Qiu Zhan personally went to pick up Grandma and Aunt. As soon as they returned, he spotted Qiu Li among a group of children.

The smile in his eyes instantly faded.

Especially when he saw that little girl from the Yan family—who always loved playing with his younger brother—talking to Qiu Li, smiling at him, even giving him something.

The coldness in his gaze nearly turned into knives.

Little brat.

He ground his molars, silently cursing.

Although Qiu Li had been staring at the band-aid in his hand the whole time, he was instinctively sensitive to Qiu Zhan’s presence. The moment Qiu Zhan arrived, he noticed.

He just pretended not to. But Qiu Zhan’s gaze was so intense it made him uncomfortable. He looked up…

Most of the guests had already arrived. Naturally, Qiu Zhan wasn’t stupid enough to do anything to Qiu Li in front of so many people—but that didn’t stop him from glaring.

Meeting Qiu Zhan’s cold, threatening stare, Qiu Li’s little face turned cold too.

He knew Qiu Zhan was warning him, but…

He looked at Qiu Zhan, then at Yan Xiao laughing happily in the crowd. He clenched the band-aid tightly in his hand and stepped toward the group—there were so many kids, as long as he didn’t stick too closely to Yan Xiao, Qiu Zhan wouldn’t notice how kind she was to him.

She was his first, and so far only, friend. Of course he had to protect that.

Watching Qiu Li walk straight toward the kids without so much as a backward glance, Qiu Zhan almost laughed in disbelief.

Little brat. Still wet behind the ears and already daring to challenge me?

Tired of living, aren’t you?

Qiu Zhan slowly adjusted his cuffs and casually slipped his cufflinks into his pocket. Then, with long strides, he walked toward the group of children playing cheerfully.

Compared to Qiu Yan, the children weren’t particularly interested in Qiu Zhan, so his arrival didn’t cause much of a stir. Only Yan Xiao noticed him. She let out a curious little “huh,” and, doing her best to play the part of a sweet, well-mannered child, said: “Brother Qiu Zhan, are you going to play soccer with us too?”

Qiu Zhan smiled at her. “I’m not playing, but I just saw Aunt Chen looking for you.”

Yan Xiao blinked. “My mom’s looking for me?”

She had only joined the soccer game to earn some brownie points, and she’d already done that. Now that her mom was looking for her, she didn’t think twice—she tossed the ball from her arms onto the ground, clapped the dust off her hands, and said, “I’ll go check.”

Qiu Zhan reached out his hand. “I’ll take you.”

Yan Xiao didn’t think much of it. The Qiu family house was really big, and she had no idea where her mom might be. Not wanting her mom to worry if she couldn’t find her, she obediently reached out and let Qiu Zhan hold her hand.

Before leaving, she didn’t forget to wave her little paw at Qiu Li. “Bye-bye!”

Qiu Li was just about to respond, but the moment he met Qiu Zhan’s icy gaze, the words stuck in his throat.

He kept quiet, his jaw clenched. He even shot her a grumpy side-eye, which made Yan Xiao very pleased.

Qiu Zhan’s lips curved slightly. He turned to Qiu Li and said, “I left a bunch of candy in the third-floor study. Go grab it and hand it out to Xiao Xiao and the others.”

Wow—!

Just as Yan Xiao was about to tug on Qiu Zhan’s hand and have him lead her to her mom, her eyes went wide.

Asking Qiu Li to give candy to the people he doesn’t like? Oh my god—was Brother Qiu Zhan helping her out on purpose?

Delighted and a little nervous, she stared intently at Qiu Li.

She didn’t even make it three seconds before breaking into a grin.

He did furrow his brows!

Then Yan Xiao watched as Qiu Li’s little face tightened. He glanced at her once, gave a quiet “mm,” then turned and walked off.

Yan Xiao: “……”

Qiu Li already really disliked his half-brother. And now, being ordered to hand out candy to someone he didn’t like (her)? He was definitely going to hate her even more.

She hadn’t even done anything, and still managed to rack up some resentment points. That made Yan Xiao very happy. She shouted cheerfully, “Thank you, Brother Qiu Zhan!”

Qiu Zhan’s gaze had been icy just moments ago, but the second he heard the little girl’s voice, his expression instantly warmed into a smile. “No need to thank me. Let’s go.”

As Qiu Li headed toward the house, his jaw tightened even more at their exchange.

He’d been watching Qiu Zhan the whole time—he never went anywhere near Aunt Chen. He was lying. This was a warning: if Qiu Li didn’t disappear back into the house soon, Qiu Zhan was going to take it out on Yan Xiao.

Still, he’d get the candy for her before going back.

Every time they met, she gave him a piece of marshmallow candy. She must really like sweets.

