Every morning, Wanqiu finishes her housework before leaving the house, and she will do the same today.

Chu Yigui followed behind Wan Qiu, watching quietly.

Wanqiu folded all the dried clothes neatly and placed them one by one in the wardrobe.

The clothes in the wardrobe were clearly arranged, and at first glance, they were actually quite pleasing to the eye.

However, most of them were not Wanqiu's clothes.

Compared to Ning Qiaozhen's and Ning Hai's overflowing wardrobes, Wan Qiu's small wardrobe was mostly empty.

On the sofa was a hoodie that had been pulled out separately. Wan Qiu found a needle and thread in the closet and sewed up the sleeve that had been torn in the car accident.

Although it's clear that Wanqiu really wanted to make the repairs look good, it's obvious that patching it up was already the best he could do.

Chu Yigui noticed that there was a drawstring in the sewing box that was similar in color to the material of the clothes. Sure enough, she saw that the drawstring on the hood that was being mended was not tightened.

"This isn't a set, is it? Aren't you going to put it on?" Chu Yigui asked, offering to help if it was because he didn't know how.

“It was deliberately drawn.” Wan Qiu shook his head.

"Don't you like ropes?" Chu Yigui wondered if it was some kind of mental aversion.

“Dad and Uncle like to joke about this.” Wanqiu pinched the rope that was carefully rolled into a ball. “Uncle tightens the rope so I can’t see it, but when Dad gets drunk he tightens the rope and it strangles me.”

Wan Qiu's tone was calm, as if he were just talking about something insignificant.

Chu Yigui's breath hitched briefly as his gaze lingered on Wan Qiu's thin, delicate neck, which seemed as if it could snap at any moment.

It was as if I could see the thin drawstring of the hood tightening, leaving deep marks on the already fragile skin of the neck.

Finally, Chu Yigui closed her eyes and said calmly, "Really? Why not throw it away?"

"Maybe it can still be used." Wanqiu couldn't bear to throw away the perfectly good rope, so she kept it in the sewing box.

Wanqiu finished her chores and prepared to go out to collect trash.

Before leaving, Wan Qiu took his secret stash with him, carefully wrapped all the money in small pieces of cloth, and meticulously put it in his pocket to make sure it wouldn't fall out.

Chu Yigui leaned against the door, watching as Wan Qiu revealed the location of his secret stash. When he saw that Wan Qiu had brought it all with him without any reservation, his expression darkened slightly.

Chu Yigui knew why Wan Qiu cherished these small change pieces of money so much and took them all with him.

"Are you going out? Don't you like watching TV at home?" Chu Yigui tried to find some of Wan Qiu's hobbies.

The television is the only thing in the house that can capture the child's attention.

In this era where everyone has a mobile phone, the most valuable thing Wan Qiu owns is the loose change in his small rag, let alone a mobile phone.

“It will waste electricity,” Wan Qiu replied. “If the electricity bill is high, Mom will be unhappy.”

"Do you like watching TV?" Chu Yigui didn't let Wan Qiu avoid the topic.

Wan Qiu blinked and said, "There's a store that sells TVs. If you go there every day, you can watch cartoons for a while."

Wanqiu's preferences still lean towards a small child.

"Why didn't you go yesterday?" Chu Yigui asked Wan Qiu patiently.

Wan Qiu replied, "You probably won't like it."

Wanqiu remembered hearing classmates discuss this cartoon, but after others said it was childish, the discussion fizzled out. At that time, Wanqiu realized that perhaps this cartoon was not popular.

Since no one else liked it, Wan Qiu thought that Chu Yigui might not like it either.

Chu Yigui opened her mouth, but said nothing.

Looking down at the short man, she found herself unconsciously tending to his frail body...

A silly little boy who really looks like an older brother.

Because they were friends, Wan Qiu couldn't help but look at Chu Yigui more often.

Wan Qiu vaguely felt that Chu Yigui might be a strange person.

Is watching someone pick up trash really that interesting?

Chu Yigui was looking at him intently, showing no interest in the exquisite doll shops, the arcade's pretty signs, or the snack shops that smelled delicious; she was simply staring at him.

This puzzled Wan Qiu somewhat.

Wan Qiu's peripheral vision was suddenly drawn to a group of students who had come out to play together not far away.

Because the windy day had just passed, the weather was particularly hot today, and there were many more people on the street carrying drinks. These drink bottles kept shining in Wanqiu's eyes.

There were many people, each holding a bottle, and they had almost finished drinking.

Wanqiu needs to stay home at night so her parents won't worry, but she can't leave too early in the morning because she might miss out on opportunities to collect garbage from her fellow garbage collectors.

During the daytime, Wan Qiu didn't want to miss a single bottle.

Wan Qiu followed behind several students for a short distance.

Meanwhile, several female students in front whispered to each other, "Look behind us."

Wan Qiu suddenly noticed the female student turning around and immediately froze on the spot.

The girls' gazes, however, passed over him and went to what was behind him.

Chu Yigui walked from Wan Qiu's side to several students, instantly making the girls' expressions excited.

"Do you still need those beverage bottles? If you've finished them, could you give them to me?" Chu Yigui asked directly.

The students were stunned, and instinctively handed the bottles in their hands to Chu Yigui.

"Aren't you going to drink the beverage inside?" Chu Yigui shook the beverage that was handed to her, which still had a small portion left.

Chu Yigui's pleasant voice seemed to have a bewitching charm, and several students drank it as if possessed. Some of them who had more left drank it all in one go and handed all the empty bottles to Chu Yigui.

Chu Yigui responded with a smile: "Thank you."

Upon seeing this smile, several girls excitedly tugged at their companions' clothes, while Chu Yigui had already turned away.

"Um... handsome guy?" At this moment, a female student couldn't help but try to strike up a conversation.

Chu Yigui turned around and smiled: "Are you university students?"

"Yes, yes, you too?" Several students were pleasantly surprised.

"No, I'm fourteen years old and a junior high school student."

Instantly, the smiles on the girls' faces froze.

Chu Yigui ignored the shocked and devastated expressions on the faces of the female students and turned to walk towards Wan Qiu.

"Holy crap, a middle school student?! That's actually a middle school student?! My God..." The girl's voice was filled with disbelief.

Chu Yigui threw all the beverage bottles into the plastic bag on Wanqiu's small cart.

Looking up, I suddenly met Wan Qiu's bright, sparkling eyes.

With those sparkling eyes, Chu Yigui even felt that she herself was an incredibly bright radiant being reflected in them.

Chu Yigui never imagined that one day she would be worshipped because of this.

Wanqiu's eyes were always empty, so when they were filled with certain emotions, they seemed to only have that one feeling.

But now, the overflowing water only carries Chu Yigui alone.

When Chu Yigui looked into those eyes, she felt, for a brief moment, as if she were being drawn into them.

"Are you fourteen years old this year?" Wan Qiu asked hesitantly.

“Yes, we’re the same age,” Chu Yi replied. “But you’re a few months older than me.”

Wan Qiu didn't wonder why Chu Yigui knew his age, or even the difference in their birth months.

He simply looked up at the tall Chu Yigui, whose shadow seemed to envelop him.

In a daze, I thought: younger than me? Am I the older brother?