Hearing her own voice sound behind her, Jiang Xiaochan’s scalp tingled with dread.

Half her body stiffened as she slowly turned her head… and saw herself.

The girl looked much younger than her adult self, but the face—Jiang Xiaochan knew that face better than anyone. It was the same one she saw in the mirror every day.

Her own original body was now worn by someone else. A creeping fear rose from deep within her, making her legs tremble uncontrollably. Her hands clenched into tight fists.

Lin Jia, who was closest to her, immediately noticed her strange reaction.

He didn’t question her on the spot. Instead, he smoothly blended into the atmosphere of familiar friends meeting again and smiled at Jiang Daxi, who had just walked up.

“I’m fine. Your little sister helped me today—she got injured. I’m really sorry about that…”

Jiang Daxi didn’t follow up on what he said, instead changing the topic altogether.

“Your dad’s behavior is getting worse every time. Today, he didn’t just steal money and hit you—he even pulled a knife, didn’t he?”

Jiang Daxi wanted to talk about what happened at his home today. Lin Jia didn’t hide anything and explained the situation to her.

They were close friends—closer than friends. He didn’t mind talking about the disgraceful things in his family, and Jiang Daxi listened patiently with concern.

The only thing Lin Jia left out was the part where he had wanted to kill his father. When he got to that part, he sneaked a glance at Jiang Xiaochan.

The child didn’t seem to be paying attention to their conversation. She was picking at her fingernails, lost in thought.

Seeing the lively, moving Jiang Daxi, Jiang Xiaochan’s second reaction was confusion.

She could smell the faint shampoo scent coming from Jiang Daxi’s half-dry hair. She could clearly hear her voice. Everything indicated that this girl was a real, living person standing here.

—If this “Jiang Daxi” had a soul inside her body… then what about herself? Did she have a soul?

—This world’s “Jiang Xiaochan” seemed really close to Lin Jia. That was bad news… She had originally planned to match Jiang Xiaochan with Lin Jia—so what was Jiang Daxi doing getting involved?

As her mind spun with frustration, Jiang Xiaochan suddenly heard Lin Jia call out, “Daxi.”

Jiang Xiaochan instinctively looked up at him.

But Lin Jia hadn’t been calling her—he was calling this world’s Jiang Daxi.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xiaochan gradually calmed herself. No one could answer her questions. If she wanted the truth, she’d have to find it herself.

The two of them were still on the previous topic. Lin Jia was telling Jiang Daxi how Jiang Xiaochan had thrown a water bottle with perfect aim, hitting his dad, and had even jumped out the window to block a knife for him.

Jiang Xiaochan saw a chance to jump in and returned to her role as the “eight-year-old little sister,” joining their conversation.

“Yeah, that old man slashed me.”

She quickly stepped in front of Jiang Daxi, her expression on the verge of tears. “Sis, it wasn’t just Jia Jia—I got hurt too.”

She showed her injured arm and exaggerated her tone: “They had to stitch it up a bunch of times. The doctor said it’s gonna scar because it was a deep cut. There was so much blood…”

“I got it…”

Jiang Daxi glanced at her sister’s arm but didn’t pay it much attention. Instead, she frowned and focused on something else.

“Jia Jia—is that what you call him? I’m the only one who calls him that. You should call him Brother Lin Jia. Show some manners.”

—What kind of attitude was that? She didn’t care about her sister and seemed to have some vague possessiveness toward Lin Jia?

Jiang Xiaochan held back—then couldn’t anymore and asked, “Why can you call him that, and I can’t?”

With a lazy glance from her beautiful phoenix-shaped eyes, Jiang Daxi replied coolly, “There are plenty of things I can do that you can’t.”

“You—” Jiang Xiaochan started to argue, but Jiang Daxi cut her off.

“I’m going to ask Lin Jia’s doctor about his checkups for tomorrow. You wait here. When I’m done, I’ll take you home. Don’t bother Jia Jia while he’s resting.”

After saying what she wanted to say, Jiang Daxi turned and walked away.

Jiang Xiaochan stood there, feeling completely stifled.

—What kind of person was this world’s “self,” anyway? So annoying!

Bang!

Jiang Xiaochan kicked the bed next to her in frustration.

Lying on the hospital bed, Lin Jia quietly watched her.

The two stared at each other.

“Come on, tell me—what’s your take on this?” Jiang Xiaochan asked Lin Jia. “Can I call you Jia Jia?”

He froze for a moment, then quickly realized she was sulking because of her older sister. Amused, he said, “Sure. Call me whatever you like.”

“Jia Jia, Jia Jia, Jia Jia.” Jiang Xiaochan called out three times in a row.

He laughed. “So, how do you want me to call you? Xiaochan? Do you like that?”

Lin Jia’s voice was pleasant, his tone gentle.