Qiu Li tucked that bit of information away in his mind. With that thought, even being glared at and bossed around by Qiu Zhan didn’t bother him quite as much.

The third-floor study was hardly used anymore—almost like a storage room now.

He jogged up the stairs and pushed the door open. Just as he was about to dig through the boxes for marshmallows, the door slammed shut behind him.

The sound was so familiar, Qiu Li instinctively spun around and grabbed the doorknob—

Clack. Clack.

The door was locked from the outside. With a key.

Then came the sound of footsteps heading back down the stairs.

Qiu Li: “……”

He banged on the door with all his strength, but no one responded. He tried calling out once, but still—nothing.

Inside and out, everything was completely silent. He turned to glance at the room filled with gift boxes and packaging, and suddenly, the anger and sense of injustice surged stronger than ever.

He hated Qiu Zhan.

He hated him to death.

He tried for a long time, but the door wouldn’t budge, and no one came. Just as he was about to lift a chair to smash the door open, he suddenly heard the sound of an engine starting and a car honking outside.

He immediately dropped the chair and rushed to the window. It was too high—he couldn’t see. He ran back, dragged the chair over, climbed onto it, and looked outside…

One car after another was pulling out of the Qiu family estate.

They were leaving.

Everyone was leaving.

She was leaving, too.

Qiu Li’s hand, gripping the curtain, began to tremble.

She’d been so excited, waiting for him to bring her candy. But he hadn’t come. Would she think he broke his promise? That he didn’t mean what he said? That he’d let her down?

The thought made panic rise in his chest.

He had to find her—had to explain everything.

He scrambled down from the chair in such a rush that he slipped and fell, but he didn’t even stop to care about the pain. He ran back to the door and pounded on it with all his might…

He kept banging, shouting until his throat turned hoarse—but outside, there wasn’t a single sound.

Not a single one.

Outside, all the guests had long since left.

Sunlight streamed through the window, falling across Qiu Li’s small, thin frame. His fists were clenched tight, and his narrow shoulders trembled with rage.

……

Strapped into her booster seat and sipping banana milk through a straw, Yan Xiao had no idea what had just happened back at the house.

Even though she’d waited right up until the very end and still didn’t get the marshmallow candy she was looking forward to, she didn’t mind too much. She figured Qiu Li must’ve been so annoyed that he simply couldn’t be bothered to show up at all.

Fine, she thought. No candy then. Not a big deal.

“007?” She called out to the system in her head while sipping her milk.

007, having been summoned so many times, now answered before she could even finish: [Still 3 points. No change.]

It didn’t matter. She’d racked up quite a few points today already. Yan Xiao was still pretty happy about that. She knew the counter only went up after reaching certain milestones. Probably, some of that final wave of “annoyance points” from Qiu Li had ended up going to Qiu Zhan instead, which explained why her total hadn’t changed.

Oh well—it was free anyway. I’ll just keep working at it!

With that thought, she clenched her little fist and silently cheered herself on.

“Kicking a ball got you this fired up about winning?” Chen Ziyi noticed her daughter’s little expression and couldn’t help but laugh.

Yan Xiao blinked her eyes, still full of joy, and looked at her mom with a serious face. “Of course! If you’re going to do something, you should do it the best you can!”

Chen Ziyi burst out laughing. “Who taught you that? Your aunt?”

Yan Xiao giggled and didn’t answer.

It wasn’t her aunt who taught her that. That was a personal motto she’d come up with in her previous life—a bit of wisdom she’d figured out on her own.

Sure, she hadn’t exactly mastered doing everything perfectly… but she wasn’t doing badly either.

“Mom,” she said after her giggles faded, “are we going back to the Qiu house tomorrow?”

“You really like going over there to play, huh?” Chen Ziyi asked, amused.

Yan Xiao nodded vigorously. “Of course! Brother Xiao Yan’s drawings are amazing!”

Chen Ziyi: “…” You think I didn’t notice how happy you were playing with Qiu Li?

“We’re going to visit Grandma and your uncle tomorrow,” Chen Ziyi reminded her with a smile. “Grandma even called two days ago to remind you, remember?”

Yan Xiao: “…”

Once she realized that yes, that had happened, she quickly nodded. “Of course I remember! I was just pretending to tease you!”

She’d clearly been having too much fun and completely forgot, but now she was putting on a serious face to cover it up. Chen Ziyi glanced at her husband in the rearview mirror, and they shared a look.

Both their expressions said the same thing: Where did our daughter get that sharp little brain of hers?

Even though she wouldn’t be able to go to the Qiu’s house tomorrow and rack up any more points, the moment she remembered that Monday was just around the corner—and that they’d be seeing each other at school every day for five days straight—Yan Xiao’s mood bounced right back.

