Ruan Mian felt like she had stumbled into a secret realm and instinctively tried to hide behind the wall.

But it seemed to be too late…

The man’s gaze had already found her, tracking her movement.

It was still those beautiful peach blossom eyes, his expression completely calm.

The rain began to fall, pitter-pattering down, dense like strings of beads.

The world outside was a sheet of white.

Their eyes met.

Ruan Mian suddenly forgot why she was standing there.

She felt as if she were looking at a landscape painting, the lines simple, only the clean colors of black, white, and gray.

The man was in the painting.

She was outside the painting.

Several streaks of lightning simultaneously flashed across the sky, momentarily brightening the room. Immediately following, an astonishing thunderclap erupted.

Ruan Mian instinctively covered her ears, her toes curling, feeling a little helpless.

She had come up to close the window.

But she… couldn’t take another step forward.

That tranquil yet oppressive gaze seemed to pin her entirely to the spot.

The man seemed to notice something, put out the cigarette between his fingers, and dropped it into a nearby trash can. Then he turned around, stretched out his long arm, and the floor-to-ceiling window slowly closed.

The sounds of the wind and rain were blocked outside, seeming to float far away. Ruan Mian could more clearly hear the trembling beat of her own heart.

She saw him walking toward her, silently, only the black corners of his robe swaying.

He walked very close.

Ruan Mian hoped he would walk past her, just like last night, but unexpectedly, he stopped and looked down at her.

The hem of the skirt behind her was gripped, creating deep folds in the fabric.

“It’s you.”

The tone was light, betraying no emotion, but Ruan Mian’s heart jolted:

He recognized her!

The man dropped the two words, turned, and walked down the stairs. Ruan Mian paused, then followed him down.

She stopped on the bottom step.

“Um…” She wanted to explain why she had appeared so abruptly.

But her voice was too soft. He probably didn’t hear her and continued walking forward.

She looked at his tall, slender back, trying hard to curve her lips into a faint smile, then followed him without a sound.

The window directly facing the living room was covered in water droplets, misty with fog. Looking out from here, the small gatehouse was just a blurry shadow.

Grandpa Wang must have moved all the flowers inside by now, Ruan Mian thought distractedly.

“Sit.”

She withdrew her gaze and sat down on the sofa opposite the man, her legs slightly together, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

Silence stretched between them for a long time.

Ruan Mian stared at the coffee table in front of her. Several bottles of liquor were on it, both red and white wine. Some were half-drunk, others unopened.

She unconsciously remembered the hand that had lightly swirled the wine glass last night, beautiful and distinctly jointed.

While she was lost in thought, Qi Yan was also watching her, subtly.

The small, pale face before him, almost translucent, overlaid with the sweet smile from a distant memory. It felt both strange and familiar, giving him a sense of having lived through another age.

They had once been so close, yet now, sitting face to face like this, they were like two strangers.

But then again, they were strangers to begin with.

“Am I making you nervous?”

“Mm.” Ruan Mian slightly widened her eyes. “Huh?”

What did he just ask?

She immediately sat up straight, gathering her wits, looking completely focused and listening.

Qi Yan, however, didn’t say anything else, merely giving her another look.

She really did look nervous.

Even the backs of her ears were flushed red, like a string of red agate beads.

The room instantly grew silent again, save for the hum of the air conditioning. The cold air seemed to well up from the soles of her feet, and Ruan Mian couldn’t help but rub her feet on the carpet.

Questions also bubbled up in her heart: What exactly did he say?

Why did he look at me so strangely?

Was he… smiling?

Fortunately, summer rain generally didn’t last long.

A little while later, the heavy rain stopped, and the dark clouds dispersed.

A sliver of the setting sun lay outside the green mountains, its red light shimmering.

Everything outside the window regained its original appearance. The tall magnolia trees swayed lightly in the wind, their leaves so green they almost dazzled the eye.

The old man’s figure slowly became clear in her sight, and he waved to her as he walked.

Ruan Mian stood up in pleasant surprise, ran over, and opened the door for him. “Grandpa Wang.”

“The rain has stopped,” the old man said, then glanced into the living room, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

Ruan Mian followed his gaze. The spot was empty; the person who should have been sitting on the sofa was gone without a trace.

