The north wind swept up the last remnants of snow as another cold front descended upon Lilin.
Wrapped in his down jacket, Xu Yan propped his elbow on the desk and stared blankly at the empty seat diagonally ahead of him, where Qiu Muyang usually sat. He remained lost in thought for a long time.
Sun Rui hadn’t come to school for quite a while.
More than half a month had passed since Xu Yan received a demerit for fighting, and Sun Rui had also been penalized for repeated cheating and spreading rumors.
But ever since the disciplinary notice was issued, Sun Rui seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth—he never showed up at school again.
Before Xu Yan could fully process everything that had happened, he was swept up in a relentless wave of exams, forced to keep moving forward. Deep down, he had imagined meeting Sun Rui again someday, properly apologizing, sharing an awkward hug, and returning to how things used to be. But reality didn’t seem to give him that chance.
The once-active three-person group chat on Xu Yan’s phone had fallen completely silent. As time slipped by, Xu Yan’s first semester of sophomore year came to a hasty, chaotic end amid the frenzy of exams.
On the afternoon of the final exam, the classroom erupted in cheers and excitement. But it wasn’t until Xu Yan watched Sun Rui’s desk being carried away that he suddenly realized—he and Sun Rui might have already seen each other for the last time in their lives.
What was once an intersecting line had now become two parallel paths, never to meet again, each disappearing back into the vast sea of people. Only much later, when Xu Yan looked back, did he realize he had stopped being angry a long time ago.
A teenager’s disappointment lasts only a moment. Xu Yan’s attention was quickly diverted by an unusually excited Qiu Muyang.
“Hahahaha, exams are over! Winter break is here! Hainan, here I come!” Qiu Muyang struck a ridiculously dramatic pose, waving his freshly finished science exam paper with one foot excitedly planted on his chair, laughing exaggeratedly.
Sitting at his desk, Xu Yan kept blinking and signaling toward the classroom door, where Du Bo stood watching Qiu Muyang with a stern expression. But Qiu Muyang remained completely oblivious and continued shouting, “Let’s get hype! Bros, exams are behind us, happy days are ahead—woohoo!”
As soon as he finished, Du Bo suddenly approached and rapped him lightly on the head. Qiu Muyang turned in surprise, meeting Du Bo’s sharp, penetrating gaze.
Qiu Muyang: “…”
Seeing the look of terror on Qiu Muyang’s face, Du Bo smiled meaningfully. “Exams are over, it’s normal to be excited. As your teacher, I get it.”
Du Bo narrowed his eyes, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked up to the podium, where he announced grandly, “Your winter break homework is very light—just one set of practice papers for each subject every day. Since the break is one month long, I’ve prepared thirty sets in total for all of you.”
The moment he finished speaking, the relaxed atmosphere in Class 2, Grade 11 instantly turned oppressive, thick with collective resentment.
“Alright, settle down,” Du Bo raised a hand to calm the restless mood. “You don’t need to come back to collect your grades this time—they’ll be posted in the parents’ WeChat group. Everyone, pack up your things and get ready for the break.” The moment he announced the start of the holiday, a few tall boys in the class let out excited monkey-like whoops.
For a split second, Du Bo felt like he was in the Flower and Fruit Mountain. He shook his head with a smile, then turned and hurried out of the classroom.
The kids were looking forward to the break—and so was he.
As soon as Du Bo left, the class erupted into lively chatter.
While packing his homework, Qiu Muyang turned back to ask Xu Yan, “Yanzi, where are you going for the break?”
Without hesitation, Xu Yan replied, “Back to my hometown.”
Qiu Muyang asked with genuine curiosity, “Wow, so what’s fun to do in your hometown?”
Xu Yan’s hand, which had been packing his schoolbag, suddenly curled slightly.
What could possibly be fun about his hometown? Every year when they returned for the New Year, it was just to fulfill Xu Guodong’s task of visiting relatives and friends to maintain appearances. Then, amidst a crowd of hypocritical and nauseating gazes, they would welcome a new round of sarcastic remarks and veiled mockery.
