Cheng Ye pulled him back, let go, “Just talk, why are you getting so close?”

Gao Xinhe just felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck. He reached back and touched it, not understanding why Cheng Ye was angry. “I just haven’t seen you, that’s all. Oh, by the way, why are you here?”

Cheng Ye asked him, “What are you doing here?”

Gao Xinhe’s attention was instantly diverted. “Aunt Jiang borrowed a hoe from my house yesterday. My mom’s going to dig in the afternoon and told me to ask if she’s still using it. If not, I’m here to take it back.”

Cheng Ye pulled up a chair and sat between Gao Xinhe and Jiang Shi. He inserted the sharpened wooden stick into the hoe’s handle, tapped it with an axe, and then handed it to Gao Xinhe. “Aunt Jiang accidentally broke it yesterday, but I’ve fixed it for you now. Take it.”

Gao Xinhe took the hoe, looking confused. “You can fix this too…” He looked around, finally finding the oddity. “No, why are you two together?”

What had his good brother been secretly doing behind his back?

Jiang Shi sat leisurely on the chair. Compared to Cheng Ye next to him, he looked like a landlord oppressing a long-term laborer. He coughed and explained, “I twisted my ankle when he accidentally bumped into me on my way home. He felt bad about it, so he came to check on me.”

Gao Xinhe scratched his head and looked at Cheng Ye, starting to doubt how well he knew his brother. Could Cheng Ye really be that kind-hearted? But as soon as he saw Jiang Shi’s face, he suddenly understood. If he had bumped into someone so good-looking, he’d also feel bad.

As soon as he saw Jiang Shi, Gao Xinhe couldn’t bear to leave. Braving Cheng Ye’s cold gaze, he casually pulled up a chair and sat next to Jiang Shi to chat.

“You look completely different from Jiang Jian’an.”

Jiang Jian’an was now Song Jian’an.

Gao Xinhe said, “Jiang Jian’an is dark and thin, like a monkey. Of course, it’s not just him; actually, everyone here is dark. The teacher said it’s because of the strong UV rays. But I feel like Jiang Jian’an is a bit darker than others, probably genetic.”

“He’s a very boring person. All he knows is studying all day long. Every time my mom scolds me, she starts with how Jiang Jian’an is doing so well. He’s the one I hate most in the whole village.”

Jiang Shi laughed at that. Perhaps fearing he’d overthink, others were very cautious about mentioning Song Jian’an in front of him. Gao Xinhe probably had a screw loose and just said whatever came to mind.

Cheng Ye, standing behind him, kicked him in the butt.

Gao Xinhe clutched his butt and turned back, looking at him confused. “Bro, why’d you kick me?”

Cheng Ye: “…”

Jiang Shi didn’t feel there was anything shameful between him and Song Jian’an. He proactively asked Gao Xinhe, “How is he as a person?”

As soon as Jiang Shi spoke, Gao Xinhe eagerly leaned in. “I’m not that familiar with him. Mainly, he only knows how to study all day and usually looks down on people with bad grades like me. Anyway, he’s that ‘neighbor’s kid’ that parents always talk about.”

He didn’t expect him to actually become someone else’s kid in the blink of an eye.

“However…” Gao Xinhe lowered his voice, “the one he dislikes most is actually Brother Cheng.”

Jiang Shi glanced at Cheng Ye, who was standing behind them acting as a backdrop. “Why?”

“It’s a long story. That day, the sky was cloudless, but suddenly the wind and clouds changed, and then…”

Cheng Ye grabbed him by the back of his neck and lifted him up. “You should go home.”

Gao Xinhe’s neck was constricted by his clothes. He struggled to stretch it, “I… haven’t… finished…”

Cheng Ye: “If you keep talking, your mom will come looking for you.”

Thinking of his mom’s fiery temper, Gao Xinhe shrunk his neck. He broke free from Cheng Ye’s hand. “I really should go. Oh, by the way, bro, my dad said there’s still work this afternoon. Are you still going?”

Cheng Ye naturally planned to go.

Gao Xinhe rubbed his stinging shoulder, not really wanting to go, but he felt he was a loyal person and gritted his teeth, intending to go with Cheng Ye.

Jiang Shi watched the red-haired boy quickly run off with the hoe and asked Cheng Ye, “Are you and Song Jian’an on bad terms?”

“Not really bad, just not familiar.”

Although they were in the same class, they hardly exchanged two words all year. Cheng Ye hardly spoke two words to anyone. His friendship with Gao Xinhe was purely because Gao Xinhe was a bit peculiar.

