Zhen Tian pursed her lips; even she, slow to notice, noticed Ye Qingyan's unusual behavior.

Since the start of the semester, she has gradually become quiet, and this time she even handed in a blank exam paper. The nine zeros on her report card are the proof.

"Qingyan..." she called softly, but Ye Qingyan acted as if she hadn't heard her.

"Qingyan?"

Zhen Tian pushed her arm more carefully.

"Hmm?" Ye Qingyan came to her senses and tilted her head to look at Zhen Tian, ​​where her huge dark circles were exposed to Zhen Tian's view.

"What's wrong? Is something on your mind?"

"It's nothing." Ye Qingyan forced a smile, shook her head, put down the report card, and quietly turned on her phone under the table as if checking something, but quickly turned it off again. Zhen Tian could clearly see the disappointment on her face.

Zhen Tian has never had any experience interacting with female friends since she was a child. Now that both Yuan Yuan and Ye Qingyan are in low spirits, she doesn't know what she can do.

When she got home that evening, she was still thinking and even ignored Ji Yuzhi.

"Sweetie?" she asked, peeling a red apple for her.

The little girl was very spoiled. She didn't like apples, but she loved apples, and she insisted on peeling them before eating them. Ji Yuzhi didn't know the difference between the two fruits, but he indulged all her tantrums.

"Only one."

Zhen Tian rested her head on his shoulder, feeling somewhat dejected: "I feel so useless."

Ji Yuzhi paused in his fruit-peeling hand: "Why do you think that?"

"Qingyan and Yuanyuan are in a bad mood right now, but I have no idea how to comfort them." Zhen Tian told Ji Yuzhi about all the strange things that had happened recently, and concluded, "So I feel very useless, I don't even know how to comfort people."

Ji Yuzhi sat beside her and calmly analyzed the various situations with her.

Zhen Tian listened intently.

"If they don't want to talk, then give them time to calm down." Ji Yuzhi racked his brains. He wasn't good at dealing with the thoughts of these young girls. Dealing with Zhen Tian alone took all his energy, and Zhen Tian happened to be the easiest girl to coax.

"If you feel sad because they're sad, then think about how you usually become happy when you're sad. Just comfort them like that."

"Me?" Zhen Tian rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the ceiling. "How did I do it?"

Ji Yuzhi cut the peeled snake fruit into small pieces, picked one up with a small fork, and fed it to her.

"Ugh, this is so annoying." Zhen Tian shifted her position and leaned against Ji Yuzhi.

"If you're upset, don't think about it." Ji Yuzhi removed her hands from her hair. "Didn't you have an exam? Tell me your results."

He had intended to distract her, but instead she became even more agitated.

"What's wrong?" Zhen Tian's guilty and ashamed expression caught his attention: "Didn't you do well on the test?"

"Hmm...not good. I don't know anything." Zhen Tian knew she couldn't concentrate on the lesson at all. Although her obsession with reading novels had subsided, she got a headache as soon as she entered class, and...that's how it is now.

"Do you need me to teach you?" Ji Yuzhi also had something on his mind.

He has three months until the college entrance exam, and there's a 100% chance he'll leave H City. Then it won't be as easy for Tian Tian to see him as it is now, so he wants to spend as much time with him as possible. He even turned down all the job offers that came his way in the next three months.

"No, I don't think so..." Although Zhen Tian felt guilty, her greatest strength was that she couldn't lie: "Zhizhi, I know this is wrong, but I don't want to study at all. Am I becoming a bad child?"

"Of course not." Ji Yuzhi pinched her cheek: "If you don't want to learn, then don't learn. Do what you want to do."

He had thought it through carefully: studying was absolutely unnecessary for Zhen Tian. Regardless of how well she did in her studies, he could guarantee her a comfortable life; this was both his ability and his own requirement of himself.

"As long as you're happy, that's all that matters. You know?" Ji Yuzhi lowered his eyes, looking at the girl who had gone from leaning against him to nestling in his arms in just a short while.

"Really? I don't have to study?" Zhen Tian looked at him with bright eyes.

"real."

"You're so good to me, Zhizhi." Zhen Tian wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhen, who had just returned home, saw this scene as soon as they entered the door.

Mr. Zhen impulsively wanted to come in and say something, but Mrs. Zhen pulled him back and shook her head at him.

Ji Yuzhi heard the sound, coughed lightly, and awkwardly rubbed his burning earlobe. Although Zhen Tian had kissed him many times since childhood, the older he got, the more different it meant. He knew very well what he wanted.

Therefore, he never hid his thoughts from the Zhen family.

He also knew they understood.

"Uncle and Auntie," Ji Yuzhi greeted them.

Zhen Tian clung to Ji Yuzhi, tilting her head back as she looked at her parents: "Mom and Dad, you're back! Did you buy my ice cream?"

“With your father, you can only eat three bites this late.” Lu Ti said, sitting at the doorway changing her shoes, carrying her handbag.

"Is it chocolate? Is it chocolate?" She climbed off Ji Yuzhi and tried to get closer to her father.

Ji Yuzhi pressed her down: "Eat the fruit first."

He held the bowl of sliced ​​apples to her lips, and Zhen Tian obediently sat down, taking bite after bite of the apple: "So sweet."

Ji Yuzhi chuckled. Zhen Tian, ​​so sweet, yes, so sweet.

As promised, Zhen Tian obediently put the rest back in the refrigerator under Ji Yuzhi's supervision, and then dragged him back to her room.

"Wait until I fall asleep before you leave. I haven't slept well for days." Zhen Tian rubbed her eyes and lay down in bed.

Ji Yuzhi turned off the light for her and turned on the aromatherapy diffuser on the bedside table: "Go to sleep."

Goodnight, Zhizhi.

"Good night."

Ji Yuzhi sat on the edge of the bed. The little girl was sleeping peacefully, lying flat on her back with only her head showing. He tucked her in, his gaze fixed on her rosy face. The girl in his eyes could no longer be called a little girl, but she really hadn't changed much.

Images of her as a little girl flashed through his mind. Just like now, soft and cuddly, both endearing and lovable.

It could be at the first time they met, or when she snatched the scalding hot pot lid from his hand, or when she complained to him like a crybaby.

He didn't know why he was so convinced that he could never get rid of this little dumpling in his life.

Whether as an older brother now, or as an older brother in the future...

Finally, Ji Yuzhi straightened the stray hairs that had fallen across her cheeks and placed a kiss on her forehead. Then he quietly left the room.

"Yuzhi, wait a moment."