The garden behind the school’s playground had always been a favorite meeting spot for couples throughout history.

Xu Musen arrived on time and found a quiet corner to sit on a bench, waiting.

Before long, He Qiang arrived, panting heavily, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Despite the scorching summer heat, he was wearing a jacket.

“Are you crazy? It’s so hot, why are you wearing a jacket?” Xu Musen asked, eyeing him.

“Shh!” He Qiang gasped, his eyes darting around as if checking for anyone nearby. When he was sure they were alone, he grinned. “Hehe, I’ve got something awesome to show you!”

He began peeling off his jacket, preparing for some kind of dramatic reveal.

“Whoa! I’m not into that!” Xu Musen recoiled in disgust at the sight of He Qiang acting like a lovesick fool.

“Shut up!” He Qiang cursed, then removed the jacket completely. From inside it, he pulled out a carefully wrapped envelope and handed it to him.

“What’s this?” Xu Musen instinctively took the envelope, surprised by its weight. “Money?”

He Qiang wiped his forehead and explained, “I know you need money for those red envelopes, so I’ve saved up all my New Year’s money and pocket change. Use it for now, in case of emergencies.”

Xu Musen froze for a moment. The envelope felt heavy—probably around seven to eight thousand.

Even though He Qiang’s family was well-off, they never gave him much pocket money. For most students, getting a hundred a week was a luxury. Seven to eight thousand was a huge sum.

Xu Musen realized He Qiang had probably emptied his piggy bank, even sacrificing the money meant for his personal expenses.

“Where did you get all this?” Xu Musen asked, genuinely touched.

He Qiang replied nonchalantly, “Don’t worry, I didn’t borrow it from home. I sold a few fishing rods I wasn’t using. Just use it.”

Xu Musen raised an eyebrow. He knew He Qiang loved fishing more than anything, even more than girls. Selling those rods for money… for He Qiang, it was like selling his wife.

“You really didn’t need to do this. I’ll be fine in a few days. I’ll sort things out,” Xu Musen said, though he felt guilty.

He Qiang waved him off. “It’s already sold. Don’t worry about it. Just pay me back when you can.”

Xu Musen smiled, taking the envelope. “But what if I lose everything?”

“Heh, if you lose, I’ll just take one of your kidneys as payment!” He Qiang teased.

Xu Musen laughed, slapping his friend on the back. “Don’t worry, buddy. If I don’t help you strike it rich this lifetime, I’m not living right!”

He paused, then added, “I’ve learned one thing, though.”

“What?” He Qiang asked.

“In tough times, it’s not just a wife who’ll lend a hand. Sometimes, brothers can too.”

“…???”

Later that afternoon, after He Qiang ran off to grab the money, he hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so he headed to the cafeteria.

Xu Musen checked the envelope. Sure enough, it felt like seven or eight thousand.

He would need that money. There were many places to invest in the game’s sound effects and art, things that couldn’t be fixed by just programmers.

He pulled out a card from his pocket—a cute cat with big eyes. When he looked closely, he noticed the cat’s eyes had a signature: “an.”

But it wasn’t much to go on. Why couldn’t she have left a QQ number or phone number?

He sighed, lying down on the bench in the garden during his break, lazily avoiding the gossip-filled air in class. As he looked at the cute cat illustration, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of calm wash over him.

“Too bad… I wonder if I’ll ever find that girl again…” he murmured.

The sun filtered through the leaves above him, the soft rustling of leaves on the ground mixing with the scent of blooming flowers carried by the breeze.

“Who are you looking for?”

A soft, clean voice interrupted his thoughts, soothing like a gentle stream.

Xu Musen raised an eyebrow and replied absentmindedly, “I’m looking for a girl. She’s really pretty but kinda… silly. She uses a wheelchair…”

He froze mid-sentence, the words catching in his throat. As he slowly lowered the cat illustration, his gaze landed on a pair of innocent, doe-like eyes—eyes that mirrored the illustration in their innocent, naive charm.

The girl blinked, recognition flickering in her eyes. “Oh, it’s you.”

“It’s you!” Xu Musen exclaimed, suddenly sitting upright, nearly bumping his head into hers. He had been thinking about her non-stop, and now—just like that—he had found her.

He instinctively grabbed her sleeve. “You’re not getting away this time!”

The girl blinked, glancing down at her wheelchair. “I can’t run anyway…”

“Sorry, sorry, I got a little too excited.”

Xu Musen quickly let go, taking a moment to really look at her. She was wearing a simple but well-made dress, similar to the one she wore last time, but today she looked even more adorable with her clueless expression.

“You’re a student here too?”

“Mm-hmm,” she nodded, then just stared at him silently.

“How did you end up here?” Xu Musen asked again.

She held a pink lunchbox in her hands and lifted it slightly. “Came to eat lunch.”

“Why didn’t you go to the cafeteria?”

“My grandmother says I should try not to eat with the others, or they’ll gossip about me.”

Her responses were simple, but Xu Musen could see that things weren’t easy for her.

She wore plain clothes, used a wheelchair, had to sell flowers at night, and even brought her own lunch to school—clearly, her family was struggling. She was worried about classmates making fun of her modest meals.

His heart ached with sympathy. “I get it… we’re all in tough situations for money.”

He decided to ask, “Is this drawing yours?”

“Mm…”

Seeing the illustration, the girl’s usually emotionless eyes softened with a hint of bashfulness.

“You draw really well. Actually, I’ve got a job I want to offer you. Can you help me draw some cartoon animals, like cats and dogs? I’ll give you one base sketch…”

Xu Musen thought for a moment, then held up five fingers. “How about fifty bucks per sketch?”

Since he needed a lot of cartoon images—things like emojis with different expressions—fifty didn’t seem like much per design. But for a student, fifty was a decent amount, and if she worked hard, she could make more.

“Fifty…?”

She pondered for a moment. “That’s about the same as selling roses for one night…”

“Exactly. And you won’t have to work so hard. Plus, you can earn money doing something fun, and then you won’t have to eat alone anymore.”

Xu Musen smiled at her, hoping to get this little goldmine to sign on.

“Self-sufficiency…”

The girl seemed particularly moved by the phrase. She looked up at him with shining eyes. “Don’t lie to me…”

“Lying is for puppies,” Xu Musen laughed.

She thought for a moment, then extended her little pinky finger to him.

“Pinkie promise!”

In the warm sunlight, her face glowed like it had been bathed in pure light.

How innocent…

If he really intended to deceive her, what would a pinkie promise even matter?

But something in Xu Musen’s heart shifted as he smiled and linked his pinky with hers.

“Deal. We’ll meet here again tomorrow. I’m looking forward to our first collaboration,” he said with a nod.

Looking at her lunchbox, he didn’t want to take up any more of her time.

As he turned to leave, he suddenly stopped and glanced back. “By the way, what’s your name?”

The girl raised her lunchbox, and the soft breeze tousled her hair, revealing a glimpse of her perfect face. “My name is An Nuannuan. ‘Nuannuan’ like warmth.”

Xu Musen silently repeated her name. It was as warm and inviting as her art style.

Just as he was about to leave, the girl suddenly called out.

“Also… I’m not silly. Most of the time, I’m pretty smart!”

Xu Musen looked back at her, her earnest yet adorable expression making him burst into laughter. He waved goodbye and walked away.

As the girl watched his retreating figure, she finally opened her lunchbox.

Under the sun, her lunchbox seemed to sparkle with a mysterious light…