Just like yesterday, before Jiang Xue returned from work, Cheng Ye started cooking. Thinking Jiang Shi liked potatoes yesterday, he found the potatoes even more familiar than Jiang Shi, peeled and shredded them in one fluid motion. He clearly did this often.

Young Master Jiang, who had never lifted a finger, watched others cook with great interest. “Do you cook for yourself at home too?”

Cheng Ye’s chopping movements were very fast; his actions didn’t pause at all when he spoke. “Yes, I cook for myself. There’s no one at my house.”

“No one?”

“My mom left. My dad just died not long ago. I’m an orphan now.”

Jiang Shi froze. “Sorry, I…”

Cheng Ye put the sliced potatoes in a basin of water. “No need to apologize, everyone knows about it.” Instead of others telling Jiang Shi, it was better for him to tell Jiang Shi himself, and he could also gain some sympathy along the way.

Jiang Shi looked at his ill-fitting T-shirt and then squeezed the candy in his hand. He felt terrible.

Jiang Xue came back a bit earlier today than yesterday. Cheng Ye had lunch at Jiang’s house before going to the construction site.

After Cheng Ye left, Jiang Shi hesitated for a moment and then asked Jiang Xue, who was clearing the dishes, “I heard Cheng Ye say he’s an orphan.”

Jiang Xue didn’t expect Cheng Ye to tell Jiang Shi that. She sighed softly, “This child has a hard life. His dad drank and gambled, and when he got drunk and lost money, he’d come home and beat his mom. His mom couldn’t stand it and ran away. Then his dad would beat him. Later, he grew taller and stronger than his dad, and that’s when his dad restrained himself a bit.”

“Unexpectedly, fate plays cruel tricks. Two months ago, his dad was drinking with someone, got drunk and collapsed by the roadside. It was deep winter, and he literally froze to death.”

“His dad’s death, for Cheng Ye, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

As she spoke, she handed Jiang Shi a banana. “This child doesn’t talk much and doesn’t like to socialize. With his dad gone, he’s just enduring it alone. I feel sorry for him, so I used the excuse of having him look after you to get him to eat at our house. Be nice to him, don’t always bully him.”

Jiang Shi subconsciously retorted, “I didn’t bully him…”

“Yes, yes, yes… you didn’t bully him, he just deliberately made you unhappy.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Jiang Shi’s face fell.

---

Jiang Shi lay at home for three days, and his foot finally healed enough for him to walk. Today was Thursday, market day in Xiliu Village.

Cheng Ye came to find Jiang Shi, followed by Gao Xinhe.

Before they even arrived, Gao Xinhe shouted, “Jiang Shi! Jiang Shi! We’re here to take you to the market!”

Jiang Xue had a lot of land. If others went out to work and left their land uncultivated, she’d take it over. She also raised pigs and cows, so she was incredibly busy every day. It had been raining recently, and she was busy preparing the land for spring planting, so she really couldn’t spare time to go to the market. She naturally couldn’t count on Jiang Shi either. She waited for Cheng Ye at the intersection with the cow, and when she saw him, she handed him some money. “Go to the market and get me a pound of liquor. Jiang Shi twisted his foot, so I said I’d get some liquor for Uncle Zhang. Then buy two pounds of spare ribs. The rest of the money is for you guys to spend as pocket money. Buy whatever you want.”

Jiang Shi felt like Cheng Ye was more like the biological son Jiang Xue had high hopes for.

The street wasn’t far from home, about a twenty-minute walk. It wasn’t a very long street, with vendors selling various things on both sides. Most young people here had gone out to work, so the street was filled with students who hadn’t started school yet and elderly people.

Jiang Shi had never been to such a street and found everything new and interesting.

Gao Xinhe asked him, “Is the place you used to stay in like this?”

“No,” Jiang Shi said. “They don’t have market days there, but they have malls and supermarkets. Shopping here feels pretty similar to shopping at a supermarket.” He looked down at the things an old lady had piled on the ground for sale. “What’s this?”

Cheng Ye had, at some point, nudged Gao Xinhe aside and stood next to Jiang Shi. “These are called sweet potatoes here. You can eat them like fruit.”

Jiang Shi hadn’t seen them before and found them a bit curious. He asked the old lady how much a pound was. He couldn’t understand the dialect the old lady spoke. Just as he was about to turn his head to ask, Cheng Ye pulled money from his clothes. “Two pounds.”

“Hey… I hadn’t even said I wanted to buy it.”

Cheng Ye said, “Try it.”

Just try it then.

So, Jiang Shi inexplicably bought a bunch of things to “try.” By the time he came back to his senses, Cheng Ye was holding several bags full of food, while he himself was still holding a hawthorn candy.

