The day Jiang Xunyu went to collect his final exam results, it snowed.  

In the north, the snow fell heavily, blanketing everything endlessly. Jiang Xunyu had once despised the snow more than anything.  

People said it wasn’t cold when it snowed, but when it melted. Yet for Jiang Xunyu, it had always been freezing. With no blanket to warm him, only thin clothes to wear, he could only curl up in a corner, shivering. Worse still, people would throw stones at him, hit him, and curse him.  

But this winter was different.  

Carrying his results sheet, Jiang Xunyu walked through the snow, his heart burning with warmth.  

He carefully folded the results sheet and placed it in the innermost pocket of his backpack, close to his back. Then, hugging the bag tightly to his chest as double protection against the wet snow, he jogged home.  

He couldn’t wait to tell Ji Yuzhou—about how much he had improved, how his teachers praised him, and how he hadn’t let him down.  

Out of breath, Jiang Xunyu burst into the house, only to find it empty. He realized that at this time, Ji Yuzhou wasn’t home yet.  

He didn’t feel disappointed, though. Instead, he carefully took the results sheet out of his bag, smoothed it flat, and placed it on the coffee table in the living room. Feeling it might not be secure enough, he then placed an empty glass on top of it to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.  

In truth, the house’s ventilation system was excellent, so there was no chance the sheet would be blown away.  

But Jiang Xunyu wasn’t taking any chances.  

….

At 9 PM, Ji Yuzhou returned home. The first thing he noticed was the paper pressed under the glass on the coffee table.  

He walked over and picked it up. Upon realizing it was a results sheet, he chuckled.  

Jiang Xunyu had indeed improved a lot. When he first joined the class, he had been dead last. This time, not only did he pass all subjects, but he also ranked 40th out of more than 60 students.  

But Ji Yuzhou wasn’t smiling because of the grades.  

He had seen Jiang Xunyu’s daily efforts. Improvement was only natural. What amused him was the way Jiang Xunyu had ceremoniously placed the results sheet on the table as if it were a treasure.  

Ji Yuzhou had always thought Jiang Xunyu was too reserved, bottling everything up. If asked, he would squeeze out a few words; if not, he would say nothing. Thinking about it now, this might have been the first time Jiang Xunyu had voluntarily shown him something.  

Smiling, Ji Yuzhou took the carefully protected results sheet upstairs.  

When Jiang Xunyu heard a knock at the door, he immediately opened it. Even though he had been the one to place the results sheet on the table, he still felt a bit shy when he saw it in Ji Yuzhou’s hand.  

“Mr. Ji… Did you look at it?”  

“Yes,” Ji Yuzhou replied with a small smile. “You’ve improved a lot.”  

Jiang Xunyu bit his lip, hesitating as he said, “Then… during the winter break, could you…”

“What do you want? Or what do you want to do?”

Jiang Xunyu took a deep breath, his hands clenched tightly within his sleeves. “You said before… if I did well, you’d take me back home with you. Does this count as doing well? I… I really don’t want to go back to the welfare home.”

His voice grew softer and softer, until it was almost swallowed in his throat, barely audible.

Ji Yuzhou frowned, suddenly realizing why the boy had been working so hard lately.

Perhaps because of his lack of confidence, the boy had misunderstood his words, treating doing well in the exams as a condition for staying. He must have believed that if he didn’t do well, he would be sent back to the welfare home for the holidays.

Ji Yuzhou had thought Jiang Xunyu always understood—during the holidays, this house in the Corps would be empty, and there was no way he’d leave him here alone. It wasn’t safe.

But in Jiang Xunyu’s subconscious, he still couldn’t believe he had truly escaped the welfare home. So his efforts weren’t for rewards or praise; he only wanted to stay by Ji Yuzhou’s side.

Ji Yuzhou felt a wave of sourness rise in his chest.

He remained silent, and the delay in his response made Jiang Xunyu panic. 

Biting his lip, Jiang Xunyu stammered nervously, “I-I can sweep, mop, wash clothes, and cook… I’ll definitely wear my hat properly so no one notices… Please, take me with you…”

Ji Yuzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he finally said softly, “Silly boy.”

Looking into Jiang Xunyu’s eyes, he promised, “Since I chose to become your guardian, I will never send you back to the welfare home.”

Staring at Ji Yuzhou’s deep, ink-like eyes, Jiang Xunyu finally let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Thank you, Mr. Ji,” he whispered, his voice heavy with nasal congestion.

….

This winter was especially cold, and the lunar New Year came early. Ji Yuzhou received a notice from the military academy that, for safety reasons, the originally scheduled parent-teacher conference before the holidays would be postponed to after the new semester. This coincided with Ji Yuzhou’s desire to return home earlier.

With their belongings packed, the two set off on the journey home together.

Sitting in the car heading to the Ji family’s ancestral residence, Jiang Xunyu appeared nervous. His hands rested on his knees, and his fingers unconsciously tugged at the fabric of his pants, leaving the area wrinkled.

Ji Yuzhou found it amusing and reassured him, “I take after my mother, especially in terms of taste.”

Jiang Xunyu froze and instinctively stopped his movements, looking at Ji Yuzhou in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

Ji Yuzhou’s lips curved slightly. “What I mean is, she’ll definitely like you just as much as I do. You don’t need to be nervous.”

“…Okay,” Jiang Xunyu replied softly, lowering his head. His face gradually turned red.

His mind was preoccupied with that one phrase: “Like you just as much as I do.”

He knew that Ji Yuzhou’s “like” wasn’t romantic in nature—probably no different from liking a stray cat or dog—but he couldn’t help feeling shy.

Fireworks seemed to burst in his heart.

Although he was embarrassed, his initial nervousness indeed subsided significantly.

The car slowly ascended into the sky, flying further and further away. Surrounding them was a vast expanse of white. After some time, a smooth highway finally appeared ahead.

Unlike the other roads, this one was lined with ginkgo trees on both sides. Despite it being winter, the leaves had not completely fallen and were still hanging on the branches in shades of yellow and green, creating a beautiful scene.

The car continued forward until it stopped in front of an elegant, traditional building.

The building’s exterior was adorned with various decorations. Its roof, shaped like an inverted “V,” was covered with glazed tiles, resembling relics from ancient Earth.

The entire atmosphere was solemn yet dignified.

Standing in front of the building was a woman dressed in luxurious fur. Though they were still some distance apart, her noble aura was palpable, though her expression wasn’t yet clear.

Ji Yuzhou showed a faint smile, while Jiang Xunyu grew tense again.

If his guess was correct, this must be Mr. Ji’s mother.

Would she… really like him? Would she like someone who had no blood ties to Ji Yuzhou, who was adopted by him, and whose eyes were so different from everyone else’s?