Qin Si had already moved up to the third year of junior high school this year.

He had excellent grades, but he was far from being a model student.

He never stayed for self-study sessions after school, often failed to complete his homework, and seemed to appear and disappear at will, disregarding school rules and discipline.

However, he was still very well-known in the school.

The commendation ceremony for awarding scholarships at the affiliated middle school was held for all three grades together.

Lu Nian had never ranked in the top ten. She was holding an English booklet, silently reading the words.

The girl next to her quietly pulled her sleeve, “Nian Nian, look, that boy.”

Lu Nian raised her head absentmindedly and was taken aback when she saw the person she was pointing at.

It happened to be when Qin Si was on stage.

Lu Nian rarely saw him from this angle, even though he was far away, wearing just a plain white school uniform, he stood out among the crowd.

The young man’s expression was indifferent, completely oblivious to the gaze below the stage.

He was tall and handsome, his features perfectly balanced, not overly cold nor excessively delicate.

His demeanor was completely different from that of the ordinary high school students.

She looked around and was surprised to see quite a few girls who had put down their books to watch him.

…They were all ignorant girls who didn’t know his true face and were deceived.

In junior high school, when young girls are just starting to become aware of romantic feelings, they often become interested in boys who seem mysterious.

Qin Si’s background was shrouded in mystery, and all sorts of strange rumors about him circulated around the school.

Some said they saw him in a bar, others claimed he stayed out all night at internet cafes, and there were even rumors that his family actually lived in a villa.

Qin Si never responded to these rumors and didn’t care about them at all.

He didn’t care at all about his image in other people’s minds.

Whether people spoke highly or poorly of him, it had nothing to do with him.

He had too many things to worry about, and what he had experienced was far more significant than these rumors.

He would never care about these trivial matters.

He was very handsome, excelled in his studies, and was already outstanding.

His inscrutable aura, combined with his increasingly introverted personality as he grew older, made him even more attractive.

Lu Nian was surprised at how news of her acquaintance with Qin Si spread in the class.

In just a few days, someone came to find her.

Zheng Miaoxuan was a relatively mature girl who had begun to consciously pay attention to her appearance and clothing.

Although they were required to wear school uniforms, she would wear her favorite pretty clothes under the uniform every day.

She asked Lu Nian, “Nian Nian, do you know Qin Si? Can you help me give this to him?”

“Qin Si?” Lu Nian was surprised.

Zheng Miaoxuan nodded, “Yes.”

It was a gift box with exquisite packaging, with a letter attached on the outside, wrapped so delicately, it exuded a girlish charm.

“It’s not a love letter.” Seeing Lu Nian’s gaze linger on it, Zheng Miaoxuan emphasized in a low voice, “I just want to get to know him, discuss studies.”

Lu Nian said, “…Oh.”

Would she still like him if she knew Qin Si’s true nature?

He had a sharp tongue, was hard to approach, and was prickly all over.

He was sarcastic to everyone, regardless of gender, and never spoke a kind word.

Apart from her, there were a few people who could tolerate his true self.

With this in mind, Lu Nian felt relieved.

She took the gift and promised, “I’ll help you deliver it.”

“Thank you.” Zheng Miaoxuan smiled happily.

Lu Nian usually didn’t think about such things.

Perhaps because her body was too weak, she focused all her energy on studying and exercising, and then spent her time painting or learning the piano in the art studio.

She looked young because of her physical condition, and her development had always been slower than her peers.

So even though she was 14, she still didn’t feel like she was gradually growing into a young woman.

Perhaps because of these two reasons, many of her classmates were like this too. Especially when they knew Lu Nian was not well, everyone was even more protective of her.

She was like the little sister of the class, so Zheng Miaoxuan had no psychological burden when she approached her.

Qin Si is now in the third year of junior high school, and the entrance exam is coming up soon.

He usually has a part-time job and has to review and prepare for the exam, so Lu Nian wouldn’t disturb him when she had nothing to do.

However, because of Zheng Miaoxuan’s matter, she specifically went to Qin Si’s classroom and asked someone to pass on a message to him.

When Lu Nian arrived at the agreed place after school, she saw the young man in the corridor from afar.

He was leaning against a white pillar, and when he saw her coming, he lowered his eyes and said nothing.

He was silent and elusive.

Lu Nian couldn’t keep up with his growth rate.

She smiled up at him, “It looks like I’ve successfully passed the message to you. I was prepared for you not to come.”

The young man was cold, “Then don’t ask people to pass messages to me.”

Lu Nian said, “But you yourself didn’t like me coming to your classroom to find you.”

She was referring to when they were still in elementary school, and Qin Si had told her not to come to his classroom to find him.

Qin Si fell silent, turned his face away, and said nothing.

There was a flower pavilion behind the school, with grapevines entwined around the white corridor.

The early summer sun filtered in little by little.

They stood at a distance from each other.

“You haven’t been very busy lately,” Lu Nian asked.

Qin Si nodded, “Yes.”

“…Then I’ve disturbed you,” Lu Nian said.

“Mm.”

Seeing the girl’s dejected look, he smirked slightly.

Then, Lu Nian saw the young man raise his slender hand and throw something over from afar.

She hurriedly caught it, almost failing to do so.