Jiang Shi was a bit worried. “We bought so much food, is there still enough money for the liquor and spare ribs?”

Cheng Ye still spoke very little. “Enough.”

If he said it was enough, then it was enough. Jiang Shi confidently bit into the hawthorn candy.

After walking around for a while, Jiang Shi felt tired. Cheng Ye noticed, quickly bought the liquor and spare ribs, and prepared to head back.

Cheng Ye and Gao Xinhe didn’t have much; most of it was Jiang Shi’s. He bought the most, yet his hands were empty; the half-eaten hawthorn candy was his only burden. Jiang Shi felt a little bad. “Should I carry some?”

“No need.” Cheng Ye handed the spare ribs and liquor to Gao Xinhe. “The two of us are enough.”

Gao Xinhe: “…”

He looked at Jiang Shi’s face and silently took them. Forget it, the other person clearly wasn’t like rough guys like them.

After walking back for about ten minutes, they reached the three-way intersection where Jiang Shi had gotten lost earlier. A few young men with dyed yellow hair were squatting by the roadside, with a motorcycle parked nearby. The young men were smoking and observing passersby. When they saw Jiang Shi’s face, their eyes lit up, and the one in the middle whistled at him.

Jiang Shi frowned, his expression slowly turning cold. Unexpectedly, whistling wasn’t enough for those people. When Jiang Shi got closer, they gave him a malicious smile. “Hey, are you a boy or a girl? Want big brothers to take you out to play?”

Jiang Shi’s appearance was that of an aggressive, sharp beauty, but usually, he was lazy, like a cat with its claws retracted. Even when provoked, he’d only lash out with his tail. But now, his face was completely cold, the cat’s claws extended, and even his gaze carried stinging barbs.

“I’m your dad. If you want to take your dad out to play, don’t you have to kneel and beg me?”

The young men’s faces immediately darkened.

“Damn it!” The leader in the middle cursed, threw his cigarette to the ground, and stood up. “What do you mean?”

Just as Jiang Shi was about to speak, a hand pressed on his shoulder. Cheng Ye stepped forward, his tall stature shielding Jiang Shi behind him. He stared at the hooligans and spoke emotionlessly, “Get lost.”

The leading boy became even more annoyed when he saw this. He reached back and pulled a steel pipe from the motorcycle’s rear seat, immediately intending to walk towards Cheng Ye. His younger brother next to him stared at Cheng Ye’s face for a while, then pulled the boy back and whispered something in his ear. After he finished, the boy looked at Cheng Ye with some uncertainty, his expression hesitant. Coupled with a group of people approaching from not far away, he could only lower the raised steel pipe and spit on the ground. “You just wait.”

The boy got on the motorcycle, with a string of people sitting behind him. As he left, he whistled at Jiang Shi again. “Little beauty, when big brother has time, I’ll come find you to play.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Who wants to play with a “spiritual young man” (a term for a certain type of rowdy, often poorly-dressed young men)?

Although Gao Xinhe had bright red hair, he was the most timid of all. As soon as the yellow-haired guys spoke, he darted behind Cheng Ye. Only after they left did he poke his head out to observe Cheng Ye’s expression. Strangely, Cheng Ye showed no anger. He merely switched the bag in his right hand to his left, pushed Gao Xinhe away from him, and said in his usual tone, “Let’s go.”

Jiang Shi had been handsome since he was little and had experienced countless harassments growing up. However, in big cities, people were generally more civilized and not as vulgar as these hooligans. As long as no substantial harm was done, Jiang Shi was too lazy to bother. After all, these kinds of hooligans were the most troublesome; it was best not to provoke them.

After finishing three hawthorn candies, Jiang Shi felt a bit腻 (cloyed). At that moment, he didn’t know what he was thinking, but he just handed the half-eaten hawthorn candy to Cheng Ye. “I don’t want it anymore, do you want to eat it?”

Cheng Ye took the hawthorn candy he no longer wanted.

Gao Xinhe, standing still and watching the two walk side by side, thought: “…” No, was everything that just happened an illusion?

---

After Cheng Ye sent Jiang Shi home, he went to work at the construction site. Gao Xinhe had followed him to move bricks for a few days and now swore he didn’t want to go anymore. What brotherhood? His shoulder was about to break.

He and Cheng Ye parted ways at the fork in the road. “After working for two days, I’ve decided to go back to school. School starts next week, and I haven’t finished my winter break homework yet, so I won’t go with you.”

Gao Xinhe felt it wasn’t good for Cheng Ye to always freeload meals at Jiang Shi’s house, as their families weren’t that close. “Oh, by the way, my mom cooked pig trotters today. Will you come eat with my dad after work?”

