It’s a rather mundane and boring kind of story.

Similar to, “What are you doing?”

“Did you have lunch at noon?”

Or, she had something delicious to eat, saw a joke, and also wanted to message Qin Si.

Just imagining the expression on the young man’s face when he sees these bits and pieces of text, she stopped herself in time.

Otherwise, Qin Si might have blocked her.

She felt a bit embarrassed herself, always bothering him like this.

After all, he lived alone, had to work, and study, and if she didn’t help, she’d just be making trouble all the time, which she really felt bad about.

After the New Year, Qin Si didn’t contact her, but Zhao Yayuan sent her several messages, “I’m back in Ancheng.”

Lu Nian replied, “Hmm.”

Zhao Yayuan, “Where are you?”

Lu Nian, “At home.”

Zhao Yayuan pursued, “What are you doing at home?”

Actually, these past few days, she had been exploring something new and fun.

The incident with the Lu family on New Year’s Eve seemed to have caused quite a stir, negative comments were flying around, and Lu Zhihong basically stayed at the company, spending very little time at home.

Lu Nian finally had the chance to relax and do things she liked.

She spent several days in the studio, touching up the painting she had done for Qin Si before.

At the same time, she bought a graphics tablet and started to enthusiastically try digital drawing.

It felt completely different from sketching and watercolors she usually did, but it was also very interesting.

Sometimes she could draw for seven or eight hours a day because of her good art skills, and she quickly got the hang of it.

She opened an account on “Haitu” — a comprehensive social platform that many young people are using now, but Lu Nian hadn’t used it before.

She’d been told by Tian Yue and others that she was too out of touch before.

But she didn’t register to browse or anything, just logged in on time every day to post her latest practice results, because she was afraid that Lu Zhihong would find out and throw away all her equipment, saying she was wasting her time on frivolous pursuits.

Lu Zhihong had already stopped her painting and music lessons, saying she needed to focus on her studies, these skills were just a passing acquaintance and didn’t require too much effort.

Lu Nian felt he could really do such a thing.

She just wanted to leave a record for herself.

But of course, she couldn’t tell Zhao Yayuan about these things, just said, “Eating and sleeping at home.”

Zhao Yayuan couldn’t bear it anymore, “Who doesn’t know you eat and sleep.”

Seeing that continuing this conversation was futile, Zhao Dashao could only suppress his frustration and directly brought up, “What about our agreed makeup lessons? Haven’t they finished yet?”

It’s been so long since the New Year, but Lu Nian still remained silent, showing no intention of coming over to continue tutoring him.

Lu Nian casually said, “Okay, then tomorrow.”

Zhao Yayuan, “?”

Actually, it’s because Lu Zhihong is about to return home, and her happy life at home is probably coming to an end soon.

She needs his approval to go out, but if it’s to Zhao’s house, he usually doesn’t object.

“Can’t it be tomorrow?”

Zhao Yayuan, “…Okay.”

So tutoring continued like this, and Lu Nian never asked him about Nan Qiao, just enjoyed her days leisurely.

Zhao Yayuan studied nearby, while she read novels and occasionally seemed to draw, but she didn’t show Zhao Yayuan her drawings or want to talk to him about them; they only talked about studying.

The start of school was just a few days away.

Zhao Yayuan couldn’t hold back anymore, “Aren’t you going to ask me about Nan Qiao?”

Lu Nian seemed to just remember this matter, her gaze still stuck on the pages of her book, “Time flies so fast, it’s almost over.”

“You go ahead,” she said to Zhao Yayuan.

Seemingly not in a hurry, her eyes were clear and bright.

The current Lu Nian seemed to have changed quite a bit compared to the Lu Nian from before the New Year… but Zhao Yayuan couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had changed.

For a moment, the young man’s eyes seemed distant, as if gazing at a faraway place.

He slowly said, “I was sickly when I was young, because I was born prematurely, my lungs didn’t develop well…”

And Haicheng is an industrial city, with heavy industry particularly developed.

By the time Zhao Yayuan was born, it happened to be the worst period in more than ten years for air quality in Haicheng.

He spent most of his childhood in the hospital, sometimes coughing all night, his face turning red, crying until he passed out.

