Seeing Ying Zhuohan crying, Arno warned him not to mention anything about Jiang Yi, especially about Jiang Yi not having a mother.

Ying Zhuohan, sitting on the ground with tears streaming down his face, thought to himself that he would never bring it up. Only kids like them, without mothers, truly understood how inappropriate it was to talk about such things.

Moreover, Jiang Yi was so kind.

He knew that most of the kids who followed him did so either because their families told them to or because he was generous with expensive toys and snacks. There weren’t many who genuinely wanted to play with him.

That’s why, ever since kindergarten, he didn’t like sitting with others. If no one was sincere, then he wouldn’t be either. After all, no one really cared about him.

Wiping his tear-streaked face, Ying Zhuohan thought about how great it would be if Jiang Yi could be his loyal friend. If only their relationship could be like the bond between Jiang Yi and Arno.

After all, neither of them had mothers. Who in this world could be more perfectly matched than the two of them?

With teary eyes, Ying Zhuohan thought sadly.

Arno kicked him in the backside and impatiently told him to take the trash bin back to the classroom.

“I still need to find Jiang Yi,” he added.

Muttering to himself that they were the perfect match, Ying Zhuohan sniffed and carried the trash bin back to class.

In the classroom, Jiang Yi was focused on neatly arranging the chalk on the podium. Once every piece was in its proper place, he carefully closed the chalk box.

Hearing movement outside the classroom, Jiang Yi looked up and was momentarily startled to see Arno. Behind him, Ying Zhuohan peeked out, looking even more battered and bruised than Arno.

In a soft voice, Jiang Yi hesitated before asking, “Did you guys fall into the trash pit?”

Arno: “…”

Ying Zhuohan: “…”

Expressionless, Arno replied, “Yeah. Zhuohan fell in, and I went in to pull him out but fell in too.”

Jiang Yi slowly nodded. “Oh…”

Ten minutes later.

Ying Zhuohan lay face down in the elementary school’s infirmary, wailing as the school nurse applied medicine to the scratches on his back.

The nurse, who was not the least bit gentle, asked, “How did you end up like this?”

With his backpack on, Jiang Yi answered seriously, “He got into a fight.”

The nurse frowned, “Fighting is not acceptable. You’re still so young, how can you be fighting? If it happens again, I’ll have to report it to your teacher.”

Ying Zhuohan stubbornly said, “I didn’t fight. I fell into a trash pile…”

Arno: “…”

Pulling Jiang Yi aside, Arno whispered, “Let’s go home. Staying with this scatterbrained curly-haired kid is embarrassing.”

The school nurse glanced at Arno and smirked, “What, you fell into the trash pit too? Have your friend put a band-aid on your hand.”

Arno kept his face expressionless, refusing to say anything.

Jiang Yi, however, pulled him over, took out a band-aid, and asked him to lift his hand.

Arno didn’t want the band-aid and tugged on Jiang Yi, insisting they go home.

Jiang Yi pressed his lips together and said firmly, “No. You fought again, and you lied to me.”

Arno slumped over the desk, pretending not to understand, giving Jiang Yi an innocent look in an attempt to brush it off.

Jiang Yi, stern-faced, said, “You understand Chinese, Arno.”

Arno rubbed his nose, sitting up straight obediently.

Jiang Yi lifted Arno’s hand, his pale fingers pressing down the band-aid as he carefully applied it to Arno’s arm.

Looking at Arno’s arm, Jiang Yi spoke seriously, “The teacher said fighting is dangerous. If you’re not careful, you could lose a lot of blood.”

“From now on, no more fighting.”

Arno understood.

Fighting was okay—but he had to hide it from Jiang Yi. Otherwise, Jiang Yi would be upset.

With a serious expression, Arno nodded.

Seeing him nod, Jiang Yi thought Arno had realized his mistake and felt deeply relieved.

Meanwhile, Ying Zhuohan lay tearfully on the infirmary bed, waiting and hoping that Jiang Yi would come over and tell him not to fight either. In the end, he watched helplessly as Jiang Yi, with his backpack, was led home by Arno.

Feeling wronged, Ying Zhuohan sniffled, thinking that he was much more injured than Arno. Yet, Jiang Yi didn’t come to comfort him at all.

He was sure Arno had secretly bad-mouthed him.

Determined, Ying Zhuohan grabbed his backpack and hurriedly tried to catch up with Jiang Yi and Arno, only to see them get into the same car together.

Shocked, he felt a rising sense of crisis.

Not only did Jiang Yi and Arno attend the same kindergarten, but they also might live in the same place!

The thought hit Ying Zhuohan like a brick. Just moments ago, he had been so confident that he and Jiang Yi, both motherless, would naturally make the best friends. Now, that confidence was crumbling.