Cheng Ye bit into the hawthorn candy with three pieces left, lowered his head to put on his jacket, and spoke indistinctly, “I have something to do tonight, so I won’t be coming.”

“It’ll be dark after work, what could you possibly have to do?”

Cheng Ye didn’t answer. He finished getting dressed, holding the melting hawthorn candy, and walked quickly towards the construction site. He waved to Gao Xinhe with his back turned.

The wages were still paid daily. After getting their money, the workers still gathered to chat. Cheng Ye quietly slipped away from the crowd.

Night fell, and the hoarse cries of crows came from the deep mountains. Cheng Ye chose a direction completely opposite to his way home.

The street was mostly empty at night. The noodle shop where Jiang Shi ate last time was still open. The owner came out to pour out slop, and was surprised to see Cheng Ye passing by. “Haven’t seen you in days. What are you doing out so late?”

Cheng Ye’s face was hidden in the darkness. His voice was calm. “Going to buy something.”

The owner turned and went inside. Cheng Ye went to the convenience store next door. The convenience store owner was dozing in a recliner, suddenly startled awake by the sound of knuckles tapping on glass. He opened his eyes and saw a tall figure standing against the light, his voice hoarse. “Boss, a pack of cigarettes.”

The owner pulled open the glass cabinet door, his head following. “What brand?”

“The cheapest one.”

The owner skillfully pulled out a pack of cigarettes and threw it on the counter. “Three yuan.”

In the dim light, Cheng Ye, standing at the storefront, tore open the packaging, bit the cigarette, and spoke in a low voice, “Excuse me, could I borrow a light?”

The weather began to cool again. The cold wind blew mournfully through the trees at the intersection. Cheng Ye lit a cigarette and walked through the cold to the only internet cafe on the street.

The internet cafe was hidden in an inconspicuous alley. A few drunk people lay on the roadside, and the ground reeked of a mixture of garbage and other odors. Cheng Ye’s hands were in his pockets. He kicked away a man lying in his path and pushed open the internet cafe door.

Inside, smoke filled the air, and noisy shouts almost lifted the ceiling. The young girl at the front desk heard the door open but didn’t even lift her head. “No computers available. If you want to play, come back later.”

Cheng Ye stood at the door and looked inside. “Not playing, I’m looking for someone.”

He scanned the internet cafe and finally found the person he was looking for in a corner. The yellow-haired boy was playing a game, swearing with a cigarette in his mouth. He lost a round, got so angry that he pulled off his headphones, stood up, and kicked the chair a few times.

Cheng Ye watched him, standing at the doorway until he finished a cigarette before walking over. The thick smoke and dim light concealed the expression on his face. He walked unhurriedly through the crowd, came up behind the boy, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him up.

The boy was startled. “What the f*ck…”

He turned around and met a pair of faintly green eyes.

“Let’s talk,” Cheng Ye said.

At a time like this, looking for him to “talk” clearly meant to pick a fight. The boy had only brought one younger brother to the internet cafe. Facing Cheng Ye, he felt a bit guilty, but after all, being in their line of work, he couldn’t stand any provocation. When Cheng Ye looked at him with that cold gaze, his anger instantly flared up.

The boy followed Cheng Ye into the alley at the internet cafe entrance. The three walked a distance. This was a dead end with few people, only a flickering light hanging overhead—a good place for a fight.

Cheng Ye leaned against the wall, the expression on his face no different from that morning, and even his tone of voice was calm.

“Stay away from him from now on.”

Who “he” was, everyone present knew.

The yellow-haired boy sneered, “Who do you think you are, telling me to stay away and I’ll stay away?”

Cheng Ye didn’t speak. The boy continued, “How about this, you kneel down and beg me, and call me ‘Grandpa’ twice, and I won’t bother him? Don’t even get me started, he’s really something, more… attractive than any girl I’ve ever seen…”

The next second, a hand grabbed his hair, and the nearly two-hundred-pound boy was yanked by his head and slammed onto the ground. The light flickered. Cheng Ye yanked his hair, revealing his face.

“You…”

The boy struggled to get up from the ground. Cheng Ye glanced at him, then raised his foot. A clear “crack” sounded in the air. The boy’s calf twisted into an unnatural position. He collapsed on the ground, instantly motionless.

Cheng Ye let go and took a lighter from the boy’s pocket. He lit a cigarette in front of the boy. He bit the cigarette, grabbed the boy’s hair again, making him look up. He stared at the boy’s face, messy with snot and tears, for a moment. He flicked the cigarette with his fingertips, and ash fell on the boy’s face. He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

“Stay away from him.”