“Who was that person?” she couldn’t help but ask.

The old man smiled. “He’s the owner of this house.”

Ruan Mian wanted to ask more, but saw him take a small matchbox from his pocket. “The things you needed are inside. If it’s not enough, come find me again.”

The old man had run a flower and bird shop when he was younger and now kept a few birds himself. He was experienced in this area. After she briefly described the bird, he knew exactly what kind of insect it needed.

She took the box with both hands. “Thank you, Grandpa Wang.”

“About your mother,” the old man said again. “What’s past is past. The living must continue to live.”

Ruan Mian nodded softly.

She knew he genuinely cared for her and wished her well from the bottom of his heart.

Two winters ago, when her mother fainted on the road due to poor health, it was this old man who took her to the hospital, stayed with her until her IV was finished, and brought her home.

Her mother, seeing that he lived alone and was getting old, often had her send him nutritional supplements. Gradually, they became acquainted.

The old man patted her on the shoulder and led her out. “Go on home. It’s getting late.”

Ruan Mian arrived home just in time for dinner.

Her father, whom she rarely saw on weekdays, was home. A family of three sat at the dining table, looking harmonious and happy.

There was also an extra person in the house, who looked like the new nanny.

Her home had never been this lively.

Ruan Mian stood outside the door for a moment before stepping in.

Her stepmother, Wang Jiaxin, saw her first, her face full of smiles. “Mianmian is back. Oh my, I thought you’d be back late from evening study, so I specially saved you some food.”

Ruan Mian didn’t reply.

Ying Haodong slammed his chopsticks down. “Ruan Mian, what kind of attitude is that? Your Auntie is talking to you…”

Wang Jiaxin gave him a scolding glance. “Why are you being so loud? You’ll scare the child!”

She turned back to Ruan Mian, her voice very gentle. “Mianmian, go wash your hands and come eat.”

Ruan Mian gently pulled her hand away. “I already ate out.”

Upstairs, back to her room, she locked the door.

It was best to isolate everything.

Ruan Mian lay on the bed.

She lay there for a long, long time until she heard…

“Jiji…“

She sat up and saw a small figure constantly hopping on her desk. Only then did she remember the little creature she had forgotten.

She used small tweezers to pick a small worm from the matchbox, scalded it in boiling water, and the little thing immediately opened its mouth wide to take it.

She fed it several in a row.

Ruan Mian stroked its small head. “When you grow up, and your wings are strong, you can fly wherever you want.”

She repeated it softly, not knowing if she was speaking to the bird or to herself.

The bird fell asleep with its head cocked after eating its fill.

Ruan Mian drank a glass of water and took out a book from her school bag to do homework.

A piece of paper fell out.

She picked it up, and the words “Painting Competition” jumped into her eyes. This must have been accidentally tucked into her book by Pan Tingting.

She read it from beginning to end, and a ripple gradually formed in the depths of Ruan Mian’s eyes.

She needed money.

She didn’t want to reach out to that person again, only to be subjected to his hidden cold words: “Daughters are just money-losing goods. Raise them only for them to throw themselves at other men.”

If she could win this prize money…

But… she couldn’t!

Ruan Mian threw down the paintbrush in her hand.

Every time she held a paintbrush, her hand would shake, shaking so badly that she couldn’t even draw a straight line.

Would she… never be able to paint again?

The next day, Ruan Mian went to school early. A few boarding students were already having morning self-study in the classroom.

City Z’s High School Z was one of the best high schools in the city. Most of the provincial top scorers in liberal arts and sciences came from this school. However, it had been slipping a bit in the past two years. Not only did it lose the top scorer this year, but the university admission rate also dropped.

This was not a good sign.

The school leadership held meeting after meeting, devising various reward mechanisms. The homeroom teachers also emphasized the school’s glorious past in every weekly meeting, hoping to motivate the students to excel. It must be said that the effect was noticeable.

Ruan Mian heard Pan Tingting say that after lights out in their dorm, there were always one or two people secretly reading with flashlights. One night, she even heard someone reciting ancient poetry in their sleep…

“Hey!” Someone patted her shoulder from behind. “What are you thinking about so intensely?”

