"My brother is so bad at playing games."

The children sitting in front of Wanqiu couldn't help but complain after Wanqiu lost the game again.

Wan Qiu was also a little embarrassed.

He's not very good at games, and he can't compete with the kids.

"My brother seems to be bad at everything except dancing, but I can't dance either."

The girl, with her hair in a cute ponytail, lay face down on the ground, her thighs bare.

Wanqiu was at a loss.

Seeing Wanqiu's expression, the girl looked up and said, "But I'm smarter than my brother!"

"Yes." Wan Qiu's certainty was completely genuine. "You are smarter than me."

"I'm very smart," the girl said proudly, patting her chest. "I get excellent grades at school."

"No matter how well you study, you can never be as good as Brother Chu," the child next to the girl said.

“Brother Chu is my role model, and I want to learn from him.” The girl wasn’t annoyed.

Wan Qiu sat cross-legged beside the two of them and nodded, saying, "I also want to learn from my younger brother."

"You're so stupid." The girl frowned. "Even if I let you win, you still can't beat me."

Wanqiu wanted to say something, but a shadow fell over them.

The tall boy also sat down beside them.

A handsome profile came into Wan Qiu's view, accompanied by a gentle smile.

Chu Yigui's gaze was fixed on the girl in front of him: "Everyone's intelligence is displayed in different ways, and my brother's intelligence is displayed in other ways."

The other children were noticeably happier to see Chu Yigui.

The girl asked curiously, "So, what makes him smarter?"

"You'll see once you get to know him better," Chu Yigui said with a smile. After thinking for a moment, she added, "If any of you discover my cleverness first, I'll give you a reward, how about that?"

The children were clearly delighted to hear about the reward.

Even children who didn't understand what was happening would glance over here.

Chu Yigui always had a knack for stirring up the emotions of the children around her.

But Wanqiu was looking at Chu Yigui.

Wan Qiu opened his eyes wide and saw things he had never seen before.

It seems so...

ash.

Wanqiu had seen traces of burning by the roadside, which must have been left by a homeless person who had gathered things nearby to cook over.

Those that were burned were reduced to ashes, a grayish mass, indistinguishable from their original form.

With just a slight breeze, these gray ashes of varying shades would be blown into the sky.

Wan Qiu reached out and grasped Chu Yigui's hand.

A strange sensation, like something being crushed...

"Brother?" Suddenly, Chu Yigui's voice woke Wan Qiu, and Wan Qiu came back to his senses.

There are no ashes there.

He gripped Chu Yigui's arm and squeezed it tightly.

The warm touch, the tangible presence, everything I had just seen seemed like an illusion.

"What's wrong?" Chu Yigui asked, tilting her head.

Wanqiu didn't know.

Wanqiu had no idea what he was seeing.

"Is your brother afraid of being surrounded by children?" Chu Yigui asked, though it was just a teasing question.

Wan Qiu shook his head.

Wan Qiu released Chu Yigui's arm.

Chu Yigui lowered her eyes to look at the spot where Wan Qiu had grabbed her.

Because Wan Qiu seemed to have used too much force when he wasn't paying attention, Chu Yigui felt pain.

No matter how thin and weak Wanqiu was, he was still a boy.

Although Wan Qiu released Chu Yigui's arm, he covered Chu Yigui's fingers with his own.

Even though he didn't know why he was doing it.

Chu Yigui raised her fingers and placed them on top of Wan Qiu's fingers.

Wanqiu always sees gray.

The persistent grayness always clung to Chu Yigui's side, as difficult to remove as real ashes.

It has never been this serious before.

Seemingly sensing Wan Qiu's bad mood, Chu Yigui stopped letting the other children bother Wan Qiu.

Instead, they asked Wanqiu to help the child who was unable to turn over in bed to do so.

Wanqiu went to another room, where caregivers were also working.

Wanqiu helped the children with mobility issues as instructed by the caregivers.

The soft, tender, and warm child eased Wanqiu's hallucinatory sense of unease.

Suddenly, Wan Qiu sensed something and shifted his gaze to the doorway.

A man was standing at the door at that moment.

The tall man, dressed in black, stood out conspicuously against the backdrop of the white world outside the window.

Wan Qiu looked at the man with a somewhat bewildered expression.

It feels familiar.