He didn’t understand why his mother insisted on going back every year.
Xu Yan looked up and met Qiu Muyang’s unusually expectant gaze. He sighed and replied, “My hometown is deep in the mountains. There’s nothing fun there.”
Seeing Xu Yan’s somewhat troubled expression, Qiu Muyang shifted the topic to Ji Ran. “What about you, top student? Where are you going?”
“Also back to my hometown,” Ji Ran said calmly.
“Ah? What a coincidence for both of you,” Qiu Muyang remarked sincerely, but Xu Yan immediately clarified, “Our hometowns are different.”
“Huh?” Qiu Muyang looked at Xu Yan’s flustered attempt to explain and said in surprise, “I never said your hometowns were the same. Why are you so anxious? You’re acting strange. Did you and the top student secretly plan something?”
Xu Yan guiltily averted his gaze, coughed twice to feign composure, and replied, “No.”
“Really not?” Qiu Muyang’s tone rose skeptically, his eyebrows raised in doubt as he leaned closer to Xu Yan.
“No,” Ji Ran glanced at Qiu Muyang, feeling irritated by how close he was to Xu Yan. He lowered his lashes and accidentally knocked the book he was packing onto the floor.
Seeing this, Xu Yan quickly bent down to pick it up. Ji Ran curved the corners of his lips and also lowered his head. Just like that, their heads bumped together.
Their eyes met, and Xu Yan immediately let go.
Qiu Muyang glanced at Ji Ran, then went back to packing his things without another word.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the top student had dropped the book on purpose.
But before Qiu Muyang could dwell on it, he was swept away by the excitement of the upcoming holiday.
On New Year’s Eve, families gathered for reunion.
Xu Yan sat silently in the large living room of his hometown house, watching the drama unfolding before him.
Every year, Xu Guodong and Gu Xiaorou would argue over Xu Guodong’s gambling habits during New Year’s Eve, but this year was different. This year’s drama included Xu Yan’s biological father—Xie Feng.
Seeing Xie Feng again left Xu Yan completely bewildered. The gentle, refined man from his memories had been worn down by time, losing his former grace and appearing weathered. His sallow, sagging skin, exhausted eyes, and changed, heavier figure all felt unfamiliar to Xu Yan.
In Xu Yan’s memory, Xie Feng should have had a handsome appearance. Ten years had passed, and it wasn’t just Gu Xiaorou who had changed.
“Yanyan, come with me. Your aunt and I will treat you well,” Xie Feng said, gripping Xu Yan’s hand, his voice choked with emotion as if sincere. But Xu Yan instinctively pulled his hand away.
In Xu Yan’s fading memories, Xie Feng had always called him “Lanlan.” This sudden switch to “Yanyan” made Xu Yan deeply uncomfortable.
Xu Yan furrowed his brows tightly, trying to discern something from Xie Feng’s eyes, but all he saw were a pair of muddled pupils.
The absurdity of his biological father showing up on New Year’s Eve to fight for custody with his own mother left Xu Yan feeling nothing but disbelief.
“Xie Feng, are you out of your mind? Coming to my house on New Year’s Eve, saying you want to take Xu Yan away?” Gu Xiaorou shouted hoarsely, her hair disheveled as she cursed. “Ten years—have you come to see Xu Yan even once in ten years? Now you think you can just take him away? Dream on! The child’s grown up, and you think you can just claim him back whenever you want?”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming. You and Gu Xiaofang can’t have a son—what does that have to do with me? Now you want Xu Yan back to carry on your family line? Not a chance. And Xu Yan’s household registration is under Guodong’s name. Do you really think he has anything to do with you anymore” Gu Xiaorou kept cursing, while Xu Guodong stood by without intervening, watching the spectacle with amusement.
“If Brother Xie wants to take him, let him. I’d be happy to have some peace and quiet,” Xu Guodong said, squinting his eyes and grinning from ear to ear.