“Candy?” Lu Nian’s eyes lit up when she saw the small bottle clearly.

Perhaps because she was also entering puberty, she had been experiencing low blood sugar lately and often felt dizzy in the morning.

However, Lu Nian was lazy.

Recently, Zhang Qiuping had taken leave and returned home, and Lu Zhihong was not at home.

She wouldn’t go to He Tian for help, so she just endured it, feeling weak but pushing through.

After years of being a pampered young miss, her ability to take care of herself had almost disappeared.

She didn’t know why Qin Si suddenly gave her a jar of candy today.

The jar was full of various flavors of candy, many of which she loved.

He muttered softly, “…so thin.”

He probably could lift her with one hand.

Lu Nian didn’t hear clearly, and the young man blushed but didn’t repeat himself.

Seeing his puzzled expression, Lu Nian became curious and asked, “…What do you mean?”

“…They say you’re weak.”

“I’d probably be done for if someone punched me.”

Lu Nian thought, why would anyone punch her?

She had a good personality and hadn’t offended anyone.

The only one who seemed to want to hit her was Qin Si.

He watched Lu Nian unwrap a candy and chew on a grape gummy seriously, eating it with satisfaction.

“You’re really kind.”

The young man was completely caught off guard by this sentence, and his heart almost jumped out of his throat.

Lu Nian, smiling, said, “You’re in such a good mood today, it’s not like you.”

“…Why did you come to me?” he asked coldly, feeling like a fool.

Lu Nian put down the candy jar. “I forgot!”

She took out the gift prepared by Zheng Miaoxuan and handed it to him.

Qin Si didn’t take it.

His expression was difficult to describe, but Lu Nian was oblivious and continued, “It’s from my classmate.”

“She’s very beautiful and cute.” Lu Nian spoke sincerely.

His voice turned completely cold. “Did you call me out today just for this?”

Lu Nian nodded. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to find you. You’re probably the busiest now.

If there’s nothing else, I’ll wait until after your exams to bother you. And receiving a gift should make you happy, right? It can lighten your mood.”

She actually wanted to see Qin Si, after all, it had been so long since they last met.

She didn’t know if it was a habit from childhood, but after a certain period of time, she always felt the need to see him, to make sure he hadn’t rebelled, hadn’t gone astray, only then could she feel at ease.

Until she saw the expression on his face, she suddenly felt something was wrong.

Although Qin Si often spoke sarcastically, his face rarely looked so unpleasant.

Lu Nian didn’t know why he was angry again.

Feeling a bit wronged, she said, “Don’t be upset. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The young man didn’t say anything, his expression worsened, his long and narrow pitch-black eyes had changed a lot from the eyes of the little boy in her memory; they were now cold, like ice.

Lu Nian really couldn’t understand what he was thinking, she just felt extremely wronged.

In the corridor not far away, footsteps approached.

Xu Hui ran over, panting, “Lu Nian, you’re here.”

Only then did he notice the cold-faced young man beside her.

His voice sounded a bit timid, “Today, Dad drove here to pick you up. He asked me to bring you over.”

Xu Hui is now 16 years old, with some acne on his face.

He’s half a head shorter than Qin Si and has an unremarkable appearance, but he looks at Lu Nian with admiration and closeness, without hiding it.

“Lu Nian, do you want me to carry your backpack?”

“Today, the teacher is going home, and he asked you to come over for dinner.”

He ran around for Lu Nian, not minding at all, but that’s how he had always been towards Lu Nian since he was a child.

Countless people adored her.

When Lu Nian turned back, Qin Si’s figure had disappeared.

Zheng Miaoxuan’s gift was left untouched, lying on the bench, looking especially lonely.

“Lu Nian, do you still… have contact with him?” In the car, Xu Hui deliberated for a long time before asking.

Lu Nian replied sullenly.

She really didn’t know why Qin Si was suddenly angry again.

Since childhood, Qin Si had been difficult to understand, but back then, she could at least understand what he liked and disliked.

But now, as they grew older, their relationship grew more distant.

There would only be more of this kind of thing in the future.

At dinner that night, Lu Zhihong actually asked about Qin Si, which surprised Lu Nian.

“Dad, do you need him for something?”

Lu Zhihong said, “You eat. It’s nothing.”

He Tian laughed as she drank a bowl of sea cucumber soup, saying nothing.

Qin Si is about to take the high school entrance exam.

However, unlike three years ago, after the last unpleasant encounter, Lu Nian never asked him where he wanted to go to school again.

The Lu family also didn’t interfere with his choice.

He thought, this was the freedom he had always wanted, right?

But now that he had it, he didn’t feel happy at all.

Studying and working part-time filled his entire life.

The number in his bank account kept increasing.

He wanted to pay off the debts to the Lu family.

It seemed that as long as he paid off those debts, his experiences in the Lu family could be erased, and he could have no more ties to them.

As the summer days grew hotter, Lu Nian came out of the art studio with her painting board.

She had been practicing watercolors recently, and there was some paint on one side of her face.

Her curled eyelashes made her look lively and naive under the sunlight, her profile like a painting, vivid and clumsy.

Beautiful, but not like reality.

Especially in his world.

He watched from afar, feeling a kind of indescribable pain.