However, beneath the familiarity lies a feeling of greater unfamiliarity.

The man was looking at him.

That kind of gaze made Wanqiu very uncomfortable.

It was like cold disinfectant touching his skin, absorbing the moisture, burning his skin, and leaving a stinging sensation.

Wan Qiu bent down to straighten the child's clothes, looking at the bewildered child with dark, grape-like eyes staring at him.

That astringent feeling disappeared.

Wanqiu mustered his courage and looked up again.

But the tall, black figure disappeared.

The oppressive feeling that had been weighing on Wanqiu also disappeared.

When Wanqiu lay on the bed in the orphanage, his hands and feet were curled up.

He didn't know why, but today he felt colder than every time he had come before.

Wanqiu was in a drowsy sleep, trying to recall the storybook Chu Yigui had read to the children that evening.

But for some reason, as long as I close my eyes, I can see the ashes of the burnt-out fire flying everywhere.

He stood in a blank world, yet his entire body was covered in ashes.

Wanqiu reached out and wiped it away, seeing the marks left by the wiping.

However, what Wanqiu saw was not only the gray dust left by the cigarette ash, but also the words hidden within it.

Wanqiu tried hard to read the text.

However, the area stained by the ashes was too small for him to see the complete sentence.

'orphan'.

'Rubbish'.

'nausea'.

These seemingly disjointed words always seem to emerge more clearly.

For some reason, he was unwilling to read the words that had appeared on him again.

However, he couldn't control his body, repeatedly wiping away the ashes to peer inside, forcing himself to read.

Wanqiu was filled with fear.

He was afraid.

You don't even deserve a name.

When those words suddenly appeared, Wan Qiu opened his eyes.

After taking a few rapid breaths, I seemed to calm down.

The sky was already beginning to lighten, and the windows were still damp with moisture from the interaction of the warm and cool air inside.

There was a subtle smell in the air, like the smell of burning firewood.

Sitting up, Wanqiu looked at her hands, which were trembling.

Everything in the dream was clearly visible.

For some reason, even though there was a space for two people, Wan Qiu felt as if he were the only one there.

Wan Qiu approached Chu Yigui's bedside and saw a bulge in the bedding.

Chu Yigui had his back to him. His hair seemed longer than he remembered, hanging down on the pillow, looking dusty and gray.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Wan Qiu wanted to tuck the blankets around Chu Yigui, but when he touched Chu Yigui's bedding...

The bedding, however, sagged slightly.

Wanqiu looked at the collapsed area and felt fear in his heart.

He dared not raise his eyes to look at Chu Yigui again.

Wanqiu dared not move.

He was afraid that any move he made would cause Chu Yigui to collapse.

Wan Qiu couldn't bear it any longer; he seemed to be crying.

Even tears were falling silently.

even so.

The raised blankets couldn't bear the weight of the tears...

Wan Qiu suddenly opened his eyes.

The sky was pitch black and had not yet brightened.

Wan Qiu was still lying in bed.

There were no sagging bedding, and he didn't even sit by Chu Yigui's bedside.

Wanqiu was bewildered.

Were you dreaming?

Did he dream in his dream too?

Am I dreaming now, or have I already woken up?

Wanqiu felt a cool sensation on her face, and when she reached out, she touched the damp traces of tears left on her cheeks.

He cried in his dream, but it didn't seem like his eyes were wet.

Has he truly woken up now?

Wan Qiu suddenly remembered what Chu Zhang had said: if you don't know if you're dreaming, pinch yourself; if it hurts, then you're not dreaming.

Wanqiu pinched herself hard under the covers.

I used a lot of force and felt pain.

Wan Qiu sat up and looked at Chu Yigui, who was on another bed in the dark of night.

He could hear his brother's breathing coming from the other side.

This is reality, not a dream.

Wan Qiu took a deep breath.

For some reason, the feeling of loneliness in his dream, of being all alone, was even more suffocating than before.

Wanqiu wiped her cheeks, but did not feel any more tears flowing down.

"Brother?" Chu Yigui's voice suddenly came from the darkness.

The rustling of the bedding made Chu Yigui sit up halfway.

Did you have a nightmare?

"Mmm," Wan Qiu responded softly, then asked, "Did I wake you up?"

"No, it's just that I haven't been sleeping well tonight for some reason." Chu Yigui turned her head and opened the blankets. "Brother, do you want to come over?"

