Zhao Xuanwen felt a dull ache in her chest.
She wasn’t sure what was wrong with her or why she felt this way after noticing Liu Zhiyue becoming sowhat distant.
When she first entered middle school, she saw Liu Zhiyue sitting by the window in class. He gave her a sense of familiarity, but she couldn’t quite place why.
Then, as the horoom teacher had everyone introduce themselves, the mont she heard his na, a flood of mories surged through her mind.
She rembered it clearly—back in third grade, she had gone to an amusent park. While her mom went to buy her ice cream, she had caught sight of a costud perforr walking by.
Dazed, she had followed along.
After playing with the perforr for a while, she suddenly realized the surroundings had beco unfamiliar.
Back then, Zhao Xuanwen was a timid child. She spoke softly, barely above a whisper, and never dared to look people in the eye. At that mont, she was overwheld with fear.
The amusent park was crowded with people coming and going, yet she stood there alone, helplessly scanning her surroundings.
Just when she didn’t know what to do, a young voice called out to her.
"You're Zhao Xuanwen, right?"
"Hm?"
Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the boy standing before her. He had delicate features and a gentle expression.
She didn’t recognize him, but she found it strange that he knew her na. She opened her mouth, wanting to say sothing, but the words wouldn’t co out.
"I just heard your na on the park's announcent. They were looking for a girl in denim overalls and a white shirt… That’s you, isn’t it?"
Hearing this, Zhao Xuanwen stared blankly at him.
"You… how did you find ?"
"It wasn’t hard to figure out."
The boy scratched his head, looking slightly sheepish.
"Since you weren’t kidnapped, the most likely reason for a kid your age to wander off is getting distracted by sothing. Was it that person in the bear costu just now?"
"How did you know?"
Zhao Xuanwen looked at him in surprise, her wide eyes full of curiosity.
He was clearly around her age…
"Just a lucky guess. I was coming out of the restroom when I heard the announcent. I only walked a little bit before spotting you."
He pointed to a staff mber standing near one of the rides.
"Go talk to her and have her contact your parents. You were just standing here frozen when there were park staff nearby the whole ti."
"I… I was scared…"
"What’s there to be scared of? You an talking to strangers?"
She nodded.
Seeing her reaction, the boy fell silent for a mont, then suddenly thought of sothing.
"Personality can be trained, you know. Try smiling when you talk to people from now on. There's a saying—no one hits a smiling face. If you greet people with a smile, they won’t treat you badly."
Zhao Xuanwen had never heard anything like this before. She hesitated, then cautiously asked,
"Will that… really work?"
"No idea. But trying is better than doing nothing."
After saying that, he continued,
"Go to that staff mber and wait for your family. I need to go find my dad now."
That sentence startled Zhao Xuanwen.
She asked hesitantly, "You… you got lost too?"
"I didn’t get lost. My dad’s the one who wandered off sowhere. He’s probably the one who got lost. Anyway, I gotta go. Bye!"
With that, he turned and walked away.
Everything happened so quickly that Zhao Xuanwen didn’t even have ti to react. When she finally did, she called after him.
"Your… your na!"
His footsteps paused for a mont before resuming.
But his voice still reached her ears.
"Liu Zhiyue. ‘Zhi’ for knowledge, ‘Yue’ for leap."
As she watched his figure disappear into the distance, Zhao Xuanwen committed his na to mory.
That was why… she always greeted people with a smile.
The air was stifling.
Zhao Xuanwen walked quickly, rubbing her eyes with her wrist before lowering her head and continuing forward.
Behind her, hurried footsteps approached.
"Wait a second!"
"…"
Hearing Liu Zhiyue’s voice, Zhao Xuanwen didn’t stop. She kept her head down and walked even faster than before.
Liu Zhiyue stood still, watching her retreating figure like she was throwing a tantrum.
With a sigh, he called out, "You're going the wrong way. Your house is this way!"
His voice was loud and clear.
Zhao Xuanwen halted in place, stood frozen for a few seconds, then turned and walked back in the direction she had co from.
As she passed by Liu Zhiyue, she didn’t stop or acknowledge him.
Seeing her sulky expression, Liu Zhiyue didn’t say much—he just followed behind her.
Noticing this, Zhao Xuanwen stopped again, lifted her head slightly, and looked at him with reddened eyes.
"Stop following !"
"I'm not following you. I’m just heading to the supermarket. You go your way, I’ll go mine."
"…"
She didn’t reply. She just looked at him—he was much taller now, no longer the round-faced boy she rembered.
Liu Zhiyue scratched his cheek, sounding a little helpless.
"I don’t have as much belly fat now. Besides, you’re a girl—grabbing other people’s stomachs all the ti isn’t really appropriate. And my dad was ho just now… It’s not a good look."
"Ugh!"
Zhao Xuanwen puffed out her cheeks, looking annoyed.
"Of course, I don’t an that it’d be fine if my dad weren’t ho. What I an is, we’ve been deskmates for two years. That makes us friends, doesn’t it?"
"…"
Before Zhao Xuanwen could respond, Liu Zhiyue continued,
"Let’s go. I’ll walk you ho."
She said nothing more and simply turned back around, continuing to walk.
Liu Zhiyue followed.
Their figures gradually disappeared around the corner.
At a window overlooking the street, Liu Changqing watched them leave, his expression tinged with worry.
He wasn’t sure if his son could handle this situation.
Even though Liu Zhiyue acted mature, he was still just a middle schooler. When it ca to matters of the heart, he certainly didn’t have the sa experience as an adult.
So things, at Liu Zhiyue’s age, weren’t so easy to see through. A single misstep could cause deep harm to another person.
With a sigh, almost as if talking to himself, Liu Changqing murmured,
"Be more mindful…"
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