Gu Xiaorou slapped Xu Guodong like a madwoman, furious. “How dare you!”
In an instant, the air froze. Xu Guodong glared at Gu Xiaorou, his eyes wide with rage, and immediately raised his arm, only to freeze mid-air.
Xu Yan gripped his wrist tightly and twisted it downward. A sharp cry of pain erupted instantly. “Damn it, Xu Yan, what are you doing?”
“Today is New Year’s Eve. Let’s watch the Spring Festival Gala,” Xu Yan sneered, turning on the living room TV and cranking the volume until it filled the entire room. He glanced at the three frozen figures, paused for a moment, and said coldly, “You all enjoy the show. I’m not going with anyone.”
With that, he left the second-floor living room with a stern face, rushed down to the first floor in one breath, and sat on the stone stool by the entrance to catch his breath.
The cold wind on New Year’s Eve still carried a biting chill. The houses in the countryside were packed closely together, and in the nearby valley, brilliant fireworks bloomed in clusters, one after another.
So beautiful.
Xu Yan closed his eyes, quietly reflecting on everything that had happened that night. It all felt ridiculous.
On one side was his biological father, bound by traditional thinking, desperate to take his son back to carry on the family line. On the other was his biological mother, tangled in her own chaotic life, drowning in hardship. Their family was truly a mess.
He just wanted to have a peaceful New Year. He felt suffocated and wanted someone to talk to. So, he opened his phone and poured out his jumbled emotions in a stream of incoherent words to his most trusted friend, Qiu Muyang.
[Qiu Muyang]: Yanzi, what’s wrong with you? What are you talking about? I don’t get it. I’m having fun in Hainan right now. Let’s chat later.
Just as Xu Yan was about to say more, Qiu Muyang sent a photo.
In the picture, Qiu Muyang was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, standing freely by the sea with a wide, toothy grin, radiating youthful energy and pure joy.
They say a camera has its own language. The overwhelming sense of happiness in this photo was impossible to ignore. Xu Yan stared at it for a long time. He thought, the person who took this photo for Qiu Muyang must really love him.
[Qiu Muyang]: Yanzi, my mom took this. How handsome do I look?
Xu Yan stared at his phone screen until it went dark on its own, then turned it back on and replied with a single word: Handsome.
So handsome it made him envious.
Xu Yan’s originally suppressed emotions now completely transformed into jealousy and envy because of Qiu Muyang. Without realizing it, Xu Yan opened his WeChat chat with Ji Ran.
He frantically bombarded Ji Ran with messages, and when he finally snapped out of it, he suddenly realized he had sent nearly twenty messages.
He stared at his phone screen for a long time, but no reply from Ji Ran came.
At this hour, Ji Ran was probably spending time with his family too.
Why would he bother with him?
He rose from the stone stool, ready to head upstairs to his bedroom for some sleep, when his phone suddenly rang.
Xu Yan impatiently opened his phone, and his breath caught when he saw it was a video call from Ji Ran.
Pressing his lips together, Xu Yan tapped to answer.
The video feed from Ji Ran’s side was very dark; Xu Yan couldn’t even make out Ji Ran’s face.
“Sorry, I didn’t turn on the light,” Ji Ran’s voice was soft, as if afraid of disturbing Xu Yan.
Soon, a faint rustling sound reached Xu Yan’s ears. Shortly after the noise subsided, the light on Ji Ran’s side brightened as well.
Xu Yan stared at the screen, his mouth falling open in bewilderment.
On the screen, Ji Ran had just finished washing his hair. The stray strands on his forehead were pushed back, revealing an unexpectedly sharp profile. Water droplets from his hair slid down his neck, tracing a path toward his well-defined collarbone before slowly landing on the exposed muscles of his chest.
Watching Ji Ran, shirtless on the screen with his smooth, defined muscle lines, Xu Yan felt as if something in his mind was suddenly bursting with fireworks.
After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke, inexplicably nervous: “You… why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”