It was Pan Tingting.

“You came really early today.”

Ruan Mian: “Couldn’t sleep.”

Pan Tingting slumped on the desk, using her hand to prop open her eyelids, then rubbed her face. “I can never sleep enough.”

“Hey,” she turned back. “Ruanmianmian, I heard some gossip about you in the next dorm last night.”

“What?” Ruan Mian opened her book, preparing to memorize English vocabulary.

Pan Tingting glanced around and lowered her voice. “Did you talk to Liang Xiaocao from the key class next door during the big break the day before yesterday, and even give him a notebook?”

Ruan Mian thought about it. That was true.

“Liang Xiaocao’s” real name was Liang Yibo. He was a former classmate of hers, and they had been in the same study group. He had come to find her that day, saying he had missed several classes due to a bad cold and wanted to borrow her English notes to copy.

English was the only subject she could still put forward as decent now.

“They have so many people in their class. Why couldn’t he find someone else?” Pan Tingting questioned. “Why did he specifically come to you?”

“Is he interested in you?”

Ruan Mian was always slow in this regard. “I don’t think so.”

“Good thing,” Pan Tingting started pulling sunflower seeds out of her drawer to crack again. “If you don’t have those feelings, you shouldn’t get too close to him in the future. I heard he’s the Little Overlord Flower’s new target…”

“Oh, come on! What day is it today? Even Zeng Yushu, you came so early!”

The newcomer heavily tossed his school bag onto the desk, his eyebrows raised high. “Morning!”

Pan Tingting let out an unsatisfied “Hmph” from her nose.

Ruan Mian belatedly realized the “Morning” was directed at her and nodded slightly, feeling awkward.

Just then, the homeroom teacher walked in from the front, his hands behind his back. He surveyed the room, saw Zeng Yushu still sporting his rainbow haircut, and the smile instantly vanished from his face. “To my office!”

Pan Tingting gleefully kicked him while he was down. “Old Chen Brand Setting Gel Spit, you should definitely get some, darling.”

Zeng Yushu ground his teeth at her.

He pulled his phone out of his bag, opened the camera, and started taking a selfie.

He had to get a memento.

“Deskmate,” he suddenly asked. “Does my hair look good?”

Pan Tingting gave him an eye roll. “Vain!”

“I wasn’t asking you!”

His tone softened, and he asked Ruan Mian again.

“It looks quite nice.”

It looked like a beautiful rainbow.

“Hear that?” Zeng Yushu kicked the chair in front of him and laughed loudly. “Classmate, your aesthetic sense needs improvement!”

Pan Tingting threw a handful of sunflower seed shells at him.

The two started messing around.

In the midst of the noise, Ruan Mian started zoning out again.

She vaguely recalled that she had once painted a rainbow picture and given it to someone.

Who was that person, and what did they look like?

She couldn’t quite remember.

However, one thing did come to mind.

“Tingting, can you help me top up my phone credit?”

While tidying up last night, she found the phone her mother used while she was alive, and also found a red envelope containing three hundred yuan. After paying the school uniform fee, there was still over a hundred yuan left. She planned to use some of it for phone credit.

It felt like doing this could still preserve a trace of her mother’s presence in this world.

Furthermore, that number was also connected to the school’s communication system. Reconnecting it would allow her to receive school notices.

“Sure, give me the number.”

Ruan Mian wrote down the number on a slip of paper and handed it over.

“How much to top up?”

“Fifty.”

A few minutes later, Pan Tingting gave an “OK” gesture. “Check your text message later.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, happy to help.”

Ring-a-ling-a-ling… Morning self-study started.

They both settled into their seats.

At the same time.

Qi Yan had just finished an inter-regional video conference. He rubbed his brow, preparing to take a shower and sleep, when his phone chimed and the screen lit up.

There was a new message.

He casually picked it up and read it.

“Dear customer: Your top-up of 50.00 yuan on 201x-08-13 at 07:00 has been successful. Your current account balance is…”

NOTES

Little Overlord Flower: A colorful, informal nickname for a bossy or aggressive popular girl.

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