, but the company had many affairs to deal with.

Lu Zhihong could only handle them through video conferences and phone calls, keeping him busy all day.

He Tian was very unhappy.

Lu Zhihong rarely had time to accompany her, and this trip, which was hard to come by, was completely ruined by Lu Nian’s lack of interest.

Lu Nian was in a daze with the fever, faintly hearing the doctor speaking to Lu Zhihong in Chinese.

“…Your daughter’s physical foundation is very weak, and her resistance and immunity are very low,” the doctor said.

“So you must take care of her carefully. Any small ailments in the future cannot be ignored, to prevent them from deteriorating into serious illnesses… considering her current condition, I suggest she stay in the hospital first, and return home only after she has fully recovered.”

This illness made Lu Nian realize how fragile she was.

Until the early spring of the next year, she finally saw the gates of the Lu family’s manor again.

Seeing that the school year had already started, it was already early spring.

Lu Nian had just arrived home, and the jet lag hadn’t worn off yet, but she struggled to get up, wanting to go find Qin Si.

To apologize to him.

Wrapped in a thick coat, she had lost even more weight, her small face buried in the scarf, looking even sharper.

Luckily, she didn’t have to look for him for too long.

She found him under an iris tree.

Qin Si had grown taller.

He was already taller than boys his age, and although he was still slender, he was beginning to look like a teenage boy, with his features becoming more defined.

He stood in front of the flower bushes, silently watching Lu Nian.

Lu Nian felt that he had changed in some way, but she couldn’t say exactly how.

“I’m really sorry,” she didn’t know how to start, so she could only apologize with her head down.

Although it wasn’t a formal agreement, she still stood him up.

Lu Nian had just returned to An City and hadn’t adapted to the current weather, feeling the cold air chill her throat, causing her to cough.

Her face flushed with coughing, Lu Nian quickly stepped back, creating distance between them, and softly explained, “I’m not fully recovered yet. I’m afraid of infecting you.”

Qin Si remained silent.

He had known about her poor health before, but he had never actually seen her look so haggard.

The Xu’s had discussed that she had fallen ill abroad, so her return home was delayed.

They were used to Lu Nian being sickly, so they didn’t find it surprising.

Therefore, they didn’t provide any further details, and he couldn’t hear more specific information.

He lowered his eyes, silent, and approached a bit.

His black eyes looked at her as if wanting to carefully examine her.

He had thought many times about how he would act and what he would say when he saw her again.

He hated being deceived and pitied, so logically, he should be angry and dislike her even more.

However, after thinking about it many times, when he really saw her, he didn’t want to say anything.

Lu Nian remembered how Qin Si always avoided her, always wanting to stand a mile away from her.

Now that she was sick, he was a bit closer. She didn’t know what he was thinking.

“It’s contagious…” she couldn’t help but remind him.

Qin Si seemed to have just come to his senses when he heard her words.

He turned his face away, his tone firm, “I’m not as fragile as you.”

Lu Nian, “…oh.”

After hearing this cold response, Lu Nian rolled her eyes in her heart, but she relaxed a bit.

It seemed that he hadn’t changed much; he was still the indifferent and sharp-tongued Qin Si.

“I’ve known you hate me for a long time,” Lu Nian muttered, “you despise me whether I’m sick or not. You’re too mean to me.”

Qin Si, “Hmm.”

Lu Nian, “???”

Her thoughts were always transparent, and he could see through her expressions.

Qin Si’s lips twitched, a slight smile appearing before quickly disappearing.

Looking at the girl’s almost translucent face in the sunlight, he thought, infect him.

It would be better.

That way, he would pay a price to get close to her.

At this moment, the boy didn’t think too much, but an instinctual and vague thought arose within him.

And thereafter, this sick, twisted, almost martyr-like idea permeated his adolescence, especially after he despairingly discovered his own feelings.