It was a familiar scene. Wan Qiu put on slippers and walked over to Chu Yigui's side.

However, he didn't crawl into Chu Yigui's bed as quickly as before.

In the dark space, where only faint light shone, Wan Qiu gazed at Chu Yigui.

As if he were afraid of something, he dared not touch Chu Yigui.

"Brother, if you don't come in soon, the warmth in the blankets will all evaporate," Chu Yigui said.

Upon hearing Chu Yigui's voice, Wan Qiu reached out his hand to Chu Yigui.

Getting closer little by little.

It's as if something will happen if the slightest touch of the fingertip is enough.

However, Wanqiu's hand was suddenly grasped.

Chu Yigui's warmth enveloped Wan Qiu's hand, leading it closer to Chu Yigui's cheek, where Wan Qiu touched Chu Yigui's face.

Soft, delicate, warm, and solid.

The real Chu Yigui.

"Does brother want to touch me?" Chu Yigui asked.

"Mmm," Wan Qiu responded softly.

Even though Chu Yigui couldn't see Wan Qiu clearly, he could still discern Wan Qiu's emotions from just that one voice.

"Let's sleep together." Chu Yigui pulled Wan Qiu over.

Wrapped in the same blankets, just like before.

When Chu Yigui touched Wanqiu, she noticed that Wanqiu was excessively cold.

Wanqiu doesn't have a constitution that causes cold hands and feet; it's just a strange change.

Chu Yigui wrapped her legs around Wan Qiu, passing on her warmth to him.

When Chu Yigui tucked the blanket around Wan Qiu, his fingers touched a strand of hair near Wan Qiu's cheek, which was slightly damp.

Touching Wanqiu's eyes, one could still feel the lingering moisture.

Chu Yigui asked, "Did you have a terrible dream, brother?"

Wan Qiu remained silent for a while before Chu Yigui heard Wan Qiu's reply: "I suddenly forgot."

"Did you forget it as soon as you woke up?" Chu Yigui asked.

Wan Qiu nodded and said, "It felt like a very scary dream."

Chu Yigui half-embraced Wan Qiu: "Is it still scary like this?"

Wan Qiu shook his head: "I'm feeling very sad right now, but I can't put it into words."

The feeling of a dream can sometimes linger in reality for a long time.

But the content can also be suddenly forgotten.

Chu Yigui had no idea what kind of dream Wan Qiu had.

Wanqiu really doesn't remember.

Chu Yigui finally hugged Wan Qiu and said, "It's okay, I won't dream about it anymore tonight."

Chu Yigui felt Wan Qiu nod in his arms.

Chu Yigui chatted with Wan Qiu in a casual manner.

Wanqiu agreed.

As usual, Wanqiu would fall asleep as soon as they chatted like this.

This time was no exception.

Chu Yigui gently patted Wan Qiu's back.

The force gradually decreases until it disappears.

The next day, they got up very early again, turned on the lights, and while Wan Qiu was changing clothes, Chu Yigui suddenly grabbed Wan Qiu's hand.

Extremely large bruises appeared on Wanqiu's arm.

"What's going on?" Chu Yigui asked.

"I had a terrible dream. When I woke up, I didn't know if I was still dreaming, so I pinched myself."

Wan Qiu was also surprised to see the exaggerated bruises on his arm.

It seemed she hadn't expected to pinch so hard.

Chu Yigui told Wan Qiu to wait in the room while he went to get the first-aid kit from the dean and treated Wan Qiu.

Chu Yigui knew that Wan Qiu's pain threshold was different from that of ordinary people, and he obviously didn't hold back when he hurt himself.

I applied some ointment to Wanqiu's arm, and the smell of the ointment filled the air.

Wan Qiu sniffed the air and said, "This smells very nice."

"This isn't perfume," Chu Yigui said, both amused and exasperated. "Next time, brother, don't use so much force."

"Mmm," Wan Qiu replied obediently.

"What kind of dream was it?" Chu Yigui asked curiously as she placed the medicated oil in the medicine box. "Was it related to anyone?"

Wanqiu truly doesn't remember.

I clearly remember it when I wake up.

Last night, when Chu Yigui suddenly held his hand and touched his cheek, the sudden feeling of security made Wan Qiu instantly forget about his dream.