“So, my family wanted to send me away for treatment in another place,” Zhao Yayuan said, “After considering many options, they chose Nan Qiao.”

Although it’s remote, the environment is very quiet, with fresh air, surrounded by mountains and water.

It was a very suitable place for Zhao Yayuan at that time, and the Zhao family had an acquaintance in Nan Qiao.

She had once done a great favor for Zhao Rulan and her husband, they knew her character and were willing to entrust their son to her.

Zhao Yayuan said, “You know, living in the mountains is actually quite fun. You can drink mountain spring water directly, and there are many strange animals.”

“It’s just a bit boring.”

At that time, Grandma Lan was already in her seventies, but she spared no effort to take care of him.

In Nan Qiao, he ate natural, unpolluted food, drank mountain spring water, breathed fresh and clean air, without noise or pollution.

Zhao Yayuan got much better, finally no longer coughing all night.

They lived on the mountainside in Nan Qiao, with only a dozen or so households in the whole mountain.

“Because of my poor health, I also had a bad temper when I was young,” Zhao Yayuan said, “Not very likable.”

Lu Nian thought to herself, aren’t you the same now?

Zhao Yayuan, “?”

The young man squinted his cat-like eyes slowly.

She hurriedly said, “Please continue.”

Near Nan Qiao, there were also children, but their ages were quite different.

Zhao Yayuan was a kid from the city, and everyone knew he was a wealthy young master from the city.

He had a rebellious personality and was physically weak.

He seemed inherently incompatible with the local kids and couldn’t seem to play with them at all.

So, he was very lonely, so lonely that he grew mushrooms.

“So?” Lu Nian asked.

“But later… I had a new playmate,” Zhao Yayuan said.

Lu Nian thought he was going to continue, but Zhao Yayuan didn’t say anything more, looking at her with a very complex expression.

During this time spent with Lu Nian, he could confirm that she truly didn’t remember.

And… her actual image was very different from what he had imagined.

The real Lu Nian he had encountered had some similarities with another person.

“I’ll just have to keep observing,” he thought.

After listening to Zhao Yayuan’s story, she went over it in her mind, roughly sorting it out, but she couldn’t figure out how it related to her own situation.

“You can ask questions now,” Zhao Yayuan said.

Lu Nian asked, “…Have I been to Nan Qiao?”

Zhao Yayuan nodded slowly.

“When?” Lu Nian asked.

“Probably, it’s been since you don’t remember,” Zhao Yayuan said.

Indeed, she had lost a big chunk of memory before.

Lu Nian pressed, “Do you know me? Have we met in Nan Qiao? What happened? Why am I…?”

But Zhao Yayuan cut her off, “Stop, stop, stop.”

“You’ve been tutoring me for so long during winter break, I don’t even know how effective it’s been. And now you’re asking me so many questions,” he said, “I’m losing out, I’m going to my grandma’s place.”

Lu Nian said, “You promised to tell me the truth. What exactly happened to me in Nan Qiao? Otherwise, why did I waste so much time tutoring you?”

She didn’t want to hear about Zhao Yayuan’s childhood experiences.

Zhao Yayuan said, “It doesn’t seem like tutoring you has been too painful for you.”

Leaving him there every day to chat with people, read, and draw, she was quite comfortable.

The young man crossed his long legs arrogantly, “Otherwise, go check it yourself, check at your own home, or go ask your parents.”

Lu Nian remained silent.

Ask Lu Zhihong?

Forget it, she wanted to live a few more days, didn’t want to be turned into a puppet.

Zhao Yayuan leaned closer, his amber eyes squinting slightly, and whispered, “Or… if you spend one more day with me, I can tell you a little more.”

Seeing Lu Nian’s changing expression, he continued, “And you don’t necessarily have to tutor me. You like reading, drawing, chatting, you can do whatever you want at my place. Whatever you need, my house has it… Just talk to me casually.”

He spoke faster and more reluctantly as he reached the end of his sentence.

Lu Nian remained silent.

Zhao Yayuan had mentioned something about her before.

He said that although his brother looked arrogant and had a sharp tongue, he was actually very afraid of loneliness, childish, and clingy.

Lu Nian had initially found it hard to believe Zhao Yayuan’s description, but now she understood his words to some extent.

Indeed, he was very afraid of loneliness.