“Alright, Linlin, go into the room with Brother now!”

The little girl pushed Jiang Linyuan and Lin Yilin, shoving them into a room, then turned to look at Su Muzhi, who was about to follow them in.

Whoa, such an intimidating aura—totally different from Linlin’s gentle, sheep-like vibe.

Putting on a pitiful expression, she walked up:

“Sis, will you play house with me? Nobody else wants to play with me.”

Su Muzhi looked down at her and chuckled:

“Then you be the daughter, and I’ll be the mom...”

A bad feeling crept up.

The little girl felt a bit scared and tried to recruit an ally:

“But it’s just the two of us...”

“Little girl, if you do something wrong, you have to pay the price.”

Forget it, let’s give them some alone time.

Su Muzhi bent down and tapped the little girl’s forehead with her index finger:

“Now, house rules are starting. You have to listen to me, your mom, and stand up straight.”

“...Huh?”

“No talking back. And your hair—what a mess. Push your bangs up yourself.”

“But... but I like it...”

“You have to listen to me.”

Ugh, why does she feel like a completely different person? So... so scary.

Linlin, you owe me a big red envelope later!

...

A man and a woman alone in a room together.

Even though her relatives were just outside the door, Lin Yilin was still a bit nervous.

It’s all that mischievous little cousin’s fault! Making things so awkward with Senior.

“Senior, that was my little cousin just now—she’s way too naughty. Don’t mind her.”

Lin Yilin lifted her eyes and sneaked a glance at Jiang Linyuan.

“It’s fine. I was way more mischievous than her when I was little.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“Senior was really naughty when you were little?”

“Haha, climbing trees to steal bird eggs, wading into rivers to catch fish and shrimp—I was the little terror.”

“Mm, I just sat in front of the TV watching cartoons when I was little.”

Lin Yilin awkwardly touched her hair.

“Actually, I watched cartoons too. There was one I really liked as a kid, but I forgot what it was called.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“Hehe, you can tell me about it. I have a really good memory of childhood cartoons.”

Lin Yilin perked up.

Little homebody Lin Yilin, let me test you!

“There were a few characters. One was called Sweetie Gets Super-Beaten, another was Playboy Loves Super-Screwing Around, Happy Man Becomes Superhero, Careful I’ll Go Super-Saiyan, and Clumsy Screws Up Super-Bad. I forgot the exact names.”

Jiang Linyuan had a nostalgic expression.

Those really were some of my rare, beautiful childhood memories.

Lin Yilin froze for a moment, then her face turned red as she shouted:

“You got it so wrong! That’s the Happy Superheroes!”

“Oh, feels about the same.”

Not even close! Lin Yilin sat on the bed, pouting.

“Xiao Yilin, why are you just sitting on someone else’s bed?”

“So what! I’m the one who cleaned this room for you. You’re sleeping here tonight.”

Lin Yilin bared her teeth in a playful snarl.

Oh, so Xiao Yilin prepared this room for me? Then I won’t hold back!

Jiang Linyuan sat down beside Lin Yilin and asked:

“Xiao Yilin, where’s the room you prepared for Xiao Su?”

Always asking about Su Senior—why doesn’t he ask where my room is?

Lin Yilin felt sulky:

“Right next to yours.”

“Oh, next to mine.”

With that, Jiang Linyuan fell silent.

This made Lin Yilin grind her teeth in frustration. After asking about Su Muzhi, he didn’t bother asking anything else.

So concerned about her, huh.

But thinking about it, her anger all turned into bitterness. Why did she have the right to be angry?

And why did she feel so bitter?

“Xiao Yilin, your face looks like a bitter gourd right now.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“No, it doesn’t.”

Lin Yilin was stubborn, turning her head away so he couldn’t see her expression.

“Xiao Yilin, you’ve been getting more and more stubborn. You used to say whatever was on your mind.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

Lin Yilin was silent for a moment, quiet for about ten seconds, then said:

“Senior has changed a lot too.”

“Have I?”

Jiang Linyuan asked back.

“Yeah, a lot. You’ve become harder and harder for me to understand.”

Lin Yilin turned her head, her bright eyes looking at Jiang Linyuan:

“I don’t understand why Senior goes to confess to so many people who don’t like you. I don’t understand why you always put up with my little tantrums when we’re just friends. And I don’t understand why Senior kept bringing up Su Senior right in front of me earlier.”

“There are just so many things I don’t understand.”

As she spoke, she slowly stood up, opened the window, and looked into the distance.

“You can actually see the ocean from here?”

Jiang Linyuan stood beside her and asked.

“Mm, Grandpa’s house is really tall. It overlooks most of the village houses.”

Lin Yilin nodded.

Looking out the window, in the distance, blue sky and white clouds met gently rolling hills covered in trees, and farther still, an endless ocean.

“Senior, don’t you want to respond to what I just said?”

She asked.

“It’s pretty normal. It takes a really, really long time to truly understand someone, and people change too.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“But that’s not fair. I feel like Senior has almost figured me out completely.”

Lin Yilin said softly.

“Haha, because Xiao Yilin is so easy to read.”

“Am I really that easy to read?”

She turned her head. The wind from the window blew in, lifting a few strands of hair from her forehead. Her eyes were bright and clear, like the moist, blue waters of a lake.

This suddenly reminded Jiang Linyuan of the crying Lin Yilin in the photo from the book.

Back then, her eyes were as misty as the thin fog over a lakeshore.

“Very easy to read.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

Lin Yilin let out a soft laugh and said:

“Senior, you look like you don’t understand anything at all. I’m still not easy enough to read.”

She took a deep breath and looked at the distant ocean again:

“Then, Senior, I once read a line in a book.”

“The moment someone abandons you, they must have felt that without you, their life would be better. That moment is never worth forgiving, not for a lifetime.”

Jiang Linyuan thought for a moment and asked back:

“Zhang Ailing’s book?”

“I don’t remember. Why do you ask?”

“It has way too much of that literary, artistic vibe. It doesn’t suit Xiao Yilin at all.”

Lin Yilin’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled sweetly:

“Yeah, that’s why I would never abandon someone I love. As long as he takes a step forward, even if he has tons of ex-girlfriends, or even if he’s been divorced, I wouldn’t care.”

“Too bad, I don’t have any ex-girlfriends.”

“Maybe you will someday.”

“I’ll never get divorced either.”

“Maybe you will someday.”

“Xiao Yilin really doesn’t care about her future boyfriend’s romantic history, huh.”

Jiang Linyuan asked.

“Because I think love is just a part of life’s journey. If my boyfriend’s past relationships were happy, then I’d be happy for him too, because his life was joyful.”

Lin Yilin said.

“And what if his past relationships weren’t happy?”

“Then I’d work hard to heal his wounds and make him happy.”

Lin Yilin smiled, her eyes seeming to shine.

Jiang Linyuan turned his head, looking out the window. The sea was very blue, and the sky was very blue too.