"It seems to be a dream about my younger brother." That's all Wan Qiu could remember. "It was a dream, and I even had a dream."

"Then wouldn't I be guilty of a heinous crime, and even made my brother lose sleep?" Chu Yigui teased.

"No, my brother did nothing wrong." Wan Qiu immediately reached out and grabbed Chu Yigui's clothes, explaining anxiously.

"I know," Chu Yigui laughed. "It was just a joke."

Wan Qiu stared longingly at Chu Yigui before letting go of his hand.

Chu Yigui stood up and asked, "Brother, please take your time changing your clothes, or do you need my help?"

Wan Qiu shook his head.

"Then I'll go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the children?"

"Mm." Wan Qiu nodded.

Chu Yigui closed the door.

He paused at the door for a few seconds, then turned and left.

Wanqiu noticed that the other children seemed to enjoy being around him today.

Everyone was playing a game called "Find the Clever Wanqiu," which involved Wanqiu trying out all sorts of mini-games.

Wan Qiu followed along with everyone in a daze, but he seemed extremely clumsy no matter what they did.

"Brother, can you do cat's cradle?" a girl asked Wan Qiu, opening her arms wide.

Wan Qiu looked at the rope. He knew how to play with it, but he had only seen it in the countryside.

When the rope became a knotted knot, the children around them groaned in disappointment.

Wanqiu was at a loss.

But the caregiver was overjoyed.

When the dean appeared at the door, Wan Qiu noticed that Chu Yigui stood up and went to the dean's side.

Even though the dean didn't call Chu Yigui by name.

The dean spoke gently to Chu Yigui.

But the children surrounding him were making so much noise that he couldn't hear them clearly.

But Chu Yigui nodded and went to Wan Qiu's side.

"Brother, I have to go out for a bit, but I'll be back soon. Can you wait for me here for a while?"

Chu Yigui asked Wan Qiu, but Wan Qiu neither answered nor refused.

They were together almost the entire winter break, never apart.

"It won't be long. I'll have the bodyguard stay by my brother's side. Don't go anywhere until I come back, okay?" Chu Yigui said.

Wan Qiu nodded.

He would still not refuse Chu Yigui's request, no matter what it was.

"I will be back within an hour, I will definitely be back within an hour."

Chu Yigui half-squatted in front of Wan Qiu, and hooked Wan Qiu's hand with her slender fingers.

Their intertwined fingers were eventually caught by Chu Yigui's bent little finger, which hooked onto Wan Qiu's little finger.

"Pinky promise".

The children nearby started making pinky promises to each other and had a great time playing around.

Wan Qiu nodded.

Wan Qiu watched Chu Yigui say goodbye to him, then stood up and left with the dean.

For some reason, Wan Qiu felt a strange sense of being left behind as he stood there.

The crackling sound, like the sound of firewood burning, echoed in Wanqiu's ears.

Wan Qiu left the recreation room and leaned against the windowsill.

The other children also crawled over.

The snow has started to melt, and the snowdrifts that usually pile up on the roadside look a bit dirty from the melting.

He saw a man standing in the yard.

It was the man he saw yesterday, the one who had been staring at him.

The man was wearing a long, thick trench coat and a navy blue plaid scarf.

Until Wanqiu saw Chu Yigui.

His brother also wore a black coat, but he wrapped a white scarf around his neck.

When the two stood together, Wan Qiu suddenly had a strange feeling.

Chu Yigui and that man were about the same height, but their builds were slightly different.

The man looked older, but he was very handsome.

I don't know why.

Wanqiu thought the two people looked very similar.

They exchanged a few words, and his younger brother followed the man to the gate of the orphanage.

From their angle, they can see a black car parked at the entrance.

Just as she was about to board the car, Chu Yigui paused and suddenly turned around.

At the same time, Wan Qiu felt that Chu Yigui had seen him.

Chu Yigui, who hadn't smiled at all while talking to the man, gave him a slight smile.

Wan Qiu subconsciously returned Chu Yigui's smile, but Chu Yigui simply turned around and got into the car.

His brother can't see him.

Wan Qiu suddenly had an idea.

"That uncle has been coming over quite often lately, and he keeps asking about Brother Chu."

Suddenly, a child standing nearby spoke up.

"Yes, that uncle always brought us candy."