The next day.

As soon as Jiang Yi arrived at his desk, Ying Zhuohan urgently asked, “Jiang Yi, did you go to Arno’s house to play last night?”

Jiang Yi nodded obediently.

Ying Zhuohan sighed with relief. He had spent all night convincing himself that although Jiang Yi had gotten into the same car as Arno, maybe he had just gone to visit and didn’t actually live nearby.

Feeling reassured, Ying Zhuohan cautiously asked, “Is Arno’s house close to yours?”

Jiang Yi tilted his head and thought for a moment before answering honestly, “Very close.”

Ying Zhuohan froze for a second, but he wasn’t ready to give up. “So, did you go home with Arno yesterday or just visit his house?”

Jiang Yi answered just as honestly, “We went home together, then I went to play at Arno’s house.”

Ying Zhuohan tried to stay composed, “It’s no big deal. I go to my classmates’ houses all the time…”

But that didn’t mean they were his closest friends. Just because he hadn’t been to Jiang Yi’s house yet didn’t mean anything. He had already decided—he and Jiang Yi were best friends.

At least, he had decided on his own.

Arno lazily chimed in, “Jiang Yi comes to my house to play every evening.”

Ying Zhuohan was struggling to keep up the pretense, “That’s nothing special…”

Arno said without blinking, “We sleep together at night and go to school together the next day.”

Ying Zhuohan: “…”

Jiang Yi nodded happily, “Yes, Arno’s bed is really big.”

Arno, feeling triumphant, played his final card: “Jiang Yi also said that if he can’t find a wife in the future, he could be my wife temporarily.”

Ying Zhuohan, gritting his teeth, said, “Boys can’t be someone’s wife!”

Jiang Yi was confused, “They can’t?”

“Arno said kids can.”

Ying Zhuohan immediately replied, “He lied to you!”

“They’re scheming together!”

One of Ying Zhuohan’s sidekicks whispered, “Boss, the phrase is ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing.'”

Ying Zhuohan angrily responded, “Close enough.”

Jiang Yi looked bewildered and thought to himself that he’d better ask his dad about this later.

Arno was furious, and throughout the day, he kept knocking over Ying Zhuohan’s desk multiple times.

That evening…

Jiang Yi sat on the carpet, seriously telling Arno that boys couldn’t be someone else’s wife, even if they couldn’t find one. He had asked his dad, and his dad had firmly said there was no such thing as boys becoming wives.

Arno sulked for a while, upset, but then started clinging to Jiang Yi, begging him to sleep over.

Initially, Jiang Yi hesitated because Arno always clung to him at night, hugging him tightly like a stuffed toy, making him feel like he was sleeping next to a little furnace.

But Arno pitifully said that losing his “wife” today made him very sad and that Jiang Yi absolutely had to stay with him.

Feeling somewhat responsible for causing Arno’s “wife loss” today, Jiang Yi thought for a moment, decided it made sense, and softened. He agreed to keep him company.

After all, he had caused Arno to be without a wife today, so accompanying him seemed only fair.

When the lights were turned off for the night, Jiang Yi heard Arno, still hugging him, muttering.

Arno whispered, “When we grow up, we should live across the street from each other, or I’ll buy a building, and you can live upstairs, and I’ll live downstairs.”

“And when you go to work, don’t drive yourself. Driving is exhausting. I’ll drive you and your wife to work.”

Jiang Yi thought something sounded off and tilted his head in confusion, “What about your wife?”

Arno thought for a moment and said, “I won’t have one.”

“No, wait… I just don’t want to get married that quickly.”

As he continued rambling, Arno blurted out, “You shouldn’t get married quickly either. You should focus on studying.”

“Wives aren’t great anyway…”

“You should aim to get a Ph.D., and finish it before thinking about anything else.”

Currently, Jiang Yi was the fastest in his class at completing assignments and class exercises. While many of his classmates went to tutoring or had private teachers, Jiang Yi studied entirely on his own. He even enjoyed watching Little Bobby after class.

Jiang Yi didn’t fully understand everything Arno was saying, but the part about studying hard made sense to him, so he agreed, “Okay, I’ll get a Ph.D.”

Hearing Jiang Yi’s response, Arno breathed a sigh of relief. In his mind, he had successfully mitigated the future risk of Jiang Yi getting a wife anytime soon, and he felt immensely satisfied.

Arno had done his research. The average age for completing a Ph.D. was thirty-three! If Jiang Yi was busy with his Ph.D., there would be no time for a wife!

That meant Jiang Yi would still be without a wife at thirty-three.

Arno felt so delighted that he was sure he’d be smiling in his dreams tonight.