On Monday morning, Yan Xiao woke up extra early. She dressed herself without being told and ran off to the dining room, climbing into her booster seat like the well-behaved child she was, ready and waiting for breakfast.

Across the table, Chen Ziyi exchanged a glance with Yan Hao, both of them smiling.

Last night, Chen Ziyi had already told her husband how much their daughter seemed to enjoy playing with Qiu Li. The two of them were both easygoing and utterly doting when it came to their child. Kids were supposed to have fun, after all—and if she liked it, they weren’t going to stop her.

After breakfast, there was still plenty of time—but Yan Xiao was already getting antsy. She kept urging her parents to hurry up and take her to school.

She hadn’t made any “progress” all day yesterday, and the thought of it made her a little anxious. All she could think about was getting to school early, staking out the front gate, and then—once Qiu Li showed up—rushing straight over to him…

Chen Ziyi, pestered to her limit, ended up finishing her eye makeup in the car.

They arrived early. So early, in fact, that there weren’t any other kids around yet—just the teacher on morning duty standing by the gate.

The teacher’s eyes lit up when she saw Yan Xiao. It was only the second day, and the little girl was already the first one to arrive—clearly, she loved school.

After saying goodbye to her parents, Yan Xiao didn’t head into the classroom. Instead, she stood beside the teacher at the school gate.

The teacher was a little surprised. “Why aren’t you going to class?”

Yan Xiao gave her a bright, sweet smile. “I’m waiting for someone.”

The teacher’s heart nearly melted. “Waiting for a friend, huh? There are some benches over there—you can sit down while you wait.”

What a lovable little girl, the teacher thought. She’s only been here one day and she’s already made a friend.

Yan Xiao didn’t correct her. After all, she’d already told a bit of a fib yesterday—she’d said Qiu Li was her friend, and now she had to stick with that story. So she nodded seriously and said, “I’m not tired. I’ll just wait here.”

The teacher didn’t insist, just reminded her gently, “Alright, but if you get tired, go sit down, okay?”

Yan Xiao nodded.

Then she waited. And waited.

And waited some more.

It was only Yan Xiao’s second day at school—she had no idea what time Qiu Li usually arrived. She simply assumed he always came this late.

By the time the Qiu family’s car finally appeared at the edge of the driveway, her legs were already sore from standing so long.

She glanced back at the large clock above the school building. 7:55. Almost time for class to start.

Tomorrow I’ll wait until this time to come. That way Mom won’t have to finish her makeup in the car, she thought.

The moment the car stopped, Qiu Li jumped out with his backpack in his arms.

He dashed toward the gate, and as soon as he looked up, he saw Yan Xiao.

She was just about to tease him for being late—when she saw him running toward her.

Her eyes lit up. You came right to me. Don’t blame me for what happens next… She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Qiu Li suddenly pulled something out of his backpack and held it out to her.

It was a cotton candy lollipop—the same kind she’d given him before.

Yan Xiao’s eyes widened, slowly, slowly growing round in surprise.

Wow… He must really hate sweets. Not only did he not eat it, but he’s still mad about Saturday and came all this way just to give it back?

The truth was, Qiu Li had been worried all weekend that she might be mad at him. But he’d been locked in at home on Sunday, thanks to Qiu Zhan, and couldn’t get out to find her. And this morning he’d gone out so early that the snack shops hadn’t even opened yet. He ended up going to five different 24-hour convenience stores just to find the same brand of cotton candy she had given him.

Now that he was finally standing in front of her, Qiu Li was a little nervous. He still couldn’t explain what had happened on Saturday, so in the end, all he could do was clear his throat and say hoarsely: “This is for you.”

To Yan Xiao, “this is for you,” sounded more like: “Take your candy back—I really don’t like it.”

She smiled, took the cotton candy back from Qiu Li’s hand, and then, right in front of him, pulled out a new piece from her bag and pressed it into his hand. With a cheeky, defiant grin, she declared, “This one’s for today!”

And with that, she turned and walked off—class was about to start, and she needed to get to her room.

Qiu Li: “……”

The teacher on duty gently patted his head. “Yan Xiao was waiting at the gate early this morning. So it was to give you candy, huh? Now go on to class—it’s starting soon.”

Qiu Li: “………………”

She… was waiting just for me?

He looked down at the familiar cotton candy in his palm, then up at the small figure of Yan Xiao disappearing into her classroom at a light jog. Suddenly, his chest felt tight with excitement.

=^_^=

Author has something to say: Little Qiu Li: She’s not mad at me. She even gave me candy again. I’m so happy! (^▽^)