"My uncle even gave us lessons, even though we couldn't understand them at all."

"Yeah, I don't understand."

"I can understand a little bit."

Wanqiu listened to the children chattering away.

He recalled the look in the eyes of that somewhat familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar man at the door.

Their pinky promise worked very well, and Chu Yi returned quickly.

Just as agreed, I'll be back within an hour.

Wan Qiu looked at Chu Yigui, who hadn't changed much since he left.

Although she had some doubts, Wanqiu didn't seem to want an answer.

Wan Qiu smelled a faint scent on Chu Yigui, the kind that only exists in hospitals, so faint it was almost like his imagination.

After Chu Yi returned, Wan Qiu left the entertainment room.

He walked down the corridor, looking for someone.

Even after searching the entire stairwell, he still couldn't find the middle-aged man in black.

Even if Wan Qiu didn't know why he wanted to find that man, he wouldn't be disappointed if he didn't find him.

That night, Wan Qiu slept with Chu Yigui as usual.

Wan Qiu slept soundly, feeling Chu Yigui's body temperature.

They only stayed at the orphanage for three days and two nights, and as soon as they returned, they packed their things to prepare for the start of school.

Wanqiu took a separate entrance exam at the beginning of the school year, but unfortunately, he could only go to sixth grade.

However, the tutoring did have its benefits; the sixth-grade curriculum became easier to learn.

This semester is the second semester of Chu Yigui's third year of junior high school, and Chu Yigui has become exceptionally busy.

Fu Zhengyu said that they can go directly from elementary school to junior high school, so it doesn't matter if they don't study hard now, but they have to work hard to pass the exams in the third year of junior high.

"But Brother Chu always gets first place in the grade in every exam. He works so hard, it's really unfair to others."

Fu Zhengyu sat in the seat in front of Wan Qiu, leaning on Wan Qiu's desk and talking to Wan Qiu.

Wan Qiu nodded.

“Li Shuo has been busy lately. Once they graduate, no one will be there to protect us.”

Fu Zhengyu sighed.

Protecting them?

Wanqiu didn't understand.

“But the guys who went from second to third year of junior high are still here, so don’t worry.” Fu Zhengyu chuckled.

Wan Qiu nodded.

After Fu Zhengyu finished speaking, he looked at Wan Qiu and said, "It's been over a month since we started classes, and you still haven't recovered?"

"What?" Wan Qiu was stunned.

"You look even dumber than when I first met you. You're always spacing out after class, and you don't offer me anything to eat anymore."

Ever since Wan Qiu learned to share snacks with her classmates, Fu Zhengyu has been the biggest beneficiary.

Wan Qiu opened his mouth, then said dejectedly, "I'm sorry, I forgot."

“What’s wrong with that? That’s not what I meant. I meant you’ve been looking like you haven’t slept well lately. What have you been doing staying up late every night?” Fu Zhengyu asked.

Wan Qiu shook his head.

He lowered his eyes.

His face was somewhat pale.

"Are you really alright?" Fu Zhengyu asked.

"..." Wan Qiu hesitated for a while before saying, "I've been having nightmares every night lately."

"What kind of dream?" Fu Zhengyu asked.

Wan Qiu frowned: "I can't remember."

"A nightmare is a dream you can't remember?" Fu Zhengyu chuckled.

Wanqiu could not describe that feeling.

He remembers his feelings, his body remembers, but his memory does not.

It's like touching something incredibly familiar; you remember the feel, you remember the shape, but you just can't remember what it is.

"It's okay, dreams are often the opposite of reality." Fu Zhengyu patted Wan Qiu on the shoulder. "If it's a nightmare, then something good is definitely going to happen."

Wan Qiu nodded, believing Fu Zhengyu's words.

"How about we find something more interesting to do?" Fu Zhengyu thought for a moment. "Brother Chu's birthday is coming up soon, right? Have you thought about what birthday present you should give him?"

Wan Qiu was taken aback. A birthday?

Wan Qiu calculated the time: "Isn't there still a month left?"

"So it's about finding something interesting to do in advance, so you can prepare early and avoid being scrambling around when the time comes."

The school bell rang, and Fu Zhengyu returned to his seat.

Wan Qiu took out a book and unconsciously wrote the words 'birthday' on it.

For some reason, Wanqiu felt that these two words were very unfamiliar.