Jiang Xiaochan’s anger vanished completely, and she could barely stop herself from smiling.

“No,” she said, suddenly putting on airs just because he was being nice. “Keep your distance, learn some manners. We’re not that close.”

She was throwing her sister’s words right back at him.

Lin Jia wasn’t the least bit upset—in fact, he laughed even more. “Alright then. Once I get better, I’ll treat you to something delicious, Jiang Xiaochan.”

“Oh. Sure, Lin Jia.”

Jiang Xiaochan thought to herself, That line sounds so familiar. Isn’t this his usual way of coaxing girls? The morning she woke up in the hotel, he’d said the same thing—“I’ll take you to eat something good.”

Sigh, just seeing Lin Jia was enough to bring her thoughts back to the hotel. She was annoyed at herself for that.

While she was off in her own thoughts, Jiang Daxi had already finished speaking with the doctor and came out.

Jiang Xiaochan didn’t say goodbye to Lin Jia and went straight after her sister.

…

On the way home.

The older sister walked in front; the younger one trailed behind.

It was a summer night, and the village road had sparse lighting. Cicadas chirped in the trees.

Jiang Daxi couldn’t hold it in any longer and asked first.

“You were hanging around Lin Jia’s house this afternoon? Why didn’t you go to your art class?”

“Huh? What art class?” Jiang Xiaochan thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth. “I didn’t know about it.”

“Heh, aren’t you something.” That answer clearly irritated Jiang Daxi. Her expression turned sour.

Jiang Xiaochan had a question of her own: “You and Lin Jia… are you just friends? Purely friends?”

“I don’t even understand what you’re saying… and it’s not your place as an elementary schooler to gossip about us middle schoolers.”

Jiang Daxi was clearly hiding something and gave a vague answer.

She walked ahead of her little sister and entered the house first.

Left standing at the front door alone, Jiang Xiaochan felt like an awkward guest.

The old house was a two-story, self-built bungalow. Everything about its appearance and setup felt strangely familiar—bare concrete floors, moldy walls; a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, lighting the whole house.

As you entered, the bathroom was on the left. Farther in was a small living room that also served as a kitchen. Behind that, separated by a simple bead curtain, was her parents’ bed. Next to the curtain was a short wooden staircase leading to a small attic where the two sisters shared a room.

Jiang Xiaochan knew the layout of the house like the back of her hand. She could walk through it with her eyes closed.

Yet at the same time, she couldn’t remember where she was supposed to take off her shoes or where her slippers were kept.

The bead curtain swayed slightly as a middle-aged woman came out.

“Aiyo, your sister said you were hurt—what happened? Oh, baby, come here and let me see!”

Jiang Xiaochan stared at her mom.

This was Mom.

A young version of her mother—with black hair, gentle eyes, and a kind face. She didn’t remember her mother ever looking so soft.

After years of nightmares, it seemed like the mom from her dreams was the real one.

In her dreams, her mother was full of resentment—old, crazy. She always died, over and over.

“What happened to you? Oh my goodness, my heart’s breaking! I’ve protected you so well since you were little, you’ve never had such a bad injury. Does it hurt? Are all those bandages covering wounds?”

Meng Xuemei hurried over and lifted her daughter’s injured arm to inspect it.

After cold indifference from her sister, this kind of affection from her mother was almost overwhelming in the opposite direction.

The anesthesia had worn off. When her mom tugged at her arm, Jiang Xiaochan flinched in pain.

“Mom… can we hold off a second? I want to take a shower first. It’s summer and I feel all sticky and gross.”

She gently pulled her arm back and stepped away.

Seeing her mom alive again—besides the nostalgia and emotion—Jiang Xiaochan had to admit, what she felt most was discomfort.

Without even changing into slippers, she went straight past her mom and slipped into the bathroom.

“You okay in there, sweetie? Can you shower on your own? You didn’t bring a change of clothes—”

Meng Xuemei called from outside the bathroom. When she got no response, she headed toward the attic. “Wait there, I’ll get you something to wear. I’ll come help you wash up.”

The moment Jiang Xiaochan heard that, she locked the bathroom door.

The wooden stairs creaked under quick footsteps.

This time it wasn’t her mom—it was Jiang Daxi running down from upstairs.

“Jiang Xiaochan! Don’t use the new bottle of body wash, that one’s mine! Use up the old diluted one first, you hear me?”

“Heard you.”

Once she got a response, Jiang Daxi stomped back upstairs.

Jiang Xiaochan looked down at the floor and saw both bottles of body wash—the old and the new.

The new one was labeled rose scent and dispensed a pink gel. The old one was so worn the label was unreadable. When pumped, it produced a clear liquid that didn’t even lather—basically water.

This girl is bullying her little sister on purpose.

Jiang Xiaochan thought: Well, I’m using it anyway.

Not only did she use the new one—she scrubbed herself down three times with it.